Holding On, page 1
Holding On
(Vulcan)
By Nini Church
Copyright
Holding On
(Vulcan)
By Nini Church
Copyright 2020 Christine Monteith
NC Publishing Corp
This is a work of fiction.
NC Publishing Corp Edition, License Notes:
Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the
copyrighted property of the author and may not be redistributed
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Table of Contents
Cast of Characters
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
Cast of Characters
(Alphabetical by first name)
Billy Benton – Undercover operative and a vamp/demon mix
Jack Keasey – Demon with a vendetta for Vulcan Malone. He’s into bloodplay sex
Jeremy and Tina Jacks – Josie’s adoptive parents who live in Rocking Hills
Jim Barnes – Leader of demons
Josie Jacks – A human and untrained seer with hidden power
Jupiter Malone (Jupe) – Vampire and Vulcan’s younger and only brother. He is mated to Mia
Lilly Kategoria – A jaguar shifter living in Shifter Town
Mia Malone – Vampire and mate to Jupiter
Mick Malone - King of vampires and father to Vulcan and Jupiter. Mick has held the title for centuries and also built Tara Malone
Mike Semmel – Leader of fairies who exudes a golden glow of forbidden allure
Noah Titan – Fairy raised in the royal house of Titania. His aunt, the fairy queen. He’s part of Vulcan’s team
Quinn – Pureblood demon with silver rimmed eyes. A member of Vulcan’s team
Roald Guildwood – Leader of shifters worldwide. Kodiak bear
Sol – Bad boy vampire covered in tattoos. He is part of Vulcan’s team.
Titania – Queen of Fairies and a meddler
Wendy Strong – Leader of the succubi and an expert with glamour
Vulcan Malone (Vee) – Heir to the vampire throne. His team includes Sol, Noah and Quinn
Dedication
To my readers who ask for another vampire book - this one is for you.
Nini
Prologue
The Key
To draw him in, Titania threw a wad of stardust under an old vase on the floor of a human residence.
Glowing gold, Queen of the Fairies laughed softly. Vulcan Malone could not ignore the trail she left for him.
When he discovered the key an exciting new cycle would begin.
Titania did have an obvious conflict of interest when choosing someone to find the key. Mick Malone, King of Vampires and Vulcan’s father, encompassed her conflict. Inadvertently almost a century ago, Mick had wandered into her realm. As payment for his digression, they spent seven blissful years together. When forced to release him, Titania's heart left with Mick.
Yes, she craved Mick’s return to her world while accepting he’d never stay long even if she bound him to her again.
She had solid reasons for the newest seer to be overseen by vampires. Any other race might use her for their own ends. The balance of power could then be swayed in the wrong direction. That would never do.
Besides, vampires were honorable, the most level race and hence the ruling race. They kept the peace and brought order to an unbalanced world.
~~~
It came to Vulcan oddly.
Still bloody after hours of battling another insurrection between races and ghosting home across miles of treetops, a small brazen beacon of twinkling light caught his attention.
Magical light? He never questioned how it twinkled on a moonless night although his instincts roared to check it before returning to Tara Malone.
He and his team had scoured the country for months in search of the elusive and newest seer. A seasoned hardcore warrior, he always trusted his instincts.
Vulcan hovered above a gabled house with no lights on and no signs of anyone at home.
He slipped in a second-floor window to see a spray of colorful stars shoot from under a chipped vase. With the toe of his black shit-kicker, he nudged it aside. Small and brown, a faded envelope sat on the floor and written across it the name of a recognizable bank in Baltimore and two initials – J.J.
Hunched down he opened the envelope to see a nondescript flat silver key.
A universally recognized key.
A safety deposit key.
Excitement ratcheted.
His intuition screamed the key had a direct connection to the elusive seer.
This key - the crux, the core, the beginning.
The last piece of the puzzle – find her.
Vulcan cocked his chin, listening to fierce winds outside building into a fierce storm. He shook his head because it sounded like a woman’s tinkling laughter mixed in with the wind.
Chapter 1
Heat coiled in his belly.
Vulcan Malone knew the moment he spied her.
Long strands of buttery gold whipped in the early morning breeze, obscuring her features. When her fishing rod dipped into the water rainbow colors appeared. In that instant silvery fish twisted into the air before splash landing at her feet.
Only a seer could have such a bold brilliant aura.
Bent over retrieving a fish with her shapely ass in the air, Vulcan Malone felt a heart tug, a soul tug.
Coiled heal spiraled downwards as her dress flattened against a lush body providing a bird’s eye view. Dark eyes intimately studied the full curve of her breasts, narrow waist and willowy sun-kissed legs. Coiled heat turned into an aching throb.
She captured him.
He found it impossible she could do so. A lover of women, he detested getting trapped into having one of his own. Heir to the vampire throne a certified bachelor head to toe.
A warrior surpassed by none and driven by hardcore values to always succeed, her loud laughter caught him by surprise, soothing his ragged soul. He craved to hear it – forever. Over a thousand years old, Vulcan never considered any seer soothing. Or beyond delightful and full of laughter.
Twice he blinked as she packed up and ran down the beach in the opposite direction. An urgent need to catch up flared. Not wanting to spook the mystery beauty, he held back.
Instincts twanged to tread softly. At least softer than normal.
Gingerly he moved up the beach. Where she stood tiny footprints muddled sand in a wide arc as faint tingles of her power sashayed over the shoreline, confirming what Vulcan already knew.
The gorgeous woman was the seer he’d spent months and months searching for.
A bit of vibrant fluff lay buried in white sand. Hunched down, he grabbed a pink scrunchie. A girly-girl? Needy and craving constant attention? He’d always found it a turn off.
A satisfied smile appeared while tucking the scrunchie into an inside pocket with the all important safety deposit key. He ghosted back to the tiny town of Rocking Hills with a population of seven hundred and twenty-one. The closest town sixty miles north.
After asking about the woman on the beach this morning and receiving no satisfactory answers, he got sidetracked talking to locals about their famous seer. In the middle of the afternoon, he met up with his team, Sol and Noah, on Main Street.
Uneasily Noah glanced around. Women stood in clusters, some pointing. One even blew kisses their way. Thick brown hair sat heavily on his brow, shading bright blue eyes. “Too many lookin’ our way. Too conspicuous.” Brilliant, snarky, and also an excellent tactician, Noah was of the fairy persuasion. Purest aspect too with the queen of fairies his aunt.
“Get used to it,” Sol grinned, flexing powerful biceps. A vamp, wily, treacherous and with excellent leadership qualities, he had bad boy good looks.
Noah shook his head. Leave it to Sol to want a lot of attention. Attention could be dangerous. More so as they were only three on this mission.
Vulcan ordered, “Split up. Talk to as many as possible. Tonight we move on those who’ll drop into the local bar–”
“The only bar,” Noah sneered, frustrated after wasting so many hours and gaining no answers.
Sol’s grin widened. “Count yourself lucky, man. We coulda landed in a dry town.”
Every passing hour Vulcan kept a sharp eye out for the gorgeous seer. Nagging worries haunted that she’d already escaped and left town. His heart, dead and cold, sat heavy. Out of sorts. A pining sensation swarmed as a sense of loss came at him. Then soaring hope hit and finally, longi
The world needed the seer. Vampires needed her. If their intel proved correct she could help turn the tide of violence. The world had changed in the last two years. A newer world where interracial wars broke out locally and internationally.
Death and destruction came in the wake of the veil abruptly disappearing, exposing all manner of other races to humans, including fairies, demons, vampires, shifters and succubi.
Later that evening stale beer and old cigarette smoke wafted around as they entered the local establishment. Country and western music blared from big box speakers with enough dust and age to be from the 70s. Chipped tabletops had also seen far better days. Two older couples waltzed around a scarred dance floor.
Vulcan slid into a deep booth and did a double-take at the bartender. The elusive seer. Heart trip hammering, fire raged in his belly. His out of sorts heart vanished as it burst with joy at sight of her.
That unusual spontaneous joy had absolutely nothing to do with the beauty from the beach being a seer.
Peripherally Vulcan kept a direct sightline on the incredible woman behind the bar. Incredible because big gorgeous green eyes and wide white smile embraced the world. Vulcan hoped she’d laugh again. Heat coiled tightly and dropped lower as his erection grew.
Sol, tall, dark and bad boy handsome, picked up Vulcan’s interest in the bartender. A vamp with keen senses and art for nuances, he commented, “Pretty. Vee, you know her?” More than merely pretty Sol noted. A stunner. Not his type as he sensed a certain fragility that likely contained a spider web of cracks beneath the surface. Sol preferred his women to boldly take what they wanted as well as receive it. Without boundaries. Sometimes hardcore.
“Nope.” Vulcan shook his head. “Spied her fishing on the beach early this morning. Sol, go buy us a round of drinks. Grill her. I want everything, man.”
“Me? You’re a better interrogator. You’ve got the gift of subtlety. A level I haven’t achieved.” Sol quirked a black brow at Vulcan’s casual shrug. “Guess I’m it tonight.”
Noah chuckled. “Total hardship Sol, schmoozing with a good looker. Don’t seize up like usual,” he dared tease knowing Sol never seized with women. “Get her name so Quinn can run a trace on it at Tara Malone.”
An ugly expression sat on Sol’s face while glaring at Noah for the insult. Instead of going for the bait, he exited the booth as Vee slammed to his feet and said, “Sol, I’ll run with it.” He sauntered across the dance floor avoiding the oncoming waitress.
Sol sank back into the booth. “Something’s up with the bartender.”
“Sure is,” Noah heartily agreed. Well built and with distinctly pointed fairy ears hidden beneath a brown mane, he exuded charm. “Super feminine. Great fucking body. Nice jugs, man. Look at that smile.”
~~~
Josie’s worries grew once again that more folks had come to Rocking Hills in search of the mystery seer. Everyone in town talked nonstop about today’s newest arrivals.
She froze behind the bar when both front doors got shoved wide and three beefeaters strolled in. The other two only got a passing glance, yet the big blonde dressed in black stood out. Way the heck out as a heatwave flashed over her body, dampening her panties.
It became crystal clear why everybody talked. So many gorgeous guys in small-town America would draw anyone’s interest. Underneath the blonde’s leather jacket Josie had no doubt there would be a whole lotta yumminess. Muscled yumminess. Did he have abs? Real ones? She’d bet on it.
She tried not to stare as he scooped shoulder-length blonde hair off his face to show a strong brow and high cheekbones with a patrician nose. Wide red lips flashed a glimpse of pearly whites. Josie found him extremely sexy.
She saw his dark eyes sweeping the bar like a wary warrior on a battlefield. Automatically she assumed him to be succubus exuding level ten glamor. Even across the expansive room his draw evident.
Wrong place, wrong time.
Josie felt it in her bones as escape routes popped into her head. Plead sickness so the waitress filled in behind the bar? Or wait for Big Jim to take over the rest of the shift? Unable to say no to the biggest heart in town when Big Jim asked if she’d bartend for a few hours on the early shift, Josie readily agreed. Now regret surged.
The tension relaxed a little when they chose a booth opposite the dance floor. It shook her badly they might’ve set up at the bar, making it doubly difficult to maintain a cool composure and keep her power tucked away.
Too much to juggle, too much to lose in the face of these hunky unknowns.
Frustration mounted. Hope played they’d only come in for a quick drink. Yet every instinct screamed to run. She ignored it and dipped below the bar, grabbing three lemons from the fridge to slice. Far too many lemons for only a handful of patrons.
Irene, the waitress, joined Josie. “You’re dead white, girl. What’s up?”
“Upset stomach.” Lying to Irene came so easily it shocked Josie.
“Ginger ale. Good for a bad stomach. Lotsa sugar too.”
“Thanks.” Josie didn’t reach for a glass. Stress knotted her tummy so badly no way could she get anything down.
Irene smiled broadly. “See my new table? Mighty fine eye candy, best in town tonight. Shit, where did I put my tray?” Perky eyes swept the bar, spotting it wedged against the wall at the far end.
A split second later the dark-haired guy exited the booth. A bad boy for sure, dressed in black and arms covered in colorful tattoos. He even had a swagger. Josie could handle him. The big blonde not so much. Something about him made her damn nervous when she needed to be steady.
As long as the big blonde stayed in the booth, Josie believed she’d be fine. Head down and refusing to look up, unintentionally she held her breath.
A deep voice drawled, “Evening,” followed by, “I’m Vee. Vulcan Malone.”
Her heart spoke then, pinging around and thumping too loudly. The guy on the other side of the bar, oozing sexiness with just his voice, wasn’t the dark-haired one who left the booth. Her hands shook as she put the knife down. A glance up, offering a bright smile, confirmed her gut instinct. Even better looking up close, the big blonde almost took her breath away. “Hey. What can I get you?”
Pulse thudding in her neck, pleasure shot upwards. Chock full of gorgeousness and with such a sexy, luring smile the big blonde likely had any woman he wanted. Josie always shunned those kinda guys.
He carried an undeniable undercurrent. Confidence? Power? An indefinable twist. He also didn’t use magic or any kind of glamor either – Josie would’ve known. At least he wasn’t a succubus which strangely brought a wave of relief.
“You are?” Endlessly Vulcan waited for her to look up again. She didn’t. Lush and human instantly came to mind. Vampire warrior first, lover second, his tongue tingled for a taste.
Taste a human.
Forbidden since the veil between humans and other races promptly evaporated without warning or cause two years ago. Exposed races, shifters, fairies, vamps, demons and succubi, spilled onto the world stage. A chilling twist of fate for those hiding within the folds of civilization’s fabric their entire lives.
A tentative smile appeared. “Josie Jacks.” Smooth, ready for action and scared shitless. His dark eyes, all seeing and all knowing, might penetrate her fragile defenses.
Chapter 2
Tellingly after the veil disappeared the most common first question became – What race are you? Attractive Josie Jacks didn’t engage as expected. Didn’t appear to care what race he might be. Vulcan noted it. Curiosity rose a notch. “Hello, Josie. Three triples. Bourbon. No rocks. Please.”
Josie glanced up – way up into mesmerizing dark eyes. Endless black pools. “No bourbon, sorry. Nobody in town is into it.”
At six foot six and towering over her, Vulcan slouched broad shoulders and leaned on the bar. “Suggestions?” Her nervousness showed in small ways. One corner of her mouth drooped as her smile faltered.
