by K. M. Scott
That was three nights before she disappeared.
As his emotions threatened to overwhelm him, Theron shook his head to rid himself of the memories of his mother. He couldn’t think about her now. It hurt too much and made him feel lost without her.
Instead, he needed to focus on his father. Finding him was his first priority. Then he’d join him in killing as many Archons as possible this night. His blood yearned for vengeance for what they’d taken from him.
From them.
He struggled to sense his father’s location, likely because he wasn’t a born vampire like his mother. Theron pushed everything else out of his mind and focused solely on the image of his father he carried around with him in his thoughts. The hulking vampire who’d protected him from the rest of the world so eager to take advantage of his gifts stood over him in his memories, his somber expression hiding how genuinely loving he always was.
Slowly, where his father was right then came to him, and Theron quickly moved to join him. They had work to do this night, work that only the two of them had responsibility for.
Theron looked around what he sensed must be a big city. The sounds of cars and the whine of an ambulance siren a few streets away filtered into his brain as he scanned the area around him. A tower in the distance stood lit up against the dark night sky. He had a feeling he’d seen pictures of it before at some point, but he didn’t take the time to give it much thought.
More important than his location was if his father was nearby. He’d sensed his presence back at the Order’s headquarters, but after following his thoughts, he wondered if he’d made a mistake. Theron had only recently begun using this ability, so perhaps he’d misjudged. Or maybe his emotions about his mother had muddled his thoughts as he tried to pinpoint his father’s location.
Looking up, he saw he’d transported to a spot next to a six-story building. Bushes dotted the landscape around him, thankfully giving him some cover since he had no idea where he was or who might show up while he figured that out. In the moonlight, he could see the street name on a sign a few yards away.
Avenue du President Kennedy
He walked around the front of the building and gazed up at it. Awnings on some of the windows made it look like a residence, but he had a feeling this wasn’t just some house.
The sound of footsteps startled him, and he quickly looked around to see who was there with him. One look and he knew he’d come to the right place.
The large figure of a male crouched near the front door didn’t see him as he walked up to join him, but when Theron stopped a few feet away from him, he turned his head. His eyes flashed a wildness he hadn’t expected, but the male was his father.
“Dad, it’s me,” he said quietly as he moved toward him.
But the response he got wasn’t what he expected.
“Go away,” Ramiel growled. “Whoever you are, go before I make you go.”
His words so full of rage stopped Theron in his tracks. He understood his anger and shared in it. He just thought when he finally found him again that he’d be happier to see his own son.
Gingerly, he took another step and stopped. “Dad, it’s me. Theron. Your son. I’m here to fight with you and kill those bastards who took my mother.”
His father said nothing, but after a few moments, he leaned forward and stared at him. It had been a few weeks, so undoubtedly he’d changed since the last time they saw one another. Theron had gotten used to how fast his appearance transformed from one day to the next, but he suspected his father didn’t recognize him now.
“Theron?” he asked in his usual gruff voice, now tinged with a kindness few heard from the Visigoth vampire.
Nodding, Theron smiled. “Dad, it’s me. I know I probably look different. I’m still growing and changing, but it’s me, your son. I’ve come to fight with you.”
Ramiel walked toward him shaking his head. “I wouldn’t know you if you hadn’t said your name. You look so different.”
He stopped in front of Theron and nodded. “But now up close and I see your eyes, I can’t believe I didn’t know you instantly. You always did have your mother’s eyes.”
“I thought I had your eyes,” the young vampire answered, unable to let himself think about her at that moment for fear he might be overwhelmed by emotion.
“No. Never my eyes. Your mother’s, though, definitely. I can’t believe you’re here. How did you find me?”
“I just focused on the image of you in my mind and it brought me here,” Theron explained. “It feels like it should have been easier since you’re my father, but maybe this power is just new.”
Ramiel opened his mouth to speak but only shook his head instead. “I guess Kali didn’t get a chance to mention that power before I left.” He hesitated for a moment and then continued. “How are the rest of the Sons?”
“They’re fine, Dad. They have their assignments, and now that you’ve begun the war, they’re ready, just like me.”
“Did that son of a bitch Nico force you into service already?” his father asked in disgust.
Theron smiled, happy to tell him the truth of what happened. “He didn’t have to. I’m the head of the Sons of Navarus now, Dad. As for Nico, he was a spy for the Archons the whole time. A traitor. He’s gone over to their side, and the first chance I get to stake that bastard, I’m going to.”
His news made his father step back into the shadows. Shaking his head, Ramiel sighed. “A spy? For how long?”
“We have no idea. His sire is with the Archons and has been for a while. Kali told us because he’s her sire too. Some guy named Consera. He’s a magistrate who’s behind the whole Archon takeover.”
Ramiel blew the air out of his lungs. “Jesus Christ. Nico a traitor. Now I’ve heard everything. I had my problems with him, but I would have never thought he’d turn on the Sons.”
“We don’t need him. I’ve taken over, and everyone has their assignments in this war,” Theron said proudly, happy to give that piece of news to the man who had worked so hard to protect him until he was ready.
But now he was, and he didn’t want to waste any more time waiting.
Ramiel looked at him and smiled. “I guess I didn’t have to worry about you, after all.”
“I guess not. Now I can fight alongside you and get those bastards who took Mom from us. I want to kill them all, Dad. Every last one of them.”
“We will.” Ramiel hung his head and sighed. “I just want to tell you I’m sorry, Theron.”
“For what?”
His father let out another sigh, this one deeper than the first. “A lot of things. Mostly, for not finding her in time.” He looked up at Theron and continued, “But I tried. I loved your mother more than life itself. And when I lost her, I thought I lost everything. But now I know I shouldn’t have left you and your sister. You needed me, and I wasn’t there. I’m sorry for that too.”
Theron patted his father’s shoulder in sympathy for what he knew he was going through. Of all the things that were odd about his life, the one part that had always made him feel normal was how much his parents loved one another.
“I know, Dad. I know you would have saved her if you could. Her death isn’t your fault. It’s theirs. And when they’re eliminated from this world, there better not be anyone who says it wasn’t the right thing to do because I’ll have something to say about that. And don’t worry about Leta and me. Terek and Ilona are the best stand-in parents around. She was happy and healthy the last time I saw her, and when this war is over, you can go back and bring her home. She’s growing like a weed, so you won’t have a baby to look after either.”
“Let’s just hope she’s not a teenager by the time this war ends,” his father said in a sad voice.
“Well, she’s not growing like I did, so at least there’s that. She looks a lot like Mom, too.”
“She must be beautiful.”
The two vampires said nothing else because all they could think of was Noele. Theron read hi
s father’s mind and knew how much sadness he was hiding. He understood why. He didn’t let the rest of the world know how much it hurt to not have her around anymore either.
Ramiel’s face grew stony, and he shook his head as if to rid himself of all that emotion he kept bottled up. “Time to get these fucks for what they did.”
Looking up at building in front of them, Theron nodded. “I’m ready. Who’s here?”
“The Archon of Paris. He’s the last of the French Archons. You like the way he lives in this palatial estate? Six floors of luxury when he’s supposed to be working for the vampires he rules over. Time for him to see what life on the other side looks like.”
“How many vampires are in there with him?”
“Half a dozen maybe. They’ve been leaving in droves since they got the news of what I was doing around the country. He’s still in there, though, with a handful of staff. I don’t care about them. They didn’t do anything to deserve what he does, so don’t bother with them unless they come at you. So far, I haven’t had anyone do that at any Archon office I’ve hit.”
As they walked around the back of the building, Theron thought about how easy those vampires who worked for the Archons were getting off. They made the choice to work for a bureaucracy that did nothing to help their fellow vampires. Bliss ravaged their populations, and still they worked for these fuckers. The Archons wanted a war with the only vampires who had ever tried to help all their kind, and still they stayed loyal to their bosses.
No, he wouldn’t be letting them go like his father chose to. That was his right, but Theron had no patience for vampires whose greatest excuse was they were only doing what they were told. Nope. That didn’t work for him, so if he had the chance to send any of them on to the Underworld, he’d take it willingly.
War had come, and there were only two sides. Too bad they had chosen the wrong one.
Moments later, Ramiel and Theron walked into the building that had looked so plain from the outside. The inside, however, was far different. White marble floors ran throughout, and gold fixtures more ornate than anything Theron had ever seen even in books were everywhere. In the corner of each room stood white marble columns that resembled those in the Order’s headquarters.
“These Archons are supposed to be working for all vampires’ benefit and they live like this?” he asked as his father checked his hip for his stake.
“It looks like someone’s been working for himself for a long time,” Ramiel mumbled as they walked down a main hallway.
They passed a conference room with a table and chairs for twenty-five and two crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Three gold candelabras positioned around the room were the only light in that room and gave it a spooky feel.
“Are you sure he’s still here?” Theron whispered as they made their way down the passageway.
Ramiel nodded. “He’s here. I can practically smell his fear. Like others of his kind, he’s not a fighter, so he’s scared. He’s heard about my travels in the past few nights and knows he’s next.”
They came upon a room with the door locked, and Theron knew they’d found him. He searched the minds of the four vampires inside and read their thoughts. Everything but regret for who they chose to support in their world raced through their heads.
If even one of them other than the Archon had just considered what they’d done to the rest of the vampire world a mistake, he would have let them go. But not a single one did.
So they’d be turned to dust, too, like their boss.
Turning to look at his father, he mouthed the words, “They’re inside.”
And with that, Ramiel lifted his foot and knocked down the door. Theron had never seen his father so physically imposing before. The man who let him place bugs on his toes when he was a little boy now marched through a door into the offices of the Paris Archon like he’d been moving through the hedges outside.
He said nothing, but let out a low growl when the four vampires huddling in the corner of the room put up their hands in surrender. As if that was a possibility now.
Theron wanted to let them know exactly why they were about to meet their fate, though. As his father pulled the Archon up onto his feet and across the room to the opposite corner, he stood over the three females cowering before him and looked down at them with nothing but disgust.
“You think because you’re not an Archon that you shouldn’t have to suffer like he will in the next few seconds. You’re wrong.”
The youngest looking of the females began to cry when behind him Ramiel staked the Archon. “Why are you blaming us? We’re just like everyone else. We never had a choice.”
Shaking his head, Theron refused to let that excuse go. “At some point along the way, you had a choice to make, and you made the wrong one. You had a choice to stand by your fellow vampires and help them instead of working in a place like this that puts the lives of most of us to shame for a vampire like your boss.”
“That’s not true,” she sobbed. “You don’t understand what it’s like to be a female vampire. Working for an Archon is the best job we can get.”
Fuck her and her bullshit excuses. “They’ve let loose that shit Bliss, and everyone knows it. I can read your minds and I see what you’re thinking. ‘It’s not my fault. I never had control of anything. I was just doing my job.’ The problem with that is you knew what he and his kind were doing and still you turned your head and looked away.”
The female next to her raised her hands higher in the air and said in a tiny voice, “We did know something, but what could we do? How could we stop it? You know as well as we do how powerful Archons are in our world. What would you do if you knew what they were doing?”
Theron turned around and pointed his stake at where his father stood next to a pile of dust that used to be the Paris Archon. “I’d fucking stake them just as we plan to do tonight and every night after until there are none of them left.”
“We aren’t like you, though. You’re warriors. We’re just females,” she said in a trembling voice.
He thought back to what he’d seen in Dante’s mind about how his mother looked after the Archons tortured her and left her for dead. As strong as she’d been, she still was just a female up against a group of males who chose to hurt her instead of protecting her. Were these three terrified female vampires any different?
As much as he wanted to punish them for making the wrong choice, he could hear his mother’s voice in his head telling him being the vampire he was came with responsibilities. If she saw him now, she’d warn him he would be no better than the Archons he hated for killing her if he hurt these females.
She’d remind him that of all the things the Prophecy of Idolas claimed he’d be, the savior of the vampire world was the most important.
He looked into their eyes and saw the utter terror in them. In their minds, they were sure he would kill them like they’d always believed would happen if they disobeyed the Archon. To them, no matter what he wanted to think, he was as bad as the ones he sought to destroy.
His father walked up behind him and patted him on the shoulder. “Leave them be, Theron. They aren’t our enemies. They’re as much victims of the way Archons have terrorized our world as your mother.”
As his emotions swirled around inside him, Theron knew what his father said was right. Whatever he’d been born to do, it wasn’t to slaughter defenseless females like the Archons had done to his mother. Her memory deserved better than that.
Finally, he lowered his stake and looked over at Ramiel. “Fine, but I want to take out the next Archon.”
His father nodded and turned to walk away. “That’s fine with me. When we’re done with the local offices, we can go to headquarters and you can stake as many as you like. There I won’t stop you from taking out anyone.”
As he backed away from the three females, they began to cry and thanked him for sparing them. It should have made him feel good about what he’d done, but all it made him want to do was f
ind another Archon fast. His vengeance hadn’t been sated in the least yet that night, and if it didn’t happen soon, he couldn’t promise he wouldn’t take out his anger on the next group of innocent victims.
That’s not the kind of vampire he wanted to be. However, he wouldn’t be able to contain his rage at what he’d lost for much longer. Archon or not, someone would help him take the edge off his need for revenge that night.
When he caught up with his father outside, Theron thought he saw more sadness in his eyes than before. Confused, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
Ramiel sighed. “I thought killing Archons would make me feel better, would make me miss your mother less. I’d hoped getting my revenge would help get rid of the empty feeling I’ve had since I lost her.”
“We’ll make them pay, Dad. Every last one of them. They’ll pay for what they took away from us.”
He nodded and forced a smile. “She’d be proud of you, Theron. I know what you wanted to do back there, but she’d be proud that you didn’t.”
“Are you proud, Dad?”
“I’ve always been proud of you, son. Next up is Germany. Are you ready?”
Theron nodded. “Let’s get them.”
He didn’t care where they went next. He just wanted his revenge on the Archons, and even though he didn’t know it before tonight, he cared about fighting next to his father in this war he was born for.
Chapter Five
Vasilije pulled Sasa close to him as they walked across the threshold of the Dracos’ castle. In a few hours, he, Terek, and the dragons would go to war, so he wanted to have her next to him every minute until then. He’d lost too many moments with her already, moments he’d never get back.
Every time he thought about those nights he spent without her, he couldn’t stop the rage inside him from bubbling up to the surface. He didn’t want to always react that way. Fuck, part of him wished he could just be the vampire everyone thought he was—uncaring, thoughtless, and cold.
