“Why are you doing this?”
He thought about the lives he’d taken in his years as a hunter. The humans he’d fed from during the heat of frenzied, anonymous sex. The ones he’d sometimes killed, whether by design or by accident. A hollow pit formed in his stomach. He replied, “Karma.”
Chapter Four
“Gray, I need you to assume leadership for a little while.”
His second-in-command, Gray Thallum, got straight to the point. “How long?”
Bast pushed a hand through his hair, at once wishing he could still consistently see his reflection in a mirror. Every once in a while a trick of the light helped him do so, but now was not one of those times. “I’m really not sure. At least until tomorrow night.”
“You know Cicero will string you up when he finds out.”
“Yeah, well, Cicero can go fuck himself.”
Gray laughed. “Easy, man. I’m just telling you what’s what. The Council’s getting restless, too. Do you want to tell me what’s so urgent that we’re not getting together for another night?”
Fuck, he was right. The vampire community’s ruling body would not be pleased at all.
Bast’s precarious position as Commander of the Council guard might go from shaky to nonexistent, but he couldn’t see another way through it, other than to rely on Gray at least for a little while. He could be trusted with the Council’s safety as well as Bast. None of the seven members of the Council would see harm with Gray in charge. The man had proven himself time and again. He wouldn’t have been made first lieutenant otherwise.
Once upon a time, there hadn’t been a need for the Council’s guard. Hell, there hadn’t been a need for the Council. But with vampire creations spiraling out of control, technology threatening to expose vampire existence and an overall lack of direction for the vampire community, the need was recognized. And organized.
A new crisis had arisen over the last few weeks. Someone—something—was killing off newly created vampires in vicious attacks obviously designed to instill fear in the entire community. When a recent threat had been directed at the Council, Bast and his men were tasked with putting an end to the menace, with extreme prejudice and expeditiousness. They had some clues, but no solid leads.
It frustrated the hell out of him. Still, it couldn’t be helped. For just a single night more, he needed to stay away from his men and Council business.
Bast stuck his head into the hallway, looking down the hall to where he’d tucked Alice in for the time being. The heat burning him from the inside hadn’t returned, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t. For now, every passing minute without any sign of the illness was a small victory. What the hell had happened to him? More importantly, would it return? He so did not need this shit. Not now.
“It’s nothing—”
Gray cut him off. “You can’t tell me that. I have to tell the others something. Give a dog a bone here.”
“Tell them...” He blew out a breath, a habit he’d picked up from hanging out with humans. “Tell them an expected visitor showed up and I can’t shirk my duty in that regard.”
“An unexpected visitor. You really want that to be the reason?” Bast could almost see Gray run a hand through his military-style cut. “Dude, if your visitor doesn’t go furry the night of a full moon, they aren’t going to want to hear it. Give me something better than that.”
“It’s not Council business,” Bast replied. “It’s personal. That’s all I can tell you.”
Gray snorted. “I hope she’s worth it.”
He went still for a moment, trying to decide whether to let his lieutenant in on his illness. If he told, Gray would be by his side, helping him figure out the problem, to hell with everything else. Then again, if he told and Cicero found out, Bast would be off the guard detail faster than he could spit. Some members of the Council already had their doubts about him. No fucking way was he giving them another reason. “It’s not just a woman.”
“But it has something to do with one.”
“Sir, I can neither confirm nor deny whether there’s a woman involved.”