Dominik
“Are you fucking kidding me? They staked him?” Viktor’s voice splits through my head like a knife. “Well? How long has it been?”
There’s some murmurings which could be my guards. I’d like to open my eyes, but they feel welded shut.
Someone slams me in the chest. I feel my body buck wildly, my lungs gasping for air which they don’t need and my brain finally clicking into gear.
“You were lucky he didn’t cut off your head,” Viktor says, the huge gargoyle looming over me with an outstretched hand. “But he has done a number on your nice suit.”
He pulls me to my feet. I look down at the damage. I am a mess. The jacket is entirely ruined. Viktor stands in front of me with the stake in his hand, a drop of black blood hanging off the tip.
“Van Helsing.”
“I think you pissed him off,” Viktor intones.
“He has my mate,” I snarl, instantly gripping the collar of the huge gargoyle. “They have Lucy.”
Viktor easily plucks my hand from his clothing and shakes his head.
“Nothing is as easy as it seems,” he rasps. “Especially mating.”
“FUCK!” I rage, glaring around at my guards. “Where did they take her?” I launch myself at Attila but find I’m being held back by a great stone arm.
“They don’t know. They were locked in the other hall as soon as you entered this one, super concentrated ultra-violet light keeping them at bay.”
Now I look at Attila, I see his face is covered in scorch marks, as are the rest of my guards. A couple have hands which are almost burnt to a crisp.
They tried to get to me.
But Van Helsing could have killed them. And instead he chose not to. I was a warning. He wanted my vampires to slink back into the shadows without me.
“What in the hell are you doing here?” I growl at Viktor. “You work for Ferenc.”
“Ferenc asked me to keep an eye on you,” Viktor says, throwing the stake into the fire. “Admittedly it was because we didn’t trust you about your brother, but it would appear it was a good idea, given you just got staked.”
“As you can see, I am absolutely fine, so you can go back to your werewolf master and report in.”
“It looks to me like you need all the help you can get.” Viktor looks at my injured troops.
“It’s nothing a feed can’t fix,” I respond.
“I doubt you have time for such niceties,” he says, pulling a pack from his back and delving inside.
To my immense surprise, he throws each of my guards a blood bag. They all devour the meal in greedy gulps.
“I don’t pay you for your services, Viktor.” I shake my head. “Why would you even do this for me?”
“Perhaps because gargoyles are guardians,” he says with a stone shrug. “Perhaps because those who dared to come out of the shadows to close the vault deserve more of my time than others. Especially where their family is concerned.”
“You’re doing this for Lucy?”
“I’m doing this for my own reasons, Dominik. And I suggest you get your vamps working on where your mate is rather than discussing semantics with me.”
“Did we find Lucy’s mobile?” I growl at Attila who is already looking better.
He pulls out his own device and turns a full circle before walking quickly to an ancient coffer and pulling the lid open before shoving his hand inside. When he turns back to me, he has another phone in his hand.
“We were chasing a ghost, boss,” he says in an apologetic tone.
I grit my fangs.
“Use the darker web. Find out where the Van Helsings have strongholds in Europe,” I growl at Attila.
“You don’t think he’ll have flown her back to England?” Viktor queries.
“We’ve been predator and prey for a very long time, the Van Helsing family and vampires. They have always preferred ground transport. And if Commander Max Raynes thinks he’s getting away from me by land or air, he is mistaken.”
“Same way he was mistaken a stake through the heart could kill you?” There’s a hint of a smile on Viktor’s face.
Gargoyles were hunters too, once.
“You can’t kill what’s already dead, right?” I flash him a fang.
“Or rather, you have to finish the job.”
“I think I’d look good headless.” I stroke my hand up my neck to my chin. “What do you think?”
“I think you need to find your mate before you go completely insane,” Viktor growls. “And I think you’re going to need more help than you already have.”
“This is vampire business. I don’t need any more help,” I growl.
Viktor glances at my guards. “You need to cover ground quickly. You need help.”
“Did someone say help?” Nandór strides through the door, flames licking from his nostrils as he takes in the scene and spooks at the vampires in the room, his wings flaring behind him.
“You consider this help?” I glare at Viktor. “This is a liability.”
“I resent that,” Nandór growls, smoke pouring from him. “I came to offer my assistance to the king, and this is what I get.”
“What the fuck do you want in return?” I snarl, resisting the urge to tear out his throat because the scaly bastards taste terrible, and I don’t want his flavor in my mouth for the rest of the day.
“I want a piece of your arms business.” Nandór studies his claws. “It’s about time I expanded my horizons.”
“Why not take every drop of blood I have left while you’re at it?” I growl, turning to Viktor. “Send him away.”
“Do you want to find your mate or not?” Viktor says evenly.
Clearly, I do. Clearly, I need to get revenge on the Van Helsing family for their attempt to end me.
The only thing Van Helsing Senior didn’t know was, due to the way I was turned, staking isn’t an option for me or for any of my progeny.
Sure, it might incapacitate us, but it isn’t the end. Not by a long shot.
However, it would appear it is the end for what I’m wearing.
“I’ve got three possible locations, boss,” Attila says, fortunately distracting my attention from Nandór before I do something I’ll regret to anger his clan.
“Where?” I’m by his side in less than a heartbeat.
“Paris, Luxembourg, Würzburg,” he says, showing me his screen.
“Go get some vehicles. I think I know which one he’s gone to,” I order.
I had better be right, because if Van Helsing Senior gets Lucy out of Europe, the chances are I’ll be chasing her for too long and by the time I find her, she will have given birth.
From what she’s told me, I fear for our baby. And I fear for her.
And without my fate, without my Lucy, I am destined to wither to nothing. But becoming mere dust doesn’t bother me. I won’t let her end up back in the hands of the Van Helsings.
Lucy belongs to me. Her unborn child belongs to me. No one else can have her.
And anyone who has touched a hair on her head will be meeting the reaper by way of my fangs.