Josie's POV(Continued)
He gave me an enigmatic smile that chilled me to the bones. “I know you better than you think my little wild cat.” He motioned to somewhere behind me. “Go on. You need to call her. I believe your agreement is to call her every hour or she’ll send the police after you.” I shot off the table, wobbling a few feet away from him.Fear, the likes of which I had never known swamped me. They told me he was dangerous. Mother was positively shaken after his men took my dad. Grayson couldn’t stop drilling the fact into my head. Even RuPaul had been wary, but not once, not even when I was aware of what he had done to my father had I been truly afraid of Vladimir.
But in this second, sticky after he had made me come, was I truly terrified of that strange light burning in his gaze.“Maybe she should call the police on you.” I muttered, wJosie's POVThe bathroom was en suite. I should have guessed, nothing but the most lavish for the mega rich with possible mob ties Vladimir Sedof. Not that it was discernable from how austere the room was. I took a hot shower in a bathroom big enough to accommodate five of me, ignoring the bath tub and hurried back in to the room proper. I only had on a skimpy towel and for some reason I didn’t want to dwell on, I most definitely did not want him to walk in on me when I was clad in the towel and nothing else. Making a beeline for the door, I locked it before I could heave a sigh of relief. My phone and bag was there on the bed waiting for me, but that was it. The clothes and shoes were new, the clothes I’d worn earlier nowhere to be found. While I was in the shower, someone, probably Vladimir, had come in here and put these clothes here. It was best to choose my battles -I mean, its
Vladimir's POV December, 1724. Somewhere in Durbent. FLASHBACK Pain. Never in my life have I felt pain such as this. it was in every single nerve ending, running rampant in my blood and in every breath I took. What had gone wrong? The morning had been the same. The weather was dreadful, rain whipping about, signaling an incoming storm, but that's par for the course for Durbent’s weather. Then a frantic call for help in my mind had thrown it all to hell. Nikitin and I were having a routine meeting when Malchi’s breathless yell for help had shattered my eardrums. It took a few seconds to realize that he had contacted me telepathically. Nikitin shared my look of distress. Malchi must have contacted him as well. ‘What’s wrong brother?’ I asked him in my mind. Malchi, Nikitin and I were brothers. Not in blood, because I was the only son of my mother, but Malchi and I share a father. Nikitin cam along much later. He was Malchi’s first stray actually, but he has proven himself invalua
[AUTHOR'S NOTE; THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS GORY DESCRIPTION OF AN ASSAULT THAT RESULTS IN DEATH. IF THIS IS A TRIGGER FOR YOU, THEN PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION.]VLADIMIR'S POV (CONTINUED)My body was in motion before my brain gave the command. Ten seconds later, I was out of the woods and into the abandoned industrial warehouse a mile just before the start of the woods. It was the landmark I'd seen in Malchi's mind, and somewhere in here, my beloved was bleeding to death. I flashed from one point to the other, my vampiric speed taking me from each corner of the enormous warehouse to track down my beloved. His scent was getting stronger and stronger. Finally, I found him beneath a trap door. Standing stock still, I tried to understand the message my eyes were trying to send to my brain, but it just did not make sense. The body was Sven's. A
Vladimir's POV(Continued)“What the fuck?!” I yelled out, more from shock that she’d dared to hit me rather than from the force of the hit.“Sorry.” Her eyes held more shock and confusion than I felt. A quick glance around showed me that we were still inside Ülenurme Airport, Tartu.Right. So I had been struck by unwanted flashbacks in the airport terminal right after we exited the damn plane.Well, that was embarrassing. It’s a good thing my self conscious days were long behind me.“You were just so still. I almost thought you were frozen, but then you started making those hacking sounds, like you were dying or something.”It had felt like I was dying. To this day, I still have no idea what had kept me alive. Perhaps Alyna and her cronies had gotten over confident and thought me dead long before I actually was?No. Not Alyn
Vladimir's POV(Continued)Forty minutes later, the highway gave way to the inner core of the city proper. Standing regally at the end of the busy business districtwas a skyscraper made almost entirely out of azure glass. At the top of it's triangular edge was an hexagon with an eye in its middle. To anyone else, it was just an odd image to use as a company's logo, but I knew what it was. This is a stamp. A stamp that proclaimed this as the seven's territory. And this, is exactly where I need to be.The car rolled to a stop at it's very entrance, and waiting to the side, just as I knew she would was my childe, Lilya.Next to her was a bear of a man. Standing at a few inches shy of seven feet, he was large, -larger than me- his bulk and appearance was the very reason for the nickname Viking.Plaits run through his hair on one side, and he wore a hard leather vest that
Vladimir's POV(Continued)"You are not welcome here. I demand you leave." The auburn aired woman -and obvious leader of the trio- gritted out as she glared down at us."Is that so now?" I drawled, taking a leisurely stroll towards them.I took perversepleasure in the unconscious way they shrank back from me. "And who are you to tell me where I am welcome?""Magdalene Rilba, head of security." She tilted her head up defiantly.I took another step forward just for the hell of it. The scrap of human specimen with the pockmarked face lifted his fingers threateningly. His aura darkened to gray, a pale imitation of the color of a storm.Average.Just like the furious little red head glaring at me, they were all average in powers. Whatever means she came by her position as their leader, it was not because of her abilities.Average.Whatever a Puhvel
Vladimir's POV(Continued)“Your kind is not welcome here, king.” Kora Puhvel spat with venom, her grey eyes sparking with the full extent of her anger.Josie’s eyes sharpened at her words and I refrained from wincing. My ever observant wildcat just picked up on another ammunition to use in her quest. Oh, that would be a fun conversation to have later.“Unfortunately for you, miss Puhvel, you are not in the position to decide that.”“Whatever do you mean by that? Speak plainly or I will have you and your followers thrown out on your asses.”“Language. This is a civil discussion, not crude banter, and I will appreciate if you do not test my patience. It is on a very short fuse as it is.” I cautioned, merely letting a small bit of my beastly nature color my voice. She flinched, but then covered it up immediately with
“Vladimir.” I corrected swiftly. “I was in the neighborhood.”“Oh, really? How fortunate for us.” He nodded his head, a small crease above his brow. “I am betting that you wanted to see the sights. The museum is still open, I believe. I will have one of my people take you there.” He snapped his hands and one of the witches guarding him walked forward.The rest of the room -except for the oblivious Josie-, waited with baited breath, dreading my reaction.If I wanted to be a nice man, I would leave, letting rumours fly that Ivan was able to succeed where his daughter failed. However, I was not a man. And second, I was here to ruin them all.My congenial smile spread across my face. “It would be nice to see the city from a native’s point of view. Thank you for the offer, Ivan.”Shock spread across his face at my easy acceptance. All Kora was able to express was her confusion. &ldq