Immortals After Dark 12 - Lothaire

Castle Helvita, the royal seat, as they waited for the next heir to come forward. They would only accept a legitimate royal heir who held sacred the Thirst—the need for vampires to drink from the flesh.
    Lothaire certainly had no problem drinking from others. So was he illegitimate ?
    From what she could gather, he was probably interested in either the Horde or the Dacian throne—or both. But how could he be sure the Daci even existed? Her eyes widened. Was he a real-live Dacian?
    Ellie memorized all she could, repeating facts in her head.
    Forbearers. Kristoff. Oblak. Forbear from the flesh. Clear eyes.
    Horde. Tymur. Helvita. Comprised of the Fallen, red-eyed killers.
    Daci. Fable? Castle in Dacia. The first vampires. Eyes unknown.
    Next, Ellie perused all the vampires’ species-wide traits. Natural-born vampires did in fact get sick if they lied. I’ll be analyzing Lothaire’s deflection techniques. They could trace over the entire world, but couldn’t teleport outof certain mystical traps, chains, or even from the grip of a stronger opponent.
    Male vampires usually froze into their immortality in their late twenties or early thirties, becoming the walking dead—until each male found his Bride and she blooded him.
    Which meant that Lothaire had gone thousands of years without sex.
    Thousands.
    Concentrate, Ellie!
    After studying every word on the subject of vampires, she turned her search to another entry. Hadn’t Lothaire said that Hag was a fey?
    The Fey of Grimm Dominion were masters in the art of poisons. Check. They had their own mystical realm called Draiksulia. Yet Hag settled in North Carolina? They usually warred with vampires and various demon monarchies, or demonarchies.
    So why was Hag working for Lothaire?
    Next Ellie flipped around, reading about nymphs, ghouls, and Cerunnos—massive snakelike creatures that could talk. She swallowed at the hideous illustration of a Wendigo, feeling a grudging respect toward Lothaire for defeating so many.
    Within the Lore, there were power factions, such as the Valkyries, Lykae, and the House of Witches. Sure enough, Wiccans were mystical mercenaries who sold their spells to the highest bidder. Apparently, their leader’s hand would grow back.
    Vampires weren’t the only species with regenerative powers.
    Hag and Lothaire had also talked about La Dorada, a sorceress Queen of Evil, so Ellie thumbed past Sand Devils, Sasquatch, Shifters . . .
    Sorceri. Most of the sorcerers had the ability to control matter or living entities in varying ways. A sorceress was known as a Queen if her particular power was stronger than any other sorcerer’s.
    So Dorada truly could control evil.
    Unable to help herself, Ellie looked for Aliens. Instead she found Accession —a mystical phenomenon that occurred every five hundred years, compelling factions to war while bringing together mates.
    The Accession acted as population control for the undying. And one was under way right now. . . .
    When the sky began to lighten, she glanced up with dismay. The sun would rise soon, and she hadn’t even scratched the surface—
    Suddenly the book was slammed shut, wrenched from her hands. “What do we have here?”
    Lothaire. Standing before her. Covered in blood and bits of . . . skin. His eyes blazed as he clenched the book.
    Shit.
    When he traced inside, she quickly followed.
    Lothaire waved the book in Hag’s face. “Why did she have this?”
    Ellie quickly said, “I saw it and snagged it. I just wanted to learn about this new world.”
    In a seething tone, he said, “You won’t be in it long enough to
bother.”
    “She’s impossible to contain, Lothaire,” Hag said, calmly stirring a
brew on the stove. “As you know, she’s cunning. Tell me, did you find the vines?”
    He shook his head. As if he could feel Ellie studying him, he whirled around on her. “What?”
    “You’re covered with . . . skin and gristle.”
    He glanced down at himself. “So?”
    She tsked. “Sandbox fight, Lothaire? Did you play dirty with the other little vampires?”
    “ Poshyol ty. Fuck. Off. Has Saroya tried to rise?”
    “She’s down deep, all but hibernating. Not even a shiver. Which means she won’t be coming round anytime soon.”
    At that, fury fired in his eyes. He seized Ellie’s upper arm, tracing her back to his apartment bedroom—with the book still in hand.
    When he released her, she cringed at her sleeve. “You got skin on me!”
    As Lothaire began to pace, she