have a diabolical plan to rule the world, little man." Maximus leaned over me and showed his fangs. "Not that I should expect anyone of your limited years to understand. I want a better world. We have the gift of immortality. Imagine it! Mankind could live forever. Think of the achievements we could make."
His coppery breath was making me nauseous. "With you as the Grand Poobah, right?"
He shrugged. "Perhaps temporarily. The Master has already indicated he has no desire to rule. He would advise me."
"What happens when there are no more humans to feed the vampires? What about the people who don't want to be vampires? The Red Syndicate keeps your numbers low so they don't run out of food, not because they don't want everyone having the gift of immortality." I felt dirty just defending the vampire nation. "Face it, Maximus, you want power, plain and simple. Your whole Vampire's Revolution is just the kind of crap you know people will listen to so you can justify a massive power grab."
"Food will be no issue. Even now we only accept those with the desire to see deeper into themselves. To become more than they are. Those noms who are sheep, who don't care about advancing, will be used as cattle because they deserve nothing more."
"So you get to choose who's predator and prey? Who receives immortality and who gets to be a vampiric pincushion?" I pulled my mouth into a sneer. "You're not a god. You're a sicko."
Maximus opened his mouth as if to argue then clamped his teeth shut with a click. His fist pounded the table right next to my head. "Obviously, you're beyond reason. I'd hoped to convince you I'm right. Perhaps then you'd donate blood to the cause, and I could free you."
Son of a bitch, I could have gotten free!
Talk about screwing myself over. "Uh, actually, you are making sense," I said. "Maybe I was just angry and felt the need to lash out."
Maximus laughed. "Too late." He leaned in close. "Too late. I gave you a chance and you slapped my helping hand away. Perhaps in another year or so I'll reconsider. If it isn't too late by then."
I ground my teeth.
The vampire sat back down on his stool. "I know a little of your history, Justin Slade. Your former classmate Brad Nichols had plenty to say about you."
"Yeah, great job turning him into a vampling, by the way." Brad hadn't been my BFF or anything, but I wouldn't wish turning into one of the walking dead on anyone.
"I regret our original serum was unable to fully turn him, but he accepted the risk. I knew people like this Brad Nichols when I was young. Kids who thought they were better than everyone else and took what they wanted from the weak. I, too, was bullied and harassed."
I gave him an incredulous look. "Dude, you're huge. Who would mess with you?"
"Believe it or not, I was short and scrawny. I grew up in New York and attended a Jewish school. This wasn't popular with the Catholic kids in my neighborhood."
"You're Jewish?"
"I was adopted by Jewish immigrants who found me abandoned when they arrived at port. My real parents left me behind a rat-infested warehouse. I probably would have been eaten to the bones had not my adopted father gone around the back to urinate and found me naked on the ground."
I grimaced. "That's horrible. What kind of people would do that to a baby?"
The look he returned sent chills down my spine. "Believe me, I asked them the same question when I found them." His fangs slid out an inch.
Somehow, I managed not to gulp. "What made you decide to become a vampire?"
"The Master, persecuted by his brethren, fled here from Britain and took a teaching position at my school. He saw how poorly my peers treated me and took me under his wing. When I reached a mature age after university, he offered me the chance for immortality." Maximus held out his hands. "And here I am."
Try as I might, I couldn't make myself hate the guy. After all, he hadn't really kidnapped my sister, although, yeah, I guess he'd kidnapped me and my father. But it wasn't for an evil cause or anything. In fact, the more I thought about his crimes, the more reasonable they seemed. Maximus was an all right guy who wanted what was best for me and everyone else. And he had the prettiest glowing red eyes.