Thicker than Blood

24. Elias

CHAPTER 24

Elias

T he moment I hear the desired word, my body reacts in ways it never has. My nerves tingle and my vampiric nature surges forward, desperate and hungry for the stunning mortal’s blood. So much is happening within me, I almost forget the trouble that brought us together in this way.

Unfortunately, the moment is broken by Benicio’s intrusion as he softly clears his throat. “Sir?”

“What is it, Beni?”

“Tristan wants to tell you about what happened.”

“I don’t care.” I cup Geordi’s face. “I have everything I need.”

“But, sir?—”

“No,” I growl. “I’ll deal with him later.”

Geordi’s eyes soften as he reaches up and rubs my chest. “I’ll be here. We really should deal with this.”

My mood instantly sours, but my consort is right. The sooner we extinguish the threat, the sooner I can devote all my time and attention to Geordi.

“Fine. I’ll go to him.”

“I’m coming too,” Geordi says.

“No. You should rest. He tried to kill you.”

“But he didn’t and I’m fine, thanks to you. I want to know what happened too. I deserve that.”

My anger ebbs as I gaze into his pretty eyes. “I cannot deny you your wishes. Not now or ever. Come along, love.”

He rises, wrapping his hand around mine as I lead him to Paradiso, where we have Tristan restrained with silver chains. I’m so angry with him that Benicio and Jagger had to hold me back from simply tearing his head from his neck. Only the promise of forcing him to grovel at Geordi’s feet soothed my beast.

“How is Ronald?” I ask as we descend the stairs.

“Healing,” Benicio answers. “Jagger is upstairs with the other mortal.”

“Enyo’s okay?” Geordi asks.

“Quite,” Benicio says. “He seems very happy with our friend.”

“Should’ve seen that coming,” Geordi mumbles.

“Why is that?”

“Enyo’s the opposite of me. Impulsive, lives in the moment. He lives for the experience. I sit back and study it.”

“Not anymore.” I lift his hand to my lips and press a kiss to it. “It’s time you stepped out of the lab and embraced life and everything you are.”

He nods, smiling sweetly at me.

When we reach the bottom step, Tristan’s groans and the scent of his blood turn my stomach.

“I will kill him once you’re satisfied with his answer.”

Geordi nods. “I won’t stop you.”

His reply stirs my desire for him once more. Once I unlock his true nature, I imagine we’ll have lots of fun together.

Ronald lies on a couch, resting soundly as his body continues to heal. Tristan sits on the floor, leaning against a column, and completely bound by chains. His normally perfect facade is marred by his own blood and the marks my nails left across his face. They won’t heal until the silver is removed, but that’s unlikely to happen. I will take much pleasure in tearing him to pieces.

Tristan focuses on Geordi and hisses, struggling against his bonds even as his skin sizzles and burns. Geordi moves closer to me but doesn’t flinch.

“I believe you owe my consort an apology, Tristan.”

He spits at the floor. “Fuck you. Just kill me already.”

I tilt my head. “Why should I show you mercy? You’ve been very naughty, and before you begin your journey to the underworld, I understand you want to tell me why.” I kneel in front of him. “Tell me who you’re working with.” Using the sharp nail on my index finger, I lift his chin. “And you will apologize to Geordi.”

“Or what?”

“Or you’ll live much longer than you’d like to. You’ll die when I say, how I say, but you will suffer. Would you like a cage, Tristan? You can finally be my plaything. Although not the way you hoped.”

He glares, but I sense the fear he’s trying to hide from me.

“Or even better. I can hang you from the ceiling to be enjoyed by all my visitors. Would you like that?”

“I’m not talking in front of him.”

“Oh, but you are. You knew the risk of fucking with me. Now we’re here. You can make it easy on yourself or not. Doesn’t matter to me.” I glance over my shoulder at Geordi. “Or… perhaps my consort will decide when you die. That’s only fair, isn’t it, Tristan?”

He seethes with anger, his fangs on full display. He wants to tear the flesh off my love, eviscerate him, all for what?

“Why him, Elias? Why this mortal?”

“I like him. He pleases me.”

“But why ? He is beneath you. He’s simple and plain.”

“He’s stunning and intelligent and has the sweetest blood. You would be wise not to insult him again. I don’t like it.”

Geordi steps closer, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Who put you up to this? Why did you choose Ronald?”

Tristan snarls, struggling against his restraints and harming himself further with the chains.

I grip his arm, drawing his attention to me. “You were asked a question.”

He looks away for a moment before directing his response to Geordi. “I didn’t choose Ronald. Fisher did.”

“Fisher?” Geordi asks, looking at me.

“Fisher Mason? The Englishman?”

Tristan nods. “That’s him. He hates what we’ve become. What we’ve allowed the mortals to take from us. He’s been searching for the perfect mortal to seduce. When he found out Ronald was related to the chief of police… well, the choice was obvious.”

“How did he know about the vaccine?” Geordi asks.

“Luck.” Tristan nods. “Fisher compelled Ronald to get information that could be helpful to us. Ronald, ever dutiful, drilled his uncle, who took his interest as a positive sign and secured him a role in the research facility.”

Geordi shakes his head. “So Ronald was acting under compulsion?”

“Yes, of course. What mortal in their right mind would side with the vampires?”

Geordi narrows his eyes. “There shouldn’t be sides. We should coexist peacefully. That’s what the vaccine was for, and you guys ruined it. It wasn’t ready and now they’ll never let me finish developing it.”

Tristan glares at Geordi. “Oh please. As if the mortals want peace. You want to control us like we’re pets.”

“You’re wrong. A lot of us don’t want that. We don’t want trouble. I’ve spent years trying to make it better.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s one of us,” I say. “He’s a dhampir.”

Tristan looks stunned. “That’s why you’re drawn to him. He’s not a mortal at all.”

I stand, pulling Geordi close and gazing into his pretty eyes. “He’s everything. Beautiful, smart, kind, sexy. He’s my eternal companion.” I turn a hard look on Tristan. “He’s everything you could never be.”

Tristan emits a low growl.

“I always knew there was something off about you,” I continue. “You’re evil, Tristan. You allowed yourself to be lured by dark deeds instead of following my example.”

He scoffs. “Your example? Hiding in your home and fucking everything that moves?”

“Yes. It’s worked out well for me.” I kick his foot. “But now you know for as long as I allow you to live, that the only man in my bed is Geordi. You can think about that while you slowly die.”

“I told you what you asked for. Why continue to torture me?”

“Why not?” I wrap my arms around Geordi from behind. “Perhaps I’ll change my mind if you tell me where to find Fisher.”

“I have no idea. He summons me when he wants to see me.”

“What’s his next move?” Geordi asks.

Tristan clenches his jaw, obviously resistant to answering, but all it takes is a growl from me and he decides to cooperate.

“He was hoping your vaccine would kill mortals, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“No,” Geordi says, his tone revealing his disgust. “How awful.”

“If that didn’t work,” Tristan continues, “his plan was to target certain mortals he could compel to do what he wants. Like Ronald. He hasn’t made much progress with that.”

“Why not?” I ask.

Tristan looks around the darkened space as if somehow Fisher might just appear.

“Why, Tristan?” I repeat.

“He’s very unorganized. He has no idea what he’s doing. I joined his cause in the hopes of helping him make it happen after he killed the guy who was running things before him. Uh, Oscar Maselli, I think his name was.”

“Oscar…” I repeat softly, recalling Lucius’s update. “I thought he was long dead.”

“So did everyone. He and Fisher fought constantly and one night it escalated. I assure you he’s dead now.”

“I don’t understand what you thought you had to gain by joining this ill-fated cause.”

“It’s not ill-fated. Fisher’s right about what they’ve done to us. They’ve practically domesticated us, Elias. Don’t you see that?”

“I’m far from being domesticated. You followed the wrong vampire. If you were looking to enrich your life, you could have talked to me. I’ve helped countless vampires and other supes carve out a place in this complicated world. I would’ve happily helped you do the same.”

“Why should we have to go underground to live?”

“You don’t have to. We can go back to the times of vampire hunting, if you prefer. Or being shunned by a society that fears us. It’s cold in the shadows where we used to live. Stepping out of them was a revelation. I live my life as freely as I choose to. It’s you being short-sighted that made it unbearable.”

“That’s what the vaccine is for,” Geordi says. “Removing one of the barriers that makes people in power nervous. It allows mortals to choose their interactions and lets the vampires be themselves.”

Tristan tilts his head. “Why do you care?”

Geordi glances at me, a wistful smile on his lips. “Until today, I didn’t know why. Now I know it’s because it’s inside me. I want everyone to be happy and live the way they want to. I want the same for me and other people like me.”

“To what end for yourself?” Tristan asks.

“Not everything has to be about me.”

Squeezing Geordi’s hand, I say, “I believe it’s called selflessness.”

Tristan scoffs. “Pointless.”

“Is it?” Geordi asks. “From where I’m standing, it looks pretty good. You’re the one on the floor in chains, and I’m the one with Elias.”

I chuckle. “He’s got you there, Tristan.”

He pops his bottom lip in a pout.

“I suppose I owe you a merciful kill now. Unless my consort wishes otherwise.”

Geordi stares at the offending vampire, twisting his lips as he considers what to do next. Before he can speak, the door upstairs opens and two sets of footsteps break the silence.

Enyo and Jagger appear. Jagger has an excited look on his face while Enyo looks a bit dazed.

“What’s happening?” I ask.

“Lucius called,” Jagger says. “You didn’t answer your phone. He’s on his way over and said we should be prepared for a surprise.”

“I’m really not in the mood.”

“I think you’ll like this one.” Jagger waggles his eyebrows. “He promised bloodshed.”

Enyo rushes over to Geordi and hugs his friend. “Are you okay?”

Geordi nods. “Yeah. Elias healed me. I have more to tell you, but first things first. What have you been doing?”

“Getting railed by a vampire who never runs out of stamina. I don’t think I’ll be able to sit right for a week.”

Geordi laughs, shaking his head. “Good for you.”

Enyo rubs his hand in a circle on Geordi’s chest. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Definitely. Tristan didn’t hurt you?”

“Not at all. When he busted in, Jagger took me upstairs so fast I didn’t even know what happened. By the time he came down, Tristan had dragged you away and he and Benicio were ready to attack, but Elias busted through the door and lost his shit.” He leans closer as if he could keep me or Jagger from hearing. “Dude, Elias didn’t look like himself. He was so mad.”

“What did he look like?”

“A monster. His skin was pure white and his eyes were red. I swear his fangs were longer and thicker. It was terrifying.”

The pink blush on Geordi’s face pleases me. My heart flutters and my cock stirs. I’m ready to indulge myself in his beauty once more, but I have to deal with this nonsense first.

I whisper his name so quietly only a supe could hear it.

Geordi.

His eyes snap to mine. I smile at him, sending him promises of love and care and forever.

His body warms, his heart beats faster, and his blood surges, pooling between his legs. He parts his lips, flicking his pink tongue out to wet them. The beast within me reacts, and as my gums throb with need, it’s all I can do not to fuck him in front of all these people. Perhaps that would be a fitting punishment for Tristan—being forced to watch me take my lover apart again and again.

Would Geordi allow such a ruthless act? The taste of revenge would be sweet on my tongue. I glance at my love as desire floods my body.