The Van Wilden Chronicles Box Set Books 1-3

by Jessica Gleave

  ***

  It was around eight thirty in the morning when Oscar walked into the campaign office, head held high with a wide grin on his face.

  “Phyllis,” he greeted his campaign manager, warmly.

  “Oscar,” Phyllis greeted politely. Usually, she was quite besotted with him, but her attraction to him had soured since his eldest daughter, Mariza, had arrived in town, not to mention his two sons as well. Oscar had more children than Phyllis cared for. Not that he minded the reprieve from her flirtations. The more aroused his campaign manager would get around him, the more difficult he found it to curb his vampire nature.

  “How are things going today?”

  “I’m very well. Thank you for asking.” Phyllis blushed and smoothed her short blonde bob.

  Oscar’s smiled waned. He hadn’t meant to encourage her. His eyes landed on the rush of blood in her cheeks. Phyllis’ round face flushed to the same deep, dark, delicious color whenever she was flustered. “I meant about the campaign.”

  “Oh, yes, sorry.”

  Again, Oscar’s smile faded as her cheeks grew redder. He tried to remain calm and prevent his vampire nature from forcing his fangs to protrude from his gums. Remember, you must be human.

  “We’re still gaining in popularity over Mayor Coleman. We might actually win this.”

  “Did you ever doubt we would?” Oscar’s brow furrowed.

  “No, of course not, Oscar. It’s just been quite the challenging campaign.”

  “Ah, but what is life without a little challenge? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come on board, would you, Phyllis?”

  “Yes, of course. I’m always up for a good political challenge.” Her eyes wandered over Oscar. Maybe her attraction hadn’t soured after all.

  He dearly regretted going all vampire mode on her a few weeks back. She clearly took it the wrong way.

  Phyllis smiled, and her cheeks flushed scarlet again.

  Oscar’s fingers twitched, and he fought the urge to stroke her blood-filled cheek. It had been too long since he’d fed off a live human, ever since the invention of blood bags.

  “Have you seen Morgana?” His daughter would certainly put him in his place before he attacked Phyllis during daylight hours and in front of so many human witnesses, who would not hesitate to spread the word about their boss being a vampire. Humans don’t tend to feed off each other, after all.

  “No,” Phyllis snapped, taking a step back. “They’re both late.”

  Oscar nodded. “I’m sure they’ll be along shortly.”

  “Yes, of course,” she said, her lips pressing together tightly.

  “Come along, Phyllis, what’s on the agenda today?” He held open his office door for her, ever the gentleman. But as she brushed past him, deliberate no doubt, he caught a whiff of her. Not the artificial scent she wore but the smell of her blood simmering under her skin. Her elevated heartrate was making it more pronounced.

  He closed his eyes. He was getting worse lately. On the one hand, he needed this campaign to wrap up, so he wouldn’t be around humans so much. But on the other hand, he did rather like acting the part of a human. Their mission cover had allowed him to be part of both the vampire and human worlds. So, maybe if he won the mayoral race, he could remain in both worlds.

  ***

  Ragnorok couldn’t believe the pictures he saw on the small device Cedric held in his hand. “He has a dog?” he scoffed. “What kind of sick vampire keeps a pet?”

  “Well, obviously, that Primus Elder guy,” Cedric retorted.

  Svetlana snorted. “And are you sure your human girlfriend is correct in vat she saw?”

  “These photos were taken minutes ago and sent straight away. Duh.”

  Ragnorok grimaced when Svetlana shot him a look. As usual, his second-in-command had been right in her opinion. He really shouldn’t have recruited the young teenage humans and priming them to be vampires. But this system of using humans to spy on the Van Wildens seemed to be paying off.

  “I see.” He stood, walking over to the whimpering female human tied up in the corner of the room. He lifted her wrist to his mouth, sobs renting the air as he sank his fangs into her flesh. Smacking his lips, he turned to Svetlana, who was watching him silently. “This is why they shouldn’t have their self-imposed control over vampires.” He waved his hand in the air. “They’re mad, the lot of them.” He dropped the human’s arm with a thump, tears racking her body. He ignored her and sat back, flicking his hand in the air. “And it’s about time I took them down.”

  Chapter Four

  That very same morning, Alastor McLoughlin laid back on Ava’s bed stretched over the top of the green comforter. He was in the mood just to kick back and do nothing, so he was watching a movie on a portable DVD player with headphones on—some movie about fast cars, unbelievable stunts, and a bunch of surly men and women. Even though the Forest Clan had been quiet for the last few weeks, they’d kept up their patrols at night around town and the perimeter of the forest.

  Apart from gathering weapons for these patrols, he’d been avoiding the Van Wilden’s home as much as possible. Despite the elation of killing Gareth’s creator, his mood was always dampened when he saw Oscar. It felt as if the Primus Elder was trying to impose some sort of guilt, causing Vivienne’s brow to furrow and to cast a look between them as if willing them to reconcile. Whatever the case, something didn’t feel right, but he let it slide. He had, after all, killed Mariza, Oscar’s eldest daughter.

  Ava’s squeal cut through his thoughts. He lifted the headphones from his ears, letting them hang around his neck as she bounced up and down on the mattress, her eyes shining bright in the glow of the small screen. He had the urge to lean over and flick on the bedside lamp so he could see her hazel eyes in color.

  “Guess what?” she squealed.

  “What, lass?” He reached out for her, but Ava was still bouncing around on her knees. Alastor dropped his hands, shaking his head at her.

  “I have a job interview at the Summerville newspaper. They liked the article I wrote about Oscar and his ‘scandalous’ children. They want to see a portfolio of my other work. They think I’d be a good fit for their team.”

  “That’s wonderful, love.” Alastor beamed. “When’s the interview?”

  “A couple of days after the election. I’ll still be able to cover the story for Dad’s paper. I’ll have to drive out there, though.”

  “Do ye want me to go with ye?”

  “To the interview?” She stilled, her brow furrowed.

  “To drive with ye, of course.”

  “Nah, it’s fine. I can drive myself.” She waved her hand at him.

  He leaned forward. “But it might not be safe, love.”

  Ava snorted. “I think it will be far safer there than Oak Wood Hills where it’s being overrun with vampires.”

  Alastor chuckled. “Aye, true, but we don’t know how far out Ragnorok is recruiting.” His mind raced with the worst-case scenarios for what could happen to Ava on the drive over there.

  Ava placed a hand on his arm. “I’ll be fine. I’ll keep the car doors locked. I’ll travel during the day, and I’ll go straight from the car to the newspaper building and back out again. Besides, won’t they need you here?”

  “Aye.”

  “I won’t be gone long.” She kissed his mouth before pulling back with a thoughtful look on her face. “What if I bring a stake with me just in case?” She winked. “I mean, how hard can it be to stake a vampire? You just shove it in, don’t ya?”

  Alastor chuckled. “Nay, love, it takes more finesse than that. But aye, fine.”

  “Yippee.” Ava clapped her hands in delight.

  Alastor grasped her biceps, stilling her movements, his voice serious. “But ye call me if ye run into any trouble.”

  Ava touched his cheek. “Yes, of course. I’ll be fine. No one is going to get me out there.”

  Chapter Five

  Everything was peachy for Gareth Lloyd.


  His evil creator was dead.

  He was in love with the most amazing woman.

  He had a new role in life as an agent for The Council of Order.

  Well, two if he counted the internship at Oscar’s campaign office, which was where he was now. The tension was rife in the lead-up to Election Day. Phyllis was even grumpier than usual, stomping around the office, snapping at everyone, except Oscar, of course.

  Gareth just shook his head and went straight to his desk to get on with his work. He’d only volunteered here in the first place to find out what Morgana was, and now he was stuck. Part of the cover they told him. Don’t ruin it now.

  Gah.

  He should have just crept after her like a normal stalker. He chuckled to himself. At least he was able to spend time with Morgana at the office. That was the only bright side to being an intern on the campaign. His grin grew wider as he felt her presence drawing near.

  “Good morning.” Gareth stood and greeted her, planting a kiss on her lips as soon as she entered the office.

  “Into PDAs now?” She pretended to look irritated, but he could feel her joy through the bond.

  “Only when I can’t resist.” He winked at her.

  Her lips twitched as she tried to remain serious. Their shared bond gave away her true feelings. She leaned forward for another kiss. The sound of Phyllis’ heavy footsteps made them step back.

  “This is a workplace, not the local night club,” she snapped. “Do that on your own time.”

  Gareth raised an eyebrow. It was only a few weeks ago Phyllis was using their relationship to provide better publicity for the campaign. Amusement filled the bond as Morgana bit back her smile. “Yes, Phyllis.”

  They both dissolved into silent laughter when the campaign manager walked away.

  “I love you.” He touched her cheek.

  She smiled leaning into his touch. “I know you do.” Her returned feelings of love surged through their bond.

  Gareth grinned. “You know just because I can feel your love, it’s still nice to hear you say it back.”

  Morgana chuckled. “Fine.” She rolled her eyes but offered him a bemused smile. “I love you, too, Gareth.”

  “See, it’s not so hard.”

  She looked down at his crotch. “No, it’s not.”

  “Bloody hell, woman, we’re at the office!” He covered his manhood with his hand. “Can’t expect him to jump to attention all the time.” Gareth looked around the office, lowering his voice. “But if you’re in the mood, why don’t we play hooky for the rest of the day?”

  Morgana bit her lips, her brown eyes darkening to almost black. “Your place, then?”

  “Abso-fucking-lutely.” He pressed his now-hardening dick into her hip.

  “Gareth! Morgana!” Phyllis barked as she stepped out of her office.

  Gareth groaned. “Yep, that killed it.”

  Morgana covered her mouth, her eyes twinkling with mirth.

  “We should have run when we had the chance. She wouldn’t have seen us if we’d gotten our vamp on,” he muttered.

  Morgana shook her head. “It’ll all be over soon.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  “Will you two stop standing around yapping, you’ve got jobs to do!”

  “Sorry.” Morgana’s voice dropped so only he could hear, “I’ll make it up to you tonight.” She turned back toward her desk.

  He grabbed her by the arm, leaning into her ear and whispered, “Oh, you better, because tonight you’re all mine.”

  ***

  After their workday had finished, true to her word, Morgana made it up to him. All night long. She could be quite the dominant one in bed. They’d barely gotten any sleep. Yet he felt more energized than ever before. Drinking blood between their lovemaking sessions had also helped. Now they lay together, their naked bodies wrapped around each other, mint green soft cotton sheets entangled in their limbs.

  “What do you want to do after this is all over?” he asked her. Morgana draped herself over his bare chest. His hand absently stroking her back.

  “I want to travel,” she murmured into his chest.

  “Travel?” His hand stilled. “Don’t you travel a lot as it is?”

  “Yes, but I’m usually stuck in the same place until the mission is over. Then I move on. I want to see more of what the world has to offer, its beauty, and take the time to fully appreciate each place.”

  “I’d like to do that, too.”

  “Of course, you’re coming with me. Just the two of us. After we finish with the Forest Clan. Take a break from all these missions.”

  “Sounds good to me.” He looked toward the ceiling. “You know I never really thought about traveling to other countries much since becoming a vampire. Thought it wouldn’t really be possible.”

  “You just have to know the right people.” She grinned as she lifted her head to look at him. Her face turned serious. “You’re not going to be upset if you won’t get assigned another mission again so soon?”

  “No. I mean, being recruited has been excellent. Truly an exciting time, probably the most purpose I’ve had in years. But we’ve constantly been fighting Randalf, Mariza, and the Forest Clan. I mean is that what it’s like on all missions?”

  “No, this one has been exceptional.” She laid back down, resting her chin on her hands looking at him. “So, you won’t get bored traipsing all over the world with me?”

  He reached up and tucked a strand behind her ear. “Nothing with you could ever be boring. You make life worth living.”

  Morgana smiled. “I’ve never been this happy until I met you.”

  “Really?”

  “Truly.”

  He moved his hand to the back of her neck and leaned up, kissing her. She pushed him back down, deepening their kiss.

  Reluctantly, she pulled away, looking toward the sunlight streaming in through the gap between his bedroom curtains and the window. “Come on, we’ve got to get moving. The election is today. Time to play the dutiful daughter again.”

  “Have fun with that.”

  She swatted him playfully. He tried not to wince from her strength. “You have to be there, too. You’re an intern.”

  Gareth placed a hand over his eyes and groaned. “You know I only volunteered to get close to you.”

  “And look how well it paid off.”

  Gareth grinned, his cock hardening against her stomach. Her chocolate brown eyes widened, and desire flooded the bond. “Morning sex before we go? We can be quick, you know. There must be a record of how fast a vampire can come.”

  Morgana tilted her head back, laughing before pressing her lips to his.

  “So that’s a yes to trying to find out?” he said against her lips.

  She groaned, grinding her wetness onto his hardened groin. “Of course, it is.”

  “Good. Jesus, you’re already so wet.”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s leftover from last time, so let’s skip the foreplay and get straight to it.” She sat up and positioned her thighs around his to straddle him and gently eased down on his shaft.

  “I fucking love you,” he moaned as he slowly filled her.

  She rocked her hips, her head falling back, her dark brown hair that almost looked black in this light cascading down her back. “I love you, too,” she puffed. She reached an arm behind her to stroke his balls.

  “Jesus, Morgana, you keep doing that, and I’m not going to last.”

  She gave him a mischievous look. “Well, you said you wanted fast.” She sped up her movements, riding him harder.

  “And I don’t regret saying it either,” he groaned, his eyes closing.

  Morgana grabbed the headboard to steady herself as she rode him faster, taking it up to vampire speed. Their pleasure climbed higher, nearing the edge.

  Morgana ground her hips even faster. He could feel she was close from the way she clenched him. Euphoria flooded their bond. Guttural cries filled the air as they both reached peaks of ecstas
y within seconds of each other before crashing down from their shared climax, wrapping themselves around one another.

  She laid down on his chest, Gareth still sheathed inside keeping their bodies connected.

  “I’m pretty sure we set a record there,” Gareth rasped.

  Morgana chuckled. Her face buried in his chest.

  “If not, we could keep trying.”

  Morgana laughed and sat up, easing herself off. He felt the loss of being inside her. “We really need to get going. Put our vampire speed into getting ready.”

  “Celebratory record-breaking sex later, then?” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

  Morgana smiled, her brown eyes flashing. “Yes.”

  Gareth propped himself up on an elbow watching her gather the clothes she was wearing to the event. She flashed a playful smile before racing to the bathroom. He sighed and grinned. Lying back on the pillow, he placed his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling again.

  Yes, life was blissfully perfect.

  Chapter Six

  Morgana and Gareth walked into the Oak Wood Steakhouse, their hands clasped together. The entire restaurant was decorated in red, white, and blue. Dax, the owner, had gone all out for Election Day. He had continued his endorsement of Oscar’s campaign even after the news of his older children.

  “There you are,” Oscar called out to them. Morgana smiled, dressed in her white blouse and pale lavender skirt. The sides of her dark hair were pulled back and fastened at the back of her crown, the ever-dutiful daughter.

  Gareth was dressed in dark gray slacks and a pale gray shirt, the sleeves rolled up his muscular forearms. He placed his hands on her hips, pressing his erection into her ass. “I like the innocent-girl look very much,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Again?” She turned her head to the side to face him, raising an eyebrow.

  Gareth grinned. “What can I say? You turn me on.”

  Morgana bit back her smile. “Well, you better get rid of it.”

  “Dead puppies, dead puppies.” He coughed.