Page 2 of Viktor's Temptation
Startled, the driver glanced in the rearview mirror at Viktor even as he maneuvered the sleek vehicle out of traffic, coming to a smooth stop at the curb.
“We’re almost home, my lord,” Darvin explained, still watching carefully, his attention alert for any threat. His boss was tense and staring at something. Darvin shifted his attention in that direction and…that’s when he spotted the movement and tensed. There was another very slight movement in the shadows.
Then Darvin watched as the man in charge of the entire east coast vampire coven stepped out of the limousine and walked quickly across the wide sidewalk.
Darvin watched, astonished, as Lord Viktor stepped up to a pale, nearly dead woman leaning against the building. Whatthe hell was going on? They were in the most exclusive area of Baltimore. Commercial and residential rental rates in this area of the city were sky high. Viktor would know that since the man owned most of the buildings in this area.
So who was this…street vermin…that had caught his boss’s attention? She looked like she hadn’t bathed in days, if not weeks. A drug addict? But…why would Lord Viktor waste his time with a tweaker? He had more important issues to deal with.
Darvin examined the woman, noting the blood staining her shirt, the pale skin, and nearly white lips. Her skin was drawn taut over her bones as if she’d been starved for months, while her clothes, what was left of them, hung loosely over her rail-thin body.
Yeah – this had to be a drug addict. But why would Lord Viktor concern himself with this scraggly excuse of a woman? Darvin sniffed experimentally as Lord Viktor carried her back across the sidewalk, but he didn’t detect drugs in her blood. There was an unexpected scent though. Almost as if…?
Darvin tensed, scanning the woman again. He sniffed once more, but there were too many other scents competing. Then he understood! But, no, a newly transitioned vamp? Wait…that was impossible! No one in the clan would dare to transition a human into a vampire without the explicit permission of Lord Viktor!
So if the woman wasn’t a vampire, then what was wrong with her? Why did she look so…strung out? That was the only way to describe her appearance, other than nearly on death’s door.
Perhaps Lord Viktor was angry that such a ragged-looking woman was leaning against his building? Darvin pondered. Still…the scent…! Shealmostsmelled like a vampire, but not quite. No, this woman was…a brand new vamp!
The possibility startled Darvin and he looked around, alert to the possibility of a new threat. If this woman really was a new vamp, then someone was going to die! Someone was challenging Lord Viktor’s clan!
Nothing like this had ever happened before. Mostly, because no one woulddareto defy Lord Viktor; he ruled the clan with absolute authority. But also because Lord Viktor ensured that every vampire under his authority could thrive, so there was no need to transition or harm a human! The clan worshiped him and would do whatever it took to ensure that their clan continued to flourish under his leadership.
In his earpiece, Darvin heard Mikail Parsons, Lord Viktor’s head of security. “Where is he?” the vampire snapped. “You are thirty seconds behind schedule!”
Darvin knew that Mikail was worried due to the recent threats. Recently, dead bodies with strange wounds had been showing up in odd places around Baltimore. Plus, Darvin knew that there had been some trouble within the shifter pack recently. Someone had challenged the authority of Viktor’s good friend, Jace Ulfer, the Alpha of the shifter pack.
Was that what was happening here? Was someone now daring to challenge Lord Viktor’s clan leadership? If that were the case, whoever was trying would get no support from the clan. The threat had to be from an outside vampire. That’s what hadhappened with Jace’s pack; a beta had tried to destabilize the wolf-shifter’s territory.
That trouble had been resolved though, and it hadn’t ended well for the challenger!
Darvin doubted that an outsider was trying to challenge control of the clan. Viktor’s rule was too strong for anyone to dare.
Still, the mystery of the dead bodies was troubling. The Baltimore police had been stumped; no apparent cause of death had been discovered. The bodies had been tortured in ways that humans couldn’t explain.
It was almost as if someone had tried to “turn” humans into vampires. It was possible to do, but the process was so painful and the potential for survival was so low, that no one ever tried it without supervision and approval from Viktor. Also, whoever wanted to convert a human to a vampire needed to have a damn good reason. Viktor hadn’t approved of a transition request for the last five hundred years.
Besides, humans weren’t aware of the existence of vampires. Or shifters, or the stunningly beautiful sorceress and her coven of witches.
It was better to keep humans in the dark about their existence, Darvin knew.
Which was why it was so odd that Lord Viktor had left the limousine and headed into the shadows to help a stranger. Viktor didn’t bother with human troubles, leaving the resolution of murdered humans to the police.
“Darvin, report!” Mikail’s impatient voice snapped in his ear.
Darvin jumped and even reached up to adjust the earpiece. “He stepped out of the vehicle, sir,” Darvin reported. “There’s a woman. She looks sick, but I can’t tell what’s wrong with her.”
“Where?” Mikail demanded.
Darvin knew better than to hesitate a second time. “Right outside the building, sir. The woman looks incredibly pale. Sir, she looks like she could be dying.”
“Give me your location,” he commanded, his voice even, but impatient.
“We’re approximately fifty feet from the underground parking entrance.”
“I’m on my way,” Mikail announced.
Darvin nodded, but forgot to verbally acknowledge the message. He was too consumed by the image of Lord Viktor, who bowed to no one, kneeling down so that he could look into the face of the woman leaning against his building.
