Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
I paid a pretty price for the mute button but in this particular moment, it still feels worth it.
“I have a present for you.” I declare this loudly to all the halfbreeds around me, my voice echoing off the high wood-beamed ceilings. “Her name is Echo. Do you know her?”
Of course, they can’t answer me. The mute button is still very much pressed. But it was a rhetorical question anyway. Of course they know her.
I walk to the center of the foyer and set Echo down on the wood-planked floors. Then I look up at the halfbreeds that Lucia has been collecting since we arrived in the New World. None of these specific halfbreeds were there at the time. Their lifespan is only a few decades. But Lucia made them constantly. It was the gift the Darkness gave her. The only gift she had, so I can’t really blame her for using it.
“Are you hungry?” I ask them.
They nod, enthusiastically, and I can only imagine the noise they’d be making if I hadn’t rendered them silent. But they are anxious and eager for blood, so when I don’t immediately explain, they shuffle their feet, becoming restless as their gazes wander up to my neck.
“Oh, no. You have misunderstood. I will not be feeding you.” I point to the girl on the floor at my feet. “She will. But don’t worry and don’t make faces at me. I have given her some of my blood, so you will all get the proper dilution to ease your cravings and slip into bliss. How does that sound?”
I smile at them. Radiating warmth and compassion. Giving off a paternal vibe.
It’s all lies, of course.
Because this is how I’m going to kill them.
They begin to rush forward but I put up both my hands, palms out, and push them back as I turn in a circle. “Do not. Rush me. Do not touch me, do not look at me, do not do anything without permission. Do you understand?”
They do. Or probably not, actually. They are addicts seeking a fix. Since when do addicts understand anything but their own lust?
The power of compulsion is what I use to keep them away. Passed on to me through the blood, just as I will pass on the mute button. The important thing is, the halfbreeds do not rush in like a horde and rip little Echo to pieces.
I hold up a finger and point it at the zombie-like creatures in front of me. “One at a time. You.” I point to the one right in front of me. A woman, early thirties, maybe. Which makes her old compared to the rest, who all appear to be just a bit older than teenagers.
The woman comes forward, her eyes not on me now, but locked on Echo’s body. Her only thought in this moment is the blood.
I can relate. I was hungry like that at one time, as well. But never as a lowly halfbreed.
“Kneel,” I tell her. She does, looking up at me, practically salivating. “One. Sip. Do you understand me? One. There are dozens of others who need blood as well. If you are greedy, I will cut your head off. Do you understand me?”
She nods, but she’s not really agreeing. She’s not really capable of that. Not when the hunger is this bad. But I like giving them warnings like this so they know what to expect. I look at the rest of the horde and repeat my caution. “Do you all understand? One. Sip.”
They nod, or don’t. Doesn’t matter.
I return my attention to the woman kneeling at my feet in front of Echo and nod my head. “Proceed.”
The woman, whose face is gaunt but not ugly or evil-looking, attacks Echo’s neck with a ferocity that surprises even me. Three seconds pass and she’s already taken far more than just one sip. I reach out, grab her by the hair, fling her backwards into the crowd—which disperses in a disturbing silence—and then I reach down, grip her fragile throat in my hands, rip it out of her neck, and then, with my other hand, I pull her head off and drop it on the floor at the feet of a rough-looking man.
He’s still looking at the head when I speak. “You’re next.” He looks up at me, eyes wide. Blinking. “Do not take more than your share. Do you understand?”
This one nods yes as he looks me in the eyes. I have his full attention. The blood can wait. He’s listening for the rules.
“Good.” I pan my hand at Echo’s body. Part of her neck is missing and we’re just getting started. But one does what one must. “Proceed.”
This halfbreed is smarter, or better behaved, or has a much more developed sense of self-preservation than the last. Because he takes a deep breath as he approaches Echo, then lets it out slowly as he kneels down in front of her body.