Dread Nemesis of Mine by John Corwin

cheek. She turned to Bella, weak with
the realization of everything that had happened today. More tears
gathered in her eyes, though she fought with everything she had to
keep them at bay.
    "Oh, god, Bella. Oh my god." Her knees went
weak and she clutched at the other woman for support. "I've lost
Justin. And my dad, he's—he's—" she couldn't say it. How could
Thomas Borathen, a man who'd survived wars and everything else the
supernatural community had thrown at him, die? It wasn't possible.
It couldn't be.
    But it was.
     
     
     

Chapter
9
     
    Euphoria filled my body, flooding me with
warmth and contentment. A coppery odor filled my nostrils. My
eyelids fluttered open. A tall, muscular man, his fangs glistening
red in the dim yellow light, grinned.
    "Mine at last, boy. Mine at last." Maximus
tore a paper towel from a nearby holder and wiped the blood from
his lips and his close-cropped goatee.
    Horror washed away the euphoric feeling and I
strained uselessly against diamond fiber straps securing my arms,
legs, torso, and neck to a diamond fiber table. "Did you just drink
my blood?" I said, gagging at the thought of his nasty fangs in my
body.
    "The first drink of many, boy." Maximus slid
on a pair of dark wraparound shades and pulled on a tight leather
trench coat. "I have tasted spawn blood before, but there is
something different, even more spectacular, about yours."
    "You nasty perv," I said, squirming with
disgust.
    "And to think those idiots Franco and Marcel
let you get away." His eyes narrowed. "Serves them right for trying
to double-cross me."
    "Let me go, Maximus."
    "Not a chance, boy. You took your spawn
father from me, but I do believe I've traded up."
    "You won't keep me here for long. The
Templars are going to sweep through here and clean house."
    He chuckled. "I hope they try." He leaned in
close, the metallic odor of my blood on his breath. "I heard a lot
of them didn't make it out of the raid on Franco's compound."
    "Yeah, right," I hissed between clenched
teeth. "You only wish."
    "Oh, I don't wish, little spawn—I know. I
supplied those weapons to his drug cartel along with a large supply
of cursed ammunition." He clucked his tongue. "I hear those bullets
tore right through the much-vaunted Templar Nightingale armor."
    My mind flashed back to my wild escape from
Franco's compound. The chase. The plane ride from hell. The gunman
who shot me and Elyssa. She'd been wearing Templar armor, but the
bullets had gone through it like a knife through paper. We'd nearly
died thanks to silver poisoning and the harmful spells on those
bullets. If Maximus was really the supplier, it likely meant he had
stash built up here. If the Templars came, he and his vampire army
would mow through them like grass.
    Anger flooded my chest. "What do you want
with me? Why are you doing this?"
    He straightened and crossed his arms across
his chest. "You should know why I want you, little fish. Spawn
blood will increase the potency of my own so I can finally turn
noms."
    "Is making more vampires all you care about?"
I spat, imagining him sinking his fangs into my flesh over and over
again as I grew weaker and unable to do a damned thing about
it.
    "Turning more noms is only a means to an
end." He walked to the other side of the table and put a hand to
his chin. "I grant them life eternal and supernatural powers. They
will help me overturn the traditional order, the ancients who have
ruled us like dogs. Eventually, we will overcome the spawn and turn
them into our slaves. Not only will we rid the world of demon
spawn, but we will finally be able to live as we were
destined."
    "As a bunch of blood-sucking parasites?"
    The corner of his mouth twisted into a slow
grin. "As the rulers of this world."
    "No doubt with you as the almighty dictator
of all."
    "Perhaps." He looked across the large room
and the other tables.
    The neck strap allowed me to rotate my head
just enough to glimpse a part of the room. It was obvious he and
his cronies