Blood Wars

Chapter 9

This time I don't wait an extra hour before leaving the estate at night. My parents have their blood sample, I'm in the clear. I can't waste another second in captivity. I have an empire to run. An empire that is slipping from my grip and slowly crumbling out from under me. It's time I make an appearance and remind everyone who is really in charge. When I met with Taryn last night, she gave me another dose of human blood, an increased amount. Still nowhere near full power, but I feel more like myself than I have since this all started.

Quietly but quickly, I slip expertly out of my room and emerge into the night. I run so fast I don't even have time to let the events ruminate in my brain. This is a time for action, not thought. When I reach the warehouse, I pull the door open so forcefully it creates a gust of wind. Every head in the room snaps towards the door. I didn't tell anyone I was coming. Dorian looks amused. Taryn looks nervous and Crux places a reassuring hand on her arm and slowly rubs as I make my way across the floor. Charlotte was talking to Loren before I made my entrance. A rather frantic conversation at that. She was trying to gain control with no success. But her eyes are on me now, darting around, afraid to hold my gaze.

I walk up to her steadily without a word or a change in my expressionless face. When I stop in front of her, I am only inches away. Charlotte is taller than me but a few inches shorter than Taryn, but the stilettoes she characteristically wears brings her a full head above mine. But right now, she looks so small. I wait for her to speak first, letting the room drink in the menacing silence.

"Kara." My name is all she can get out.

"Charlotte." I slowly circle her. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" I ask when I am facing her once again. "Or should I just watch the news." I growl. This time I glance at Taryn without moving my head and she flinches. How dare she not tell me. And where the hell was she?

"Kara, please. A few vampires snuck out last night for a hunt. When Loren told me, it was too late to catch up with them. I told them no hunting groups larger than two. They knew the rules." She explains in a frantic burst.

"Rules that were up to you to enforce." I remind her.

"I was training the others, but they-" Charlotte stammers.

"Names." I demand.

"What?"

"Who did it, give me names." My voice bellows through the walls.

"It was Ro-" Charlotte starts.

"Wrong!" I snap. "There is one name. One person in charge. Charlotte." I hiss. "I left you in charge. Anything that happens under your command is on you. Now the humans are suspicious and my parents and the rest of the dociles are on the case."

"I went to the scene, I set the fire to make it seem like a car crash. The bodies burned, there's no way anyone could've noticed that the bodies were drained of blood." Charlotte pleas.

"Is that so? Then why did my parents demand a blood sample from me the second they saw me?" She has no answer. "All you did was turn it into more of a cluster fuck than it already was. Were you trying to hide this from me?" I ask.

"I- I wasn't." She throws up her hands by her face.

"Good. Because you can't, Charlotte. You don't want to make me regret putting you in charge, trust me. One more mistake and I'll send you straight to hell with your precious Tobias." My words hit her harder than a slap across the face." And I can practically feel Dorian's smile from here.