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And that is the biggest lie you’ve said tonight.

“Then why are you here? Talking to me?” Grayson asked.

Lawson reached up and grasped Grayson’s chin, turning it towards him. The urge to slug the man was strong, but Grayson held his temper. Lawson wasn’t an ugly man. He had a raw, sort of animal magnetism that Grayson bet some loved. There was a sense of wildness about him, but it was the wildness of something not quite right about him. It was violence. Unreasoning violence just simmering beneath the surface.

“Because you have a pretty face and wounded eyes,” Lawson said softly. “And Ryder turns into a knight-in-shining-armor for people like you.”

“But you’re in charge. You’re in command of the Weryn,” Grayson said quietly.

“That’s right.” That smile on Lawson’s lips dimmed.

“So what you’re telling me is that your control, your command, can be broken by a pretty face and wounded eyes?” Grayson challenged, not liking that description of himself at all. He wasn’t some meek flower. He wasn’t a fragile stem.

That smile widened, showing teeth that looked abnormally sharp. They were accentuated by the flash of multi-colored lightning above them and the boom of thunder. The ground shook. People nearly lost their footing. There was more lightning. More thunder. The lights that lined that road dimmed and then winked out so only the lightning lit the night.

Everyone, can you smell the ozone in the air? Can you feel the very earth beneath you shaking? Now that is the power of nature focused and harnessed and made pure! Balthazar announced as the darkness descended once more.

He saw flashes of Lawson’s face as the lightning erupted and dimmed. The bones seemed to be shifting underneath the skin, turning Lawson into someone, not something, else. But the next flash showed them back in place.

This is the power of the Horys Bloodline! They rival the Thunder God of old! Hell, maybe Thor was a Horys! Balthazar laughed.

And in that moment a ball of lightning appeared in the hand of a native American man, one of the indigenous people of North America. He had long dark hair and chiseled features. A strong jaw and a powerful nose. The lightning showed he wore a dark purple shirt that was open to the top of his black tight pants. There were leather chords around his wrists and a pendant hung against his heavily muscled chest.

He raised that lightning filled hand to the sky and a bolt of brilliant light streamed up to the clouds. There was a massive crackle and thrum! Lightning then came down from the sky towards them. The hair on the back of Grayson’s neck stood on end, but not from Lawson. The lightning was caught by dozens of Horys Vampire hands. People yelled in excitement, but that was almost drawn out by the boom of thunder.

Wind rushed among them all and the scent of rain was heavy in the air. People turned their faces up towards the sky as a few cool drops came down and dotted their skin. Then the Horys Vampires were moving, sending lighting up and then catching it every few feet. But Grayson was focused on Lawson despite the show.

“I don’t want people getting the wrong idea. Ryder is loyal to me. He knows our ways. No one--no king or measly human--is going to change that.” Lawson patted Grayson’s cheek. “Just so we’re clear.”

“We’re clear.”

“Good.”

Grayson should have let it go. If he acted cowed now, Lawson would likely give him another smirk and walk away. Point made. And there would be another person in the world who just believed he was a weak boy that they could threaten with no consequences. The fact that Lawson was a Vampire gave him more of an edge than the others Grayson had disavowed of that belief, but he was still a bully, looking to punch down, exert his authority.

And Grayson was sick of Vampires pushing him around.

“What about what Ryder wants?” Grayson challenged.

There was another clap of thunder. So loud that it was deafening and he wasn’t sure if Lawson had heard him except the hand on his wrist, which had been loosening, now it curled tight again. “You think he wants you?”

The voice held a lilt of laughter as if such a thought was ridiculous!

Grayson slowly smiled. “Actually, you think he does. All this talk of control and command and loyalty. Nobody who really believes they’re in charge says that kind of stuff. Not to some measly human. No matter how pretty or wounded their eyes may be.”

Lawson scowled as lightning cut the sky in two. “You’re walking a dangerous line here, Grayson.”

“Am I?”

Lawson was a little taller than him. Not much. An inch or so. Not Ryder’s mammoth height. He was broader, too. Not as big as Demos. But he was a big man. And someone as lithe, though muscular, as Grayson shouldn’t have really been that big of a threat to him. And, again, being a Vampire made him arrogant. That was just fine. Grayson didn’t mind that.

“You waited until Ryder was out of sight to come to me. You’re acting friendly in case anyone glances our way. You aren’t so sure of yourself even with this measly human,” Grayson pointed out.

“You think you’re special because some Eyros idiot chose your application?” Lawson asked, eyes glowing.

There were veins on the sides of his nose that were darker than the others and reddened his skin, ruddying it in a way. He really did look like he was an alcoholic, but Grayson was pretty sure that Vampires couldn’t be.

“You’re afraid that Ryder thinks I’m special,” Grayson pushed. “You’re afraid that he is slipping the leash that you have on him. But if there ever was a leash, it’s not there anymore. You’re not in charge. You’re not in control. You’re about to lose everything and you know it.”