Page 107 of Inhuman Nature

Rake had helped DJ grow more confident in his body through kink, but on a normal day, DJ remained self-conscious. Every time David tried to take a selfie with him, he’d focus on how to tilt his chin to avoid looking jowly. When he played the occasional five-a-side football with the guys from uni, he’d keep his hoodie on even in the summer. And the looks he got from some of the hyper-masc gym bro types at gay bars made him want to drown himself in layers.

That wouldn’t disappear. If anything, it would all be worse. The biggest difference was that now DJ wouldn’t be able to beat himself up over not being skinnier. He would remain unchanged, no matter what.

“Are you quite done moping?” Lawrence’s voice was so unexpected that DJ jumped into the air like he was doing an impression of Regan fromThe Exorcist. He crashed back down when the chains between the manacles caught on the headboard, leaving him in a crumpled heap on the bed.

“Christ,” DJ said. “Lucky you already murdered me, as I suspect I might have just died from shock.”

“I killed someone from shock before,” Lawrence said. “Or perhaps it was fright. Either way, the man screamed when he saw me and had a heart attack. Waste of good blood, as well.”

Maybe DJ didn’t have an appetite anymore after all.

Lawrence came over and removed the cuffs. At DJ’s shocked expression, he lifted one shoulder. “I’m faster than you. These were so I wouldn’t need to bother chasing you.”

“So,” DJ said, drawing out the word. “What stage are we at in your evil plan for taking over Brighton?”

Lawrence narrowed his eyes. “It’s not an evil plan.”

DJ gave Lawrence a flat look. “Step one, try to kill a human Lynette cares about—and fail. Step two, try to kill Shaun—and fail. Step three, recreate me as a vampire in some twisted form of revenge—success! Step four, create an army of vampire minions to do your bidding—success?” DJ paused, scrutinising Lawrence before continuing. “We must be about to approach step five, which I predict is to use said minions to finish steps one and two. All in all, pretty evil stuff.”

“It’s—”

“If you’re going to tell me it’s for the greater good, then I’m going to stop you right there. It’s a terrible cliche, as well as being utter bullshit.”

“I wasnot. I was going to say that this is just how things work,” Lawrence said snootily. “Murder, insurrections, war. It’s our way. It’s not evil. That’s a human concept.”

“You were human once,” DJ pointed out.

“Long enough ago that I don’t remember it.”

“I imagine there are plenty of vamps much older than you.”

Lawrence raised an eyebrow at him. “There aren’t. I’m one of the oldest. Shaun won’t have told you, because he knows so little of our kind, but most vampires around these days haven’t even seen two centuries.”

DJ rubbed at his wrists. “Why is that? Did you kill them all?”

“Me? No.” Lawrence waved a hand. “I killed some, but it was the witches that most fell to. So, you see, it is not just us who understand how the hierarchy works. At least I don’t pretend to be something I’m not, like Shaun.”

DJ wanted to find out more about the witches, but he couldn’t let the insult slide. “Unlike you, Shaun’s a good person.”

“He still eats people.”

DJ couldn’t argue with that. “So, who’syourcreator?”

“That’s an irrelevant question. Be quiet or I’ll gag you again.”

“Touchy subject, eh?”

“If I didn’t need you for the next stage of my plan, I’d rip your tongue from your mouth.”

“See? Evil plan. Clocked it,” DJ said with far more confidence than he truly contained.

“Fine,” Lawrence said with a put-upon sigh. “If you must know, Lynette owes me my city. Just because I wasn’t around when they divided the territories doesn’t mean they should have given it toher. Brighton is mine by right. Lynette’s so young she hadn’t even heard of me. I should have ripped her throat out for that alone.”

DJ reeled with the amount of information he’d received, working through it all in his head. “Hasn’t Lynette been in charge for a while?” he asked, trying to think of any way to use his newfound knowledge to his advantage.

“Less than two hundred years. I was busy.”

“Wow. You make me feel better about my ownprocrastination.”