Excerpt of Eternal Hunger by Laura Wright

One

Soho

11:45 p.m.

Their breath visible in the frigid air, their shadows
massive against the jagged stone walls, Nicholas and Lucian
Roman moved through the tunnels beneath the quiet Manhattan
neighborhood, determined to save their brother’s soul, yet
severely opposed on how to accomplish it.

“He’s not ready,” Lucian growled.

Nicholas’s strides lengthened as he stalked past the tunnel
guards, male vampires, Impurebloods, who kept their eyes on
their boots and away from the one so beautifully pale, and
the other with eyes and hair as black as his unbeating
heart. “I will see for myself.”

“What you will see, brother,” Lucian said, his fangs
twitching, “is an animal. The hunger rules him again. This
time it is nearly uncontrollable.”

“No. Alexander has control. He has judgment. Look where he
keeps himself.” Nicholas frowned. The 6 by 9 foot cage that
dwelled far beneath the New York City streets had been built
long ago to quell his eldest brother’s rage, starve his body
and fuck with his mind, but in the past two days it had kept
him from killing anything that crossed his path.

Lucian fell into step beside him as the tunnel widened. “He
nearly butchered that human woman, Nicky.”

“She is fine. She breathes.”

“Only because you intervened.”

Nicholas said nothing, his jaw tight as a fist.

Lucian continued, “He must stay in the cage until he
feels...whole again. Until his craving for blood eases.” His
voice dropped. “If it ever eases...”

“You want to keep him locked up like an animal
indefinitely?” Nicholas accused fiercely. “Like he was
forced to do as a balas.” The ancient word for ‘vampire
child’ exited Nicholas’s mouth as a bitter hiss.

“It is as he wants it,” Lucian argued. “Alexander built that
cage because he was addicted to the pain of his past - now
he keeps himself in it to protect his future. I’m not the
bastard who fucked up his early years, but I know what needs
to be done now, and so does Alexander. He understands the
danger he’s in – that we’re all in now.”

They rounded the corner and Nicholas eyeballed a second set
of guards as they passed by. The Impurebloods, the powerless
sons of both human and vampire had escaped their respective
credentis – their vampire communities – long ago after
having their sexual appetites bled out of them by the Order,
the rulers of their breed. Now, they worked for the
Pureblood Roman brothers, and were treated with decency and
respect.

“I believe your reaction,” Nicholas said to Lucian as they
reached the end of the tunnel and the door that led to their
brother’s prison. “--your need to keep Alexander contained -
is based in fear.”

Lucian stepped in front of the heavy iron door, blocking
Nicholas’s way, his almond eyes burning with aggression.
“Listen to me, if he kills, the Eternal Order will be able
to track him – they’ll be up our asses before we have a
chance to cover for him.”

Nicholas sniffed. “Since when have you ever cared about the
laws of the Order?”

“Hey, if you want to bring a war here – because you know
that’s what will happen if the Order finds us and attempts
to take us back to the credenti - I’m game. I’d have to be
dead to return to my vampire community, so they’ll get a
good fight from me. But we must acknowledge that if they
find us, everything we’ve created since escaping will be
over.” He lifted his pale brows. “This is not fear, but
reality.”

Nicholas stared at his brother; the near-albino with the
shock of white hair hanging past his ears, the terrifying
angel. Granted, Lucian could be a hotheaded shit who acted
too quickly and apologized never, but his point, his
reasoning for keeping Alexander away from the public had
merit. And Nicholas was never one to ignore reality. As a
balas it had kept him and his mother clothed, fed and
breathing. And more vitally, it had kept them away from the
credenti and later, the Eternal Order; the ten Pureblood
vampires who had passed on to the middle world, yet made the
laws, punished the lawbreakers and governed every vampire
credenti on Earth.

Nicholas nodded at his brother. “All right. He stays. But I
want to see him and speak to him first.”

“You gonna give him a hug,” Lucian drawled, “tell him
everything’s going to be all right, share some feelings?”

Nicholas didn’t bite back. He was nothing if not controlled.
It was how he survived within his own head, within the
memories that lurked there. “Enough now. Open the door,
little brother.”

With a sniff of derision, Lucian turned and punched in the
alarm code. When he saw ‘green for go,’ he gripped the
massive door handle and pulled. The brothers entered,
quickly filling the small space with their massive frames.
Nicholas looked around. First thing he saw was Alexander’s
ancient servant, Evans, a bald, rat-eyed Impure, who had
escaped a crendenti in Maine just ten years ago, and had
been found in Central Park by Alexander.

Evans paced the floor in front of the cage, which was cut
into the rock wall and had no windows, except for the three
twelve-inch iron bars soldered into a steel door that took
three keys, an alarm code and a retinal scan to unlock.

“Open the door, Evans,” Lucian ordered brusquely.

The old Impure stopped directly in front of Alexander’s
self-imposed prison. Like most males who came before the
Roman brothers, he refused to make eye contact. It was the
fear of their father, the Breeding Male, who and what he was
- it remained strong, even in those who had escaped the
credenti. “I’m sorry, sir. He wishes not to be disturbed.”

Lucian cocked his head to one side. “I really don’t give a
shit.”

“Easy, Lucian,” Nicholas said in a calm voice, well aware
that the old vampire was just protecting his master, the one
who had taken him in and given him a new life. “Step aside
now, Evans.”

“But, sir--”

“I’m a gentleman, Evans,” Nicholas continued easily, “and
would drain your vein quickly and relatively painlessly, but
Lucian, as you know, has little self-control.”

Evans paled. “Yes, sir.”

“Do it,” Lucian said. “Quickly.”

His hands shaking, the servant did as he was told, disarming
the alarm, performing the retinal scan and fumbling around
with the key as he unlocked the door. Then without looking
at either brother, he stood back and watched as the door
rolled to one side.

It was pitch black inside the cage, freezing and smelled of
disinfectant - just as Alexander liked it. Lucian was the
first to enter, but was barely five seconds inside before he
let loose a string of curses.

Nicholas reached his brother’s side in a millisecond.
“What’s the problem?” When he saw the reason for the
outburst, he stalked out of the hole in the rock and went
directly to Evans, his nostrils pulsing with each heavy
breath. “Where is he?”

Evans’ entire body trembled with fear. “I couldn’t stop him.
I--”

“Look at me, Impure!” Nicholas demanded.

Evans’ gaze flickered up. He saw Lucian coming toward him
too, and looked ready to pass the hell out.

“How long?” Nicholas repeated.

“An hour,” Evans squeaked out.

“Shit!”

Nicholas turned when he heard Lucian. “He’s on the hunt to
finish the first, then find and drain another.”

Lucian’s fangs elongated as he glared at the servant. “You
stupid little fu--”

Nicholas stopped him. “No time. We need to find him. No
female in his path is safe.”