Chapter Five
A gravelly, male shout echoed in the dungeon.
Eoin spun from his and Viktor’s dice game. “What was that noise?”
“No, no. I am winning for once. Do not distract me.” Viktor rolled a losing set. “Xуёво.” He swore in his native tongue.
The sound of flesh meeting stone reached Viktor’s ears. The thud was followed by the crack of bone.
The dragon strode out of the jail cell.
Viktor kicked the dice away. Maybe Eoin hadn’t seen.
A faintly familiar scent reached his nose. He sat up straighter. Oh no…
Trixie.
He sniffed his arms and hands, hoping it was residual from their encounter but only smelled his overwhelming stench. He was getting better if he desired a shower.
Eoin’s gasp reached his ears.
Viktor rose, stretching his chain to its limit. Trixie’s scent was stronger and it was tinged with her blood. Her blood. She was hurt. “Eoin,” he called out. “What has happened?” He pulled at his collar.
“Angie!” Eoin’s roar made the foundation of the castle rattle. “Call nine-one-one.”
Panic pierced Viktor’s heart. The human emergency system? Trixie must be hurt badly if the dragon wanted to involve the human authorities.
Viktor paced back to where his chain was attached to the castle wall and gripped the metal with both hands. Placing his feet on either side of the stone block, he pulled. He couldn’t break the chain but he could break the castle. He’d just never had enough incentive to try. Technically, he could just end up ripping his arms off.
Trixie’s weak groan reached his ears.
With one muscle screeching pull, he yanked the anchor stone free of its masonry. The foundation groaned and the wall cracked as the stone clattered to the floor.
“What the fuck?” Eoin shouted.
Viktor lifted the stone, bigger than his torso, and set it on his shoulder. The weight staggered his footsteps and the chain dragged over the floor, but he managed to leave his prison and see Trixie’s prone body at the foot of the stairs. Her neck bent at the wrong angle.
She still breathed and he heard her heart stutter. Time was not on their side.
He dropped his burden next to the stunned dragon, who stared at the block of stone at his feet. Blood trickled down Viktor’s arm where the stone had scraped over his skin. It dripped from his fingertips, landing next to Trixie. Viktor stared, unable to think clearly.
She had been so kind to him. Genuinely worried about his imprisonment. He had scared her away because she had kindled unwanted desires. Dangerous needs. Here she was, at his feet, dying.
He dropped to his knees.
Angie came racing headlong down the stairs. “Is she dead?” Tears streamed along her cheeks and she pressed her hands to her mouth.
“She still has a pulse.” Eoin glanced over his shoulder in Viktor’s direction.
Angie stared at her cell phone. “There’s no reception down here. I have to go outside.”
The tabloids would explode once news of a human girl dying inside of the dragons’ castle was leaked. Viktor cupped Trixie’s cheek and her eyelids fluttered open. “You are dying,” he whispered in her ear. She smelled of lilacs in spring. His old home in the country had had lilac trees bordering the east part of his lands. At night, they perfumed the air, but they bloomed for a very short time. Much like this girl. “But I can stop that.” He pulled away and saw the understanding of his offer dawn in her eyes. At that same moment, he realized what he had just offered her. He would be her sire, be responsible for her actions. Never once had he been tempted to make another vampire.
Her pulse slowed and her eyes widened.
Then he realized she could not move. Or answer. “Blink if the answer is yes.”
Her lids closed and her heart stuttered.
“Fuck it.” He bent over her. Sharp fangs slid into her young skin like butter. The coppery flavor of her blood caressed his tongue. His mouth watered and he moaned at her exquisite hot iron pulse. Live blood flowed into his body. Pure heaven to his dulled bagged-blood senses.
Fingers tangled in his long hair, dragging him off Trixie. Eoin used the strands like a rope as he pulled him to his feet. “I can’t believe you.” Pure disgust in every word.
“She’s dying.” Unable to resist, he licked his lips clean. “I could save her, you idiot.”
Angie knelt next to Trixie’s broken body. Sorrow-filled noises worked their way out of her throat. “You can fix her?”
Eoin released his hold on him. “You’ll bind her to you?”
Viktor returned to draining Trixie. Time was of the essence and he had none to spare answering either of the dragons’ asinine questions. Her heart barely beat. He drank his fill and then some more. Like all creatures, creating life came with a price.
Veins filled to bursting, he could barely move as he finally withdrew from Trixie’s throat. He bit into his own wrist and let his blood trickle into her mouth.
She would belong to him forever.
Angie jumped to her feet. “It was that gargoyle. I heard him inside the castle again.” She stormed up the stairs.
Eoin hesitated at the bottom, tossing Viktor a concerned glance.
“Go, I have this under control.” He had witnessed enough births to know what to expect. Having the dragons gone would help save what was left of his dignity.
Angie’s shouts carried through the stone. Things crashed against the walls far above him.
Eoin took the steps three at a time.
The wound on Viktor’s wrist kept closing and he had to repeat the bite four more times before her lips sealed around the tear. Cross-legged, he propped her against his chest and let her drink. Once she was feeding on her own, his head spun at the sudden drain. Fire coursed through his veins. He grimaced at the burn.
Trixie’s neck made sickly cracking pops as it realigned and healed.
His chest constricted and his gut cramped. He closed his eyes and rocked her in his arms. She had to drink it all back. The muscles in his back spasmed and he cried out.
The shouts above had turned into roars. The foundation shook and stone dust fell upon them as a blast hit the castle walls. Was Angie attacking her home? No, she was after the gargoyle and had bad aim. The foundation shook again. That woman had a temper.
Trixie went limp in his arms and he lay next to her on the floor. He was too drained of energy to do anything else. Before his eyes, Trixie’s skin smoothed into creamy porcelain, her freckles highlighted by the contrast. Her pink, over-treated hair relaxed into thick waves around her head. Her chest rose.
He shot their environment a distasteful glance, hating to have her wake in a dungeon. It could be worse. He had been born on a moonlit battlefield surrounded by his fallen brothers. Alone. He pressed her hand to his lips. Unlike him, she would have a teacher. Or teachers. He was a bad example for a vampire. That did not mean she had to be. The local vampire nest would raise her better.
Trixie shivered. The cold floor under her back sucked away her body heat. Rolling onto her side, she groaned as her stiff muscles protested. She was lucky all she had were bruises from that fall. She rubbed her sore neck—she should have broken her… She blinked her eyes open and listened to the distant dragon roars.
The clink of metal on stone caught her attention.
She rolled over onto her other side.
Viktor sat watching her, his liquid silk hair falling like a veil as he leaned forward and plucked the wooden stake out of her pocket. He quirked an eyebrow at her weapon.
“I can explain.” She tried to sit but her arms didn’t want to support any weight and she only flopped into his lap, face first. Mortified, she squirmed and only managed to rub herself hard into his crotch. “What is wrong with me?” Her voice came out muffled.
He cleared his throat and pulled her into his arms. “You sustained a serious injury and are still healing.”
This close to his face, she noticed how perfectly shaped his lips were and how sharp his fangs appeared.
“I fell down the stairs.” She glanced at the stone spiral staircase. No wonder she felt like road kill. She must have knocked herself out. “The gargoyle startled me.”
“The dragons are attempting to barbeque him as we speak.” His statement was followed by an explosion outside.
“Oh no! He didn’t do it on purpose. We have to stop them.”
Viktor gave her an amused look. “I am not stepping outside while the dragons are this upset. Vampires are quite flammable. Gargoyles, not so much.”
“I didn’t know that.” She flexed her arm. “How long was I unconscious?” Maybe she had a concussion? It didn’t explain why her limbs were acting so weird.
Viktor remained quiet, twirling the stake in his free hand. “You wanted to stake me?” Then he spun it to the spoon side. “Or bake for me?”
“It was only a precaution.” No matter how brave she had sounded in her head, she wouldn’t have been able to kill Viktor. She couldn’t even kill a spider. She carried them outside before Ruby pulled off a shoe. “I wanted to talk to you. The stake made me feel safe.”
He shook his head. “Too thin. It would have broken before penetrating my heart.”
She stared at her legs, trying to bend her knees and failing. “Something’s wrong, Viktor. I’m scared. Maybe we should call an ambulance.” She’d figure out a way to pay the hospital bill.
“You are healing. Give it a little more time and you will feel better.”
She eyed the vampire who didn’t seem to be playing with a full deck of cards. “Why don’t we let a doctor examine me anyways?”
“He would just pronounce you inhuman.” Viktor cupped her face. “Remember, Trixie.”
Frozen fingers of fear gripped her spine. She recalled the fall, rolling backwards head over heels, landing awkwardly with a sharp crack. She touched the spot where it had hurt but now didn’t. She had broken her neck.
Then Viktor’s face had hovered over hers, concern and fear in his eyes. He had whispered urgent words in her ear.
“You offered to keep me from dying.” After that, things had gone dark.
“I made you vampire. I am your sire. Did I do wrong?” His long elegant fingers traced the freckles on her face. He seemed mesmerized by them. “I tried to give you a choice but you were fading so fast.”
“What kind of choice was that? Of course, I want to live.”
In the distance, she recognized Angie’s voice. “I can’t believe we lost him.”
“Angie?” she called out.
Silence was her answer.
“Angie?” she shouted louder.
Footsteps echoed toward them as Angie descended into the dungeon, out of breath and eyes wide. “Trixie!” She hugged her tight. “It worked. You’re alive.”
“Depends on your definition of alive.” She patted Angie on the back, her arms seeming more coordinated already.
A man with dark stubble on his head and piercing blue eyes followed at a more leisured pace. His eyebrows rose. “That was fast.”
“Who are you?” She was losing track of all the new people.
“This is Eoin, harbinger of smoke and fire. My warden.” All this time, her sire kept stroking her hair, as if she was his new pet, and while the black dragon of terror stared at them. “She’s weak and will need to feed soon.”
Trixie tried to stand and prove Viktor wrong but only managed to hop in his lap. “Maybe we should get a second opinion, like a doctor or something.”
“No.” Angie and Eoin spoke in unison and glanced at each other.
“Ah, they finally agree on something,” Viktor whispered in her ear.
Her heart thrummed like a hummingbird. A vampire... “How come I can still feel my heartbeat?” She pressed her hand over her chest.
“Because you are not dead. Just not human anymore.” Viktor took her hand and set it over his beating heart. “See?”
She opened her mouth but nothing came out.
Angie leaned forward. She was so close and smelled like barbeque popcorn. Trixie’s favorite. She inhaled deeply. Her stomach growled and her teeth ached. A sharp pain pierced her gums and she clapped her hand over her mouth. “Ouch.”
Viktor gently pried her hand away and examined her teeth. He smiled with full fang exposure. “Very nice.”
She fingered her pointed teeth and glanced at Angie.
“Not her.” He shook his finger. “Dragons’ blood burns. Shifters hold no nutritional value. Only human blood will sustain you.” He glanced at Eoin. “Do you have any readily available? You can call my people if you do not.”
“You know I don’t like your people.” Eoin scowled. “I have some saved for emergency. I’d say this qualifies.” The dragon climbed the stairs and returned shortly with two bags of blood.
Viktor bit the corner off a bag and held it to her lips. “Drink. It will make you stronger.”
The smell of it hit her senses like a sledge hammer. Hunger tore through all pretenses of civility, shredding away the remains of her humanity. The next thing she knew, she held an empty bag in her hands.
Angie stood behind Eoin, peering over his shoulder with wide eyes.
Trixie wiped her mouth, smearing red along the back of her hand. “Don’t you dare judge me.”
Eoin threw back his head and laughed. “You should see Angie eat in dragon form. I thought she was going to choke.”
Angie smacked his shoulder. “We were never to speak of that again.”
Something akin to envy crossed Viktor’s face as he watched their exchange. He was lonely. He’d admitted it to her this morning when they first met and he’d lured her into his cell. She didn’t think it came only from his being held captive. That deep of reaction developed over time.
She fingered the collar around Viktor’s throat, worry a constant gnaw in her gut. “Are you going to chain me to a wall?” What was she going to tell her sister? How was she going to tell her? Ruby was going to come home from work and never know what happened. She hadn’t taken Trixie’s plans for the evening seriously.
Viktor’s smile widened. “I am growing weary of chatting to myself.”
“You need to keep that kind of crazy talk to yourself from now on.” Trixie poked him in the chest. “If I wasn’t so weak, I’d be freaking out on your ass.”
He held up the stake. “And use this?”
“No.” She crossed her arms and turned away. Tears burned in the back of her eyes. Nothing had gone according to plan.
Angie stood. “No more vampires chained in the basement.”
“Dungeon,” corrected Eoin.
She glared at him. “Or gargoyles on the castle. I’m going to fry his prankster ass.”
“Once you catch him.” Eoin eyed Trixie. “Can you walk?”
She tried to move again but weariness weighed heavily on her limbs. Her head spun with the effort to stand and she leaned against Viktor. “Worst day ever.”
Viktor’s smile faded. “Vampire births are always tragic.” He lifted her chin and kissed her forehead. “Yet it is your new birthday.”
“You’re crazy.” In a sweet way, he was trying to console her. He was the only one who knew what she was going through.