Chapter 236

Brice stood at the window of his high-rise office, staring at the neon-drenched cityscape just outside of Paris. The rain pattered against the smart-glass, creating streaks of light that reflected off the surrounding skyscrapers. His fangs ached—a month without feeding had left him on edge, but his senatorial duties kept him chained to this glass cage like a domesticated animal.

One month. That's how long it had been since he'd talked with Jean-Claude. The security bill sat untouched on his data pad, gathering dust. A fair trade, Jean-Claude had said: kill the bill and get his brother back. Simple as that. Except nothing about Raphael was ever simple.

His brother was a mess of track marks, dealing opioids to feed his own habit. Pathetic. The irony wasn't lost on him—a vampire with a junkie for a brother. But blood was blood, whether it ran pure or was tainted with chemicals that would make a normal person's heart stop.