Page 12 of The Vampire's Mercy

A mer’s song rather than the ability to breathe underwater like I was supposed to receive.

Those getting an elf’s blood were provided with the skills of lightfeet.

Being given the bloods didn’t provide every single gift from the other races—such as werewolf shifting, or elf climbing. But they granted enough to make us super-duper killing machines.

If only I could actually be out there putting my skills to good use, not cowering from traitors.

Another scanhawk scanned me as I stood beside a billboard with a white background and bold black letters indicating the core values of living in this world—one of many billboards in every town and city across Quintrealm spouting the same shit.

You Are Not One, But One of Many!

The Greater Good Will Out!

Pfft. Why weren’t Aidan’s holy teachings on the billboard? Oh, yeah. He’d been forsaken for a bunched of fanged fuckers.

After the second scanning, I carried on, still thinking about the damn mermaid.

Because I developed the mer song instead of the underwater breathing ability, I had to keep it hidden. My academy trainer helped me hide it, marking me down as a Tainted—an executioner who didn’t develop all of the blood abilities.

Thankfully, my song was too weak to drive anyone insane.

Annoying, really. I wanted the underwater thing.

After crossing the bridge, I headed for the Highwall tram stop, the next one heading to my neck of the woods arriving in five minutes.

I took a seat and pondered, well, everything that’d gone down today.

What the actual fuck?

Hal might know something.

Yeah, my mage buddy was good with this stuff.

The sooner I got home, the better.

CHAPTER THREE

PARIS

Ileft the tram stop, bidding good afternoon to a human taking a piss in the corner of the glass shelter, and hurried over the road, passing the café and the supermarket and the flower shop I badly wanted a job in. They even had a sign in the window looking for a florist. I could do that. Iwantedto do that. Maybe after I changed the world.

Ah, what a dream. Living out my days making arrangements for all occasions, happy to be amongst the flowers. Maybe even open my own flower shop one day.

Yeah. Right.

Shaking off fantasies which would probably never come true, I crossed the road, finally reaching the Aidan Temple I called home.

Aidan Temple, Weatherby. A building of red brick, a pointed slate roof, crowned with the golden knot reaching for Heaven. The Knot of Aidan, a tribute to His glorious strength.

I pressed my right hand to my heart, taking a moment to pray to him. To thank him for keeping me going in this sham of a life.Because that’s exactly what it was. A mockery, a kick in the balls. An executioner without any executing, apart from the big one a year ago.

Thank you for keeping my heart bright.

Bright enough to drive my stakeblade into the vampire king’s Heart of All, turning every single bloodsucker into crimson bone dust.

Bliss.

Tonight…