CHAPTER SIX

S tefano walked through the facility with five other men. Humans. He hated the fuckers, but he was a businessman, so he went where the money was. Plus, this deal would give him the money to get back on his feet after the Morettis had busted some of his operation.

“We only have twenty-five in the labs currently,” Devon Richards said. “But now that we’ve tested the device in the field and know it works, we are confident those numbers will increase.”

Stefano glanced around him, taking in the laboratory. No vampire felt comfortable in such a space, and neither should they. Particularly not this fucking one.

“Your participation has been greatly appreciated, Mr. Russo. I trust your payments have begun already and that they are sufficient,” the human continued.

“They are as agreed,” he replied. They could always be more, and he would ensure they increased.

He needed the money and time to rebuild his team. The rebellion was still alive and well—you couldn’t destroy a movement which had existed for centuries—but he’d be lying if he didn’t admit they’d taken a hit. Especially when humans had discovered the existence of vampires. And yet, here he was, turning water into wine, lemons into lemonade, oranges into...whatever the fuck.

In the face of the vampire species’ greatest fear, Stefano Russo was rising once more.

He smirked.

“This way,” one of the other three men said, opening another door.

Jesus.

His stomach turned and he slowly swallowed, hiding his reaction. Even for him this was fucking disgusting, but needs must and all that. They stood in the doorway of a large, starkly white room with at least ten beds. On them lay vampires with tubes coming out of their bodies.

Stefano walked closer to one bed and stared down at the male. His eyes were open; he appeared conscious, but only barely. The male recognized him as a vampire, and his eyes widened in desperation. He began to struggle. A beeping noise began on the monitor, and a lab assistant rushed forward, pushing buttons until the male’s eyes drooped.

Fucking hell.

A chill ran through him.

“What substance is that?” he asked casually.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Russo. Your contract does not allow me to share that information.”

Stefano gritted his teeth. Like fuck it doesn’t. He turned to Devon Richards and raised an eyebrow.

“I’m afraid Doctor Ricci is correct,” Devon said, his voice completely devoid of emotion. “Shall we keep going?”

The human pushed past him, unconcerned Stefano could break his neck in under a second, and damn, he really wanted to.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t known what he was getting into. He had. His partners had been clear when they reached out to him via his human contact—the one he suspected was the biggest whistleblower in human and vampire history. The way he saw it, he was either on the right or the wrong side of this research. It was going to happen eventually. Now they were exposed, and sure, since the papers had been signed and the lab kick-started, the whole “vampires are real” thing had quieted down, but they all knew it wouldn’t last forever.

Everyone was living in a time where there was no way to hide from those in power. The other way around? Hell yes.

There was no such thing as truth at the top. So why would he bother trying to play that game? It wasn’t his style, anyway.

He didn’t look away from the vampires on the beds. He owed them that. Not that he was suddenly growing a conscience, heaven forbid. Sure, he felt on some deep level that this was fucking wrong, but it was simply the price they all had to pay to destroy the royal family.

Devon Richards continued talking while Stefano imagined the day he would kill the cold asshole. Richards was one of six humans who had reached out to him regarding this project once they had learned vampires were real.

Surprise, motherfuckers!

He knew very little about any of them, and usually did a lot more homework before he got into bed with people—not females; he didn’t give a fuck about their middle names or their first names—but six weeks ago he had been desperate and fucking mad.

The contract was in the name of what was obviously a shell company, and the money had been paid to him from a Swiss bank account, just like in the damn movies. So yeah, top-notch guys, obviously.

He didn’t trust them in the slightest. If he weren’t a vampire with the strength to break out of this white-as-a-fucking-Colgate-ad lab, he would not have felt comfortable stepping into it. Not with all the swipe codes on doors and fingerprint locks.

Stefano knew he wouldn’t hesitate to rip the finger, hand, or damn arm off any one of them if he needed to. The whole place was creepy as fuck. He wasn’t a vampire who acted purely from instinct—despite being a predator—but nothing about this felt right, and it was making him hyperaware.

Except the money.

He’d work out the rest later.

“Would you like to see how these work?” Devon asked, lifting what looked like a prop gun from a Star Wars film set off the table.

“Sure. Why not,” he said, feeling his stomach turn.

“Sir...” one of the men started.

“We won’t test it on Stefano.” Devon laughed. “Wheel in one of the vampires.”

A moment later, a steel table was rolled out with a half-conscious female vampire lying there covered in a white sheet. She was naked, and he could see the outline of her body. His cock stirred in his pants.

It had been over six weeks since his properties had been ambushed and Sofia had been taken. He’d meant to fuck her again, but once more, the Morettis had taken what was his. His cock yearned to be inside her, fucking her hot body.

Damn the humans for discovering who they were. What a complete fuck up of all his plans. If things had not turned to shit, he would already have Sofia as his faux mate locked in his home. Then he would have access to lick her juicy pink pussy every morning and night.

He cleared his throat to stop a moan from escaping.

“Alright, so as we showed you on Zoom during development, this device is simple to use. It simply delivers a replication of daylight via UVA and UVB rays, like a sunbed if you will, and...” Devon pulled the trigger as he pointed it at the female’s arm, and she shot up in an arch.

Her skin began to sizzle as any vampire’s would standing in full, direct sunlight. The female’s mouth opened in a silent scream.

“Stop,” he demanded, and the man’s finger moved off the trigger.

“I apologize. I am sure that is hard to watch,” Devon said, looking anything but apologetic.

Stefano clenched his jaw. “So how far along in the testing are you?”

“Early days. This prototype could take years, as we discussed, before we can sell it to governments and the military. But they are eager for it. You will receive our monthly reports as will our other”—he coughed—“stakeholders.”

“And how confident are you that you’ll be able to harness and replicate our powers and transfer them into human beings?”

Another man coughed, and Devon nodded at him.

“If I may,” the third man said, pushing his glasses up his nose. “I am very confident we have the ability to do this with our current knowledge and technology. I know there is a huge amount of doubt, but I believe we should have some test cases within a year.”

Stefano nodded. He honestly hadn’t believed they could do it. His goal had been to create an income to fund the rebellion and destroy the royal family, not create a war between the two races. Had he gone too far this time?

“How many test subjects will you need during this time?” he asked, using all his willpower not to tug as sweat build around his shirt collar.

Devon slapped him on the back and ushered them all out of the room. “Hard to tell. We couldn’t predict numbers right now. It will all be in your reports.”

He squeezed his fists to stop from throwing the man against the wall. Didn’t the weak human know what he was touching?

Instead, he glanced back at the female on the bed and stepped through the door, following the three men back to the conference room. He couldn’t do anything to stop any of this now. The wheels were in motion, and it would eventually pay off. Financially.

When you were as old as he was, the long game was always the better one.

What he would do was intervene once he had enough money flow, and make sure the humans never had the knowledge or technology to use against his vampires. Because one day he would be king.

In the meantime, he would retrieve what was his.

He knew where Sofia was. He knew where they were keeping her, and now he was coming for her.

And while he was there, he’d better break out his thick-as-shit brothers as well.