They Rise at Dusk (Book #1) ✔️

Chapter 9: Cruel Creatures

For a brief moment, I truly considered killing him. The thought came uninvited, like an intrusion, and left me feeling helpless and hopeless. Maybe I thought I finally had the upper hand, but just like always, Dorian waited for the right moment to corner me.

"You know." I breathed out. "Of course, you know."

He smiled – though it lacked the usual mockery – and poured himself more whiskey, "What's your diet these days? Mine's blood and whiskey."

"You know Jax is a hunter." I repeated, irrational fear constricting my veins.

I wanted to bolt, find Jax, and tell him to run as far away from NYC as possible. Forget the vampires, I'd say, forget me, just get yourself out of this cursed city.

"Don't worry." He said and, as if reading my thoughts, added, "If I wanted him dead, he'd be dead."

Fear twisted into anger with another gulp of blood. Gosh, if only I could take Dorian out of the picture and have Libby vote me back into my family. I'd get access to my trust fund again and I could help Lucia without anyone knowing. But no, I had to go through this asshole, and it turned out he has already seen all the cards up my sleeve.

The only thing I had left was the truth, and I'd never tell him the truth.

"Maybe he knows you're a vampire." I said, hoping my words would cause the same fear I felt.

But Dorian brushed it off with a laugh, "They don't know. They're looking for creatures with red eyes and forty teeth in their mouth who burst into flames in contact with sunlight, and I intend to keep it that way."

I gritted my teeth, "How can you be sure? You're not exactly subtle."

"Oh, trust me, everyone here is solid." Dorian sipped his whiskey.

"That's the thing." I met his gaze. "I don't trust you."

He raised his eyebrow, "But you trust your vampire hunter?"

"He's quite taken with me."

"Of course, he is." Dorian smirked. "You're pretty and he hasn't fucked you yet."

"Maybe he has." My heart rate quickened.

"No." Dorian cocked his head, observing me, "I'd smell it on you."

"That's fucking creepy."

Dorian laughed, but the sound died out as quickly as it appeared. In less than a second, he appeared in front of me, both of his hands on the armrests, blocking me. Up close, he smelled like blood, and whiskey, and winter. The faint Cherry scent on him almost made me gag.

"What are you doing here?" He uttered through his clenched teeth.

"I told you." My voice dropped low. "I wanted to warn-"

"No." He smiled, showing his fangs – two sharp teeth, poking his bottom lip. "You're not here to warn anyone. You want something, and it has nothing to do with vampire hunters."

I could force my face into neutrality, I could even tuck my fangs inside my mouth, but I couldn't stop my heart from racing. Dorian leaned over me, the strands of his silver hair falling over his dusk-coloured eyes, and chuckled.

"Give me the vote." I said through my teeth. "The seat on the Council has never been yours, it's mine."

Something came over me, something wild, feral, and chaotic, and I pushed him off hard. He stumbled across the room, hitting the chess table in the process, and almost spilling the whiskey bottle. Dorian laughed out loud.

"Oh, fuck." He approached again, but I was already out of the armchair. "I thought you wanted to talk, but if you wanna fight me, I'm down."

Lucia, my mind whispered. I had to think about Lucia. The less money I managed to find, the closer she came to death. But, God, I was so tired and pissed off. Constantly stepping over my pride for the greater fucking good.