332 A Love Affair

332 A Love Affair

Third Person.

A gasp rippled across the room. One of the officers leaned forward. “Sir, how do we exin this attack? We can’t tell the public about vampires. They will panic.”

Brackham’s lip curled into something almost like a cold, triumphant smile.

“We won’t mention vampires. We don’t need to. We will inform the public that we have uncovered a dangerous weapons stockpile hidden

in the forest–foreign smuggling rings, mercenaries, or whatever name you prefer. Say it was a national threat, and we eliminated it

before it reached their streets.”

The men exchanged uneasy looks, but no one dared challenge him.

“Draft the orders,” Brackham barked. “By dawn, I want the first sweep prepared. The woods will burn, and with them, everyst leech

skulking in the dark.”

Everyone exchanged silent nces, but Brackham cared about none of that.

“How many explosives do we have staged for the eastern woods sweep?” He suddenly barked.

The officer at the table swallowed, his fingers fumbling with a tablet. “Not enough, sir. We have some-” His voice faltered. “But not the

amount needed to guarantee a full burn.”

Something in Brackham’s hand clenched. He stood swiftly and crossed the room before the man could react.

Fingers closing on the fabric at the base of the man’s cor, he hauled him forward until their faces were inches apart. Rainlight cut

across the mayor’s eyes, turning them hard as flint.

“Tomorrow night,” Brackham hissed, every wording out as sharp as a razor, “Eastern woods must be reduced to ash. Do you

understand me?” fnf78c N?w ?ovel chapt?rs are published on find?novel/fnf78c

The man’s lips trembled. “Y–yes, sir. We will-”

“Then make it so,” Brackham snapped. “If I wake and find one patch still standing because of your ipetence, I will make sure your

head hangs as an example.”

His grip didn’t loosen until the man’s nod was violent and unquestioning.

Brackham released him with a shove that sent the officer stumbling back into his seat. He turned slowly, letting a hard nce sweep the

room–a warning in his wake.

Then he strode away, the heels of his shoes beating against the marble. His secretary fell into step behind him, clutching a sheaf of

papers; the others remained rooted, eyes downcast, alreadyposing excuses they would never dare voice.

Brackham stormed into his office, his secretary hurrying at his heels. She gripped her clipboard to her chest, speaking quickly, “Sir, the

332 A Love Affair

senators are waiting”

He didn’t break stride. With a curt wave of his hand, he dismissed her concern and moved straight to the sitting area,

The leather groaned under his weight as he sank into it, one arm draped along the backrest.

“Put them through,” he ordered.

The secretary nodded, flicking on therge screen mounted on the far wall. A momentter, faces appeared in neat squares–senators from across the city, their expressions tense.

“Good evening, Mr. Mayor,” they greeted in unison, their voices tinged with unease.

Brackham’s gaze was cold as stone. “Spare me the pleasantries. You have heard by now that our shipment was hit. The weapons are gone. Stolen mid–transit.” His voice rumbled like distant thunder. “By vampires.”

The wordnded like a crack across the conference call.

A heavyset senator leaned forward, wiping sweat from his brow. “If that’s true, then they know more about us than we actually thought. To strike at the right time and at the right ce twice in a row, they must have been watching us for the longest time.”

Another, a woman with sharp eyes, shook her head. “No, this is worse. If they have taken our weapons, it may not be about sabotage. What if they n to study them? Use them? Turn them against us?”

Her voice pitched higher, rm slicing through the silence. “Can you imagine vampires armed with human guns?”

The murmurs rose, square after square, lighting with spection, fear, and suspicion.

Just then, Brackham’s hand mmed against the armrest. “Enough!”

The chatter died instantly. His re swept over the screen, daring anyone to keep speaking.

“You sit there, filling the air with panic and pointless theories. Do you think I summoned you to listen to your trembling? You only anger

me the more.”

The silence was thick, every senator avoiding his eyes, which was unlike them.

When Brackham finally spoke again, his voice was low, coiled tight with menace.

“Regardless of what those leeches n to do with our weapons, it changes nothing. Tomorrow night, the eastern woods will burn. I don’t care to catch one of them alive. Not one. I will see them all reduced to nothing.”

No one tried to argue with him, though unease rippled across their faces. They were thinking it, of course, that this was madness, that fire could not solve everything. But no lips moved. No one challenged him.

Atst, an older senator cleared his throat. “About the meeting with Beta Jeffery and his team tomorrow, regarding the investigative group for the ck market-”

“There will be no meeting!” Brackham barked, rising from his seat with sudden ferocity. “Not tomorrow. Not until the vampires are wiped

out.”

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332 A Love Affair

His eyes burned as he leaned closer to the camera. “After all, that so–called investigative group is nothing but aplete waste of time, a

stall designed to keep Alpha Draven entertained”

The senators bowed their heads, refusing to say another word.

Then one by one, their faces flickered off the screen until only ck squares remained.

The room was silent except for the hiss of rain against the windows. Brackham stood there a moment longer, fists clenched, breath

ragged with barely contained fury.

Behind him, his secretary hesitated before speaking softly. “Sir… your daughter summoned again. She inquired when you would be

returning home.”

Brackham turned his head slowly, his expression twisting into a sneer. “Do I look like I should be caring about a child from a love affair

right now?”

The woman’s throat bobbed as she swallowed, trembling her head quickly. “No, sir.”

“Then get out!” he roared, the words cracking like a whip.

She flinched, clutching her papers tight to her chest as she hurried from the room.

The door shut behind her with a hollow echo, leaving Brackham alone with the storm and a heart too consumed by war to spare even a

thought for his own blood.

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