Empire of the Vampire (Empire of the Vampire, #1)

by Jay Kristoff

“Everyone has an empty place inside,” Gabriel sighed. “You can try to fill it with whatever you like. Wine. Women. Work. In the end, a hole is still a hole.”

“A life without books is a life not lived.

You know what most men don’t do enough of?” “Tell me, Silversaint.” “They don’t shut the fuck up. They don’t just sit and listen. It’s in silence we know ourselves, vampire. It’s in stillness we hear the questions that truly matter, scratching like baby birds on the eggshells of our eyes.

“‘A life without books is a life not lived.’

“And then, I saw it. “The one thing that would change everything. “Dior was coatless and shirtless. But not entirely naked. Chloe’s bandage was still around his throat, but another bandage was wrapped about his chest, many times over. At first, I thought the boy might have been wounded; the bandage some holdover from an older battle. But then, beneath the wrappings, I saw it. Saw them. Bound uncomfortably tight, but unmistakable.” Jean-François blinked, glancing up from his tome and snapping his fingers. “Breasts.” “Oui,” Gabriel nodded. Jean-François smiled all the way to his dark eyes, and clapped as if delighted. “Dior is a girl’s name as well as a boy’s, Silversaint.”

“The girl looked up into my eyes, horror, indignity, fear. “‘Fuck,’ she said. “‘My,’ I replied. “‘Face,’ we chorused.”