Tondran hated the fact his two prisoners had been
spirited away from right under his nose. Which could only mean one thing. There
was a traitor among the people who were meant to be loyal to him. This was not
how he planned for things to go. He was determined to find out just who had
helped the abominations escape, and once he found them he was going to make
them pay—slowly.
“Father, does it even really matter if they are
gone? They were never part of the plan anyway.” Ormand asked.
Tondran stared at the stupidity that was his son.
“If he we want to control them all, we need to control each and every faction. If
we let them escape it will give them all a hope that it may be possible for
them t0 win. I don’t want that to happen. They will bow down before me as they were always meant to do. In the end
the whole of Panthea will.”
“But why?” Ormand complained, “Can’t you just go to
the High City and storm the castle or something. It’s not like they can win
against us. Our might is to powerful.”
Tondran back-handed his son across the face,
causing Ormand to cry out in surprise and pain. “We’ll take the castle when the
time is right. Before I take my seat on the throne as high king I want to rule
all the factions of the old ones. They’ll make me strong enough so that no one
would ever think about coming up against me.”
“Yes, Father. I see your wisdom now.” Ormand wiped
at the blood that trickled down his chin from his split lip.
“If you had done as commanded we’d already be in
control of one faction, but you failed me in your duty.”
“Fane kept him away from me. How was I supposed to
mate him if I couldn’t get near him?” Ormand demanded and stepped back as Tondran
took a step closer.
“You should have found a way.”
“Even when I did get near him all he talked about
was Quinlan. He never thought about being with anyone else—ever!”
“You should have forced your will onto him. His
wants are of little consequence to mine.” Shaking his head Tondran once more
took a menacing step towards his son. “That little cat and the Kitt it carries
will be mine, or they’ll both be dead.”
“Yes, Father.”
Tondran shoved his son away from him. “Now get the
hell out of my sight. Go and do something useful like tracking down the traitor
who helped those two to escape.”
Ormand nodded once and hastily left the room. His
son knew better than to stay when Tondran was angry at him. Tondran smiled, he
liked how he could easily make his son cower before him. When it was finally his
turn to rule, he would have the whole world cowering before him. Fear was the
best form of loyalty that he knew.
**~*~**
Vayne had stopped outside of the meeting chamber
when he heard Tondran and Ormand talking. So they knew about the other factions
of old ones. This was not a good thing. He needed to warn Josep and Lucas, they’d
have to get the Kings and Brayden to safety before either Tondran or Ormand
discovered where they were hiding.
As he walked through the compound he gave word to
all members the children of Varnuse to get ready as they were going to be
leaving. Vayne didn’t want anyone to be left behind. Once before in his life
that had happened and he had sworn it would never happen again. He knew in his
heart that one day he would find Simian again, and when he did they would never
be parted. He had to stay happy knowing that in the three years since they’d
been apart Simian was still alive, because if he wasn’t then Vayne would have
died right along with him. That alone gave him the courage to go on.
Vayne sensed he was being followed as he entered
the compounds tavern. Ormand wasn’t the brightest being in existence, and Vayne
knew it wouldn’t take long for Ormand to come to him. For some strange reason
every time they were in the same room Ormand tried to seduce him. He never
failed to try, even after never once having succeeded. Vayne wondered how long
it would be before he gave up this time.
“Hello, Vayne,” Ormand slid onto the stool beside
him.
“Ormand,” Vayne nodded in his direction. “Is there
something I can do for you?”
Ormand chuckled, his hand sliding over to rest on
Vayne’s thigh. “There’s something we can do for each other, if you know what I
mean.”
Vayne gritted his teeth as he gently but firmly
removed Ormand’s hand. “No, I don’t think that’s going to happen.” He gestured
between them both, “Us… we aren’t doing anything together. You’re so not my
type.”
“Pray tell, what is your type?” Ormand hissed.
Vayne shrugged, “Whatever my type is, you can be
certain that it isn’t you.”
Ormand stood up and almost unbalanced his seat.
“One of these days you will give me
what I want.”
“Not going to happen. Go find someone else who’s
willing to play, because it will never
be me.”
Ormand looked at him coldly. “I know your secrets,
Vayne. I know what it is, or rather who it is that you seek. And I can tell you
now that you will never find it.”
Vayne reached out and grabbed hold of Ormand’s hand
and squeezed roughly, speaking low he said. “If I find out you had anything at
all to do with his disappearance then I will
make you pay. I’ll cause you a hurt so bad you will beg me for deaths release.”
Ormand winced as Vayne squeezed his hand harder.
“You’ll never find Simian. I have made sure of that.”
“Then you’ve signed your own death warrant. I’ll
kill you. Maybe not today, but from now on you better sleep with one eye open.”
Ormand laughed, “My father would never allow you to
kill me.”
“Your father,” Vayne ground out, “has already given
me the go ahead to end your life if you fail him again. Who do you think he likes
more… his snivelling excuse for a son, or the second in command of his warriors?
I believe you need to think long and hard before you try seducing me again.”
Ormand turned and fled the tavern. Vayne sipped his
drink as he thought about just what he was going to do with Ormand, because he
knew that Ormand was going to pay but first he needed to find out what he knew
about Simian.
Draining his cup, Vayne stood up, he still needed
to get word to Josep about what he’d overheard. He also needed to let his
friend know he wouldn’t be going with them—Vayne had a lost mate to find.
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