Viktor stared down at the wolf. He should never have offered to save him. He’d only planned on feeding him his blood but when it didn’t work, he took to drastic measures to destroy the demonic silver.
“It’s going to be okay, wolf. You just have to get through this little stage here, and when you wake up, you’ll be fine.” Viktor lifted Rafe’s upper lip with his thumb, examining his teeth. He slid the pad of his finger over the razor-sharp incisor. Fuck. What the hell did I do?
“Don’t let him out of your sight.” Viktor looked to the nurse who sat attentively at his bedside. “Text me when he wakes up. Keep him comfortable. He’s got a fever, but it should be gone by tonight. We’ll feed him again and then all should be good.” I hope.
“Yes, sir.”
Viktor nodded at her and glanced again to the sick wolf. As he turned his back and walked toward the heavy metal door, he considered the ramifications of what he’d done. If Hunter had never traveled to Hell to save him, Rafe would be alive and well. Granted, the Alpha wouldn’t have his mate but nonetheless, an uneasy feeling settled in his gut.
Viktor materialized on the white sandy beach. There was nothing like fresh blood on a warm sunny day to relax a vampire.
He sighed, taking in the sight of the gorgeous woman who lay tanning on the chaise longue. From her perfectly manicured toes to her matching red bikini, she had a killer body he’d love to fuck, if only it wasn’t complicated.
She lifted her floppy straw hat and removed her gold filigree cat-eye Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses. “The Alpha is going to stake you himself.”
“It’s merely a complication. You’ll find a way to reverse this, witch.” Ilsbeth. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. After attempting to save him with only his blood, Rafe had flatlined. So, he did the dumbest thing he’d ever done in his life…turned a wolf. Some would say it impossible, but Viktor knew all too well the secret powers of an ancient. But when things became sketchy, the wolf still ill with silver and sprouting fangs, Viktor decided to fetch the High Priestess and feed him her blood.
“I’m ready to get off this damn island you brought me to. It’s in the middle of nowhere,” she complained.
“It’s near Fiji.” Viktor waved to his private waiter, who promptly scurried to hand him a coconut filled with a frozen blood concoction. “And I own it.”
“Why couldn’t we stay mainland? Jesus, Viktor.”
“Too many prying eyes in Miami.” He fiddled with the miniature pink paper umbrella and promptly stabbed it back into his drink. “If it gets out I fucking sired a damn wolf hybrid.” He released a frustrated breath. “Well let’s just say I’m going to be fucked.”
“I want to get out of here,” she demanded, sitting up straight on her chaise.
Viktor snapped his head in her direction. “Listen here, Priestess, because I’m only going to say this once. You’re lucky I saved your ass from that demon. Your greed almost cost us both our lives. So, settle down and enjoy the sun. You’ll leave the island when I say you leave the island. And that will be when that wolf in there is stable and we know for certain he’s going to live. Not one second sooner.”
“You don’t have to be nasty about it.” She adjusted her hat and sniffed. “I suppose I could have been kidnapped somewhere worse.”
“Exactly. So, stop complaining. You could have bigger problems.”
“Like a big bad Alpha from Wyoming? He’s going to kill you. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve ever heard of an ancient turning a wolf. But whatever. I’m along for the ride now.”
“I gave the wolf the choice. Death or rebirth. It’s always the same deal. And frankly I’d let most of them die. I have only one other I’ve ever turned and…” His child carried the same evil as his master. Worry crept inside his mind. He couldn’t guarantee what would happen to Rafe. “It doesn’t matter. Once he’s stabilized and learns to feed, I’ll return him to Hunter.”
“That’s if he shifts. You don’t know that he will.”
“He’ll shift.”
“Who’s to say the Alpha will accept him?” she countered.
“One more word and you’ll be wearing a ball gag for the rest of this trip.” Viktor smiled, delighted with the possibility of seeing her both quiet and at his mercy.
“As if.” Ilsbeth straightened in the chair and set her feet into the sand. “I’m going for a swim.”
“Don’t get any ideas. I may need your blood again.”
“I knew you’d enjoy it,” she mumbled as she stood and stretched.
Viktor’s cock twitched as she shifted her hips and thrust her chest forward. The manipulative little witch knew what she was doing. As much as he’d like to fuck her, he’d rather stick his dick in a bee’s nest than allow her to have one strand of his hair, a single drop of his seed. Although vampires couldn’t breed, he knew damn well witches were capable of bending the laws of the Goddess, becoming impregnated with child.
His emotions warring between lust and hate, he glared at Ilsbeth as she stepped into the surf, bending over to present her ass. Clever witch wore a thong that appeared more like dental floss than fabric. Fucking hell.
Although momentarily distracted by the seductive priestess, Viktor’s attention snapped to a dark haze emerging over the horizon. Lightning flashed, thunder rumbling in the distance. The wind kicked up, sending a chair flying down the beach.
The familiar scent of sulfur rolled off the ocean, and he cursed. “What the fuck now?”
Ilsbeth turned to him, fear registering in her eyes. “Demons.”
“In the water! Now!”
“What?” she screamed over the roar of the wind.
“It’s the only place you’ll be safe. Do it now!”
As the explosion hit the beach, the blast sent him flying towards the bending palm trees. He rolled into the brush, shielding his eyes. As a tunnel cloud whipped the sand into the air, the deafening growl of hellhounds intensified.
Viktor rose to his feet, prepared to fight them. Nothing would touch the wolf or the priestess, not on his territory.
The great funnel spat out a beast and it landed with a thump. The vampire dropped his fangs and extended his claws, prepared to kill it. With great restraint, he waited for the creature to show its face, readying his attack. Yet as it shifted before his eyes, he stopped cold. Julian.
“It’s coming!”