The Dragon King’s Heart (The High Garden Dragons: Reforged #1)

Chapter 1

The Night at Renegade

Ben

The night was crisp as I exited the music-filled room. I looked back to the club's doors. The party was still pumping, music loud and thumping, with swarms of men grinding into each other. The Renegade had been around for generations, in one form or another, and was a part of the Walden coven.

Of course, the humans had no idea a coven of vampires owned the club. Hell, humans had no idea that the paranormal really existed, and we preferred it that way. The club was the perfect feeding ground to pick up a willing body for the night, satisfying our carnal desires and our hunger for blood.

I heard a voice call out to me, "Ben, off for the night?"

I turned to see Basil Paladorus, my boss, and the head enforcer of the coven.

Basil was one of the strongest vampires I had ever come across.

He was six foot three, and two hundred and forty pounds of muscle.

He had short, dark hair, hazel eyes, and a killer smile.

But it was his ass that was his best quality.

He had an ass that would drive a saint to sin; a perfect tight butt that I was sure you could bounce a quarter off of.

As sexy as he was, he was firmly in the "do not touch" category.

I had a strict "don't eat where you shit" policy.

That meant I kept all my relationships outside my coven.

Not that I would call anything I had relationships.

I had sex partners, and it was easier to keep that uncomplicated.

Mostly, I kept to the humans I picked up at the club and the occasional paranormal that would visit our territory.

"Yes, I was just heading home," I said.

He smirked. "I would have thought for sure you would have joined Devin and the Travis twins."

"Not tonight. They’re all Devin's." I paused and smirked back. "And yours."

I was hungry, but the thought of feeding from the Travis twins didn’t appeal to me, and that was odd for me.

I’d had them before, and some of my best memories were of me feeding from them and enjoying their bodies all night.

Lately, though, I’ve just felt off. I had even started eating blood from a bag.

It was only a week, but I could already feel the effects of not feeding directly from the source.

I’d become weaker and more tired. Hopefully, whatever this funk was, it would be over soon.

"You okay?" Basil asked, looking at me with concern.

"Yeah, just not feeling it tonight. Did you need something?" I asked, ready to go home, warm some blood, and get some sleep.

He looked at me for a moment before saying, "Are you sure you're okay? I can always get another enforcer."

Even though I was tired and not feeling a hundred percent, I was still an enforcer, a guardian of the coven and responsible for executing the rules.

Kind of like a cop who policed the vampires and other approved paranormals in our territory.

If my coven needed me, I was there to help.

The coven had given me a home when I had no home, and I would defend it with my last breath.

"I'm fine. What did you need?" I told him.

"Raul called. He and another sentry said they detected an unannounced paranormal in our territory. I normally would have Carson investigate, but he's actually on a date with a human," he said with a grimace.

I understood the grimace. It wasn't the fact that he was dating a human, it was that the human wasn't his beloved.

Every vampire had a beloved, or as the humans, or shifters called them, soulmates.

This person to a vampire is someone whose blood is their perfect match.

It calls to them like no other. Fate brought the couple together and bound their life forces.

That way, if that person was human, they would live as long as the vampire.

As it was, Carson may be facing heartbreak, watching the human grow older and die.

I was so focused on the fact Carson was dating a human who was not his beloved, that it took me a moment to grasp what Basil had said.

Having an unannounced paranormal in our territory was not a good thing.

Paranormals as a whole lived in groups. They could be covens, packs, clutches; all depending on the type of paranormal.

Each group has its own territory, and no paranormal was permitted to enter another paranormal’s territory without first announcing themselves to the group's leader and gaining their permission to enter. Not to gain permission of the territory leader was an extreme offense, which could, in some instances, be punishable by death. All paranormals knew this rule. Those who didn’t follow it were usually rogues: paranormals who had no coven or pack.

They didn’t obey the rules and were usually there to cause trouble.

"I can go check it out," I told Basil.

"Great! Here is the address of the last sighting. I instructed the sentries to be on the lookout. I’ll tell them you will contact them when you get there," he said, eyeing the doors to the club.

I nodded. "Go. Enjoy yourself. I've got this handled."

He grinned, waggled his eyebrows, and turned toward the club, waving. "Thanks, I owe you!"

I shook my head at his antics and turned toward the parking lot.

I walked down the row of cars, reaching into my pocket to grasp the key fob and pull it out.

I pushed the button on the fob, and the lights of my new, 2020 Mercedes-Benz GT-Class flashed, illuminating the midnight-blue exterior.

I ran my hand along its sleek hood as I made my way to open the door.

I loved this car. It was a gift to myself for my hundred and third birthday.

I grabbed the door handle and opened the door to slide into the seat.

The soft leather cradled my slender frame.

I was smaller than most enforcers, standing at only five-ten, with a medium build, while most enforcers stood over six feet and had large muscular frames, like that of Basil.

This didn't mean I couldn't hold my own.

I worked hard and fought to reach the position I now held.

I reached over and pushed the ignition button, and the engine roared to life. I smiled as I felt the rumble beneath me; I reached up, adjusting my rearview mirror. The lights on the dash lit up, and the center console came to life. I input the address that Basil had given me into the GPS.

Walden was a pleasant city, with only approximately a hundred thousand residents. It was in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, which surrounded the area. While most areas of the city were nice and built up, we still had a rougher part, and that's where this address was.

My mind wandered to the fact that I hadn't fed from a vein in a week, and that meant I hadn't had sex in that time.

Feeding for a vampire went hand in hand with sex.

The vampire bite would increase the pleasure of the one we were taking blood from, and the taste of the blood while fucking a warm body was bliss to the vampire.

It was a win-win, and I couldn't understand why it didn't hold the same appeal for me.

I ran my hand through my shoulder-length blond hair and sighed.

Maybe I should call Master Stephen, the leader of my coven. Stephen was more like my father. He had taken me in and raised me when rogues destroyed my family and coven. He was centuries older than me, and he may have had a hint as to why feeding and sex had lost their appeal.

"Call Master Stephen," I spoke out, commanding my car to make the call as I drove.

The sound of the phone ringing filled my car speakers, when an out of breath voice answered, "Yes."

"Master Stephen, forgive the interruption. I was wondering if you had a few moments to speak," I said.

"Benny, my boy. Semais and I were just having a bit of fun. I would have thought you would be having fun at the club tonight," he replied.

Semais was a wolf shifter and Master Stephen's beloved. I could only imagine what sort of fun they were having.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. You see—" I paused, not sure how to proceed.

"Yes?" Master Stephen prompted after my long pause.

"It doesn't hold appeal for me. I mean, I’m hungry and I want to feed, but feeding from a body and having sex isn't as attractive as it once was. I’ve been feeding from a bag, master. I don't know what is wrong with me." I let it all tumble out of my mouth in a rush.

There was no response, and for a moment; I thought we were disconnected, but then the master's voice came through. "I have heard of this happening before but thought it a myth."

"A myth? What myth?" I asked, desperate to know what it could be.

"A vampire can sometimes sense when they will meet their beloved, and the vampire will stop feeding like normal," he responded. "I thought it a myth, as it did not happen to me that way."

I scoffed, "You really think my body is telling me I’m about to meet my beloved? I don't know about that."

"I wouldn't scoff. Everyone is different. Fate is different. She works differently for everyone. I told you only what I have heard based on what you said. Are you getting enough blood? How is your strength?" he asked with worry in his voice.

"I’m strong enough. Just getting frustrated at myself," I sighed. Maybe I shouldn't have told Master Stephen. I knew it would concern him. "I have to go. I’ll talk to you more when I get back to the coven house."

"Benny, make sure you come see me. We’ll figure things out," he said.

"I will. Have a good evening," I said, disconnecting the line.

Somehow, the conversation made me feel worse.

I pressed the button on my steering wheel and soon the sounds of Beethoven filled the car.

I slowly felt my muscles unwind, the music soothing my soul.

Inhaling and exhaling slowly, I found my center.

That was what I needed. I had a job to do and should focus on that.

I pulled up at the address and got out of my car. The night had grown colder, and there was a scent of rain in the air. I hope this doesn't take long, I thought as I shivered.

This was the edge of Walden, and there were several abandoned buildings and trash littered on the ground. I walked toward the address. As I neared the building, the wind shifted, and I caught the scent of something or someone that did not belong. I walked toward the alleyway, following my nose.

Without warning, I was pushed forward toward the wall of the building.

I braced my arms out to stop from fully slamming into the wall.

I turned to look and saw an enormous creature with big wings—a gargoyle.

He was at least seven feet tall with reddish-orange skin, white hair, and black horns.

Gargoyles normally stayed close to their clutches, as they were stone during the day and beasts at night.

Humans would freak if they saw one, so they stayed close together for protection.

As far as I knew, they could take human form only after they met and bonded with their mate.

In his hand he held a dagger. The blade was curved and reddish in color, as if blood coated it. He let loose a growl and charged me.

"I knew they would send someone. I just had to wait," he said as he swung the blade toward my neck.

I blocked his attack and grappled with him. In the distance, I heard footsteps, and I hoped it was the sentries; this fucker was strong. My head collided with the wall as the gargoyle continued to attack. I could feel the weight of his body pinning me between him and the building.

I struggled to breathe as his elbow slammed into my ribs, knocking the air from my lungs and breaking my grip.

That was the opening he needed. He broke free from my grasp and plunged the blade into my stomach.

I felt a burning fire and a pain I had never experienced before.

I cried out. It was as if my insides had turned to flame and liquid lava.

The weight that was holding me disappeared.

I looked up at the gargoyle as I slid down the wall.

"Your friends are too late, bloodsucker. You'll be dead before long and no one will know it was me," he said, smiling a sinister smile.

He jumped into the air and vanished into the night. The skies opened, and rain poured down. But even the icy rain on my body did not ease the burning of my blood within me. I tried to call out to anyone who could hear me. I didn't have the strength; all I could do was writhe in agony.

"Ben! Hold on!" a voice exclaimed as darkness overtook me.