Chapter 54: Taylor Swift - The Man
Damien looked at him. For all the centuries he’d lived, all the kingdoms he’d watched fall, he had never envisioned this: battling for the heart of a woman who was, quite frankly, stronger than both of them combined. And worse...he respected the bastard he was battling.
It stung, being evenly matched. Love? That battlefield was treacherous and unfair, especially when you had to share the front lines with someone just as willing to bleed for her.
He nodded slowly. "Get her to want to live," he said. "It’s up to you now."
*****
Meanwhile, Lucivar sat at a little café. It sat unassumingly between the rolling hills that marked the boundary between the werewolf kingdom and Blood City. The chairs were mismatched. The walls were covered in ivy and absurd amounts of lights. And the coffee? Terrible unless you added a little "flavoring."
Lucivar took a delicate sip of his steaming mug, the scent of blood laced with caramel teasing his senses. He sighed.
The cafe was owned by a human couple, Rachel and Richard, who had the look of people who knew just enough about the supernatural to stay alive and just enough more to be dangerous. Lucivar knew full well they were spies for Magnus. Frankly, he didn’t care.
Magnus arrived, ditching his guards at the café entrance. He pushed open the door, triggering the little bell that chimed.
"Your Highness!" Rachel all but squealed, abandoning her coffee machine to practically float toward Magnus. "Oh, two royalties in our shop today? Oh my!" She turned to the back urgently. "Richard! Get the camera!"
Magnus chuckled, a low, rumbling sound. "I’ll have a cup of coffee, Rachel," he said with a warm smile that didn’t reach his eyes.