Viktor sneered. "You're pushing your luck, mister," he replied, his eyes clashing with mine.
"Am I now?" I asked.
The other vampires slowly moved forward, standing behind their leader, and tension crackled in the air.
They were waiting for the first attack.
Before Viktor could respond, the short vampire threw a punch at my face.
I dodged easily, grabbing his wrist and holding him in place. He struggled, but I didn't budge, my grip tightening.
"Listen," I said, my voice calm, but in a dangerous manner. "This can go one of two ways. You do what I ask, and you all walk away to your clan, no harm done. Or, like him, you can try to take me down… and fail." I paused, adding with a mocking smile as I squeezed tighter. "Horribly"
I released him, shoving hard enough that he flew back, clutching his broken wrist as it struggled to heal.
"He's never lost a fight before," Niko threw in. "I'm guessing you don't know who he is. I didn't either until yesterday. This is Dragos Nicolae Vlad III. That name ring any bells?"
The vampires exchanged confused glances.
After centuries of sleep, my name had been forgotten. Only those near me remembered. We were in Fiji, far from Blue Cove in the Grand Cayman— one of the Islands in the Caymanian Islands, so I wasn't surprised that no one here recognized me.
"The miracle child born a fully pure vampire centuries ago to the Vlads? Son of Andrei the Ravager? Brother to the Wild One? Hello?" Niko pressed.
"Brother to the Wild One?" one of them whispered, fear creeping across his face. He glanced at his partner. "Marco, remember that story about the man I saw years ago? I was about seventy-five then, and he had to be well over one hundred, maybe one-fifty. Terrifying guy, soaked in blood, eyes cold as death itself? He looked at me for a moment, nothing more... and I froze."
The vampire with tattoos nodded. "Yes, I remember. And he was the only one who took down…"
"Yeah, no surprise," he cut in, "His father was the Ravager, man."
The fact that they remembered Azrael before me made me smile and shake my head. My brother was a menace.
"Yes, yes," Niko rolled his eyes. "And now you're about to mess with his brother. The Alesul."
All four vampires gasped, their eyes wide with sudden realization. "Alesul?" they whispered to each other.
"Isn't he dead or something?"
"Not dead, you moron… sleeping." Viktor corrected.
I smirked. "As you can see, I'm awake."
They all went silent, turning their eyes to Viktor, waiting for his decision.
He cleared his throat. "I'm not the leader of our clan, just of this..." He gestured to his men, "small group. Our clan leader will want to see the money. If he doesn't, we're all dead."
"So, you're asking me to spare you and give you the money?" I asked. "Even after you planned to doublecross me?"
"Yes."
"Kneel. All four of you."
"What?"
"Kneel," I repeated. "And apologize to us both."
"I'm not doing that," Marco snapped, looking at Viktor. "I don't care how strong he is, I'm not kneeling."
Viktor stared at me for a long moment before finally dropping to his knees. His men were shocked.
"Viktor, what are you…"
"Are you out of your mind? We can't…"
"Silence, you idiots, and do as you're told!" Viktor snapped, turning to yell at them, still on his knees.
Reluctantly, the rest of them knelt as well.
"Forgive us for any disrespect," the leader of the small group muttered. "It won't happen again."
"Whatever," I replied with a dismissive wave.
As I turned my back to leave with Niko, I knew they were going to try something.
The one I'd broken his wrist moved first—stupidly and desperately. I caught his head between my hands and slammed it with brutal force. Blood splattered everywhere.
The others charged in a rage, but the fight was over in seconds.
Two heads hit the ground before me, leaving only Viktor, whom I had purposely spared.
He rolled onto his hands and knees, gasping for air, blood dripping from his lip.
"Transfer the money," I said through my teeth, grabbing him by the collar.
"I'll do it," he replied, fumbling for his phone.
"I need your account details," he said.
I gave them to him, and he quickly made the transfer.
"The deaths of your men and the loss of the money are on you," I said, shoving him forward. "Now get out of here before I change my mind."
Viktor scrambled to his car and sped off.
"You should've killed him," Niko said, concern in his voice. "He'll talk. He'll go to the clan."
"Then let him," I replied. "If they're just as unreasonable, I'll kill them too."
I glanced at Niko, who was staring at me in surprise. "Do you have a place to stay?"
"Yeah, I do."
"It's not safe for you. You're coming with me."
Niko crossed his arms, smiling. "Are you worried because we're friends, or because you need me for this ally business?"
I didn't answer as we reached the car.
"I need to pick up some things from my place first." He said.
"No problem."
We drove to his place, which was as squalid as the word itself. After gathering a few of his belongings, we headed back to mine.
I knew bringing him in wasn't a mistake. No, I'd carefully thought it over.
He couldn't harm me. After all, I'd made sure to show him how I reacted to being betrayed or angered.
After witnessing all that, I knew he wouldn't dare do anything that would upset me.
Plus, I needed him alive. I didn't want more vampires with a revenge mission hunting him down after what just happened.
I wasn't ready to lose my first ally, especially one who could help me secure more.
And besides, he was a friend. I didn't have many friends, and with Dawn still giving me the cold shoulder, I couldn't stand being alone.
†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††
Dawn was stretched out on a chaise lounge when I walked in with Niko. From the looks of it, she had just finished swimming.
Niko let out a slow whistle, and I shot him a warning glare, silencing him.
She wore a provocative red string bikini, almost matching the color of her hair. The skimpy material clung to her curves, with thin straps tied at her hips and neck, revealing nearly every inch of her figure.
All I could think about was ripping it off her and taking her right there by the poolside, maybe even in the water.
The swimsuit left little to the imagination, although another part of me hated that she was exposing too much skin.
I knew she did it to frustrate me.
When she heard our footsteps, her eyes flew open, and she sat up to get a better look at Niko.
"Dawn, this is Niko," I said, introducing them.
She stood, an impish smile playing on her lips, as she moved in for a hug.
"Hi, Niko."
I stiffened, forcing myself to keep my temper in check.
She knew exactly what she was doing. She knew I wouldn't like her body pressed against his.
"Niko, this is Dawn, my girlfriend," I said through my teeth, my gaze burning into hers.
"N-nice to meet you, Dawn," Niko stammered nervously.
The idiot was sweating, and I glanced down surreptitiously, checking if the hug had left him aroused, silently promising that if he was, I'd kill him.
Thankfully, he didn't have one.
"Would you like to come inside?" Dawn asked softly, her tone seductive.
Niko glanced at me, seeking my approval, and I nodded.
"He'll be staying with us for a few days. Maybe even weeks," I told her.
"Oh," she responded, a bit surprised, her gaze lingering on me. "Alright then, I'll have Lani prepare a room for him."
I nodded.
"Thank you so much, I really appreciate this," Niko said.
"It's nothing, Nik."
Nik. I sneered. She'd barely known the guy for five minutes, and she was already assigning him a nickname.
The air between Dawn and me grew cold. Tense. Niko, caught right in the middle of it, looked very uncomfortable and cleared his throat.
"Right this way, Nik," Dawn said again, heading towards the entrance, but I grabbed her by the forearm, stopping her, and snatched the robe from the chaise lounge.
No way I was going to let her lead the way dressed like that.
"Go on inside," I said to Niko, who quickly made his way to the entrance, eager to escape us.
I tried to put the robe on Dawn, attempting to tie the sashes, but she resisted.
"Leave me alone."
"Are you out of your mind?" I hissed through my teeth, my eyes raking over her exposed body. "You're almost naked."
Dawn tilted her head defiantly. "What's it to you?"
"What's it to me? I'm your boyfriend!" I snapped.
She held my gaze, slowly removed the robe, letting it fall to the ground, and kicked it towards my feet before turning and sashaying into the house.