Vengeance (The Captive #6)(73)
He was in there, in the middle of the lion’s den, and now it was up to her to help him get out again.
CHAPTER 24
William pulled his feet forward, forcing himself to walk in time with the men dragging him toward the hotel. The vampires outside of the hotel had stepped out of their way to allow Kane to pass through. Kane may not be high enough in the ranks to warrant staying in the same building as the fake queen, but the vampires here still respected him.
Once inside the hotel, the vampires pressed closer against them. Their curious murmurs filled the air as he was led down the red-carpeted hall toward two massive wooden doors at the end. Before they could reach the doors, they were pulled open to reveal what he assumed was the ballroom beyond.
The hotel wasn’t overly large; the ballroom took up about a quarter of the first floor and was about a hundred feet by a hundred feet square. The room became much smaller with all of the vampires trying to cram inside to see what was going on. The scent of so many bodies pressing against him filled his nose. The aromas of blood, body odor, perfume and cologne mingled together to make his already pounding head throb more. He almost lost his footing again, but he somehow managed to keep his feet under him as he was dragged toward the stage at the front of the room.
“What is the meaning of this?” A vampire with nearly white hair and eyes so pale blue they were almost white demanded as he strolled in from another room.
Pulled up before the stage, William’s arms remained clasped as he was held before the man. The vampire’s bushy white eyebrows drew together over the bridge of his prominent, roman nose. The line of his thin lips were compressed so firmly they nearly disappeared from view. The man towered over him on the stage, but if they were on the same level the man would only be an inch taller than him. William was certain he’d be able to count every one of the ribs beneath the elegant, velvet blue cloak and fine silken clothes the vampire wore.
The man’s eyes came back to him before traveling to Kane and the other vampires surrounding him. “Why would you bring this villager in before the queen?” the man demanded.
“This is not any villager, Goran,” Kane replied in a smug tone of voice that caused loathing to slither through William. “The queen will be extremely interested in this young man.”
Goran snorted and folded his skinny arms over his slender chest. “And why is that?”
“I would prefer to speak with her majesty,” Kane replied.
A crackle of power slid over William’s skin as Goran’s eyes briefly flashed red. The vampire may look like a reed, but he was far more lethal than his form revealed. Around him, all of the vampires took a step back. Even the ones holding him moved away, drawing him with them. William had felt Braith and Jack’s power ooze from them before; this man may not have that vast quantity, but it was more than Gideon or Ashby possessed.
Who is this guy? His gaze ran over his high quality clothing and the ruby rings on each of the fingers of his right hand. Wealth and a whole lot of power, William noted before lifting his head to Goran again.
“I didn’t ask what you would prefer,” Goran replied in a crisp voice that caused more of the vampires in the room to fall back a step. “You never should have brought a vampire so bloodied and disheveled anywhere near her majesty. It is disrespectful.”
Kane, seeming to realize this man would rip his head off, and he didn’t have as much sway as he believed he did, bowed his head and folded his hands demurely before him. “I apologize; I did not mean any disrespect. I was so excited when I realized who he was that I brought him here immediately.”
Goran’s eyes came back to him, a caterpillar brow lifted into his hairline. “And just who is he?”
“He is the imposter queen’s brother,” Kane replied, his voice filled with excitement.
William’s head turned toward him, his nostrils flared as he glowered at Kane standing to the left and slightly in front of him. “My sister is not an imposter,” he grated through his teeth. “She is the one who rightly should be called queen.”
Kane’s eyes slid toward him, but before he could speak, a hand snaked out and grasped hold of William’s chin, jerking it forward so he was eye to eye with Goran. His lip curled as he stared at the man.
“Our queen rightly belongs upon the throne,” Goran replied, his voice deceptively smooth. “Your sister and her husband are imposters, if she truly is your sister.”
Kane straightened; he tugged at his ruined shirt as he thrust his shoulders proudly back. “She is. I encountered them both before joining the real queen’s ranks. In fact, I ran this one through with my sword, when he was still human. He should be dead; someone must have turned him before he could die.”
Goran snickered at Kane’s words. William continued to hold Goran’s unrelenting gaze. “So you are another perversion of our race, and a weakening of our blood, just like your sister.”
William shrugged as best he could with the vampires still grasping his arms. “I am what I am.”
A circle of red blazed around Goran’s eyes; his fingers tightened until they pierced the skin of William’s chin. Trickles of warm blood slid down his chin, but he kept his face impassive as drops of it fell on the floor. “Such a flippant response only shows your class. You’re a waste, a detriment to our kind. Your watered-down blood will only create weaker versions of the race who should rightly rule this earth.”