Desired by Morgan Rice

back, through thousands of years, when he and his friends would go hunting humans for recreation.
    Those were the days. He remembered times when they would fil the streets with corpses, not even bothering to feed. They had such fun watching them die. It had been one of his favorite games.
    Nowadays, vampires were so conservative. They only kil ed to feed. And they only fed as much as they had to. When Kyle kil ed Caitlin and figured out a way to return to the future, things would change. He would make kil ing humans a national sport once again.
    Kyle turned down the street, and final y found what he was looking for: a massive, round building, with huge stone columns and marble steps. It had a grand dome, and looked ancient. In fact, it didn’t look that different from the Pantheon in Rome. Which was fitting, because this was a Pantheon, too. The Pantheon of Paris.
    Kyle remembered the building wel . It was an important place for his coven, a place they had always been. It was very different from the Pantheon in Rome: the vampires here were much more chaotic, more disorderly, more democratic. In New York, or Rome, if someone stepped out of line, the leaders would step forward and have them kil ed on the spot. Here, the covens were run by committee. On the one hand, Kyle respected that, because he hated authority. On the other, he also enjoyed watching people get punished who were out of line, and watching them get kil ed before his eyes.
    Kyle thought of his old friend Napoleon, and guessed that he’d already have taken control of this coven. They were probably al inside it, arguing about something right now.
    They were a contentious bunch.

    Kyle bounded up the marble steps three at a time, eager to see him, to let them know who was boss. Napoleon had power, but not nearly as much as Kyle. After al , Kyle had survived for thousands of years, while Napoleon was stil a child.
    Kyle kicked open the massive doors and strutted inside.
    As he suspected, the huge marble building was completely packed with his own kind. It was chaotic. The enormous, marble room was shaped in a circle, with huge columns framing it in every direction. It had a marble floor, and an arched ceiling, culminating in an oculus. It was as grand as the Pantheon in Rome.
    Except this one was fil ed with vampires screaming and yel ing over each other, pushing and shoving. As he suspected, they were in the midst of a heated debate.
    And at the center of the crowd, standing on a podium, was Napoleon, yel ing to be heard.
    Kyle pushed and shoved his way through the crowd, elbowing people as he strutted right to the center.
    As he did, the huge crowd slowly began to gain awareness of him. He was so tal , he towered over everyone else, a foot above the crowd, and his scarred face gave people pause. Slowly, the room began to turn his way.

    Kyle had no intention of waiting his turn. He had urgent business. He had an agenda to fulfil , and Napoleon and his people could be of service to him.
    Kyle took two huge steps and leapt up onto the platform. As he did, he reached up, grabbed Napoleon by his shoulders and hoisted him high in the air, until he was at eye level with Kyle.
    The entire crowd gasped, and grew quiet in shock.
    Kyle stared down at Napoleon with his disfigured face, with his one good eye, and he saw Napoleon stare back, recognition and fear in his eyes.
    “Kyle,” he whispered, startled.
    Kyle broke into a crooked smile. He was happy to see his old friend again. He couldn’t help admiring his audacity.
    “You little bastard,” Kyle answered.
    And then, in one swift move, he threw him, flying, into the crowd.
    A gasp raced through the room, as several guards scurried to catch his fal . They caught him, and looked up at Kyle in shock, wondering who on earth could have the audacity to do such a thing to their leader.

    Kyle smiled.
    “I have returned,” he said.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    Caleb stood at the entrance of his castle, watching