And he had learned to make light of his own existence. It was the only way. Laughter was the best antidote to the poison of life. He was the butt of his own joke. A vampire hunter turned vampire.
Charlene reached out to squeeze his hand. But she didn't say a word, just waited for him to carry on. She was listening intently, wanting to know everything about him, about her vampire mate.
“Only Master vampires can turn someone into a vampire,” he told her. “Ordinary vamps just drink, or kill. Do you know how a Master vampire turns another into a vampire?”
When she shook her head, he said slowly, “By draining the person's blood, and forcing the person to drink his blood. Yes, even after he drained me, it took three vampires to hold me down and force my mouth open while he pressed his slit wrist to my mouth and poured his blood down my throat.”
She pressed trembling fingers to her lips, stifling a cry. “Oh Glenn,” she whispered, the pain evident in her voice.
He hugged her to him. “Maybe I should thank the bastard. If he hadn't turned me, I wouldn't have met you.”
“But he is no longer around, is he?” she said shrewdly.
He smiled at her. Clever Charlene.
“No, he's not,” Glenn answered. “Shortly after I was turned, the Great War broke out. I jumped at the chance to enlist in the vampire army to get away from my Master. But I should have known that he had let me get away on purpose. He was just playing with me, letting me think I had escaped. I was a good soldier. I obeyed the vampire generals and fought well, but when my Master finally swooped into my army camp, demanding my return, the generals had to let me go. My Master humiliated and punished me in front of the whole camp. I was angry, filled with hate and blood lust. When he was about to tear out my heart, I exploded with wrath and pain. I killed him on the spot, right in front of my generals and all the troops. A vampire became a Master vampire by taking out his Master, so there I was, a Master vampire in charge of his vile coven. I didn't want anything to do with it. I sent all the vamps in the coven on their separate ways, and remained in the army. After my little display of violent rage, I was swiftly promoted through the ranks. Vampires are funny creatures. I should have been locked up, labeled insane and put in a straightjacket. Instead I was lauded and applauded. But I strove to be a far better Master vampire than the Master vampire I had killed and replaced. Over the centuries, I turned some humans into vampires but I never bound them to me. I did it to save their lives. And I tried to make sure that they were good people before I turned them. An evil person became an evil vampire. You don't change their natures, just their diets. They were free to live their own lives as vampires, and some moved across the continents and I never heard from them again. But always, I can feel their last breath. I always know when a vampire that I have turned is about to breathe his or her last as a vampire.”
Charlene turned round to face him. “That's...hard. Like a parent having to watch his child die,” she said at last. “Have you turned anyone—recently?”
He nodded, smiling a little. “I turned Bryn Ellis. Bryn is a PAC Enforcer, like Charlotte. In fact, she is Charlotte's partner. They work together as a team. They play and party together as well. She's a good Enforcer, a good friend to Charlotte. They have each other's backs,” he assured her.
Charlene smiled, her eyes growing misty. “She really is a good vamp, like you said. I like her. A lot.”
“Caleb Thorn was turned quite recently as well. That boy is...rowdy. Like Bryn, he was turned in his twenties, so he will always remain a pretty boy. Not an old man like me,” Glenn finished with an exaggerated grimace.
“You're not old,” Charlene hurried to say. “Well, you're not old old. You are...” She searched desperately for the right word. “Ancient.”
“Thank you. That makes me feel so much better.”
She winced. “You know what I mean.”
“No I don't.”
“Yes you do.”
“So...” Glenn began slowly, trying to keep his tone light and casual. “What are you going to do with your ancient vampire mate? Are you going to fuck his brains out then forsake him?”
Are you planning to do something that would tear him apart, hurt him deeper than any mortal wound ever could? Are you planning to hurt yourself, Charlene?
She pushed herself up and knelt beside him. Taking his face in both her hands, she replied, “I am going to love him, with everything I've got, with all the time I have...left.” She whispered the last word.
“Charlene, no.” He refused to let go of her hand this time, even though she tried to pull away. “You are not going to kill a demon lord. That is insane! That is suicide!”
She glared back at him, her expression grim and determined.
“Charlene, I will help you. You don't have to do this. You can't do this! Sideous Kron is an ancient demon. He will kill you and entrap your soul—forever. I know that he has done it to some of his Made demons. I haven't lived so long without seeing a thing or two, Charlene. Trust me. I will free you from Kron.”
She opened and shut her mouth wordlessly. Finally she turned away and mumbled, “I have to go.”
“Like hell you do!”
“Glenn, just let me go. I...”
“No.”
“I will come back. I promise!” Her eyes glowed red with tears, her plea earnest and aching.
Glenn loosened his grip on her and felt her hand slip from his. A mate promise meant something to him. It meant everything to him.
“Has Kron summoned you?” he asked quietly as he watched her drag on her dress and her shoes.
She froze, then forced her shaking fingers to continue pulling up the zipper at the side of her dress, covering her fair, fleshy body from his starved eyes.
“Y-yes. I hear him. And...if I don't go, he will drag me kicking and screaming back to him.”
Glenn made a sound of frustration and fury.
He strode forward and grabbed her shoulders. “I. Will. Free. You.”
She tried to smile up at him, but he read her answer in her eyes. You can't.
“I will, Charlene. I promise.”
He hugged her fiercely to him, and leaned down to press a hard, bruising kiss to her lips. “Go, Charlene, but promise me you'll be safe.”
“I promise. He won't touch me.”
Taking a steadying breath, she stepped back from him and disappeared before his eyes. In a heartbeat, she had teleported to Kron, denying him the satisfaction and fun of dragging her through the Abyss to him.
Glenn felt the familiar chill and emptiness creep back into his bedroom with her departure. She was gone.
He wavered by the rumpled bed, picturing their heated, entwined bodies in the sheets and shook himself. Dressing quickly, he misted back to his office before the sun rose.
He materialized just outside his office door, beside Philomi's desk. She would be in soon, and he decided that maybe he would make coffee for her just this once. He knew how to work the coffee machine. He might be ancient, as Charlene had so bluntly and accurately put it, but he wasn't out of it.
Modern appliances didn't faze him.
Neither did gloating, controlling demon lords.
He would kill Sideous Kron if he could. But he couldn't.
Destroying Sideous Kron would destroy all the demons he Made as well. It was a catch-22 situation.
But Glenn was determined to get his mate out of this situation.
Kron had to be destroyed.
Glenn switched on the coffee machine and stabbed furiously at the buttons. The machine began to spew out two cups of cappuccino, one cup of caffe latte and one cup of black coffee. Glenn blinked at the busy little machine. There was no stopping it. He had pressed too many buttons and too many cups of coffee was what he was getting.
What the heck. He could do with the caffeine this morning.
Balancing all the cups of coffee onto a tray and taking them into his office, Glenn drained two cups of the hot, bitter brew and tapped at hi
s watch. All PAC members had the watch, and it enabled them to contact any Council member, wherever he or she may be.
It was very early morning in New Moon City, and the city was still quiet and barely awake.
But the person he was contacting wasn't in New Moon City at the moment.
He waited until he heard a click. “Hello, Glenn, you're up early. Catching the sunrise?” Zorath's voice came through. The demon prince was certainly in a jaunty mood after defeating Prince Deviazel's army and securing his demon kingdom.
“Zorath, I trust everything is well in your kingdom.” Glenn sat down heavily in his leather chair.
“Everything is as it should be. Thanks to the Council and the city.”
Glenn, together with the other Council members and quite a number of intrepid New Moon City civilians had leaped headlong through a Gateway and into the demon battle on the side of Zorath's army. Glenn knew that Zorath was grateful for their help, and had wanted to return to New Moon City to serve the city in his capacity as a PAC member, but Lucas has insisted that he stay in his realm and put his kingdom back in order first. There was a lot to do after a bloody battle, a lot to clean up and put right.
A pause. “Glenn, if there is anything you need, anything at all, just ask.”
“There is something I need to ask you.”
“What do you need to know?”
“I need to know how to destroy a demon lord. Without...destroying one of his Made demons.” Glenn stared at the clock on the opposite wall, watching the seconds ticking away ponderously. Never before had he felt the weight and pressure of time so acutely. In fact, time had long since lost all meaning for him. But now, he felt time coiling and tightening around his neck like a noose.
Time was running out.
And he may just lose the most precious thing, the one person he had spent his life searching and hoping for.
There was a long silence, and when Zorath spoke again, his tone was quiet, too quiet, and his first words were, “I'm sorry, Glenn.”
CHAPTER TEN
Charlene teleported straight into Sideous Kron's living room, just as Kron was about to throw a tantrum and unleash his inner demon.
The demon lord was raising his cane, his horns unfurling and his claws and fangs making their dramatic appearance.
“You called?” Charlene said nonchalantly, plonking herself onto the sofa in front of the fireplace. “No need to yank my leash. You called, I came, you conquered. No need to get all your hardware out.” She indicated his horns and descending fangs. They don't scare me. Not anymore.
She yawned loudly and made a show of stretching out her legs and lacing her fingers behind her head.
Kron lowered his cane, and his smiling, human facade gradually rippled back into place. “You're cutting it real close, Charlene. Just one second later, and you'll be flailing and screaming your way to me, instead of strolling in here and sitting pretty on my sofa.” His smile was thin and threatening.
Charlene massaged her temples. “I was working the whole night. You instructed me to work the vampire, remember? I was doing exactly that. It's exhausting!” She looked up with a huff. “If you're wanting your signed contract, I'm afraid I don't have it yet. But I'm close. This close to getting him to sign.” She showed a tiny gap between her thumb and forefinger to emphasize her point.
“I knew you were the right gal for the job. And yes, I can tell that you've seduced him. The vile smell of sex is all over you.” Kron pinched his nose. “Even a succubus couldn't have done a better job.”
It was a backhanded compliment, and Charlene gritted her teeth in a forced smile. “Thank you.”
“You know, Charlene,” Kron said, taking a seat in the large armchair opposite her. “In all this time, I have only ever Made demons. I have never sired them. Do you want to know why?”
No, not really.
“Why?” she asked, looking suitably interested and impressed.
He removed his monocle and polished it on his sleeve. He was in his usual white jacket, and silly top hat. Perhaps he thought this getup lent him an air of respectability and trustworthiness. Whatever.
Charlene had already made up her mind that she would not remain a slave, a blood demoness, a hunter and tormentor of unsuspecting shifters. She had resolved to destroy Kron, and destroy herself in the process, rather than live on as a monster. She would just spend the last few nights of her life as a demoness with Glenn, take one last look at her sister and make sure that Charlotte was indeed happy, well and loved, and then...she would go out with a bang.
The decision had come to her suddenly, but clearly. She knew that she had to do it. It was the right thing to do. The only thing for her to do.
She should never have allowed herself to be Made into a demon. The price was simply too high and too harrowing to pay.
But if she hadn't been Made into a blood demon, she would never have had this night of bliss with Glenn. She would never learn that her sister was happily mated to the PAC Alpha and had become a courageous, young Enforcer.
She had been given a chance. A chance to take out the fiendish demon lord.
So perhaps there was a purpose she had been Made into a blood demoness. Her days as a blood demoness may be short and numbered, but she would make damn sure that she had not endured the Abyss in vain. She would take herself out of Kron's bloody game, and she would try to take him out as well.
Once she had made up her mind, a calm had settled over her. A calm and a certain light-heartedness. Things weren't so bad, and nothing was that serious. Coz' everything would be ending real soon.
Kron snapped her name, his voice hard and sharp like a whip.
Charlene wiped the loopy smile from her face and straightened up. “Yes.” She swallowed and said quickly, “You were telling me why you only Make demons. I'm guessing you don't like the act involved in siring demon young, sir.”
Kron laughed, apparently appeased. “Good, good. For a moment there, you looked like you weren't really listening to me. Like you were thinking—perhaps plotting something.”
Charlene arranged her features into a shocked expression. Me? Plotting? No way! How can I be plotting when I'm listening. Listening, yup, that's all I'm doing here. Listening to your stupid, self-satisfied story of why you're such a frigid old fart!
Kron replaced his monocle and peered at her. “You're partly right. But the main reason is because the lives of my Made demons are linked inextricably to mine. You can't trust your sired demons not to turn on you and destroy you one fine day. But Made demons can't do that. They can't do me in without doing themselves in. We'll all be sucked back into the Abyss, to be tortured by the flames for all eternity. Beauty, eh? And if my Made demons killed themselves or are killed before I free them, they end up on my shelf by my fireplace. Forever. They can never be free, unless I free them. If you serve me well, Charlene, I may free you ahead of your time.”
Charlene was staring into the fireplace, his words swirling and echoing around her.
Her plan clicked into place. It was perfect. That was exactly what she would do. Drag Kron down into the Abyss with her. She would burn for all eternity, but so be it.
Destroy Kron, condemn herself.
The first part was the hard part.
How was she going to destroy a demon lord who was way older and way more powerful than her? If she failed—
They can never be free, unless I free them.
Her soul would be his prize. She would be trapped forever.
She stared at the row of snow globes on the shelf beside the fireplace. The ghostly impressions floating in those globes were—his prize. The poor demons who had tried to free themselves. Only they hadn't freed themselves. They were trapped forever, doomed to be Kron's ornamental souls till the end of time.
Those snow globes were unbreakable. She had accidentally knocked one to the floor when she was trying to teleport for the first time. The globe had simply thudded to the floor and lay there unbroken and intact. She had
hurriedly replaced the ornament, carrying it up with both hands. She remembered being surprised by its weight. For such a small, delicate looking thing, it sure weighed a lot. It was the weight of a soul.
She blinked hard, and shook her head, tearing her eyes away from those sorrowful soul globes. No. She would not spend eternity trapped in a crystal ball, gazing out at Kron's atrocities helplessly, regretting every single moment of her existence.
They can't do me in without doing themselves in. We'll all be sucked back into the Abyss, to be tortured by the flames for all eternity. Beauty, eh?
Yeah.
Beauty.
The Abyss, here we come!
Charlene blinked up to see Kron studying her with narrowed eyes. Beaming, she said quickly, “Thank you for your offer to free me ahead of my time, sir. May I ask how many demons you have free thus far?” Charlene asked sweetly.
From the look Kron gave her, Charlene had her answer.
None.
“Get me the land soon, Charlene,” Kron ordered coldly. “Then we'll talk about your freedom.”
She nodded and pretended to stifle a yawn. “Would you be needing my presence in your castle, sir? I really need to rest to get my energy back so that I'll be able to hunt for more beasts and blood for you tonight. As well as, you know, work that vampire.”
He dismissed her with an agitated wave of his hand.
“Get me the signed contract soon, Charlene. I want that land,” Kron snarled.
Charlene stood and gave a deep curtsey. “Don't worry.” Start worrying. “You'll get it.” Over my dead body.
With a tight smile, she teleported away.
She materialized at a street corner in the middle of the city, not far from where she had been mauled to death by a rogue werewolf little more than a year ago.
She rubbed her arms, shivering involuntarily. She bore no physical scars from the attack. All her wounds and scars had disappeared when she became a blood demoness.
She began to walk slowly down the street, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the city. New Moon City hadn't changed much. She had walked down these familiar streets as a human, going to work, rushing to Charlene's school events, picking up groceries. All the little things in life. The little things that made up a full life.
Vampire Mate: BBW Paranormal Romance Page 9
