Married To The Mad Vampire Lord

"Angel, this is your uncle Raven," Rohan finally introduced, moving a little closer to Rav, who looked visibly uneasy. His heart was pounding so loudly Rohan could hear it, and no doubt the baby could too.

The boy stirred, lifting his head off Rohan's shoulder. His gaze slowly trailed from Rav's chest to his face, a small frown forming on his babyish features as he stared intently at the man he was introduced to as if he could see something no one else could.

"Come on, carry him if you want to," Rohan encouraged, noticing that his son had sensed from Rav's heartbeat that he wasn't someone bad or someone who would hurt him. The sooner he let the two of them bond, the better it would be for their trip to Aragonia.

Rav looked uncertain for a moment. His palms suddenly felt sweaty, and he wiped them against his clothes before holding his hands out toward the baby. Angel stared at his outstretched hands, then at his face, before turning back to look at Rohan, who gave him an encouraging nod to go ahead. Then, almost slowly, he moved from his father's arms into Rav's.

It had been so long since Rav had carried a baby, so long since he'd held someone so small in his arms. The last time he had, he was still human, still living at home in Raventown with his...

Every muscle in Rav's body seemed to turn to jelly as the warmth of the small being settled into his arms. The sweet scent of baby oils and powder wafted to his nose as he carried the young master. The boy was so warm against his vampire-cold hands that, all at once, memories from his past, ones he had long buried since becoming a night creature, rushed in.

'Papa, help me! Papa, it hurts... it hurts!' The voice pierced through his mind, pulling him into a memory he had locked away. But then, a warm touch on his cheek brought him back.

He looked down to find the baby's tiny hand tracing his cheekbone. Those dark eyes seemed to look right into his soul, as if they could see what had just haunted him.

His past. His shame. His pain.

Things he had kept at bay, until now.

Feeling suddenly uncomfortable and strangely vulnerable, Rav quickly handed the boy back to his father.

"I have gathered every report you wanted me to have, my Lord," he said, his voice more rigid than before.

Rohan took his son back, frowning slightly at Rav's strange behavior, but he said nothing about it. Instead, he responded to his words, "And what does it say? What have I missed while we were away from Nightbrook?"

"A lot, my Lord..."

Rohan seated himself on the chair in front of the desk in the chamber and perched Angel on it to play with the unused parchment papers. Then he stretched his long legs out and relaxed as he poured himself a glass of bloodwine, while Rav began to update him on everything that had occurred in the land during their absence.

Being the Duke, and having finally committed himself to taking his responsibilities as lord seriously, Rohan knew he needed to catch up on everything he had missed so he could refocus and get back to work to restrengthen his influence and power. It wasn't just duty anymore. He wanted to make himself enjoy being a Duke again. Enjoy it in a way he could step on his enemies without actually using his own hands.

Rav reported on several towns that had been cleared out due to rogue attacks, and mentioned the troubling case of many missing young girls from human towns within Nightbrook. The initial claims pointed to the rogues as the cause.

But Rav had investigated further, quietly and on his own. And what he discovered suggested that the truth went far beyond rogue attacks. In fact, he was now certain the rogues were not responsible for the disappearance of those human girls and teenagers that had been occurring lately in Nightbrook for the past months.

Rohan took a gulp of the bloodwine and poured himself another glass, his brows arching in interest. At the same time, he swiftly snatched the bottle from his son's grasp when the boy suddenly reached for it, sensing the blood inside and wanting to also take a drink.

"It's not for you, Max. Play with the papers, here," he said, pushing some parchment in front of his son to keep him occupied.

Then, turning back to Rav, his expression sharpened. "And what are your findings?"

"In the past month we were away, there has been a new slave establishment opened in the capital that has been flourishing more than any of the other establishments. It has even begun to expand in opening more branches. I did a little bit of snooping and found out that they were humans who got paid handsomely to bring young girls into the establishment. They needed more breeding women."

"And who is in charge of this new establishment?" Rohan asked, not because he planned to interfere or put a stop to the slave trading, nor the humans selling their kind to it. That had always been something quietly ongoing beneath the surface in the past. But it had never reached the point where so many went missing that it would raise reports or spread concern.

More accurately, the slaves were usually taken from unguarded human territories outside vampire-controlled lands, not from the humans living within Nightbrook's borders.

Rav cleared his throat as he said, "The owner of the establishment and the ones in charge are Lady Cordelia and Mr. Clifton. They have been working on it for the past seven months, and it has grown to such an extent that elite pureblood-vampires now buy blood and sex slaves from their establishment."

If Rohan was surprised by this news, he didn't show it. He merely chuckled dryly, and the sound of it made his son imitate him, causing his dry chuckle to turn into a heartily amused laughter as he patted the boy's head. Then he looked at Rav and said, "Why am I not surprised? That ambitious bitch, she has finally found a way to get more power and greed. Interesting. How many establishments have they opened so far?"

"I am not certain, but the rumors say they are expanding it to more cities in the land and building more connections with the help of her friends, the Rothbarth and Greywolf families, who are second only to those with strong pureblood lines and deep connections since the founding of Nightbrook."

Rohan's eyes narrowed at the mention of those two names. Almost slowly, his lips fell into a grim line. "The Rothbarth and Greywolf, weren't they part of Cordie's hunting groups?"

Rav gave a nod of his head. "Yes, according to Lady Clifton, Stephanie Rothbarth and her husband Eddie, and then the other two couples and the princess, were among them when they attacked them in Grimvale. Why do you ask, my Lord?" Rav inquired with curiosity as he noticed the sudden gleam that shone in his master's dark eyes. He recognized the look but didn't know why his master had it in his eyes now.

His master only had that look when he had a sudden idea of ways to get rid of someone and wanted to try it, but Rav doubted that was why he had that look now. He was a changed man; he wouldn't possibly try to torture or kill like he once used to, would he?

"Nothing. Just curious how they could have made this much progress so fast, expanding the establishment and all."

Rohan recalled a moment a long time ago where Cordelia had told him about her father's plans to have his own slave establishment, but because of his interference, that plan had gone down the drain along with her family money.

Now she had latched herself to a wealthy human and used him to bring that ambition to reality. If he said he wasn't impressed by the way she had achieved this, he would be lying. And if he pretended he didn't want to put his claws into her heartless chest, rip it apart, and watch the life leave her eyes, he would be damn right lying to himself. More than anything, he wanted to deal with his cousin and give her a very, very slow painful death for what she had done to his wife so long ago.

He had a list of people to kill. The bitch was part of it.

"Well, I will deal with her once we return from Aragonia," Rohan finally said, knowing that if he wanted to give the little bitch the kind of death he envisioned, it shouldn't be quick. Otherwise, he would be as disappointed in it as he had been when he killed that councilman from Bimmerville. He didn't want to disappoint himself like that again. Some people deserved a special death.

"When are we leaving?" Rav asked.

"The day after tomorrow. Tomorrow, you and Lady Clifton can spend it getting to know Angel, and first thing next, we will depart."