The Black God (#2, Damian Eternal Series) Read Free

different master, an older one, one they feared.
They hadn’t respected the terrified teen boy that took the former
god’s place. However, the vamp army was largely united under the
common threat of the Others, the primary supernatural threat to the
vamps.
    On the eve of his final triumph, the rogue
element of his vamp army - led by Valon, a member of the old guard
who hated the new Black God - broke off and formed their own
independent group.
    The newer generation of vamps stuck with
Jonny, rendering the division along generational lines as well as
philosophical ones. He was struggling to recruit and train the
younger vamps when much of the support infrastructure he needed had
not yet been rebuilt. In the meantime, the vamp veterans were
running circles around them.
    His rebellion had turned into a civil
war.
    “No,” he said at last. “That’ll invite too
many questions. You’re the best Tracker there is. We’re catching
up.”
    “I’m the only Tracker there is.”
    It wasn’t funny at such a time, but Jonny
fought a smile anyway. Charles’ dry wit was often inappropriately
timed and almost always appreciated.
    Charles pulled a cell phone out of his
pocket. He read the report texted to him.
    “What is it?” Jonny asked. One of the few
vamps he trusted completely, he didn’t bother trying to access
Charles’ thoughts, a trick he’d picked up while learning how to
harness his newfound power.
    “Vigilante got one of our teams.”
    Jonny rolled his eyes. “I don’t have time
for some stupid Natural running around beating up vamps. He’ll
cross the wrong vamp soon enough.” He started walking through the
bodies to ensure every one of his enemies was dead. Valon was too
smart to send anyone with real value against him. The recruits
would have no idea where their leader was hiding.
    “He usually targets the rogue elements and
not us. Too bad he never kills any of them or he might be worth
directing towards the rogues,” Charles mused, following.
    “The idiot will be dead in a week or
less.”
    “Yeah. You want me to do the usual here?” He
motioned to the dead bodies around them.
    Jonny glanced around, unconcerned about
leaving the bodies of traitors. The smell of newly turned vamps,
however, made him pause. His new recruits, as well as those being
led by the rogue leader Valon, were mixed among the dead. “You know
what? We’re leaving them this time. But remove their fangs
first.”
    Charles raised an eyebrow.
    “Fangs to show the rogues and our own
recruits how serious I am about betrayal. Bodies for the White God
to clean up for once, since I’m doing him a favor killing half my
people.”
    “Smart as always.” The vamp chuckled. “We’ve
got human witnesses. What do you want done with them?”
    Jonny didn’t even bother looking towards the
five hotel employees herded into a corner by three of his loyal
vamps. “Dinner,” he said. “Catch and release protocol.”
    “Want one saved for you?”
    “Female, red hair.”
    “Always delicious.” Charles said,
entertained. A true predator, he never cared about the appearance
of whoever he drained, but Jonny had taken a liking to redheads for
dinner. “I’ll take her back to your place. We had a good
night.”
    It was hard for Jonny to be optimistic when
his failure as a leader had lead directly to this night.
Inexperience and war, combined with the changes he’d implemented in
a culture and organization whose traditions spanned tens of
thousands of years before he was born, resulted in constant crisis.
Reform came at a steep price, one he was beginning to suspect would
cost him over seventy percent of the vamps remaining before this
mess was over.
    “Did our team report in with the talisman?”
he asked.
    “Not yet.” Charles checked his phone.
    “If they’re late, send in as many as you can
spare to rescue them. We can’t let the rogue vamps get it.” With
the Others out of play, he’d stumbled upon one of their secrets
while