A Very Proper Monster: An Elemental World Novella by Elizabeth Hunter

Author:Elizabeth Hunter [Hunter, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781941674123
Publisher: E. Hunter
Published: 2017-03-28T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

TOM TAPPED A PEN on the table as Declan finished up the monthly financial report for Murphy.

“I’d say the boat works will be profitable within two years with this expansion. While merging our existing works with Shaw’s will cost in the short term, it’ll be worth the investment.”

“And Beecham?” Murphy asked.

“We’ll be bigger, not just in holdings but in name. He won’t like it.”

Tom gritted his teeth. Murphy’s refusal to confront William Beecham had become a bone of contention between them. Once Beecham had flat out stated the Shaw heiress was not to be turned—even before Tom had brought it up with his sire—any interest in concession had flown out the window. He wanted Beecham gone. Wanted Murphy to take over. And he wasn’t quite rational about it.

Murphy tapped a long finger on the papers in front of him. “Beecham is… problematic.”

“Beecham’s a monster,” Tom muttered. “And you’d have the support of more than half the immortals in Dublin. You don’t hear what I do among the workers.”

“And you don’t hear what Anne and I do among the gentry,” Murphy said. “It’s not a simple thing, Tom. If I’m to avoid bloodshed, we must tread carefully.”

“There’ll be no avoiding bloodshed,” Tom said. “That’s not how these things work.”

“I have no interest in ruling a city where half the immortal population has been slaughtered and the other half only follows me out of fear.”

“Why not?” Tom asked. “It works. Vampires respect power.”

“They also respect intelligence. A bloody coup is not what Dublin needs right now. Not with all the unrest in human politics and not when the city is finally beginning to prosper. It’s simply not wise. Neither is turning humans who are notable in society.”

It was the closest they’d ever come to speaking of it, though Tom knew his anger at his wife’s failing health had not gone unnoticed by his sire.

Declan was completely silent, and Tom felt an irrational spike of anger toward his brother. If Declan had been the one to marry Josephine Shaw, Tom would barely have known her. He’d not feel this tearing pain at the thought of her loss. He’d not have tasted the joy of her devotion only to have human disease snatch it away.

“Tom,” Murphy said softly, “you knew it would end this way. It was why I forbade you from revealing yourself. It has nothing to do with my trust, respect, or affection for Josephine.”

Tom slammed his hand down and stood. He tried to keep his voice level, but he knew he failed.

“If it were Anne—”

“But it’s not Anne. There is a reason I’ve never allowed myself to become emotionally attached to humans. Added to that, Beecham has flatly denied—”

“Fuck Beecham!” he yelled. “We dance politely around the monster as he runs this city into the ground. He doesn’t care about the people, vampire or human. He’ll drain it like a docklands whore, and don’t think he hasn’t been doing more of that too. Is that the kind of men we

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