Blood Bathory 2 - Absence of the Sun by Ari McKay

Author:Ari McKay [McKay, Ari]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

***

Marcel drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair as he waited for the corporate jet to land on the House of Nadasdy’s private landing strip. His body ached from the fight, but the wounds he’d sustained from the beasts’ teeth had stopped bleeding and were beginning to heal, albeit slowly. He hadn’t fed, not wanting to take the risk. Elizabeth had often refused blood to those who displeased her, forcing them to heal at a far slower rate, and Marcel wasn’t sure whether Anna would take his report as good or bad news — or if her methods of expressing disapproval would be the same as her mother’s.

The snarls and growls still rang in his ears, making him shudder, but the one thing about the encounter that he couldn’t stop thinking about was St. John. Somehow Evan St. John had found the theriomorphs, and they hadn’t killed him on sight. No, by all appearances, he was fighting with them as a free and equal member of the team. As much as he hated to admit it, Marcel was envious, but St. John had taken a chance, and obviously it had paid off. If his lot had improved, well, he’d earned it.

Thinking about St. John was enough to make Marcel start to wonder “what if.” What if he followed in St. John’s footsteps and made his escape? He couldn’t possibly count on taking refuge among the theriomorphs, but surely there was somewhere in the world he could hide where Anna couldn’t find him. Where he could be at peace at last.

He brushed aside those thoughts as he disembarked from the plane. He could think about the future once he finished making his report to Anna. If he was lucky, she would see it as a partial success. If not, then Marcel might not have much of a future ahead of him anyway.

Anna was waiting for him inside the terminal, as icily beautiful and remote as ever. She watched as he made his way to her, no flicker of emotion showing what she was thinking about his condition.

“Tell me,” she said when he reached her. “Is Janos destroyed or not?”

“The theriomorphs have him,” Marcel replied, keeping his own demeanor neutral as he faced her. “When I saw him last, they were bleeding him out.”

One delicate blonde brow arched, and her expression became thoughtful. “So Marielle found him. Even if they didn’t destroy him outright, Janos hates the beasts even more than he hates me, so he’ll tell them nothing. Given how they hate and fear him, they’d not allow him to live.” She fell silent for several long moments — long enough for Marcel to begin to feel nervous — before she looked at him again. “I would prefer to have his head, but under the circumstances, I suppose it was unavoidable. Unless you were allowing the theriomorphs to do your job for you?”

“I had no idea they were anywhere near the area.” Marcel didn’t allow himself to relax simply because one hurdle had been cleared.

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