She was lithe and nimble, resembling a child, though she must have been at least sixteen before she was turned. Her platinum blonde hair shimmered in the lamplight as she slipped out from an alley. Her unmistakable pale skin nearly glowed and as her red eyes searched around her, he slipped back into the darkness.
Lillian was another favorite of Carina's. Born in the late nineteenth century, she always had a soft, ethereal glow, and a personality that Stone would have enjoyed conversing with if not for the fact that they were enemies. Lillian was the only vampire whose life he might feel some regret in taking.
Inhaling a deep breath, he burst out of the shadows and sprinted across the street so quickly that she barely had time to register the movement before his hand was wrapped around her neck.
Flying into the darkest corner of the alley, he thrust her against the brick wall over his head, her feet dangling two and a half feet above the ground.
She clawed at his hand around her throat, her mouth open wide in a silent scream of shock and pain.
"I will spare you this once, Lillian," he growled as her red eyes searched his, "on the condition that you deliver a message to Carina. She's the one I want, not you."
He loosened his grip enough so that she could speak.
"Mother?" she gasped out.
Internally, he flinched at the word. He hated that such a monster was capable of love and maternal instincts. Hated the thought that she could be good while murdering others.
But wasn't he the same way?
"Tell her to meet me at Schubert Club Bandshell on Raspberry Island no later than an hour before sunrise. Do this and I will spare your life this one time. Should she not show up, I will tell the slayers of your whereabouts," he told her.
"You won't kill her, will you?" she asked in a pleading voice.
He snarled at her, pulling her away from the wall a few inches before slamming her back into it so that she was at eye-level with him. He didn't want to make promises he couldn't keep—even to her. If he got the chance to kill Carina, he wanted to take it. He deserved to end her miserable existence and free himself of her forever. Why should Lillian's plea matter at all?
"No promises, leech," he spat. "I have matters to discuss with her, but if given the opportunity to take care of her once and for all, I won't hesitate to take it."
She hardened her jaw as she looked him square in the eyes. "You're a monster."
A smirk tugged on the corners of his lips. "I could say the same about you—especially the one you call Mother."
"She loves me, something you know nothing about."
He wanted to laugh, but instead, he sneered at her. "Are those the lies she feeds you?"
"Mother is merciful—"
"Your mother murdered my soulmate and son in cold-blood!" he snarled. "She destroyed a family and a bond, a love that was more pure and true than anything you soulless creatures could ever understand. And do you know why she did it?"
Lillian lifted her chin up, her eyes glaring into his. "Yes."
He expected her to say more, to admit that her mother was capable of killing without regret, to prove that she was as monstrous as he was. When she said nothing more, he prompted her. "Tell me."
"You all need to be destroyed," she said automatically, as if it had been ingrained in her mind for decades.
"As do you," he said, "because it's in your nature to kill. To feed, you must murder humans."
YOU ARE READING
Heart of Stone (Parts I & II)
Werewolf[COMPLETE] Some bonds can't be broken, even in death. -- He couldn't endure another heartbreak. "Accepting her would be a mistake," he said. "She's a human. I can't afford to have her blood on my hands." Gwen looked away, and he knew she saw the ima...
