Trusting His Vampire Lord

by Violet Joicey-Cowen

  Ves hesitated for a fraction of a second. He had no way of talking to whoever was whispering at him and letting them know about his worries for the rest of the coven. Swearing in the silence of his own head, Ves didn’t have any option but to trust the voice. Counting on the rest of his men to take care of Mathieu’s, Ves leapt for his brother. As he flew at him, Ves saw blades embed themselves in the throats of the men holding Kourey. Mathieu didn’t have time to react. Kourey hit the ground. Ves hit Mathieu.

  Mathieu’s head snapped back with the force of Ves’s first punch, and his body was shoved across the floor a couple of paces. Mathieu hit Ves, and they grappled for a few moments. Ves knew he was in trouble. Mathieu was far stronger than he. Ves knew he’d have to fight dirty to have any chance of winning.

  “Think you can beat me, brother?” Mathieu growled, swinging Ves around and throwing him off and away from his body.

  “I’ll do anything it takes to stop you this time.” Ves leapt for Mathieu again.

  “This time? You didn’t do anything to stop me with Annette. You couldn’t. You were too weak. You’re still too weak.”

  They rolled around for a few moments punching and grappling for control.

  “The coven should have been mine, not yours, Sylvestre.” Mathieu drew the word out mockingly. Was he even needing to try hard to beat Ves? Or was he only putting on a show of it to mess with Ves?

  “You might be older, but you’re no leader,” Ves spat back.

  “I didn’t have a coven given to me. I had to fight for mine. I’m more of a leader than you’ll ever be.”

  “You’re no kind of leader at all. Keeping your people terrified and having to kidnap someone to get a mate? That’s not leading.”

  “And we’re back to that.” Mathieu grinned as he flipped them, pinning Ves to the ground by his throat. “He’s going to be mine, Sylvestre. And do you know what? I knew who he was the moment I laid eyes on him. Long before he ever saw you.” Mathieu leaned in and whispered in Ves’s ear, “I can see mate bonds. I always could. I could see the bond potential on Annette’s mate before I killed him and drank his blood. Where do you think the attraction our sister had for me came from?”

  “You killed her mate?” Ves thought Mathieu couldn’t sink any lower. But murdering their sister’s mate before she got the chance to meet him? “You bastard.” Ves scrabbled at Mathieu’s face, but his arms were getting heavier and the noise of the fighting going on around them was fading.

  “Oh yes. Why should you and her get mates when I wasn’t going to get one? Now I’m going to kill you and I’ll drink your blood. Raff might not understand why he’s attracted to me, but it’ll happen. Then I’ll have him.”

  Mathieu drew back. His grin and the grey eyes so much darker than his own were all Ves could see and the rest of his vision was fading. The pressure around Ves’s neck increased.

  Fuck. Can’t let him win. Can’t. Damn it, Raff, I’m sorry.

  Then the pressure was gone. Mathieu collapsed onto him, but his weight was gone a moment later. Ves turned to the side and drew in great whoops of air, coughing and gagging. Hands pulled at him, but he didn’t have the strength to shove them off.

  “Ves?”

  “Raff?” His voice was an unrecognisable, raspy croak. Raff tugged at him until he could look Ves in the face. Raff’s eyes were bright with concern.

  “Shit, are you okay? Bastard did that to me. Didn’t take it so far, though. Now he won’t get the chance.”

  “Did you…”

  Ves followed the glance Raff shot off to the side. Mathieu’s body lay in a bloody heap. Then Butch’s small figure crouched next to him, methodically cleaning off his hand on Mathieu’s clothing. A couple of feet away from Mathieu’s body lay what Ves realised with some disgust was Mathieu’s heart.

  “Hope you don’t mind, Ves. Couldn’t have him beating you and keeping my friend.”

  “Whether he minds or not. Thank you,” Raff butted in.

  “You saved my life. And probably Raff’s. Like I told him”—Ves nodded at Mathieu’s body—“as long as the deed gets done, why should I care who does it?” Ves managed, throat complaining at so many words after the abuse. He could feel his healing kicking in though. Raff helped him up into a sitting position. Ves couldn’t take it any longer and pulled Raff into his arms. Raff’s wrapped around him in return without question or hesitation. Ves breathed in his mate’s scent. It was still thick with the remnants of panic/worry/fear.

  “We care.”

  At the new voice, Raff looked up. “Thomas?” He let go of Ves, jumped up, and threw his arms around the newcomer.

  Ves held back the growl that threatened to emerge. His still aching throat complained. The last threat to his bond with Raff had only just been dealt with. He had to believe in Raff. He couldn’t forget—this was the coven Raff had grown up in. He would know a lot of people. A lot of people would be glad to see him. The two men drew back and held each other by the shoulders.

  “Raphael, it’s good to see you.”

  Raff shuddered. “Raff, please. Don’t call me Raphael. He called me that too many times.” Raff nodded at Mathieu.

  “Thomas?” Andre stepped up and hugged the other man, too.

  Thomas cupped a hand around the other two men’s cheeks. “Your parents would have been so proud of both of you.” Andre buried his face in Thomas’s neck. Ves looked away, not wanting to intrude on Andre’s grief, even as he itched to pluck his mate from between the other two men. He breathed deep a few times and massaged his tender throat.

  “Parents! Thomas, Freddie’s alive. We found him. He’s here in France with us. He’s living in England, like we have been. We…we thought you were dead. We thought he killed you along with the rest of our parents.”

  Thomas staggered, but Raff and Andre stopped him from falling. “He’s alive?”

  “He’s been living with the Desmarais coven. His mate’s in the Whithowe pack.”

  “My boy’s mated?” The man turned his head. “Louis, Freddie’s alive. Go get Adele. Hurry.”

  “Ves is his coven leader. He’s my mate,” Raff said.

  Thomas glanced between Ves and Butch, who had finished wiping his hand off and was muttering something into the tiny mic on his collar. Still talking, he retrieved the blades he’d taken Mathieu’s goons down with and cleaned them.

  Ves removed his earbud. He wasn’t listening to anything being said across it anyway, and the chatter was only distracting. There were enough others with the units in the room to alert him to anything important. Butch was talking to Daniel about Freddie, and that could be done without his input for now.

  “He killed him?” Thomas asked, looking at Butch doubtfully.

  “Yes,” Ves said.

  “But he’s a shifter. He can’t be our new leader.”

  Butch stopped muttering into the mic and glanced around in utter horror. “What? Oh hells, no. No. No way am I going to be a vampire coven lord. Not happening. He’s your guy.” He motioned at Ves and left the room in a hurry.

  Raff laughed as Thomas turned back to Ves.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Raff

  “Sorry, just picturing Butch in charge of a coven. He’d snap and murder everyone inside a month.”

  Thomas’s expression had Are you kidding me? written all over it.

  “Hey, don’t think he couldn’t do it. He killed Maurice. Damn it, Mathieu. Butch is a good guy, but his moral compass gets a little iffy at times, and he’s more than capable of doing in anyone that gets on his nerves. I think he’s got more blood in his past than Ves’s coven and this one put together.”

  Thomas shifted around. He looked as though he wanted to continue to argue against the possibility of a shifter being that much of a danger to a coven of vampires but didn’t dare argue with someone who might now be his lord.

  “Relax.” Raff grinned. “We’ll sort things out.”

  He held an arm out to Ves, who clasped it, forearm to forearm, an
d helped pull him to his feet. Then Raff was wrapped up in his mate’s strong embrace again. Raff pushed into him, sinking into his scent and the heat of his body. The relief at allowing himself this, finally, was incredible. Somewhere between that meal with Ves before Maurice…Mathieu had found him, and the time spent in Mathieu’s hands, Raff had given up railing against what fate planned for him altogether. Every single part of him craved to belong to the man. But maybe, maybe Ves could belong to him, too. “Okay, might be a vampire, but I need oxygen occasionally. Ves? Maybe loosen up? A bit?”

  Ves went to let him go completely. “Sorry.”

  “Hey, no. I didn’t say go away, just loosen your hold a little.” Raff tucked himself into Ves’s side.

  Ves took another deep inhale next to Raff’s neck. The breath came out with a shudder. “Gods, Raff. I was so scared he’d hurt you.”

  “I’m okay. But Kourey…” Raff nodded at where Andre was kneeling next to Kourey. He’d pulled Kourey into his lap and was holding him just the way Raff had in the cellar room. Kourey was naked again, but one of the vampires who had arrived with Ves was walking over with a blanket. Andre wrapped it around Kourey with tender hands. Raff’s stomach was trying to swallow his heart, but he had to ask his next question. “Thomas. Mathieu, he said…said he had…might have Guillaume and…and Bastien. Do you know if…”

  Thomas’s face crumpled for a moment. “Guillaume never came back. Mathieu knew what it did to us, so he had me and Adele tend to Bastien and Kourey as they returned to the coven. The state those boys were in. I don’t know how any of you lived through what you did. He said Guillaume didn’t make it. He was blood-crazed. Attacked one of Mau-Mathieu’s men when they went to get him. Bastien’s alive though.” Thomas stood and waited.

  Ves stepped forward, pulling Raff with him by the arm around his shoulder. “Where is he?”

  “In one of the cells under an outbuilding. Mathieu had cells built everywhere.”

  “That can be dealt with later. For now, are there rooms he and Kourey can be taken to and made comfortable?” Ves asked.

  Raff could feel the man rolling up mental sleeves and preparing to help the people his brother had been doing his best to destroy.

  “Wait. When Andre and I were rescued from Michaelson’s warehouse, it helped having each other right there. Is there a room they can both be taken to? So they can be together,” Raff put in.

  “Of course.” Thomas glanced between them, unsure of something. “Um, who?” He stopped.

  Ves briefly tightened his arm around Raff. “I think for the moment, let’s just get everyone taken care of. We can sort out who’s officially in charge later.”

  “Are you kidding?” Raff asked. “You’re in charge. How would it work with both of us being lord over separate covens? No way. You’re in charge. I’m only here to help. Thomas was my father’s second, like Eddie’s yours. But I’m your mate, and I know this coven and its people. Or I used to, so if I think something needs doing, I’ll make sure it gets done. I’m backing you up. I don’t want to take over. If you want to put someone else in charge, I wouldn’t mind having some input as I know the people here, but that’s all.”

  Ves huffed out a noise. Raff wasn’t sure if it was relief, humour, or exasperation. “Okay.” He turned and called for Eddie, who hurried over. “Thomas, my second, Eddie. Eddie, this is Thomas…Derenne?” At Thomas’s nod, Ves continued, “Freddie’s dad, he was Raff’s father’s second. I think between the four of us, we can get everyone taken care of and everything done that needs doing. Thomas, Raff seems to trust you. Unless I see something to the contrary, I will trust you, too. I need a list of all my brother’s men and anyone in the coven who might have been sympathetic to him and if they are alive, dead, or under control. Use those cells of Mathieu’s that you mentioned to hold any of his men who are still alive and anyone you are suspicious of. We can talk to them one by one when everything else is under control.”

  Things happened very quickly after that. Thomas’s mate, Adele, rushed in and cried all over Raff, Andre, Kourey, and Bastien once he was brought in. Jake and the other shifters arrived, and then half of them promptly turned around and borrowed a couple of cars to go get everyone who’d been left at the airfield. The crying got worse when Freddie was brought back. Freddie hadn’t expected his parents to still be alive after everything Raff and Andre had said changed in the coven he’d been born into. The three of them retreated to a private room for some time, and then came out and got on with helping sort out the mess Mathieu had left behind.

  Everyone except Mathieu’s men had been kept short on blood, so what little blood supplies the coven had were brought out, and all the shifters except Butch agreed to donate as much as they could. Shifter blood, being more potent than human, would easily satisfy the coven until additional supplies could be brought in, despite there being far more vampires than shifters present. Butch took Raff aside and confessed his blood was a little different, and he didn’t know what it would do to the vampires and he didn’t want to risk it. Everyone disappeared in turns to get some rest, but Raff and Ves powered through until it wasn’t possible anymore and something had to give.

  Raff’s body clock was upside down and inside out. If the sun hadn’t been coming up outside by the time he and Ves trudged upstairs, he wouldn’t have had a clue what time it was.

  “Shit, is it dawn already?” Ves paused next to a skinny window on the tower stairs.

  “Already? That’s the second one since you got here. We’ve been on the go about thirty hours since Butch took out Mathieu.”

  Ves turned and stared at him. “Can’t be.”

  “Come on. I need sleep.” Raff stopped, hearing his own voice. “That wasn’t a whine.”

  “Uh-huh. So, where am I sleeping anyway?”

  Vampires didn’t blush. They didn’t, right? So why do my cheeks feel hotter? Raff cleared his throat. “With all the extra people you brought with you, beds are short on supply. I thought you could sleep with me. If you wanted to, that is.”

  “I’d like that.” Had Ves’s voice gone a little huskier on those words?

  The heat in Raff’s face and the warmth he could feel coming off Ves were drugging. He fumbled for a moment, then coughed and turned, continuing up the stairs with Ves following closely behind. He pushed open the door to his room and walked inside. He stopped abruptly, something occurring to him, but then scented the air.

  “So, Thomas is magic, I think. He managed to find a new mattress for my bed. And someone made it up,” Raff just about whimpered. Thanks be to every god there is. I don’t have to sleep on the one Mathieu got his scent all over. I wasn’t thinking about that when I brought Ves up here.

  “Something wrong with the old one?” Ves yawned. He sat on the sofa and leaned down to undo his shoelaces.

  “Uh, yeah. Never mind. I…um…” Mathieu was dead. Ves didn’t need to know the guy had been jacking off in Raff’s bed. Ves eyed Raff speculatively and then shrugged.

  Uncertain what Ves would want from him, Raff didn’t know how to act. He turned away and removed most of his clothes as methodically as he could. Damn it, he didn’t want to go to bed grimy. The only wash he’d had in the past several days had been while unconscious, and he’d been in a cell for hours and plenty of time had passed since then. He felt awkward as hell going into the bathroom in only his underwear and turning the shower on. Would Ves want to share it with him?

  He tucked his thumbs into the waistband of his underwear and was about to strip them off too when Ves appeared in the doorway to the bathroom.

  “Uh, Raff? Is there gonna be any hot when you’re done?”

  “Dad had them all switched to electric. They can run for hours and never go cold.” A complicated expression crossed Ves’s face. If Raff had to guess, he’d say the guy looked both relieved and disappointed at the same time. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. You have your shower.”

  Raff stared at the empty doorway for a cou
ple of minutes before giving himself a shake and getting under the gloriously warm water. He absolutely detested being dirty. Getting dirty was fine—staying that way or trying to sleep like that was horrible. He groaned in delight and turned his face up to let the water beat down on him. He had no clue what was up with Ves now, and he was far too tired to figure it out.

  Would Ves want to claim him tonight? His eyes burned. Raff was absurdly glad he was in the shower alone. He wanted Ves. He wanted Ves to claim him. But not when they were both so tired they could hardly see straight. He was so tired, even his cock wasn’t reacting to Ves’s scent like it had every other time he smelled the man. Frustration at the different needs clamouring for attention within him, Raff was glad the shower washed away any tears before Ves could smell them from the next room.

  Trying not to fall asleep while brushing his teeth was almost too much of a challenge, but Raff managed and staggered through to the bedroom. He stood by the bed, swaying drunkenly.

  “Raff?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “I’m going to go shower. Is there a toothbrush I can use? We didn’t really have time to pack when we set off after you.”

  Great. Guilt now? Wasn’t exactly his fault Mathieu kidnapped him. Maybe Ves didn’t mean it that way. “Yeah, there’s a couple in packets under the sink.”

  “Thanks.” Ves paused. “Go to sleep. I’ll join you after my shower.”

  So Ves didn’t want him tonight. Swallowing a lump of disappointment, Raff went to his dresser and fished out a pair of slim-fit boxer-briefs. Disappointment was stupid. He was too worn out to do anything but lie there if Ves had wanted to claim him anyway. He let out another small groan as he rolled onto the bed. Fully horizontal, with a flat surface underneath him was all he’d wanted, but wherever Thomas had magicked up the mattress from, he’d done a stellar job.