Chapter 44

Aldric's POV

I almost let my mask slip when Darrick speaks behind me. I had been so focused on Asmodeus that I didn’t sense my father’s awakening or his approach. His sudden appearance at once filled me with joy and dread.

Luban takes up position behind me and puts his hand on my shoulder. Like me, he’s nearly paralysed with fear. Asmodeus is the only vampire in existence that possesses all the talents, and while he will not kill us, he won’t hesitate to use any of his powers against us. Before the originals ushered him into his tomb two centuries ago, he did it just for shits and giggles. "It gives me a tingle," he used to joke.

“Oh relax,” Asmodeus says. “I won’t touch your son. Your special little boy this one, isn’t he?” he asks sarcastically. "The untouchable one."

I chance a look over my shoulder at my father. For a vampire that had been petrified for a century, he looks fantastic.

“All my children are special in their own ways,” Darrick says, but we all know he’s lying.

I’