by Joshua King
Copyrighted Material
Vampire Mage Copyright © 2018 by Joshua King
Book design and layout copyright © 2018 by Joshua King
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Joshua King.
1st Edition
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Epilogue
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About the Author
Vampire Mage
Book 1 in the Vampire Mage Series
Joshua King
For Laurie
1
Ten years had gone by, and I hadn’t accomplished shit.
“Ugh. Fuck this madness.” I paced the sidewalk in front of my old high school gym. What the hell was I doing back in New York? What exactly was I trying to prove?
That I was still the Hayden Taylor? Voted most likely to succeed, to get the girl, to tear a tree from the ground with my bear hands?
Yeah, yeah. And a million other things I didn’t do. Nor would I ever.
The music poured from the doors, along with a sprinkle of laughter here and there. Some part of me wanted to pull my shoulders back, walk in the room, and own the fucking place. I could have. It was mine for the taking; but it was all a lie.
My best days were behind me.
“Hey, buddy,” a voice called out from behind me. “You going in or what?”
I moved back and offered a cocky smile, pulling a pack of cigarettes from my pocket. “Not yet, man. Go on and get yours.”
He snorted and moved past me, his beer belly leading the way. I should have recognized the guy but making friends back in high school wasn’t part of the deal. Fucking girls, drinking beer, and winning the game on Friday night? All that and a little college action on the side? That was what I cared about.
But that shit hadn’t served me well since leaving the dump that loomed up in front of me. I glanced around me as memories pounded inside my head. Who would have thought I’d have ended up broke, boring, and single? None of the fuckers on the other side of the gym door, that was for sure.
“Just go in. Shit. What are you waiting on?” I reached out and gripped the door handle, but I couldn’t open it. Back in high school, lying to score for the night or cheat on a test was all right. Now at almost thirty, the only thing I had left was truth. No matter how much that shit hurt.
It took a minute more of fighting myself before I turned, pitched the cigarettes I wasn’t planning on smoking, and walked back toward the bright city lights.
“Hey, you coming?” the taxi cab driver called out the window, his accent thick, his voice gravelly. He’d talked my fucking ear off all the way from the hotel to the school. I didn’t feel like going through that again.
“Nah, I’m going to walk. Thanks, man.” I waved him off. The minute I’d told the guy to sit tight while I checked the place out, I had known that I wasn’t staying.
My life was a mess. I would have walked in to the reunion, and those bastards would have known right away that I’d amounted to nothing. It would just depress me, remind me that I peaked in high school. Fuck that.
Stars twinkled above my head, and as silly as it was, I couldn’t help but glance up and wonder if there was anything beyond the tiny-ass life I was living. Something bigger had to exist.
“I sure as hell hope it does,” I mumbled and zipped up my jacket. It was cold as a witch’s titty up north around the holidays. A frosty wind blew through the streets, and I picked my pace up to a languid jog. I would find a place to have a beer, a conversation with an old-timer, and maybe someone to snuggle up next to later that night.
Hopefully, all three weren’t one and the same. I chuckled at the thought. That shit would have been just the perfect shitty end to this shitty evening.
My desire to get somewhere warm had me hustling to get into the door of what looked like a club in an alleyway in downtown. I was surprised as shit that I’d made it that far. The city beamed with lights, but something about the door caught my attention.
A glow around the edges.
“Why not?” I muttered to myself and walked toward it, sliding my frozen fingers into my jacket pockets. If sex was in my future, I’d need to warm up my hands. I planned on using them, amongst other things.
“You got ID?” The big guy outside the door pressed a meaty hand into my chest. “And are you on the list?”
I pulled out my wallet. “I have an ID, and I’m thinking for a hundred bucks, you might be willing to put me on that list or let me be someone else for a night?” I offered him a weary smile.
He eyed me before plucking the bill from my fingers and moving back. “Jason Borne is your name.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Seriously?”
“No, just fucking with you.” He let out a loud laugh, and his belly jiggled with mirth. “Welcome to Solomon’s. Get in there, and if anyone asks who you are, just tell them you’re a friend of mine.”
“Your name?” I worked my license back in my wallet and slipped it in my back pocket.
“Muja.” He nodded and turned back to the door as he pulled it open.
“Right.” I turned and eyed the place. People filled almost every inch of the large dance floor, and the red and green lights mixed with a little too much smoke gave off a Christmas orgy vibe. I liked it, and I didn’t, but the place had beer, so I walked up to the bar.
“Something to drink, handsome?” a dark-eyed gal asked from behind the bar.
“Yeah. A beer. Whatever you have imported in a bottle.” I glanced at my surroundings. The bar was as busy as the rest of the place. “This place looks like a hole in the wall from the outside.”
She gave me a toothy grin. “That’s the point. We’re busy enough without advertising or foot traffic.”
“You guys should go into marketing.” I slid onto the seat in front of me and took the beer she offered.
“You want a tab, Jason?” Her smile grew.
I chuckled. “Private joke around here?”
“You look like him.” She shrugged and turned to wait on the next guy.
&n
bsp; After taking a quick sip, I turned around to face the dance floor, my ass still planted on the seat. Had it not been a pussy move, I might have ordered a hot chocolate. My damn fingers were killing me. Gloves. I needed to get some gloves.
Bodies moved on the dance floor like a breathing amoeba, some of it sexy, but most of it not. Why grown men thought they could dance like they were still in their teens and get away with it was beyond me. A flash of light near the stage caught my attention, and I paused with my beer halfway to my lips.
A woman with eyes so green I could see them from twenty feet away stared my way. Her long blond hair curled around her shoulders, accentuating how perky her tits were. Red lips the color of blood turned up in a tantalizing smile.
I glanced behind me. Surely, she wasn’t looking at me that way. Not the college flunky, the single, old, useless fuck wearing my jacket.
I turned back to face her and poked myself in the chest, mouthing, “Me?” It wasn’t the most confident move, but I’d rather make sure before I strutted up to her like an asshole, only to get laughed at.
She nodded her head slightly.
Everything shifted. The music blasted out the next song, the natural lights dimmed, and the strobe lights raced harder and faster, making my pulse spike.
Then she was gone. I’d done nothing more than blink.
“She’s waiting for you.” The bartender’s voice rose up from behind me.
I turned to face her, downed the rest of my beer, and offered her the bottle. “Never keep a lady waiting, right?’
She laughed. “Probably not a good idea this time.”
If things didn’t work out with Blondie, I wouldn’t think twice about bending the bartender over a bathroom counter and making her moan a little. I shot her a quick wink, and I was off my seat and headed toward the far corner of the club where my seductress had disappeared to.
I hadn’t taken more than two steps when I saw two giant meatheads square up against each other ahead of me. One was wearing a blue shirt, and one was wearing red. It’s fucking Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots. Blue Shirt shoved a table out of the way for what looked like no other reason than to do it. Red shirt retaliated by smashing a chair with the sole of his boot.
I tried to move to the side so I could walk around them, but almost immediately, guys from both sides of the bar rushed toward the two hulks. Shouting shit I couldn’t understand even from five feet away, they start wailing on each other.
Bodies were flinging around, and I couldn’t tell if they were jumping at each other or being thrown. Red Shirt threw a punch that made contact with Blue Shirt’s nose. It made a sickening crunching sound, and a spurt of blood shot out. It splattered on the people around them, and I expected it to at least slow down the fight. No such luck. The first blood seemed to only make the conflict, whatever the fuck it was about, worse. Suddenly, fists and feet were flying everywhere.
It was impossible to tell which people were loyal to which of the meatheads. Maybe they didn’t even know. They could have just been soaked in too much liquor, pissed off at their boss, their wife, their limp dick, or just the world in general. That was enough to get people fighting, even when they didn’t know what the fight was about.
I didn’t feel too much like getting into the fray, but the blonde waiting for me was too delicious to pass up. My cock was already hard, and I didn’t feel like going home and rubbing one out thinking about that girl’s bright green eyes and luscious body. I’d much rather have the real thing. And if that meant pummeling my way through the display of stupidity in front of me, fine. I’d fuck them up and then fuck her. Maybe the adrenaline would even make it better.
Walking headlong toward the fight, I reared back and punched the first guy who got near me. He stumbled back, growling something, but it opened up some space. I pushed ahead more and felt a fist make contact with the side of my head. Stars danced around in front of my eyes. Balling up my fists, I buried one into a hard stomach and then another into something much softer I couldn’t identify. Another punch knocked me back a few feet, but I rallied. Around me, I heard shouting and cursing I still didn’t understand. It didn’t matter. It still wasn’t my fight. It was just a roadblock keeping me from the sweet body I was craving.
Suddenly, something occurred to me. I had been scared shitless to go into my ten-year high school reunion, but I was literally fighting my way through a grimy bar to fuck some ghost-like chick in the back of a club. I needed to take my brother up on getting a shrink. He was right. It was time.
Finally, I made my way out the other end of the fight. A couple of guys had started breaking up the action by that point. Oddly, I could feel the attention of the bar turning toward me. It was unnerving, and I tried not to think about it as I continued on toward where I’d seen the woman standing.
Regardless of whether it was in my head or not, eyes followed me as I passed by the dance floor and slowed my steps near the back corner. Who was this woman, and why did she feel important, not just to me, but to the rest of the fuckers staring me down?
I turned to glance over my shoulder and found them watching me, unashamed. Fuck.
Had I stumbled into some kind of gang bullshit? Was everyone here in a cult? Was this chick going to smoke my dick for dinner and skin the meat from my thighs by the time the sun came up?
Did it matter? I wanted inside of her. Fuck it.
After slamming the door shut on reason, I walked through a black door and closed it behind me. The only feature in the room was a set of stairs going up. I climbed them and emerged into a hallway with doors lining both sides. Only one of the doors was open, with dim light pouring out of it. I made my way toward it.
The room smelled like flowers and women’s perfume. Blondie stood facing me, her hands gripping the counter she rested her ass against.
“Hi,” I whispered, forcing the word out of my mouth. “You wanted something?”
The silky pink robe she wore was open in the front, and the thick swell of her breasts teased me with promises that her mouth would help finish.
“Cocky.” She smirked. “I like it, Jason.”
I laughed heartily, breaking the spell between us. “Really?”
Her smile softened, and she motioned for me to come closer. “Just kidding. Come here. I want to taste you.”
“And you should. All the girls do.” I moved to her and slid my hands around her hips outside of her robe. No point in pushing too far until she invited me to.
She ran her fingers through my hair, scratching my scalp before pulling me in tightly. The warm whisper of her words across my lips had my dick growing thick. “Oh no, I’m not a girl, Hayden. I’m a woman.”
I wanted to ask how she knew my name, but her lips pressed to mine, and the room grew fuzzy around me. I pressed myself to her and rested my hands on the top curve of her ass as she made quick work of my lips and tongue, her moans soliciting a deep desire I hadn’t felt in a long while.
“Fuck me,” she mumbled before nipping at my lips and pressing her body into mine.
My hands slid under the silk, rubbing my cold fingers along the warm wetness of her slit.
“But what if we do this, and you want more? I’m a one-night kinda guy.” I teased her as she worked my dick out of my jeans. The fucker stood hard and proud, ready to take on a whole horde of hot women with loose morals.
“One night is all we need.” She kissed me again before pressing her hips against mine, taking me inside of her in one long thrust.
I grabbed her hips and carried her to the bed in the corner. The feeling of her tight wet pussy clamped around me already had me right at the edge of my control, and I wanted more. When I got to the bed, I dropped her down onto her back so I landed over her. I plunged into her a few hard times, and then her hands pressed against my chest.
She rolled me over, lost the robe, and sank her nails into my shoulders. “There’s something intriguing about you. I want to know what it is.”
I didn’t have any id
ea what that was supposed to mean, but she could say whatever she wanted as long as she kept bouncing just like she was.
“Find it, baby,” I slurred, wondering what the hell I’d gotten myself into.
It wasn’t like I’d been fighting off the hot women wanting to jump on my cock recently. Usually, it took a bit more effort. Who the hell was this woman? For all I fucking knew, she was a secret agent trying to manipulate national secrets out of me. Or a monster getting ready to fuck me up. Either way, I might be up for it.
“Just need to taste you.” She dismounted my cock and moved down my body, biting and licking as she went.
“Do anything you want,” I groaned.
I totally meant it. I felt like I was losing grip on reality, but I didn’t care. She really could be an assassin and take this second to finish me off, and I’d tap dance to Hell with a smile on my face.
2
I couldn’t tell if I was waking up or in the middle of a fucked-up dream. I shifted around and knew I was coming out of sleep I didn’t even realize I’d fallen into. I didn’t remember drifting off. All I really remembered was the woman I was fucking biting me when I thought she was going to suck my cock.
Groaning, I pried my eyes open. The room was only half lit, but even that little bit of illumination was too much for my sore eyes. I squeezed them closed again for a few seconds. When the feeling of needles poking into my skull stopped, I opened them again. The woman was gone. So, she hadn’t stuck around after getting primal with me. Not that I expected to cuddle all morning and then go out for fucking crepes or anything, but damn.
