Blood Is Thicker Than Runes by Bill Hiatt

Author:Bill Hiatt [Hiatt, Bill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-26T04:00:00+00:00

Doesn’t Always Stay in Vegas

DL risked opening his own eyes. One of the vampires—based on his location, probably Jersey—saw him.

“Don’t move or—” Yeah, it was Jersey, but before he could finish his sentence, sunlight flared nearby. He screamed and staggered backward. The other vampires screamed as well, but the sunlight didn’t last. They were momentarily blinded and probably a little burned, but they would recover.

Sowilo, the sun rune, floated near the ceiling, dim at the moment, but ready to flare again. Right below it stood Nidhoggson, who had taken advantage of the vampires’ temporary incapacity to grab Freya’s staff and stand up. Power poured from him in waves that felt far stronger than what DL had felt from either Jersey or Vlad. There wasn’t any question who the alpha dog in the room was now.

“Who is in charge here?” asked Nidhoggson. His voice sounded like Max’s, but his tone was cold as a vampire’s touch.

“I am,” said Jersey. His face was reddened, and he was still blinking as if his eyes weren’t quite in focus.

“If you wish to live, you will yield your authority to me. As of this moment, I am the Collector. Anyone who resists me will die. You’ve just felt how easy it would be for me to kill you all if I desired.”

“If you kill us, you’ll never get out of this building alive,” said Jersey.

Nidhoggson laughed in a tone that would have chilled even a serial killer. “If anyone takes action against me, I will be the only one who gets out of this building alive. I would prefer you as assets, but that will not prevent me from turning you into piles of ash if you leave me no choice.”

Sowilo flared again to punctuate Nidhoggson’s words. The vampires screamed, and he smiled.

“Loyalty to me or cleansing fire? What is it to be?”

Jersey snarled and looked as if he was ready to go down in flames, but the other vampires in the room did the best they could in their wounded condition to bow. Jersey, sensing their compliance, reluctantly did the same.

DL had been trying to get to reach Max through their bond, but he still felt nothing. His thrust into Max’s mind had broken the spell that kept him unconscious, but it hadn’t cleared whatever obstruction he—or Nidhoggson—had put in place.

DL tensed, ready to spring at Nidhoggson while the dragon spawn was focused on the vampires, but Nidhoggson turned his cruel eyes at DL a second before he moved.

“You are nothing if not predictable. Stand down. This is a fight you cannot win.” Nidhoggson waved the staff and shot DL with a dose of the rune Thurisaz, merkstave. He felt the strength drain out of him so fast that he almost collapsed.

“Max, I—”

“Appealing to him will do you no good. He has yielded control to me willingly.”

“I don’t believe that!” said DL.

Nidhoggson laughed again, and DL felt depression claw at him.

“After what happened at the wedding, Max knew that he would lose control eventually to someone.

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