Page 9 of Forced Bonds

With all my belongings—which really meant weapons—packed, I left my hotel room and waited outside for one of the black sedans.

My distaste or rather, hatred, towards vampires hadn’t changed even after properly meeting regular ones. I’d seen lots of regular vampires before, but had never worked with them like I’d done with this coven. But again, it hadn’t changed my view on them. I might be a petty fucker, but I wanted nothing to do with vampires, regular or rogue. Both versions were created to survive on human blood. The world would be a better place without them.

I eyed a young woman and either her sister or daughter as they passed. Being human meant I could only guess if they were werewolves or not. My only true grievance of not being a supernatural was that I couldn’t sniff out who was a danger to my being. They smiled between themselves, seemingly excited as they approached where I still waited against the hotel front.

“He’ll adore you,” the oldest said with confidence.

“You really think so?” the young one answered, her tone shy but still eager for the confirmation. Likely a date or something.

“I know so,” the oldest replied smugly. “He’ll take one look at you and claim you as his mate.”

“Mom,” the young girl said, her tone embarrassed. “But he’s the alpha!” The last part was said in a whispered-shout, but she might as well have yelled it for all to hear.

I froze when I registered who she was talking about, then became pissed at myself for even reacting. He’d rejected me, and that was that. Maybe that young girl who barely looked eighteen would do it for him. He would have a nice werewolf mate and lots of babies. Something I didn’t want, nor could give him.

The mother and daughter passed me, not even giving me a single glance as they continued to gush about how handsome their alpha was. I was thankfully saved by a black sedan parking in front of me. The thought had me mentally berating myself. Since when did Salizar’s appearance feel like salvation? I really needed to find the source so I could get the hell out of this cursed town. It wasn’t fair to my heart to remain here.

I slid into the car, making sure that it was Salizar behind the wheel before I got too comfortable. You could never be too careful when dealing with bloodsuckers.

“Good evening,” Salizar purred once I’d closed the car door.

“Evening,” I grumbled back, not in the mood for chitchat. I pulled out my phone and looked at the map. I had placed several red dots around the area behind the library, making sure that we wouldn’t miss an opening. Wherever these rogue vampires came from, it was clear they were all made at the same location. We just needed to find said location and then burn it down to embers. I didn’t care who was in it, I just needed it gone.

Salizar ignored my grumpiness and asked casually, “Has the alpha updated you on the missing people?”

“No!” I replied, inwardly cursing Christopher to hell. I needed to know these things! “Did the Willowhill police station contact him?” Small towns helped each other, but perhaps being a werewolf chief meant he didn’t bother with human allies.

“He said as much. They’ve had over one hundred missing people over the last month and a half, some locals but mostly visitors. Willowhill is a big town, but a number like that is crazy, even for them. At first, they blamed bear attacks on the rising number, but now they think it’s a serial killer on the loose.”

I just nodded and wrote a note to myself on my phone. Don’t ever trust the Alpha Jerk will inform you of important information.

“So, not only will we have the local police sniffing around while we try to work,” I began, already feeling the start of a massive headache. “We also need to keep hidden while protecting their backs.”

He nodded, the vampire so calm and collected he didn’t even seem bothered by the added workload for us. “My Master will try to coerce the chief of police in Willowhill if we are spotted. But he prefers not to get his hands dirty with this sort of work.”

“This sort of work?” I questioned. Was this too beneath the mighty vampire lord of the coven? I almost chuckled to myself. Of course what we did would seem unimportant to one of the oldest vampires alive.

The vampire shrugged. “He prefers to only get involved when it involves mass murders and mayhem, more fun involved in those cases.”

I just blinked, stunned by this obviously honest response. “You’re not even trying to deny that you enjoy murdering humans?” I dared ask, slightly appalled that he would speak so bluntly about it.

Again, a slight shrug of his shoulder was the only response I got. My fists were clenched where they rested on my lap. How was I supposed to work with Salizar and his coven when they couldn’t give one damn about humans like me? It wasn’t because I’d started to believe they were “good”, but I’d at least thought they cared a little about the lives that were in danger here.

After nothing but silence for ten minutes, Salizar asked, “Would you prefer I lie to you? You seem to have gotten angry with me.”

This guy….

“I would prefer you to keep being as truthful as possible. Wouldn’t want to forget what soulless creatures you bunch are, now would I?” Was I waiting with bated breath after saying that? Of course I was! I had no idea what had come over me, but this vampire could’ve killed me in seconds and then that would be it. Goodbye Benjamin Green, the best damn vampire hunter in the world. He would be missed only by his boss.

To my surprise, Salizar broke out into a fit of laughter. I was actually so stunned I just stared at him in shock. “Soulless,” he wheezed. “Damn, I wish Altaur was here to hear you say that.”

“Altaur?” I asked with a mix of trepidation.

“My master,” he explained, wiping away a tear. His face was still alight with a huge smile, his eyes dancing with mirth as he continued to drive.

“Is he a soulless bastard?” I whispered, afraid of his answer but now I needed to know. Mostly so I could stay away from him.

Salizar laughed again and nodded. “He’s been called that many times over the centuries. The only people he shows any sort of emotion towards is me, Anker, and his bonded.”