A night later, the Duke looked down at the bodies. He was standing in the ruins he had fondly remembered from his encounter with the Princess during the Hunt. The place was now a desolate junkyard of blood and organs. Aarin lay still in the dust and grit, in the middle of the dead bodies, a stake through the heart.
"Who could have caught him? The Defiance?" The Duke asked, looking down.
He was in shock. He had known Aarin for more than one hundred and fifty years. This was supposed to be his city.
"Well, that was my first thought as well, but look at this familiar," the doctor said, pointing at the neck of a familiar. The Duke knew him as well - both were highly loyal people, people to be trusted.
"This one has been fed upon," the Doctor said. "So another coven? Why here, in the middle of nowhere? Perhaps Aarin came across some spies by accident?"
"Immortal spies? Possibly. Look at these marks. This is very badly done. Look, it's taken them a few bites to get the jugular right," Sadismann was vexed. "A new immortal - but who would let such an inexperienced immortal go out of the coven?"
The Doctor knelt down. "Could be some kind of initiation or someone trying to cover up their bite marks."
"So you're suggesting murder? Someone within the coven?" said the Duke.
The Doctor nodded his head. "It's not unknown, or someone's turning familiars outside the coven in secret, building a dark army. Aarin discovered them, they wanted to cover it up."
The Duke looked around; if Malphas had a disciple, then his spy would have told him about them. If this was a new vampire, it would take a few months for the fangs to grow to do this much damage. Something was missing, a feeling that the Duke had grown to find disturbing.
The Duke remembered Mary's secret message.
"Did you find any unusual items with them?"
"No, nothing," said the Doctor, not looking away from the bite marks on another body.
The Duke turned to his familiar, a leader of the long coats. "Okay, keep looking. Don't stop until sunrise. Order the usual reprisals for killing one of the coven. Don't talk to anyone about this until we know who did it."
He looked around at the place which might have been the moment of his greatest joy. This was confusing and needed consideration.
YOU ARE READING
The Vampire's Crimson Kiss (Editing)
VampireVictoria is given by her father, the King of the Barren Lands, to the Vampire Duke Sadisman as a hostage. She is a gift from her people as a peace offering. As part of the bargain, Duke has promised, "She will not be sired, she will not be fed upo...
