Chapter Fourteen #2
Any sign of the polite, arrogant coven leader had disappeared.
His eyes blazed with fury, his fangs were fully extended, and his fingernails were already claws.
He looked like a man who’d just discovered his entire empire was about to collapse - which, Viktor supposed, was exactly what was going to happen.
“You.” Claudius’s voice shook with barely controlled rage as he stared at Ant. “I know you’ve already done the scene reading. Do you think there was anything you could do in this house that I don’t know about? What did you see?”
Ant didn’t flinch. He sat straighter on the bed, one hand still firm in Able’s ruff, and met Claudius’s eyes calmly.
“Everything,” Ant said simply. “I saw everything. I watched you discover Ronald Finch breaking into your study. I watched you plan his murder with Edmund. I watched you use vampiric trance to paralyze him before draining him. I saw the journals documenting your financial crimes, and I noted that you removed evidence from the scene afterward.”
Claudius’s expression twisted. “You can’t possibly - the wards should have…”
“Your wards did exactly what you designed them to do. They trapped me in a vision loop intended to fragment my consciousness and prevent me from retaining coherent testimony.” Ant tilted his head slightly.
“It worked for all of two minutes, maybe five. However, you underestimated two things. First, my skill level as a scene reader is second to none. Second, you totally ignored the strength of a fated mate bond. Viktor anchored me through the trap and allowed me to observe all I needed to see in perfect detail.”
Viktor felt the temperature in the room drop as the magic from the wards seemed to swirl around the coven leader.
Claudius’s rage shifted into something colder and far more dangerous.
He was weighing up the odds, Viktor realized Claudius was doing the one thing he had warned Ant he would, and hoped he wouldn’t.
The cowardly vampire was choosing self-preservation over anything else.
“Then you leave me no choice.” Claudius stepped fully into the suite, and his guards pressed closer behind him. He raised both hands and began speaking in a language that predated English - harsh, guttural syllables that resonated with power that raised the hairs on the back of Viktor’s neck.
The sky outside their window darkened, as if a sudden storm was looming. Viktor felt the estate’s wards slam into place with physical force - layer upon layer of ancient magic locking down the entire estate like a prison door slamming shut. Fuck!
The mate bond flared as Ant recognized what had happened and was immediately trying to find a solution.
Viktor didn’t need their bond or a degree from the Academy to know they were trapped.
He could feel it in every cell of his body.
By invoking the wards completely, it meant no one could get in, and more importantly, no one could get out.
They were sealed inside with Claudius and his entire coven.
“That was unwise,” Ant said, his voice still calm. “The Justiciary knows we’re here. When we fail to check in, they’ll send reinforcements.”
“By the time they find enough puny mages to break through my wards, there will be nothing left of you to find.” Claudius’s smile was all teeth. “You should have accepted the limitations of your investigation and left when you had the chance.”
He gestured sharply at his guards as he stepped back out the door. “Seize them both. Kill the dog if it interferes.”
The guards surged forward as one - a clearly coordinated attack pattern - but they’d made one critical mistake. Their mere presence threatened Ant, and Viktor’s second form was already hanging on by a thread, desperate to be free.
This time, Viktor let him go. His body expanded, muscles bulging beneath his shirt until the fabric tore.
His fangs lengthened into weapons, his fingers curved into claws, and he knew without looking in a mirror that his normally blue eyes would be bright crimson.
The civilized facade he maintained around Ant and Bridget burned away, leaving the true essence of his being - a being who was faster, stronger, and more vicious than anything else that challenged him.
The first guard who crossed the threshold toward Ant never saw Viktor coming.
One moment, Viktor stood between the bed and the door.
The next, he had the guard by the throat, lifting him off his feet and hurling him backward into two more guards with enough force that all three vampires went down in a tangle of limbs.
Able launched himself at the second guard who tried entering, sinking his teeth into the vampire’s leg.
The guard yelled - Able was registered as a weapon for good reason - and tried to shake the dog off.
Viktor grabbed that guard by the shirt collar, twisted him into a pretzel-shaped configuration that would take hours to untangle, and tossed him into the corridor like a sack of potatoes.
“Stay behind me,” Viktor snarled at Ant, not taking his eyes off the remaining guards. “Don’t you dare try to help.”
Through their bond, he felt Ant’s mix of exasperation and trust. His mate wasn’t afraid - which was either the smartest or dumbest response possible, Viktor couldn’t decide which - but he didn’t have time to ask.
Three more guards rushed through the doorway simultaneously.
Viktor met them head-on, moving with the brutal efficiency of someone who’d been fighting before those vampires had even been born.
He caught the first by the wrist, used the vampire’s own momentum to flip him over Viktor’s shoulder, and slammed him into the floor hard enough to crack wood.
The second guard swung at Viktor’s head.
Viktor ducked, drove his fist into the guard’s solar plexus, and followed up with an uppercut that sent teeth flying.
The third guard managed to get past Viktor’s defenses and lunged toward the bed where Ant sat.
Big mistake. Viktor caught the guard mid-lunge, wrapped both hands around the vampire’s spine, and twisted.
Bones popped, and tendons tore. It wasn’t enough to kill, because Ant hated lethal force, but more than enough to ensure that particular guard wouldn’t be walking for a day or two.
Viktor hurled the broken guard back through the doorway and bared his fangs at the remaining pack. “If one more person steps through that door, I’ll forget my mate doesn’t appreciate lethal force.”
Claudius stood in the corridor, his expression icy with fury. “You can’t fight all of us, Viktor. You’re outnumbered.”
“I’ve been outnumbered before. It didn’t stop me then, and it won’t stop me now.” Viktor’s voice came out as a guttural growl, barely human. “You want my mate? You’ll have to go through me. And I guarantee you’ll lose more people than you can afford.”
For a long moment, Claudius stared at Viktor, clearly weighing his options. Then he stepped backward, gesturing for his guards to fall back into the corridor.
“Fine. Barricade yourselves in your little cage.” Claudius’s smile was cruel.
“You have nowhere to go, no way to call for help, and no method of escape. Eventually, you’ll have to sleep.
Eventually, you’ll run out of food and water.
And when you’re weak enough” - his eyes shifted to Ant - “I’ll drain your precious pet dry while you watch. ”
Viktor roared and lunged forward, but Claudius was already disappearing down the hallway, his remaining guards covering his withdrawal.
Viktor grabbed the shattered door - what was left of it - and slammed it back into the frame.
It wouldn’t hold, not with the lock torn free and the wood splintered, so he grabbed the heavy dresser and shoved it against the door instead.
Then he dragged the desk across the room and wedged it against the dresser for additional reinforcement.
It wouldn’t stop a determined assault, but it would buy them time and prevent anyone from sneaking in on them.
Looking over to where the second door in the room was - the one that led into Finch’s room, Viktor considered barricading that as well, but he was limited by furniture options.
But he still went over and ensured the lock was turned.
Again, it wouldn’t stop a vampire or two, but it would give them a warning if someone was trying to get in.
Determined that they were as secure as they possibly could be for the moment, Viktor stood with his chest heaving, trying to pull his second form back.
It took a few moments because his vampire side knew the threat was still present, even if it was skulking down the hallway.
But Viktor persisted, and eventually he was back in his human form, his shirt in tattered shreds still hanging off his shoulders.
Behind him, Ant’s voice was still as calm as it always was. “Viktor. Look at me.”
Viktor turned slowly. Ant sat on the bed exactly where Viktor had left him, one hand back on Able’s head, the other one reaching for him.
Viktor’s hands were shaking, but he crossed the room and pulled Ant into his arms, careful despite his need to be rough.
“He threatened to kill you while I watched.”
“I know.” Ant’s arms wrapped around Viktor’s waist. “But he didn’t. We’re still here.”
“If I’d been a second slower...” Viktor cut himself off, pressing his face into Ant’s hair.
“You weren’t.” Ant pulled back just enough to meet his eyes. “You’re never too slow when it comes to protecting me.”
Viktor kissed him then - hard - pouring all his fear, fury, and love into it. When they finally broke apart, Ant’s lips were swollen and his breathing unsteady.
“Feel better now?” Ant smiled softly. “We’re going to be fine, I have a plan.”
A plan? They didn’t need a plan, they needed a fucking army - preferably one with tanks that could blow Claudius’s estate to pieces. But Viktor forced himself to gentle his hold on his mate, and sat on the edge of the bed.
“What’s the plan?” he managed. He’d settle for having five minutes to breathe, but his urge to leave the estate was as strong as ever.
Ant tightened his grip on Viktor’s hand.
“Not a plan as such, as a plausible idea. We already know the fountain in the garden is the keystone for all of Claudius’s secondary defenses – or at least the artifact underneath it - including the lockdown wards he just activated.
If we destroy that, the entire magical structure will collapse. ”
Viktor stared at his mate. “We’re barely behind a locked door. Now you’re telling me you want to blow up a centuries-old magical artifact hidden under a concrete fountain, while we’re trapped inside an enemy vampire estate with no backup and no way to call for help.”
“Yes.”
“That’s your plan.”
“That’s the first part of the plan.” Ant’s expression remained perfectly serious. “The second part involves us being able to leave so I can testify about everything I witnessed, ensuring Claudius spends the rest of his extremely long life in a Justiciary prison cell.”
As far as the plan went, it was remarkably short on details, but despite that, Viktor felt his lips twitch up at the edges. My mate is absolutely fucking insane, he thought. And I wouldn’t have him any other way.
“Alright, babe,” Viktor said. “Tell me how we’re going to destroy that fountain.”