The Vampire's Mate (Tales of Vampires Book 3)

by Zara Novak

  “Stop there,” one man said while sticking a hand out. “Veronica Belmont. You’re banned.”

  “Oh come on Surge.” Veronica batted her lashes and pulled her hand down the chest of the bouncer. “Are you still held up over that little thing?”

  “What’s going on here?” Eric said stepping forward. “You said you could get us in front of Zora. Now you’re telling me you’re banned?”

  “I may or may not have had an altercation with one of the bar staff last time I was here.”

  “You keep your hands off the girls unless you're paying.” The other bouncer said. “And you weren’t paying.”

  “Everyone gets so testy here.” Veronica rolled her eyes. “I remember why I don’t come here anymore.”

  Eric stepped between Veronica and the bouncers. “We need to get inside now, so step aside.”

  “Oh yeah?” The bouncers chuckled and puffed their chests out, itching for any chance to cave a skull in. “Well you’re not so—”

  Eric raised a hand up in front of the men and held it in the air as if he were choking something. Both bouncers gasped, their eyes bulging as they fought for breath. Veronica stood there bored as if she’d seen the display a thousand times. Ansel and Kat stood bewildered, watching as Eric kept his bizarre grasp on them.

  “Remember that you’re talking to Eric Belmont. Without my permission, this little shit stain of a town wouldn’t even be here. Let us in now, or you can light up the night with your ashes.”

  Both men nodded quickly while clutching at their throats. Eric released his grasp a moment later, and the bouncers stepped to the side, doubled over and heaving for air.

  “Shall we?”

  *

  Edmund, Rubago and Will were traveling outside of the castle, to a destination that was a little more savory. Rubago was leading the group in pursuit of the witch that was aiding the White Order, and her first port of call was a small human settlement just east of the Castle grounds.

  “How does one find a witch?” Will York asked as they walked through the town.

  “Witches are like plants, we need certain things to grow and nurture our magic. The witch aiding the White Order will use a lot of magic to possess men with the spirits of Nephilim. It’s black magic and it requires a lot of energy.”

  “Where does a witch get that energy?” Edmund asked.

  “Sex, death or birth. Dark magic requires the energy of other people.” Rubago stopped on the sidewalk and looked up at the hospital overhead. “Hospitals are perfect spots for such magic. It's easy to draw from the life source of the weak. Beds full of elderly people and young children. Dark witches thrive in such places.”

  They looked around the block at the many buildings surrounding the hospital. They were in the center of a small city, and there were lots of places to hide.

  “There are three cities surrounding the Castle Belmont that have hospitals.” Will said. “She could be near anyone of them. How would you track her?”

  “Have a snoop around, look for things that seem unusual. The Witch is aiding the White Order, so I assume she meets with them face to face regularly to check that her black magic is holding up okay. It might be worth asking if anyone has seen the Order around these parts. They don’t exactly blend in with the general public. Then there’s the hospital too. If a witch is taking power from the dead, then that means more people will die than usual.”

  Rubago’s plan might have seemed like a shot in the dark, but it was the only way to hunt a witch. Witches were solitary creatures, and they liked to lie low to rest and gather magic strength. Ansel and Edmund were the only people to ever find her hut, and that was only after that bastard Hurst sold her out. If anyone had a chance at finding this witch, it would be her, it would just take some creative thinking and her companions’ powers to get the job done.

  “Will, I want you to go into the Hospital. Use your Intention on the staff, and find out if the patient death rate has spiked recently. Edmund, I want you to check out the local bars, see if you can uncover any gossip about the Order in these parts. To humans the Order are just a group of nut jobs. Townsfolk around here will identify them as cult types or maybe hunting enthusiasts. Let’s dig around and meet back here in an hour.”

  “What are you going to do?” Edmund asked.

  “Look for signs of a witch being here. Witches like to keep a low profile, but summoning black magic takes a lot of power. Our witch might have been sloppy if she was desperate.”

  With that, they parted ways and spread out in search of clues. Rubago’s first move was to cover herself in a cloaking spell and check around the perimeter of the hospital for anything unusual. Salt circles, summoning symbols, spell sculptures to summon latent magic.

  Three long alleyways bordered the hospital building. The back alleys were dim, filled with smoke from sewer vents, rusted dumpster bins and the occasional homeless person. After doing a few checks of the perimeter, Rubago couldn’t find anything in particular that signaled a witch might be there.

  She reached a dead end behind the hospital when she heard something scuff in the darkness behind her. The witch turned through the air, casting her eyes toward the sound. Another scuff came from behind a dumpster on the right. She floated her heels from the grimy alley floor, and moved through the dark, cloaking herself to be invisible all the while. She passed the corner of the dumpster, found the source of the sound and dropped to the floor, removing her cloak.

  “Sophia?!” she rushed forward and grabbed the young vampire girl by the arm, pulling her onto her feet. “What are you doing here?!”

  “I’m sorry!” Sophia said while squirming in the witch’s grasp. “I wanted to help!”

  “And you thought you could help by sneaking along and spying on us?!”

  “Eric wouldn’t let me come otherwise, I didn’t want to sit in the castle and feel useless.”

  Rubago let out a sound that resembled a growl. She wanted to strike the girl out of frustration, but now she was here, there was nothing she could do. “Well you might as well put yourself to good use while you’re here. Stay close, can you keep quiet?”

  “I guess. I followed you all here with no one noticing.”

  She had to concede that it was a fair point.

  “Let’s head back to the front of the hospital and meet the others, see if they found anything. From what I can tell there are no signs of a witch here, but Will or Edmund may have spotted something unusual.”

  They started down the alley back to the street when Rubago put an arm out in front of Sophia.

  “What’s wrong?”

  The witch stared at the small sculpture hanging from a rusted old fire escape on their right. Tight knots of twine bound six jagged sticks in a pyramid shape. The pyramid hung from one string on the bottom of the fire escape, circling in the air silently at head height.

  “What’s that?” Sophia asked as they approached the sculpture. Rubago got closer, but didn’t touch. A small ruby hung from the bottom of the pyramid in a knotted string. This sculpture was old.

  “A trap. A sign that a witch was here.”

  “The witch is here? Now?! Have we found her?”

  “Was here.” Rubago stressed. “This sculpture is kind of like a magical bomb. It’s a warning to other magical folk. It’s a message.”

  “What does it mean?”

  Follow me and I’ll fuck your shit up.

  “It means we’re dealing with an extremely dangerous individual. This sculpture is called a Fortuna. Fortuna are usually blessed with positive magic. Normally, touching one is good.”

  “Then this is good right?”

  “No.” Rubago said. “This is a trap designed to look like a Fortuna, but the stone hanging at the bottom reverses its effects. Touching this would be terrible, probably lethal. This thing has been here a while. Whoever placed this would have moved on by now.”

  “Then the witch is somewhere else,” Sophia said, sounding somewhat disappointed. “We’ll pro
bably never find her.”

  “We might.” Rubago said slowly while leading Sophia away from the death trap. “I’ve only ever known one witch to make traps like this…”

  “You do? Who is it?”

  She glanced back at the deathly sculpture once more, and a shiver passed down her spine. “Azu. An evil, crazy and demented bitch. We’ve fought since we were children.”

  “You know her well?”

  “More than well, she’s my sister.”

  11

  Inside, the brothel was dark, grim and grimy. The bottom floor was a mix between a bar and a strip club. Slow and dark music pulsated from a speaker somewhere in the back of the room. Emaciated looking girls swung around on poles languidly, dark circles under their eyes, dead expressions on their faces. The patrons looked just as catatonic, hunched over tables with their heads hung low.

  “This place is like a living graveyard.” Kat whispered to Ansel as they followed Eric and Veronica to the bar at the back. Ansel seemed on high alert, his eyes darting about the room. “Stay close, these guys are wasted, and I don’t like the vibe in this place.”

  She squeezed his arm tight, Kat didn’t like it either. It wasn’t just the brothel and the club, the whole place was uncomfortable. The vampires here had hate, malice and opportunistic wrath glinting behind their dull red eyes. She wondered how long a girl like her would last here if she didn’t have Ansel on the end of her arm.

  “I want to speak to Zora.” Veronica said to the vampire standing behind the bar. The barkeep was a young girl with dark hair that faded into white at the ends. Apart from a black choker around her neck, there was little else covering her body.

  “Veronica Belmont.” The girl sneered while pushing a rag into a glass. “I’m surprised they let you back in here, Carlos is blind in one eye now.”

  “He deserved it and the bouncers made an exception for my present company.” Veronica shifted her head in Eric’s direction. The girl behind the bar nearly dropped the glass in her hands.

  “Fuck! Eric Belmont!”

  Eric stepped forward and placed a fist on the bar. “Zora. Now.”

  The girl nodded quickly, disappearing into the back of the bar somewhere. Two minutes rolled by before she returned, accompanied by a female vampire with spiky black hair. Unlike the other vampires in the joint, this one had the bright red eyes of a super. She wore tall red heels, tight leather pants, a white vest top and a long leather jacket. Upon seeing Veronica and Eric, the woman’s face turned grave immediately.

  “Hello Zora.” Veronica chirped. “Do you mind if we talk for five minutes?”

  “You better have a damn good reason for being here. Vampires come here to get away from ‘nobility’ like you. Get in the back before you scare away more customers.”

  Zora led the group into a grimy looking office at the back of the brothel, sunk into a chair behind a desk covered in empty bottles and placed her feet on the mess strewn table top. Everyone else remained standing.

  “Carlos is blind now, thanks to your behavior last time.” She said, staring at Veronica.

  “Pass on my condolences will you?”

  Zora shook her head and looked at Eric. “What the fuck are you doing here? You’re lucky Tito and Sebastian are out of town, if either of them got wind you were here Eric, they’d—”

  “Do what?” He walked forward. “They’re both welcome to challenge me if they want. They've always failed in the past, however. Enough with the empty threats.”

  “Enough with the mystery then. What the fuck are you doing here and what do you want?”

  “A shifter pack attacked your town a few months ago, but you drove them back. How?”

  “I’m merely the owner of this shit stain brothel. You really think I had anything to do with that?”

  “Everyone knows you’re the person running this town, so you clearly had a part in driving the shifters away. Start talking.”

  “Blessed silver,” she said. “We got our hands on a good supply. It’s harmful to the wolves, but we can handle it without too much trouble.” Zora paused, pulled her feet from off the table and pushed her chair back. “Just what is it you’re asking?”

  “You must have heard what happened with Castle York?” Eric said. “Taken over by a rogue shifter pack, with the help of the Order. They’ve got the prisoners hidden somewhere in the forest. We plan on finding them and fighting back.”

  “Shit.” Zora laughed. “You’re crazier than I thought. We’ve got blessed silver in bulk, but why should I help you? What’s in it for us? We’ve got our own troubles.”

  “Troubles?” Veronica asked.

  “Yeah, between the fucking mutant Order and the plague…”

  “The plague?” Eric asked. “It’s spread here too?”

  “I thought you'd know, being the cunt in the tower that likes to control everything. Tito and Sebastian aren’t even hunting humans anymore, it’s too risky. Kara’s dead, so is Wyatt. Half my guys got Black Fang. We’re dying out here Belmont. What gives? This all because of this fucking prophecy you’ve brought down on us?”

  Eric raised a brow. “You're aware of the prophecy? How?”

  “Rumor travels fast honey.” Zora smirked. “We’ve all heard of it, can’t say any of us believed it until all this weird shit happened. Shifters, super humans, plagues. Fuck… what have we got to do to take the heat off us?”

  “Find the other breeders. There are two more of them out there. Girls with spiral marks on their backs. Have you heard anything about that?”

  Zora shook her head. “If there were any other breeders around here, I’d know about it. There aren’t any apart from the girl you’re carrying there.” Zora nodded her head over at Kat, and everyone glanced back at her.

  “Wh-what?” Kat asked, breaking the silence with her stutter.

  Zora, bemused, turned her head and looked around at the faces of the group. “Are you fucking kidding me? You didn’t know this girl was a breeder?”

  “What are you talking about?” Ansel stepped forward, his voice flaring with anger.

  “Shit you really are serious!” Zora pulled out a cigarette and lit it. “That girl is a fucking breeder, I could tell the second I laid eyes on her. You guys really can’t tell?”

  Everyone stared at Kat like she were some alien laid out on display at a zoo. Eric seemed to be the first to realize it.

  “Wait…” He turned to face Kat fully and took a step toward her. “I can sense it now, I hadn’t noticed it before, but I can see it now, it was the same when I first found Claire. Kat’s a breeder, she can—” he raised a hand out, but a snarl came from the side of her, and Ansel stepped between them.

  “That’s close enough.” Ansel said with a throaty growl. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but Zora is right. Something has changed in Kat…” He turned to Kat and held her head in his hands, his eyes flicking over her in wonder.

  “Kat, what the heck happened?”

  What happened? Kat had no idea. She didn’t even understand what was happening right now.

  “Sorry.” Eric said raising his hands and taking a step back. “I wasn’t making a move or anything Ansel, it’s just… this is most unusual.”

  Ansel placed his hand on Kat's shoulders and circled around so he was facing the group once more. “It’s okay, sorry for the outburst Eric. I don’t know what came over me.”

  “Shit, I do.” Veronica huffed. “You’re fucking territorial. Kat is a breeder and you’re her mate. You’ll feel an impulse to tear the hand off any vampire that tries to get too close. Eric was the same with Claire, he nearly killed Wraith over it.”

  “I’m a breeder?” Kat stammered.

  “Guess you didn’t see that one coming Cognizant girl.” Veronica sneered.

  “You are a breeder.” Zora stood and looked at Kat. “Not long, very new.”

  “I don’t understand,” Ansel said. “How could you tell?”

  “Female vampires can always usually tel
l first, but super scent is a power of mine. Breeders have a different aroma. It’s intoxicating.” Zora looked at Kat almost sexually. “You smell fantastic darling, and soon enough, your man here won’t be able to keep his hands off you. Your body is just starting to change.”

  Kat didn’t know what to feel. She was a breeder? None of this made any sense. Inside, she noticed a small burning sensation, pricking its way across every inch of her flesh. She looked at Ansel and absolute carnal want flared inside of her. It was as if everything else pushed to the side. Ruth, the prophecy, helping save the vampires, none of it mattered. The only thing she wanted was to mount Ansel in a dark room and ride him until he burst. Ansel's bright red eyes flushed with black, suggesting he wanted the same thing.

  Zora laughed once more, shaking her head at the ridiculousness of the situation. “Well it looks like you’ve found one of the daughters.”

  “No.” Kat said. “I haven’t got the mark, I’m not one of them.” She looked at Eric for confirmation. “Right?”

  Eric nodded. “As far as I can tell. It might be worth double checking with Rubago though. Four breeders in one century… I don't think it's ever happened before now. It's amazing.”

  “Amazingly stupid to bring her here.” Zora offered. “Get out of town before the other vampires notice.”

  “Duly noted.” Eric said. “But what about this blessed silver? We need it.”

  “You can have it.” Zora said. “We’re leaving soon, anyway. Between the plague and the attacks, we’re finding that the valley isn’t such a good home anymore. We’re heading south. The whole gang is moving on to pastures new.”

  Veronica pouted. “Why do all the interesting ones have to leave?”

  “Hey,” Zora shrugged, “If we stay here we’re as good as dead. I’d rather go south and take my chances down there.”

  “You don’t have to run,” Eric said. “We’re trying to fight this thing. Your gang should stay and fight, you could help us too.”