Sacrifice (Book 2)

Chapter 10 - New Development

With fists clenched tight at his sides and knuckles white, Erdo paced across the golden dirt of his crypt waiting for the sun to drop out of the sky. He checked the monitors on the Queen's apartment again. She wasn't there. Damn that she-vamp. Why couldn't he keep track of her? Only one day after her return and already she managed to slip out of sight. He called the guards who were ordered to search the castle while he slept and slammed the phone down when they had no news to report. His body expanded in height and breath as the anger and frustration collided. He lowered his head, deep furrows forming upon his brow. Opening his mouth, his lips pulled up in a sneer and long gleaming fangs descended into place. A loud, dangerous snarl obliterated the quiet calm of dusk.

He had to find a way to control the Queen or everything he worked for and dreamed of would be lost. He knew exactly how and who to go to make that happen.

The powerful, dark magic that tied Erdo to his tomb released its hold the moment the last sunray dipped below the horizon. He rolled the stone back and instantly appeared beside the door of Mariposa's burial chamber.

Throughout the catacombs heavy boulders rumbled as they moved out of place. With the deadly, African sickle in his hand, Erdo waited for Mariposa to open her door. If the bitch Queen continued to disappear on him, his butterfly would pay dearly.

The stone began to groan as the granite slab in front of Mariposa's vault rotated. He was just about to step inside when the Queen appeared in the doorway blocking the entrance. Her eyes grew large and fierce when she saw what he had in his hand.

"Good Morning, Scarlet, my love. I was looking for you," he said. He should have known she would spend the day tending to Mariposa's wounds. "I trust you had a pleasant sleep? And how is my sweet pet?" He craned his neck to look over the Queen's shoulder. He really did want Mariposa looking chipper and well for the festival--unless of course the Queen pissed him off.

"Get out of my way," Madison demanded.

"Not quite so fast," he said low and threatening. "I told you I was looking for you. You haven't explained your absence this weekend. I expect you to tell me now where you were and who you were with. I've been far too lenient with you."

"I do not need to explain myself to you," she said, raising her chin, her anger about to combust into wildfire.

Erdo exhaled loudly. "Are you really willing to risk your children's lives rather than answer my questions?"

The air crackled with electricity as her rage exploded. "Never...ever...threaten my children again. If you do, I will see to it that you rot in a pit for the rest of eternity."

The bitch had grown a spine over the weekend; his hold on her had disintegrated in a brief three days. All the work involved in finding the perfect specimens, getting the pathetic losers to the bank, and making sure Mariposa delivered the contaminated plasma to the Queen was for naught. The blood she had consumed must have been very powerful to reverse four years of poisoning. Where had it come from? Could she access it again? Was it bagged or live? He'd never known her to feed directly from a mortal. Ren had exonerated that fang-friend of Ethan, but Paolo had mentioned the man he sent to Washington was missing, so they had no information there. Had she fed on the D.C. fücker? It boiled his blood every time he thought about the two of them together. With the Queen protecting Mariposa, he needed another way to keep her in check. This guy might be the answer to his problem.

Time to redirect the conversation. "I've been meaning to ask you, whose blood was that I smelled on you the day you returned?" He had kissed the Queen the moment she came in--not out of fondness, but because he wanted to get close enough to smell her. He knew immediately she had fed. It was odd though. The scent was strangely familiar. The queen seemed to falter for the briefest of moments when he asked the question, but she quickly regained her composure.