Dead Man Running: Book Two - Supernatural Bounty Hunter Romance Novellas (15 page)

Chapter Twenty

“Bloody fucking hell!” roared Viktor.  He picked up a box of tools and threw it across the garage.

His eyes blackened as his claws sprung forth, and he banged his fists against the stone walls, making them shake.

He calmed as he heard the furious tattoo of his mate’s heartbeat, and the small gasps she emitted. 
He was scaring his mate, and he needed to control himself
.

Viktor stopped and leaned against the wall.  “I’m sorry,” he murmured.

Alma went to him and put a hand on his back; he felt instantly soothed.

“Who is she?” asked Alma, fearing the answer. 
She knew it wasn’t going to be good.

Viktor closed his eyes, concentrating on the warming hum her touch alighted.  “She’s my sire.”

“Oh my god… wait, I don’t know why that’s a bad thing.”

He grimaced;
he hadn’t exactly disclosed how crazy his sire was to his
mate
.  “It’s bad, trust me, it’s bad.  Whatever reason she has for wanting to be on the Council, it can’t be good.  Did the vote go through?”

“Yes, it was almost unanimous,” answered Adrian.

Alma jumped, for a second she’d actually forgotten that they had a kidnapped Council member handcuffed in Viktor’s garage.  “So now…”

She was cut off as Viktor spun round and grabbed her.  His eyes were wild, and for a second Alma thought she noted terror.

Before she could open her mouth he picked her up, and ran through the door to the house, just as the first bullet ripped into the garage.  She screamed as Viktor shuddered and groaned as bullets tore into his body.  He didn’t hesitate or falter; he just kept running until he reached the bathroom. 

Carefully
, Viktor deposited his mate in the bathtub.  He ordered her to stay there and sprinted away.  He ran back to the garage to find Adrian writhing on the ground; he’d been hit by at least two bullets.

Viktor hoisted him up and ran back into the house, taking him to a spare bedroom.  By the time they got there, the shifter had passed out. 
He didn’t have time to worry about him
.  Either the shifter was about to die, and it was too late to get him to the hospital anyway.  Or he was just unconscious from the pain, and when he woke up, he could call his own ambulance.  Viktor made sure he had his cell phone.

Viktor didn’t really have time to think about why this was happening, but all he could hope was that whoever was doing this was after him, and him alone, and would leave Alma out of it. 

He heard footsteps clicking over the floor.  He growled and heedlessly ran towards whoever it was, only to be met with a barrage of bullets from two black-clad figures.  He roared as they pelted into his body.  When he could take no more, he slumped to the floor.

He was vaguely aware of some figures walking towards him, but he was too far gone to make out their faces.

As he lost consciousness, all he could think was that he wished he had told his mate to run when he had the chance. 
Please let her be okay
.

*

Viktor woke to find himself chained to a wingback chair.  A cold feeling of familiarity swept through him.

He was hit with both relief and fear when he saw Alma
, similarly chained to another chair about ten feet away from him.  He had hoped she had managed to avoid being captured, but at least she was alive.

He struggled against the chain, but naturally they were entwined with magic. 
This was far too familiar.

The room was airy and opulent. 
Just like the last time he was kidnapped and chained to a chair
.

He was glad to note that the sun was setting, unlike last time, when he escaped he wouldn’t have to make a daytime break.  His body certainly couldn’t take that; he was
already burning something fierce from his bullet wounds.

Alma whimpered as she stirred.  His cold heart almost beat again at the soft, whines she made. 
God, her being in pain was unbearable.

“Alma…
”  His voice almost broke.

“I’m alright, just a little woozy.”  She looked at him and gave him a pained smile.  “
Look, no matter what happens, these last four years have been wonderful…”

“Don’t!”

She blinked her tear-filled eyes at him in shock.  “I just wanted to tell you I…”

“Don’t!  You can tell me whatever you want later, when this is all over, but don’t you dare start thinking that we won’t make it out of here, because we will.  You promised to spend the rest of my life with me, and I am going to hold you to that.”

Alma gulped at his fierce expression.  A few stray tears ran down her cheeks.  “And people say I’m bossy…”  She hiccupped in laughter.

“You are,” he told her, softly.  “And I love it.”

He looked into her big, brown eyes and wished more than anything that they were bonded, so that he could share with her his feelings of love and devotion. 
Not for the first time that day, he regretted not turning her, and bonding when he had the chance.

Her lips trembled as she started to speak, but she was stopped by a cool, crisp voice.

“Isn’t this touching?”

Viktor quivered at hearing his sire.  It had been over a hundred years since they had last been together, and she still had the ability to scare the hell out of him. 
He felt the ripples of power emanating from her.

Celine, in all her angelic beauty, strode toward Viktor and pressed her cold lips against his unwilling mouth. 
Ugh, he almost gagged
.  He couldn’t believe he’d ever found this creature attractive or arousing,
it was like being molested by a haddock!
  She paled in every way next to his vibrant, sexy witch.

“Get away from him, you bitch!” screeched Alma.

Celine pulled away and let out a tinkling laugh as she trained a malicious look on the witch.  Alma jutted her chin in defiance.

Celine raised a thin eyebrow.  “Is she your new pet, Viktor?  I had no idea how low you had fallen, but I suppose she is pretty in a common sort of way.”

“Don’t talk about her that way!”  Viktor was almost spitting.

Celine flashed a surprised look at him.  “My, my, we are feeling brave, aren’t we?  I would guess that she is more than just a chew toy, your mate, perhaps?”

He flinched ever so slightly; no one but Celine would have caught that.  The female vampire almost licked her lips in satisfaction.  “Yes, she is, isn’t she?  Pity.”

Viktor had endured more than enough of Celine’s bullshit over the years,
now he wanted answers
.  “What do you want with us Celine?  What the fuck is going on?”

Celine let out a theatrical sigh.  “I always did give you too much credit; you never were quick on the uptake.”  She ran a hand over his chest.  “Still, at least you
are talented in other areas.”

“Keep your hands off him you psycho-bitch!”  Alma grunted
, as she struggled against her chains and spat out a few magical words.

Celine rolled her eyes.  “Don’t bother.  Your paltry magic won’t do anything against the spells binding them.  Only I
, and my new pet can undo them now.”

“Come on then
, Celine!” shouted Viktor, determined to drag the vampire’s attention away from his mate.  “Why don’t you tell me what this is all about?  Go ahead and gloat.  Explain how you’re so much smarter than everyone else, how everyone should bow before your superior intellect.”

She chuckled.  “You know me so well, but then again, we were lovers for over two hundred years.  Something your little enchilada over there probably can’t appreciate.”

Just when Alma didn’t think she could hate her more…

Celine smirked at the witch.  “But I digress, it’s simple really, I wanted a place on the Council, so I did what I had to do, to get it.”

Viktor eyed her with disgust.  “So you framed Julian for murder?”

Celine rolled her shoulders unconcernedly.  “Yes, it would be too suspicious if I tried to kill him, and there was always the risk that he might be more powerful and kill me instead.  So, this was the easiest way.  I had James order the girls, I gave them a magical drug to slip Julian
in order to knock him out, and then I turned up at the room with my new pet, and he killed the girls.  I’m sure you already know we used wolfsbane to cover our scents, and used a witch to knock out the security cameras of the hotel at a convenient time.  I had no idea that covering up murder was so easy – probably because I’ve never felt the need to do so before!”   

Celine’s eyes gleamed black.  “After that, all I had to do was convince…

“You mean blackmail!” muttered Alma.

Celine’s eyebrow twitched.  “Convince a few of the other Council members to vote for me, and they did – it was so easy, but then mortal beings really are pathetically malleable.”  She sneered in Alma’s direction.

Viktor stared at her in exasperation.  “But why?  What’s the point?  You’ve ruined countless lives, and killed innocent people, so you can argue about whether vampires should be granted boat loans!”

“You’ve always been weak Viktor, always too soft on the mortals.  But the fact is vampires shouldn’t be striving for equality, we are gods compared to every other race on this planet, and yet we are the ones who are forced to hide in the dark, to obey mortal laws, and be treated like animals!”

Viktor let out a groan.  “Heaven’s gate!  Celine, we are not gods; we are just another race of being, no better or worse than any other race on the planet.   Actually no, I’ve changed my mind, we are worse, much worse.”

Celine ran a claw down his cheek and gave him a beatific smile.  “You are wrong, my love, very wrong.  Now that I am on the Council, it won’t be long until I’m running the whole thing, I already have so many little Council members in my pocket, undoubtedly there will soon be a vote to put me in charge, and when I am
, there will be a few changes.  No more of this equality for vampires garbage – no, soon enough vampires will be in charge.  Soon, we will be able to feed on and change whoever we want, whenever we want.  Eventually, we will be in control, and the rest of the races will just be there as food.”

“You’re crazy,” whispered Alma.

Celine snarled.  “Soon we, the master race, will be able to kill any insignificant creatures who get in our way.  Something I think we should start today.”  She licked her lips, advancing on the tasty looking witch.

Viktor panicked; he had to distract her.  “How did you do all this on your own?  You don’t honestly expect me to believe this was all just you and James.”

Celine cocked her head on one side and turned back to Viktor.  “No, you’re right.  James doesn’t have the imagination for this.  He was useful, but he isn’t part of the bigger picture.  We parted ways ten years ago; it was a sad day, but I was quite bored of him.  He does, however, still do my bidding when I ask him to.”

“If not James, then who?”

“My new pet, ah, here he comes now, I believe he’s an old friend of yours.”

Celine gave him a chilly smile as Eric Van Dyne threw the door open and walked towards them, a smug smile adorning his arrogant face.  “Hello, Viktor.  How nice to see you again.”

Eric looked as deathly pale as the last time they met, however, now he radiated power.  No more nurses, no more wheelchairs, and no more oxygen tanks for him. 
He had gotten what he wanted: to become a vampire.

Viktor looked away in disgust.  “I can’t believe you changed him; he’s a monster!”

Celine laughed musically.  “Oh, tut-tut Viktor, he who casts the first stone and all that.”

Viktor shook his head, images of Naoko floating through his mind.  “Have you no conscience?  Everything he does is now on you!”

“You're so melodramatic, my love.  Eventually, he was going to find someone willing to turn him, there are plenty of vampires who aren’t quite as altruistic as you, and are willing to do anything for money, it might as well have been me.  At least I’m putting his money to good use.”

The pair of them was mad
.  Celine assumed that, as his sire, she could control Eric, and she could control all his money and assets to do with as she pleased.  Whilst Eric probably thought he could do whatever he wanted, period. 
Undoubtedly, he hadn’t banked on the control Celine would yield over him.

Eric whispered to Celine so quietly even Viktor could not hear.  Viktor was alarmed when the two of them made gestures towards his mate.

Viktor stared at the newly turned vampire, Eric.  “I preferred you when you were dying.”

Eric snarled and made a move toward Viktor, but Celine gave him a warning look, and he stopped.

Celine sashayed over to Viktor and caressed Viktor’s cheek.  His skin crawled;
it was as pleasurable as having spiders creep over your face.
“Viktor, my love, of all my pets, you have always been my favorite.  I feel so lucky that you have come back to me.  It was pure chance you know; I didn’t trust the wretched badger to hold himself together, so I had him followed.  And I was right too, he crumpled the moment you started asking him questions.  Still, at least we are together again.”