Defying Eternity (An Obscure Magic Book 5)
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Epilogue
Author’s Note
About the Author
Trading her services to a vampire king is a price Leo pays gladly, but her human life is not on the table.
Leonora has managed to save her pregnant sister from a vampire attack, but to insure the safety of her sister and niece, Leo is willing to pay with everything but her life.
Covered in her own blood, she approaches the Mayor of Redbird City—who happens to be the local vampire king—and makes a deal. She will serve him as his assistant if he will keep her sister and niece from being torn apart.
Matthias agrees willingly to take on a new assistant and sends his men out to keep her sister safe. It is the beginning of a partnership that will make her his apprentice, send her to negotiate for dragons, visit crime scenes and keep her doing his bidding while her sister’s attackers rally and prepare to try again.
Leo picks up her baseball bat and gets ready for the fight of her life.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Defying Eternity
An Obscure Magic Book 5
Copyright © 2016 by Viola Grace
ISBN: 978-1-987969-15-3
©Cover art by Carmen Waters
All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publisher.
Published by Viola Grace
Look for me online at violagrace.com, Amazon, All Romance eBooks, Smashwords, Kobo, B&N and other eBook sellers.
Defying Eternity
An Obscure Magic Book 5
By
Viola Grace
Chapter One
Leo dropped off the last of her sister’s exceptionally tipsy friends and made sure that Kat managed to get into her home with only a modicum of giggling and fumbled keys.
Leo had never suspected that a baby shower could have involved that much alcohol, but with her sister unable to imbibe, her friends took it upon themselves to consume what appeared to be the entire nine months’ worth of booze.
Careful driving had saved her upholstery, but now that it was dark, she was happy not to see the sidewalks of the neighbourhood when she pulled back into her sister’s driveway. There were some sights that no one needed to see twice. Two of the ladies had tried to race but had to stop when their stomachs protested. Leo was just grateful that the protest had happened outside her car.
She rounded her vehicle and brought out her present for her upcoming niece—a lovely alder wood bat with a big pink bow. Since her daddy had taken off, she was going to be depending on Leo to be her masculine example. It was a situation she was studying up for. Baseball seemed a good start.
She slammed the trunk and nearly missed the sound of breaking glass. Her sister’s scream was harder to miss.
Leo sprinted into the house with the bat in her hands, going in through the back door with its shattered pane.
Minny’s screams were deafening, but her tone was angry.
“Get away from me, you son of a bitch!”
In the living room, Leo saw a horror scene that she would never forget. Her sister was pinned to the ground, holding off her ex-fiancé. Robert was gnashing his newly sprouted fangs and trying to tear large holes in his pregnant ex.
“You heard the lady.” Leo saw his eyes widen as she swung, but the bat caught him in the jaw and sent him backward.
Minny gasped and held her neck with one hand; the other was protectively over her belly.
Leo swung again and again, driving the vampire backward with strikes that had the desired effect. Finally, she was able to put herself between him and her sister.
Robert wasn’t himself; he was some feral thing. She drove him back until he was cowering against the wall, the meaty strikes of the bat inflicting the damage she was aiming to create.
Clawed hands gripped her and pulled her away from her attack. She heard a scream and felt a bite, tearing at her neck and shoulder. Leo hissed but kept hold of her weapon as she was tossed aside.
A woman in tight pants and a tighter shirt bent over Robert and lifted him. She glared at Leo as she turned with him in her arms. “This isn’t over. She has to die.”
“Not while I am around.”
The creature smiled, her waxy-white skin glowed with a weird light. “I will simply have to do it when you are not at her side.”
Minny groaned, and Leo grabbed the phone, dialling for help.
As silently as the woman had arrived, she was gone.
Leo went to her sister’s side and looked at the damage. Minny wasn’t going to be able to wait.
“Minny, hold tight. I am getting you out of here.” She grabbed her sister and hauled her to her feet, ignoring the shriek of pain. She couldn’t let Minny’s pain take her over. She had to get her to the hospital.
Leo thanked her foresight for getting an SUV. The smoke-blue vehicle was the perfect height for her sister as Leo eased her into the front seat.
“I don’t want to bleed on your upholstery.” Minny gasped.
“Don’t worry about it. Just hold tight. I am going to break some land speed records.”
She started up her car, called the emergency line on the car phone and outlined her route. She was about to seriously break some speed regulations.
Minny’s breathing became shallow, and then, she grunted. “Sorry, Leo. My water broke.”
“Not a problem. No cop will dare detain us for this. If they do... damn. I left the bat at your place.”
Minny chuckled, but it was obvious that she was getting weaker.
Leo watched for oncoming traffic and drove like the hounds of hell were on her tail.
She slowed carefully into the emergency cul-de-sac; the operator that she had chatted with during her riotous drive had warned a team with a gurney of their arrival.
“We were told there was only one woman injured.” The man in the hospital scrubs scowled.
“There is; she is in labour. Her name is Minny. Blood type O positive. She is nine months along. She is due in three weeks, but the baby wasn’t waiting.”
She was babbling, but she couldn’t stop it as they lifted the lifeless form of Minny out of the front of her car.
“Ma’am? You are injured as well.”
She looked over at another young man, and she frowned. “Am I?”
“Yes, ma’am. It looks like a vampire attack.”
“Oh, it was.” She smiled weakly and slumped back, leaning on her car.
“I think you should come inside.”
“I will just park, and then, I will be right there. You are taking good care of Minny?”
“We are. She is in the best of hands.”
“Good. I will be right back.” Leo nodded and straightened.
With deliberate concentration, she g
ot back into her vehicle, started her car and drove out of the parking lot and toward the exclusive end of town.
Instinct and rumour drove her to the huge, silent house on the hill and the ten-foot wall that surrounded the massive property.
The security officer looked at her in surprise when she rolled down her window. “Yes, miss? What can I do for you?”
“Is the mayor available? I have an urgent vampire issue that I would like to discuss with him.” Leo used her best administrative-assistant voice.
“Just a moment.”
She waited and tried to fight off the grey edges that blurred her vision.
“Go on up to the house. Good luck.”
She nodded, and the moment the gate swung open, she headed inside.
Her plan had formulated while she had driven to save her sister’s life. There was only one way to fight a vampire, and that was with a bigger, scarier vampire. The Mayor of Redbird City would definitely fit the bill.
Leo parked carefully and got out of her car, holding onto the metal until the world paused its spinning under her.
She walked up the steps and into the huge mansion that contained the scariest and strongest vampire on their hemisphere.
A butler opened the huge and ornate door, letting her in without batting an eye. “He is waiting for you in his office. This way, please.”
The man swung the door closed behind her and led the way down the hall until he opened another door for her. “Here you are, miss. Would you care for a towel?”
She smiled weakly. “Yes, please. Thank you. A glass of water, too, if that is not too much to ask.”
“Of course, miss.”
He stepped aside, and she passed him, walking into the peculiar stillness that meant an ancient vampire was near.
A high-backed chair shifted, and a deep voice rolled over her. “You have nerve, miss. Covered in blood, you come to a vampire. Are you bait, or do you need something?”
“Mr. Mayor, I have a vampire problem that I need your help with. My sister and niece are in danger, and I will do whatever it takes to keep them safe.”
The chair turned slowly, and she was soon looking at a man she had only ever seen on news reports and in the papers.
His eyes widened in shock. “You have been bitten.”
She snorted. “Torn up, more like. She was going for damage, not blood.”
He was in front of her in less than a heartbeat, visually examining her wounds. “This is bad. How is it you are still standing?”
“I am motivated. I am not going to rest until Minny is safe.”
“Minny?”
“Minuet Wicks and her daughter who was last named Cupcake, though I think she might have been supplanted by another favourite food.”
“And you are?” He was so close, she could touch him by inhaling deeply, but her shirt was all bloody and his looked to be designer. She didn’t want to damage it.
“Leonora Wicks. Administrative Assistant to the Acquisitions Director at the Redbird City Museum.”
“Leonora. Well, you need to sit down, before you fall down, and tell me what happened.”
“Can I just tell you from here? I think if I sit down, I will pass out and I don’t want that.
“Very well.”
“I will go over the details. It started six months ago when Robert decided that fatherhood wasn’t for him. He disappeared, and we got the idea that he was Renfielding for a female vampire out of town, licking her boots on a regular basis.”
Mayor Matthias raised his brows. “He knew he had fathered a child?”
“He knew. It was why he left.”
“Ah. Continue.”
“Everything was fine until tonight. I had moved in with my sister to help her with the baby prep, and I was coming back after being designated driver to all of her tipsy friends when I heard the scream.” She shivered. It was a memory of hearing fury and fear rolled into one sound.
“What did you do next?”
“I ran in with the present I had for my niece. I never imagined it would come in handy.”
He smiled slightly. “What was it?”
“A baseball bat. A nice alder bat that I had an artisan make for her.”
“You fended a vampire off with a bat?” There was an impressed expression on his face.
“Yeah, it was going well until the lady came. She is the one who attacked me, scooped Robert up and told me it wasn’t over. I knew in that moment she wasn’t going to rest until Minny was dead and the baby with her.”
He tilted his head. “If the baby is born, he only needs to kill the child.”
Fury ran through her. “No one is getting near her.”
“And you would like help with that?”
“I would. I can offer you anything short of my life.”
He raised his brows. “Really? It is hard to tell under all this blood, but you seem to be an attractive little thing.”
She tried to work up outrage, but she was getting very tired.
“But, you also have a quick wit and an ability to act. That is a valuable set of skills. Are you a good assistant?”
She snorted. “I am one of the best. I have connections in a variety of locations and occupations and can make just about anything happen.”
He nodded as if coming to a decision. “Well, in that case, your price will be to come work for me. The pay rate will be competitive and the bonuses are well worth the late nights that I occasionally require. Most of your skills will be at use during the day and briefings will be given to me after sunset. I can roam around during the day, but there is rarely a reason for me to do it.”
“What will you do for Minny and the baby?”
“I will dispatch a series of guards to be with them around the clock. Shifters and others will keep your kin safe.”
Leo looked into his eyes with their blood-red irises, and she nodded. “Deal. The moment they suffer an injury, I will be after you to see what it takes to kill you.”
Matthias smirked. “I would enjoy seeing you try. Ah, Reed is here with some water and a towel for you.”
Leo turned to look, but the movement was one too many for her. The slowly knitting skin on her shoulder tore open, and she fainted.
Chapter Two
Leo sat up and blinked, the smell of blood was gone. She looked down, and she was wearing a huge white button-down shirt with nothing under it.
The room had changed as well. The office was gone, and she was propped up on a chaise lounge with an intent goblin staring at her.
“Oh, hello.” Leo smiled slightly.
The goblin nodded before getting up and leaving her.
Alone in the room, she touched the skin of her neck and shoulder. It was whole. Sensitive but whole. How had that happened?
A blur of motion warned her of his approach, and when Matthias was next to her, he smiled. “Welcome back to the land of the living, so to speak.”
“How long was I out?”
“Two hours. I had the goblin lick your wounds closed. You will still be lightheaded, but you will be mobile. The hospital is waiting, and the XIA have been given your blood samples to track the vampires involved.”
“I know who it was.”
“And I am going through all official channels to keep the nest from getting up the nerve for a full-scale attack. If they know we are watching for them, they will keep to the shadows.”
Leo nodded and swung her legs to the side. “Right. I need to get back to Minny.”
“So, you have agreed to my terms? You will work as my assistant?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I am going to have to resign my current position at the museum.”
“I will make a few calls. Take two days to be with your sister before you bring your possessions here to the manor.”
Leo had been ready to stand, but she slumped. “I never said I would move in here.”
“And yet you will. My assistants are
normally vampires, and they are at my beck and call night and day. You want to fill that position? You will have to abide by the standards.”
She made a face, and he chuckled.
“Leonora, I am offering you round-the-clock protection for your family. I expect the same from you in your service.”
There was no doubting that it was a fair trade if it kept Minuet safe.
She pressed her lips together. “I agree. Fine. As long as I get to spend time with my family.”
“We will come to an arrangement.” He smiled wide, and his fangs were showing.
His expression was appallingly hostile, but she extended her hand to his. “Done.”
He blinked and shook her hand, pulling her to her feet in a rush.
She held onto him for a moment while her head settled. “Um, thank you.”
His body wasn’t like holding cool marble; it was like touching a mobile mannequin. There was some yielding to his skin but not much.
As soon as the spinning slowed, she stepped back. “I am heading to the hospital.”
His hands were on her elbows. “Yes, you are. My car is waiting to take you. You are not fit to drive.”
She scowled. “How will I get my car?”
He reached into his pocket and held up a phone. “My driver’s number is in here and set for automatic dialling. Simply call him. As your sister’s condition is at stake, I am sure that you will not wish her to be in any unsafe situations, like a regular cab.”
Leo swallowed and looked into his pale eyes. “Right. Of course.”
“Your shirt and bra were a dead loss, I am afraid. There wasn’t time to provide you with proper replacements.”
“Minny has seen me in worse.”
“In that case, come this way.” The mayor led the way through the halls, keeping one arm within her reach if she needed it.
She couldn’t come up with a good excuse to grab hold of him, so she settled for walking slowly at his side, taking in the layout of the manor.