Not His Vampire: Vampire Romance (Not This Series Book 3)

by Annie Nicholas

  Viktor hid his smirk by staring at his feet. It was not often he witnessed Eoin flabbergasted. “Oh.” He shrugged. On the outside, he fought to remain nonchalant. If he allowed himself to truly consider his actions, then they would both be shouting and pacing the dungeon like lunatics. One crazed supernatural at time seemed prudent.

  The dragon crouched in front of him. “For as long as we’ve known each other, I’ve never heard you mention creating another of your kind.” He ran his hand over his face.

  Viktor shrugged again. How could he explain the urge to save Trixie when he did not understand it himself? Maybe he had been alone too long. Maybe he’d liked meeting a nice girl for once. Maybe she deserved better than a stupid death from falling down the stairs. “I righted a wrong.” She had come to stake him. That took balls. Maybe he liked girls with balls?

  Eoin snarled. “What am I supposed to do with her?”

  “Nothing.” Angie came barreling down the stairs with her usual stormy presence. “And why hasn’t he showered yet? Stop gossiping and move. He’s her sire. He needs to teach her about being a vampire.”

  “Not a good idea,” Viktor spoke before Eoin.

  His old friend gave him a weary smile. “Will the New Port nest take her in?”

  “Wait. Don’t tell me you’re going to let him get away with this?” She crossed her arms, tapping her foot. “Viktor has a responsibility to Trixie.”

  Viktor shook his head. Angie did not know him and did not understand what a mistake that would be. “I am a terrible person, especially for modern culture. I would only lead her astray.”

  Angie’s eyes narrowed. “Viktor, you’re a little eccentric but you saved Betty’s mating and now you saved Trixie’s life. Not so bad in my books. Stop with the self-pity shit. This is serious.”

  He gestured to the names covering his body. “They would not agree.”

  The dragon snorted. “Most of those names came from long, long ago.” Eoin, for some reason, believed in Viktor’s redemption, otherwise the dragon would have killed him. Instead, he helped Viktor by chaining him in a cell so he would not kill other innocent people.

  “Enough.” Angie clapped her hands. “Trixie has a million questions and she’s hungry again. And starting to freak me out. Your stay in the dungeon is over.” She handed Eoin a key. “I placed her in the room at the top of the tower. I’ll go get the blood in the kitchen fridge.”

  “Are you sure about setting me free?” Viktor slowly rose to his feet, hope a fleeting flicker of smoke. “I do not want to kill again.” His sanity was returning, it seemed.

  Eoin rested his hand on Viktor’s shoulder. “My friend, that’s the first sane thing I’ve heard you say in weeks.” He glanced at Angie. “I’m not ready to set him free though. We can move him closer to Trixie and chain him there.”

  “Still with the chain?” She set her hands on her hips. “I’m starting to think you guys are enjoying this too much.” With a shake of her head, she ascended the stairs.

  “Trixie might be good for you.” Eoin undid the lock holding the chain to the stone. “A much-needed distraction.”

  “How so?” Viktor followed his jailor out of the dungeon.

  “You could teach her to be the type of vampire you aspire to be.” Eoin tossed him an amused smile. “She’s quite a stunning vampire.”

  Viktor growled and yanked the chain from Eoin’s hand, refusing to be led like a pet dog. “You are mated.” All vampires were beautiful. Otherwise they would starve. It was a predatory evolution.

  “Doesn’t mean I’m blind.” Eoin chuckled. “I saw the way you looked at her. You’re not unaffected.”

  They climbed to the first floor where Viktor was given access to a shower. The first one he’d had in weeks. He rattled the chain. “What about this?”

  “It won’t rust. You have five minutes. Don’t waste it.”

  “You are an asshole.” He stripped and turned on the hot water. The hot water was blinding joy, but he couldn’t soak in its glory. He washed and had barely rinsed when Eoin tugged on the chain.

  “I brought fresh clothes.”

  Viktor dried then exited the shower. He found a clean pair of pants folded on the sink counter top. “Just pants?” Fresh skin felt wonderful.

  “That’s all I have that will fit you.”

  Viktor was slenderer than the dragon. Exiting, he scowled at Eoin before the dragon led him higher in the tower.

  Old tapestries still clung to the walls, unlike the more habited parts of the castle where the walls were mostly bare. “I have never been here.” Viktor twisted around for a better look. It was rare for Eoin to allow anyone in the older areas of his home.

  “This is the South Tower. Angie wants to reclaim this part since the windows are mostly intact.”

  “For now.” He chuckled. Dragon roars tended to shatter glass and both had hair trigger tempers.

  Eoin tossed him a warning glare. “I’m not allowed in this area as dragon.”

  “Ah.” Eoin, unofficial ruler of New Port, smote by a small, feathered white dragon. Viktor kept this to himself since he did not truly have a death wish.

  Eoin pulled out the key Angie had given him and unlocked the thick wooden door.

  Viktor frowned. Blood trickled over his fingernails where they cut into his fisted palms. “I thought you said she wasn’t a prisoner.” Trixie should not suffer for his mistakes.

  “She’s a new, hungry vampire and there is an unsuspecting city just miles from here. She’ll remain under lock and key until you or someone else takes responsibility for her education. She needs to learn the basics and the laws at least.” He fiddled with the old lock.

  Angie arrived behind them, a bag of blood in hand. “What are you doing?”

  “The lock is stuck,” the male dragon grumbled. “I’m trying not to snap the fucking key again.”

  “Lift the doorknob a bit.” She shoved the blood into Viktor’s hands and pushed her mate aside. “You’re going to break it if you keep trying to force the turn.”

  Viktor squished the bag in his hand, watching the ruby fluid in fascination as the plastic stretched. This wasn’t the concentrated blood bank crap Eoin had fed him. This was whole blood, probably bought off the black market. “Where was this earlier?”

  “This was your next meal. The bag I gave you today was expiring so you had to have it today.” Eoin spoke absentmindedly.

  Some vampires disdained modern ways. Viktor wasn’t one of them. He loved the convenience of bagged whole blood, even if the taste was a little off. There were some entrepreneurs, otherwise known on the black market as blood mongers, who catered to his kind. They didn’t tamper with the blood and added only a touch of preservative to keep it from clotting. They even delivered, except to the castle. “Wait, how did you obtain this?”

  “I have them deliver it to Angie’s shop.” The dragon winked at him over her head. “See, I try.”

  The lock clicked and the door swung open.

  Viktor stepped inside ahead of the dragons, blood in hand. He desired to see the changes the earlier meal of blood had on Trixie and offer her another. Just past the threshold, he came to a halt. The room was empty. “Wrong room. She is not here.”

  Angie pushed past him and spun a slow circle. “Where’d she go?” She rushed back into the hallway. “Trixie’s gone,” she hissed at Eoin.

  “Search outside and I’ll check the castle.” The black dragon pointed at Viktor. “You stay here.” Both dragons raced off, leaving him alone in the room, carrying the long length of chain connected to his collar.

  He smiled. Dragons were so excitable. The windows in this tower would not stay intact long. He crossed the room and pulled open a curtain. The old wooden frame encasing the glass was open. “Xуёво,” he muttered under his breath. Trixie was too young to fly. Hell, he was too young to fly, but she did not know this. He scanned the ground below. The fall would not kill her but her bones would shatter and it would hurt like hell.


  Except the lawn was empty and crater free. He punched the window frame, cracking the old wood. Had he already lost her? That had to be a record.

  He wrapped the long, heavy chain his bare torso, since he could not snap it free of the collar, and he did not want to trip over it. Then he leaped out the opening.

  The weight of the chain sped his fall and the impact left his knees aching. Where was she? He glanced at the smooth wall of the tower. The climb down would have been very difficult for an amateur. She surely would have fallen.

  The sweet scent of her blood drifted in the air—faint and floral. He would have missed it if not for her blood already caressing his veins. He followed the song it sang until he found a drop congealed in the dirt.

  Only a drop?

  Falling from that height, she should have been bleeding out. He knelt next to the spot and rubbed it between his fingers. He was missing something obvious.

  Closing his eyes, he rewound his memories, replaying the last day since he’d encountered Trixie. Her curious expression when she’d first laid eyes on him, the smell of her attraction, the sound of her body impacting the bottom of the stairwell. The taste of her blood, Angie’s screams, roars and fire balls.

  He opened his eyes and scanned the castle walls. Angie had been after a gargoyle. Blamed him for hurting Trixie, but gargoyles weren’t predatory. If anything, they were pranksters. Thieves.

  He gnashed his fangs. Trixie had been stolen from him.

  Chapter Seven

  (Earlier that night)

  The lock clicked in place. Trixie didn’t blame Angie for not trusting her. Hell, she didn’t even grasp what was going on. She rubbed her completely healed neck. It didn’t even ache anymore.

  She was a vampire. A lady of the night. She snorted and returned to the mirror for another look at this stranger with her face. Opening her mouth, she examined the baby fangs. She hoped they grew bigger. They made her look kitten-like.

  And what was up with the hair? She ran her fingers through the thick waves. Anyone who dyed their hair a vibrant color like hers understood that damage was an issue. She usually did intensive oil treatments but had never gotten these kinds of results.

  She traced the reflection of her pale face. Dammit, where was Viktor? She had a bazillion questions. Patting her pockets, she searched for her phone. Ruby would be home soon and Trixie needed to talk to her. Her sister always knew how to wiggle out of trouble and Trixie sure could use her problem-solving skills.

  The cell phone screen was so shattered she’d slice her fingers if she tried to swipe it.

  Someone cleared his throat behind her. She spun around, expecting to find Viktor. Instead, she came face to face with the gargoyle that had startled her. Or at least, she thought it was him. They all kind of looked alike.

  He climbed into the room from the open window. “I’m glad to see you’re okay. I didn’t mean for you to fall down the stairs. The way the dragons are reacting, I thought I had killed you.”

  She stared at his massive bat-like wings and huge horns protruding from his head. Up close, he looked more like a demon. It was difficult to respond with her heart in her throat.

  He tilted his head as if perplexed. “You are okay, right? You look a little pale.”

  “It’s you.” All she had wanted this morning was to retrieve the cat kennels and not lose her job. That seemed so important then. Instead, she had lost her humanity and the life connected to it because of this monster in front of her.

  He patted his chest as if checking. “Yep, it’s me.” He chuckled.

  “Enough with the jokes.” She crossed the room, confident that, as a vampire, she trumped gargoyle in the supernatural pecking order. Fury sharpened her vision and she had lots of fury. “Asshole, I did die because of you.”

  His eyes went wide and he gently poked her with a claw. “You’re not a ghost.”

  She stumbled from his strength. “I’m a vampire.” Rubbing the sore spot he left, she eyed his big muscled arms.

  Okay, so maybe he trumped her after all.

  “Oh.” He sounded so relieved she almost laughed. “Then no harm done.”

  “No harm?” Her voice rose to an octave that only dogs and, apparently, gargoyles could hear. “I fell down those stairs and died. Like a few hours ago, I was human. The resident vampire chained in the dungeon turned me.” She hiccupped. How would she keep her job? She glanced at the midnight sky. Sure, she worked the nightshift but she still had to get home in the light of dawn. “Nothing is ever going to be the same again. I can’t even call my sister.” She tossed her broken phone at the gargoyle.

  It bounced off his rock-hard head and he didn’t even seem to notice. “You’re crying blood.”

  “What?” She spun to look at the horror show in the mirror. It only made her cry more.

  “Don’t…” The gargoyle hugged her. It was like being crushed by stone. “I can fly you home if you want.” He stroked her hair, snagging it on his rough stone hands. “Just stop crying. You’re kind of grossing me out.”

  She slapped his shoulder, yet a laugh still bubbled past her sobs. “I hate you.”

  “I know. I hate me too.”

  She wiped her face. Ruby would know what to do. Maybe they could run away together? Maybe she’d want to be a vampire with her? All she knew was that she had to get away from the castle of angry dragons and sexy vampire. She couldn’t think around them. They wouldn’t let her. “You’ll fly me home?”

  “Sure.” He scooped her into his big arms and carried her to the open window. “Where to?”

  She pointed toward the city. Her bloody tears wouldn’t stop even when he leaped through the window and flew. Regret weighed heavy on her heart. Instead of enjoying her first flight in the arms of a gargoyle, she kept thinking of how her sister would take this news. Yes, she knew she shouldn’t tell Ruby about vampires existing, but there was no way she could keep it a secret now. Her sister was the jam to Trixie’s peanut butter. She was not going to disappear mysteriously. She would not leave Ruby wondering what happened to her for the rest of her life. That would destroy Ruby faster than knowing the truth.

  They’d figure this out together.

  Maybe with Viktor’s help. No more dragons. And she had to keep her hands off Viktor. Fuck, that would be impossible.

  Bleary eyed, she searched the city below for a familiar landmark. It wasn’t easy giving directions from a new vantage point. “Umm, that looks like the bar district. I think my building is that way.” She pointed east, or what she thought was east.

  “Don’t you know where you live?” The gargoyle angled their trajectory with a lazy turn.

  “Not from the sky. It’s not like I can see the street signs from here.”

  “Are you sure you’re a vampire?”

  She shifted her weight in his arms. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “The vampires I’ve met would be able to read them from this distance.”

  “I’m not even a day old.” She stared at the street corners, looking for a sign. Her vision telescoped. With a yelp, she grasped his shoulders as the world spun. “Whoa, it worked.” She shook her head, trying to regain her equilibrium. “How does that work?” Trixie’s eyes had been normal a few hours ago, but now she had superhero vision. “I can get in a lot of trouble with this new toy.” She scanned the windows of the surrounding buildings.

  The gargoyle placed his hand over her eyes. “Use your powers for good.” His smile was full of mischief though.

  “What’s the fun in that?” She refocused her new found binocular vision on the street signs and found her bearings. She recognized the buildings and neighborhood now. “We’re going the right way. Not much further to go.” She pointed in the distance. “See that rain collector on top of that building? I live across the street.”

  Soon, she would see her sister. Ruby should be home by now from her double shift and most likely pissed to all hell that Trixie was missing and not answering her broken phone. Wait un
til she explained why.

  Trixie cringed inside and wiped her tear streaked cheeks clean with her sleeve. Red stained the material. Gross.

  The gargoyle landed on her three-story brick building smooth as butter and set her gently on her feet.

  “Do you have a name?” she asked, tired of thinking of him as the gargoyle since he seemed nicer than most humans she’d met.

  “You can call me Nick.” He scuffed his clawed toe on the surface. “I’d stay and help but I suspect the dragons will continue their hunt for me. I’ll just be putting you in more danger.”

  “Vampire.” She gestured to herself. “Am I not immortal?”

  Nick chuckled, his cheeks developing twin adorable dimples.

  “You are very flammable though.” A familiar accented voice spoke from thin air.

  She jumped. And spun a slow circle. “Viktor?” Was he smoke like she’d seen in the movies? Now that was a super power. “Where are you?”

  A set of long, elegant fingers gripped the edge of the roof. Viktor climbed over the top. So not magical, just fast as hell. And he had scaled her building shirtless with the heavy chain wrapped around him. He stunned her with his beauty again, even with his just-broke-out-of-a-dungeon fashion statement. Hip length, midnight hair blew in the wind, exposing his chiseled muscle torso. Sweet mercy, he didn’t have an ounce of fat on him. His barbarian hotness weakened her knees.

  Nick pressed a clawed fingertip to her chin and clicked her mouth shut.

  Suddenly, Viktor was so close she gasped. He moved before she could finish a blink, which made it appear as if he teleported the short distance. He gripped Nick’s wrist, squeezing so tight the gargoyle moaned. “Thief.” The vampire bared his long fangs. “Did you really think you could take what is mine?”

  Nick fell to his knees, his eyes wide and mouth open in soundless agony. The gargoyle easily outsized Viktor in mass and he had carried her across the city as if she weighed nothing.

  “Trixie, take the chain and wrap it around him.” In a graceful move, Viktor had both of the gargoyle’s arms behind his back.

  Her hands fluttered uselessly for a second. For the last twenty-four hours, she’d been in a constant state of confusion and indecision. She fisted her hands and glared at both males. “What did he steal?” Had Nick used her as an excuse to take something from the dragons?