Reign of the Vampires (7 page)

“Please patch me into Lord Garon’s phone. I think we can resolve this right now.”

“I don’t think that—”

“Would you rather hear that two covens have gone to war because of a misunderstanding involving a slave?”

“No, Lord Danika, of course not,” said Clive.

Clive was a relative newcomer to Vampire society. He was not a pure-born Vampire, but a bitten vampyr. It was difficult for bitten vampyrs to achieve the ranking that Clive had. And upsetting coven lords was as good as a death sentence.

Beethoven played through the receiver and then there was a click.

“Good evening, Danika.” Garon’s low, cold voice floated through the phone.

She bristled in her seat. It was a slight to not call her lord. “Lord Garon, it seems that you and I have similar taste in humans.”

“Human...yes.”

Danika’s gut tightened. She didn’t like the way he said
human
. It was almost a sneer, as if it was a joke, and she wasn’t in on it.

She drummed her fingers on her desktop. “How should we go about this? It’s obvious we both want him. We’re almost equal in power and wealth, as well as status. So neither of us has anything to use as leverage.”

“I suppose that’s true from the outside observer. No offense, but I’ve been alive, and a lord, for a hundred years longer than you. I’m sure that should a disagreement ever ensue, the Council will take both those factors into consideration. Especially considering you are...”

It was a threat and disrespect. To threaten her with a Council settlement of their disagreement was enough to tell her that she was right about how she was going to have to play this. And his implication that she’d lose because she was a
female
was almost more than she could bear. She might be the only female coven lord in the States, and the youngest in the world, but she was determined to win this fight.

“You’re correct, of course. You’ve been both a lord and alive longer than I, but I have both youth and impetuousness at my disposal. My mother and father tended to indulge and spoil me. It would be a shame to find yourself on the bad side of an impudent child.”

“Or, on the contrary, my dear, it would be unwise to find yourself on
my
bad side.”

“I would never wish that, my dear Garon. But it would also be quite a shame if you found yourself in the largest den of vamps in the United States, with subpar synthetic blood to offer them.” She swallowed the lump in her throat.

“Yes.” He voice held an icy tone. “That would be quite a predicament. However, we have a contract, I believe.”

She inspected her nails and then twisted her ring. Just the words she’d waited for. “Do we? I seem to remember that a new contract was never signed since I took over the company. And I’m sure no new contract has been signed with my shipping supply company in some time. Contracts are such a bother, too. What with having to draw them up, and having lawyers check them, then there is the back and forth with demands and concession. It can take months to hammer out. Unfortunately, we’d have to put all shipments on hold until we were done.”

She waited. The silence that emanated from the other end of the phone seemed to stretch on for minutes.

Lord Garon cleared his throat. “I do believe, Lord Danika, that you have
almost
persuaded me that I don’t need that slave.”

She stopped twirling her ring. “Well then, my dear Lord Garon, what will seal the deal?”

“As I’m sure you’re more than aware, with the demand for Savor rising in the past decade, so have the prices. The cost of the shipping alone has doubled. If the shipping were thrown into the price of the shipments, say for six months, then I might be persuaded to walk away.”

Six months worth of shipping would be almost two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. That on top of the current bid was an enormous sum of money. She looked at the screen. Mason sat on the edge of his bed, staring straight up into the camera. Straight up at her. Her heart leapt, and for a fraction of a second, she swore she smelled his sweet blood again.

“Done. I’ll see to it that the agreement takes effect immediately upon your next shipment. For six months.”

“Well then, I suppose that I’ve changed my mind. This human slave is not as I thought. I will retire from the auction and retract my last bid.”

“I wish you safe travel as you return to your Coven House in Las Vegas.”

“Of course I’ll be expecting a new contract, and at the same price for Savor for the next ten years.”

Danika swallowed hard. “I will have the contract drawn up and sent over, with the price of the Savor staying the same for the next five years.”

Silence. Then. “We are in agreement.”

There was a click, and he was gone. Danika waited, and the phone rang again.

“This is Clive.”

“You will find that Lord Garon has changed his mind. He’ll be packing to leave as we speak, and retracting his last bid. Please set my current bid in his place. And place a bid for Ike as well. I will take him to five hundred thousand if necessary.”

“Consider it done.”

The minutes ticked away and there was no further activity on either Mason or Whitey. At the stroke of midnight, Danika’s phone rang.

“Lord Danika, this is Clive. All three slaves are yours. Your total is ten million, fifty two thousand.”

“I’ll have it transferred.”

“Wonderful. I’ll be happy to have them delivered at your earliest convenience.”

“I’d like to have Whitey and Ike delivered first thing tomorrow evening, but Mason will be picked up by Neeman and the Tracking Squad.”

Chapter
5

Mason spent the entire day sitting in his cell, with the other slaves. The night before, an announcement had come over the loudspeaker.

“Prospective buyers will be here within the hour. They can look and touch, but cannot taste you. You may be asked questions of a personal nature. You are to answer truthfully, or suffer the consequences.”

“Are we just supposed to stand here and take this?” asked Jax.

“Maybe it won’t be so bad,” said Whitey. “Maybe they’ll be like the Vampire lady from last night.”

Mason doubted it. Her scent still hung in the air. If he got out, he’d be able to follow it wherever she was, provided she hadn’t gotten on a plane. His blood warmed at the thought of her. Taking a deep breath, he tried to slow down his pounding heart. He grumbled deep in his chest and rubbed his forehead as memories of his Vampire captor flooded him. The bites, the pain, the solitude. He lashed out, pounding his fist on the cell wall. The pain in his hand replaced the horrible memories. Blood trickled from his knuckles.

“You all right over there, Mason?” someone shouted.

His skin knit together and the blood caked on his hand. Her eyes flashed into his mind. He didn’t like that she’d gotten to him. The way those ice-blue eyes glowed with need touched him somewhere he hadn’t been touched before. Part of him longed to satisfy that need, in any way possible. The other part screamed that she was a Vampire who preyed upon the weak and innocent. She deserved death.

He sat on his cot. Why did he desire that Vampire? It made no sense, not when doing so may cost him his freedom, his soul, and possibly his life.

He hadn’t been with a woman since before the awakening. Too risky for someone to find out what he was. Her image swam before him. Vampires didn’t treat humans like humans, it was true, but she’d been different: the unnaturally pale color of her skin, the slowness of her gait, the elongation of her fangs. She hadn’t fed in a long time. She’d talked to him, studied him. Perhaps it was possible she was different.

Mason shook his head, trying to clear it. He needed to stop being stupid. One way or another, he was going to get his freedom and never see her again.

The cell block opened and voices drifted down the courtyard. The viewing had begun.

After several minutes, a loud, heavy stride moved down the courtyard. The Vampire strode straight to Mason and stopped. Mason caught the scent of the Vampire easily. He was high up and old. The aroma of his blood told Mason as much. It was peppered with the scents of a thousand different humans. Mason glanced over despite himself.

The tall and thin, almost skeletal Vampire had jet-black hair pulled into a tight ponytail at the base of his neck. An angular nose, sharp and pointed, accentuated his high cheekbones. His lips were almost nonexistent beneath a thin long mustache that curved into a goatee. A long duster with a huge fur collar muted the deep-blue silk shirt underneath. He looked meticulous and harsh.

The Vampire stood motionless, staring at Mason, both hands wrapped around a silver-topped cane. Other Vampires stopped momentarily at Mason’s cell door, but then looked at the older Vampire and continued on their way. The longer the Vampire stood there, the more uneasy he made Mason. At the end of the hour, the bell rang and everyone filed out, except for the Vampire. He continued to stand and stare at Mason. Finally, Clive came down to escort him out.

A chill swept over Mason as the Vampire left. The way the Vampire had stared at him left Mason with a pit in his stomach.

Ten minutes later, Jenny came down with food for everyone. Questions bombarded her. “I don’t know, I’m sorry,” she answered.

She reached Mason’s cell. He stared at her through the bars. “Jenny?” he asked. “Can you tell us what happened when you were sold?”

Jenny paused, looking around. Everyone hung on the bars of their cells.

“I wasn’t sold here. There are six auction houses total in the United States and several in Europe, Asia and South America. The one I was at wasn’t as nice. The other slavers delivered me here to Clive. I was introduced to the rest of the slaves, and set to work. It was like getting a new job in a boarding house. You work, you sleep, you eat, and if you’re bought by a kind Vampire, you’re allowed liberties.”

“What about the Vampires who were here tonight?” asked Jax.

“The tall blond couple are a businessman and his wife. They’re in the market for a new breeding mate. The last one died after giving birth to a dead baby. The short, stocky man who was accompanied by his minion needs a new blood slave. He killed the last one in a fit of rage. The woman with the young man is looking for a guardian for her son. The others I’m not sure about, they aren’t very high up in the Vampire hierarchy.” She sounded detached by what was going on.

That must be how it was after a while. It all became your life, Mason thought. Not for him. Never for him.

“What about the Vampire who stared at Mason the whole time?” asked a female.

“That was Lord Garon. He came all the way from Las Vegas and told Clive it didn’t matter what you cost, he’d pay anything to get you.” Her eyes held a sympathy Mason rarely saw directed at him.

“Why?” Jax snorted. “What makes Mason so special?”

“Who is he?” Mason asked.

“He’s the coven lord there. He keeps the vamps in line and terrifies everyone else. You saw how no one else even bothered to look at you for more than a few seconds because of him.”

“What about the Vampire from last night?” Whitey asked. “The female.”

“Yeah, what about the hot mama from last night. The one with the smokin’ body and the stare that can make you go weak in the knees.” Jax gave a nervous laugh.

“That’s Lord Danika. She’s the only female lord in the US territory. She’s the coven lord of Chicago. She owns Savor, the synthetic supply company. She needs a slave. Her minion was killed.”

“How?” asked Mason.

Jenny’s gaze darted around the courtyard and then back to Mason. “He was a vamp. He turned on her and tried to kill her.”

That explained her pale and fragile appearance.
She wasn’t feeding.
The beast inside wanted to open up his veins and let her bathe in his blood. To hold her in his hands and feel her press her fangs into his neck as they made love. Mason shook his head and turned away. He had to cool down before he melted the cell bars.

Jenny slipped a plate of food under his door and he lay down on his bed.

* * * *

It was the following evening when Clive entered the courtyard. Mason walked to the bars of his cell. Jenny and another slave carried piles of clothing.

“Last night’s auction was a great success. We’ve found placement for all of you. We’ll come around and give each of you a new set of clothing, and then you will eat before we transport you to your new homes.”

“Where are we going?” asked Jax.

Clive sneered at Jax and then turned away. “Whitey, you my boy have been purchased by Lord Danika Chekov. She is a good master.”

Mason’s heart sank a bit, but his brain told him it was for the best. Whitey was a good kid. He was a natural fit, not a chance of him turning violent on her. Besides, Mason wasn’t planning on staying.

“Ike, you’ll also be going to Lord Danika’s. Though you’re not for her, I understand. You are for the Jankowskis. You’re their new guardian.”

On and on Clive continued down the row of cells. Mason stopped listening. A pit grew in his stomach at thoughts of what his fate might be. When Clive halted in front of Mason’s cell, his face sported a wide grin. Mason backed up and crossed his arms.

“And here’s the star of our auction. Our most prized possession. You’re going to make my auction house the most famous ever. You, my boy, have gone for a sum far beyond anything I ever have imagined. The fight for you was fierce. I’m not sure what they all see in you, but in the end, the best Vampire won.”

“What was his price?” asked Jax.

“Ten million dollars,” said Clive, with triumph.

“What?” Mason stepped forward and gripped the bars till his knuckles cracked. It wasn’t possible.

“You’re being picked up in the next hour by our elite Tracking Squad for training.” Clive took a pile off the stack Jenny held and handed them to him through the bars.

Mason stared down at the black T-shirt and pair of jeans. His head reeled. Ten million dollars meant they knew what he was. The plans for him to train with the Tracking Squad meant that they intended to use him as a bodyguard, or worse, a killer. A ripple traveled through his body and he clenched his fists tight. There was nothing he could do about it—for now.