Page 15 of Blood Ties (City of Blood #1)
Bash
“Tonight, I am bringing the matter of the out of control, newly sired Sanguine Nocturnus to the council.” I watch Marcus pace the council room, his voice commanding our collective attention.
“Their behavior in the streets is more out of control and unrestrained than ever. The humans are terrified and almost entirely refusing to come out of their homes after dark, which is resulting in an uptick in attacks and deaths in increasingly public places. Last week, a new sireling attacked a human woman and killed her in a bar on a busy Saturday night. Sebastien happened to be there and extinguished him immediately, but this should never have occurred. Humans are our natural food source, and cultivating such terror and hysteria among them is resulting in less available food,” Marcus remarks once he has called the Sanguine Nocturnus council to order.
“What do you want us to do about it, Marcus? It isn’t as though there is a vampire academy or something.” Domingo Salvatore of Mid-City asks from his seat down the table.
“The humans are here to feed us. If they aren’t feeding us, we don’t need them at all.
Order them to come out at night so that we can eat.
This is stupid—the snake doesn’t ask the chicken for permission to eat, why should we?
” Talia chimes in from beside me. As if her absolutely out-of-line comments to Elina weren’t enough, she’s now sitting in this council meeting acting as though we are out of control predators.
“Talia, you're over 300 years old. Do you have so little self control that you have to attack humans in bars? Or so little respect for the humans that run this city that you would have them forced from their homes to feed us?” I say to her scathingly.
“Some of us don’t care about silly little human pets, even pretty ones, or the ones you’ve been watching like a lovesick fool, Sebastien,” she spits at me, venom in her voice. My mother’s head turns to me, a questioning tilt to it.
“All of us care about human pets. In case you haven’t noticed, the only reason we have any control at all is our human pets who keep the perimeter secure while we rest. So, if you don’t care about the humans, you had better start or get the fuck out.”
She only huffs at me before turning her head.
“Yes, we care about the humans, insofar as they feed us and do whatever needs to be done during the daylight hours, but I don’t know what else we should do. The sirelings are hungry, Sire,” Henry Romano, the governaturno for the Garden district contributes.
“Maybe there should be less vampiro. Have any of you considered that? Stop turning people. There are going to be more vampiro than humans soon. Then what? The humans will die off and we will be really hungry and have to leave this place,” Victor chimes in from his spot near Marcus.
“Ok, for now, I am putting an injunction on turning new vampires. As you know, you’re required to register new sirelings, and there will be no further vampires created until the existing sirelings are under control.
In each of your districts, you know who is turning, and I expect you to get them in line.
Have the sires enforce order or I will personally cull them.
The next time I hear a report of an out of control vampire indiscriminately killing in a club or similar establishment, I will go to the sire himself and he will answer for the insubordinate behavior of his sirelings,” Marcus tells the room to a chorus of outraged gasps.
“And if anyone has anything to say about this, come to me!” With that, he slams his hand down on the table and leaves the room.
The council room breaks out into chaotic whispers.
“How do we stop them?”
“We need to eat!”
“This is ridiculous. Marcus oversteps.”
“ENOUGH!” I bellow into the room. “Marcus does not overstep—he is Re, his word is law. You can eat from willing donors, from blood supply bars and restaurants, from the hospital, or on the streets. But stop killing people or there won’t be any people left.
Tell your vampires and their sirelings that this is a life or death situation, and if they don’t want to be extinguished, they had better get in line.
If any of you have anything to say about it,” I look at Talia and Domingo, “say it now.” I wait a moment and both of them avert their eyes, avoiding eye contact.
I walk out of the room, Victor, Darius, and my mother trailing behind me.
“Bash, my Stellino, wait. I wish to talk to you.” I hear my mother call from behind me.
“Yes, mother. What is it?”
“Darling boy.” She puts her hand on my arm as she kisses both my cheeks. “Would you like to tell me what Talia was referring to? You know that she was hoping you would agree to an official mating courtship. She wants the Legame di Sangue with you. What was she talking about, a human pet?”
“Mother, I have no interest in Talia that way, you know this. She only wants Legame di Sangue because she thinks it will make her regina. She wants nothing more than to be Principessa Talia and I won’t have it.
She isn’t referring to anything, she thinks she knows something about me and she doesn’t.
She has no respect for me, and so, I have none for her, either. ”
“I only want you to settle down.” She brushes a stray curl off my forehead, like she did when I was a child.
“You haven’t had any serious courtings, ever.
You should be planning for your future. Has anyone caught your eye?
” I can’t tell her the truth. I can’t tell her how hard I am falling for a fragile, beautiful, human woman.
A human who wears all black, like me. A woman whose favorite food is crawfish etouffee.
A woman who makes you earn her smiles and her time.
And a woman who will never be like me, and will age and get married and have little human babies.
“No, mother. I’ll let you know if anything changes. Keep Talia away from me.”
Since my vampirism settled, I have never felt tired. I sleep when the sun forces me from wakefulness. I awake when the moon takes over. But I have not been tired.
Today, I am tired.
After having such a perfect evening with Elina, the drama and frustration of vampire politics is too much.
My focus is split between my responsibilities as heir and my desire to follow Elina around until the end of her days.
Dragging my weary mind up the stairs to my loft, I lament that it will be until tomorrow night before I can get another hit of Elina.
A sound catches my ear as I enter my apartment, a slight rustling.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I question Talia as I walk into my bedroom, the source of the noise. She is sprawled across my bed, all long bronze limbs and lingerie.
“I came to show you what you’re missing with her.
” Her voice is like poison and causes me to flinch—I’m not prepared for the vitriol.
“I know you didn’t get anywhere with her tonight, even after your little rooftop show.
You don’t smell like her and you haven’t showered.
Let me take care of you, the way I used to.
Please, Bash. Fuck me?” She lays back on my pillows, her hair fanned out behind her as she trails a finger down her throat and between her breasts.
Her nipples pointed and on show for me. She continues to trail her hand down her body until she slips her finger into her panties.
“Talia,” I growl, my voice low and menacing, her eyes widening at the tone. “Get the fuck out of my bed, get the fuck out of my apartment, and do not ever speak to me again or I will rip your heart from your chest and Marcus will have to find a new governaturno for the By-water. Get out!”
“A human, Bash?” Her voice is sweet, taunting. “I hope you don’t think she will survive this?”
“That sounded really close to a threat, Talia,” I accuse her as I step into her space.
She bares her fangs to me in a wicked smile. “Oh no, Principe. It was a promise.”
“I wasn’t joking, Talia. Get out. I won’t have you, because all I am to you is principe, not a person, a man. Out. Now.”
She storms out of the room, wrapping her arms around herself and slamming the apartment door behind her.
Fucking hell.
Talia isn’t going to forget this. Thankfully, I have already ordered Elina’s protection pendant, but I will have to watch her closely.
Grabbing my jacket and a few supplies from my desk, I follow the path Talia took and slam my apartment door behind me.
Watching her take off toward the By-Water, I head the other way.
Running from Piazza della Luna to Little Woods takes just a few minutes. I jump up to the roof of the neighbors house and settle in to guard Elina for the night.