Chapter Forty-five

The man was starting to stumble, clearly worse for the wear due to the hole in the side of his head. As he stopped in front of a set of double doors, he looked over at Bram nervously, motioning to them. “They’ve got him in there.” Dropping the head he was carrying, Bram jumped on him, twisting his neck around and pulling it from his shoulders. Grabbing Mohawk again, he kicked through the doors, making a grotesque entrance.

There were about three dozen vampires in the room. Elder Christian Montoya sat in the center of the room. He was newest to the Elder’s Council, having only had his seat for around 50 years or so. Tyler was on his knees in front of him, beaten bloody. There were three ancients to either of his sides, all of whom wore robes and masks to hide their faces. They had every right to be scared. The others were younger punks, likely belonging to the gang Tyler had mentioned, and stood at random around the room. They were all looking at him like he was a feast they couldn’t wait to get their claws into.

Tossing each head off to the sides of the room, he stormed in, and a number of ancients stepped back and away from him. “What is the meaning of this?” Bram said in a cold, hard voice, taking command of the room. “If you wish to walk out of this room alive, you will release that man immediately into my hands.”

“No.” Elder Christian said calmly, smiling at him. “I want to know why he came here in the first place?” He pushed Tyler with the toe of his expensive loafers. “You haven’t been keeping us updated on what you are doing for the last year. We’re all curious about what you have been up to and why you’re avoiding us.”

“I’m not some fucking dog that’s going to bow to your every command or whim. I don’t have to tell you shit.” Bram growled and a wave of growls from those around him erupted.

Christian put his hand up. “Enough.” His eyes glanced around the room. “I want to know what you’re hiding, and what you’re looking for. Otherwise, your little dog here will die, and so will all those assholes following you at DAS. Now tell me about this new foundation. What makes you so morally obligated to some dirty little homeless kids?”

“Maybe I just needed something new to dabble in and decided to make sure our flock is well kept?” Bram was starting to get anxious. What if they knew? Had they been watching him. Were there men heading to get Devon and Izabella now? Despite the worry, he showed no emotion, and forced his heart to stay steady. “What I do with my time and money is none of your concern.”

“It is my concern.” Christian stood, taking a step toward him. “You live in my territory, so everything you do is my concern. I want to know what your purpose for this type of business is?”

“First, to make money. Second, to make a difference in the city I live in.” Bram also took a step forward, not missing the way Christian stroked Tyler’s hair. A silent threat which told Bram the Elder thought he had the upper hand here. “I do suppose,” Bram smiled, relaxing back on his heels, “the other Council members must have forgotten to tell you, I have never played nicely. And I’ve emptied more than one seat. I’m surprised you dared to call me here, especially is a fashion that was sure to do nothing more than piss me off. Do you have a death wish?”

Christian chuckled, lifting his foot and placing it on the back of Tyler’s head, forcing him to the floor. Bram started growling and took another angry step forward. “One more step, and I will kill him.” Pointing to where Tyler’s face was now pressed against the floor, “I want to know why he’s poking his nose around here and what exactly you were expecting to find.”

“Your gangsters attacked me in the middle of a store. I assumed they all wanted to die after that. Why the hell are your men coming after me, would be a fair question for you.”

“My men had no interest in you. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. We’re looking for a particularly meddlesome woman with a distinct scent. She was in the store that night. It had nothing to do with you. But I was quite pissed that you would kill seven of our own.” Christian started to press on Tyler’s head.

Bram saw Tyler’s squirming under the pressure and would have to do something soon. “They shouldn’t have tried to take me on then. Teach your dogs to heal better and we won’t have this type of issue again.”

“You’re not being honest with me, Bram.” Christian’s smile faded and his face turned to stone. “I don’t like it.”

“Yeah, that little bitch was with you, and you took her home. With the kid too.” One of the gang members chimed in from the side.

“How I choose to hunt is my own business. I happen to like wetting more than one appetite, and she was a delicious little morsal. I just prefer them willing, so wining and dining comes with the territory.” Bram didn’t take his eyes away from Christian. The Elder had bit off more than he could chew, but he did want to know why they were after Izabella. “Hope you didn’t want her for questioning. She’s pushing up daisies at this point.”

Christian shook his head, clicking his tongue. “Oh, Bram. Why do you have to lie to me? Why are you trying to protect a simple human girl? You trying to reenact whatever the hell your father had with your mother? That kid has been with you for quite some time too. Why are you keeping humans so close to you?”

“Why do you want the girl?” Bram growled, not missing that the vampires on the side of the room were starting to close in little by little, growling back and hissing.

“Ah, I think we’re interested in her for the same reasons. She’s been looking into something that I have a personal interest in making sure it remains a secret. She’s told you all about it? Hasn’t she?” Christian lifted his foot, Bram knew what was coming next. He didn’t wait for the force of his kick to meet with Tyler’s head, crushing his skull. Bram’s dagger flew toward his neck. He was fast enough to deflect the blow, but it took his focus away from Tyler long enough for Bram to grab his ankle, flinging him through the men standing to the left of the room. His right hand rose, blue flames licking his fingers.

Using the magic from his mother’s side, he engulfed the ancients that had flanked the elder earlier in it. Their screams and the sudden burning of the room left the younger vampires in a panic. “Kill him!” Christian screamed. The dozen of young vampires went in for the kill as Bram crouched over Tyler who was hurt badly enough that he could barely move.

The first one to reach them got an iron bullet between the eyes, as did the neck four. Bram threw the gun hard enough that it knocked another attacker back. The flurry of movement Bram was capable of wasn’t discernable with the naked eye, but limbs were flying and the room was soon covered in red. The more bodies that piled around them, the less enthusiastic his attackers became. Once the onslaught was finished, Christian looked terrified. He’d been so sure he would be able to kill the legend. But there he stood, drenched in blood, the hostage they’d taken to lure him here was still breathing. The ancients who had been there were all charcoaled crisps.

“I guess you never asked why the other Elder’s are so scared of me?” Bram’s eyes blazed as hot as the blue flames still danced over the corpses. “Or why they watch me so close. You see, it’s not because I’m the son of the first vampire. It’s because they think I’m the fucking devil. Coming here with the entire Council would have been foolish to begin with, but coming here alone, and pissing me off by taking the only thing you assholes know I care about… how stupid do you have to be? Or were you just that sure?”

“How?” Christian asked, backing away as Bram took continual, slow steps toward him. “No one can take on that many vampires.”

“I’m a half blood. Just no one knows what the other half of me is. Everyone assumes it’s vampire and human, but my mother wasn’t just a seductress. Oh, no. She was the most powerful witch that the world has ever known. Humans don’t last centuries.” Christian was still on the ground, too dazed to do anything. As far as Bram was concerned, it was already over. Bram knelt over the elder, not even caring about the youngsters. If they moved, they would be easy enough targets. “You fucked with the wrong asshole.” He stepped on Christian’s throat, slowly applying more and more pressure until he was the one squirming. “Now, tell me. What has the girl been looking into that scares you so much?”

“She hasn’t told you?” Christian struggled to speak.

“I want to hear it from you.” Bram put enough pressure that he was unable to breath and pulling at his foot.

“I’ll take it to my grave!” He spouted, when Bram finally released him enough to speak.

“Fine. Have it your way.” Punching through his sternum, Bram pried open the elder’s chest, fishing around for his heart for a moment. “Happy nightmares.” He said. Blue fire erupted around his hand, and the elder’s screams soon died out.

Cleaning up the rest was easy.

Both he and Tyler were covered in blood. Lifting Tyler into his arms, he carried him through the empty corridors. If there was anyone else in the building, they didn’t show themselves. “How bad is it?” Bram asked, Tyler’s head rested on his shoulder. The man was bulky and holding him limp in his arms wasn’t easy.

“Pretty bad.” Tyler’s hand rested against Bram’s beating heart. “I’m so sorry.”