Reign of the Vampires by Rebekah R. Ganiere Page B

procuring Mason. You don’t happen to know why, do you?”
    “I don’t. He—like you—said that he would pay whatever he must.”
    Danika chewed her lip. She wanted Mason. For reasons she wasn’t sure were purely rational. But it was going to take hardball to get him. Lord Garon had almost as much money as she did, but he had more ruthless friends, and in a fight, he was the one you wanted on your side. But Danika had never known her father to back down from anyone, not even Lord Garon. Especially not when it came to business, and in the end, this was business.
    If Lord Garon beat her at this, it wouldn’t stop there. Soon he’d push for a better contract, and then it would turn ugly. She needed his money and business, and he needed her product. Difference was, he needed her product more than she needed his money. She hoped he would realize that.
    “Is Lord Garon still in Las Vegas?” she asked.
    “He flew in earlier.”
    Garon had come to Chicago? Man, she was so absentminded these days; she must have missed the memo. Her mind screamed at her to let Mason go. To let Garon have him. But her heart froze at the thought. She couldn’t do it. Even if she wasn’t attracted to him, whatever Garon wanted him for, it wouldn’t be good.
    “Please patch me into Lord Garon’s phone. I think we can resolve this right now.”
    “I don’t think that—”
    “Would you rather hear that two covens have gone to war because of a misunderstanding involving a slave?”
    “No, Lord Danika, of course not,” said Clive.
    Clive was a relative newcomer to Vampire society. He was not a pure-born Vampire, but a bitten vampyr. It was difficult for bitten vampyrs to achieve the ranking that Clive had. And upsetting coven lords was as good as a death sentence.
    Beethoven played through the receiver and then there was a click.
    “Good evening, Danika.” Garon’s low, cold voice floated through the phone.
    She bristled in her seat. It was a slight to not call her lord. “Lord Garon, it seems that you and I have similar taste in humans.”
    “Human...yes.”
    Danika’s gut tightened. She didn’t like the way he said human . It was almost a sneer, as if it was a joke, and she wasn’t in on it.
    She drummed her fingers on her desktop. “How should we go about this? It’s obvious we both want him. We’re almost equal in power and wealth, as well as status. So neither of us has anything to use as leverage.”
    “I suppose that’s true from the outside observer. No offense, but I’ve been alive, and a lord, for a hundred years longer than you. I’m sure that should a disagreement ever ensue, the Council will take both those factors into consideration. Especially considering you are...”
    It was a threat and disrespect. To threaten her with a Council settlement of their disagreement was enough to tell her that she was right about how she was going to have to play this. And his implication that she’d lose because she was a female was almost more than she could bear. She might be the only female coven lord in the States, and the youngest in the world, but she was determined to win this fight.
    “You’re correct, of course. You’ve been both a lord and alive longer than I, but I have both youth and impetuousness at my disposal. My mother and father tended to indulge and spoil me. It would be a shame to find yourself on the bad side of an impudent child.”
    “Or, on the contrary, my dear, it would be unwise to find yourself on my bad side.”
    “I would never wish that, my dear Garon. But it would also be quite a shame if you found yourself in the largest den of vamps in the United States, with subpar synthetic blood to offer them.” She swallowed the lump in her throat.
    “Yes.” He voice held an icy tone. “That would be quite a predicament. However, we have a contract, I believe.”
    She inspected her nails and then twisted her ring. Just the words she’d waited for. “Do we? I seem to remember that a new contract