Page 42 of Vampire Kings Box Set

There were a lot of rooms in the house Will had never been into. Maddox took him into one of them, and Will discovered that it contained a cage. Actually, it contained a lot of cages of all sizes and shapes and styles, but clearly all designed for caging one animal and one animal alone: human.

“I never wanted you behind bars, boy, remember that," Maddox growled as he pushed Will into a cage not tall enough for Will to stand up in. He was forced down to his knees, made to bow as the door slammed shut behind him.

“Let me the fuck out!”

Maddox walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. He needed to calm down, lest he do something he might regret. Will had no idea how fortunate he was, how much patience Maddox had to expend in order to deal with him.

“I’m sorry, sir, but…”

“Don't apologize, Candy. Tell me what you need.”

He already knew that the horde was moving through the city as a mob. It was going to be almost impossible to keep this quiet. Humans were beginning to notice the shifts in underworld tension.

“There have been hundreds of people being turned every night. We’re fortunate NYC has over eight million people living here, or people might start noticing.”

“Most of the new turns will become feral. There are few vampires mature enough to create a functional fledgling,” Maddox observed. “William might have been useful, but he prefers to act the brat rather than behave in anything resembling a sensible or useful way.”

“There are too many for one hunter to handle. Our unit is not enough. It’s been suggested a military unit might be more appropriate…”

“Or a federal one, no doubt. Given they have recently lost a member, they would be most ferocious. Perhaps not only with the unfortunate ferals.”

“You don’t trust them.”

“I have been around long enough to trust very few.”

Someone handed Candy a note. She opened it and lifted her eyes to Maddox. “According to this, a meeting has been called to discuss the matter, sir. Your presence is requested at the Pentagon.”

“To think this is all because I got beaten up,” Lorien said with a self-satisfied grin. Unlike Will, who was supposed to attend meetings and refused to, Lorien was not supposed to be there, and could not be kept away.

“Lorien, this is much bigger than you, and always has been.”

Lorien put on an affronted expression. “Excuse me? I am uncomfortable with the notion anything could be bigger or more important than I am.”

“Of course you are. Now. Come with me. I need someone to watch Will while we are in Washington.”

“Since when am I babysitter?”

“Since you chained my baby to a bench and tortured him mentally all evening when I left him in your care.”

“Would have thought that would have made you want to keep me as far away from him as possible.”

“On the contrary,” Maddox smiled darkly. “Make sure to exercise him when he comes out of the crate but keep him on a short leash. We cannot afford to lose him out there, and we’re certainly not leaving him here.”

14 WASHINGTON

“Let me the fuck out!”

"Does he know any other words anymore?”

Maddox, Lorien, and Will had arrived in Washington. Will was still in his cage. Maddox had determined that he should stay in it until he decided to become useful, and now that the boy was in there, Maddox wondered why he hadn't put him in there earlier — though he knew really, of course. He had been soft and coddled him. He had wanted to spare him the psychological anguish of being caged after years of imprisonment. But Will had murdered someone, and that was a good part of the reason they were in Washington now.

“Feels like only yesterday the whole thing was a swamp,” Lorien sighed. “Now look at it.”

“Humans never cease to amaze, even with their short lifespans,” Maddox agreed. He felt a surge of pride as he looked over the building.

Will made growling sounds from within the crate, sounding more like an animal than a man than ever. It was a pity he had to be treated this way, but the boy had determined his own treatment when he rebelled. At every turn, Will had been a reckless liability. Lorien was not incorrect in asserting it would be easier to drain him and locate an easier to handle hunter, but Maddox was fond of Will. More than fond. He was bonded. Dangerously so. Inconveniently so.

“Don’t let him out of there,” he said. “Under any circumstances. We cannot leave a trail of bodies out here.”