Dylan (Bowen Boys, #3)(36)

Tainted beef? He had no idea there was even a butcher in this small village, but to have one with tainted beef? He looked around for the first time in centuries at the place he’d called home. It was still as if he’d only just moved here.

There were no cars here, the streets so narrow that the horses and carts that had been so plentiful when he’d come here nearly two hundred years ago were the only thing that would pass in them. The buildings had thatched roofs and no glass in the openings of the windows. The man who now lay dead on the straw-filled mattress was wearing rough clothing; woolen, he supposed, and patched a great many times. Lucius stepped back and into the next room.

A fire burned low in the fireplace. A crock filled with water sat next to it with a ladle. The table was a worn sliver of wood over two cut logs, and the chairs were only another part of the same tree. Going into the street, he saw the same things. Flowers growing in large hewed logs, broken pottery, and rocks. Lucius sat on one of the many benches and thought about what he was seeing.

“They never moved on. I never let them, and they died because of that.” Lucius called out for anyone around. There was no answer, as he had suspected. They were all dead. An entire village of people had died because he’d never told them to explore. Standing, he brushed off his clothing.

“They have deserted me is what they’ve done. In my greatest hour, they have left me to fend for myself.” He moved toward the outskirts, occasionally calling for anyone to answer. “Stupid ignorant cattle. After all this time, they have left me alone and in my greatest hour. To hell with them all.”

He turned back to the village and set fire to the first building, then several more. By the time he’d materialized in his home, the village was aflame, and as there was no one to put it out or to even call in the fire brigade, the town burned to ash by the next evening.

By the time he woke the following evening, he had come to a decision. He couldn’t stay there any longer. He had no one to feed him, and the house would go to ruin if there were no villagers to make improvements. He knew just where he wanted to go, too.

To the capital. He would go to Washington DC and find the girl himself. And if on his journey he found the human, he would take care of him, as well. Satisfied with his new plans, Lucius went through the house looking for anything that would lead someone to realize that he was a vampire. When he found only a few items, he materialized at one of the finer hotels, in their best suite. He moved about the room and made adjustments, most of which had to with keeping his room dark when he rested. He also realized he’d have to find someone he could trust to watch over him.

But first things first…he had to find dinner. Walking along the streets, he found plenty to catch his eye, but very few that he felt were what he’d consider worthy of drinking from. It took him nearly an hour to find one human, and less than ten minutes to kill her. He took the first human he could find back to where the body of the first lay and killed her, as well. He had to find the human female, Crosby. When he found her, he decided that she would die, too. He’d had enough of this to last him for several lifetimes.

He looked the rest of the night for a suitable servant. What he found coming out of the large building just in front of him was even better.

The panther moved with the grace of a cat. Lucius loved the blood of all cats, but panther held a special kind of love. It was the first thing he’d fed on when he’d turned. It had filled his cells like nothing he’d had since. He moved behind the man and was ready to touch him when he turned suddenly.

He was young, probably in his early to mid-twenties. His face was a sculpture’s dream…sloped nose and high cheek bones. His eyes were that of his kind, dark and beautifully surrounded by thick lashes. Lucius did enjoy the occasional male in his bed, but not as much as he did their counterpart. But he would make an exception for this one.

“You will come to me.” The boy shook his head. “I did not ask. I said you will come to me.”

Again he shook his head, and Lucius found himself proud that the panther, a mere child to him, thought to throw off his compulsion. Lucius reached out his hand for him and watched as he struggled. But in the end, he came to him.

“My brothers, my parents, they’re expecting me.” Lucius nodded as he folded him into his arms. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Of course it’s not. But it’s much too late for you now.” He took him to his room and let him look around. “You stay here with me tonight, and in the morning, I will set you free. Would you like that?”

The boy nodded. “I’d like to call my mom. She’ll be worried, and I hate to worry them. There’s a bunch of stuff going on at home, and I really would hate to have her worry.”

“Later. You may call them later.” Lucius sat in the chair and watched his lover. “You would like something to eat, perhaps?”

He declined, but Lucius ordered him a meal anyway. He knew growing boys were always hungry, and this one would be no exception. When the meal came, Lucius helped the boy sit after dismissing the waiter. The manager had come, too, to see what he was doing in the suite, but Lucius had straightened him out as well.

As the boy ate, Lucius moved up behind him and pulled him into a web. It was one he used all the time, where the human—or, in this case, panther—would think that Lucius really was their lover, and would enjoy anything and everything he did to them.