The Shadow's Son by Nicole R. Taylor

are you doing?"
    The Roman laughed at her. "Do you think any of the people in here are a match for me? I've been around a long time, dear. If I desired it, everyone in this cafe would be dead before they reached the door. There would be no time to let out a scream."
    "What do you want me to do with this?" she said through gritted teeth.
    "You will link me to Zachary."
    "Why?"
    "Insurance, dear."
    "Insurance from what?" As she asked the question, she understood the answer. If Zac died, the link would let Regulus know. Or if Zac attempted to kill him, then the magic would end him instead. It was exactly what Katrin had done to the Romans and every other vampire that had served her.
    He ignored her question. "I know where your parents live and that darling witch Sophia. She's a live wire that one, considering her age."
    "Don't you dare threaten me, Regulus, or I'll-"
    "Or you'll what?" He leant over the table, his eyes becoming dark.
    Gabby sat back as far as she could in the booth, knowing her threat was empty where Regulus was concerned. When he had said the word discuss earlier? What he really meant was order . There was no choice here if she wanted her friends to remain safe. Could she use her power on him? There was a very high chance that he was also immune like Arturius had been. After she had detained Caius all that time ago at the silo, they had learned how to counter her.
    "Do what I ask and nothing need happen to them," he smiled, leaning back, knowing that he had her in the palm of his hand. "Oh, and what I continue to ask you to do."
    "Asshole," she spat, much to his amusement.
    "I've been called much worse things." As she stood up to leave, he said, "And I will know if you haven't done it. So, I suggest you do what I ask the moment you get home. I intend to leave as soon as possible."
    He didn't have to threaten her, she knew exactly what would happen if she defied him. Glaring, she stalked towards the exit of the cafe, her skin crawling.
    " Adiós, preciosa, " he called out after her.

     
 
 
 
 
 

CHAPTER EIGHT

 
 
 
 
    L ondon had changed dramatically in the last one hundred and ninety years since Aya had been here. She marveled at all the advances so much she almost forgot the depression she had sunk herself into. Not even the 747 airplane she and Tristan had taken to get here had pulled her out. Usually, she would have taken in everything about that. He'd arranged a counterfeit passport for her, which was much more effective than compulsion. Airport security and all the rules and forms that had to be filled out and followed puzzled her. Humans had become more suspicious of one another to a point where it almost seemed absurd.
    Tristan apparently liked the finer things in life and had procured first class tickets and a rather fine room at The Ritz, one of the best hotels in the city. Not that she complained. He said he had a black credit card that let people know that he was stinking rich. Aya had no need for finances. She had always taken what she had needed from people who had too much of it to care.
    The first few days, Aya walked the city that was so eerily familiar. Cars, trucks, busses and taxis clogged the streets where once there were horse and carts, electric lights replaced darkness and tourists flocked to the museums and landmarks like locusts. She walked streets that used to be the slums of Cheapside, past the gates of palaces that had housed some of the most terrifying and powerful monarchs of the Middle Ages. There, where people picnicked and took their morning jog, she remembered the gallows of Marble Arch, where humans had died in the thousands.
    The explosion of art and culture that had overcome London was something else. Aya almost felt sorry that she had missed it all. She would have, but all she could think about was Zac and how he'd walked away from her believing that she had betrayed his trust. Used him. Tricked him.
    But for all her agony, she couldn't help but