Crimson Flame ~ Book 1 - The Royal Blood Collection

Chapter 9

Tonight's trip into the unknown was longer than the short drive to Chinatown. This was deeper into the city area; the traffic was impossibly horrendous. Impossible because I didn't think that so many people would be out at night. They were all vampires, at least, I thought they were. Maybe there were brave humans in these cars. Brave but incredibly stupid.

Nisha was quiet tonight, gazing out at the glittering lights of the city. Life still carried on although it was nothing like it had once been. That was what we'd been taught, the past was grand, the future was bleak. We had flourished as a race but were blinded to the threat hiding in the shadows. Humanity was crumbling at the hands of the creatures in this vehicle. The very same creatures that I was siding with. Would it save humanity? I don't know but what I did know was that without humans, the vampires would be left to consume a substandard meal.

They'd evolve to consume other kinds of blood but it would take time and I guess some might die. Did Alaric care about that? I couldn't honestly say. He wanted to save his people and create law and order yet he had a list of people that he wanted dead. Yes, they had betrayed his family but what happened to forgiveness? Were they not worthy of it?

The thoughts kept looping through my mind, I had no answers for anything and to be honest, I don't know if I wanted them. Knowing the truth could be detrimental. Then again, being an accomplice to murder was more detrimental.

"How many are on the list?"

"After last night's efforts, six."

"And how many do you hope to erase tonight?"

"With any luck, six."

Silence hit us again as Silas moved the limo onto the off-ramp, taking us from the inner-city bypass and into the streets that were bursting with life. I'd never seen so many people out at night and I realized that there was a vampire plague.

"Humanity will not cope." I murmured.

"We know." Nisha finally spoke. "This is what has happened because Hendrick was left in charge. He didn't maintain any control over breeding or turning. Father would be appalled if he could see the population explosion."

She paused, looking a little sad.

"At least that's what Silas says."

"You don't want to be the top species?"

"Of course we do," Nisha said with a mocking laugh. "But when the numbers are tipped too heavily then it is a problem. We cannot be the top species if we are starving."

"Having the largest populace does not make us better than humanity," Alaric interjected. "It makes us stronger. We have the ability to win the war that the humans wage against us, we just have to make them fight for us."

His fingers flicked out at the people on the street. They did not look like soldiers. Aside from the obvious lack of appropriate clothing, they just didn't have that look to them.

"What about slayers?"

A soft chuckle broke out between Nisha and Alaric. They might find it amusing but I didn't. At the moment, I was in limbo and would be frowned upon if slayers intercepted us. The only thing that would save me was the fact that in time, the vampire part of the hybrid nature would dissipate and I'd be human again. I'm sure they'd throw me in jail until that happened. That is if I was that lucky. Maybe they'd kill me for being a vampire sympathizer.

"They are being dealt with."

"Do you know who they are?"

"We do. As luck would have it, we created a list of them."