Page 8 of The Vampire Debt

“Again? Elizabeth will not be pleased. You must start claiming them. She will not allow this to go on forever. Even if you only claim one and drain them on the way home—it’s about reminding them of our power as much as it is about survival.”

Lawrence would no doubt lecture me until the end of the claiming if I had told him my original plan was to leave tonight. I have no wish to collect a debt from that pathetic man. I have more money than I could spend in several lifetimes. And even then, Elizabeth would not allow me to fall from the status at which she has set for me. Taking money from a poor man who doesn’t know when to stop gambling the funds he should have been spending on his family’s well being, holds no interest.

It was only that trace of blood that has me staying.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single vampire in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a mortal snack,” he says with a dramatic hand gesture, then slumps back, legs sprawled.

“I survive by willing offerings just fine.” It’s the same thing every year, the same conversation. And I am weary of it all.

“This isn’t about your ego. It’s about tradition. It’s what we are—whowe are. You can’t continue to use Rosalie as a reason to shun our ways.”

“They are notmyways.”

“Except they are, my dear friend. You are one of us no matter what you choose to tell yourself.”

I say nothing, and the silence drags on between us for a long moment. I refuse to lose the last bits of my humanity. I refuse to be anything other than what Rosalie wants me to be. Her fate, after all, was my doing.

Lawrence sits up folding his arms across his chest and glares at me until I straighten to meet his gaze.

“If your objection is the unwilling few, there are plenty of parties.” A grin spreads across his lean face. “They have more than enough willing prey who would give just about anything to have the mark, and so much more. Especially from you.”

My lip curls at his intended meaning. I might try my damnedest to hold on to my humanity by only drinking from the willing. The last thing I desire is to let one of those pathetic worshipers drape themselves all over me. All they want is the mark—they do not care whose mark it is.

Lawrence drones on about the endless parties that are to come, all the while oblivious to how much I detest the idea with each passing word.

The horses’ hooves clop along on the cobble stone road. I focus on the rhythm of the sound as I turn my attention to the passing scenery, dark stone buildings, slanted roofs, and hardly a human in sight. A typical occurrence before sunset to be sure.

Pathetic. They only give the lesser demons more strength by offering their fear.

Soon the town gives way to trees lining the road, the cobblestones turn to dirt.

As much as I long to leave this place and return home, I must find the mortal who owes the life debt.

But then that girl… no, she was not a girl but rather a young woman dressed in men’s trousers, shirt, and jacket. The clothes were large on her, making her appear smaller and younger than she no doubt is. She smelled of earth and mist and sweet treacle.

With the defiant tilt of her chin, she had actually looked down her nose at me. It was absurd. For a second it seemed she had recognized me for the vampire I am, and not the rich son of a banker her Mr. Valmont had assumed I was. But there had been no trembling in her stance, no cowering, and no adoration.

Again, my mind goes back to the scent of vampire blood that lingered on her, faint though as it was. I cannot leave here until I know if they were slain by her hand, as unlikely as it would seem, or another’s.

Most importantly,whohad been murdered in cold blood. I will get the answers I seek tonight, and tomorrow I will find the mortal responsible.

I knock on the wall of the carriage and the driver halts in the middle of town. The sudden stop has Lawrence speechless, cutting off in mid sentence.

“Thank you for your impeccable timing as always, but I have some other business to attend to.” He raises a brow as I climb down out of the carriage. “I will see you after the claiming.”

Lawrence lowers a window and sticks his head out, saying, “At least think about claiming one.”

One human in this city has blood on their hands, and they will pay one way or another by the court’s decree. Though it is not a punishment I intend to inflict. I nod anyway, hoping it will be enough to make him drop the subject. “I will think about it.”

Another knock on the side of the carriage and it’s moving once more.

I stay standing in the abandoned streets until it is out of sight.

In truth, I do not know where to begin so I walk around the edges and follow the buildings. The night falls early this time of year, and it brings with it a chill. Wandering around the empty streets for hours makes me eternally grateful I have avoided coming to these towns all these years.

These humans choose to live in squalor, their buildings coated in grime and dirt. Paper and other detritus litter the gutters. For a moment it has me regretting my decision to stay in this town and search out the guilty party.

And then I catch the tang of blood.