Seth, a Vampire-Shifter, burst out laughing. “That was easy. Classic council members. They can tell Trackers how to fight, but they can’t fight their way out of a wet paper bag.”
Volod smiled to himself. This went exceptionally well.
Jorge nodded. “Cuff them and follow me. You council members might like to see your leader—the one you thought called this little meeting.”
As the council members were led into Leticia’s office, Volod strode in behind them. “Excellent,” he said, letting his pleasure emerge in his tone. “The Paranorm Council is now mine.”
Volod narrowed his eyes as he continued. “The very council responsible for the deaths of so many of my own. Death would be too good for each one of you.” Satisfaction filled him as if he were feeding on a sweet young female. “You hate the thought of becoming one of us, don’t you? But you will like it when it happens.”
Bethany looked panicked and shook her head.
“Monique, choose four Vampire paranorms, and you may all have a by a"0"ite to eat on me. The four remaining council members are yours for your dining pleasure.” Volod rested his gaze on the council members. “I do not need the upset stomach their blood would give me. Especially when I have all of you here to do it for me.”
Volod thought about the rush he’d had earlier when he’d bitten Leticia. How deliciously satisfying it had been feeding on a human afterward to clear the queasiness in his stomach.
Now he would sit back and enjoy the scene. He loved watching the fear on subjects’ faces just before their necks were ravaged and their blood drained. That this was the Paranorm Council made tonight extra special.
The council … the powerful group that, along with the Trackers, had virtually destroyed him. And now he would see them added to the ranks serving him.
Not to mention, this would be just one more bit of anguish for the Drow bitch. He wanted Nyx to suffer, and that day would come.
Her leader, Rodán, taken, and now the council. He smiled, thinking of how Nyx must feel with the net slowly surrounding her and tightening. The thought gave him almost as much of a high as watching events here.
“I want you to remove the gags. Especially the gray-haired hag.” Volod pointed to Leticia. “I want to hear the pleading cries before the meal is devoured.”
Seth and Janet began removing the gags.
Volod gestured to Bethany and Caolan. “What is wrong with these two? They look drugged.”
Katherine looked from the council members to him. “I shot a tranquilizer spell at them. It slows every aspect of the mind, including motor skills.”
Volod scowled. “I prefer them conscious. I like to see the shocked look on their faces when they are bitten.” He walked up to Bethany and sniffed the air. “I want to smell their fear, watch their futile struggle.”
As he paced in front of the council members, looking them over one by one, he added, “I want the spell removed so that the two are bitten with clear heads.”
“Yes, Volod,” the Witch said.
Volod smiled at Leticia, his tongue taking a quick swipe of his lips as her gag was removed. “Just one more bite and you are mine.”
“We shall never serve you,” Leticia said as she glanced at her captured council members.
Volod smiled, his words cold, calculating. “I will break you soon enough.”
He saw a hint of fear flicker in Leticia’s gray eyes. Finally, he thought. He clenched his teeth and slowly paced the width of the office as his gaze moved over the other four council members. “Yes,” he said more to himself than them. “It will be very useful keeping you alive.
“However”—Volod turned to Reginald—“perhaps I should consider eliminating you.” The sour-faced elderly Shifter was angry and disagreeable. “You have lived far beyond the time you should have.”
Reginald’sn>R angry a face screwed up into a mass of tight wrinkles. “You may as well. I will not serve you.”
Volod brushed aside the Shifter’s words with a wave. “I will not waste my time with any further conversation.”
His gaze moved to the Werewolf, Eric. “You were far easier to take down than I expected.” Amusement flickered through Volod at the look of fury that met him. Eric’s strength and agility had made him difficult to catch at first, but he had been subdued in a relatively short amount of time.
Volod looked over at Caolan, one of the Light Elves. “You are quite a prize, are you not?”
Life was back in Caolan’s eyes. Volod wondered if it was fear he saw, too. If not for the bit of the Basilisk serum, the Light Elf would have persevered, but in the end, he too was Volod’s.
It was not easy to put fear into these council members, yet now he felt the emotion in the room.
“One thing puzzles me.” Volod went up to the extraordinarily beautiful blond Siren. “What do they call you again? What kind of a paranorm?”
“She is a water Fae, Volod.” Monique answered for the silent Siren.
Water Fae. Volod stopped pacing as he sensed something different about her that reminded him of two other Fae creatures. They had been Undines, not susceptible to a Vampire’s bite. Both had been bitten twice, and drained the second night. Neither had risen when it was time to, leaving them dead, not undead.
Could that have been why they had not turned? Because they were water Fae? If it was so, he would simply eliminate the water Fae rather than take the time for them to be bitten a second time then buried.
“Ah yes, a water Fae. Two others who looked much like you were bitten recently, and they seemed to be immune to a Vampire’s bite. I have no use for a paranorm who can’t be turned.
“You shall be a test.” Volod gave a decisive nod. “If you do not rise, then I will know your kind are not worth dealing with.”
Bethany scowled but lost none of her beauty. “To die would be a far better fate than to serve you.”
Volod smiled again, letting the chill of his thoughts come out in his words. “You would go well with the decor in my bedroom. Even if you do not turn, it is very tempting to chain you to my bed for my pleasure. I just may do that.”
The Siren’s cheeks turned slightly green.
She began to sing.
For a moment Volod was too surprised to react. Her song was magical, magnificent.
He felt dazed as he watched Monique stride across the room. Monique slapped Bethany hard enough that the sound echoed throughout the room. Abruptly she stopped singing.
As he came back to his senses, Volod shook his head. Bethany had attempted to use her Siren’s song against him.
Monique reached for a stack of papers on Leticia’s desk and removedsk rne the large clamp. “Jorge, hold this Siren for me,” she said calmly.
Jorge grabbed the Siren from behind, wrapping his arm around Bethany’s throat.
Monique raised the clamp. “Let’s see her tongue.”
The Siren clenched her lips tight.
Jorge’s forearm dug into the Siren’s throat and her mouth came open, her tongue out.
Monique pressed the large clamp open, fit it over Bethany’s tongue, then released it. The Siren groaned.
“That will shut you up,” Monique said.
The pale green that had blossomed beneath her skin faded.
“Enough of all of this talk,” Volod said. “Take them down, Monique.”
Monique’s eyes sparkled with excitement. Volod knew she had loved the faux-Vampire experience even before she was turned. She had shared with him that the real thing took it to ecstasy beyond her dreams.
For her it was all still something sexual, just as it had been before she was turned. She had told Volod that there was nothing better than to bite, then finish the night off with him.
Volod watched as Monique caught Elizabeth’s eye. A look of hatred from Elizabeth told Volod that she was boiling from the fact he had not chosen her to assist him tonight.
Monique looked away to the other Vampires. “Janet,” she said, “take the big, and now
not so bad, Werewolf.”
Monique smiled as she stroked Bethany’s arm. “I will take Miss Pretty here. The Siren.”
Volod felt almost intoxicated as he watched Monique take complete charge. He especially loved it when she took control over Elizabeth.
“Elizabeth, take the shriveled one there.” Monique pointed to Reginald, not even looking Elizabeth’s way.
Elizabeth looked disgusted. “I don’t need to be sick for days from biting a paranorm. There is no human to take after sucking on this wrinkled-up prune. Pick someone else, I won’t do it.”
“Katherine, the old guy is yours,” Monique instructed without hesitation. It was as if she had purposefully ordered Elizabeth to bite Reginald, knowing that the Vampire would refuse.
Volod saw some fear in the council but was amazed at how they accepted their fate. They were unlike most humans, who screamed like frightened little six-year-olds when they realized what was happening. And observing the council, which had almost destroyed him, was more satisfying to him than biting ten humans. “Dinner is served,” Volod said.
The paranorm Vampires stepped forward. Katherine walked up to Reginald. With her amazing strength, she gripped the old Shifter’s upper arms with her hands. She showed her fangs a second before she buried them into his neck.
His only response was to close his eyes. His body twitched.
Janet would not have been much of a match for Eric, Volod thought, had it not been for the restraint system. The belts went around his waist and through his crotch to hold his wrists taut behind his back. They even held his ankles and elbows in place.
Janet grabbed a chair in front of the desk and pulled it up to the tall Werewolf. Eric seemed to know that struggle was futile and only would make it all the more enjoyable for Volod. He obviously had resolved to not show emotion.
The Metamorph stood on the chair, looked into Eric’s eyes, and then slid her fangs deep into his neck. There was no movement from Eric. He stood there as if nothing was happening.
Impressive, thought Volod. The strength of such a Paranorm would serve the cause well once he was turned.
Just as Eric was taken, Katherine was all over Caolan’s neck, moving him back and forth like a lion trying to shake the life out of its next meal. Like Reginald, Caolan closed his eyes as he accepted his fate. Katherine continued ravaging him.
Monique tapped Katherine on the shoulder. “I’m glad you are enjoying the feast, but I think that’s enough, Katherine. Leave a little flesh on him.”
Katherine swiped her tongue over the bite marks, stopping the flow of blood, before she stepped back.
Volod smiled as he studied the Siren, who was watching in horror as her fellow council members were bitten. By the way her whole body trembled, he could tell that the blood dripping from the slumping paranorms and from the Vampires’ mouths was obviously too much for her.
Monique turned toward the Siren and moved forward. Volod knew that given a choice, Monique preferred to bite males, but she would still relish this little pretty. Volod loved watching her take another, especially a female, and Monique knew that.
Bethany was cuffed from behind. She worked her tongue out of the clamp and spit it out. “You will regret this, you bitch,” she screamed. “You were one of us. How can you do this? You were a leader.”
Bethany backed up. Her cuffs dropped to the carpet with a soft thump. With terror on her face, the Siren bolted through the unguarded door.
“Stop her,” Janet screamed.
Monique held out her hand. A half-inch-thick, twisted vinelike rope flew from her fingertips, extending through the door and around the corner.
A shriek came from Bethany, and Monique’s face lit up. She looked like a little kid who’d just hooked the big one. She pulled quickly on the vine. Bethany stumbled backward into the room, the vine wrapped around her neck.
Staying in place, Monique jerked hard on the vine, spinning Bethany around. She continued to reel Bethany in until she was inches from her face.
“Thank you for doing that, Bethany,” Monique said in a low, sensual voice. “I love, as Volod does, the futile struggle as he calls it, of such a prize. You made my night and his.”
The eyes of the red-faced Siren looked like they were going to bulge out as the vine strangled her. Therelede c was no more struggle left within her. Suddenly the vine disappeared and the Siren was left gasping for breath.
Monique grabbed Bethany in what could have been mistaken for a lover’s embrace. White fangs flashed before they were lost in the side of the Siren’s neck. Bethany began to struggle hard, but she was no match for Monique, who continued to bite, her breathing as loud as if she were being pleasured in Volod’s bed.
Monique finally pulled away from the Siren, who did not slump and quiet down like the others. The bite seemed to have little or no effect on her.
Monique looked to Janet. “Cuff her again. Use the full restraint system this time so there is no chance of escape. We will take her with us.” She turned to Volod. “I don’t see much effect from the
bite. You just might have a new adornment for your bed-bite. You just might have a new adornment for your bedroom.”
Volod nodded. “You know me well already.” How he loved to watch the enthusiasm of Monique’s attacks—no one he had ever known was a match for her.
“Have your team get them out of here, Monique,” Volod said as he looked at her. “Then we will return to the brownstone. I want to see you in my suite.”
She gave a slight bow of her head. “Of course.”
“Elizabeth.” He turned his gaze to the redheaded Vampire who stood just to his side. “Come with me.”
He didn’t wait for her, allowing her to walk in his wake. She would realize soon enough what her position with Volod had been reduced to. In the limo he chose not to talk with her. She did not break the silence.
While in the limo, Volod thought about how talented the Trackers were—yet stupid enough that he was able to take control of so many so easily. They hadn’t seen any of this coming.
If he had their powers for his own, he could rule all.
His plan would gain him the same result, though. He would rule all—through the paranorms.
Unfortunately, the Trackers knew what he was up to now. The element of surprise was gone.
SEVENTEEN
As soon as they entered the brownstone, Elizabeth followed him upstairs. What an amazing twenty-six hours it had been, Volod thought. To capture and turn Rodán, and now to have taken control of the Paranorm Council.
It was time for a reward.
After he strode through a door into the bedroom of his suite and Elizabeth had closed the door behind them, he said to her, “Take off your clothing.”
She paused and just looked at him. “Why?”
Volod narrowed his gaze and spoke with deadly calm. “You know better than to ask. Simply do as I have instructed.”
Elizabeth seemed to make up her mind. Her demeanor changed and she slowly undressed as if teasing him with every movement. She let her hands slide over her body as she slipped out of her long emerald-green gown, which matched the color of her eyes.
By the way she met his gaze and touched her breasts ever so lightly, it was clear she was attempting to seduce him. When she finished undressing she started to walk toward where he stood near the door to the suite.
“Stand on the rug.” He gestured toward the large oval rug at the foot of the massive bed. “And let down your hair.”
Elizabeth obeyed, reaching up and pulling out the pin that held the curls in place. Her long red hair tumbled over her shoulders down to the small of her back. He felt an ache of need as he studied the stunning, naked female.
When a knock sounded at the door, Elizabeth looked casually in that direction, a smirk on her face. Likely she thought he had chosen her alone to join him in his bed tonight.
Volod sensed Monique on the other side of the door. “Enter.”
Monique looked vaguely s
urprised to see Elizabeth, naked.
Volod gestured toward the rug. “Take off your clothing, put on the items laid out for you on the bed, and join Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened. Monique’s lips parted as if she was going to say something.
“Now.”
Monique glanced at Elizabeth before she started to take off her own clothes. She had become accustomed to his insistence that in the brownstone she should wear elegant dresses that showed off her slim figure. She was to always appear as a lady.
Where Elizabeth wore gowns that reflected her station as a lady in a royal court centuries ago, Monique wore more modern dresses. Usually short enough to show off her legs from the middle of her thighs down.
Monique walked over to the bed. She removed the short black dress, as well as her stockings, panties, and bra. She looked at the items on the bed. Monique took a few moments to slide on the leather panties along with a skimpy bra made of thin leather strips encircling each breast. Small chains were attached and held the silver rings snugly in place around her nipples, emphasizing them.
She slipped on the high heels that would make her four inches taller than Elizabeth. There was a leather hood with a hole near the top. The face was completely open. At Volod’s instruction, Monique put the hood on and pulled her hair though the hole, making it appear there was a single ponytail coming out the top. The edges tightened around her face as she tied the laces behind.
Monique returned and stood on the rug beside the naked Elizabeth. Desire stirred inside Volod as he looked from one beautiful female to the other.
“Elizabeth.” Volod gave a nod in the direction of the bureau. “Take the two items in the top drawer out. You have used them before and know what they represent. Bring them back here and hand them to Monique.”
Elizabeth’s pale skin ss repeemed to grow paler yet. From her expression he could tell that she realized what was going to happen—she had been there herself, decades ago. Only she had been in Monique’s position.
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