Dominant Species Read Online Free

feeding our own.’ He glanced quickly at Max, as if expecting a response before continuing. ‘Look, as long as we all keep our heads down and don’t provoke their wrath, they’ll continue to leave us alone. You know if they ever really felt we posed a viable threat they’d…’
    ‘- They’d what? There’s not even that many of them left.’ It was Max that spoke now and you could sense the latent anger in his words.
    Nathan sighed.
    ‘Max, you, better than most, know they don’t need that many. If they ever felt we were a real threat, then they’d hunt us down, each and every one of us and then they’d kill us all. Even with the numbers they have.’
    ‘So we just carry on hiding, is that it?’
    ‘For the moment, yes, we carry on hiding,’ replied Nathan calmly although his eyes burned brightly, ‘because that way, we might just stay alive.’
    ‘Alive? For what?’ Max retorted bitterly.
    Nathan frowned, ‘Look Max, I know what you’d like to do, but the time just isn’t right. Not yet.’
    Max stared at him, his eyes hard. By his side Lano continued his close inspection of the ground, his eyes fixed resolutely on the tips of his shoes.
    ‘The problem is Nathan, that according to you, it never is .’
    Nathan didn’t take his eyes off Max as he responded with a small sigh.
    ‘Then, Max, perhaps it never is.’
    ‘You know what I think?’ growled Max, a flush rising in his face.
    It was at that moment the forth figure spoke. His voice like gravel as it cut through the air.
    ‘Everyone knows what you think son. Don’t make you right though’.
    Max turned to face the voice. The man that had spoken was known simply as Trent, and he returned the younger man’s stare with steady, cold, ice blue eyes. His weathered face showed every one of his fifty-five years as he broke into a smile, but it was a smile not mirrored in the slightest by those eyes.
    Max opened his mouth , and then hesitated, ‘Look Trent…’
    Trent’s cold eyes narrowed slightly, daring Max to say another word. He didn’t.
    Long seconds passed before Trent continued, ‘At the end of the day, its Nathan who has the final say, and just in case it’s slipped your mind, it’s his leadership that has kept us safe for an awful long time. As far as I’m concerned it’s his call and our job, as the leaders of this community, to support him. That my friend is what’s meant by a democracy.’ He leant forward then, his hands flat to the stone slab, his cold eyes boring deep into Max’s. ‘It’s the little things like that, which make us different from them.’ The last word was spat out, dripping with pure venom and an even, cold hatred.
    Trent relaxed his shoulders, stood back, and threw a casual glance toward Nathan.
    ‘Okay,’ continued Nathan, ‘let’s move on.’
     
     
    Meanwhile , across town in the old United Nations Building, a different sort of meeting was underway. In stark contrast to the drab, dark, cold and dusty surroundings of the resistance stronghold this meeting took place in what might be best described as worn splendour. Ornate furniture sat sprinkled around, while real electric light, although slightly dim and with a definite flicker, illuminated the faded gold leaf on the cornice.
                  Two figures stood in deep discussion. Both were vampires, powerfully built, but one was significantly larger than the other. However it was the smaller of the two vampires that commanded by far the greater presence. His name was Karick and he was the vampire Overlord and head of the vampire council. This made him the second most powerful vampire after their overall ruler; Queen Amadus. The massive demon that stood with him was Lord Voltan, Karick’s second in command and his most loyal follower.
    Theirs was a friendship that had developed over seventy years before, when they had faced each other in battle. Voltan had been overconfident and completely beaten had almost paid the ultimate price.