Fear and Blood

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

“No,” Rome breathed. It couldn't be. There was no way in the world Marcus Taylor, prominent politician and most likely candidate for the next leader of the country, was also the president of one of the worlds most powerful vampire hunters clubs.

“Are you sure?” Clayton asked, still on the phone with one of the spies. “No, no I understand. This situation is very delicate. You don't need to worry, it will be taken care of. Stay put for now, you'll be contacted again soon.”

One look at her father face was all Rome needed. There was no doubt Taylor was the man in charge of Silver Lake. The spy must have confirmed what the note said, but there was no doubt this revelation was going to cause more problems than it solved.

“Rome,” Ly's voice broke into Rome's thoughts and she looked up at him, eyes wide with shock. “Rome, what's wrong? What did you find?” He looked from Clayton to Rome and back again, waiting for answers.

Should I tell him? The young woman thought frantically. Oh no, how do I tell him? What will he do when he finds out? Will he kill Taylor? This man isn't only a vampire hunter, he's also responsible for the wider populations negative views on vampires. Will Ly be able to control himself?If he can't he will have more than just vampire hunters after him. Who would believe that a law abiding citizen like Taylor could possibly order the death of one of his own supporter, that someone who was so against vampires could hire one to kill his most loyal advocate?

“Rome,” Ly's voice was becoming agitated now and Rome knew she couldn't hold off for much longer. He was going to find out and he was going to get himself killed. This whole twisted situation was going to get him killed!

It made no sense! Why would Marcus Taylor want Matthew Scott dead? Was it all just to frame Ly for the murder? If it was, then that left the question of how in the world Taylor knew about Ly's existence in the first place. Was it possible that Tricia actually had betrayed Tristan? If he had known of the Aleron family, it seemed safe to assume that he had ordered Scott to kill Tristan, maybe in the hopes of sending the vampire community into chaos. That would mean he would have to leave the vampires without a leader, so he would have to get rid of Ly as well.

Why though? Why do all of this when he was so close to becoming the leader of the country? Why when the new legislation he would have passed would give him a degree of control over the vampire population anyway? Instead of waiting until it was safe to act, with the law behind him, why would he risk the lives of every human in the country by challenging the vampire community in this way? Marcus Taylor was a pig, but he wasn't an idiot. It made no sense.

Ly finally ran out of patience. He got up, marched over to where Rome was sitting and pried the piece of paper out of her rigid hand before she could make a move to stop him. The vampires midnight blue eyes scanned the short paragraphs before flicking, as Rome's had done, to the letterhead at the top of the page.

The young vampires face was hard to read and he stood still for quite a while, just looking at the letter in his hand. He didn't shake, he didn't scowl, he didn't do anything to give away the emotion that lay beyond his haunted eyes, only stared.

“Ly,” Rome said softly, fear rising. This wasn't a natural reaction for him. It wasn't right that he was so calm. He should have been shouting, declaring to the world that Marcus Taylor was a dead man. Instead he looked like the one who had died.

“Marcus Taylor,” the vampire whispered, remaining completely still. “This is the man who framed me and, most likely, ordered my brothers death. This is the man who runs one of the worlds largest hunters clubs and he's one of the only men in the world I can't touch because it would start a war, not only with the hunters, but with the rest of the human population as well. If I go after him my name will never be cleared.”