Viktor (Happy Evil After Book 1)

by Sarah Marsh

  “Krescech! What do you want?” the largest vamp said as he saw Viktor approach, immediately putting himself between Viktor and the girl, but not before he caught a glimpse of huge green eyes framed with dark lashes.

  “I simply want Conrad to get what he deserves … which would be nothing but a painful death,” Viktor answered, taking a step closer, scenting that two of the other guards were also vamps and the third was a wolf. He was already calculating the battle in his head. The only unknown factor would be how the girl would react as he could scent that she was some kind of shifter as well. He was relieved to see her head pop back around the first guard and a smile bloom on her face at his words.

  “Get back in the car, girl,” the vamp snarled over his shoulder in her direction as he advanced towards Viktor.

  He was a big bastard, and it was clear in the way that he moved that he was a fairly new turn. Viktor had never run into him before, but it was amusing that all of Conrad’s lackeys knew him on sight. They must have a Most Wanted poster of him up in the clubhouse. How cute.

  That was the problem with the Coven Master being a complete asshole. All of the older vamps didn’t put up with his bullshit. So they either left the city or became unaligned rogues like Viktor, leaving Conrad no choice but to create a brand new army of baby vamps. This became an issue when they ended up fighting against immortals that had hundreds of years of battle experience in their favor. The newbies still fought like humans, which meant they died just like them as well … quickly.

  It was with a satisfying thud that the first vampire’s head dropped to the pavement behind Viktor. The hulk had been going in for a punch to his face, and it was a simple thing to grab Victor’s favorite blade from his waist sheath, back turn and slice the metal clean through his adversary’s neck. Surprisingly, the wolf was the smartest of the remaining three guards. He turned and hauled ass out of the alley into the busy streets beyond as the other two came at him together. While they may have gotten in a few lucky shots, it wasn’t enough to stop him from ending them both within minutes, leaving only piles of ash behind.

  “Wow,” he heard in a sweet voice from behind him. “You certainly don’t mess around, do you?”

  The woman didn’t sound scared, which was a surprise, but then again shifters were raised in a fairly violent environment so a little death and dismemberment shouldn’t be a reason for her to freak out.

  “I mean you no harm, lady. You can go. I’m only here for what’s in the car,” he said slowly walking towards her. She was a cute little thing, all soft curves with golden skin and hair.

  “Um, yeah, about that … I’m what’s in the car, Mr. Krescech. You have to take me with you out of here,” she said almost nervously, those big green eyes pleading with him.

  Clearly, she was also insane. What was with the women he was running into this week? Viktor had had more than his fair share of groupies throwing themselves at him in the bars, wanting to take a walk on the wild side for a few hours, but this wholesome little beauty certainly didn’t look like the type, so he had no idea exactly what she was asking him for.

  “I don’t think so,” he said, moving past her towards the open back door to search the car.

  “Seriously, there’s nothing else in the car. They were taking me from my family and my pard to be married to Conrad. I have to go with you to get away from him,” she continued, putting her tiny little hands on her very curvy hips in a way that distracted him far more than it should have.

  Interesting, so this little number was a leopard shifter? Viktor hadn’t really had any interaction with the pard in this country, but by reputation, they were a good lot. Why on Earth would she agree to marry Conrad?

  “I don’t rescue damsels in distress. I eat them,” he said with a flash of fang. “So run along, little kitten.”

  The tiny spitfire threw her hands dramatically up in the air and sighed loudly.

  “You just saved me from a life of baby-making slavery. Aren’t you supposed to whisk me away to your super-secret villain lair and ravish me? Sheesh, where’s your follow-through?”

  Viktor just stood there and stared at her for a moment. He didn’t know whether to laugh at her ridiculous statement or take her up on her offer and bend her over right here on the trunk of Conrad’s car. He was extremely turned on by the fact that she didn’t seem the least bit afraid of him. He’d always tried to pretend that his reputation in the paranormal community pleased him, that it helped him by keeping the rabble away. But deep down it bothered him that everyone always thought the worst of him. His honor was just yet another thing that Melisandre and Conrad had stolen from him when they took his mortality.

  “Don’t you know who I am, woman?” he finally said as she just stood there looking at him expectantly.

  “Yes, I know who you are. Who else is capable of keeping me out of Conrad’s douchey hands?” she said sounding a little impatient.

  “Don’t you have a family you can go to?” he asked, still wondering why he was even standing here talking to her.

  Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Once she’d said the word “slavery” he knew he couldn’t leave her to Conrad’s tender mercies. Viktor knew more about slavery than he ever wanted to, and no being should ever be held against their will. That and he had seen firsthand what Conrad enjoyed doing to women. It still sickened him to think back to the horrors he’d had to witness as Melisandre’s pet.

  “If I go back to my family they’d just have to hand me right back over to him again. My pard owes him a blood debt, and I am the payment. I need this to look like Conrad’s men lost me in the confrontation with you. This needs to be his fault, as otherwise, it will start a war between my family and his coven,” she said, stepping ever closer.

  She stood so close now that Viktor could smell the strawberry and coconut scent of her shampoo. Good Gods, she smells good enough to eat.

  “Why would you think that I should care whether or not this starts a war for your people? I will not be fighting in it,” he answered, trying to sound like he didn’t care one way or another.

  “Because I think that you hate Conrad just as much, if not more than I do, and there’s nothing he wants more than to possess me,” she answered quietly, her huge green eyes staring right into his grey ones.

  She was right of course. There was no one on this Earth that he hated as much as he hated Conrad. That’s what he told himself anyway when he ultimately decided he would take the girl with him—whether it was the whole truth about his motivations or not.

  “First, tell me how your pard was thoughtless enough to enter into a blood debt with a killer like Conrad?”

  “It’s not like we had any choice. My father was jumped one night by a bunch of rogues, and Conrad just happened to be there to offer his assistance … for a price.”

  The venom in her voice clearly stated that she suspected they’d been set up. The rogues were most likely paid to attack by Conrad himself. It was a trick the coward had used over and over again.

  “Fine,” he said with a sigh. “You can come with me, but just until we find somewhere to stash you that Conrad cannot reach you.”

  “Thank you!” she said with a squeal just before she reached up and hugged him before he could stop her. “I’m Halle, by the way.”

  Clearly, his reputation was never going to recover from this if anyone saw him being hugged in the alley, but with her luscious frame leaning against his, smelling so sweet, he had a difficult time finding a reason to care.

  Chapter Six

  Halle had been relieved when Viktor led her back to his car. The sleek, charcoal grey Aston Martin was beautiful and graceful just like the man himself. When Pandora had first told her that her true mate was a vampire she had been terrified that he would want to fly her all over the place and she had never been a fan of heights.

  “So how come you don’t fly where you need to go instead of driving?” she asked, trying to make conversation since he hadn’t said anything since they�
��d gotten in the car.

  “Flying takes energy, just like anything else. I prefer not to waste mine, plus driving makes it easier to blend in with the humans.”

  After a twenty-minute drive out of the city, they finally arrived at an old gravel road that looked as though it had been closed due to a river washout. She just about peed in her pants when he simply sped up and drove right through the barrier… When they popped out on the other side unscathed she was shocked to see the large, beautiful home that was surrounded by dense forest.

  “You could have warned me about the illusion. Goddess, I almost had kittens,” she murmured, his answering grin catching her off guard. Who knew Viktor the Destroyer had a sense of humor?

  “Well that would have taken the fun out of it for me then, wouldn’t it?” he said as he parked the car and came around to open her door for her. “Plus I paid extra for the barricade illusion so I want to make sure to get my money’s worth from those extortionist witches.”

  ****

  “Wow, this place is really nice,” Halle said as she strolled through the huge entryway of Viktor’s home. “I was expecting something a little more … well, serial killy to be honest.”

  “I’m glad you like it,” he answered, trying to keep a straight face. Halle’s bizarre habit of blurting out whatever was running through her head at the time was exceptionally charming, and he was having a difficult time not engaging her in conversation just to see what she’d say next.

  Viktor was also more pleased than he should have been that she admired his home. He was proud of it. He’d spent centuries collecting various art pieces and antiques from all over the world, and he’d found the perfect estate to showcase it all. He’d even done the decorating all himself, though if anyone else knew that he’d have to kill them. Interior decorating didn’t really mesh with his bad boy image.

  He’d owned hundreds of properties over his lifetime, but this was his favorite by far. He loved the remote location, which was close enough to the city to make it convenient, but far enough to give him his solitude. He took great care in keeping it a secret as he had no intention of ever giving it up. Most places in the past he’d been relieved when it had been compromised and he’d been forced to move somewhere new, but perhaps the impossible had happened and he’d finally gotten tired of running away from life.

  Plus, he had every modern convenience here that was imaginable, and a man had to have his toys. One simply could not compare modern living to what life had been like before Viktor was turned. The dreaded memory of the sanitation alone was enough to make him shudder.

  He led Halle to one of the guest rooms that had never been used, as he’d never had a guest before. Subconsciously he put her in the room right across from his own suite.

  Subconsciously—right. He didn’t want to admit to himself that he may have had another motivation for putting her there.

  “This will be your room. You can refresh yourself, and I will go down and see about getting us some dinner,” he said, turning quickly before he followed her into the bathroom and did something he shouldn’t.

  He made his way back downstairs and was utterly disgusted with the fact that his butler Gerald almost surprised him as he rounded the corner, all because he was still thinking about what Halle would look like naked in his very expensive shower.

  “Sir, Molly said that we have a guest. Of course, I knew she must have been jesting as you aren’t known for your entertaining,” the older male said in a dry tone.

  Gerald and his wife Molly had been with Viktor for over sixty years now. They were house brownies and quite good at what they did, so good in fact that even Viktor had to overlook the incessant sarcasm thrown his way on a regular basis. Brownies sure could be a pain in the ass, but no one pressed a button-down shirt or ran a household quite like they could.

  “Funny, Gerald, but yes, we do indeed have a guest,” Viktor said as they continued into the kitchen where Molly was just pulling some cookies out of the oven. “Oh, are those oatmeal?”

  “Getcher’ fingers out, sir!” Molly answered with a smile as she swatted his hand away from the tray.

  “But those are my favorite,” he said with a frown. This was his house, so why was she denying him his favorite cookies?

  “Well, you know they’re better once they’ve had a minute to set,” she said in an excited voice. “Plus, these are for the little miss upstairs. I imagine she’ll be hungry, and dinner won’t be ready for a few hours yet. It’s so nice to finally have a lady in the house!”

  He didn’t bother to ask how Molly knew Halle was upstairs. Between the two brownies, they knew everything that happened in this house, and he’d accepted that about their particular magic years ago. Viktor couldn’t help but frown. Already this female was causing strife in his household, and she hadn’t even been here for a full hour. He knew he should take her somewhere else immediately before his peace and quiet were gone for good … not to mention his cookies, but just the thought of having her out of his immediate reach stirred uncomfortable feelings in his chest that he decided to ignore.

  Molly had tried to play matchmaker the first couple of decades when they’d come on staff, thinking that Viktor needed a woman in his life, but he’d quickly expressed his displeasure in her efforts and she’d let it go. The last thing he wanted now was for her to get her hopes up that Halle would be here for longer than necessary and start all that shit up again.

  “She isn’t staying. This is just temporary until we find her somewhere safe to go,” he said as he used his vampire reflexes to snatch a cookie off the tray and continue on his way into the study.

  “Sure it is, ya rascal,” Molly said, laughing after him, “I saw the befuddled look on your face when you came down the stairs. This one will be different.”

  Viktor could’ve sworn he heard a ghostly snickering laugh that sounded suspiciously like the little goth fairy from the bar as he left the kitchen and entered his study, but his senses told him there was no one there…

  Well—that was creepy. Maybe it is time to get the house exorcised?

  Chapter Seven

  “Pandora, what are you doing?”

  “Sweet baby Lucifer!” Dori screamed and jumped as her bedroom door flew the rest of the way open to admit one of the scariest beings she had ever known. “You scared the crap outta me, Nana. What the hell?”

  “Your mom called me again, Missy, and she told me that you’ve been using a lot of magic lately.” The tiny fairy stormed into Dori’s room in her four-inch heels and pastel pink Chanel suit ensemble.

  Her nana looked pointedly at the remote viewing crystal ball Dori had been watching closely. “More like wasting magic as I can see it! Why can’t you just watch HBO like the rest of us when you want a little drama, girl? I’ve told you over and over, magic isn’t a never-ending resource. The energy you use to create it comes from somewhere, and there is always a toll on the user. Your mother is terrified that you will up and fade away one day if you’re not more careful!”

  “Nana, I’m not watching TV. I’m keeping tabs on my clients to see how they’re progressing,” Dori said as she closed the view screen, but not before her Nana got a good look at the handsome vampire through it … and by the flare of her sparkly green wings, she recognized him.

  “Was that Viktor The Destroyer you were spying on?”

  “I’m not spying, per se. You make it sound like I’m some creepy pervert with a sharp tooth fetish, Nan, Gods.”

  “Wait—you said, ‘client’. Please tell me you haven’t been selling your charms to the beasts and undesirables down at The Pit again. Goddess help me, Barbara from my bridge club will never let me live this down!” her nana wailed throwing her hands up in a dramatic fashion that only Dori’s grandmother could pull off.

  “Good grief, Nana, could you be any more dramatic?” Dori matched her with her own eye roll and hand gestures. “If you must know, I’ve started a new business. I’m finding Happy Ever Afters for those who are too mu
ch of a challenge for the non-talented Fairy Godmothers. You know I’ve got the skills, so I’ve just decided to use them for the greater good just like you and Mom are always droning on and on about and all that crap.”

  Dori really thought that her declaration would have made her Nana happy, even dare she say … proud? But inexplicably, an even more devastated look took up residence on her grandmother’s magically non-wrinkled face.

  “You’ve gone rogue?! Oy vey! What have I done in a past life to deserve such a horrible grandchild? I’m going to get kicked out of my bridge club once this gets out!” she cried out once again throwing her hands in the air.

  “First of all, Nan, we’re not Jewish, so you can just can it with the guilt trip. Second, I haven’t gone rogue. I’m not poaching names from the official listing of Happy Ever Afters. I’m simply reevaluating those who may have been rejected or overlooked due to some behavioral issues in their past.” Dori tried to explain to her Nana what she was too afraid to tell her mother when she decided to start her new venture. Her poor mom had been judged enough in her life because of Pandora. What she didn’t know now, Pandora hoped, wouldn’t hurt her.

  That news, once it sank in, had her nana’s waterworks drying up quickly, the switch was so immediate Dori couldn’t help but be impressed. Obviously, her own exceptional “people management skills” must have come straight from her grandmother.

  “Hold on, are you telling me that you’re using your vast magical abilities to find Happy Ever Afters for … villains?”

  The look on her nana’s face said it all. Sure, it was half confusion, but the other half was as though she’d just stepped in the biggest, foulest pile of dog shit ever.

  “You know, Nana, you’re such an elitist. Most of these so-called villains are simply different and misunderstood, just like me. It’s about time that someone helped them for a change, instead of all of you having your heads crammed so far up ‘Prince Charming’s’ ass that you can see his tonsils!” Dori ranted as she heard her mom finally wander upstairs to see what all the noise was about.