5. Bloody Interruptions

Chapter 5

Bloody Interruptions

Victor

A s the taste of blood caressed my tongue, the tension left my body and I finally relaxed for the first time since I had last fed. I was unable to recall when that was, but that was the beauty of living as a pure blood… and a powerful one at that. It meant that we didn't have to feed as often as the turned. Although clearly, I had needed it, if for nothing else but to ease my dark and twisted soul.

To sate the monster inside me.

The shadows swam inside me, like coiled demonic snakes lying in wait for me to release them and give way to my true nature… The dark predator lurking beneath the deadly calm exterior. Well, not today, because I fed from whatever dark-haired beauty had been on the menu tonight. Brunettes… that was all I would permit myself to feed from lately.

Ever since the dreams.

The dreams of her.

I had but barely a glimpse of her when the gates to Hell finally opened. But when they did, it could have been to the gates of Heaven, for what awaited me had surely been sent from the Gods above. That halo of blonde hair touched by the faintest of reds, brushing her bare shoulders in waves. A white dress, flowing around the most delicious curves. A conjured memory making me hold the woman currently in my arm tighter. The irrational disappointment washing over me when feeling only slender muscle and bone.

Since when did women think that men no longer wanted softness?

You picked her, asshole.

Yes, and why? Because I could no longer stand to be with any woman like the one haunting my dreams. So, I always picked the total opposite… to the point that Andras had started only bringing me tall, slender brunettes because that was my preferred choice this last decade. Even the women I brought as my plus-one to human events were all the same type. As successful businessmen who owned an empire, having to attend these things were sometimes unavoidable.

The irony that I was craving someone I was never seen with was not lost on me.

But I was furious even by the sight of a curvy, strawberry-blonde in my presence. The distasteful curl of my lip was a dead giveaway and made those around me take a cautious step back.

Those fucking dreams!

When would they ever cease and leave me in peace? But every morning when the sun rose, I would still choose to sleep in bitter hope of seeing her once more. I would still ask myself if this was finally the daylight sleep where I would make it through the door without having it close on me just before I got there. Those black demonic doors, the size of a fifty story building, always shut me out and I ran as fast as my supernatural body would take me. The powers I had been born with were sucked from me, leaving me a shell of the Vampire I once was.

I had been useless to reach her in time.

My fist hit the impenetrable wall of Hellish stone in anger just before I awoke to meet the night. And my brother wondered why my mood had soured, this last decade especially.

It wasn't the same for Tal though, oh no, he was draining every ounce of life this world had to offer. Well, I was happy for him, for there was no sense in both of us growing weary of this world.

Luxury had long ago lost its luster and the glow from the gold that had paid for it all dimmed just as quickly. Even blood didn't hold the same taste as it once had, it was nothing like the nights where I had overindulged… like all my kind did when our fangs came in and our first bloodlust had hit us. Like puberty to a mortal boy, it came quickly and hit twice as hard. I had fucked like a Trojan and drank like blood was going out of fashion.

Oh, those were the good old nights.

Speaking of nights, the end of mine was about to get interrupted as suddenly the door burst open and in entered my happy counterpart. The only living being I would not kill for such intrusion.

"Good you're here!" he said, the look on his face one I couldn't read for once. I truly didn't recognize it. But if I were to guess, I would have labelled it as being a level above excited.

So, I extracted my fangs from the female's neck, one I had not bothered to ask the name of… for why would I? She was as deposable as fast food. Not that I would kill her. No, I had no need since Andras joined our family. He would simply be at the ready to take the woman and make her forget all about the evening, having already taken hold of her mind to calm it enough for me to feed in peace.

Once upon a dark time, I would have relished the fear, the fight in them. But those times were long behind me.

"Unless you failed to notice, I was busy, Tal," I drawled dryly, wiping my mouth on a handkerchief I plucked from my pocket.

"Fuck that, trust me, you are going to want to hear what I have to tell you," he argued, his green eyes bright and full of glee.

Damn him and his happiness. It was often sickening, despite loving him more than any living soul this world had to offer. The very definition of bittersweet if ever I heard of one.

So, I appeased him as I often did, and with a roll of my eyes, I opened my arms and released my now barely conscious meal. Then I rose and took her limp body with me, walking the unstable woman to the door. I only had a few pulls left before finishing with her anyway. For like I said, I no longer killed for blood, not unless it were of my enemies… the sweetest blood of all.

I opened the door and passed the woman to the awaiting Andras and nodded my thanks, being a man of few words. Then I turned to my brother, who admittedly looked ready to fucking explode with whatever information he was about to award me. Gods, but I hadn't seen him this excited since the eve of our last battle.

The Battle of Agincourt had been an English victory, with the help of Vampires. Not that mortals had any idea that aiding in it had helped our own agender in the Hundred Years' War. Fuck, had that really been the year 1415…? Gods, I felt old.

"Alright, Tal, what is so important that…"

"I have found her!" he shouted, making me narrow my dark brown eyes at him.

"Found who?" I asked, unable to recall us looking for someone in particular other than the traitor, someone he clearly didn't want to waste his time talking about.

He shook his head at my question, as if it were supposed to be obvious, before confessing the unbelievable.

"Our fated… our Moirai Theía," he said, stunning my movements to a standstill. Had I fucking heard him right?

"Come again?" I asked in astonishment, for I swore I just heard him say the impossible. The grin on his face was the biggest I had ever seen.

"You heard me right, Brother," he stated, and I swear it felt like my dark heart had stopped beating for long seconds.

"Yes, and just to be sure I am not fucking dreaming, did you just say that you found our Fated Goddess?"

Talon walked to me, clasped me on my shoulder, and told me,

"Even better than that, I have her behind a locked door at the Park Avenue."

My eyes widened as the shock penetrated deep and stayed there for far longer than it ever had done before. For once, I was lost for words and it had nothing to do with my stern, cold countenance. I even found myself needing to sit down, for my soul felt utterly shaken.

"But how?" I finally forced my lips to work as well as my brain.

"Ah well, this is where it was less than ideal, for she happened to witness me murdering our traitor and trying to drain him dry."

I gasped, a grated sound that felt like I would soon choke on my own tongue.

"She what?!" I shouted, making him shrug his shoulders. Shrug his fucking shoulders! Like some unforgiving teen found driving his father's car. Hence why I gripped the top of my nose as the situation continued to come to light. He was on a roll, his excitement driving the night's events forward.

"Of course, the little peach freaked out, being mortal and all, it is not surprising when witnessing our kind for the first time."

"Little peach?" I asked, stupidly focusing on what should have been an insignificant detail I had plucked from the horror of her situation.

"Her scent, she smells of peaches… fuck me, Brother, but don't even get me started on her blood!"

At this I soon found my feet and stormed toward my careless twin.

"You fucking fed from her?!" I shouted, causing his eyes to uncharacteristically widen in surprise.

"Yes, and it's a good fucking job I did because I didn't know who she was to us until I tasted her. Besides, she witnessed not only the existence of our kind but also me murdering someone, I didn't exactly think it wise to let her simply skip fucking free."

I calmed slightly when hearing this, knowing he was right. But still feeling the uneasiness clinging to me, for I was already feeling protective, and I hadn't even met this ‘Little Peach' yet. A sentiment I would admit to rarely ever feeling before.

"And she is at the penthouse, you say?" I asked after forcing my fists to unclench.

"Yes, I put her to bed myself." Again, my muscles tensed, something he witnessed.

"For fuck sake, I didn't sleep with her, Vic… I am not an animal." All I had to do was raise a single brow before he argued. "Fine, what I mean to say is that I wouldn't treat our queen like that, despite how hard it had been to leave her there without touching her... fucking goddess," my brother added as the memory of this mystery woman clearly assaulted his mind. But the words he used caught my attention and I couldn't help but question… would she be my Goddess? The one I had been obsessing over ever since the dreams began?

"I take it you had Andras put her to sleep?" I asked, gritting my teeth, already hating the idea of another hand touching what was ours. But then a smug look I knew well overtook my brother's features before he told me,

"Well, that was the curious thing, he tried but then he told me that her mind already belonged to another…"

Okay, now my teeth were about to shatter, and I forced my jaw to unlock long enough to snarl, "Who?!"

Of course, I should have known by my brother's face what his answer would be.

"Us… or should I say mine at the time… but I imagine you will have the same effect on her as I do."

I relaxed at that, curious as to why, for I had never heard of such a thing between Fated Mates before. Perhaps they all react differently? However, I didn't voice this thought but instead asked,

"What is her name?"

Tal suddenly looked sheepish. "I confess I didn't think to ask."

My frown deepened as my fists clenched yet again.

"Didn't think to ask?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, I was a little busy at the time trying to calm her down."

"Was she hurt?!" I asked, again raising my voice in panic and surprising him with my reaction. One that was unusual coming from me.

"Other than my bite, one like I said, I had bestowed with the intention of ending her life. But then the second I tasted her blood… fucked by the Goddess, it was…"

"What, tell me?" I asked, even my own excitement was growing at every detail he gave me about her.

"Exquisite. Unlike anything you have ever tasted before. All else pales in comparison. The finest cognac after a lifetime of drinking bootleg moonshine," he said, making me groan, unable to prevent the reaction. For I swear I could almost taste it. The mere promise of such perfection , I couldn't fucking wait!

Which was why I turned toward the couch I had not long ago been feeding on and grabbed my suit jacket from where I had draped it along the arm. A suit was my preferred attire due to my status, with my brother's being black jeans, a black tee and not forgetting the biker jacket that I rarely saw him without. But I was the face of the many companies we owned, just as he preferred. And well, being older, if by only five minutes, then I did find myself indulging his wishes. And now…

Well now I had someone else to overindulge, for she would soon come to know what it was to be ours. To be cared for and protected by us. To be our queen. To be owned.

Our Moirai Theía.

Of course, now came the battle of getting her to fall in love with not one but two Vampire brothers who had already declared her as belonging to them. It was a battle I couldn't fucking wait to begin. Hence why I said,

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"I don't know, for the sun to go down?" He laughed before walking to the windows and lifting the blind enough to show me the sunrise. Of course, unlike other Vampires, our powers extended to being immune to the sun. This despite not liking the daylight, for it hurt our eyes and irritated our skin. But it did not kill us like all other Vampires. Not unless they used magical means to provide protection, which could be precured from a witch or warlock if you had the extended funds to do so.

But knowledge of our day walking was unknown to most our kind and we liked to keep it that way. It was our advantage against the darkness of our world and since what we had heard at the meeting, we needed the advantage now more than ever. For if a half blood could kill a whole family of us, then times were most certainly changing.

Despite how much it pained me to do so, I conceded.

"You have a point." The disappointment must have shown on my features as he slapped me on the back and told me,

"Don't worry, Brother, I assure you… our treasure is worth the wait."

I raised a brow and practically snarled, "Yes, well this coming from the one who has already plundered her neck and tasted the goods the gods have bestowed upon us, it is easy for you."

He laughed, licking his lips and telling me, "The sweetest nectar, for our Peach will soon learn what it means to be feasted upon."

"That isn't helping, Talon," I pointed out dryly, making him laugh.

"Neither is the raging fucking hard on I've suffered most the night but hey, we all have our crosses to bare."

My rumbled growl only made him laugh harder…

The fucker.