Chapter 74 Nicolas

Robert Jones is arguing with his whore. The secretary is pissed at him for making her serve another woman while being fucked by him in the shadows. Even with all the tears the woman offers him, he still lets go of her hand and walks down the dark alley, trying to find the queen.

“She’s gone.” I reveal myself from the darkness while he’s alone in the alley.

He turns to me, in obvious shock. “Nicolas Burton. How dare you come to the city without giving us notice?”

I admire his blind confidence. “Long time no see, my old friend. Nice party by the way.”

“You’ve been to the party?” He stiffens. “You have no right.”

I have had enough of him. I move next to him quickly and seize him by his neck. His cologne nauseates me. “You don’t tell me if I have the right to do anything from now on. You fucking killed one of my men.”

He tries to deny it and blame it on the Human Authority.

Pushing his head against the wall and locking his arms behind his back, I say in his ear, “They couldn’t have gained access to Moonlit if you didn’t grant it to them! Fucking killed him right in my own house! Where does that leave me then? Am I a fool in your mortal eyes?”

“Wait…wait.” He’s having a hard time breathing.

“Answer me!” I smash his head into the hard wall. Blood is streaming out of a wound on his head.

“I can’t breath.” His face is reddening as he suffocates. I let go of him and let him explain.

“Speak!”

“I really had no idea! The Human Authority did it, and they didn’t even notify me. I found out about it just before I got here!”

“Why did you bring a werewolf here?”

“To show those important people how healthy she is, to get more funding from them for my town! There are rich businessmen in there and I was talking to them the whole night! Then my fucking useless secretary stupidly let her go!”

“How did Henry get a gem burn? Where is the gem now?”

“I don’t have it anymore! I gave it to the Human Authority! They must have used it on Henry. I really had no idea!” he cries.

A coward will always be a coward. I could kill him right at this very moment. But it might alert the enemy too soon, and he’s still useful. I pick him up and hurl him onto the ground, “Tell them, if it’s a war they want, then they’ll have it.” I stomp my foot onto his fingers. “I’ll spare your life this time, Robert, because you can’t even control a whore. We will see each other again soon.” Robert Jones is one cunning man. He’s not the man he says he is. I’ve known this for a long time, and will pay more attention to him from now on. As for the fucking Human Authority, their days on this earth are numbered.

I leave for my place in the city. It’s a secret property, the location only known to us Burtons - a house near the artificial forest. I pick up the phone and dial for Paulina, another adopted child, and member of the Seven Bloods.

“Father.” She says at the other end of the line.

“My dear Paulina. How’s the progress now?”

“Everything is ready Father, we can initiate it whenever you consent.”

“Good work dear. Do it now, and keep me updated with the progress. Be careful and discreet.”

“Yes Father.”

Then, another call comes in. “Master.”

“Tom. Who was in the car that took Lily away?” I’d already asked Tom to track the license plate that I spotted when it passed in front of me.

“The car was parked outside of a clothing store called ‘Lady Valentine’s fashion boutique,’ right in the center of the city. I suspect the one who took her was a werewolf, same as the queen. This isn’t looking good, master. The queen is back with her people.”

“This is great. Send me the address of the store and keep eye on it.”

I hang up the phone with a mild contentment rising inside me. At least something is going the way I want it to. I lean back in my chair while I fix myself a glass of whisky. The scent of a burning flame is floating in from the living room.

“Who told you to come here? You should remain in Moonlit and spend time with the princess.” I say to Dominic, who’s coming out from the shadows.

“Father, forgive me. I have to talk to you.”

I observe him up and down from a distance. He is different. His scent has changed somehow, and it reminds me of the time when he was still a child. “Where have you been?”

“The desert. I retrieved the herb and gave it to Dr. Lupin.”

“Good.”

“Father. Henry was killed by the humans.”

“I’m aware of it.”

“Stop then, before more lives are sacrificed in vain.”

“What are you talking about? Do you hear yourself?” I can’t say that I’m surprised to hear it from Dominic. I know that he’s always righteous and loyal, which are virtues that may endanger my plan.

“There is no way that we can stop the Moon from awakening. You can try, but it will be in vain.”

His anger is seething. I’m sensing a heat in his body… Could it be coming back? The curse on his body that I tried to obliterate a long time ago, and suppressed under the Phoenix’s Seal?

“Father. Come to the window and look at the night sky.”

I sit up and go to the garden. Dominic is standing in the darkness while I’m standing in the light. But the air around him seems to shine with a brighter hue. He isn’t the Dominic I raised anymore. The night sky is alive with sparkling starlight, and a new star is popping up with a gleam after each minute passes.

When I stand beside Dominic, the stone on my ring vibrates with a rhythm. It has never done that, not in all the time I’ve mastered the spirit inside. I feel the spirit inside of it, called Greed, is affected by Dominic’s presence. I grasp Dominic’s wrist hard, and feel the beating of his pulse. The heat inside of him burns my cold palm as the stone on my ring is violently vibrating. He’s definitely not the old him. A significant change is taking place in his body. Dominic is not a Burton anymore. “What did you do to your body? Answer me!”

“Calm yourself, Father. ” He looks into my eyes, “An ancient fate is awakening my body. I am a knight of Dragon Breath and I’m a gem myself, not like the others encased in stone. The most powerful spirit of the seven gems is standing right before you.”

I can’t believe it. My very own son held a secret in his body, without me ever realizing it.

“I will say this to you only one time, Father. Stop whatever you are planning, this is beyond what we originally intended. The Dark Lord hasn’t told you the whole truth. Stop, before it’s too late.”

His eyes are burning with fire. He thinks he knows more than I do.

“If you choose to abandon your duty serving the Dark Lord and your family, then you’ll be officially cast out from the Seven Bloods. But I can tell you right now, I will not stop. No fucking way.”