She was in an underground network of tunnels hidden beneath the vacant city. Some tunnels led into the sewers while others had been connected to unused caves. The old country where the Primus Vampyr had once populated, co-existing with the region’s humans, had been ravaged and left desolated by the war. With the human race practically extinct, the Primus had all migrated to different areas of the planet, adopting the local cultures to blend and find food sources.
Of course, humans eventually repopulated the area, splitting the old country into their own human lands. And no vampire had set foot here in thousands of years, or so they thought until they received details of this mission. It seemed some of the human-turned vampires had never left. A vampire called Angelique had created herself a following of human-turned vampires. It was now time to eradicate them.
Had they started living in the caves and then buried into the sewers, or did they start in the sewers and etch out caves in the rocks?
Her footsteps were light and silent as she crept along. She was doused in wolfsbane so they wouldn’t feel her approaching.
Her parents were likely doing something similar, though her mother’s presence would soon be felt. But they would use that to their advantage. This was to be their last family mission. After this, she was striking out on her own.
They entered a larger chamber. Morgana took in the view before her. Hanging from the ceiling was a naked woman, her olive skin lacerated with several cuts and varying degrees of dried blood. Her hands and wrists were bound with leather straps, her wrists were slit along the veins, so the blood dripped, pooling beneath her. Gathered below the woman were several warped creatures, pale from the lack of sunlight and cramped conditions. Their facial features were gnarled and twisted. They were lapping up the droplets of blood as it drained from the woman’s body.
Around the edges of the chamber sat more noble, human-looking vampires, watching their brethren as they partook in their feast. All of them were too engrossed in their feeding and the show to notice the Van Wildens’ arrival. But one of the grotesque vampires glanced their way, its mouth filled with jagged teeth turned into a snarl, alerting the others.
“Kill the intruders.” One of them waved his palm up toward them.
Morgana arched an eyebrow at Angelique’s second-in-command, Chester. His brown eyes were emotionless.
The grotesque ones moved toward them, walking on their hands and knees almost like they were animals. Morgana steeled herself for the attack, stakes in either hand.
Vampires usually fought with instinct using their limbs and teeth, but these ones fought more like animals, galloping on all fours with arched backs, making it more difficult to stake them.
The Van Wildens quickly learned to work together, stabbing the vampires through their backs when they were latched onto one of the others. Once one fell, another would set fire to the stake. But the crouched positions left them in a compromising position, thus the cycle of attacks would begin all over again.
After a while, they began lighting the ends of the stakes before using them to finish the Obscure Clan off more quickly.
“Shouldn’t we join in the fight now?” a blonde vampire asked Chester.
“Very well, if we must.” Chester put down his goblet. “I was so hoping not to get dirty today.”
Morgana exchanged looks with her parents. This was going to be interesting.
She pulled a stake out from the holster hidden under her coat.
All the ‘noble’ vampires dropped their fangs, baring them with a hiss.
Morgana wanted to roll her eyes.
Chester stood and leaped off the balustrade toward her.
A stake flew past her ear, embedding itself into his chest. She turned to see her father had thrown the stake, his arm still outstretched.
She nodded, acknowledging her thanks, but the others were now attacking with renewed force, seeing their second-in-command lying dead on the stone floor.
No time for small talk. There were vampires to kill.
Morgana ran around throwing stakes at the noble vampires while they leaped off the balcony.
Vivienne did the same while Oscar had leaped up to where they were, slaying vampires as he ran.
A vampire leaped for Morgana, hands out, aiming for her neck. She jumped out of his reach, holding onto the edge of the balcony. She felt a sharp tug as a vampire grasped the hem of her dress and pulled her backward, the sound of fabric tearing.
Bollocks.
She really needed to find a sturdier material to wear on her missions.
But now wasn’t the time to worry if her undergarments were exposed, though she did feel a little colder down south. She dropped to the ground and punched the vampire square in the face before plunging a stake into his heart.
The cries and grunts of agony were dying around them as the number of vampires dwindled.
All of the Obscure Clan was either dead or dying.
The three of them rushed to light each of the protruding stakes in the vampires’ chests, leaving no one alive in the large, round room. However, there was one left to kill.
Once the room was covered in vampire ash and no more vampires could be felt in the immediate vicinity, the three of them moved on from the main room searching for the leader.
Morgana led the search, her father brought up the rear in case they were attacked from behind by others. Eventually, she felt it, the presence of a lone vampire. She nodded to her parents, not bothering to look back to acknowledge if they’d seen, and crept down the tunnel toward the presence. They entered another large, round chamber. Despite the location of the lair, this room had been decorated quite lavishly. The walls were made of stone brick, clean, no trace of dirt or slime on them. In the center of the room sat a four-poster bed, it’s red-velvet curtains were flung back to reveal a beautiful woman with long silky-black tresses falling to her waist—Angelique. She wore an old-fashioned dress, the bodice untied, exposing her breasts. The presence she radiated was very old. Morgana could only assume she must have been one of the earliest humans to have been turned. Morgana could also see how she appealed to others, how she had been able to seduce new members. There was an exquisite beauty to her.
She was also not alone.
Angelique was straddling a young man, her head bent over his neck, suckling as she rode his naked body.
She lifted her head, not surprised to see them. “Oh, you’re all in time to meet my latest creation.” She didn’t stop her copulating, riding out her orgasm in front of them.
“I demand you to cease your activities, madam, as we have business to conduct,” Oscar demanded. This only stirred Angelique to grind her hips more fiercely all the while her green-gray eyes held contact with his. Oscar coughed and looked away, ever the gentleman, while Vivienne’s face remained impassive.
Morgana was transfixed, wanting to look away, but found she couldn’t. The situation was awkward, to say the least. They were there to kill the her after all, but none of the Van Wildens seemed to want to make a move while the two on the bed continued in their passionate embrace.
What Morgana found morbidly fascinating was the woman was enjoying herself with a human, no less, while she would have heard the cries and screams of her clan being eradicated outside this chamber.
“Well, if neither of you are going to kill her, then I will.” Vivienne must have decided she had enough of being a voyeur and stepped forward.
As Angelique screamed the end of her climax, she grasped her bed partner’s head, twisting it to the side, snapping his neck.
She smiled at the three of them as the human’s dead body slumped over her breasts. “Thank you for letting me finish. Now I can kill you.”
Morgana unfroze then. “My lady, you’re facing a Primus and two trained agents of The Council. You don’t stand a dickens of a chance.”
“Oh, don’t I?” She stood, her feet sinking slightly into the feather mattress. Smiling cruelly, she licked her lips. Then she sprung for Morgana fir
st, which they had all anticipated—most likely she thought Morgana was the weakest of the three.
But Angelique received a rude shock when Morgana grasped her by the throat mid-leap.
Morgana smiled before tightening her fingers, cutting off the clan leader’s airways. She flung the female vampire against the stone wall.
“Theatrics, darling.” Vivienne shook her head as she squatted above the fallen vampire who was lying on the ground snarling at her.
Vivienne smiled down at the Angelique. “The Council has ordered your eradication and final death you shall have.”
But Angelique was not giving up without one last fight for her life. She bared her fangs and swiped her nails across Vivienne’s cheek, making her mother’s head turn to the side.
Vivienne hissed, baring her fangs.
Angelique seized her moment and pushed Vivienne back, toppling onto her back.
Angelique jumped up and straddled Vivienne, her naked breasts heaved as her hands tightened around Vivienne’s throat.
Oscar was there within seconds, pulling the vampire off his wife. He held Angelique up in the air, dangling like a rag doll in his vice-like grip. “My dear, I do believe you were about to kill this woman?”
Vivienne nodded and stood, smoothing her clothes and hair. “Yes, I do believe I was.” She turned to Morgana. “But I think someone else can have the honor.”
Morgana arched an eyebrow, “Me?”
“Yes, darling, think of it as a going-away present unless you don’t want to, of course.”
“It would be my absolute pleasure.” Morgana plunged her stake into Angelique’s heart.
The vampire screamed in agony.
Oscar dropped the dead body on the floor, squatting over the crumpled form. He flicked open his lighter, setting the end alight. “Another one turned back to ash.”
As the Van Wildens watched the clan leader’s body being engulfed in flames, their attention was diverted when they heard screaming from the bed.
Morgana looked over her shoulder. Christ, the human. She had nearly forgotten about him. But now he was awakened as a vampire.
“You killed her,” he rasped.
“What’s your name, son?” Oscar asked instead, ignoring his question.
“Nathaniel. But Angelique told me my new vampire name was to be Ragnorok.”
He looked at each of them, his gray eyes narrowed. His probing gaze lingered on Morgana when he caught her scent. The ravenous look of hunger spread over his features as he leaped off the bed and onto her back.
Morgana heard fabric tearing, the collar of her coat falling to the ground. Bastard, she liked that coat. She felt the piercing pain of his fangs penetrating her skin. No. Not again. But she was stronger this time. She gripped his arms, trying to fling him off her, but he must have ingested some of her blood, his grip tightening and his nails digging into her collarbone.
She stood, trying to dislodge the vampire, slamming his back into the bedpost. But he kept suckling, and the more Morgana moved, the more her blood pumped around her body. Thus, he drank more. He was rabid, holding onto her with a stronger grip than she’d ever encountered in a newly-turned vampire. Morgana growled.
Oscar and Vivienne moved to help her. Morgana was not sure what they were doing, but she felt his weight lifted off her. She fell to her knees, heaving. She looked up to see Oscar flinging Ragnorok to the side against the stone wall. Vivienne kneeled beside her.
“Are you all right, my darling?”
“He took too much blood.” Morgana began to see stars and blackness.
“Oscar, she needs blood.”
Oscar growled, “Give her yours. The newly-turned vampire has escaped.”
Back to the Present…
Morgana stopped reading and set the file down on the coffee table. Her hand went straight to her neck. Now she knew why she had blocked the memory of the mission. It had been the second time she’d been bitten. This second time must have traumatized her. Gareth looked at her, squeezing her other hand. The bond must have alerted him to her anguish.
He raised an eyebrow in a silent question, Are you okay?
She smiled to reassure him, nodding.
He turned back to the others. “What happened after that?”
“I remember now,” Oscar said. “I chased after him, but there must have been secret tunnels in those catacombs and, regrettably, I lost him.”
“No wonder we don’t remember him as a vampire,” Vivienne said quietly. “He was newly-turned, and we never got a strong feel for his vampire essence.”
“So, that’s why he hates you guys?” Gareth asked.
“Well, I’d be pissed, too, if ye killed my fuck buddy,” Alastor commented.
Morgana shook her head. “No, I think it’s more than that.”
“So, what’s our next move?” Gareth looked around the room.
“We try to figure out his next move.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Morgana stared at the file in front of her. She heard the mumbling around her, but her mind was too focused on what Ragnorok would want with her.
“Morgana,” Oscar’s deep voice rumbled.
“Huh?” She blinked, looking up at him.
“I said, what do you suggest we do?”
“Right. Well, tonight I think we go on a little recon mission,” she replied, clearing her thoughts. “I’ll take Gareth and Alastor with me, and we’ll comb through town. You and Mother go scout around the outskirts where I stopped Ragnorok last time, in case they’re targeting victims there again.”
“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Gareth said, nodding with approval.
Morgana scoffed. “Well, I’m glad you agree.”
“Gather your weapons. We’ll likely need them,” Oscar commanded. “Watch for any of them carrying silver.”
“Of course.” Gareth squeezed her knee, which made Morgana smile before she turned business-like again. “Ava, are you all right to get home on your own? Alastor will need to leave here with us.”
“Yes, of course. I’ve got work to catch up on, anyway,” said Ava.
“Drive straight home, dear, and keep your doors locked,” Vivienne told her.
“Will do, Mrs. V.” She and Alastor stood together and walked toward the front foyer.
The Irish vampire embraced his girlfriend as Morgana and Gareth walked past them.
“Be careful out there,” Ava said, her forehead nestled into his chest.
“Aye, love, I will.” Alastor kissed the top of her head.
Morgana hurried, not wanting to intrude on their moment.
Gareth nudged her shoulder with his own. “Why don’t you ever say that to me?”
Morgana shrugged as she began descending the basement stairs. “Probably because Ava is a nicer girlfriend than me.”
***
Once night fell, the Van Wildens spread out to their assigned areas.
As they began scouring around town, Morgana smirked and turned to the others. “Do you feel that?”
“Aye, it’s a vampire.” Alastor grinned.
They quietly approached when Morgana pointed up and began to scale the closest building so they could watch from above.
Once they were gathered on the rooftop, Gareth seemed restless. “Why are we waiting here?”
“Well, we have to be far enough away for the vampire not to sense the two of you, seeing as you can’t douse yourselves in wolfsbane. We’re observing what he does. Think of it like a stakeout.”
“Stakeout,” Alastor repeated with a chuckle.
“Shouldn’t we be in a car or something, then?” Gareth asked.
“We wouldn’t have a bird’s-eye view,” Morgana replied. “The vantage point up here is much better.”
“Well, he seems to be chowing down on a young girl.”
“I can see that.”
“So, why aren’t we stopping him?”
Morgana refrained from rolling her eyes. “We don’t hunt down vampires because the
y are feeding. We assess whether they are drawing too much attention to the way they are feeding. And in this case, we’re seeing if he takes the girl with him or dumps the body.”
“Right, got it.”
“If ye two are going to bicker the whole time, I want to swap to a different team,” Alastor grumbled.
Gareth smirked. “Sorry, Alastor. We tend to let our tempers get the better of us.” He turned to Morgana, but her focus was on the vampire.
“He’s doing it to stir me up, Alastor. See what emotions he’ll be able to feel through the bond.”
“Ye two got a psychic connection now?”
“No.” Morgana’s eyes were still focused on the vampire while she spoke. “But I can feel he’s trying to be cheeky.”
Gareth chuckled.
Morgana stiffened. The vampire had moved his wrist to the girl’s mouth as he continued to drain her. “Shit, he’s turning her.”
“So, he’ll be taking the body, then?”
“Yep.”
“So what’s the plan, lass?” Alastor asked.
“We’ll follow him and observe. But be ready in case we get attacked.”
“But you stopped Ragnorok the other time from taking the girl.”
“Yes, but if we follow this guy, he might lead us to their new lair.”
“Why didn’t we do this before? In the forest?”
“Because they didn’t come out in the open like this before,” Morgana said. “They’ve become more brazen, which is what usually happens over time. That’s why we observe them first, assess what they do. Then, The Council decides if we attack.”
“She does have a point,” Alastor said.
“Shut it, will ye?” Gareth mimicked his friend’s accent.
The Van Wilden Chronicles Box Set Books 1-3 Page 33