Forty or so people gathered around the stage in The Rack. Bomber had used his power of the Bond to summon all of them an hour ago, and now they all stood around the stage, looking at each other. Some were afraid, most were curious. They had never been summoned before – it was something Bomber did not like doing. Most had dropped whatever they were doing and came running to the Rack, as if called to it in their minds.
Bomber mounted the stage and looked out at them. “I know that you’re happy to work here,” he said, and everyone hushed immediately, all eyes on Bomber. “I know you’re happy with what you’ve found – with the Kiss. Some of you might have passed this on to people you trust. Some of you might have inadvertently slipped.” He looked up at Jake when he said that.
“Boss, I –”
Bomber merely held up a hand, and Jake went quiet. “I said inadvertently. Starting now, no one, and I mean NO ONE will mention the Kiss to anyone outside of this bar. Among yourselves, it’s fine.” He looked out again, and focused for a moment on Pyr, standing next to Tomas, another new man. “If anyone here is not happy with how things are arranged, I want to know.”
He looked at the Bitten, one by one. “Any of you. Any of you want out now, or at any time, you know it’s all right. Other Bitten have left after I came here, other employees are gone. I take nothing personal here.” He stepped forward. “I’m here to protect you from the monsters that would prey on you out there. I’m only here to help.”
“What happened, boss? Who told?”
“I’ll talk to them personally,” Bomber said, not sounding angry. “I’ve been lax with how things have been. I’ve not hidden my true nature from those I trust and who deserve it. Now, we must keep it quiet.”
Anilia stepped forward. “Our old owner had been hunted down before – often. We don’t want the same thing to happen to our new owner.”
“We’ll take ’em down,” said a bouncer, and cracked his knuckles. Others, bartenders and Bitten and DJ’s alike, all nodded.
Bomber shook his head. This was exactly what he hadn’t wanted, and what he was afraid of. An army of devotees, who would give up their lives for him. The Blood Bond was strong; he’d never expected that it would be this strong. He didn’t want to use this kind of power again. But he knew he would again, someday.
“No. No, I’m protecting you from the monsters. I can protect myself from the hunters.”
Anilia continued, “To stop the hunters, we must be quiet now. Tell no one of the Kiss. Tell no one that our boss makes the Kiss and offers it to you, how and when, and where, and how often.”
“Tell me who you told.”
Everyone looked up at Bomber, and he asked this of a Bitten boy sitting at the foot of the stage. The boy blurted out something about his roommate and a couple of friends’ names. He asked this, one by one, of each person in the room. Some, like all the bouncers – including Ink – and a few Bitten, had told no one. Most had told one or two close friends. One had told her mother. Pyr had told Tomas and Red Scott. Tomas had told no one. Jake had told a vampire he met while helping another person. “Oh, and Scott was there.”
“Which Scott?”
“The red one.”
He wanted to trust Red Scott like he did with Emerald Scott, but something was different about Red Scott. Something harder. Something told Bomber that Red Scott would turn into a hunter if he came out with the truth. Emerald Scott was a gentle soul, and Bomber felt protective of him. The world was full of monsters like him – and monsters even worse – and Bomber would do everything within his power to protect Scott from them. He wondered for a minute if it was love. It felt like it, but something greater, something more–
He suddenly had a look of realization and shock on his face. The rest of the crowd felt it, and they all seemed to rock with it. They all thought Red Scott was going to be in deep trouble now.
“We’re done,” he said, his voice tight.
Jake went through the crowd and stood next to Bomber. The bouncers looked concerned. “Boss, is it him?”
Bomber looked up at Jake, barely controlling fury. “Leave. Just go back to work.”
Jake knew that meant Bomber was going out hunting. He left him alone, and Bomber went out the back door.
Bomber took the train to, of all places, Croatoa. It was far enough away from Paragon that he could let loose against some creatures that had lots of blood, but wouldn’t complain to the authorities if a few corpses came up dead. And so what if the blood was a little gamey.
He let the Beast run through the caves of the Tuatha Da Danaan, killing everything that moved, sucking dry each beast after every battle. Finally, he knelt in the middle of an empty cave floor and vomited up everything.
That satiated his own Beast, but didn’t make him feel any better. How could he have been so stupid! Lorenco would be laughing at him even now if he knew.
Bomber had been drinking an elder’s blood for a couple of weeks now. He held out his hand, steady, still dead, and concentrated on pulling dirt from the ground. Instead, he closed his eyes a moment, and concentrated on becoming one with the earth. He could feel himself sinking, ever so slowly into the ground, feeling the ground itself swallow him up, and he sunk lower and lower, not feeling fear, but comfort.
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