The Promise of the Trees - Sword, Ring, and Crown Book 3 (Complete - Editing)

Chapter Sixteen - Luis

Simone... ... that sounds suspiciously like Simon, a vampire staying in Aleria."

Dom frowned, then stood up to tower over Mike. "Did you send him to hurt Matt?"

"Relax, lover boy. You can't hurt me any more than I could hurt Matt." Mike waved him away.

Dom crashed noisily back into the chair he had vacated. "Just be glad that Matt isn't interested in Simon."

"Why would that make me glad? That puts a big wrench in my plans, kid."

I huffed in amusement. Nice to know he wasn't getting what he wanted.

Then I realized that Mike was staring.

He was looking at me with a gleam in his eye as if he was reconsidering something. "You know, maybe I'm wrong about Luis. I think we might be able to fix him ourselves. "

Dom sat up and looked at me sharply. "Is that so?"

The little man nodded, "You can see the link right?"

He squinted, then nodded. "It's hardly there, just a faint, gray line, but it's there."

"That means that he's still got good in him. He's not completely messed up. Now,  if we had Straif here, it would be easier, but I think we could do something with him to take Joseph's influence off him."

Dom gasped, then laid a hand over my withers and ruffled my neck. I bared my teeth, but Mike's magic was keeping me from being able to bite. It felt like I had an invisible muzzle over my snout.

The man I hated most was stroking the top of my head and scratching behind my ears like I was a pet. I catalogued each of these injustices and added them to the payback he was earning. 

Dom ignored my growing vendetta against him. He continued petting as he interrogated Mike. "How?"

The little man got out of his chair and went to a sack he had in a corner. From within it, he retrieved a small flask.

"It's the drug I developed for vampirism.  It doesn't cure anything, but it can blunt the symptoms.  Maybe it can help Luis fight Joseph's control."

Dom looked skeptical.

"Hey, I made it to help the vamps avoid being killed for good. It's what's keeping the illness from spreading as fast."

"Joseph sent soldiers with Luis to do just that. They're hunting them with Joseph's blood! And I don't trust you. You could be making a potion to make the vampires even stronger for all I know." Dom glared at Mike.

"The blood won't help Luis resist Joseph. But that's not great news. If they do that, there's no guarantee my daughter will be spared." The tiny man sighed.  "I know I ain't trustworthy but what else ya got?"

Dom leaned forward, hands clasped on his knees. "Tell me how your idea can help Luis."

Mike shrugged helplessly. "He needs something else to draw strength from. This temporarily redirects it from Joseph."

"So, that's all he needs?"

He shook his head. "No, because this ain't like what Joe does to the vamps. That's something physical and . Luis has to find some kind of spiritual connection again, like he had with Matt, or he'll burn out and die. This will maybe last an hour or two."

Dom's eyes were shining bright, his smile wide. "Then, Matt should be able to heal him! He just needs to strengthen his connection. "

"And if he doesn't want to?" Mike asked skeptically.

Dom's expression turned grim as he looked at me. "Then we kill him."

I barked at Dom then bared my teeth. He could try.