Succubus Unchained - Heather Long Page 0,81

Thrones in terms of body count. It also sounded awful.

“Until Rogue,” Alfred told me. “I’d never made another vampire.”

That information floored me.

“What?”

“Rogue was my friend, and while the others consolidated power and rules, I wanted to learn about them. So I found a way to travel amongst them. To be ‘normal,’ and once upon a time, I could pass for human.”

Bullshit. But I kept that opinion to myself.

Nothing about him was human. He would draw the eye of every person in every room. Power rested on him like a shroud. Even when he was an asshole, he was a powerful asshole.

“The creation of hybrids was forbidden, by all of us, to protect the races who were on the brink of extinction.”

“But you’ve made hybrids.”

He gave a careless shrug. “I was not building an army, nor trying to eradicate a people. I wanted to save men I cared about. Men who had become my companions. Then Fin had his premonition, his prophecy about you, and while I couldn’t be certain, I understood that when you came into our lives, everything would change. Again.”

“Yay?” I questioned it because he actually sounded tired.

“I have no regrets, Hellion. Nor will I, and I will allow nothing and no one to take you from me. That is where they are. Tracking the other six. Finding their bolt-holes. Because before they can launch another war, I want to deal with them. We have avoided most conflicts by avoiding each other, some of us sleep, others just burrow. The world has grown tiresome.” He flicked his gaze over me. “Or it had, before.”

I raised my brows.

“I find myself far more intrigued by it now than I have been in a long time.”

As sweet as that was, I couldn’t shake the apprehension in my gut. “That’s why we’re here, though, isn’t it? And not out there? You said you don’t pursue, others come to you?”

He nodded.

“So, your retainers and the other vampires who were here?”

“They pledged to me, and I afford them some protection.”

“Okay, but you didn’t make them?”

He shook his head. “My blood is powerful. The closer to the seven a vampire is, the stronger they are. I have only ever made four.”

Oh.

Shit.

I stared at him.

His smile wrenched something inside of me. “I promise you, I never thought of you as a servant. It was my pleasure to fix what that idiot tried to break and bring you over. I can’t regret it because it means you will live, and I have waited countless lifetimes for you.”

Okay. Sign me up, I’d officially gone over to the sap side. I cupped his face and kissed him. “I’m sorry I ran.”

“No,” he whispered. “Rogue was right. I needed to dislodge my head from my ass and treat you better. You didn’t want to be here, then you had to deal with the offering amidst everything else.”

“It was a little much.” But I was a big girl. I could handle it. Something in my chest tightened, and I pressed a hand to it. Alfred frowned at me.

“What is it?”

“Just… I can’t shake the feeling something is wrong.” Until I said it aloud, I hadn’t even realized that was what I was feeling. His eyes flared, and then he touched his fingers to Maddox’s mate mark and a dozen images assailed me.

That, and a dragon’s pained roar.

Chapter 16

“The healthy man does not torture others—generally, it is the tortured who turn into torturers.” - Carl Jung

Alfred

Fiona all but vibrated where she stood next to Alfred, but he couldn’t focus on her fully while he assessed the retainers in front of him. Both Fin and Maddox were missing. Neither had answered any calls. Distance could be a factor, but Alfred had no doubt that Maddox would not linger away from Fiona for too long if he had a choice in the matter.

No, something had occurred. Whether it was one of the other seven or not was the only question he had, followed shortly by where were they. Rogue had returned to them briefly, all too briefly, before he left to follow their path. He had some idea of where they’d gone. Or at least, where the seven were, so it would be a matter of tracking to each location.

Alfred’s only regret was he had not acted sooner. If he’d paid closer attention, he would have noticed the lengthy absence and how out of character it was for both. They were neither cavalier nor leisurely when it came to tasks he asked them to