Under His Claw (8 page)

Authors: Viola Grace

BOOK: Under His Claw

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“I could help you.”

“She has requested I ask for her help. She has been charged with my health and well-being and she does a wonderful job.”

She used her elbow to press a button in the wall, and Leah’s subtle knock came a moment later. She sat Zora down on a spa chair and leaned in to lick Zora’s wounds. After she applied the saliva, she wrapped Zora’s hand with gauze to protect it.

Olvadi shrugged into his shirt. “Gargoyles.”

There was such distaste in his tone that she looked over her shoulder with an admonishing glare. “My house, my rules, your majesty. Manners matter.”

He nodded and stalked from the room, closing the door with a solid click.

“You should not have done that. He will be angry.”

“His dick works now. He is angry twenty-three hours per day.”

Leah was startled into laughing. It took a bit of effort to make her smile and Zora enjoyed the sound.”

When she was all done, Leah fired up the small brazier and they burned all blood-smeared items. It was time that Zora took what was in her veins more seriously.

“How did the session go tonight?” Regick smiled at her over the steak dinner he had ordered.

After spending the night with her own blood, Zora was having fish.

“It was pretty good. He needs about seven more treatments to give himself the flawless body he has always wanted. I am worried about Octavia, though. I think I will have to make some moves on getting possession of her. Can we do that?”

“What? Have a vampire on the payroll? Sure. It would have to be done with Olvadi’s agreement, or we would have to move her to another city and get their king to agree to let us have her. They are like leashed dogs. They have to be licensed and monitored wherever they go. If they are not, they breed out of control.”

“Breeding is a funny word.”

“Speaking of breeding, how are we doing?” He waggled his eyebrows.

She laughed. “How would I know? This is not something I can consult a regular physician for.”

“Perhaps your grandmother could tell you.”

“Perhaps she could, but she isn’t here.”

“She arrives tomorrow, as does your grandfather. They have agreed to a reconciliation.” He beamed.

“Wow. She has been avoiding him as long as I have been alive. This will be interesting.”

He shrugged. “Since he will be landing on the roof, I thought it would be a good idea to take the gear out of the bedroom. I don’t want it that interesting.”

She snickered and finished her cod. “Too bad, I was working up the nerve to let you try more than spread-eagling me to the bed.”

His fork bent sharply. He gave her a narrow-eyed look. “Don’t tease.”

“We are in public. It is all I have.” She drank water and smirked.

The restaurant on the third floor was open, charming, and owned by the man across from her. Regick was an excellent landlord and restaurateur. The clientele was having a good time and the arrangements made each table a private oasis. Of course, they were sitting at the owner’s table, so it was the best seat in the house.

Their server came by and whisked her plate away the moment she finished it. They were very efficient without a lot of chitchat.

She flipped through the dessert menu, and the manager came over and whispered in Regick’s ear. Her mate sat up and started to straighten his clothing.

“Bring them in.”

She decided on the crème brulee and was putting her menu down when a couple approached them. Regick got to his feet and greeted the other man. The blonde woman was staring at Zora with the same shape and shade of amber eyes that she saw when she looked at her grandmother.

The face was that of her grandmother as well but the coloring was wrong. The man’s hair was a blue so dark, it was nearly black. His ears were slightly pointed, and they were pierced in six places down each curve.

“Alamina.” Zora breathed the word.

Alamina smiled. “Tsura. You are lovelier than I imagined.”

“I thought you had passed on.”

“It is hard to die when you are wed to a dragon. You stay around as long as they do.”

Zora got to her feet and ran over to hug her great-grandmother. “I am glad you are here.”

Alamina finally pried her off, laughing and wiping at tears. Her mate was standing next to her, exasperated.

“Tsura, this is your great-grandfather and the first dragon in your bloodline, Darcash.”

She extended her hand to him. “I am pleased to meet you, Darcash.”

He smiled and took her hand. “May I have a hug?”

She cautiously moved toward him and embraced him. He squeezed her and she heard him inhale in a long draw.

When they separated, he nodded to Alamina. “Definitely our blood.”

Regick laughed. “With this family’s penchant for running, you are definitely due your doubt.”

They had a moment and the men chortled.

Zora asked her great-grandmother, “Are you hungry? I was just about to order dessert but if you would like dinner, I could keep you company.”

Regick nodded, “Please, join us and order what you like.”

Darcash settled Alamina in her seat and took a chair next to her.

Darcash looked at her with solemn eyes. “Are you the only one in your line?”

“I am one of a line of daughters born to dragons. My grandmother, Charani, is your daughter. My mother, Lolli, gets a lot of her coloring from you. She has your hair.”

He sat back as he heard that his family line went beyond him and his wife. “A line of daughters.”

Alamina cocked her head. “Have you met my father?”

Zora made a face. “Yes. That is how I ended up here. He traded his blood—meaning me—for an insult to King Olvadi. No one ever did give me the details.”

“I hate what Alfonso made me into, but I could not imagine life without Darcash.”

Darcash smiled, “She paced the shoreline every night for three months before I walked out of the surf to speak with her. When we coupled and the energy flared between us, I was sure she was my mate. She disappeared for a few months and I didn’t think anything of it, but when she disappeared again for two decades, I became concerned. I followed her and found her battling a nest of vampires in defense of a young woman. I destroyed the vampires and the young woman escaped, but Alamina was mortally wounded. I took her home and nursed her back to health. We have been together ever since.”

Alamina smiled as she admitted, “I checked up on my girls via a scrying mirror. I always suspected you were doing well, though I was concerned about your mother. She was a wild one.”

Regick chuckled. “The entire family will be here this week. I have set aside an upper floor of suites for you, and you can have the run of the building, and the city if you wish.”

Alamina brightened, “They will?”

“I called them all and asked them if they would come to bless the mating between Zora and myself.”

Zora smiled. “He really did. He didn’t know if any of you would show.”

Alamina smiled a beatific smile. “I was born a dhampir, which should have made me sterile. A dragon gave me a chance to have a child, and that daughter gave me the strength to train her into being a survivor. She did the same for her daughter and she did the same for you. It has been quite a legacy.”

Zora sat back and ordered her dessert, smiling beatifically at part of her history sitting in front of her and bickering with each other on who wanted to have dinner and which one wanted a snack.

Regick could order what he wanted, she would have what she wanted and they would both end up in the same bed at night. It was strange when she began thinking about the future and could see compromises now made for possibilities later.

Regick slid toward her until his thigh touched hers under the table. He grinned. “Our first family meal.”

“You aren’t counting Charani at the diner.”

He turned toward her and she kissed him softly. “I won’t run. Baby or not. I won’t run, Regick.”

He blinked and wove his hand through her hair, kissing frantically at her lips, cheeks and eyes. When he finished, he pressed his forehead to hers and he whispered, “Thank you.”

“I am much more the type to make your life a living hell, love.” She smiled.

He put his arm around her. They chatted with her relatives until dessert arrived.

Zora was halfway through it when she had a thought and looked at Regick. “How do I buy a vampire?”

The table erupted in uproar and Zora sat there listening to the riot explode around her. For the first time in her life, she was at a proper family dinner and she had picked a fight. Grinning, she turned her attention to the crème and listened to the arguments for and against purchasing a vampire.

It was nice to be part of a family and have a future…even if it was looking to be completely bizarre.

The End.

Author’s Note

This book was a story was written for ARE’s Alpha series. I let my brain go and this is what came out.

Yes, this could easily become another series, but no, it won’t. I mean I am pretty sure. Almost sure. Really. Umm… g’night.

Thanks for reading,

Viola Grace

About the Author

Viola Grace
(aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing. A writer who crafts a story that catches you up, whirls you around and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavors to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, and always goes for the cheap laugh. Listening to readers has gotten her this far, and with her 300th short story looming before the end of 2014, she will continue to listen in the future.

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