A Vampire’s Treasure E-Book

Rhiannon Futch

• Herausgeber: Rhiannon Futch
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Who would have thought convincing your vampire lover to turn you would be so difficult?
Devon was supposed to make me a vampire a century ago but I was murdered before he got the chance. Now he has all this opportunity and he keeps putting it off, I just need to figure out why.
Devon is the love of my life so why do I feel pulled to Charles who just won't leave me alone?
Charles comes to the library every night determined I will fall into his arms and his bed from the power of his dashing good looks alone. I want to say not a chance in hell but somehow, I find myself strangely drawn to him.
I know where my heart lies, but can I follow my heart knowing that it could cost the lives of everyone around me?

Leseprobe

A VAMPIRE’S TREASURE

RHIANNON FUTCH

Rhiannon Futch

Copyright © 2020 by Rhiannon Futch

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover Art © 2020 Rhiannon Futch

First e-book printing 21, August 2020

CONTENTS

Also by Rhiannon Futch

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

Also by Rhiannon Futch

About the Author

ALSO BY RHIANNON FUTCH

The Daughter of the Moon series-

Selena Rose, Daughter of the Moon Book 1

Thorns of the Rose, Daughter of the Moon Book 2

Heart of the Rose, Daughter of the Moon Book 3

The Fate’s Chronicles series

A Vampire’s Fate

A Vampire’s Treasure

A Vampire’s Dream

A Vampire’s Chase

A Vampire's Fight

Fated for Halloween - only available via email signup

The Belancore Witches of North Carolina series

Witchy Ever After

A Witchy New Year

My Witchy Valentine

Sin series

Sin on a Dark Knight

Sin on a Broken Heart

Sin on a Burning Heart

Sin on a Vengeful Heart

The Vampire Kings Series

Mercy of the Vampire King

Coming Soon

Shame of the Vampire King - September 2022

Pursuit of the Vampire King - November 2022

Prey of the Vampire King - January 2023

Reign of the Vampire King - March 2023

1

The living room seems much smaller with Natasha and Billy in it together. I don’t know how this will work, but we have to give it a try. The two of them spend all their time here as it is, and they cannot keep falling asleep in random places. It mortified me when I found Billy asleep in a tub in one of the bathrooms, after I had used the facilities. This just can’t go on and they are going to have to see that, whether or not they like it. I look to Devon for encouragement, all he has for me is raised eyebrows and determination.

Billy and Natasha glare at each other from their chairs on the other side of the table. Deep breath, you can do this. “Hey! Can you stop with the glaring at each other? I begin to think you two are doing this just to flirt with each other.” Matching gasps of outrage emerge from Billy and Natasha making me laugh, “I really do need to talk to you both. Without all the attitude for five minutes.” The two nod their agreement, forced as it is. Continuing on I say, “After the recent bathtub debacle and other incidents,” Billy and Natasha both light up in blushes, “Devon and I have decided that we need to do things a different way for the time being. We think that all the work we are doing would benefit by having the two of you living here.” They begin a chorus of the reasons why they could never live in the same house together. They are loud and I can’t deal with that today so I create a barrier of air around them, effectively cutting them off from bombarding us with the noise. Devon chuckles while we wait for the two of them to subside and be ready to talk about this like adults. Natasha is the first to notice and cuts off her rant, crossing her arms in front of her and giving me a hard glare. Waving a hand, I remove hers and leave Billy’s in place as he is still going on his tangent. Natasha tells me, “That was a dirty trick.”

“Yes, it was. I just can’t with the yelling today and so I pulled a dirty trick. Are you ready to talk reasonably about this or would you rather yell into the void a bit more?”

Rolling her eyes at me, Natasha says, “Fine. Yes, I am willing to talk reasonably. I don’t want to give up my apartment. I love that place. I don’t want to live in such close proximity to the yelling oaf over there that hasn’t even realized he isn’t being heard by anyone but himself.”

Smiling as I watch Billy realize we are talking but he can’t hear us, I tell Natasha, “I wouldn’t ask you to give up your apartment.” Billy is quiet now so I wave my hand to let him in on the conversation, “You should keep your apartment, I wouldn’t want you to let that go. But, you could have a room and things here so that you have a place to sleep that isn’t the floor of a random room. The same goes for you, Billy. No one should be sleeping in bathtubs. It’s just creepy. The both of you spend the majority of your time here, there is no reason why you shouldn’t have your own bedrooms. Natasha, you especially. You are my right hand and I need you near me to help in sorting through all of this. Between the business, my new duties as Chronicler, the mess with Charles, and all the things left over from Charlie… That is a lot for any one witch. I need you. Devon needs you Billy, and to some extent so do I.” Natasha and Billy are looking very serious now, but they appear to be thinking it over. That is more than I had hoped for so soon into this conversation. Billy speaks first, “Aye, you might be right. It certainly wasn’t the most comfortable thing to wake up and realize that someone was a using the loo on the other side of the shower curtain. We manage to avoid each other most of the time, should be easier when we sleep. I’ll do it. I don’ want a room right next to her though! She probably snores.” He grins briefly, a flash of white in the ebony planes of his face. Natasha narrows her eyes at him, “I think a room will be fine for now, wherever is fine. Decent sleep would be nice too.”

I am stunned that the two of them have become so reasonable and so quickly, but I will not look this gift horse in the butt. “Great! That’s settled, how about you and I go find you a bedroom after we get done here Natasha?” She nods her agreement and I move on to the next item, “Now, about the business. I have been thinking about this. I want it to be a helping organization, charitable one. Unfortunately, that will eventually mean fundraising. But I think we can do the magical community a lot of good and mostly right out in the open.” Natasha’s eyes have lit up, and she is leaning forward in her chair, “Fate, I love it! Can we do fundraising galas? I have always wanted to put together a gala!” Laughing, I nod, “Of course. We need reasons to wear glorious dresses. I was thinking we could do shows for sick kids, make them magical right out in the open. Everyone will believe it is part of the show and the kids will love it. We could have advocates for children, but maybe with a focus on the magic ones. I would like to believe that all of the magical community will be good to their children, but we know they aren’t all good. We could connect the ones they label as problems because of their abilities with counselors familiar with the magical world.” Billy is near bouncing with excitement as he says, “What about setting up a foster network? We could act as an agency for connecting problem children with fosters specializing in those kinds of problems. We could offer,” he holds up his fingers in air quotes, “trainings. I actually know some people that have a bit of experience with the foster system. I have been working at getting in touch with them recently for other reasons, but they could be a big help in getting this set up. Just based on the experience they have with fostering kids from the magical community.”

“Oh Holy Hera, that would be perfect! Yes! Get in touch with them and ask whether they would be willing to take part in getting this set up. I would love to talk to them if they aren’t able to travel here for whatever reason.”

Natasha chimes in, “What are we going to call it though? And where will we base it? I know we have been working from here, but that won’t be a viable set up for long.”

“You are so right,” Devon says, “that is why we have asked Maggie to set up touring some available buildings that might be appropriate for Fate’s purposes. If you two could work together, then finding the building would likely go much faster.” Both Billy and Natasha roll their eyes at him and turn back to focus on me, “I don’t know yet what we will call it. We can brainstorm on that this week. In that same vein, I have to start going through these spells that have been collected and left for safekeeping with Devon. I need to begin my duties as Chronicler and I plan to devote a couple hours daily to that end. It sure would help if I was a vampire and didn’t need sleep as often as I do now.” I look hard at Devon, who squirms in his seat.

“I feel like you should consider this more thoroughly before you jump into things. Besides, being newly turned is a lot to deal with all by itself.” Billy’s face says Devon is skirting the truth, and the fear I feel from the bond between us speaks to a different reason for the stall. He must not want to talk about it in front of Natasha and Billy, so I let it go. For now.

“Still, Natasha, I think we can get through a lot of these spells and weed out duplicates, add in variations, and in general update the entire book.”

“I think that is a good plan. Grams said we can definitely add her spell to the book. She feels honored to be included. Apparently she knew about it, but wasn’t one of the original families that started the books.”

“Oh. Well, that is fascinating. Hmm, I wonder why she didn’t share the information with you before now?”

Natasha shrugs, “No idea. Maybe she had a feeling she needed to keep it to herself until now.”

2

Altering space in a building is surprisingly easy. My office wasn’t quite big enough to do all I need to be able to do in there, with the setting up of my foundation, duties as Chronicler, and all the research I need to do. Half of it is dedicated to craft and anyone not a part of the magical community that enters the office will not be able to see that half as it would only confuse them. I have a nice lectern situated on that side to hold whatever tome I am researching currently. The work tables I scavenged from thrift stores since I was fully aware that I would be scarring them up anyway. My desk still sits in the same place, but now there is a shiny new filing cabinet nearby. The window is much larger and lets in so much light; I love it.

I have a couple bookshelves on the other side as well, there are a couple of grimoires that branches of the families turned over for lack of heirs to hand it down to. Plus the one that I am Chronicling in, it is huge. Though from what I understand it won’t seem any bigger. However, I feel I may need to spell it eventually to control the weight of the book. The space it takes up may have been altered already, but the weight of the book was not included in that alteration. I don’t imagine anyone could have guessed it would be tasked with holding so much information.

It amazed Natasha when she saw it the first time. She couldn’t believe how big a book it is. Now we are working our way through it and the spells not already contained within the book, and we are equally amazed at all the overlap. So many spells to have a child. Even more to heal a sick child. The time of measles pandemics was horrible, and the Spanish flu even worse. I can’t imagine how many witches over spent their energies healing as many as they could.

For now, I am perusing the book while I wait for Natasha to arrive. She left for her apartment this morning for clothing and such to keep here. She texted about 20 minutes ago saying she was on her way. She is probably putting her things away in her room. I am taking notes as I go through the book, on similar spells and which families created them.

I hear my phone beep on the desk and turn to go get it. I see Natasha standing on the other side of the room, looking very annoyed. She and Billy must have passed each other in the hall.

“Hey, what kept you? Why do you look so annoyed?” I ask her as I pick up my phone. Checking the message, I see it is from Natasha. I look over at her, “Why did you text me when you were here?”

She rolls her eyes at me, “I have been here for the past twenty minutes! I couldn’t get in and you couldn’t hear me! I sent the message to your phone in the hope that the noise from it would penetrate this thing.”

My mouth forms an O as I look between her and the thin glimmer that is the boundary between the two halves of the room. “I had no idea. Can you go in now?”

I watch as she puts her hand through the barrier first, followed by the rest of her. “Can you still hear me?”

Natasha nods and says, “Yes.”

I step up to the boundary and put my hand through no problem. I step fully into the area and shrug at Natasha, “Maybe it is because I made it?”

Sighing, Natasha asks, “Did you put in the spell that it was to allow magical people that live here to enter freely?”

“Um, no. That didn’t occur to me…” This blushing thing sucks. “Sorry. I can cast it again and add that.”

Natasha shakes her head no, “I think you should leave it as is. Call Devon. See if he and Billy can walk in while I am in here.”

“Ok, this might be fun to watch.” I message the two of them as I say, “So you could see that I was in here, you just couldn’t get through or get me to hear you?”

“Right.”

Billy walks in first and straight toward us. He gets to the barrier, first hitting it with his toes, slamming his knee into it and then stopping himself from hitting the barrier with his face by throwing his hands up to break his fall. Natasha starts laughing and while we can’t hear what Billy is saying, I don’t think it is complimentary. Devon walks in and his jaw drops, Billy must be really cursing up a storm out there. He looks over at us and grins. Billy seems to be starting a whole new rant as Devon walks over and puts his hand against the barrier. I step up to the barrier and touch my hand to his, our fingers entwine and he steps through the barrier into my arms. He feels so nice. Turning his upper body, he puts a hand through the barrier. Billy walks over, takes his hand and steps through. He gives me such a look saying, “You could have at least warned me.”

Grinning, I ask, “Where is the fun in that? Besides, you would have done the same. Now, one more test. If I leave this side, can you all depart as you will? Or are you trapped until I return?”

Devon releases me, and I step around him, out of the barrier. He puts his hand against the barrier and pushes right through to stand at my side. Billy and Natasha are another story, they try the same and nothing happens. But we can hear them from our side of the barrier. It is a most curious thing, Devon and I step back through.

I say, “Well, I do not understand how this happened, but I think I should work out the details to fix it for the three of you at the very least. I need you all to be able to come in here should anything happen to me.”

Devon growls, “Nothing is going to happen to you this time. I am going to make sure of it. No matter what. If I have to end Charles, then so be it.” He crushes me a little in this big hug and I tell him, “While I like the way you think, it is still a possibility. Charles could get to me. The killer my husband hired before he died could sniper me through a window. I could get in a car wreck and die. Cancer. Heart attack. Lightening could strike. Until I am turned, I am pretty easy to kill and my chances of dying are the same as anyone else. You have to accept that if you aren’t going to turn me anytime soon.”

Devon groans and squeezes me tight again, “I don’t want to lose you, but that is a risk I have to take for now.” He lets go and puts his hands on my shoulders, “Please, just be cautious? For me?”

“Of course. I am not in any hurry to die now that I am loving my life so much. Still though, it would be one less worry if you turned me.”

Natasha chimes in, “I agree. Of all of us, she is the most at risk. Turning her would alleviate a lot of that risk. For now, though, she and I have work to do. Scram, both of you. Fate and I don’t need supervision.”

Billy shrugs and strolls on out, if carefully. Devon gives me one last kiss before he too walks out.

Turning to Natasha, I ask her, “Are you ready to cast the recognition spell on me now?”

“Yes, let’s get it done and then we can work on this. Do you want to put it in the book first or after?”

“After. I think I can describe it better if I watch you cast it. Did your grandmother cast it on you?”

“Yeah, she said with the way I go through guys I needed to be able to recognize a snake in the grass if one found me. She said she never bothered with mom though, mom never looked at guys much till she met dad and after she met him she was done. No other guy ever caught her attention again. Since it seemed mutual Grams didn’t see the point.”

I continued to pepper her with questions as she readied the elements of the spell. Everything in place she begins and I fall silent, just feeling the magic build and watching as she moves through the ritual. Natasha is all grace and beauty as she walks around me in her bare feet, with jeans and today’s garnet colored silk shirt. I could watch her cast spells for days. Her hair is unbound, and it floats a little like flames when she uses her magic. I feel the spell settle over me like a blanket of love and soak in. My third eye lights up and opens more than it has ever done. I am surprised by this, but I will record it in the book. Natasha is watching me expectantly, so I ask, “Does everyone get the weird feeling in their third eye after this?”

She frowns, “Some do. Most feel a warm blanket settling on them and then they just know. Grams told me the ones that feel the weirdness in their third eye had the ability already, they just needed to open to it.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. It’s a little weird for you to have that. Think Pru will let us cast it on her? I want to know if she has it too or is that a soul thing.”

“I don’t know. Let me message her and see if she will come over?” I send a quick text to Pru, asking if she has time to come over. She immediately texts back, saying she has time, and she needs the address. I send that and she says she will see me in twenty. “Ok, she is coming over. Let’s get this spell recorded while we wait. Oh, I need to text Billy. He is playing doorman today.” I send the text to Billy and the two of us get to work on a fresh page in the book. As we finish recording her grandmother’s spell in the book Natasha takes a picture to send to her grandmother.

“Grams wanted a picture?”

“She didn’t ask, no. But she was very honored to be asked for one of her spells to go in the book. She said only the most powerful or most popular of witches, the ones with the right connections, were asked to be part of the Chronicle. She said she always thought that was such a shame.”

“I think I know why, but did she say what her reason was?”

“Of course she did. She loves to tell me her reasons. She says that it might educate me the way my mother never did. She said that by keeping it restricted to those particular families they cut off a world of knowledge. So many other families with their long lineages quietly going about their business and we miss out on saving their knowledge because they don’t have the right last name.”

“I thought as much. Well, I do not have any reservations about adding spells from all witches that would like to. We can start more books if we need to. There is no reason to not include the other witches. I mean, my family wasn’t included either, but they are now.”

“Oh good. Grams said if that was how you responded that I could tell you the rest.”

“The rest? There’s more? What?”

“Oh, there is definitely more. Grams has been collecting grimoires. As did her mother and her mother before her. Anytime a family died out or didn’t have an heir in their direct line, they passed their books on to them. So Grams said if you responded right, you get the grimoires. All the grimoires she has and there are about a hundred.”

My jaw drops, “A hundred? Are you joking? Holy Hera, that is a lot! Why wouldn’t they be included? This is bananas. When does she want us to come collect them? I mean, that is going to take a long time to get catalogued and added, we are going to need help. I need to hire someone else. I wonder if Maggie could recommend someone? Ugh. I still have to do the other interviews. I need to put her on retainer.”