All her energy was directed at his possibilities, and he had to admit, she was right: these modern times offered solutions he hadn’t explored. He had the means and the discretion, and her God knew he had the ruthlessness.
Maybe he stayed with Lady Fane not because the thirst was too great but because he liked the illusion of humanity he got from the dragon blood. It was something he’d never considered before. Was he living an illusion?
In which case, Judith would be the expert to consult given she was on a reality show, which was illusion and reality, too. Ironic how their experiences intersected.
They lapsed into silence as they passed the toll plaza and merged onto the turnpike.
No. It was better to keep his mind on her education.
“Magic is hereditary,” he finally said. “Your parents should have taught you the craft.”
“My mother is dead, and I think I got it from her. My father won’t speak her name, much less talk about family on her side. He hates anything to do with magic and uses the word witch like a swear word. That’s part of why I applied to be on Witching Wild.”
“You applied? I thought a college friend applied for you.” It had been part of the season one extras. Come to think of it, the show hadn’t mentioned her family.
“The producers made that up,” she said. “I applied because of my father. He’d say all this awful stuff, which I learned to ignore, but one day, I saw him slap—actually slap—a wolf shifter kid who was begging. Who does that? I mean, even if the whole shifting thing freaks you out, you don’t strike a kid. They can’t help what they are. And why should they try?”
Judith wasn’t just the champion of vampires but of the Bloodkin world at large. “So you applied.”
“Hell yes, I did. He was basically slapping me.” She sounded resentful and triumphant at the same time. “But the show didn’t want to touch that particular nerve with the public—too bitter, Andrea said—so they made up the friend story. And I’ve gotten what I wanted, showed him and all his buddies what I am, so I’m cool with it.”
“No other kin came forward when you were younger or since the show began airing?”
She frowned. “I’d hoped someone would, but no.”
She sounded alone, unwanted, and he didn’t want her to feel that way. “Serena and Meg are your family now.”
“Not if random witches are going to start coming after me,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t want them to get hurt because of me.”
“What would Serena say to that?” He could imagine.
He looked over at Judith to find a bit of humor flickering in her smile.
“She’d get rage-y. Meg, too.” Her voice was lighter, and he felt a little smug to have been able to know her well enough to dispel that dark feeling.
“You should call them.”
She made a short groan of protest.
“Let them know you’re okay.”
“Ugh. Fine.” She reached into her purse and pulled out her mobile, but she didn’t activate it. “I don’t know what to say to them. What can I say? ‘I’m still with the hot guy. Hope to survive the night’? I think they’d get the wrong idea.”
That dangerous, possessive feeling surged inside Calvin, and with it, a ghost of the old recklessness that had driven him into the clutches of dragons in the first place.
“Tell her that you and the hot guy are still working on the problem, but so far so good.”
“That’s one house?” It was massive, more like an ivy-covered university building, but set among trees with sloping roofs and wings and gables, the windows glinting silver every time the storm clouds lit.
“Bloodkin require a lot of room to be comfortable,” Calvin said.
“How many Bloodkin live there?” Because seriously.
“Just the one. And of course, her human staff.”
“And a vampire.”
He nodded. “And one vampire.”
He drove down a boulevard of a driveway lined with tall, old trees, evenly spaced, leading to a cobbled courtyard. The house didn’t have a front door so much as a grand portico of an entrance, set back by wide, shallow stairs in white stone.
A man in a tuxedo—a tuxedo—opened her door when Calvin brought the car to a stop, and the penguin man helped her out with a white-gloved hand. Since her heel was broken, she had to keep her weight on her left foot and stand on tiptoe with her right.
Calvin came around, but instead of walking up the steps with her, he bowed slightly toward her—bowed—and gestured for her to ascend before him.
Yeah, she got it, no explanation necessary. Noble blood. Here, at this massive dragon mansion, she was a guest, and he was the servant. But she didn’t like it. First of all, the safest place was next to him. And second, this class-system thing was crap.
She debated saying something while he followed behind, but she was also trying to look semi-composed hobbling on one good shoe to meet a dragon. He directed her through successive high and wide arches and into a room the size of a high school gym, all white marble and white silk. Three small arrangements of furniture were positioned throughout the mostly empty space, which seemed oddly hollow, its proportions all off.
In the center of the room, bathed in crystal light, was a woman. Even from across the room, Judith would never mistake her for a human. Where Elizabeth had felt like a tickle of danger on the back of her neck, this dragon was a prolonged lightning strike straight to the heart.
She was a goddess. Her skin was perfect and glowing, her eyes luminous with gold flickering in their depths. Long, thick, chestnut hair flowed to her shoulders. Her figure was soft and feminine, accentuated by a simple, red wrap dress, and yet she carried herself with strength. She belonged on a throne in a temple, high above everyone else.
“Bloodkin Lady Evangeline Marguerite Beatrice Fane,” Calvin said, “this is Judith Kress of the reality television program, Witching Wild.”
Judith would’ve tried a curtsy, but her balance was already precarious. As it was, she stood on one leg, muscles locked in shock, the other leg propped like the kickstand of a bike. “It’s a privilege to meet you.”
“Has my Cal been taking good care of you?” Lady Fane had a low voice, almost like a growl, as if it were coming from some deep place inside her.
“Amazing. He’s been,” Judith said. Apparently, she was having trouble putting words in the correct order, in addition to not being able to stand up normally. She tried a little harder. “Thank you for sending him. He, uh, patched me up and, um, managed everything.”
He deserved better than her witless mumbling.
Lady Fane purred. “You do tend to get yourself in little scrapes.”
Judith thought the woman was trying to be friendly, not make fun of her, so she smiled. “It’s not intentional. I’m figuring things out.”
The Bloodkin opened her hands. “You have no craft.”
Were those…claws at the ends of her fingertips?
“I’m going to redouble my efforts to learn,” Judith said. There. Her brain was finally cooperating. Too bad her calf was cramping now.
“I can help you.” Again with the purr…
Judith wasn’t sure it was safe to accept this lady’s help, but it was definitely not safe to refuse it. “I would be very grateful.”
“You’ll visit me sometimes?”
Um…?
“I’d enjoy that,” Judith made herself say.
“Do you think you could bring Serena and Meg?” Lady Fane asked. “I need to talk to Meg. She doesn’t see what a rat that Dylan is, but I have eight hundred years of experience watching humans mess up their lives. I know human men.”
Judith heard herself saying, “I’ll bring them whenever it’s convenient for you.”
The three of them would die together because, yeah, Judith could see why the Bloodkin had dominion over everything. This woman, Lady whatever whatever whatever Fane—Judith had forgotten all her names—was scary. She had fire in her eyes.
Lady Fane turned to Calvin, and Judith almost sagged with relief. “Make sure to send Mr. Randolph a gift for cleaning up and dealing with the human authorities.”
“Yes, my lady.” Calvin paused for a moment. “A gift would be premature, however. The witch still lives.”
Her eyes flashed gold, and Judith tiptoed back a wobbly step as the lady’s round pupils narrowed to slits.
“How so?” Lady Fane said with eerie calm.
“I didn’t want Ms. Kress to see me kill,” Calvin said, “so I allowed the witch to alter the curse so that, should Ms. Kress live through the night, it will take the witch’s life instead.”
Hold on…
Judith took his arm. “I asked him not to kill her outright. It was me. All me.”
Calvin put his palm on the back of one of her hands, and she turned hers over so that they gripped each other, but otherwise, he didn’t acknowledge that she’d spoken.
Lady Fane ignored her, too. “You had the witch in your power?”
“Yes,” he said. “Elizabeth Watkins was to be a fourth cast member for the next season of the show. The letter she sent to Judith bore her mark, and the envelope was bewitched to create a blood bond. The intent was to entrap Ms. Kress into a challenge.”
Ms. Kress sounded so impersonal. Judith wished he’d go back to calling her by her first name.
“I just have to live through the night,” Judith said, “and she’ll end up killing herself.”
“By defying my orders, you broke your oath to serve me,” the Bloodkin lady said to Calvin.
It was as if Judith was invisible.
“Yes, my lady.”
“For her?” The bones of the Bloodkin woman’s face seemed to move, to melt, as if big bubbles were forming on her forehead.
Was she going to shift? Didn’t Calvin say she loved him?
Judith felt Calvin pull her back, and he put himself slightly in front of her. Which was nice of him, but it was clear the dragon lady could burn them both without breaking a sweat.
“Ms. Kress knows nothing about oaths,” he said, “and very little about vampires. I seem like a human man to her, and I confess, I wanted to be. It was my choice, not her request.”
Those scary dragon eyes shifted her way. “Is Judith the object of your affection?”
“I like her very much. I want to see her safe,” he said. “But I am loyal to you, my lady.”
“Kill her,” the dragon said. It was definitely not a human voice anymore.
Hey now, Judith almost said, but she gulped instead.
There was a long pause—too long—before Calvin said, “No.”
Judith had no idea how he could be so composed. She’d be screaming if she could find her voice.
The Bloodkin’s gaze snapped over to her. Those eyes were sharp and reptilian, but her face was beautiful again. “You’ve taken him from me.”
Judith tried to borrow Calvin’s composure. “Respectfully, I don’t think a person can be taken.” Her voice didn’t shake. Much.
“He’s a vampire,” Lady Fane said.
“Still a person.” A little stronger there.
“No, my dear, he isn’t,” the Bloodkin purred. “I took that from him, the person he was. He’s Thirst now, constantly yearning.”
That was pretty shitty of you, Judith wanted to say, but she opted to be a little more diplomatic. “I’ve only known him a couple hours, but he seems very decent to me.”
“Because I keep him that way.”
Judith felt Calvin squeeze her hand, as if to tell her not to press her luck anymore. She clenched her teeth to keep from responding. So far, she hated the Bloodkin world—curses, and blood bonds, and crazy dragons. The vampire seemed like the only good thing about it to her.
“The curse will last the night?” Lady Fane asked and then nodded to answer her own question. “No doubt, because Cal can’t bear the sun.” Her lizard gaze settled on their clasped hands. “Well, it seems you have until dawn together.”
But Judith couldn’t seem to keep her mouth shut. “And if I survive it? If the curse is broken, then Calvin will have followed through with your instructions. The other witch will be dead. What then?”
The dragon gave her a scary-sharp smile to match her inhuman eyes. “Then you will go on your way,” she said. “And Cal and I will have a little talk.”
“That went well,” Calvin said as he pulled Judith into a service hallway.
“Really?” Judith laughed, a little higher in tone than usual.
One right turn and the hallway terminated at the kitchen. Marie was at the sink, drying a big black pot. Her bun was end-of-day loose, a few dark strands falling to her neck. She looked up when he entered. Her hard gaze darted to Judith and back to him.
“Dark magic afoot tonight,” he told her as he grabbed a basket from the open shelves at the side of the door. His stone house had everything but food—technically, he could eat human food, but he rarely kept any groceries—so he needed to gather some things for Judith.
He stepped into the pantry and quickly selected some fruit and a bakery bag of cookies—Lady Fane’s favorites—and a tall bottle of sparkling water. He’d rather treat Judith to an excellent wine, but alcohol was not wise with a witch making mischief.
When he stepped back out, he continued his instructions to Marie. “Keep everyone inside to be safe. I’ll be at the stone house until sundown tomorrow, so have Rick listen for Lady Fane until Jonas takes over in the morning.”
Marie had rarely spoken to him in the many years they’d both worked at the estate, but she was openly staring at Judith. He’d never brought anyone home before.
“Judith Kress is my guest tonight,” he said. “She’ll need a driver in the morning to take her back to the city.”
“Hi, there,” Judith said with a half-wave.
Marie blinked a couple of times, her face contracting into an expression of extreme distaste. “You have a guest tonight?”
Calvin smiled. “I can’t very well have visitors during the day.”
“But you’re a—” Marie’s lips twitched as if she had something mean to say.
The heat of indignity rose to his face. He’d never fed from the household and had always stood between the humans and the mad dragon. Surely that should earn him a little benefit of the doubt.
Judith looked over at him, and when he met her gaze, she widened her eyes and said, “She’s worried because you’re a vampire.”
He felt a reluctant smile on his face. “You don’t say.”
She returned her attention to Marie. “I’m planning to jump him. Not the other way around.”
A laugh broke from Calvin while Marie’s expression turned darker, to something resembling resentment or even hatred. But he was too stuck on what Judith had just said to be angry.
Jump him?
He’d witnessed a lot of dangerous and magical things in his many years, enough to never be surprised again, and yet, he was astonished…and thrilled. The jumping would be more of a mutual collision, though.
Marie’s expression was now fixed with dislike. “Get out of my kitchen, the both of you.”
Basket in hand, he guided Judith past the enormous stainless steel island and opened the side door, which led to the cobbled service driveway, as well as a small house where the chauffeur lived.
Calvin’s stone house was situated on the other side of the property, supposedly to keep the humans in Lady Fane’s household more comfortable with having a vampire around. His house was at least a hundred years old, but Lady Fane maintained it with the rest of the property so it was up-to-date with all the human amenities.
He leaned his head out and squinted into the night. The air had grown thicker, the clouds lower, the rumbling more ominous. He wondered if the storm was Elizabeth Watkins’ work. Unlikely. There were witches powerful enough to bewitch the weather, but none of them would consider publicizing their abilities by becoming a cast regular on a
reality television show. Watkins would come at them some other way.
“Stay alert,” he told her and stepped out into the night.
As a vampire, he could move faster than any human, but he kept pace with Judith’s uneven stride. They broke out onto the rolling lawns between the main house and the woods on the far side. The scents of wet trees and grass mixed with the darker smell of the earth, the combination so strong it overpowered his sense of smell. The charged atmosphere was distracting to his vision, the rumbling and wind a convenient cover for more stealthy sounds.
He didn’t like being so exposed, but he didn’t look forward to the concealment of the trees, either. If he were hunting, that’s where he’d hide—up in the branches, thin and still, waiting for prey to come to him…and then, fangs bared, he’d drop.
Carrying the basket was awkward while supporting Judith as she limped in her broken shoes. He wanted her inside, out of the elements, where he could shut out whatever Watkins would be sending Judith’s way.
Lightning crackled through the sky, followed by a long, angry rumble of thunder. Ahead, the shadows of the trees danced. Holding her hand tightly, he turned with her in tow so he could check behind them. Lighting flashed again, and silhouetted against the main house, a human-shaped shadow lurched and then disappeared into the darkness.
“Aw, shit,” Judith muttered.
“No,” he said. “It’s better we get this over with. See what this Elizabeth Watkins is made of.”
Unfortunately, Judith would see what he was made of, too. But maybe it was better that way. No deception. No illusions. He’d rather she jumped with her eyes open.
He felt Judith’s weight shift, and when her balance returned, she had her good shoe in hand, heel out like a spike, and her feet were bare. This girl, this witch ready to fight with her shoe, she did something to him. He felt vital, as if he had something to lose, to fight for. He hadn’t felt this kind of longing in so many years.
“I want to live,” he said. Really live. At that moment, he wanted it more keenly than any other misery he’d ever suffered, including his change. He couldn’t go back to that complacent restlessness, serving day-in, day-out, and watching his lady’s shows. Not now.
Taming the Vampire: Over 25 All New Paranormal Alpha Male Tales of Contemporary, Military, Shifters, Billionaires, Werewolves, Magic, Fae, Witches, Dragons, Demons & More Page 6