Cassius
Greece 79 AD
What do we do with them?” I stared at the children completely dumbfounded, I possibly hadn’t thought that through. They needed parents. They needed something.
“Well, we can’t eat them,” Mason grumbled crossing his arms. He’d been hungry for two days, but tough shit because we’d been at the docks for the past forty-eight hours to make sure nobody escaped. We couldn’t take the chance that any of the infected humans made their way over land or sea—to the general population.
The screams of the dead caused my head to ache. It couldn’t be avoided. Their souls were upset.
They had a reason to be upset.
It wasn’t their time.
But it couldn’t be avoided. I always dealt with a heavy hand. Not that I took it lightly. Humans needed to know there was a reason to fear the immortals.
To double cross us was to invite death.
“The princess.” Eva sighed. “The Demon came for her when you started burning the city.”
“And what did Timber have to say for himself?” I kept my eyes focused on the horizon as smoke filled the air.
“He screamed at me, though he was able to take her as far as the door, Mason took care of the rest.”
“You killed him?” My eyebrows shot up. He was a powerful Demon, just as old as us, he’d been alive since the fall of man.
“He ran.” Mason sighed. “I got two bites in before he disappeared.”
“Damn.” The horizon wasn’t changing. There were no boats. Only blackness.
“So…” Eva’s scent was altogether too intoxicating. I moved away from her so I could think. “What are we going to do with the children?”
“Sariel can never know.” I breathed out an irritated sigh and glanced at Eva out of the corner of my eye. “Understood?”
Blood must always be spilled. And once judgment was passed, mercy did not exist.
Because of my weakness for a woman I could never have—I allowed it.
Eva’s green eyes blazed as she gave me a firm nod. A Vampire’s word meant everything. I knew she would take it with her for eternity.
“And I imagine the children will do what children do…” One last look at the horizon, and I snapped my attention back to Mason and Eva. “It shouldn’t be too hard to find them homes, but Eva?”
She was already hugging one of the boys who’d started to cry for his mother. “Yes?”
“They aren’t your children.” I said it slowly. “The minute they have homes, you are never to see them again. Children notice more than adults do, it would take them mere days to figure out something was different about you. And I’m not sure how Sariel wants to proceed. I imagine we are going to need to be more careful regarding to whom we reveal our true selves.”
“All right.” Her eyes went back to their natural brown color as she started singing to the little boy.
My chest felt like someone had cracked it open, seeing a small boy in her arms, that’s what it would look like.
If she were mine.
But that existence wasn’t for me.
It would never be a part of my future.