He’d been in love with Constantia, and now he threatened Essence. Their relationship suddenly made much more sense. The constant discussions about his dead love…
Benyamin rounded on him. “If she had stayed in the house, she would have been mine.”
Essence’s face was pale. Soon, her fangs would elongate. She’d have her own monster to deal with. They should not be, in any circumstances, dealing with this right now. Fate loved to play games in his life.
But he would not lose Essence to this creature. “She was my beloved. She is dead. Whatever you think could have happened, Essence has no part to play in it. Leave her be.”
“It’s never an accident. I told you to leave her alone. I could have handled this. You never would have had to know, but, as usual, you couldn’t leave well enough alone.”
Alec had enough. Or his monster did. He didn’t care which one took care of this. Only it was time to put a great period on the end of this sentence.
He leapt at Benyamin at the same time his adversary jumped at him. They were equally matched. Sometime after the age of two hundred, all vampires became equally strong. They tore at each other. Benyamin got a good jab, hitting the side of his face while he managed to get ahold of Benyamin’s neck. They slammed on the floor. He had just fed, but clearly Benyamin hadn’t.
Thoughts slurred through his mind—had Benyamin set up the cab to hurt her so he could change Essence himself? How long had he been plotting this?
The answers would not be found because dead was the only way Benyamin was leaving this room. He’d threatened Essence. Alec had just gotten her, and Benyamin tried to take her away. He’d clearly interfered with Constantia in the past while he held himself up as some holier than thou beacon of vampirism.
Blood splattered the walls, but it wasn’t his own. He’d always wondered somewhere inside of him—where the monster resided—which one of them was stronger. Now he knew. There wasn’t really a competition.
In the end, the whole thing was over much faster than his monster liked. He ripped out his throat before he tore Benyamin’s head off his body and chucked it off to the side. Fiction made a big deal over killing vampires. A stake through the heart. Burning. In the end, if sunlight couldn’t finish the job then a good beheading did the trick.
He stared down at his dead opponent. Such a waste. If he’d known his former mentor would be so weak, perhaps he would have gotten rid of him years earlier.
A sound in the corner, something between a gasp and a whimper, caught his attention. He turned his head to side. Essence stared at the scene. Her eyes had gone entirely vampire—the red hue startlingly beautiful on her. Her blond hair hung in her face, and he could see the faintest tell of her fangs poking out in her mouth.
She’d fully turned, probably brought on in a strong hurry thanks to the fight and the blood. He looked down at himself. Whatever Benyamin had fed on the day before coated Alec’s clothes. Oh well. Humans would find it repulsive, but it was just another day for them.
He walked toward her and stopped when she growled at him. Oh yes, Essence was full on vampire right then.
“I’m stronger than you.” Her vampire would hear him. She would understand what he said. “I’ll always be. Don’t make me prove it.”
Essence began to shake. That was good. Her vampire had heard him, had responded to the challenge. They were animals, when it came down to it. If she didn’t believe him stronger, they’d have to fight it out. The last thing either he or his monster wanted was that. Truth was, they both wanted to fuck her.
But that would wait.
She dropped her eyes. Good girl. She needed to submit, and they both required blood. He held out his hand. “Come on. We’ll go feed. Then you’ll ease up on her. You’re not in charge. I am.”
Essence didn’t speak. It was possible her vampire hadn’t figured out how to talk yet. For years, he’d been able to communicate in both states. Sometimes, it was more challenging for one vampire over another.
Or maybe she had nothing to say.
For her first feed, he would make it as easy as possible for her. One of the people he kept employed for this purpose would do. They’d have to.
He was too raw, too ready to destroy, to go anywhere where he might actually have to stalk someone.
Tomorrow would be soon enough to start teaching her to control herself. Tonight he would see to it that all went well.
*
Essence watched the man’s pulse in his throat as it beat steadily. Lloyd—that was his name—stared straight ahead as he sat in a chair in front of his television. He had no idea what happened to him. Alec had seen to that.
How had she not known how strong Alec was before? He was in charge. He made things happen.
He pointed at the pulse in Lloyd’s neck as though she hadn’t already seen it, hadn’t noticed it the second they stepped into the room.