Page 10 of Bane of Hate and Silver (Primordial Inheritance #1)

All Luca wanted to do was go upstairs, shower, and fall into bed.

Despite this, Max stood, creating a space on the couch for their Beta.

Luca had no choice but to collapse beside Ben and wait for Carson’s rant to be over.

With a thump, he let his head flop against the back of the couch. No telling how long this will take.

“As I was saying, the vampire problem must be dealt with. Jed may be a bumbling fool but he’s the best tracker in this pack.”

Luca looked over at the poor man, who was being subjected to Carson’s insults. Jed’s cheeks turned crimson, but he remained silent.

“Why are we bothering with these vamps anyway?” Kip asked from where he sat on the floor by the wall, legs stretched out in front of him.

“It’s not like there have been killings every night, or any night for that matter.

Why bother?” The question granted him a glare from Carson that was so powerful that Kip shrunk away from it.

“Why bother!” Carson repeated. “We bother because vampires are disgusting, soulless creatures who don’t deserve to walk this earth,” Carson’s voice raised, and he shook slightly.

Luca’s fists clenched. Exhausted and a little annoyed Carson’s tirade was more granting than usual.

“It’s a fair question,” Luca said, standing.

Only he had the power to oppose their Alpha.

“Why start something with the vampires when we don’t have to?

They, at least their coven leader, didn’t seem to want to start anything.

” Luca thought momentarily of the small, red-haired vampire who had captivated and intrigued him.

It wasn’t the first time his thoughts had drifted toward her since last night.

He shook her from his mind and continued.

“If they kill, they don’t do it in Aboit. ”

Carson snarled, undoubtedly angered by Luca’s defiance. His instincts told him to flinch under the Alpha’s powerful command and yet Luca resisted.

“They all kill.” Ben’s voice was soft and controlled like it always was. “They hunt and they feed. It’s in their nature.”

Luca looked down at the old werewolf. Ben was leaning forward, elbows on his knees, eyebrows pulled together, looking a little stressed.

“Instinct or not. I say we do nothing until we know more,” Luca suggested.

Kip looked like he might agree with Luca but said nothing. Carson looked as if he might explode at any moment, but still Luca pressed on. “We do nothing until we have proof that they are a danger to the people of Aboit.”

“It… is… not…” Carson took a strained breath between each word. “Your place… to oppose me.”

Luca resisted the urge to clench his own teeth.

“It is my right to present other courses of action, even if those ideas are different from yours.” Luca sighed.

“I’ve said what needed to be said. Take my opinion into consideration or don’t.

That’s up to you.” With that, Luca walked from the room, retreating up the stairs to his bedroom.

Nick lay on his back in a bed that wasn’t his, in a tiny apartment that left something to be desired aesthetically.

To be fair, he hadn’t had a bed, or a home to call his own, in several years now.

The room was cramped, barely big enough to fit a bed inside.

It smelled of sex and potato chips. The first, he was fond of.

The second just made the place he’d currently decided to lay his head smell rancid.

Place-holder Chad’s limp frame lay on his chest. Boneless and snoring softly, but not bloodless. How the human didn’t notice that his heart didn’t beat, he would never understand.

Chad’s body was warm on his. Too warm. Wrapping a blond curl around one finger Nick lamented.

The hair wasn’t right either. It was too coarse, the curls too tight.

Not like the feel forever imprinted on his fingertips.

Nick shook free of the thought. They’d split ways many times.

Their differences irreconcilable. Not Chad.

He was a timely convenience and nothing more.

A bit dim, and a bit short, but Chad was handsome enough.

He was a warm mouth to fill the daylight hours.

Who conveniently worked nights in tech security.

Or maybe he was a security guard, Nick couldn’t remember.

In a few years he wouldn’t even remember this man’s name.

He should move on from the city. Things were getting messy.

The werewolf teenager, the officer’s son he guessed, had gotten away.

Nick had chased and searched for him halfheartedly.

Letting him live was a liability. Still, he was kind of glad he hadn’t found him.

His morals were gray at best, but he did have a very strict line about killing kids.

Werewolf, human, or some species not yet to be encountered, it didn’t matter.

Even with that hard line he had a serial killer nickname now.

The Fort Miles Phantom. Catchy yes, but also problematic.

Remaining in Fort Miles could be dangerous but something inside him demanded he stay. And it definitely wasn’t Chad.

Luca tripped up a stair on the way up to Hayley’s apartment the next day, Kyle and himself holding a large television between them.

“Don’t break that thing before we get it up the stairs,” Hayley said as she squeezed past her husband and Luca to go open the door to the couple’s apartment.

“It was just a little stumble,” Kyle chided.

“Oh I know. I was talking to you, my love.”

Kyle rolled his eyes at his wife and took another step up the stairs. Luca stepped up and Kyle mirrored him. They were making their way quickly with the light but cumbersome box.

“Hayley door!” Kyle shouted after his wife swung the door shut behind her.

“Just kidding,” she said, smiled, and held it open for them. “You know I could have helped you with that.”

“Yes, My Queen. I know, you can do whatever I can do, but why should you have to when Luca is around to do it for you?” Kyle asked, teasingly.

“Fair point.” She shrugged then disappeared into the bedroom. Kyle smiled after her as he and Luca freed the electronic entertainment device from its packaging and placed it on a rickety, old table.

“Can I ask you something?” Luca said as he plopped down onto Kyle’s new-to-the-apartment, old couch and sighed.

“That’s a bad idea,” Kyle replied.

“How do you feel about Carson’s whole vampire vendetta?

” When Kyle didn’t immediately respond Luca continued, “I just think we should have proof of wrongdoing before we start an all-out supernatural war in Aboit.” He had been very distracted all morning by the meeting that Carson had called the previous night.

Something just didn’t feel right to him.

There was too much hate without an obvious purpose behind it.

It was Kyle’s turn to sigh. “Okay, honestly, I think blood-suckers need to drink human blood to survive. This does make them dangerous to our town. However, I do see your point about wanting more information before we start a war over it. From what little I actually know about supernatural history; these types of wars can be messy, and a lot of our kind generally end up dying. However, everyone also knows that Carson always does what Carson wants and everyone around him had better do what Carson wants as well, or things might also get out of hand. So, like, pick the lesser of two possibly shit-storm outcomes I guess.”

“I know you’re right,” Luca said. “The question is then; is following Carson’s orders really more important than murdering potentially innocent beings, of any kind?”

“Potentially is the key word there, Luca,” Kyle said as he began to stretch cords from the television to the wall.

“It’s my understanding as well that all vampire’s kill.

Even if they aren’t killing here, they’re probably killing somewhere else.

You’ve heard of the uptick in homicides in Fort Miles recently, haven’t you? ”

“True,” Luca said, sighing.

“It does sound like Carson has a solid argument,” Hayley added as she walked back into the room and sat beside Luca. “Murder is wrong, and murders should be dealt with accordingly.”

Luca flinched.

“Hayley,” Kyle cautioned. He knew why Luca had flinched, but Hayley probably didn’t. “She means non-remorseful murderers.”

“Kyle,” Luca used the same tone on him that he’d used on Hayley.

“Why do you care about the vampires so much anyway?” Hayley asked, returning to a safer subject.

Kyle connected the last cord and picked up the remote to assess his work. He then joined Luca and Hayley where they sat. “Because he thinks the little one is cute,” Kyle said jokingly.