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Ash could only mean one thing. A vampire had died in the house. And the only one that had been in the house before he left was Gloria. Putting his hand over his mouth so he’d not cry out for the injustice of it all, he held onto the closest tree and tried to reason who else might have been in the house that had died other than his Gloria.

“Colton Reese? Where are you?” He shied away from the voice that he knew was his king. “You’ve been busy for the last several days. There are nine dead in your household and two others that cannot be accounted for. Did you kill your mate as well?”

“I would never do that.” He realized that they might hear him and talked to the man using a link that he never thought he’d be using in his lifetime. “I loved her. It must have been someone else.”

“I can smell you all over the household. You killed your servants as well as the paperman that came to collect his due. You’re in a lot of trouble. Come to me, and I’ll end your life quickly.” He told him that he didn’t want that. “I’m sure you didn’t mean to kill them, but they’re dead all the same. You must pay your price for their deaths. The humans will not know that you did it. I’ve made it so that it looks like a robbery to them.”

He wasn’t going to be killed over this. While bits and pieces of what happened came to him, he didn’t think he deserved to die. It was the upstart’s fault. The one who had taken away his status. If he could kill him, then he’d be able to—he didn’t know what he could do, but all that was in his mind was killing him. There was no way that he should’ve been blamed for the killings when he’d been upset about the money. He looked around as he backed away from his home and was careful of anyone seeing him. He was going to get away, and that was something that he was going to do. Kill the upstart. That was all his mind could center on was killing the newest rich person so that he could get his life back.

~*~

“I don’t understand.” Rutger looked at Brew and told him again that he didn’t understand why someone was going to kill him because he’d been made the richest vampire in the world. “I didn’t want that. Hell, why is there such a claim anyway? Why does it matter if I have more money than the others?”

“I don’t know. I’m looking into that as well. But as I said, his last thoughts before I lost him were that he was going to kill the upstart that took away his status. That would be you and Katie. And he can find out too. A fucking newsletter has gone out with your names in it as the new rich. I’m going to take care of that now.”

“I should hope so. But it’s a little too late for me right now.” He said he was sorry. “I just got my life together. I don’t want to be fighting some vampire for having more money than him. Who is he anyway?”

“Colton Reece. He and his wife Gloria had been deemed the richest for centuries. I do believe that until I became king, it was sort of looked over about who really was richest, and he’d been the last person to get it, and that’s the last time anyone asked about it.” He asked if he’d been sort of passed over about it. “Yes, that’s what I’d say. No one had bothered to look into it before, and since someone had it, no one bothered to look to see if he still had the status. He’s broke. More than that, I don’t know how he’s going to pay his dues from now on. That was one of the perks you got when you were deemed richest.”

“I don’t care.” Brew laughed, and he joined him. “I have to be looking over my shoulder because some broke vampire lost his marks because I have more money than him.”

“You’ve always had more money than him. Even when he did have money, you should have been marked with the marks.” He just stared at Brew. “I’m only telling you what I was told when I looked into the marks for you. I have to say, had I known about them beforehand, you can bet that I would have taken care of them right away. That’s no way to have someone not come after you for being wealthy.”

“What about the marks? Can you have them removed?” He said that they weren’t just marks that only they could see. They glowed with the status. “Glowing now? Can this get any worse than it is right now?”

“You get perks.” Rutger told him that he could shove his perks up his ass. “Funny. But you don’t have to pay fees anymore. And listen to this, you get a monthly bonus for being wealthy. I don’t know what it is; it depends on how much money you have. But you’ll have accounts at all the most posh stores, their words, not mine, and your mate will have the first register that opens as soon as she enters a store.”

“All that just makes me want to puke.” They both of them laughed. “I don’t want this status to mar my life. And it will too. Just knowing that people will be able to pick me out of a crowd makes me want to hide away in my home. There has to be something you can do about it.”

“I’m working on it as we speak. I just have to find the rules that govern them and have them removed. You should see the book of rules I have to search through, Rutger. There must be ten thousand of them. And the different branches of them too. Like the one where it says that you’re the wealthiest vampire. There are branches of other people, like the council, to make sure that things are run right. Or wrong, depending on how you want to look at it.”

“I’m going to have to hide in my house from now on; I just know it.” He said that he’d take care to make sure he wasn’t hurt. “I’m not worried about being hurt. You guys are going to make fun of me for the rest of my life because I was smart with money.”

“True. I have some jokes lined up right now.” Rutger growled low at his friend, which had him laughing again. “Cally Lily said that I had to be nice. That you were going to be hunted down like a dog for your cash. Every person in the world, human or not, will be after you.”

“Great. Just what I need.” The two of them sat on the couch and talked about Colton. He’d be coming around; he knew it, and when he got here, he was going to have to kill him. It was that or be killed. He didn’t need that either. He had a mate to care for too. “I’m going to tell Katlynne to pledge herself to you in the event anything happens to me. Will you care for her? See that she has all that she needs?”

“Of course I will. And she need not pledge to me. Just her being your mate will make me want to make sure she’s cared for. But do you really think it will come to that? That he’ll come here and kill you?” He said that he had to make sure that he didn’t, but he wanted his Katlynne taken care of for sure. “I’ll make sure she has anything and everything she needs. But the thing she’ll need the most will be you, Rutger. She won’t want to live a life without you.”

“She’ll have to.” Nodding once, Brew left him. Rutger went to find Katlynne and found her in the gardens. She was tending to the roses again, and all he could think about was how she looked like one of them. Full of color, essence, as well as love. When she turned to look at him, he could see that love now. Going to her, he explained what was going on with the marks and told her what to do with Brew. “He’ll make sure that you’re safe. He’ll keep you from harm from anyone should anything happen to me.”

“Nothing is going to happen to you, Rutger. I know that.” She looked at her mark and cursed it. “I wish we’d never gotten them. But all I can think about is now that we have them; it’s going to be easy to keep us safe with you around.”

“He’s younger than me. But he could have magic that I don’t.” She said that she had the same thing, that she had magic that he didn’t, but that didn’t make her a threat. “No, it doesn’t because you love me. You do, don’t you, Katlynne?”

“With all that I am.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him down for a kiss. It was powerful, the love between them, and he knew that if nothing else, this would save them. “We’ll work together when he comes here. Now that we know what we’re up against, we can take care that he’s not going to hurt us. I promise you that if anything happens to you, I’m going to follow you, Rutger. Life will not be the same without you in my life. I can’t live without you.”

She followed him around the garden, telling him of the things that she’d done. There was not just a flower garden around their home, but there was a good-sized herb garden as well. Things he knew to be in it that would serve as a powerful aid if either of them were hurt, too. She told him the story of lambs ear and how it was used as a bandage long ago because of its softness.

“I don’t know that it’s true or not. I guess you’d be able to tell me.” He said that he’d heard the same story. “I thought you might have. You’ve been around forever, and I think you have more knowledge than most. I love that about you too.”

“I think that’s the first time you’ve said it to me.” She smiled at him, and he had to kiss her again. “We have to come up with a plan for when he gets here. And I have a feeling that he’s on his way now. He killed nine people, not including his wife when he was his beast, and that alone is what has him in trouble with the humans as well as Brew.”

“What will happen to him when he gets here? You think he’s going to try and kill us because we have more money than him?” He said that that’s what Brew said he was thinking. “Maybe we can reason with him when he gets here. Perhaps tell him that we didn’t want the marks in the first place.”

“That won’t work. He’s blaming us for the deaths of his household and his mate. Gloria had been his mate for centuries, and now that she’s gone, he’s gone rogue. I have a feeling that he’s going to kill whatever gets in his way from his place until he gets to us. If that happens, then his madness will be stronger for it. His beast will be stronger along with his magic. That’s why I’m worried for myself and you when he arrives. He’ll hold nothing back to get to us.”

“I’m not going to die simply because I have money. Damn it, I only just found the home that I love. The person that I want to spend the rest of my lifetimes together with, not to mention my pool. I love that thing.” Rutger couldn’t help it; he threw back his head and laughed. Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her again and again until she pulled away from him. “I don’t know what that was for, but I do love you.”