The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

Jaidyn is a vampire. He faints at the sight of blood, his fangs
haven’t  developed,  and  he’s  a  vegetarian.  But  worse—he’s
also  a  virgin.  Even  organising  the  cabaret  show,  Dracula—
revamped,  at  Monsters  inK,  while  dealing  with  renegade
wizards,  vampires,  a  feisty  witch  and  their  human
companions  is  everyday  stuff.  But  his  life  becomes
complicated  when  he  rescues  the  injured  leopard  shifter,
whose sexy smile and seductive songs turn Jai’s life upside
down.  Leydan  is  a  thief  on  a  deadly  mission.  What  he’s
stolen every Blood-Kin wants. Battle lines are drawn, but it
is the battle for the heart that may destroy Jai and Ley… Can
a vampire truly love a thief? Somehow Ley has to convince
the vampire that a leopard can truly change his spots when
he finds his life-mate.

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
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The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

ISBN: 978-1-77111-156-0

Cover art by Martine Jardin

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Dear Reader,
Welcome to the third book in the Monsters inK series.

Why ‘inK’ is spelled this way instead of the correct
spelling—Inc—is explained in book 2 – Vampire for Hire.

I’m an Australian writer, so my books are set ‘down

under’ in regions I am personally acquainted with, but with
obvious modifications. Port Adelaide, the location in this
book, is a real place and so are the old warehouses.

You may also notice that the spelling and grammar is

Australian style and if any Aussie words are used in the
story, they are explained. However, if any reader would like
a more detailed explanation of any Aussie-isms, please do
email me. kopperkat@gmail.com

The books in the series so far are
Christmas Creek
Vampire for Hire
The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

New titles due soon:
Fangs for the Memories
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

The series is on-going, with more titles, new characters

and settings just still a twinkle in my eye.

I hope you enjoy these books as much as I had enjoyed

writing them.

Best wishes!

Astrid Cooper.

Chapter One

oes my bum look big in this?” Tony swivelled on his
six-inch stilettos to get a closer look in the mirror, his

gaze on the pink velvet hotpants hugging his tight arse.

Jaidyn laughed. Leaning against the doorframe, arms

folded, watching proceedings had proved a welcome respite
from  hours  behind  his  desk,  re-writing  the  script.  The
human  was  preening,  while  Camilla,  his  wife,  squatted  at
his  feet  measuring  his  inner  leg  for  another  of  her
extravagant  creations.  Tony,  whose  acting  and  dancing  left
one  breathless,  and  Cami  who  could  turn  a  scrap  of  fabric
into  chic—it  never  ceased  to  amaze  Jaidyn  how  easily
Sebastian  gathered  around  him  a  small,  intimate  circle  of
talent. Another example of his boss’s vampire sixth sense at
work.

The cabaret room in the basement of the Monsters inK

building was awash with costumes—garish, luminescent
creations dripping with diamantes and sparkling with Ril’s
spells to make them shimmer in the cabaret’s black and red
lights.

“You’re worried about your derriere, when the share

market  crashed  overnight  and  the  local  member  of
Parliament  was  caught  by  the  police  at  two  a.m.  skinny-
dipping  at  Semaphore  Beach,  with  three  men—none  of
whom were her husband—that same Member who is going
to officially open our building? She claimed immunity from
prosecution citing religious reasons because she’s a wiccan.”

“D

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

Ril sniffed. “She’s no witch and her actions have branded

all the sisters as wanton nymphomaniacs. That woman is not
setting foot inside this door.”

“It’d be good publicity,” Tony said.
“As if we need that sort of exposure.”
“Nothing wrong with exposure, Auntie Ril.”
“I sometimes think you don’t have a brain in that

gorgeous head of yours, Tony,” Ril said, her fingers poised,
ready to invoke another spell on Dracula’s cape. Not the real
Dracula, of course—he was long dead, but the cape was the
integral  prop  for  the  cabaret  finale.  The  thing  was  being
primed  to  obey  a  spell  that  would  see  it  morph  into  a  bat
and  fly  through  the  audience,  trailing  purple  mist—if  Ril
had her way. Jaidyn smiled. Ril usually did prevail amongst
the Monsters’ team.

“My priorities are right where they should be, Ril,” Tony

retorted. “Keeping Camilla satisfied.”

“With four babies under six, and a menagerie of rescued

animals, I’m not sure satisfied comes into it.”

“Something comes, that’s for sure.”
Ril rolled her eyes. “Men. Useless species. Ought to be

done away with.”

“Now where would be the fun in that, witch?” Jaidyn

asked.

“Fun and men are mutually exclusive,” Ril said.
“Well, thanks so much, wife.” Laughing, Brutus emerged

from behind the stage curtain.

“You are the exception, Bru,” Ril said, narrowing her eyes

on her lover. “And you can wipe that smug look from your
face. You’re on borrowed time.”

Brutus grinned. “How long have I got?”
“Fifty years or so.”
“You get less for murder.”
Jaidyn laughed. “Here are the scripts, finally edited.” He

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placed them on the table. “I’m hoping to do another audition
tomorrow night.”

“Still think you’re gonna get someone to play Dracula?”
“I’m optimistic.”
“You know no self-respecting vamp is gonna dance

around the stage in a chiffon tutu.” Dracula’s dream
sequence had the Monsters team in hysterics the first time
they rehearsed.

“We posted on all the Blood-kin lists, and no one

applied,” Ril said. “Jai, maybe you’ll have to rewrite that
opening scene?”

“I’ve re-written it three times already.”
“Any more changes and it’ll spoil the whole theme of the

show.” Tony put his hands on his hips, pirouetting on his
heels, assuming his transvestite-werewolf character. “Why
don’t you play the part, Jai? You’ve got the voice.”

“I’m not good enough.”
Ril snorted. “I’ve heard you singing at night when you

think no one is here, when I’m casting the protective wards
on our Sanctuary. I know you can sing.”

“Ah, but Ril, honey, I can’t dance.”
“Then it’s back to advertising?” Brutus frowned. “Pity we

can’t post in the local papers. I know for sure someone
would love to play Dracula. Yeah, I know, we can’t let
humans into the act. Present company excluded,” he added
looking at his nephew and Camilla. “But it’s a damn pity we
can’t ask any of the regular Monsters employees.”

Jaidyn smiled. Monsters inK allowed very few humans

into  the  business.It  made  for  complications—capital  C—
Complications  that  Sebastian  and  Matt,  the  owners  of
Monsters  inK  could  do without.  Matt  remained  boss  of  the
original  Monsters  business,  employing  humans  as
entertainers, but it was now becoming a sideline, with many
of  the  original  employees  retiring  due  to  old  age,  or  other

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

interests.

Jaidyn’s rewrite of the script had reduced the musical to a

cast made up solely of Ril, Tony, Brutus and Cami and when
not on stage, they doubled as the crew, with Matt and Bas
lending a hand. Ril’s spells were literally holding the show
together.

Ril frowned at Jai. He realised she must have heard his

thoughts, or at least sensed his despondency.

“So, Monsters is still persona non grata among the Kin?”

Brutus asked,

Ril snorted. “They all have delusions of grandeur. Some

of the greatest artists of this world were Kin, not that anyone
now dares acknowledge it. Don’t worry, Jai, I can do more
spells.”

“You’re stretched too thinly as it is.”
“Pffft!” She turned away, tossing her long dark braid over

her shoulder.

“Don’t mess with Auntie Ril when she does that hair

thing,” Tony said.

Jaidyn grinned at the human, who returned the smile.

Though  he  might  play  Mr.  Air  Head,  Tony  had  a  PhD  in
quantum  physics.  Like  Jaidyn,  he’d  turned  his  back  on
academia and the family’s expectations to pursue his love of
the theatre.

“I don’t know how you do it, Tony,” Jaidyn said.
“What’s that?”
“Dance in those shoes.”
“Years of practice. Cami and I cross-dressed since the day

we met.”

Camilla snorted. “In your dreams.”
“You always wore my boxers.”
“Because you always ripped off my panties.”
“Camilla, please!” Brutus flushed. The former circus

strongman was a walking contradiction—fierce, married to a

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witch, yet turned to a blushing mess where his niece-in-law
was concerned.

Jaidyn smiled. “I hope you’ve double-sewn the seams,

Cami, otherwise it’ll bring a whole new meaning to the term
indecent exposure.”

“Who said it would be indecent?” Tony undulated his

nether regions and lost his balance on the stilettos.

Laughing, Jaidyn stalked away. His last sight of the

couple was them writhing on the floor in a tangle of arms
and legs and a silver feather boa.

Life at Monsters was never dull. Ten months ago, he’d

entered  Bas’s  office,  tired  and  desperate,  his  portfolio  of
opera  in  one  hand,  his  battered  rucksack  containing  all  his
possessions in the other. Bas, according to Matt, had arrived
for a job interview in almost the same state. It seemed  such
was the criteria for offering every down and out monster a
job. Jaidyn had spread out his portfolio of operettas, ranging
from  the  deadly  serious  to  the  outlandishly  bizarre.  Bas,
with  Matt  hitched  up  on  his  desk,  had  read  some  of  them,
laughing  uproariously  at  the  one  they  chose,  Dracula—
revamped.  Hired  on  the  spot,  he  became  part  of  the  team  at
Monsters.

Except, Jaidyn wasn’t a monster. He wished he was. Or, at

least he had, before he had found his friends and his niche as
the creative consultant. He was accepted for what he was—a
hybrid fangless vampire, who was a vegetarian and fainted
at the sight of blood.

Jaidyn pushed open the basement door and walked out

into  the  courtyard.  The  workmen  and  landscape  gardener
had made an oasis out of the former derelict alley. The plan
was  that  with  each  new  production,  the  courtyard  would
highlight  the  theme.  So,  for  Dracula—revamped,  the
converted  alley  featured  a  gothic  design,  complete  with
central  fountain  in  the  shape  of  a  cloaked  vampire.  When

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

activated,  the  fountain  would  emit  purple  mist.  That  had
been  Erilla’s  suggestion  and  the  others  laughed  until  they
cried.  It  had  taken  Jaidyn  days  to  understand  the  joke.
Someone  left  a  news  cutting  on  his  desk—a  report  about  a
student  prank  in  the  Royal  Adelaide  Hospital  which  had
seen  the  Intensive  Care  Unit  haunted  by  otherworld
creatures, the corridors awash with swirling purple mist.  It
didn’t take him long to realise who had been responsible.

Erilla had a fine touch of the theatrics and a penchant for

purple.

Jaidyn sat back in the chair and carefully peeled off the

gold  wrapper  from  the  chocolate  bar—one  of  Sev’s
dedcadent creations. He bit down on the end, the rich, bitter-
sweetness flooding his mouth, his senses. Someone had once
said  that  the  taste  was  very  much  like  Bouquet—the  rare
blood  vintage  that  all  vampires  craved,  but  few  found.  He
savoured the next bite.

Crash. Bang.
At the end of the courtyard, behind the lattice, something

collided with the metal lights and other props. It was one of
Gyng’s favourite sunning places—but the moggy was
vacationing at Erilla’s country property while Bas and Matt
were in Retreat, dealing with Matt’s final rite of passage to
companion vampire.

Jaidyn heard a low hiss, followed by another crash. He

stood up and stalked down the courtyard. He pushed open
the door and…

Crikey!
At first he thought it was a spotted white cat, but as his

eyes  adjusted  to  the  gloom,  he  realised  it  was  a  leopard.
More  than  a  leopard,  he  smelt  shifter.  Bloody  Hell!  Cat
shifters meant trouble.

And this one would be trouble, Jai just knew it. But the

shifter needed his help. Jai bent down to take a closer look. A

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studded, black metal collar cut into the creature’s flesh. The
animal was barely breathing, its eyes wide with pain and
terror. Some of the big cat’s claws were shredded to the
pad—he’d not gone down without a fight. Where the collar
bit into flesh, blood oozed, matting the fur.

Jai gagged, willing away the nausea. He drew in a

steadying  breath  and  reached  out  to  lift  the  animal,  but  its
mouth  clamped  over  his  wrist,  biting  to  the  bone.  Blood
erupted  from  the  wound,  spraying  him,  his  clothes.  He
nearly puked. Get a grip, Jai! One of the cat’s back legs kicked
against Jaidyn’s arm and chest, a jagged claw shredding his
shirt, ripping his chest.

“Hey, I’m trying to help you, you—”
The cat bit harder, struggling to rise to its feet. As if that

had exhausted him, the leopard slumped to the ground and
dragged itself into a corner, wedging its body behind the
lattice.

Jai knew a few cat words. What was the one for friend?

Insha—insha—something.

“Insha-ellen,” Jai said. “Friend.” As he reached out his

hand,  the  cat’s  eyes  dilated,  followed  by  the  baring  of  its
deadly teeth. “Right, have it your way. Sorry about this.” Jai
tugged off his shirt and stuffed it into the cat’s mouth, tying
the  sleeves  around  the  muzzle.  He  dragged  the  cat  out  by
the  back  legs.  Hells!  The  cat was  heavy. The  leopard  might
be thin, but he was still all muscle and he must weigh close
to two hundred pounds. Jai lifted the creature into his arms
and staggered inside.

“Tony, where are you?”
“Here, what? Oh…hey! What’s a leopard doing here?”
“Get Ril.”
“You need a vet.”
“Can’t take him to any human, Tony.”
“Right, I’ll go get her.”

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

Jaidyn gently eased the cat down onto the black leather

sofa in his office and untied the shirt-muzzle.

Ril paused in the doorway. She stepped forward, hands

widespread, her gaze riveted upon the leopard. “Peace.
Insha-ellen.”

The big cat made a feeble attempt to rise from the sofa,

but fell back, with a snarl.

Ril gently touched the collar around the leopard’s neck.

“Bastards,” she muttered.

“What?”
“You’ve never seen a torture collar? I wore one for two

days—when  I  was  in  prison.  It  links  to  your  brainwaves,
your  nerves.  Whoever  controls  the  collar  controls  you  and
you do what they say or they fry your brain. Literally. And
this one’s been on for so long, the flesh has grown over it in
places.”

“So how are you going to remove it?”
“I might kill the cat with magic, and even cutting might…

Hells!”

“Try, Ril.”
“Of course I’m going to try, you idiot fang-boy.”
“I don’t have fangs, witch.”
“Yet.”
Jai rolled his eyes. Ril seemed optimistic that eventually

his  vampire  blood—diluted  as  it  was—would  rise  to  the
occasion,  bringing  forth  a  set  of  fangs  and  a  penchant  for
blood.  Yeah,  right,  and  cats  might  fly.  Well,  there  was  one
species  of  flying  cat  among  the  shifters…and  the  least  said
about them the better.

“Have you spaced out on me, Jaidyn?”
“Sorry… No. What?”
Ril snorted. “I asked if you’d put the cat on the floor. I

need to draw a protective circle around him. Tony, don’t just
stand there open mouthed, get my bag. And for the

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goddess’s sake, take off those ridiculous shoes.”

Tony tottered away, returning moments later with Ril’s

purple velvet magic bag. Tony carried it as if it was going to
bite him, at arm’s length, with one finger hooked under the
handle. A witch’s bag—who knew what it might contain—
but for the unwary, definitely not to be messed with. Jai was
glad he didn’t have to touch the bloody thing.

Ril nodded. “On the floor.”
“Me, or the bag?” Tony asked.
The witch’s eyes narrowed, a silent warning to behave. “I

want Jaidyn and the bag next to me on the floor. Tony, close
the door on your way out and see we aren’t disturbed. For
no reason.”

“You want me here?” Jai asked. “I’m no good with

magic.” Who was he kidding? He could stomach magic, it
was the sight and smell of blood that made him sick to his
gut. He knew it and so did Ril.

Ril smiled grimly. “If you can’t watch, close your eyes. I

need you to monitor me. You can do that, I know.”

Jaidyn had the ability to match his heartbeat to another’s.

Ril often used him as monitor for her deeper spells, so that
she wasn’t lost in the intricate maze of conjurings. Jai could
pull her out in an instant, if anything went wrong.

The witch drew a silver circle around the leopard, adding

swirls and runes to the outer edge, all the while chanting
and mixing charms. It set Jai’s teeth on edge. If he had fangs,
he was sure they’d be itching.

Ril knelt by the leopard’s head and put her hand on its

brow. More witch’s words and the cat hissed.

“Language, fur-ball!” She hissed back. “I thought Gyng

had attitude! I’ve never heard such swearing.”

Jai almost laughed. It took a lot to upset Ril. Whatever the

cat said must have been bad.

Ril bent over the cat and put her hands over the collar.

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

The cat tensed and jerked. Even as an observer, Jai caught
the backlash of pain as a faint tingling along his spine. The
cat must be in agony, but it made no sound, just stared up at
Ril with eyes as dark as midnight.

“I could try and take some of the cat’s pain?” Jai asked.

He had that ability in small measure. It sometimes was
useful to Ril and the team.

“No. The collar would link to you, as well. I can fight for

the cat, but not for the two of you. Ssssh.”

For an hour Ril fought the collar, and the spells and other

talismans embedded in it, so that its removal would never be
easy, dangerous at best, lethal at worst… Whoever had set it
on the cat, had made damn sure it wasn’t to be removed.
Blood trickled onto the floor, some of it Ril’s, where the
collar’s needles pierced her fingers.

Jai swallowed convulsively. “I thought torture collars

were outlawed centuries ago.”

“Like they’ve outlawed witch deflowering? There’s

always some who work outside the law, following their own
rules. This is a wizard’s work.”

“You sure?” Jaidyn studied Ril. The witch had few

failings, but her inborn suspicion and hatred of most
wizards bordered on obsession. Not that he could blame her.
“If a wizard did this, then we need to tell Severin.”

Sev was a Blood-Ally, and a powerful mystic who lived in

the mid North with his human lover. Together they ran the
Decadence  Café. He  occasionally  visited  Wizard  Sanctuary,
working,  maintaining  his  connections  with  the  magic  boys.
Jai  liked  Severin,  but  sometimes  the  wizard  gave  him  the
chills,  which  was  probably  due  to  the  innate  antagonism
between  vampire  and wizard.  Gyng  drooled  every  time  he
saw Severin. Cats and wizards… Jai shook himself. He was
spacing  out.  Too  much  blood,  too  much  witchery  in  this
room.

Astrid Cooper

“I’ll tell Severin, later. Hells’ bells!” Ril twisted the collar

and it sprung open, needles again slicing into her skin. Blue
light snaked across the metal collar, the last tendrils of magic
evaporating with a ping. She hurled the thing across the
room.

Freed from the collar’s inhibitor, the cat morphed to

human form. Ril stared down at the cat, so did Jai, but for a
far  different  reason.  The  shifter  was  utterly  gorgeous,  in  a
race known for its beauty. A tall, muscled man, as all shifters
were,  his  mahogany-coloured  hair  curled  around  his  neck,
burnished ginger-golden strands interwoven in the red. His
skin was a light cinnamon colour, and at the juncture of his
thighs, a thatch of leopard spotted fur, surrounding a cock of
fascinating  contours…  Jai  closed  his  eyes,  feeling  like  a
voyeur.

“Will he live?” Jai asked Ril as she pushed herself to her

feet. Weariness was etched in every line on her face.

“He’s young and strong. Yes, he’ll live, but that’s not my

worry.”

“Meaning?”
“Meaning that sometimes these collars are embedded so

deep, have hurt so much, that removal sends the creature
insane. If he’s not already,” she said glancing at the welts
and bite marks on Jai’s body. “I need to fix those.”

“I’ll be okay. I just needed a bit of antiseptic and a

bandaid—”

Ril waved her hand dismissively. “Pfft. You need more

than that. Don’t argue. Sit.”

“Best do as she says,” Brutus said from the doorway.

“When she’s in one of her moods, you can’t argue with her.”

“Personal experience, Bru?” Jaidyn asked.
He rolled his eyes in answer.
Ril carefully cleaned the bites and claw marks, and ran

her healing crystal over Jai’s skin. She wiped a salve over his

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

arm and hand.

“Hell, Ril, that stings.”
“No pain, no gain, sweetheart,” she whispered, pausing

as she eyed the welts on Jai’s chest.

“Well, Ril, finish what you started,” he teased the old

witch.

“I’ll leave the salve on the desk. I’m not going to rub your

chest, Jaidyn. Maybe you can ask cat-boy there to do that
when he wakes up.” She touched Jai’s arm. “All done. I’ve
accelerated the healing. Two days’ time, you’ll be as good as
new.”

“Bad as new you mean,” Jai said, smiling.
“You…bad? Hell, no. I’ve met bad in my life, you don’t

qualify.  I  know  you  try  hard  to  be  Mr.  Mad,  Bad  and
Dangerous To Know. You aren’t mean, not even close.” She
smiled.  “Mr.  Kitty  is  going  to  sleep,  I’m  not  sure  for  how
long.  When  he  wakes,  if  he’s  psycho,  spray  this  over  him
and  call  me.”  She  placed  a  bottle  in  Jai’s  hand.  “It’s  a
sedative. Hold your breath if you use it, because it’ll knock
you out cold. You okay? You look a bit green.”

“Just my gut.”
“Take deep breaths.” She bent down to the collar, her

hand stalling. “Jai, give me one of your pencils.”

Jai retrieved one from his desk and handed it to her.

Using the pencil, Ril lifted the collar, dropping it onto Jai’s
tattered shirt. Flicking the fabric around the collar, covering
it, she paused. Jai saw her hands tremble, her face ashen. He
knelt beside her and quickly wrapped the collar. “Whereja’
want it?”

“In my bag.” She held her case open and Jai dropped the

thing  inside,  his  fingers  tingling  with  the  aftermath  of  its
power and his own horror of it. “Thanks, Jaidyn. Even after
so  long,  a  collar  terrifies  me.”  She  smiled  weakly.  “I’ll  do
some  tests,  trace  its  origins.  And  then,  payback  will  be  a

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bitch.”

“You ought to let the Council do that, Ril.”
“Those old men don’t know a fart. Now, Brutus, get that

ugly carcass of yours moving. I have to get home and feed
the cat. You know how Gyng likes his salmon fillet at five
every afternoon.” She paused and looked over her shoulder.
“And you keep an eye on that cat of yours, Jaidyn. Any sign
of madness, you put him to sleep with that herbal I left. And
call me.”

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

Chapter Two

at senses jolted him awake. Not alone. Enemy. He risked
a tentative scenting. All he smelled was the wet feather

stink—the legacy of magic…he swallowed convulsively.

Then the pain slammed into him. It took all his control to

push it to the back of his mind. Another scent intruded. He
sensed the nearness of a creature, but what it might be, he
had no idea.

He peered through slitted eyelids. In the corner of the

room a man sat at a desk, his curtain of long black hair over
his face as he bent forward, reading and  writing on papers
on his desk. Papers? What sort of antiquated world…? Images,
memories  flashed  before  his  eyes.  Blood  and  entrails
spattered over his fur… His clan brothers dead around him,
the  stench  of  wizards  and  vampires  and  a  hells-damned
traitor cat.

“You’re awake,” the man said. He put down the pen and

pushed back from the desk.

Growling, the shifter launched across the room, morphing

to cat, his remaining claws extended. Changing to human
form, he pinned the man against the wall, his arm across the
man’s throat, his knee in his groin.

“Who…you?” It hurt to talk, to think. But he needed

answers and fast.

“Jaidyn Saungeray. And get the fuck off me!”
The darkhaired man twisted away then advanced, a bottle

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in his right hand, the spray nozzle aimed at him.

“Behave. We saved your life.”
What was this creature saying? What was he? The scent

was confused, unknown, but then the faintest trace…
Vampire!

The room turned upside down, a whirlpool of grey and

black  spinning  around  him,  clouding  his  mind,  his  vision.
He  had  to  get  away…get  away.  A  long,  dark  tunnel
beckoned  and  he  morphed,  leaping  toward  it,  paws
outstretched.

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

Chapter Three

eydan’s cat senses jolted him awake. Danger. Then his
man-self dominated. He heard the sound of running
water and a man’s deep voice singing. He listened to its

subtle nuances. It was an interesting voice, layered, but the
breathing was out of synch, making the singer breathless
and limiting his range.

He moved slowly, carefully. The pain in his body, around

his neck…he slammed a mental block against it. He couldn’t
afford to let any hurt interfere with his mission.

He swung up off the sofa-bed and paused while the room

righted  itself.  He  was  so  weak.  How  long  had  he  been
asleep?  He  shakily  stretched  every  muscle,  then  his  spine,
bending and twisting, leopard style. And once his brain and
body cleared, he realised that he had to pee. Badly.

He’d been on this world before, appalled by its barbarity

and the primitive sanitary arrangements. He found the toilet
in the back room and relieved himself.

Turning away from the receptacle, he caught sight of

himself  in  the  mirror.  He  grimaced  at  the  hollow-cheeked
stranger,  his  matted  hair  standing  on  end.  Cats’  whiskers!
He’d  turn  a  medusa  to  stone.  And  what  was  that  stars-
fucking-awful stink? It didn’t take him long to realise he was
smelling  his  own  stench—unwashed  body,  and  old  blood,
combined with wizard, magic, vampire and fear.

He needed a bath and he needed answers. And both

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would be found if he followed that singing.

Leydan crept through the room in which he had awoken

into an adjoining room. Through the partly open door he
saw the man—no, correct that, he thought, scenting. This
creature was a vampire, but not quite. He didn’t smell right.

The vampire stood under the shower, lathering his body

with  vanilla-scented  soap.  For  a  moment,  Leydan
appreciated  the  vampire’s  contours—harsh  planes  and  the
other softer, rounded, his legs were long and muscular and
his  arse…  Ley  purred.  The  man  flicked  back  his  long  dark
hair, letting the water run over his face, down his body.

The growl of cat-arousal escaped before Leydan knew it.

The  vampire  turned.  His  gaze  locked  with  Leydan’s.  For  a
moment  Leydan  saw  shock,  then  embarrassment.  How
delightful—a  vampire  who  was  embarrassed.  Rare.
Intriguing. A challenge.

Ley frowned. As if he needed a challenge of that kind—

here and now!

“Like what you see?” the vampire demanded.
“Not much.” A little white lie couldn’t hurt.
The vampire snapped off the tap and stepped out of the

shower. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Watching you.” Leydan grinned as the vampire’s eyes

narrowed, glinted. Now that was a challenge no cat worth
his spots could resist. He padded forward and picked up the
fluffy mauve towel draped over the washbasin. He dangled
it, like a lure, daring the vampire closer.

The vampire leant forward and snatched the towel to his

wet body. “Who are you and what’s your name?”

Silence.
Ley stared at the welts on the vampire’s arm, hand.

Furrows in his chest. All healing, but… “I hurt you?”

The vampire shrugged. “You didn’t know what you were

doing.”

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

“No,” Ley said. “I’m sorry. Please, to forgive me,” he said

in traditional cat syntax. He bowed, his hand over his heart.
“Where am I?”

“My home.”
“This is your home?” Leydan was truly shocked. That

anyone would willingly chose such an austere, soulless place
to live—hell, it said much for the man-vampire. Well, that
was a vamp for you—some of them slept in coffins and
haunted graveyards. Absolutely no taste or finesse.

“So, cat, what’s your name? I’m not asking for your spirit

name, just your everyday moggy name. No harm in that.”

Silence.
“Right, I’ll call you Alley, as in alley cat, because that’s

where I found you.”

Leydan felt his lip curl. Was it a snarl, or the beginnings

of a smile? He wasn’t sure.

“My name is Leydan.”
“Just Leydan?”
“Nothing just about me, fang-boy. And who are you?”
“Jaidyn Saungeray. I told you that already.”
Leydan ran a hand over his eyes. “I don’t remember.”
“No, I suppose not. You were pretty much out of it with

your fangs at my throat.” Their gazes clashed.  “You’re safe
here,  so  get  that  I’m-gonna-rip-your-heart-out  look  from
your  eyes.”  Jai  wrapped  the  towel  around  himself. Leydan
watched,  because  in  that  deliberate  measure,  parts  of
Jaidyn’s  body  were  highlighted,  not  hidden.  And  despite
everything, he was a cat and when a cat found something—
someone—interesting… Maybe the mission could wait, just
for a few minutes.

“Why are you smiling?” Jaidyn asked.
Ley shook his head.
“Okay, cat. Ril said you’d be too weak to leave here for

days. You don’t look too bad, but she’s the witch, not me.”

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“Your woman is a witch?” Interesting that he’d misread

the vampire. And that realisation left a feeling too much like
disappointment in the pit of his stomach.

“Ril isn’t my woman. I don’t have…” He paused. “So, if

you’re staying here to recover, this is  the drill. I live in my
office  next  door.  I  sleep  on  the  sofa.  I  can  find  you
somewhere  to  bunk  down.  We’ll  have  to  share  the
bathroom.” He held up his hand.  “Don’t look like that. I’m
not  into  that  kinda  sharing.  I  expect  privacy.  I’ll draw  up  a
roster.  The  kitchen  is  open  to  everyone,  but  not  when  it’s
show time. Those are the ground rules.”

“Why?”
“Why, what?”
“Why do you live here?” It was too austere for a cat

tastes. Too functional. It smacked of a vampire’s
pragmatism—the antithesis of shifter kin. “Vamps prefer—”

“I am not a vampire.”
Leydan sniffed. “Your smell says different.”
“I can’t help that.” Jaidyn stalked past him, snatching up

his clothes hanging on the rail.

Leydan followed him into the office.
“Do you mind?” Jai asked, turning to him.
“What?”
“I want to get dressed.”
“Don’t let me stop you.”
“You are. Turn around.”
“What?” Leydan couldn’t help laughing.
“Turn around. I said I want privacy and I damn well

meant it.”

Biting his lip, Ley turned and waited, listening with a

suddenly dry mouth to the sound of fabric sliding over flesh.
He clenched his eyes and resisted the urge to clench his legs.

“Are you decent yet?” Ley demanded.
“Hmmm.”

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

The cat turned, his eyes narrowing as he surveyed Jaidyn

in  his  black  jeans  and  t-shirt.  Fascinating  didn’t  cover  the
description of what he felt at the sight. He never understood,
until that moment, the human male’s preference for trousers.
But  the  fabric  clung  to  the  human’s  hips  and  legs,  like  a
second  skin,  highlighting  every  nuance  of  the  man.  Hiding
nothing. Leydan cleared a suddenly tight throat. “So where
were we?”

“Ground rules,” Jai said, rubbing his hair with the towel.
“No, I asked why you live here.”
“This is my home.”
“Yes, but here?” His gaze swept the austere, functional

room.

“What’s wrong with here?”
If the vampire had to ask that, there was nothing Leydan

could say to enlighten him. Vamps just lacked imagination.
“It’s adequate, I suppose.”

“You’d rather a cat den—all velvets and silks and

tasselled cushions, crystal lights and… All those dust-
catchers.”

The vampire needed educating on the finer points of soft

furnishings—now, that would be a challenge. Leydan
frowned at Jaidyn.”Why aren’t you with your own kind?”

“I have no my own kind. Mind your business.”
“I am. You’re telling me ground rules. I need to

understand. You’re a vampire and vampires prefer…”

“I am not a vampire. How many times do I have to say

it?”

“So you aren’t a vampire, what are you?” Leydan leaned

forward, scenting. Jaidyn retreated a step.

“My father was a hybrid, my mother was human.”
“So, I was right. You do have vampire blood.”
“Not enough to be recognised.”
“Ah, I understand.” Blood meant everything to vampires,

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to all the Kin. To be recognised, or to hold any positions of
power, one had to be pure bred. Hybrids, mongrels—just
didn’t rate.

“You could find a lover to Change you.”
Jai’s eyes hardened. “Fuck you.”
“Yes, please.”
The vampire’s mouth gaped. “What?”
“You want to play with me? Fine.” Leydan paused,

savouring the moment. “Why are you still a virgin?”

“Who says I am?”
Leydan smiled and stepped forward, raising Jai’s chin

with his thumb. “You are a virgin, I can smell you,
remember?”

“You can tell that just by scent?”
“Yes. How old are you?”
“Thirty.”

In vampire terms, a youth, in human terms a man…
“And still a virgin? Why?”
“What’s it to you?”
“Your hormones are all out of kilter. It’s unsettling.” He

paused. “I’m going to be here for a few days. I have to know
who I’m dealing with and take measures.”

“Go to Hell.” Jai went to step away, but Leydan held him

by the wrist.

“Who has hurt you, Jaidyn?”
“You want a list?” He frowned. “You want to know why

I’m a virgin. Right. I’m not into humans—at least in that way
and I learnt a long time ago that no vampire wanted to dip
his fangs or cock into me. I’m a mongrel-bastard.”

“Well, that’s vamps for you, always thinking with their

fangs.”

Jai grimaced. That joke was old, and crude. “I’m happy as

I am.”

Leydan snorted. “As happy as a canary in a room full of

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

cats. That happy!”

Jaidyn folded his arms. “I want answers. Who you are,

what you’re doing here and when you’re leaving.”

“I’ll leave…” Leydan paused, suppressing the tremor

racing through his body. He was so damn tired. “I need to
wash and eat, first.” He spread his hands. “Please.” He
purred, his best cat purr.

“Go seduce someone else with that purr, kitty, I am not

interested.”

“No?”
Snarling, Jai strode past him.
“I liked your voice,” Leydan said.
That halted Jai in his tracks. He turned. “What?”
“I heard you singing in the shower. You need to learn

how to breathe properly to have better voice control. You’re
a mix of tenor and something else. Unique.”

Jai flinched. “Unique makes you outcast. Ostracized.

Hated.”

“Only for those narrow minded soulless bastards who

don’t appreciate you, Jaidyn Saungeray. Is that why you
hide here?”

With that, Leydan turned on his heel and stalked away.
Seconds later, Jai heard the sound of running water and

the deepest purr of contentment. He slammed the bathroom
door against the sound. But not before he heard the cat-boy’s
laughter.

Astrid Cooper

Chapter Four

eyden padded out into the office, determined for more
answers, now that he no longer stank like a… He halted,

his hunter instinct switching to become the connoisseur.
Jaidyn was sitting at his desk, his chin propped up on his left
hand, that thick curtain of dark hair over his face—so utterly
sexy—as he read and wrote on the book on his desk. His
long legs were crossed at the ankles… Hmmm. Shapely ankles
and feet. Lickable.

“You’re back,” Jai said, glancing up, his eyes hardening as

he saw the naked body glistening with moisture. “You need
clothes. We’re about the same size. Jeans and t-shirt okay?”

“I never wear pants.”
“That’s what I’ve heard about cats, always ready for

action.” Their gazes locked.

“I don’t wear trousers is what I meant. It’s unthinkable.”
“So what do you wear? A dress? Not on this world, at

least in public.”

“I’d prefer a kilt, or a sarong, or a silk robe.”
“I’ll see what I can find.”
Jai returned a few minutes later, and held out a lime green

tutu. The cat growled.

“I am a man, not some escoru.”
“What’s an escoru?”
“Someone who would wear that abomination. Get it out

of my sight.”

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

Score one to me, Jaidyn thought. He’d truly teased the

cat’s whiskers. He flung the tutu on the sofa and held out his
own much loved, tattered and many times patched green
cotton dressing gown.

“That?” Leydan asked, his eyes narrowed. “Is this the best

you can do?”

“It’s my favourite.”
“Then I pity you if your circumstances are so reduced that

this…thing is your favourite. What sort of heathen place am
I in?”

“Suit yourself,” Jai said. “Walk around naked, as if I care.

But the cleaning ladies might enjoy the sight and want to
buff your butt with their dusters.”

Leydan snatched the dressing gown from Jai’s

outstretched hand and shrugged himself into it, growling as
he tied the sash.

“I need to eat, please,” Leydan said.
“I thought that might have been your stomach growling.

While you were in the shower I prepared a stew. Lentils,
vegetables and rice. Sorry, I don’t do meat.”

“I am not a cannibal!” Leydan said, eyes narrowed.
“But you’re a cat…a leopard.”
“In whatever form, my kind doesn’t eat flesh.”
Jaidyn nodded. “Follow me.” He led the cat down the

passageway, and up a small flight of steps. He pushed open
a  door  at  the  side.  “Since  you  didn’t  tell  me  when  you’re
leaving,  I  guess  it’s  not  going  to  be  any  time  soon.  Okay,
then, this’ll be your room.”

“What the…?” Leydan said, his gaze trailing over the

boxes and a narrow camp bed.

“Yeah, well, I realise it’s not even one star.” He bit back

his laughter. “I’ll find you a broom and duster later.”

“I do not clean.”
“So what do you do?”

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“I…” His eyes narrowed. “Trying to entrap me?”
“No trying about it, cat.” Jai strode away, along another

corridor into the kitchen. He’d set two places at the servery,
rather than in the formal dining room that was still in the
final stages of renovations.

They sat down at the table. For a moment, Leydan’s

hands rested on either side of his plate and he bowed his
head. He whispered something before looking up and taking
a fork in his right hand.

“I was giving thanks for the food,” he said glancing at

Jaidyn.

“Are you a mind reader?”
“Not especially. I just caught your curiosity. Don’t

humans give thanks for their sustenance?”

“Some.”
Leydan tentatively tasted a small sample, his eyes and

face  brightening.  “This  is  good  enough  for  me  to  eat.  You
prepared  it?”  He  chewed.  “You  said  before  that  on  this
backwater  world,  the  eating  of  flesh  is  customary. How  do
you endure it?”

“Strictly vegetarians in this building, but outside, when

humans eat meat, I—”

“Hide?”
Jaidyn snorted and broke open one of the freshly baked

croissants from the café across the road. He raised a piece to
his mouth. Leydan followed his example.

“Perhaps this world isn’t as barbarous as I first thought.

This is almost as good as cat home-bake.” His gaze lingered
on Jaidyn.

Leydan ate two more full servings before he leaned back

in his chair. He sipped a cup of ginger tea.

“So,” Jai said. “Now that’s out of the way, you can tell me

what brought you here and what was with that damn
collar?”

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

“I can’t tell you anything.”
“Can’t, or won’t.”
He shrugged. “It’s cat-kin business.”
Jaidyn frowned. If that was true, Leydan wasn’t able to

reveal  a  damn  thing.  Every  Blood-kin  had  secret  dealings
that  excluded  other  races,  overriding  any  other  loyalty  or
friendship.  Death  would  be  preferable  to  revealing  a  clan
secret.  It  was  the  same  with  vampires.  They’d  go  to  their
coffins, be  as  silent  as  the  grave…  Jaidyn  nodded.  Wizards
would  rather  affiliate  with  a  witch  than  betray  their  own
kind.  Witches—well,  Jai  didn’t  know  a  lot  about  witches,
except for Ril and come to think of it, she never said much
about her sisterhood…

“I understand,” Jai said. “But—”
“No buts about it.”
They stared at one another, a silent measuring, silent

challenges.

Jaidyn sighed. “More ground rules. I’m not into games, so

don’t play with me.”

“That’s not what I see in your eyes.” Leydan’s smile was

lazy, melt-your-bones sexy.

Jai blocked his mind against further cat prowling and that

brought another smile to the shifter’s face.

Leydan’s smile froze, his eyes glazing. His face paled and

he slumped sideways, upsetting his chair. He fell face first
onto the floor.

“If this is another one of your games…” Jai stepped

forward,  fists  clenched.  But  the  pain  spiralling  out  from
Leydan  wasn’t  fake.  The  shifter’s  body  trembled  and  he
gasped  for  breath.  Jai  hastily  shielded  himself,  but  the
stinging bolt of energy singed his nerves. How much worse
was it for Leydan?

Jai knelt beside the shifter. Leydan grasped Jai’s hand, his

fingers biting deep. Jai endured the rasp of flesh against

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bone. Tears trickled out from behind Leydan’s clenched lids.

Then the pain was gone and Leydan held him, breathing

deep, struggling for control.

“Whatn’ the hell was that?” Jai asked.
Minutes passed before the shifter’s breathing returned to

normal. He looked up at Jai.

“That was a summons to return. And if I’d been wearing

the collar, I’d be dead, or worse.”

“What’s worse than dead?”
“Coming from a vamp that’s ironic.”
“So who sent that summons, and why?”
“My enemies.”
“I figured that much.” Jai frowned. “But the collar’s gone,

how can they still do this to you?”

“They have my blood in an effigy… They… Hellllllll.”

Leydan screamed and fainted.

Jaidyn lifted him into his arms and carried him through to

the office, carefully stretching him out on the sofa. He held
Leydan’s hand, trying to absorb some of the pain.

When the assault was finally over, Leydan looked like

death. Jai didn’t feel much better. And according to Ril, if
one was wearing such a collar, the pain was unimaginable.
The last bolt had been damn-hells-unimaginable.

Leydan opened his eyes. Tears stuck to his long dark

lashes, unshed tears glistening in his eyes.

“That was a probe,” Leydan whispered. “They know I’m

here, I’m never going to escape.”

Jaidyn stared down at the shifter. “So start explaining.”
Leydan sighed, marshalling what little strength he had.

Jai  sensed  how  weak  he  was.  Cruel  to  demand  answers  of
anyone  in  such  a  state,  but  hell…  He  needed  to  know,  so  he
could  help. Help?  Jai  thought.  How  the  hell could  he  help?
“Best  you  don’t  even  think  about  helping  me,  Jaidyn.”
Leydan  pushed  himself  upright  and  ran  a  trembling  hand

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

through his hair, tangling it more than it was. “You don’t
need to know. Best you don’t. You mess in this business and
you’ll get bitten.”

“Too late for that, Leydan. The minute I dragged you in, I

was involved.”

Their gazes locked.
“I’m not staying here on this hells-fuck backwater world.”
“And just how do you plan to get home?”
“The portal.”
“There isn’t one.”
“What?”
“This planet is in lock-down.”
“Since when?”
“Since the Imperium said so.” Jai paused. “How long

have you been out of circulation?”

“I think three months. More…maybe.”
“How did you get here, if not through the portal?”
“There was a portal of sorts. I don’t remember.” He

spread his hands. Jai saw that they trembled. “All I
remember was blood and running…forever running.” He
shuddered. “But why is this world in lock-down? It’s one of
the Kin’s favourite playgrounds. I never realised, until now,
why that was so.” His gaze sparked at Jai.

Jaidyn snorted. Amazing. The cat had been brain-fried,

near  death  and  he  was  still  able  and  willing  to  play  some
sort  of  cat-game,  teasing  unmercifully  with  sultry  looks.
Cats!  Bloody  cats!  “As  to  why  the  lock-down,  humans  are
getting suspicious. They’ve become obsessed with all things
paranormal.  Books,  films…  You  name  it.  Some  are  even
undergoing  surgery  to  have  fangs  inserted.  Vamps  are  the
most popular.”

“There’s no accounting for taste.”
“Anyway, the problem is that if anything vaguely smells

of paranormal, humans are into it. We have to be careful.

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Not make a scene.”

“But Monsters inK is overtly paranormal.”
“So, you know about Monsters? I knew your arriving here

wasn’t an accident.”

“Monsters is known out there… Hell, I read the psychic

bulletins about how the owner hit the Imperium with a law
suit for fair trading when they tried to close him down.”
Leydan shrugged. “I didn’t intend to… I felt the vibrations.
But I didn’t choose this place, it was the only…”

“Yes, continue.”
“The only path open. I didn’t have time to be choosey. If I

had, then I wouldn’t be here, I’d be dead. But things must be
bad if this world is in lock-down.”

“My boss said it was worse than bad. If we have shifters

and vamps and wizards running all over this planet like
they used to in the past, something is gonna happen and that
means trouble for us all. So no more free entry. The portal is
closed to all but important traffic.”

“Who defines important?”
“The Imperium.”
“The Imperium is dominated by wizards.” Leydan

snorted. “So, they’re controlling entry to this world? All
their dreams have come true. Those magic-boys always
wanted to have the monopoly on every goddam portal.”

Jai caught the bitterness behind Leydan’s words. “Well,

they do have the right. It was their magic that created the
portals in the first place.”

“Is that what they teach you at fang-boy school?”
“It’s common knowledge.”
“Victors always write the history books.” Leydan glared

up at Jaidyn.

“Meaning?”
“Work it out for yourself. I have to get out of here!” He

pushed himself to his feet and then fell back against the

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

couch with a groan.

“You think, huh?” Jaidyn asked. “You’re going to be as

weak as a kitten for days. Ril said so.”

“Who’s Ril?”
“The witch who saved you.” Jai spread his hands. “Look,

you’re safe here. We can get you home. Severin—”

“Severin!”
“You’ve heard of him, then?”
“Who hasn’t? He was the one who presented the lawsuit

to the Imperium on behalf of Monsters. He’s nothing but a
renegade wizard who’s taken a human lover and lives on
this world baking pastries for a living. Honestly!”

“That’s just one of his faces. He prefers to live quietly and

stay out of Blood business, but I know if he wanted to, he
could take on the whole wizard army and win. Sev sits on
Council once a month because—”

“He’s on the council who controls the portal? I don’t like

my chances of going home any time soon.”

“Nope, might take a while. Because right now he’s in

Paris at a pastry conference. And he’s sent out an ether wave
that he’s not to be disturbed.”

Leyden rolled his eyes and growled. “So, I’m stuck here.

I—” Again, the torment-bolt sliced into Leydan. This time its
force  sent  the  cat  into  convulsions  and  he  tore  at  the  robe
covering his body, shredding it in one long  claw swipe. He
screamed,  then  lapsed  into  merciful  unconsciousness.  Jai
knelt beside the cat, and touched his cold, pale cheek.

“Right.” Jai pushed himself to his feet and picked up the

phone. The witch answered his call after one ring. “Ril,
honey? Yep, need your help. Bring your bag of tricks. I mean
your real bag, not the purple one.” He put the receiver down
and turned back to Leydan.

The shifter lay twitching on the couch. Even unconscious,

the assault ran through his body. Jai pulled the quilt over

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Leydan, frowning down. The shifter morphed to leopard, his
fangs tearing at the leather sofa. He changed back to human,
crying.

Jai sat on the side of the couch, gently stroking the tangled

hair  away.  The  shifter’s  tawny  eyes  stared  up  at  him,  not
seeing,  only  feeling.  Jai  reached  out  his  mind  to  the  cat,  a
peripheral rapport that took away some of the pain.

Crikey! It hurt worse than anything and Jai had been hurt

by experts. And in that rapport, he sensed the power behind
the punishment. A Circle of minds. Cowards! They remained
hidden, meting out their punishment. And just for a moment
he sensed an entity, one so old he must have been of First
Blood.

What had Leydan done to send such a creature after him?

Jai didn’t want to know. He stroked and soothed Leydan,
holding the cat as he morphed from leopard to human, back
and forth, trying to escape the agony.

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

Chapter Five

’ve heard of men in black, but they take the cake!” Ril
said, placing her red leather case on Jaidyn’s desk.

“What do you mean?” Jai asked.
“Outside, there’s a Circle of vampires picketing the

building.”

A Circle? Jai had never encountered one—thankfully!—

but he knew when fangs meant business, six vamps joined
forces to cast a neural net over a person or place. And they
were doing it outside his home? Great!

“I got through, obviously,” Ril said. “But it wasn’t easy.

Bru—”

“He okay?”
“Oh, yeah. He’s in the van waiting for me, nursing a

bloody nose. He and a vamp had a close encounter. Fang-
boy lost a fang.” She stared down at the shifter on the couch.
“He told you what this is about?”

“Nope, Leydan—”
Ril smiled grimly. “Well, I can tell you Mr. Cat is up to his

whiskers in trouble. I mean Blood trouble.”

“I know. I shared. I glimpsed the Circle pursuing him.

Not just vamps, Ril.”

“You shared with him?”
“I had no choice. He was out of his mind with pain.”
She put her hand on his arm. “Trust me, I know.”
He nodded. Ril had been a tenth level witch before a

“I

Astrid Cooper

Circle of wizards had deflowered her, removing her magic
in the cruellest way imaginable. Except, she had survived
and regained much of her former power.

“So far my spells and wards are keeping the fangs at bay,

but  they  weren’t  designed  to  counter  a  Vampire  Circle.  So,
how  did  our  cat  break  through  my  protections?  Who  the
hells is he?” Ril opened her bag. “Right, let’s get started.”

“What are you going to do?” Leydan asked.
Jaidyn turned, seeing him propped on his left elbow

against the couch, the blanket pooled around his thighs, just
covering…  Jai  swallowed  hard.  It  was  one  thing  for  the
shifter  to  be  naked  and  asleep,  but  another  for  him  to  be
naked and awake, eyeing him with that tawny-fire look.

Leydan frowned, drew the quilt to his chin and sat up.

“So, I say again, what are you going to do?”

Ril paused in sorting her paraphernalia on Jai’s desk. She

glanced at Leydan. “Ask me politely and I might tell you,
whiskers.”

The cat growl rumbled through Jai’s bones.
“Is she always so contrary?” Leydan asked.
“She is,” Ril answered, “when my friends are threatened,

when our livelihood is compromised. Monsters inK is our
Sanctuary. When someone, or something, brings trouble to
our door, I get more than contrary.”

“For that I’m sorry, Mistress.” Leydan purred. “May I

know your name?”

The witch sniffed. “My name is Erilla.”
“Then, Mistress Erilla…” Leydan pushed himself upright

and  bowed,  though  he  was  unsteady  on  his  feet.  “I  thank
you  for  helping  me,  because  I  know  it  was  you  who
removed the collar and healed me. I smell you all over me.”
He bowed again, his right hand over his heart.

Jai’s mouth went dry. The cat was at his most charismatic.

Few could resist a cat intent on charming. Bloody hell. For a

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

moment Jai felt the allure wash over him, until he blocked it.
It had nothing to do with the fact that the cat was standing
butt naked in his office. No bloody way!

“Leydan, where are your manners?” Ril demanded.

“Cover yourself with that quilt.”

The shifter quickly, silently obeyed, resuming his seat on

the sofa.

“I’m going to set a ward-net over the basement, so they

can’t  summon  you  anymore.  That’ll  buy  us  time,  until  we
can  sort  out  this  mess  properly.”  Using  her  willow-wand,
she drew a circle on the floorboards, sprinkling it with opal
dust,  adding  gold  symbols  and  glyphs  to  the  design.  She
brought out a quartz crystal obelisk from her magic bag and
set it in the centre of the circle. Upending her bag, the collar
fell out from a side compartment. She used her wand to lift
it,  spreading  it  around  the  obelisk.  “If  they  send  any  more
probes,  then  they’ll  get  it  back,  tenfold,  through  the  collar.
The fryers will become the fryees!”

“You can do that, witch?” Leydan whispered, his gaze

narrowed on Erilla.

“I don’t enjoy inflicting pain on any, but they started it, so

I’m gonna finish it. Scramble their brains—whoever they
are.” She added more talismans to the circle. “Give me your
hand, cat-boy.”

“What?”
Ril hissed, a sound that would have done a cat proud.

Leydan extended his right hand and Ril stabbed his flesh
with a long needle.

“Yeow,”Leydan protested.
Using an amethyst crystal, taken from her coat pocket, Ril

collected a few drops of cat blood and put the stone on the
collar. “There, that should do it.” She left the circle and
hunted in her shoulder bag, drawing out a turquoise flask.
She poured a little of the red liquid in a glass and handed it

Astrid Cooper

to Leydan. “Drink.”

“What is it?”
“Poison. It’ll make all your fur fall out. What the hell do

you think it is? It’s an elixir to strengthen you. After that,
you’ll sleep.”

Leydan sipped the mixture, his face turning grey. “It’s

vile. Tastes like… I can’t tell you.”

“I don’t want a description. Drink it and shut up.”
“Best do as she says,” Jaidyn said. “Ril’s tonics are

famous. The worse they taste, the better they work.”

Leydan snorted and sculled the drink, grimacing at the

aftertaste.

Erilla sat down on Jai’s office chair. “Now, we talk.” She

steepled her fingers, resting her chin on her hands. “I’ve
spoken to Sebastian. He’s left it up to us, Jai, to decide
what’s to be done. He can’t leave Matt right now.”

“Of course not,” Jaidyn said. Matt was in Retreat,

undergoing his final rite of passage with Bas.

“This Sanctuary is compromised by you, cat-boy.”
“It was not my intention.”
“Maybe not. Bas said he’ll return as soon as he can and

sort this mess, sort you, whiskers! Trust me! When Sebastian
sorts something people get fried. Well? Do you want to
explain it to a vampire lord, or to Jai and me?”

“I…can’t.” Leydan tried to stand up. “What have you

done to me? I can’t feel my legs.”

“I haven’t done anything to you—yet. That elixir is taking

effect. You’ve got a lot of healing to do. You’re gonna sleep
for days.”

Leydan’s face tightened. “I can’t. I have to go. If I leave

here, now, then you won’t get involved.” He struggled
upright, only to fall back against the sofa.

“We are involved,” Jaidyn said. “This is Monsters and it’s

a Sanctuary for any who come through the doors…human or

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

otherwise.”

Leydan stared. “Do you realise what you’re saying?”
“Yep. Sanctuary. We stand against any Blood who try to

hurt another. Severin has a Sanctuary, so do we.”

“They’ll kill you. I have to go.”
“That’s easier said than done, whiskers,” Ril said. “I told

you the building has been picketed by vampires. But also,
it’s been warded. Whoever—whatever—wants you back has
put Monsters in lockdown. They tried it on me, but no one
restrains me.” She held up her hand. “No, I don’t have
enough power to get you out, cat-boy. So, start talking.”

Leydan glared at her.
“Maybe you don’t understand.” Ril sniffed. “Well, listen

up. Jaidyn and I have the authority to talk to whomever out
there and hand you over, if we think your crimes warrant it.
No Blood does this to another, unless they’re really pissed.
What did you do, whiskers?”

Silence.
“Cat got your tongue?”
“Go to hell, witch.”
“What does it matter what he’s done, Ril? The collar…”

Jai began.

“Yes, the collar. That’s the mitigating factor. Anyone who

uses that evil on another, no matter the reason, is a criminal.
So, that’s why we’re here talking, not sending you out
gagged and bound to the men in black.”

“Ril.” Jai glanced at her. She winked. He relaxed. The

witch had no intentions of giving up the cat to anyone. But
did Leydan know that? Judging by the look on the cat’s face,
he was unsure. Scared.

Erilla smiled grimly. “It’s wizards behind this, pulling the

vampires’ strings. Typical. Fang-boys never think beyond
the obvious, present company excepted, Jai and Bas, of
course. He’s the only vamp I’ve met who truly thinks.”

Astrid Cooper

“I’m not a vampire,” Jaidyn retorted.
“You smell like one,” Leydan said.
“All I can smell is cat,” Jai responded.
“Thanks,” Leydan said. “I aim to please.”
Jaidyn snorted. “I’m allergic to cats, so the sooner you

talk, the sooner you can go home. We’ll get you to the portal,
one way or another.”

“And how will you do that, Jai? Severin’s in Paris, not to

be disturbed.”

“He’ll make an exception. I’ll get Ray to ring Will. They

can talk lawyer to lawyer and get around the wizard.”

“Will’s in Retreat, too, dealing with the Change. You can’t

disturb them for any reason.”

“He said he was going to a pastry conference with Sev.”
Ril rolled her eyes.
“Right,” Jai said. If a wizard and his Changed lover were

in Retreat, dealing with the issues associated with the
Change—hell, even a Blood war couldn’t interfere with that
rite of passage—the same as Bas and Matt in their Retreat,
dealing with their own Blood issues. Crikey! Ril and he had
to deal with this—alone.

“Not alone, sweetheart,” Ril said. “I’ve got a Circle of

witches on standby.”

Jai stared. It took him a few moments to recover from his

shock. Witches never interfered in any male confrontation.
“So, even if the stakeout disappears, we can’t get authority
to use the portal—this just gets better and better.” He turned
to Leydan. “Start talking, cat, give us something to help you
with.”

“You can’t.” Leydan spread his hands. “There’s more

trouble here than you can imagine.”

“Oh, I dunno,” Jai said, “I can imagine a lot of trouble.

Like how much you’re gonna be in, if you don’t start
talking.”

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

“Just trust me.”
“How can I trust you?” Jai demanded.
“Because you can. I’m trying to save your lives…lots of

lives.”

“Right now,” Ril said. “Our lives aren’t the issue. You

are.”

Leydan bowed his head, his hair swishing across his

naked shoulders. Jai’s mouth went dry at the sight, at the
sound. Crikey, what a time to even think about… He swallowed
hard against the arousal.

The amethyst crystal sparked and emitted a ping.
Ril laughed. “Payback! Someone’s getting fried. Serve

them  right.”  They  watched  as  the  amethyst  pulsed.  The
metal  collar  glowed,  the  needles  on  the inside  of  the  frame
extended  to  their  full  length—four  inches.  Bolts  of  red-
mauve energy wove through and around the collar.

Jai shivered. How could anyone endure those needles in

their flesh, sending jolts of power into every nerve? And
Leydan had worn the collar for three months? Maybe
longer?

“That’ll send a message back to whomever,” Jai said. “I

hope it hurts like hell.”

Leydan smiled grimly. “Oh, yeah. Like hell.”
Their gazes locked.
“Hello? Jaidyn, Erilla, where are you?”
“What the—?” Jai frowned as he heard Ray’s voice. Ray

was Monsters’ lawyer, had been for three years, taking over
the role upon his father’s retirement.

“Here, Raymond, come on in,” Ril said. She was the only

member of the team at Monsters to call him by his full name.

Jaidyn smiled at Ray, noticing that he was wearing his

usual immaculate dark, pin-striped suit. The lawyer paused
at the doorway, before striding in, eyes straight ahead,
neatly sidestepping the magic circle.

Astrid Cooper

He set his briefcase on the table, ignoring the crystals, the

herbs, all of Ril’s witch paraphernalia.

“I received a call from Mr. de Seville. Some sort of legal

entanglement. What’s with the presence outside? Who are
they? Cops?”

Jai sniffed. “Of a sort. How did you get past them?”
“I showed them my Law Society membership card. Fffftp.

They parted like the waves.”

Jaidyn stared. It was rare that Mr. Prim and Proper made

a joke. Was the guy finally mellowing, after all this time?

“Raymond?”
He shrugged. “I’d like to say it was my irresistible

charisma,  but  no,  alas,  I  told  them  I  was  Mr.  de  Seville’s
lawyer,  here  to  negotiate  terms.  They  let  me  through.”  He
paused, pushing his horn-rimmed glasses back up his nose.
“So, what’s the problem? Mr. de Seville didn’t elaborate, but
said you both have full authority to speak on his behalf.” He
took  out  his  notepad  from  his  case  and  looked  at  them
expectantly,  his  fingers  poised  over  the  keypad.  “Your
instructions?”

If the situation hadn’t been so dire, Jai would have

laughed. As it was, Ril’s smile was broad.

Jai folded his arms. “Go out and talk to those people and

see why they want our guest so badly. Buy us some time
until we come up with a plan.” He glanced at Ril. “Do we
have a plan?”

“Same as always.”
“Great, no plan, then.”
Ray glanced at Leydan and averted his eyes almost

immediately.  “Right.”  He  shut  down  the  notepad  and
shoved  it  into  his  case.  Squaring  his  shoulders,  he  pushed
his glasses to the bridge of his nose  again, took up his case
and stalked from the room.

“Does he know who he’s going to be negotiating with?”

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

Jai asked Ril.

“He’s still in denial.”
“About a lot of things,” Leydan said.
“Oh?” Ril demanded.
“Wait and see.”
“That’s just the sort of whisker-brained response I’d

expect from you,” Jai snapped.

Ril sighed. “Raymond’s seen a lot of stuff over the years

he’s been with us. But do you honestly think he believes in
vampires and magic? He’s a lawyer. He doesn’t think like
people.”

Jai laughed. “So we wait and see what this is all about,

unless you want to talk, Leydan? It’d save us a lot of time
and trouble.”

“I’m not able to tell you.”
Fifteen minutes passed. Jai paced the room, while Ril

sorted through her case. Leydan sat on the edge of the sofa,
gazing at the circle and the collar.

Finally, they heard Ray’s footsteps. They turned to him.

He  strode  into  the  room,  almost  walking  into  the  magic
circle.  Again,  he  deftly  bypassed  it  without  missing  a  beat
and set his briefcase down on the desk.

When the lawyer turned to them, Jai saw that his face was

ashen. He probably could do with a strong drink. Hells’ Fire,
Jai thought, he could do with a chocolate fix. His heart thudded
at his temples, as he waited for what Ray would reveal.

The lawyer cleared his throat. “This is the situation. Your

name is Leydan?”

The cat shifter raised his left shoulder.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Ray said. “They’ve agreed to

honour the Monsters inK Sanctuary, but venture outside and
you’re fair game. They said you stole something that belongs
to them. Return it, and you’re free to go.”

“I haven’t stolen anything that belongs to them.”

Astrid Cooper

“They say you have.”
“No.”
“Then this thing, this it—” Jai said. “Who does it belong

to?”

“No one.”
“This isn’t helping,” Ray said. “If ownership is the issue,

then we have to discuss—”

“There’s no discussion,” Leydan said.
“Well, here’s the deal,” Ray retorted. “I’ve agreed to allow

one of them inside the building to search for this missing
thing. If discovered—”

“You bloody idiot human!”
“Leyden!”
Ray shoved his glasses up his nose. That action was

getting damn annoying, Jai thought. But worse, a million
times worse, what Leydan had just said. Human. Ray was an
uninitiated human. Christ… He caught Ril’s gaze. The witch
looked sickly.

“Mr. de Seville has given me full authority to create terms

that will favourably resolve this issue.”

“Favourable for whom?” Leydan growled.
“That’s for Erilla, Jaidyn and me to decide.”
“You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
“No and I don’t want to know. I’ve agreed and the

representative arrives in…” He looked at his watch. “Ten
minutes.”

Exactly on time, a tall vampire strode into the room. He

wore a long black coat, his fedora pulled low over his head
and a pair of Ray Bands.

Talk about fucking theatrics, Jai thought, the guy made

Bela Lugosi look like an amateur. “You are…?” Jaidyn
demanded.

“My name is unimportant.”
“No one enters our Sanctuary incognito.”

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

“Tell that to the one sitting on your couch.” Mr. Fedora

inclined his head towards Leydan. “My name is Carlos. Of
House Zhandor.”

Zhandor was the oldest branch of the vampire family.

What the hell was one of them doing here? Jai wondered.
What had Leydan done to warrant the attention of one of the
Zhandor?

Leydan stood up, the quilt pooling at his feet. He held his

arms out and turned slowly, his muscular torso rippling. For
a moment Jai admired the spectacle.

“Search me. I’m not hiding anything.”
Carlos hissed. “Where is it? Tell me and all of this goes

away.”

“You think?” Leydan ran his finger around his neck,

feeling the scars. “Nothing goes away. Nothing is forgotten.”

“Are you calling blood feud?”
“Not me. But I’ll never forget—this.” He ran his finger

around his neck again.

“That was not our doing, Regrettable—”
“Regrettable?” Leydan growled low in the back of his

throat. The sound rumbled through Jai. He tensed. The cat
was ready to pounce and if he went at the vamp’s throat in
their Sanctuary, after being granted safe conduct…

“Don’t you dare, Leydan.” Jai rarely used his Blood voice,

spurning  it,  as  he  had  been  spurned  by  his  family,  but  the
chill  voice  made  all  in  the  room  flinch,  including  the
Zhandor.

The older vampire bared his fangs. “More than

regrettable. My poor choice of words.” That was as close to
an apology as a vamp came. “We do not sanction what you
endured, shifter. Return the property and you can bring the
perpetrators to justice. You cannot do that hiding in
Sanctuary.”

“I have kin who’ll mete out justice on my behalf.”

Astrid Cooper

“And embroil us in a Blood-kin war?”
“They’re more subtle than that.” Leydan paused. “One of

them is an assassin.”

Jai groaned inwardly. A cat assassin? If half of what he’d

heard about them was true… Christ, they were going to be
ankle-deep in…blood. His stomach flipped, nausea rising.

The Zhandor regarded Leydan with narrowed eyes. “This

is our problem. You do not call them in!” With a final look
that would have torn the cat apart, the vampire turned to
Ray. “I believe I was given permission to search this
building.”

Ray stepped forward. “Yes, under my supervision. Where

shall we start?”

Carlos drew out a sceptre from the inside of his coat. Ray

glanced at it, then at Carlos. “The use of weapons was not
sanctioned.”

“Tools of the trade. This is a sensor, nothing more. I’ll

start in this room. Stand aside.”

He held out the sceptre and with a flick of his wrist,

flourished it in a great arc around the room. The metal rod
quivered as it touched the space above Ril’s magic circle,
before it moved forward.

“Not here,” Carlos said. “Next room.”
Ray and he departed.
Jai turned to Leydan as soon as they had gone. The shifter

held up his hands as if to deflect a blow.

“You are a whisker-brained kitten,” Ril said. “What the

bloody hells were you thinking calling Raymond human in
front of him?”

Leydan retreated a step. “The vampire bared his fangs.

Lawyer-boy would have seen that. And what about your
magic rings on the floor? If he wasn’t sure about paranormal
before, he’s sure as hell knows it’s alive in this basement.”

“I’ll have to cast a forgetting spell on him.” Ril chewed

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

her lip.

“You’d better not do that, Erilla,” Jai said. “Only Bas can

make that decision. Ray’s our lawyer. He knows stuff.”

“This is a fine mess you’ve got us into, cat.”
Leydan sniffed. “It was not intended.”
“And put that quilt around you. Jaidyn, when all this is

over, you need to get him some clothes.”

“I know.”
An hour later, Ray and the vampire returned.
“Well?” Jaidyn demanded.
“It isn’t here. This is not finished.”
“Damn right it’s not,” Leydan said.
“You have searched and found nothing,” Ray said. “I will

escort  you  from  the  premises.  As  for  the  surveillance
outside, it is to be removed to a discreet distance. Monsters
inK  is  a  business  and  fair  and  normal  trading  is  not  to  be
interfered with. You are obliged to sign an agreement, to the
effect  that  you  will  not  breach  this  building,  by  whatever
means  at  your  disposal.  You  are  also  advised  that
interference  with  any  event  scheduled  in  this  building  is
prohibited. More particularly, the cabaret opening night, to
be  held  on  Halloween  Eve.  It’s  all  detailed  in  this
document.”  Ray  pulled  out  a  piece  of  paper  from  his  case
and held it out.

“To hells with that.”
“Mr. de Seville was most specific that it is to be signed by

your hand and your thumb print in your blood next to it.”
Ray held out the paper again. “He said to tell you that
Diodemedes has so ordered you.”

Jai gaped. Diodemedes was King Vampire. Four thousand

years old and he never left his Sanctuary, rarely got involved
with his underlings, but he ruled his vampire clan
absolutely.

Zhandor’s face turned green. He signed the paper, and bit

Astrid Cooper

down on his thumb, putting his other thumb onto the blood.
He affixed his print to the paper. Ray went to take the paper,
but the vampire held it.

“I have my own…instructions. The obelisk and collar is to

be dismantled. It is affecting our surveillance.”

“Go take a jump in the void!” Ril snapped. “It’s protecting

Leydan.”

“This paper, my word and seal is in force. My Circle

outside will now protect.”

“That’s rich,” Ril snapped. “Since you were the ones who

inflicted the collar and—”

“It is not of our doing. It is the enemy of the thief.”
“Then who…?” Jai and Ril stared at Leydan.
The cat shifter shrugged. Even if he was going to supply

answers, it was neither the time nor the place with Ray
present. Jaidyn frowned. He wanted answers—and badly.

“Now, witch, dismantle the abomination.”
Ray turned to Ril. “I believe that this would be

acceptable?”

Ril gazed at Zhandor. The vampire returned her stare. Jai

sensed the invisible challenge bounce back and forth
between them.

The witch nodded. “Okay, I’ll do it, but you start up again

and all bets are off. And we have your blood on that paper,
don’t think I won’t use it.”

Zhandor’s fang tip lowered. “I have given my word.”
“Yes, well…” Ray took the document and studied the

signature  and  print.  “Thank  you.  Seems  in  order.”  He  put
the  paper  into  his  briefcase  and  closed  it.  “I  will  receive
further  instructions  from  my  client  and  get  back  to  you.
Jaidyn.  Erilla.”  He  nodded  at  Leydan.  “Mr.  Carlos,  if  you
please.”  He  put  a  hand  out  and  ushered  the  vampire  from
the room.

“Well…” Ril said, letting out her breath. Jai did the same,

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

unaware, until now that he’d been shallow breathing.

“What is it you stole?” Jai asked.
“I’m not a thief.”
“Then what’s this about?”
“I can’t tell you.” He paused and yawned. “I can’t think

straight.”

Jai frowned. “If you’ve got a Zhandor on your tail, you

haven’t been thinking straight for a long time. Long before
you arrived here.”

Leydan smiled, his eyes glazing. “That’s what Tajan

says.”

“Tajan?”
“I need to heal. Don’t wake me.”
Every Blood-kin had that ability—to impose a deep sleep

where  the  body  healed  itself.  Vampires  were  masters  of  it.
When  one  of  the  Blood-kin  invoked  the  healing,  no  matter
the circumstances, it had to be allowed. Clever cat to call on
that law. Using it, Leydan had avoided answering questions.
Jai frowned, his attention diverted by another thought. Who
was Tajan? The shifter’s lover?

“You…” Jaidyn began.
Ril set a hand on Jai’s arm. “He truly does need to heal.

He’s been living on his nerves for a long time. Let him sleep.
He’s not going anywhere. I’ll see what I can do outside, but
fangs can be a stubborn lot. They set their minds to
something and it’s like their fangs—sunk to the tip until full
satisfaction is achieved.”

Jai ignored her innuendo. “Thanks for your help, Ril.”
“The pleasure wasn’t mine, that’s for sure. What a

goddess  awful  mess.  I  think  you  can  handle  one  kitty-cat
from now on. That agreement notwithstanding, I’m going to
reinforce  my  spells  and  wards  around  this  building.  And
since when does Mr. King Vampire and Bas talk? What the
hell  is  going  on?  I  think  our  kitty-whiskers  has  been  one

Astrid Cooper

naughty  cat.”  Ril  quickly  dismantled  her  protective  circle
drawn on the floor. Again, she used her wand to remove the
collar from the obelisk, dropping it and her crystals into her
bag.  “I’ve  left  one  special  ward  in  this  room.  If  there’s
trouble,  it’ll  help  you.  I  don’t  trust  that  fang!”  She  strode
from the room.

“Right, now, we talk…” Jai said, turning to Leydan. “Oh,

hell.” The bloody cat was asleep, his hand curled under his
cheek, his hair over his face, looking like Mr. Innocence. Jai
drew the quilt up over the cinnamon-hued body and stalked
from the room. He headed for the bar to pour himself a
triple cognac from Bas’s private stash.

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

Chapter Six

or two days Leydan slept like a dead cat on the sofa.
Jaidyn relocated his office and bedroom to Monsters’

boardroom, on the mezzanine floor overlooking the cabaret
room. He’d tried working in his office while the shifter slept,
but  that  proved  a  disaster.  He  couldn’t  concentrate  on  his
work,  his  eyes,  his  attention,  diverting  to  Leydan  as  the
shifter  purred,  moaned  and  tossed  and  turned  on  the  sofa
bed.  He  constantly  kicked  off  the  quilt,  revealing  that
magnificent  body…  A  body  no  red-blooded  male  could
ignore.

Jai frowned down at the shifter, his arm thrown across his

face, the other curled under his head, his hair in tangles
around his neck and shoulders. The healing sleep was taking
longer than expected. But did he really want the cat up and
about, padding around, sexy as hell? Yes. No.

He retreated to his desk and stared at the noticeboard on

the wall. He touched the picture of the run-down mansion.
This  was  his  dream—to  buy  it,  restore  it,  room  by  room,
brick  by  brick  if  necessary.  Prime  beachfront  real  estate  in
Semaphore was rare and for  three months, every day, he’d
looked at the house on the net, fearing to see a sold sign. It
hadn’t  happened.  There  was  no  way  he  could  afford  the
million-dollar price tag—at least not yet. And when he had
his own home, when he was settled, for the first time in his
life,  maybe…just  maybe,  he  might  find  someone,  so  that

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he’d never again wake up alone. As if that was gonna
happen. He sighed and turned resolutely away.

“Is it morning?” Leydan’s voice purred.
“Midday.” Jai glanced at him, seeing him resting on his

elbow, the quilt draped over his hips.

“I’m hungry. I need to bathe.”
“In that order?”
“No, I want to wash first. Get rid of the stink.”
Jaidyn didn’t think the cat stunk—rather, his scent was

musk and cat and spice, a heady and enticing combination.
Maybe if he washed that off him, Jai could get some peace.
He led him to the bathroom.

Leydan walked over to the antique claw-foot bath and

fiddled with the taps. “I prefer a long, hot soak, rather than
that shower-thing.”

“Right, I’ll leave you to it, then.”
“You could join me.”
Jai snorted. “Do I need a bath?” He glared at the cat.

“While you were asleep, I went out and bought some
clothes. They’re on your bunk. Remember the room down
the hall? Relocate there. I need to get my sofa re-upholstered
and you owe me for a new dressing gown. You shredded it
and the sofa.” He turned to go. Leydan’s hand on his wrist
halted him.

“I owe you more than that, Jaidyn. Thank you.” He

stroked Jai’s wrist, pressing the pads of his fingers against
the pulse point.

Jaidyn stalked away, heading for the kitchen. He needed a

fix of his strongest, darkest chocolate. He ate almost a box of
Sev’s finest decadent delights, waiting for the cat to finish
his bath.

Leydan padded into the kitchen and Jai watched him

beneath his lashes. The cat was pure grace and sex on legs.
Damn it! He bit into more chocolate. The cat wore the batik

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

printed sarong low over his hip, tied beneath the bone. The
fabric  clung  to  his  curves  and  tight  arse.  Christ.  The  thing
was  positively  indecent.  Jai  sucked  on  the  bittersweet
chocolate. It usually soothed his nerves, his problems, but a
problem called Leydan wasn’t so easily resolved.

Leydan turned the chair to face the table and sat down,

the sarong parting, revealing… Jai averted his gaze.

“Something wrong, Mr. Fang?” he said helping himself to

a triple layered chocolate from the box. He nibbled the end.
“Why this is…fantastic. I’ve never tasted anything like it in
all the worlds.” He chewed thoughtfully, his tawny eyes
alight with mischief.

“More house rules, Alley-cat.”
“More?”
“I bought you boxers…wear ‘em.”
“What are boxers?”
“Underwear. They’re those silk pants in the black

cardboard  box.”  He’d  bought  the  boxers  in  the  exclusive
men’s shop in the Port. Why he hadn’t gone to K-Mart and
bought  the  cat  a  cheap  set  of  cotton  Y-fronts  he  couldn’t
imagine.  He  had  more  important  things  to  do  with  his
meagre savings.

“I don’t wear pants—of any kind.”
“Around here you do. Rules.”
“That’s the trouble with vampires. They live by rules and

their houses are minimalist. Fastidious to the point of
obsession. Me, I live for the moment.”

“Well, right now, you do live moment to moment.” He

inclined his head over his shoulder.

“Any developments on the surveillance?”
“They’re still there. Ril’s posted more wards on the

building. Nothing’s getting through. Whether that’s due to
her spells or the truce, I’m not sure.”

“They’ll break in when they’re ready. By then, I’ll be long

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gone.”

“They wouldn’t dare break Sanctuary. The Imperium—”
“Fuck the Imperium. My enemies are outside the law.

They…”

“Yes, they…?”
“They don’t recognise any Sanctuary. They don’t give a

cat’s meow for anyone. So long as they…” Leydan put his
half-eaten chocolate on the plate.

“Continue.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“No, Alley-cat, continue with the explanation. It was just

getting interesting.”

“I’m not able to. I’m under oath.”
Jai studied the downcast face. He understood about oaths.

If any Kin made an oath, it wasn’t to be broken—on pain of
death,  or  worse.  If  Leydan  was  ordered  to  silence,  it
explained  much.  Answers  would  not  be  forthcoming  until
the  oath  was  removed.  “Ril  has  got  a  Witch’s  Circle
watching the building. They’re also screening it from human
eyes,  so  that  if  anything  does  happen,  no  one  but  Kin  will
see.”

“Watchers watching the watchers watching the

watchers.” Leydan snorted. “Like that is going to help.”

“It’s kept them off our backs.”
“So far. They’ll make their move. They’re just re-

grouping.”

“You know your enemy.”
“First law of assassins…know your enemy.”
“You’re an assassin?”
“My friends are.” He paused. “Were.”
Jai’s brows rose. This cat had assassin friends? Hell’s

Bloody Hell. And they had died?

“Yes, fang-boy. Six of my brothers died, so I could live.

That’s a blood debt I do not forget.” He pushed himself up

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

from the table and stalked away, his sarong flapping around
him.

Leydan strode to the front door and wrenched it open.

Sunlight hit him full on the face. He winced. So long inside,
he’d forgotten the feel, the warmth of the sun on this world,
or  any  other.  He  put  his  hand  against  the  carved  black
marble  arch  to  steady  himself,  biting  down  the  anger,  the
fear.  The  pain.  He’d  nearly  told  that  vampire  too  much.
Revealed Kin secrets… Jaidyn Saungeray was getting under
his  fur.  He  couldn’t  afford  that  complication.  The  vamp
called  him  Alley.  He  liked  the  name,  the  way  he  said  it,
almost a purr. Maybe one day he could teach that vampire
how to purr properly.

Leydan leant against the arch, arms folded. He drew in

the healing warmth of the sun. That bloody building was so
damn cold. But he wasn’t going to wear more suitable
human clothes, despite Jaidyn’s insistence. He paused in his
musing, as his cat senses picked up the smell of vampire, the
instant before he saw them sitting under the canvas awning
of the café, across the road, drinking latte.

The two vampires turned to him. Leydan extended his

right foot and stretched his big toe out to  the top step. One
vampire  rose  in  his  seat.  Leydan  pulled  back  his  toe.  The
vampire  sat  down.  So,  the  top  step  was  the  boundary  he
could not cross. You think? He sent out the silent challenge.
He put his toe on the step, removed it, repeating the process
a dozen times. As he had hoped, the vampires were less than
amused. He caught their acidic stink, telling him that he was
close to inciting them. Inciting was good.

He stepped down and felt the tingling along his spine.

The next step and the spikes intensified. The next step would
literally sear his nerve endings. He tested the mental
barriers, the wards holding him prisoner. He couldn’t find a

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weak link in the neural net encasing the building. Stalemate.
He retreated, but Hell’s Fury it galled to retreat in the face of
the enemy.

“What do you think you’re doing, cat?” Jai demanded at

his side.

Leydan shrugged. “Why…checking out the scenery.” He

paused, his gaze on four young women strolling past.
“Ladies, good morning.” He gave them his most sexy smile.

The girls halted in mid-step on the footpath. They turned

to look at him, their eyes round, their hormones flipping off
the  register.  Leydan  smiled  in  triumph.  Human  women
were  so  predictable.  He  saw  the  pretty  blonde  stare  at  Jai.
Leydan  sniffed,  uncertain  why  that  stare  at  the  vampire
should  concern  him.  If  he  was  in  leopard  form,  his  tail
would be twitching.

“Are you going to be in that show?” the blonde girl asked

Jaidyn, pointing to the sign next to the front door,
advertising the cabaret.

“Maybe,” Jai said.
“In that case, we’ll be there on opening night.”
Leydan purred and tossed his head. “Naturally.” He’d

just sent out a lure to the girls.

“Ala naturelle—naturally?” one demanded.
“It’s not that kind of a show.”
“Uh-huh,” blondie said, her gaze on Leydan and his

naked chest.

The girls giggled and walked away, though blondie kept

looking over her shoulder before hurrying after her friends
as they disappeared around the corner.

“Alley-cat, come inside, at once.”
“Is that an invitation?” Leydan flicked back the hair from

his eyes, raising his chin. “Because I’d like to.”

“What?”
“I’d like to come inside. You offering? It’s been a long

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

time since I…”

Jaidyn hissed and grasped Leydan’s arm and propelled

him backwards. He slammed the front door so hard the
brass knocker fell off its bracket.

“Temper, Jaidyn.” Leydan laughed, striding away.
“Stay away from the front door.”
Leydan pirouetted on his heel to face the vamp. “Maybe

you mean stay away from the girls?” Bull’s eye, he thought
as he saw the look on Jai’s face, the narrowing eyes and that
glint. With an exaggerated twist of his hips, he padded
away, leaving the vampire to stew in his own sex juice.

Astrid Cooper

Chapter Seven

ai sat at the piano, his left hand toying with the keys, his
right hand scribbling lyrics and notes on the music sheet.

No, damn it, that’s not right! He ran his pen through the

music  and  sighed.  Usually  he  found  solace  in  the  cabaret
room  and  his  music.  But  the  peace  he  sought  had  eluded
him  for  the  better  part  of  an  hour.  And  why?  One  word.
Leydan.

He’d watched him walk away from the front door,

infuriated  by  Leydan’s  behaviour.  Teasing  vampires,  of  all
the cat-brained things to do! His fingers hit wrong keys on
the  piano.  Of  course  it  had  nothing  to  do  with  Leydan
teasing  those  girls,  or  their  reactions  to  him.  A  woman
would  have  to  be  dead  not  to  react  to  the  cat’s  flirting.  He
could forgive the women, but the cat…?

Jai pushed everything to the back of his mind and stroked

the keys, letting his creative side direct his fingers over the
keyboard. That felt right, he thought, playing the new tune. It
resonated and—

“Don’t stop,” Leydan’s voice intruded. The shifter

padded forward, his sarong parting in his long-legged
stride.

Jai noticed that he was now wearing silk boxers under his

skirt. He continued playing.

Leydan stood beside him, his hip almost touching Jai’s

shoulder. Jaidyn’s awareness heightened. He smelt cat

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

shifter pheromones. The cat was trying to tangle with him.
Naughty kitty.

“You’re tense,” Leydan whispered. His hands touched

Jai’s neck, shoulders, lightly massaging. Jai knew he ought to
make him stop, but hell—it felt good, so damn, bloody good.
He almost purred.

Leydan leaned closer, his body hard against Jai’s back. Jai

felt the arousal, tasted it, smelt it, his every cell vibrating
with the cat. Leydan’s hair tickled his cheek as he leant over
him to see what Jai was writing.

“Beautiful,” the cat purred. “Play it again. Please.” He

leapt, morphing to leopard, landing on the piano top,
scattering papers.

The cat lay down, watching with glowing eyes as Jai

played the music. His tail swished and he purred low in the
back of his throat. Jai smiled. Gyng often lay there while he
was composing, scattering papers, and depositing fur all
over the piano. More than once he’d had to tease out strands
of fur from the spaces between the keys.

Jai focused his attention on the tune, his fingers moving

over the keys. He heard a deep purr. Was the cat singing
along? Then he heard a voice singing, a voice that sent
shivers up his spine and ignited… Christ Almighty! Jai nearly
bit his tongue as the beautiful, clear voice reached a top note
beyond the range of any human.

His hands faltered over the keys. He looked up. Leydan

had morphed to man and was lying face first on the piano,
his chin resting on his arms. His tawny eyes were afire, his
smile—redolent, like his cat scent. Each combining to make
Jai turn to mush.

“What is this instrument?” the shifter asked.
“It’s a piano.”
“You play it well?”
“Adequately.”

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“Play it again. This tune is one you’ve written?”
“Yes, my latest opera.”
Leydan’s eyes narrowed. “I enjoy opera. It’s the only

thing on this world of value. Maybe…present company
accepted, of course.”

“Of course.”
“Please play for me.”
Jai complied, watching Leydan as he rolled on his back,

his arms flung wide on the piano. The damn shifter was
almost writhing in ecstasy. He turned his head to look at Jai.
His smile, for the first time, held no artifice, but pure
pleasure.

“I love it,” Leydan said. “I never knew…”
“What?”
“That a vampire could make music like that. They’re all

death and teeth.”

“I’m not a vampire.”
“So you keep saying. I wonder why?” The eyes twinkled.

Back to cat-games.

“I’m not a vampire, because I’ve never been off world.

Never been to Dracule.”

Leydan gaped. “But every vamp who lives off world,

returns home once to their kin when they come of age.”

“Not me.”
“Why?”
Jai sighed. “Because I don’t have enough vampire blood

and  even  if  I  did,  my  family  and  I  are  estranged.  They
disowned  me  when  I  followed  a  different  career  from  the
one  they  had  planned  for  me.  My  mother  and  father  are
scientists.  They  work  for  NASA  in  Florida.  I’m  not  into
science. I love music and the theatre. It’s my life.”

“To be isolated from kin is unthinkable.”
“Not for me it isn’t.”
“Truly?” The cat smiled his disbelief. Jaidyn gnashed his

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

teeth.

“Leydan?”
“Mmmmn?”
“I have a proposal.”
“Ah, at last things are getting interesting.” He rolled onto

his stomach and studied Jai, his chin on his folded arms. “So,
what is the proposal?”

“I need a tenor for the show. I’ve auditioned…no one

comes close to the voice I need.”

“I come more than close.” The double entendre made

them both laugh.

“You’re purrrfect for the parrrrrrt.”
“Almost got it right, fang-boy, but you purr like this.”
He purred, and the vibrations thrummed along all of Jai’s

nerve endings, culminating at his groin. His cock hardened.
Damn!  He  swallowed  against  a  suddenly  tight,  dry  throat.
And  the  room  temperature  had  climbed  to  boiling  in
seconds.  Was  he  having  one  of  those  vampire  hot  flushes
he’d heard about, but never experienced?

“So, will you take on the role?”
“I’m not an actor.”
“With that voice, Ley, you won’t have to say a line. Just

sing and the whole audience will be putty in your paws.”

“You called me Ley. No one, but no one, calls me that

without my permission.”

“I… It wasn’t meant to offend. Aussies always call their

mates…um, sorry, their friends, using more familiar names,
even nicknames. Like I call you Alley…”

“But you aren’t an Australian, you’re vamp—!”
“I was born here. I’m an Aussie. No discussion.”
“Now, I’ve offended you.” He smiled. “Ley is my familiar

name. You may use it. Now, we were discussing this acting
role. I don’t perform in public.”

“What was that outside, if not performing?”

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“Those vampires?”
“The girls. You played them like a pro.”
“I enjoy playing with women, but I never tangle with

them. Like you, Jaidyn, I prefer men.”

Jai frowned. The shifter’s gaze held his, challenging,

daring.

“I don’t tangle with anyone, least of all a thieving cat.”
Leydan hissed and then laughed. “We’re all thieves in the

night. Takes one to know one, fang-boy.”

“What the hell?”
“Yeah, hell is right.” Leydan paused. “This show you’re

putting on, tell me more?”

Jaidyn explained, playing some of the music. “I’ve

choreographed a dance. I’ve called it the fangtango…it
features throughout the cabaret. Tony dances it to
perfection.”

Leydan laughed. “Only cats dance to purrfection. And

this role you want me to play—Dracula? How do you think
vampires will feel when they learn a cat-shifter is
masquerading as one of their own?”

“You’re right, dumb idea! They won’t be amused.”
“That’s why I’ll do it. I like the idea of teasing my fur in

their fangs.”

Jai grimaced. The idea of any fangs teasing through Ley’s

fur set Jai’s teeth on edge. He wished he had fangs to sink in
Ley’s fur… He started, seeing Ley’s slow smile—what the
hell was he thinking, especially that sort of thinking with the
cat able to pick up on it?

Leydan frowned. “But what will happen to your opera

when I leave? Because I will leave, Jaidyn. I must.”

“I’ll worry about that one when I have to.” When I have to

face it—I will. Somehow. He kept that to himself, shocked,
because when…how…had he started to want this cat, desire
him? To feel pain at the thought of him leaving? He stared

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

down at the piano keys, stroking…

Leydan caught the vampire scent. The thing about cats

was they knew what creatures were thinking, feeling—every
living thing exuded a scent appropriate to the moment and
Jaidyn was no exception. But he hid it remarkably well—he
guessed it was the vampire blood that helped. Vamps could
shield themselves. They were masters of the glamour.

As if it mattered. Leydan had seen enough of Jai’s

magnificent  body  to  appreciate  the  vampire  all  the  more,
and  his  inner  self  was  just  opening  to  awareness.  The  man
was…  Leydan  ran  a  tongue  of  his  dry  lips,  as  if  he  was
savouring a choice piece of jaran, the rarest of fruits from his
home  world.  Would  Jaidyn  open  up  to  him  like  the  jaran,
revealing subtle flavours and textures and the pungent drop
of nectar hidden deep at the core?

“Why are you smiling?” Jaidyn asked.
Ley shook his head. If he told the vampire, he’d run from

him. “You need to learn how to breathe properly, to control
your voice, to realise its full potential.”

Leydan slid off the piano, his sarong falling open. Jai’s

gaze took him in—all of him.

“Where the hell are your boxers? You were wearing them

a minute ago, when you walked in.”

“I morphed to cat and back again.”
“Yes—so? I know that cats somehow integrate their

clothes with their fur when they morph, so when they shift
back to human, they’re not naked.”

“Uh-huh. But there’s only so much integrating a cat can

do. I chose the sarong over the underwear.”

“Right. Too much for you, was it? I guess you’re not used

to wearing so many clothes.”

“That’s right.” Leydan grinned. Jai didn’t like that look,

not one damn bit.

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“You arrived here naked.”
Ley’s smile froze. Jai instantly regretted his words. “I was

stripped of everything, Jaidyn. They even cut my hair in case
I was hiding weapons in it.”

Jai gasped. “They did that?” Cats rarely cut their hair—for

Leydan to have had it shorn by his enemies…was probably
ten times worse than that damn collar. “I’m sorry.”

Leydan shook his head. “It’s growing again. This time

next year it’ll be long enough for me to sit on.”

Jai’s mouth dried at the thought. All that hair to touch, to

stroke. He cleared his suddenly tight throat.

“So, let’s start your breathing lesson.” Leydan turned

Jaidyn about face and put his hands around Jai’s waist, his
hands fanning over his chest.

“What are you doing?” Jai demanded, a hint of ice in his

voice. But beneath the ice, Leydan caught the fire.

“I’m going to breathe with you. Now, match your

breathing to mine.” He breathed out. In. Out. Gradually, Jai
relaxed against him, vampire breath matching cat. “You’re
too tense. Relax. Again.”

“It’s making me dizzy.”
“Because Mr. Fang, you’ve never breathed properly in

your life. Short shallow breaths, like most creatures. Vamps
are incredibly inflexible.”

“I’m not…”
“…a vampire,” Leydan said. “Right, Mr. so-not-a-

vampire, breathe. Match with me.” Minutes passed.
Gradually their breaths mirrored. “Now, copy this.” He
purred, then trilled, a range up and down of high and low
notes. Jai followed him. “That’s good. More than good.”

“I trained at the Conservatorium.”
“The what?”
“Adelaide University School of Music.”
“They didn’t train you properly.” Leydan felt Jai’s denial

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

in the rigid spine against his chest. “What I meant to say is
that  they  trained  you  as  a  human,  not  realizing  you  are  so
much more. Your range is all out of synch. It won’t take long
to  open  you  up.”  In  more  ways  than  one,  he  thought,  as  his
hands pressed against Jai’s abdomen. The ridges of muscles
beneath  his  fingertips  were…hell…  Interesting  didn’t  even
begin  to  describe  it.  “Now,  breathe  from  here.”  His  palm
rested over Jai’s navel.

“Go any lower and the lesson ends.”
“I’m not trying to seduce you.” He grinned to himself. No

trying  about  it.  The  vamp  was  wired,  but  probably  didn’t
even  realise  it.  Yet.  Then  he  sobered.  He  had  promised  to
train Jaidyn, and a promise was a promise. The man trusted
him—to a degree—and to shatter that small trust would be a
betrayal. “Okay, now breathe again and sing this.” The cat’s
voice  lifted  to  the  highest  note  possible.  Jai  followed  and
then coughed as the strain stretched his vocal chords to their
limit.

“That’s enough for today,” Leydan said, slowly drawing

his hands back from Jai.

Jaidyn turned to him, smiling. “Thank you. I can see the

range.”

“Do those exercises five times a day, it’ll improve your

voice and control. Might help you to breathe easier, too.”

Their gazes locked, a smile shared.
“How long did you study music at this university?”
“Twice the normal time, because I had to work to put

myself through university. I’ve only just graduated.”

“Your family didn’t help you?”
“As I said, my family and I are estranged. They’re

scientists, I’m an artist. The two don’t mix.”

Leydan nodded. Most vampires tended to the sciences—

the arts were left to the shifters. But when a vampire did
favour music, or art, they were outstanding. As Jaidyn—if he

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only knew.

“Is that why you live here?” Leydan asked. “Don’t have a

place of your own? Were you that poor?”

Jai blushed. “Poor doesn’t describe it. But I work here,

now, and I’m saving up for a house on the beachfront.” He
paused. “And you? Where do you live?”

“In a nice, three-roomed cave on one of the moons of

Chizan.”

“A cave?”
“Just like a bat.” He grinned.
“I think you’re teasing me.”
“Trust me, fang-boy, when I tease you, you’ll know. And

you won’t be thinking about anything but the teasing.”

Jai laughed. The vibrations echoed along Leydan’s spine,

coiling inside his every cell. He pushed back, his gut on fire.
“So practise that breathing and we’ll try another range
tomorrow.” He strode away, heading for a cold bath.

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

Chapter Eight

ai tugged off his boots at the front door. His feet hurt like
hell. The cool marble soothed.

After a day pounding the pavement getting provisions,

ordering stock for the opening night, a bout of retail therapy,
including the purchase of the latest hardback of his favourite
fantasy author, Jai was exhausted.

Bas’s instructions were specific: nothing but the best and

that meant spending a small fortune on vintage champagne,
cognac and liqueurs. Sev was going to supply the decadent
chocolates  and  desserts,  while  the  cafe  across  the  road  was
going  to  make  the  horsd’oeuvre  and  other  finger  food—all
vegetarian.

Monsters was still looking for a chef, but no applicants

had come up to speed, so until they had someone suitable,
the cabaret had to rely on outsiders to provide the catering.
Not a satisfactory arrangement, even though Ril added
pizzazz to the sample of food the human caterers provided,
to give it that special Monsters zing…

Jai left his boots where they lay by the massive carved

front door. He paused, again admiring the foyer. The gothic
vaulted  ceiling  of  dark  wood  and  glass  complemented  the
stained  glass  windows  along  the  front  wall.  The  black
marble floor was patterned by the geometric reflections from
the light of the crystal chandeliers, along the entire length of
the  foyer.  Several  red  velvet  chaises  longue  and  tables  with

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vases  of  crimson  roses  were  placed  around  the  atrium.
Gyng’s favourite longue was again draped in velvet. It was
due  to  be  reupholstered—again.  The  cat  insisted  on
sculpting it with his teeth and claws. Bas called it a work in
progress—a  sample  of  cat  art.  Matthew  described  it  as
wanton  destruction.  But  Bas  and  Gyng  won out.  The  chaise
and the cat were not to be parted.

Hell, he missed the cat! Jai paused in mid-thought,

suddenly unsure to which cat he was referring.

He strode across the floor and down the wide, carved

ebony staircase. Bas was nothing if not a perfectionist when
it came to design and decoration. The staircase had cost fifty-
thousand dollars and had taken months to carve on site. The
bannister finials were dragons with their wings outstretched.
Bas  had  wanted  bats, but  Matt  thought  that  was  too  overt.
The vampire had the final word and had tiny bats carved in
the underside of each dragon wing.  Jai had to look hard to
see  them,  but  once  found,  the  bats’  eyes  followed  him
around  the  room.  It  didn’t  worry  Jai,  but  Ril  said  the  eyes
gave her the creeps.

Smiling, Jai descended the staircase, crossed the cabaret

room floor, pushed open the sub-basement door, and
descended the narrow steps two at a time. He strode
through the corridor to his office, turning sideways through
the door, his hands full of the bags from his shop-’til-I drop
expedition.

“What the hell…?” He heard someone singing Stairway to

Heaven. Not just someone. The lilt and tone was pure cat. Jai
paused  at  the  door  and  saw  Leydan  lying  on  the  sofa,
dressed only in his boxers. He was plugged in to Jai’s I-Pod.
While  he  sang,  Ley  horizontally  danced  on  the  sofa.
Crikey…he could move. What would he look like doing the
fangtango?

Jai put that thought aside as he saw his once neat desk

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

littered with CDs. Some of his papers lay scattered on the
floor. The bloody cat had no idea about tidy.

Dumping the shopping bags on his chair, Jai walked back

to Ley and prodded him with his toe. The shifter opened his
eyes lazily and smiled. That bone-melting, turn-your-legs-to-
mush smile. Jai retreated as the cat sat up and pulled out the
earplugs.

“That guy can sing…for a human.”
“It’s classic rock’n’roll.”
“At home rock’n’roll has a whole different connotation.

But after listening to this music, perhaps humans and cats
have the same idea when it comes to rock’n’roll. It has the
soul of a cat.” He stood up and stretched.

Jai watched as muscles rippled and strained. In response

some of Jai’s own muscles began to strain. He turned away
and sorted out his purchases. “Here, for you.” He handed
Ley three bags.

“What is this?” He accepted the bags and turned them

upside down on the sofa. “Jeans?” he asked. “You’re
determined, aren’t you?”

“You can’t venture outside wearing boxers or that sarong.

And you need shoes, so I bought you boots.” The best he
could not afford. His credit card was maxed out.

“I may not be here for long enough to wear…”
“I’m a boy scout,” Jai said.

* * * *

“A boy scout?” On his world, a boy was never a scout. That
was for girls. Boys prowled—never scouted.

“A boy scout is always prepared.”
“I don’t understand.”
“No, I guess not. Try on the jeans. They should fit, but if

not, I can exchange them.”

Astrid Cooper

Leydan struggled into the jeans and stared down at the

zip. He knew its function, but he wasn’t certain he wanted to
try it. His fingers tentatively tested it. Hells… He could
castrate himself.

Laughing, Jai squatted at his feet and leaned forward. He

carefully zipped up. “Simple,” he said.

Simple…? Ley frowned. Jai’s hair swished across his

stomach  and  lower.  Ley  dragged  in  a  breath.  That  simple
action  ignited…  And  at  his  groin  Jaidyn’s  fingers  burned.
Ley’s  fingers  knotted  in  the  vampire’s  long  hair,  lifting  his
head,  staring  at  the  man  whose  face  was  upturned,  whose
eyes were dark. Ley’s legs were suddenly too weak to hold
him upright. He staggered back against the sofa.

“What’s wrong?”
“I’m overwhelmed.”
“They’re only jeans.”
Ley drew in a ragged breath. He wasn’t going to tell the

vamp a damn thing. Complications. Trouble. Jaidyn was going
to kill him. He growled.

“Are you sickening or something?” Jai demanded.

“You’re flushed all over.”

Like I don’t know? He turned away, struggling for control.

Because if he didn’t get control—and fast—he’d push the
vamp over the desk and fuck him senseless. And that was no
way to treat any man, least of all Jaidyn.

“Right. I’ll make you a hot toddy. It’s a drink. One of my

specialities. It’ll fry your whiskers, but get rid of any bugs.”
Jai left the room.

“Won’t get rid of this bug,” Leydan muttered, frowning

down at the erection straining against his jeans. He went to
unzip  and  remove  the  jeans,  but  paused.  The  garment  hid
his  arousal,  the  silk  boxers  would  not.  A  cat  had  to  keep
some  secrets  from…  He  paused.  Keep  secrets  from…?  Finish
what you were thinking, cat-boy.

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

His thoughts whirled. Keep secrets from…his mate. There,

he said it. Mate. And he wasn’t thinking about the Australian
meaning  of  the  word.  Jaidyn  Saungeray  was  his  mate—or
soon  would  be—once  this  mission  was  over,  once  all  this
Blood-kin  mess  was  sorted.  He’d  known  from  the  moment
he  had  awoken  to  see  Jai  at  his desk  and  that  hells-so-sexy
curtain  of  raven  hair  hiding  his  face.  But  his  mission,  his
oath—then  he’d  been  able  to  ignore  the  recognition.  But
now, after living with Jai for the past few days…

For the first time in his life, Leydan suppressed every

urge, every instinct, save one, to keep Jaidyn unaware of
what he was feeling, thinking. But inside, he was a quivering
mess.

Jai returned and handed him a steaming mug. “Drink.

You’re as white as… Hell, you look crook.”

Ley eyed him. He knew the language of his host, or so he

thought, but the idioms were unfathomable. “Crook?” he
demanded.

“Sick.” Jai smiled. “Can also mean someone who’s

dishonest, a bad guy. Thief. Crook.”

“It’s about time this planet had one language, a common

tongue, like a civilised world.”

“Ah, but earth isn’t civilised, just one step away from the

stone age according to many Kin.” Jai paused. “Drink up,
it’ll do you good.”

Leydan snorted. I’d like to do you and good… He

swallowed the drink and coughed as it burnt its way down
to his stomach. He handed the mug back to Jai. The human’s
fingers slid over his, a simple, innocent touch that would
have made his whiskers curl, if Ley was in cat shape. He
stepped back.

“Where are you going?” Jai asked.
“To lie down.”
“You can use the sofa, if you prefer. That storeroom

Astrid Cooper

isn’t—”

“It’s fine. I want to be alone.”
“Okay, Greta, suit yourself.”
Leydan paused in mid-step. “What is Greta?”
“Not what, who. Greta Garbo, an actress. Famous for her

one liner, I want to be alone.”

“Wise woman.” He growled and stalked away, slamming

the  door  of  his  room  shut  with  his  heel.  He  flung  himself
face first on the bed, smothering his face in the pillow, when
what he really wanted to do was smother himself, face first
into  certain  parts  of  Jaidyn’s  anatomy.  Hells’  dark  fury!  The
pain,  the  wanting…almost  as  bad  as  that  torture  collar.  He’d
endured that pain, but he wasn’t sure he could endure this.

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

Chapter Nine

eopard spotted forearms wrapped around him, a warm,
moist tongue probing the base of his ear. Jai shivered. He

turned his face, stroking his cheek against fur. Then he felt
skin against his, arms holding him close, hands spread over
the base of his spine, teasing lower to his arse.

“Kiss me, Jai. Make me purr.” Leydan’s whisper

thrummed through him.

Jai stretched over the shifter, slanting his lips, tasting

Ley’s sweet-musk mouth. In response a tongue tip touched
his,  asking,  no—begging—for  more.  Jai  opened  his  mouth,
pressing  his lips  hard  against Ley’s.  Tongues  touched,  slid,
stroked, retreated, returning to thrust and parry.

Ley lifted up against Jai, grinding his body, cock to cock.
“I want you,” Jai said.
A low throated growl in response.
Jai reached out, body straining… He snapped open his

eyelids. Alone. Bloody Fucking Hell. He sat upright, swung his
legs over the side of the sofa and put his face in his hands.
That dream, that bloody dream that had plagued him for the
last two nights, ever since Leydan had begun to teach him
how to breathe.

He padded into the bathroom and splashed cold water

onto his face. He looked in the mirror, seeing the shadows
beneath his dark eyes. He wanted the cat. Every part of him
knew it. Just his luck to fall in love with a…

Astrid Cooper

The hell…what?
Jai gasped and leaned against the wash basin, his eyes

searching the stranger in the mirror. The stranger stared
back at him. Then smiled.

“Yeah, Jaidyn, look shocked all you like, but you do love

him, don’t  you?”  he  asked  his reflection.  He’d  told  Leydan
stuff  about  himself  that  no  one  else  knew.  The  cat  had
purred his way into his life, his heart. “So what you gonna
do about it?” He pushed back from the basin and strode out
into his office.

Outside, in the passageway, he heard the stealthy

footsteps, the creak of a wooden step. For the last two nights
Jai  had  heard  Leydan  sneaking  around  the place.  If  the  cat
couldn’t  sleep  because  he  was  too  wired,  Jai  sympathised.
But maybe the cat was just prowling—they liked to roam at
night.  In  the  early  hours,  Gyng  often  would  visit  his  office
and pace up and down Jai’s body as he tried to sleep.

Pity Leydan didn’t follow his example and pace up and

down his body, instead of padding back and forth along the
passageway…

Jai pulled on his jeans and crept out of his room, along the

passage. He caught the cat scent and followed it, finding
Leydan crouched in the far corner of the props room. He
was naked.

Uh-oh. At the sight, Jai’s mouth dried in a nano-second.
The cat hissed, as if in pain.
“Ley?”
Leydan stood, spun, his figure blurring as he almost

morphed to cat.

“Jaidyn.”
“Who else?” He paused. “What the…?” Behind the

cupboard, Jai saw something—a crystalline structure
growing up the wall.

“What are you doing here?” Leydan said, moving to

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

block Jai’s gaze.

“Following you. What is that?” He dodged past Leydan,

shoving the cat to one side. He studied the crystal lattice. Ril
would be pleased. The damn thing was every shade of
purple, but at each juncture, there was a smaller golden
crystal shaped like a teardrop. “Explain this.”

Leydan almost smiled. “I can’t give you the scientific

details. They’re like fractals.”

“I know about them.” Fractals…natural structures with

mathematical formulae ranging from snowflakes to leaves,
with quantum theory thrown in on the side—Tony had told
him about them, when they’d had one of their deep and
meaningful discussions over dinner.

“This is an assassin defence-attack screen. Did you

honestly think I was living here, biding my time, waiting to
be rescued or attacked? I’m at war, here, Jaidyn, not some
fluff-headed kitty playing games.”

Jai smiled. “I’ve never considered you fluff-headed. What

will this thing do?”

“Depends what I ask it. Like a shifter it can alter shape,

according to the needs of its creator. But if there’s a psychic
attack, it’ll bounce the energy right back where it came from.
Ten fold.”

“We can’t have that sort of battle here.”
“I know, so if it’s ready in time, then it’ll get me out of

here. I’ll lead the enemy on a chase…and by that time I’ll
have reinforcements. Not like before. I underestimated them.
That won’t happen again.”

“Will you tell me one day what this is all about? I know

you’re under oath. It’s just that if I knew what we’re facing,
then I can help.”

“Too many have died helping me, Jai. I don’t want to see

you hurt.”

Jai’s eyes stung with tears. “But it’s okay if you get hurt.

Astrid Cooper

It’s okay if I don’t try and protect you? I’m just a dumb old
human, too fucking blind, too—”

“Jaidyn.” A world of understanding, of possibilities in

that one word. “Let it go, for now.”

Jai turned away, his attention on the crystal lattice. It

shimmered and sparked. He felt-sensed a spark of alien
intelligence in the matrix. “It’s alive!”

“Of course, the crystal is from my home world.”
“How did it get here?”
“Every shifter carries a crystal implant, because when we

roam far, we need the touch, the comfort of home. The
crystal is part of us. And assassins carry a lot more besides.”

“You cut yourself open?”
“With my claw.”
Jai winced. “Two nights ago you did this, didn’t you?”
Leydan looked surprised. “How did you know?”
“I had a bloody nightmare—skin being sliced, blood

everywhere. I woke up, sick to my stomach. Then I heard
you walking down the corridor.”

“We’re linked, Jai,” Leydan said.
“Mmmm. I know.” He ignored the cat’s smile. “This

lattice is large, almost covers the wall. And it’s only been
growing for two days?”

“I sang to it, accelerating its growth.”
Jai stared. He’d heard the rumours about cats and their

mysterious songs, but everyone thought the songs were for
love and mating.

Leydan’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, there’s the love song, the

mating song, but we have many other songs—ones for
death, others for war. No outsider knows what I’ve told you,
what I’ve shown you, Jai. But then, you aren’t an outsider.”

Jai’s mouth dried, his throat tight. “I’m not?”
“Crikey, no,” he said, using Jai’s favourite expression.

“You’re mine. And one day soon, I’m going to declare that

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

to everyone. I will sing my song to you. Now, no more
talking.” He stepped up to Jai and wrapped his arms around
the vampire. “Let me taste you.”

“Uh…here?”
“Not that taste, that’s for later. I want your mouth.” He

held Jai’s head, his fingers fanning over his temples,
knotting in his long hair.

Leydan’s lips pressed against his, a tongue tip lightly

teasing as they kissed. A gentle bite at the corner of his
mouth. Jai pulled Ley against him, holding him with every
ounce of his strength. He matched the cat’s kiss, deep, hard,
exploring every nuance, tongue tip to tongue tip. The cat
tasted of musk, cinnamon.

“You taste of vanilla, like the juran fruit. I knew you

would.” Leydan purred against Jai’s mouth. “But you’re
sweeter and more exotic. Kiss me again.”

Leydan’s fingers skimmed across the front of Jai’s jeans,

finding his hard length. “I want you, Jaidyn.”

“Yes.” His heart raced.
“But I’m afraid my body isn’t up to it. Literally.” He took

Jai’s hand to his flaccid cock. “I expended all my energy on
the lattice and the deflector crystals. I’m impotent. And I
probably will be for days. Sorry.”

Jai ran his hand through Ley’s hair. Mahogany hair, like

velvet, or the rarest of silks, coloured with a myriad of
shades of red and gold and a tease of silver at the temples.
He’d never noticed that before. He touched it.

“Can we go to bed, now?” Ley asked. “I’m tired. I need to

sleep, but I’d like to hold you. Not wake up alone.”

Long after Leydan had fallen asleep, his deep breath

punctuated by low soft purrs, Jai studied him. Asleep, the
shifter’s face was relaxed, and even more beautiful, now that
he was free of his habitual quizzical expression. Was the cat
puzzled by Jai? Jai was certainly often bemused by him.

Astrid Cooper

Ley’s  knee  was  pushed  up  into  Jai’s  groin,  his  fingers
threaded possessively in Jai’s hair, his face tucked under his
chin. He slept like a cat, his body coiled into another, seeking
warmth,  comfort.  Jai  held  Ley,  stroking  the  cat’s  spine,
marvelling  at  the  silken  texture  of  his  skin. He  breathed in
the  cat  and  closed  his  eyes.  He  didn’t  have  any  more
nightmares.

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

Chapter Ten

ou want me to wear that?” Leydan asked, rearing
back, horrified, as Jaidyn held up the lime-green and

silver tutu.

“It’s for the opening sequence. Dracula—”
“No vampire would wear such a thing, dream or not.”

Leydan flung the garment away. “When you asked me to
play the part you didn’t mention anything about costumes,
especially that abomination.”

“Cami can make you a mask, so no one knows it’s you—”
“Any Kin worth their blood will know it’s me because

they can scent me, especially the cats. I’m not wearing it.”

“Want to stamp your foot to add to the effect?” Ril

demanded at the door.

Leydan turned to her. “Do not interfere, witch.”
“Yeah, the boy’s got a burr up his arse this morning,” Jai

said.

Leydan flushed. “You and I both know that’s not true.”
It was Jai’s turn to blush. Ril’s eyes narrowed, then she

chuckled. “Was it good for you, Jaidyn?”

Jaidyn swallowed. “Good enough.”
Ley leaned forward, his hair sweeping over his face.

“Remind me what was good? What I said to you last
night…? No, wait, it was morning, by the time I…we—”

“Nothing happened.”
“Nothing?” Ley put a hand to his temple, assuming the

“Y

Astrid Cooper

gay-Dracula role. “You mean it was nothing? Oh,
sweetheart, baby… I’m floored.”

“You’ll be floored if you don’t stop that ridiculous

façade.”

“I was only getting into the role.”
Ril laughed. “Getting into something.”
“Not yet, witch!” both men said.
“My, my, all these protestations. What was it Shakespeare

said? Methinks he protests his innocence too much.” She
sniffed disdainfully. “I can glamour you, lover boy, so that
no one knows it’s you.”

“I am not wearing it.”
“Then the scene will be ruined. Dracula has to have this

outlandish dream sequence, to set up the whole opera.”

Leydan studied Ril, then glanced at Jai. “It’s that

important?”

“Yes.”
“Very well, only—only—if that spell of yours, witch, is

absolutely fool proof.”

“Satisfaction guaranteed.”
“That’s my job,” Leydan said. “Satisfaction guaranteed.”

He winked at Jaidyn.

“I’ll leave you boys to your games. I need to add more

wards, some of them are fraying at the edges.”

“Not the only thing that is, witch,” Leydan said.
“Satisfaction guaranteed, cat-boy, I heard it from you, so

see to it. And I’m not talking about the costume.”

“You think I don’t know?” Leydan growled.
After the witch had gone, Jai turned to Leydan. He gaped.

The  cat  had  changed  into  the  tutu.  The  silk  hugged  his
muscular  frame  in  places  it  wasn’t  meant  to…  Hell,  if  Ley
wore that on stage, the cabaret would get raided by the vice
squad.  For  modesty’s  sake,  he’d  have  to  get  Cami  to
lengthen the costume. Maybe down to the ankles and up to

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

the neck. To cover those long legs, the gorgeous body… Hell,
no! He’d get Cami to sew up a tent.

“Take that bloody thing off, right now. This minute.”
“I’m getting into the part.”
“I’m re-writing the script. Forget the dress, Leydan, I’m

putting you in a jumpsuit.” Yeah, that would work. A
jumpsuit with a ruff around the neck and hips.

“You’re determined to get me into pants,” Leydan said.
“Makes a change, Alley-cat, than someone trying to get

into your pants.”

“I’ve never…” Leydan frowned. “Ah, I understand the

joke.”

“Right. I’ll call Cami and get her to come in for a measure-

up.”

“So long as the costume is not that hideous colour. I

prefer black silk.”

“Yeah, I kinda thought you might.”
Jai left Cami and Ley in the dressing room, arguing over

designs and colours of fabric. It was pleasant to hear the
shifter teasing and laughing, his thoughts far away from that
mission of his…whatever it was. People had died because of
it, Monsters was in lockdown and Bas had sought the
intervention of the oldest vampire on Earth because of it. It.
What was the it? he wondered as he returned to his office.

He slumped in his office chair and tapped his pencil

against  the  desk.  It.  What  it?  Something  someone  wanted,
something Ley had stolen to keep away from those bastards
who had put the collar on him. He’d sensed that Circle who
was  after  the  cat.  Had  they  also  killed  Ley’s  assassin
brothers?

An hour later, with the end of his pencil chewed to pulp,

Jai was no nearer the truth. He threw the pencil into the bin
and opened up his laptop, logged on to the real estate site to
check on his property. Plenty of hits, but not sold.

Astrid Cooper

Two hours later, he pulled out of the scene he’d been

writing. He glanced at it. Encircled by his enemies, the hero-
cat was growling…

Jai heard growling outside. Then another sound, like a

sob.

Standing up, he cinched the sash of his robe tighter

around his waist. He’d had a bath before hitting the
keyboard, but not dressed, as he always liked to start writing
a new opera wearing his dressing-gown. Old habits. Except
the dressing-gown he now wore was new and just didn’t feel
right. His old faithful robe, shredded by Ley, had ended its
days in the ragbag. Cami had declared it unfixable.

Jai padded down the corridor, his feet curling against the

chill stone. In years gone by the basement had been a food
cellar, the thick walls maintaining a constant temperature,
even in the height of the Australian summer. Bas needed to
get the heating sorted before winter. Jaidyn made a mental
note to remind his boss when he returned from Retreat.

The sobbing was coming from Leydan’s room. Jai pushed

open the door, pausing, his eyes adjusting to the gloom. Ley
thrashed  on  the  bed,  an  arm  thrown  across  his  face.  He
kicked  off  the  quilt.  Jai’s  mouth  dried  as  he  saw  the
engorged cock—the cat must be in agony.

Jai stepped back, torn in two—to help, or to flee. Helping

might involve… The thought momentarily frightened, a
memory from that rejection in his teens. He shook his head.
This was now and this was a friend…a mate…who was
hurting.

He stepped forward. “Ley, are you okay? I heard you cry

out.”

“Bad dreams,” he whispered, raising himself on an elbow.
“Got just the remedy for them.” In response, Leydan’s

eyes sparked, but the sight was lost as Jai turned on his heel
and walked away.

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

He returned a few minutes later, carrying two mugs of

steaming liquid. He handed one to Leydan.

“Hot chocolate. Good for nightmares.” He pulled over an

old  crate  that  doubled  for  a  chair  or  table  in  Ley’s  room,
noticing that Alley had appropriated a tasselled, red velvet
cushion to upholster the box. He sat down on it, smiling to
himself. Trust the cat to make himself comfortable. “There’s
no  problem  in  the  universe  that  can’t  be  solved  with
appropriate  amounts  of  chocolate.  Drink.”  He  ignored
Alley’s frown, watching as he took a tentative sip.

“Why…that’s good. It’s almost like juran.”
“Juran?”
“A rare, exotic fruit. One of my favourites. It has a very

prickly outer skin, but the flesh inside tastes like this drink.
The spicy-sweet nectar hidden at its core, is just out of this
world. A little like you.”

Jaidyn snorted. “I don’t…” He shut his mouth,

determined not to rise to the cat-boy’s bait. Leydan grinned
at him over the rim of his mug.

He drained the mug and set it on the floor beside his

bunk.  He  swung  his  legs  over  and  rested  his  feet  on  the
stone.  “Yeouch,  this  place  is  cold.”  He  drew  his  legs  to  his
chest and rested his chin on his knees, regarding  Jai. “Why
did you come here, Jaidyn?”

“I needed a job and Monsters—”
A ghost of a smile from Leydan. “No, I mean here, now,

to me.”

They’d agreed that sleeping together on the sofa wasn’t

doing their nerves any good, especially since Ley was
impotent through the energy he poured into the lattice and
Jai didn’t want sex if Ley was unable… Leydan had made a
promise to Jai that when the time was right and he could, he
would. He sealed the promise with a purr and a lick that
extended down Jai’s neck to his groin. Then the bloody cat

Astrid Cooper

had fallen asleep in mid lick.

“Jai, answer me. Why are you here?”
“I heard you crying. I—”
“Jaidyn, I’ve told you I can’t—”
“We’re friends. Friends help each other.”
Leydan smiled. “So, we’re friends?”
“Yes.”
“Then as a friend, Jai, I’m telling you to leave, now,

because…because if you don’t, there’s a—”

“You’re not the first guy to wake with hard-on, mate,” Jai

said.

Leydan frowned. “Hard-on?” He paused. “Oh yes, I

understand. Crude, but appropriate. So you wake with a
hard-on, too?”

“Recently all of the time.”
“You’re picking up my pheromones. Sorry, I can’t do

much about that. I can suppress them for only so long, until
they break out and then… But for the first time in my life I’m
impotent.  Talk  about  timing!”  He  smiled  ruefully,  glancing
down  at  his  now  flaccid  cock.  “But  that  doesn’t  mean  you
have to suffer.” He stood up and knelt at Jai’s feet, his hands
on  the  vampire’s  knees.  Their  gazes  locked.  Ley  reached
forward,  and  parted  the  dressing  gown,  finding  Jai’s
erection,  his  fingertips  gently  tracing  over  its  head.  The
vampire  gasped.  But  he  didn’t  move  away.  That  was  an
encouraging  sign.  “One  day,  Jaidyn,  I’m  going  to  love  you
properly, spread you around me and come deep inside…”

“I can’t.”
Ley sat back on his heels. “I won’t hurt you.”
“Yes you will.” When you leave.
“I’m not leaving—now.”
“One day soon you will, to finish that mission of yours.”
“I’ll return.”
“If you return. That enemy is after you. I’ve seen a little of

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

what they can do. You can’t—”

“You think they’ll win?” Ley shook his head.
“Give them what they want and let it go.”
“No.”
“Is it so important that you’d risk everything for it?”
“You don’t know…”
“Then tell me.”
“If it wasn’t so important, Jai, do you honestly think I

would leave you, especially with what’s between us is
unfinished? Hell, not unfinished, not even started. You’re
special to me.”

“I am?”
“Ooooh yeah.” Leydan laughed. “Listen to me. I’ve been

on this damn world so long, I’m talking like a human. But
ooooh yeah sounds like a purr. Jai, I can tell you this much…”
His gaze held Jai’s. “The fate of the galaxy is what’s
involved.”

“Only that?” Jai wasn’t surprised. “I kinda figured it had

to be big picture stuff. What was that?” He caught a faint
sending. “What key?” he demanded.

Leydan growled. “What the hell do you mean? What

key?”

“That was my question! Not going to answer me, huh?

Okay, let me guess. You’ve stolen…er…liberated a key that
everyone wants and no one should have and you’re stuck in
the middle, left high and dry on this backwater world to sort
it alone. How close am I?”

Leydan sniffed.
“That close?” Jai paused. “And where is this key now?”
“Hidden. Safe. I have to get off world and hand it over…

Jai, you’re one clever bastard.”

“So, once you leave here, you hand it over to your boss?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
“Let me help you.”

Astrid Cooper

Leydan’s hands stroked Jai’s thighs. “I can’t risk you.

Enough have died already for me and the key. I want it out
of my life, so I can get a life. So, I can get you.”

“You have me.”
“Not yet.”
“How are you going to get the key off world?”
“The lattice can help. I’ve sent for help. They’ll cause a

diversion. Tajan’ll get here as soon as possible.”

“Tajan?” Jai asked. “Your assassin brother? I don’t think

having him here is a good idea. Assassins are…well,
assassins. Murderers.”

“Depends on whose side you’re on, Jai. Besides, assassins

aren’t like human assassins, they’re more like cops. Our
assassins are the epitome of subtle. You don’t see them
coming, or going.”

“When will he arrive?”
“Not sure. I know he’s on his way. We’ve shared the

Quest. I can feel him, like a ripple in the ether.”

“What’s a Quest? I’ve heard about them, no one knows

for certain.”

“The spirit quest is a sacred cat ritual, so why would any

outsider know? At age twelve, every cat girl and boy
ventures out into the ice wastes of our largest moon to face a
series of ordeals. They survive only through the bonds
forged between them—love, friendship, honour, loyalty. At
the end, our spirit names are revealed.”

“What’s your spirit name?”
Leydan smiled. “I can’t tell you, you have to recognise it,

when you recognise me.”

Jai grimaced. He knew all about recognition—the time

when two people met and acknowledged one another as
soul mates. He would never be recognised by any, because
he wasn’t pure of blood. “I suppose this Tajan knows your
spirit name?”

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

“Of course.”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Are you jealous? How utterly human. I love Tajan. I

would die for him. We’ve shared a bed, but no sex. He’s my
clan-brother. Bloody hell, Jaidyn!”

“You’re angry.”
“So are you. That’s because we’re wired. Good

expression, it explains it all. I feel strung up by the balls and
unable to do a damn thing about it.”

“Ain’t it a bitch,” Jai said, smiling.

“Yeah. Ooooh yeah.” Leydan looked up at him, his

thoughts awhirl. He had to suffer this agony, but no reason
why Jaidyn should. But to take a virgin in a cold room that
was little more than a glorified broom closet, and a bunk bed
that creaked under his weight… Unthinkable to take this
man in such circumstances.

“Offends your cat sensibilities, does it?” Jai laughed.
“You caught my thought?” It was Leydan’s turn to be

surprised. That was an even better sign. Mind bonding, right
now, was far more important than sex. It meant they were
forging attunement, the first step to deeper intimacies, to
Recognition. “And yes, this place does offend the cat in me.
But I have nothing to offer you, and the future is—”

“In the future. You don’t have to promise me—”
“The hells I don’t, Jaidyn Saungeray. You and I are

attuned. It’s like Recognition. It can’t be denied.” He paused.
“We don’t play games any more. You want me and I want
you. But there’s a helluva lot of stuff between us before we
can commit.”

“So you just need to fuck me, then go screaming off into

the night.”

Ley’s hands tightened on Jai’s knees. “I’ll be screaming

with you, Jai, in the future, and I won’t leave you then. But

Astrid Cooper

now, here, I can’t…”

Jai flicked his hair out of his eyes. The sight tore at Ley’s

gut. That damn veil of hair half shadowing his face had
intrigued him from the moment he had awoken to the
sight… Stars it seems a lifetime ago, but only a few days and
in those few days, so much had changed. He’d changed.

“I’ve changed, Alley-cat,” Jaidyn said.
Leydan smiled. He liked it when Jai called him that,

almost preferring it to his spirit name that he’d earned when
he came of age, running with Tajan and the others… The
others now dead. Sorrow sliced his nerves. He pushed it away.
This human was hurting and it was within his power to fix
that… His finger traced over the swollen head of Jai’s cock.

“This magic-impotency thing. I thought cats could rise to

any occasion.”

“That’s a fallacy. A cat is ruled by his heart. We play

when we can, but when we love, then that’s it. No more
playing. It’s tangling and we can’t tangle unless the time is
right.”

“How can you get the time right?” Jai’s voice was a

throaty whisper.

Leydan smiled. “You won’t ever have to ask that, Jai.” He

paused, his finger stroking down the vampire’s erection. “I
won’t leave you like this.” He bent forward.

Jai twisted away from the descending mouth and tongue.

“If you won’t, I won’t.”

“Jaidyn…”
“Don’t purr at me like that. I can wait. I’ve waited all my

life for this. A little longer won’t make any difference.”

“Then, let me love you.”
“I thought you said this place wasn’t right.”
“Yes, but for what I have in mind… Please.”
“Is the wanting part of your nightmare thing?”
“Yes.”

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

Jaidyn sighed. “I don’t know anything.”
“You’re a virgin.”
“Stop laughing at me.”
“I’m not, Jai. You’ve never been with a man, human or

otherwise. There’s no shame in that. But you don’t
understand about need.”

“You think?”
Ley caught the deep bitterness. “You’ve been hurt. That’s

in the past. I’ll make you forget, but it’ll take time. Maybe a
lifetime, if I’m careful.”

“I thought you said this wasn’t the time for promises.”
He chuckled. “I said that, didn’t I. Okay, Jaidyn, here’s a

promise. I will love you until you beg me to stop and then
after you’ll beg me to never stop. Still want to say no?”

“Mmmmm.”
“Is that vampire for yes?” He took Jai’s mouth in a kiss

that would melt the ice rings of Saturn.

He eased down, running his tongue over Jai’s erection,

from  base  to  tip.  A  cat  lick  and  tease,  followed  by  gentle
bites.  For  a  moment  he  wondered  if  he  ought  to  morph  to
cat,  so  Jai  could  have  the  experience  of  a  cat  lover.  No,
human lover would be enough—at least for now.

Jai’s fingers knotted in Ley’s hair and he arched into the

rhythm. The pressure built, dragging at his gut, along every
part  of  his  body,  his  blood  reaching  a  crescendo  in  his
temples  and  at  the  base  of  his  cock.  He’d  never
dreamed…even  in  those  times  when  he’d  relieved  himself,
just how it would feel, how deep, how…pleasure could be a
pain.

“Stop,” he whispered. The teeth grazed, the lips kissed,

the tongue… Oh Hells…the tongue. He tightened his fingers
in Ley’s hair. “Don’t stop.”

Leydan smiled, lifting his mouth away. “Didn’t I say that

Astrid Cooper

you would beg me to stop, and then beg me not to?”

“Mmmm.”
“And the night’s still young. I have many more promises

to fulfil”

“What…other?”
“The ones that will remain unspoken, for now, but you’ll

learn about them, a cat whisker at a time.” His head
descended. His fingers and nails enticed, in tandem with his
mouth.

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

Chapter Eleven

week to go to opening night, the team was gathered
Friday evening to do a full dress rehearsal. Anticipation

was high. Every table in the room was booked for
Halloween Eve and for ten nights thereafter. Ril had posted
on the Monsters’ website, Facebook and Twitter. A picture of
the cast in full drag on FB had seen the hits rise to 5,000 in a
day. Brutus had taken phone and email bookings for two
solid days.

Monsters was up and running. The last sheet of black and

crimson  Romanesque  design  wallpaper  had  been  hung  in
the  cabaret  room  that  morning,  and  the  large,  ornate  black
chandelier  was  winched  into  place,  descending  from  the
centre  of  the  room  in  layers  of  tear-shaped  crystals,  above
the  metal  lattice  catwalk.  That  had  been  Ley’s  suggestion.
He’d been tickled to discover that the structure was called a
cat  walk.  The  cat  walk,  coated  with  Ril’s  special  non-slip
spell, extended from the stage, slicing through the middle of
the  room,  to  the  far  wall,  so  that  all  patrons  would  have  a
chance  to  see,  up  close,  every  performer  in  this  and  future
productions  at  Monsters  and  not  just  those  who  had  front
row tables.

“My bum does look big in this!” Tony said, hugging his

buttocks. They all laughed, remembering the joke he had
made, days earlier, an hour or so before Leydan had arrived.

Jai frowned. Where was the cat? Not like him to be away

Astrid Cooper

from the limelight.

“Well, come on out from the wings, Leydan, you have to

make an entrance sooner or later!” Tony beckoned.

Gazes locked on Leydan, as he strode across the stage. “If

anyone says a damn thing—I mean it, I’ll tear their tongues
out.”

“Even if I was going to say, you’re gorgeous, Leydan?”

Ril asked.

“Well, you can say that, witch, and get away with it. But

only that!”

Jaidyn watched as Ley paced the stage, dressed in his

slinky black silk jump suit. The costume had an Elizabethan
collar, of stiff silver lace, dripping with diamantes and seed
pearls.  A  matching  frill  encased  his  waist  and  hips.  As
always, he wore no shoes, only a flashing purple ring on his
small  toe.  Jai  frowned.  Ril  and  her  purple…  His  thoughts
diverted as Leydan walked towards him, all grace and style,
in  that  long-legged  gait  now  so  familiar.  So…melt  your
bones sexy.

“Hey, Leydan, you’ll bring the house down.”
The shifter ceased pacing and turned to Tony. “I’m not

carrying explosives.” He paused, eyeing the cast. “What?
What’s so funny?”

“It means you’ll make everyone in the audience go to

mush.”

“Of course. I’m a cat.”
Ril snorted.
“Now, where were we?” Leydan asked.
“Talking about my bum,” Tony said.
“Trust me, Tone, your bum doesn’t look big in those hot

pants,” Cami said, her tape measure hung over her shoulder,
her pin case in her left hand. “But other parts of your
anatomy are shown off to perfection.”

“Purrrfection,”Leydan said. “Your mate could almost

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

have cat genes.”

Tony looked smug.
Ril studied the shifter. “I like the suit better than the tutu.

More sexy.”

Leydan sniffed disdainfully. “I refuse to have my hair

styled with that silver gel. This jumpsuit I agree to wear,
under sufferance.”

“He has a thing about pants.”
“Most cats do,” the witch remarked.
“Okay, let’s forget the spiked hair, it’s not that important

for the character.” Jai scribbled a note to himself in his
clipboard. “Are all your spells ready to go?” he asked.

“The cape’s being difficult, but it’ll be right in a moment.”

Ril snapped her fingers. “Behave!” The cape shivered and
settled back on its pedestal. “Now…” Her eyes widened.
“Oh, great goddess!”

Jai felt it an instant later. A gut-wrenching searing mind

attack. Ril fell to her knees and Leydan morphed to cat,
claws extended, fangs bared.

The building around them shuddered and the chandelier

crashed onto the catwalk, narrowly missing Camilla as she
dove for cover. Tony gathered her up in his arms and raced
to safety beneath the stage.

With a terrible ripping sound, the ceiling split apart,

raining down plaster. The leadlight Gothic doors leading
from the courtyard crashed open, the glass splintering in all
directions.

Four ethereal figures appeared at the gaping hole where

the  courtyard  entrance  had  stood.  A  glamour  sparkled
around  the  enemy.  Jai  caught  their  stink.  Two  Vampires,  a
Wizard and a Cat. Their essences had combined, as had their
power.  And  in  each  hand  they  held  a  glowing  crystal—a
sacred crystal from the shifter home world.

Leydan growled. Traitor. His gaze fastened on the enemy-

Astrid Cooper

shifter.

As if in challenge to the rogue crystals beneath his feet, Jai

sensed the defence lattice pulsing. It sent biting tingles up
his spine.

Leydan circled the intruders, his paws bloodied from the

shards of glass on the floor. Guarding his back was Ril, her
body  glowing  purple.  Power  coruscated  about  the  room,
crashing  against  every  surface.  The  wallpaper  peeled  off,
smouldering,  sending  wisps  of  charred  paper  about  the
room.  Jai  heard  Ril  chanting,  Leydan’s  growl.  A  mini
tornado erupted from the divergent powers in the building.

Jaidyn leapt forward to help, as the intruders pushed

inside, sending Ril flying backwards. He slammed into the
energy field, jarring his body, bringing him to his knees. This
enemy…how could three stand against them?

Not three. A voice responded—Sebastian’s voice—inside

his head.

With that, Jai saw four men emerge from the ether to join

Ril’s side. He sensed-saw Bas, Severin, a huge golden cat
with a silver ruff, and another wizard… They formed a
semicircle, facing the intruders. They hurled a wave of magic
so powerful that Jai felt his skin burn, itching as if hundreds
of ants were crawling over his flesh, biting…

But that power was deflected, shattering against the

enemy’s glamour. The rogue crystals in their hands
screamed defiance.

Around them, the building groaned as energy shifted, as

ascendancy was gained, then lost in the psychic battle of
wills.

Help me, Jai. Cat-Leydan tugged at his arm with his

mouth, pulling him from the room. Jaidyn raced after the
leopard, down into the store room.

The crystal lattice was blood red and pulsing, its voice

straining. Leydan sang to it, first in his cat voice, then

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

morphing to human, his voice strong and clear. He soothed
the crystals, energizing them, preparing them for the battle.
His bloodied hands traced over the lattice.

“Jai, I need you to sing to the crystals, too.” He held out a

hand. Without thinking, Jaidyn took the hand between his
own, the cat’s blood dripping over his skin.

“I don’t know…” Then he felt the feather soft touch of

Leydan’s mind. Jai mimicked the cat’s harmony, his deeper
voice, complementing Ley’s tenor.

The lattice peeled off the wall. Jai held one end, Leydan

the other.

“What do I do? I’ve never…”
“It’s a neural net. It’ll contain the enemy. C’mon.”
Burdened with the lattice, they staggered back to the

cabaret  room,  dodging  waves  of  magic  bolts,  and  falling
debris.  They  hurled  the  lattice  over  the  intruders.  For  a
moment they were subdued, and then the lattice burned and
sparked, the crystal entity screaming in its death throe. But
in  its  demise  so,  too,  the  enemy  crystals—they  shattered,
sending a wave of agony-laced light outwards.

The wizard from Bas’s Circle held up his hands, forming

a defensive screen. The lethal crystal rain smashed against
the force field, dissipating in a shower of sparks.

But that moment was a reprieve. Bas’s Circle pierced the

enemy’s defences.

One screamed. Another. Linked in mind, they were like a

house of cards falling, each taking the other down.

Jai sensed one enemy—the wizard, the anchor power of

that  Circle—struggling  to  break  free,  trying  to  divert  the
containment,  sending  it  into  the  minds  and  bodies  of  his
allies. The coward was trying to save himself, not caring that
others  in  his  Circle  were dying.  But  he  was swept  aside  as
another joined the Circle, bringing new energy and terror to
the room.

Astrid Cooper

Jai’s heart stalled. Blood called to Blood. This newcomer

was a vampire, so malevolent, so twisted in mind and
spirit… He was falling into the vampire’s trap.

“No, Jaidyn!” Sebastian smashed the mental link.
Leydan’s purr washed over Jai, removing the vampire’s

taint. Jai, you and I are one. We share. The song. The lattice. He
morphed to cat, his spots glowing as power raced through
him into the Circle that Sebastian led.

Jai was swept aside as the battle waged, out of time, out

of space. In this world. In others. Back and forth. The ether
rippled.  No  Blood-kin  world  would  be  immune  to  this
battle—so  why  the  hell  weren’t  they  fighting?  Then  he
remembered the portals in lockdown. No one in or out.

Jai watched on the periphery, part of his mind and aura

linked with Leydan, giving him what little help he could.
The pain the enemy hurled against Bas’s Circle was
excruciating. His brain felt like it was melting. He screamed,
his vision swimming, his mind pulsing…

Then it vanished as Ril, Bas, Sev, Leydan and the

unknown  wizard  countered  with  a  spell  that  gouged  the
enemy  glamour  apart.  Like wax  mannequins,  the  bodies  of
the  enemy  liquefied,  one  after  the  other,  as  Bas’s  magic
prevailed.  They  vanished  into  the  ether,  with  one  final
psychic scream.

That scream blistered the paint, melted the metal and

burned the wood in the cabaret room. Jai felt his hair singe.
Sparks lit the ends of his hair. He smelt human skin burning.
Cat fur…

A twisting tornado of power engulfed the room. The

vampire stepped outwards, hands glowing green as he
lashed out with his insanity. He launched himself at his
closest enemy—Leydan.

“No fucking way!” Jai sent a wave of pure anger—and

hatred—at the vampire. The monster retaliated. Jai

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

screamed, biting down on his lip, tasting his own blood.

The enemy was at Leydan’s throat, its talons and fangs

embedded deep. Jai vaulted over the debris and took the
vampire down, tearing him away from Leydan. They
wrestled on the floor, the vamp’s fangs and talons buried to
the hilt in Jai’s shoulder.

“Leydan!” Severin hurled a crystal sword towards the cat.

He caught it in one hand.

“Bite into this!” Leydan said, plunging the weapon down

into the vampire’s back.

Jai’s thoughts turned mushy as a taloned hand around his

neck squeezed… He gagged at the rotting cabbage stench as
the vampire burned, as the crystal seared its way into the
vampire’s heart.

Ley… Pure-bred vampire, he’s got two hearts.

Yes.
Leydan plunged the sword into the second vampire heart.

The vamp shuddered, blood spewing from his mouth. Jai
rolled away, retching, as the vampire’s blood sprayed over
him.

Where the room, moments before, had been awhirl with

power, light, screaming with sound, now it was deathly
quiet, with only a faint rain of dust falling from the remnants
of the ceiling.

Jai dragged himself up to Ley’s side where he lay against

an upturned chair. His hair was bloodied, standing on end.

“You look awful, Jai,” Leydan said, taking his lover into

his arms.

“I was about to say the same thing to you.” He smiled.

“You’re naked.”

“Clothes got burned off. I sting all over.”
“You’re lucky to be feeling anything.”
Ley rubbed his cheek against Jai’s face.
“Oh fuck this!” Tony said. “I’ve broken my high heels.”

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

Chapter Twelve

n the midst of the carnage, the ever resourceful Camilla
had set up a table and chairs. Jai was incredulous. She’d

even found an unbroken bottle of Bas’s cognac and placed it
and plastic cups before the assembly. All done with calm
efficiency, as if for her a psychic battle to the death was an
everyday occurrence. Well, she was Ril’s niece-in-law, after
all, so the human woman was probably an old hand at
confronting the aftermath of magic… But magic like this?

Jai glanced around the table. They all looked haggard—

even  Sev  and  he  was  a  sixth-level  mystic.  Ril  had  given
everyone a sip of an elixir, to keep them awake, alert, to deal
with  the  aftermath  of  the  battle.  Jai  wanted  to  find  the
nearest bed and sleep for a week.

Ril had mended Tony’s broken arm and he was flexing it

dubiously as he took a medicinal slug of brandy, eyeing the
others around the table.

Jai slurped his drink and put the cup down, embarrassed.

He ran a tongue over his fangs. Fangs! I’ve got fangs!

“A fine set,” Leydan said, leaning into him. “I’m going to

like it when you bite me.”

“You’re incorrigible.”
“Always,” he said laughing. But the cat’s hands shook as

he raised the plastic cup to his lips and sipped.

After what Ley had endured, it was a wonder that he

could speak, let alone make a joke. Jai felt his body

Astrid Cooper

trembling with exhaustion and…horror. How close they had
all come to death! Leydan had been too weak to slip on the
dressing gown that Jai retrieved from his bedroom. During
the battle, the leopard’s fur had been singed, destroying the
human clothing integrated in the cat’s pelt. Ril had healed
the cat’s injuries, including the burns along his torso.

Jai’s wounds had taken two deep spells before his flesh

mended. But even so, he still felt shredded.

He willed away the exhaustion, redirecting his attention

to the others about the table—the Four who had transported
into the cabaret room, minutes after the enemy Circle had
been destroyed. He knew Sev and Bas, of course. At least he
thought he did, but looking at them, he sensed he only knew
the façade. Bas and Sev were Lords of Blood and he had
never seen them at full power. He swallowed nervously.

A huge golden cat with a silver-streaked ruff stood to the

left of Severin. The unknown, lanky, white-haired wizard
had taken the seat at the head of the table. That was a bloody
wizard for you, Jai thought, always assuming dominance.

“In this case, it is well merited, Jaidyn,” said Severin.

“This is Wizard Prime.”

The old man, looking a bit like Gandalf—minus the

pointed hat—glared at Jai. Jai decided he didn’t care much
for that look and found something of interest in the bottom
of his cup. Wizard Prime, the boss of all wizards, here in the
room. Here. Crikey!

Bas’s Circle was all dressed in long grey robes,

emblazoned  with  gold  talismans  and  glyphs  to  invoke
protection. The men in the Circle all wore dresses.  Ril—the
only  woman,  wore  trousers.  Jai  nearly  smiled  at  the  irony.
He slurped his drink. He was losing it, big time.

Sebastian smiled at Jaidyn. “Never underestimate a man

in a dress.” His gaze moved to Leydan.

“That’s what I keep telling him, but he insists I wear

The Cat the Vampire Dragged In

pants.”

They laughed, the tension broken. At the head of the

table, Wizard Prime cleared his throat.

“We will restore this building,” he said. “Strengthen it, so

it will never fall down—at least while Monsters owns it.”

Bas inclined his head.
“Opening night is…” Jai began. Hell it was hard to talk

with fangs. “Is…in six days.”

“Ah yes.” Wizard Prime nodded. “The expression is—the

show must go on?”

“Damn right.”
“It will be repaired in time for your show.”
“Fangs very much.” He sighed. That didn’t come out

right. He’d wanted to say thanks, but his fangs got in the
way. He felt himself blush from head to toe as smiles were
exchanged around the table. He guessed he’d just made a
gaff of major Blood-kin proportions.

He caught Bas’s gaze. His boss smiled. Jai knew that

smile. It wasn’t angry, or condescending. Just full of
understanding. The vampire rubbed his own fangs with a
finger, nodding. Jai relaxed as much as he could, given the
circumstances.

“And now, it is for the king to speak.” Wizard Prime

nodded to the golden cat.

What…who king? Jai turned, staring. While his attention

had been on the Wizard, the golden cat had morphed into a
man.  He  was  tall,  powerfully  built  and  like  the  others,  he
wore  a  grey  robe,  emblazoned  with  magical  formulae.  His
long blonde hair, silver-streaked at the temples, hung to his
hips.  The  hazel-gold  eyes  watching  him,  reminded  him  of
another pair of eyes.

The king looked at Leydan. “You must return that which

you stole.”

“I did not steal it, my lord.”

Astrid Cooper

“You are released from your oath. It is time to put aside

the pretence. You stole it, on my orders. I have explained to
the  members  of  Lord  Sebastian’s  Circle  why  and  how  we
discovered the existence of the fifth key, and why I had no
time to  tell anyone. It was a race against  time, this mission
that  saw  so  many  of  your  friends  die.  I  thought  I  had  lost
you, also. When there was no word, I feared for you, for the
galaxy,  for  all  our  Kin.  You  are  worthy  of  my  blood,
nephew-mine.”

Jai gaped. Nephew-mine. He glanced at Leydan. That

would mean he was a…a prince? The implications hit him.
Prince. No wonder Ley hadn’t truly committed to him. A
vampire-hybrid…

Think that again, and I will bite your arse.
“Bring the key to me,” the king said.
“It’s here?” Ril demanded.
“Yes,  hidden  by  an  assassin  glamour.  I  can  sense  it,  a

little, but I’m a cat. No other species can discern assassin
magic, isn’t that so, nephew-mine? Bring the key.”

Leydan pushed himself to his feet and stalked from the

room.

“This king, who is he?” Jai asked, leaning towards Ril.
“The cat king, Raeulef. Boss of all the kitty-shifters.”
Typical of Ril to remain unfazed by the personages in the

room.

“This business about the key… I don’t understand.”
“Nor me,” Tony said.
“Of course not, you’re human,” King Cat said.
“Yeah, so?” Tony’s dark gaze challenged.
“Fascinating.”
“I told you humans have been grossly underestimated by

our kind,” Bas said.

“Perhaps. To answer your question, human.” Though his

words might be directed to Tony, the king’s gaze was full

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100

upon  Jai.  “The  key.  The  word  implies  that  it  opens
something.  And  what  we  discovered  it  could  open  was
beyond  imagining.  A  power  grid  that  would  see  unlimited
use of our portals. No longer would we need to limit our use
of the gateways between our worlds. But also, with it, it will
be possible to extend our travel, perhaps even find other Kin
who were estranged during the wars, long before this world
was settled. The enemy discovered the  orbs, but lacked the
fifth—the key. I learned of its existence and sent my nephew
and his companions after it.”

“No one race should have control of such a thing,” Jai

said.

“Of course not,” the king said. “But our enemy was not so

inclined. Ultimate power—what would have been done to
possess it? What has been done,” he whispered.

“I don’t follow,” Jaidyn said. “You discovered it…the key,

I mean. How come you and not someone else?”

“Why not me?” The king frowned. “You think I am

unworthy?”

“No, I mean why hasn’t someone else discovered it before

now?”

“It was hidden for a very good reason. A temptation like

that, even if wielded with good intentions…”

“Absolute power corrupts—absolutely,” Severin said.
“Precisely. Would that it had remained hidden, but our

enemy delved, tearing apart all that stood in their way.  We
knew  of  the  orbs, but  the  fifth—the  key,  the  one  to  control
the others was something out of myth. I’ve spent a lifetime
studying  the  legends.  It  wasn’t  until  I  linked  minds  with
other  seekers  in  the  ether,  that  I  began  to  understand  the
truth.  With  power  comes  danger,  corruption.  The  former
wizard  prime,  Lord  Severin’s  nemesis,  had  used  forbidden
magic to seek the fifth key. I found it first.”

“Fortuitous,” Wizard Prime said.

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“Fortuitous? I would rather say fate.”
“But you are a cat. Your kind always believes in fate.”
“Fate. Fortune. Fortuitous. It amounts to the same thing.”
“I…”
“Semantics, my Lords,” said Wizard Prime. “Let us not

argue over the meaning of words.”

Nods around the table.
There is something that confuses me,” Jaidyn said.
“Only one thing?” Ril sniffed.
“During the battle…” Jaidyn paused. No, he’d felt that

presence before, when Ley had been tortured by the collar.
“Twice I’ve sensed the enemy circle, but something
else…something beyond imagining. Only for a second, but it
touched me.”

Gazes rested on Jai.
“I sensed nothing else but that vampire,” Severin said.
“Nor me.” Sebastian frowned. “What was it you saw?”
“I’m not sure. Look, all this is new to me. I’m hybrid.

Maybe it was my imagination.”

“And maybe not. Perhaps it is your duality of blood that

has seen beyond the obvious. I always felt that this enemy
was more than it appeared. I will delve deeper,” the cat king
said.

“Together,” Wizard Prime said.
“That will please me. Thank you.”
Leydan returned and placed a round, blue crystal orb

before the king and bowed, his right hand over his heart. He
paced back and resumed his seat next to Jai.

“Such a small thing to cause so much death and

destruction,” Raeulef said, eyeing it. “I expected something
more.”

“Where did you hide it, Ley?” Jai asked.
“In the chandelier by the front door. Hidden in plain

sight.”

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102

“Clever kitty.”
“Thank you, I aim to please.” He took Jai’s hand in his

and rubbed his cheek against the knuckles.

The king—Jai noticed—watched the exchange with a mix

of surprise and what else…he couldn’t tell. But he could
bloody well imagine. Ley was his nephew—who was
fraternising with a vampire hybrid.

“Now there’s something I don’t understand, Leydan,” Ril

said. “How could you put that key in the chandelier? You
arrived here as a leopard wearing that torture collar. You
can’t morph when you’re wearing one of those.”

“Those of pure royal blood can do so,” the king said. “It’s

a rare ability and done at great risk. Leydan! You could have
died.”

“It was the only way.” He smiled. “But you saved me,

witch-of-mine.”

“The witch saved you? Then, Madam, there is blood debt

between us.”

“All in my day’s work,” said Ril, making light of the

moment.

Wizard Prime leaned into the table, his silver gaze upon

the crystal. “This key, with the orbs, will be guarded and
shared. No one race will have ascendancy over the portals.
There are five crystals for the five races.”

Five? Jai thought. There were only four— wizard, witch,

vampire and shifter.

“Five, when you include human,” Wizard Prime said.
Jaidyn stared at him. They all did. Allowing humans to be

part of the Kin… To think such a thing was punishable by
death—or, it had been.

The king gazed at Leydan. “Did you never wonder what

brought you to this world, nephew-mine?”

“It was the only path open at the time.”
“Exactly so.”

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Wizard Prime steepled his fingers. “The key chooses its

keeper. You, Leydan, safely delivered it to him.”

“What?” Leydan asked, following the direction of the

wizard’s gaze. It was firmly on Jaidyn.

“Me?” Jai asked. “I’m not human, not…anything.”
Leydan’s hand morphed to cat, the claws digging into his

wrist. Nothing just about you, heart-of-mine.

Heart-of-mine? Jai flushed from his head to his toes, inside

and out, his gut twisting.

Wizard Prime cleared his throat. “It is true, you are

hybrid.  For  some  of  our  kind,  such  a  creature  is  an
abomination.  We  fought  wars  over  the  purity  of  blood,  as
you know. This must be our shame, but it must be our past.”
He  paused.  “You  walk  between  two  worlds,  Jaidyn,  what
better  choice  than  you,  to be  the  bridge,  to  lead  humans  to
their destiny.”

“Yes, Jai,” Bas said. “Humans are part of the universe—

it’s time they started to become aware of it. It must be done
slowly,  of  course.  Humans  being  humans  need  time  to
adjust  to  the  fact  that  they  aren’t  alone  and  that  the  whole
universe  doesn’t  revolve  around  them.  Humans  will  find
that their adventure is just beginning.”

Jai wet his dry lips. “That’s what Gene Roddenberry

said.”

“Who?” Wizard Prime asked. “A human philosopher?”
“I guess you could call him a visionary—the creator of

Star Trek. He said that the human adventure is just
beginning.”

Tony snorted. “You’re a Trekkie?”
Jaidyn glared at him. “Trekker! No serious fan is called a

Trekkie. It’s an insult.” He gnashed his fangs. Tony paled at
the sight. “Sorry, Tone… I can’t control my teeth.”

Bas cleared his throat. “Yes, well, fangs can be tricky.”
Wizard Prime sighed. Jai sensed that their banter was

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104

annoying the hell out of him. Being the wizard boss
probably meant he didn’t have much of a sense of humour.

“Diodemedes. You are Called. If it pleases you.”
What the…? Jai turned, as did everyone else in the room,

to see a tall, aged vampire emerge from the transport wave
in the courtyard.

Sebastian was on his feet in an instant, bowing.
Jai stared at the new arrival. This was Diodemedes? His

throat  clenched,  along  with  his  gut.  This  was  the  oldest
vampire  on  Earth?  The  Vampire  King  never  left  the
seclusion of his Sanctuary. Never. He rarely interfered with
Blood  business—but  he  had  intervened,  not  so  long  ago,
when  vampires,  led  by  Carlos  Zhandor  had  picketed
Monsters.

Diodemedes wore a long black velvet gown that made his

angular features even paler. His black hair was cut to his
shoulders. Resting in the crook of his arm was a long metal
box. Jai sensed the wards encrypted in the metal. Touching it
without permission would be lethal. Diodemedes set the box
on the table and opened it with a flick of his wrist.

Inside were four crystal orbs, larger than the key that was

resting on the table before Rueulef.

Diodemedes silently walked to the end of the table and

sat down. Sebastian resumed his seat. Jai had never seen his
boss  defer  to  any  creature,  but  of  course,  a  vamp  had  to
acknowledge  hierarchy  and  lineage.  Jai  suddenly  realised,
he  should  have  done  the  same.  He’d  probably  insulted  the
oldest living vampire on earth. Crikey! I’m toast.

“Diodemedes, do you want to continue this meeting?”

The cat king asked.

The vampire waved aside the offer, leaning back in his

chair, his black as midnight eyes narrowed on Jaidyn.

The King lifted out the orbs and placed them on the table.

“These will choose their owner. Wait and watch. Do not

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interfere!” he said, his eyes on the humans.

The blue orb—the key—rolled forward to Jai. He stared at

it. Blue? Yes, because he liked water. That’s why he’d moved
to Port Adelaide, why he coveted that house on the sea front.

The red orb landed in Bas’s lap. Sebastian, as vampire,

was partial to all things red.

The gold orb rolled to Severin. All wizards coveted gold.
The purple orb rolled forward into Ril’s lap. “No bloody

way,” she said, putting the orb back on the table.

“Madam Erilla!” Diodemedes’ voice cut the room. “You

cannot deny this geas.”

“No? How about magic wands at ten paces to decide?”
“Erilla,” Brutus said.
“Don’t use that tone with me… Ah…” She paused, her

eyes  suddenly  taking  on  a  glint  that  Jai  knew—from
experience—meant one thing and one thing only. The witch
was up to mischief. Big time. “Ah,” she said. “I’ll take on the
wardship  with  the  others,  if  you  agree  to  allow  witches  to
form  a  Sanctuary,  as  autonomous  as  any  other  Kin
Sanctuary.”

“It has never been allowed,” Wizard Prime said.
“Until now. Times change,” Diodemedes said. “Outside,

the witches stood side by side with my Zhandor Kin to
glamour the building, so that the battle was hidden from all
human eyes. Two women died, and my Carlos. Blood debt.
You will have your Sanctuary, Madam.”

Ril picked up the orb and spun it on her palm. “Nice

colour.”

The Monsters team laughed.
Wizard Prime stood up. “And so, human, wizard, shifter,

vampire and witch will become keepers of the orbs. It is time
we settled our differences. I have work to do. Sebastian, I
will entrust a Circle of wizards to you, and you may direct
them as to the repairs of this building.”

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106

Bas inclined his head. “Thank you. But Ril, Jai, can you

manage this? I have to return to Matthew. He’s still
undergoing the Change.”

“Sure, boss,” Jaidyn said.
Wizard Prime sighed. “Then, I will take my leave.” He

strode away, his gown trailing over the dust, his anti-wear
spell keeping it dirt free as he picked his way through the
debris in the building.

Severin stood up, flinging back his hair, grimacing. “I

need to get home. Will…” His eyes glazed. “Yes, love-of-
mine, I’m okay. And the café? Our home? Good.” He smiled
at the others. “Sorry, when William sends, he’s not to be
ignored. Very fierce and determined is my lover.”

“Is everything really okay at home, Sev?” Bas asked.
Severin nodded, noticing Jai’s confusion. “The enemy had

Café Decadence in their sights, too. After Monsters fell, then
it would have been my home, my sister, Tarix and their
child. Destroy all the renegades and abominations in one
night’s work.”

“But who and why?”
“Who? The former wizard prime, Ardan. We traded some

challenges over the years, that’s why I became outcast. With
me gone, he assumed head of the Sanctuary, but he was
diverted by the lure of the key. He left in search of it. Can
you imagine? The first Prime to leave his post. I was Called
home, but I refused. Will was in crisis.”

“He’s all right now?”
“Of course.”
“And you refused the Call home?” Bas said. “Severin…”
The wizard waved aside the vampire’s concern. “I

delegated the offer to our new Wizard Prime.”

“What offer?” Cami asked.
“Camilla!” Ril snapped.
“What?” the younger woman said. “What did I say that’s

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wrong?”

Sev looked at Cami, his eyes smiling. “It’s okay, Erilla.

The offer was for me to become Wizard Prime.”

Jai let out his breath. Sev refused that coveted, all-powerful

title? Because of Will, because of love?

Sev smiled. “Yes, Jaidyn, because of love. It is the most

powerful force in the universe. I have no wish to be Wizard
Prime, or anything else, but William’s companion.”

“But what about this Ardan character? He deserted his

post?”

“Yes, Ardan is nothing but constant in his goals. He ran

and hid, forming his Circle to find the key, to further his
ambition of dominance over all worlds. But he didn’t
bargain on the arrival of that vampire. There’d have been a
reckoning between them, once the key was taken from us.”

“Right, that vampire. I didn’t recognise his blood,” Bas

said.

Raeulef spoke. “I can answer that. There are other worlds

out there, as I said before. There must be another world
where vampires exist, such as the one we have just faced.”

“There’s more of his kind?”
“I suspect so. And with all that energy expended to find

the orbs and the key, I am thinking that the vampire
followed the trail. His Kin may not be far behind.”

“There are others like him, lurking around?” Camilla

asked, shivering.

“Lurking beyond time and space,” Bas said. “Don’t

worry. The portals are guarded and with our watching and
with the possession of the key, no one is coming through.”

Jai frowned. “So, to start off, this was just about

payback?”

“To begin with. But Ardan realised he could have more.”
“That’s an understatement, Sev,” Bas said.
“So, he figured with the fifth key in his power he’d be a

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god?” Jaidyn asked.

“It’s not the first time Kin have sought divinity. But

thanks to the cat who stole—”

“I liberated it.”
The team laughed.
“Yes, in a manner of speaking you did liberate it.” Severin

looked at the king. “With your permission, I’ll take the orbs
and the key to the Blood-Star Chamber.”

“The what?” Leydan demanded.
“We’ve created a Sanctuary in the ether that no one may

enter  unless  they’re  a  Guardian.  The  Blood-Star  Chamber
will  house  these  five  crystals.  And  they’ll  be  warded  and
watched.  The  Five—myself,  Erilla,  Sebastian,  Raeulef  and
Jaidyn  will  meet  once  a  month  to  attune  to  the  keys,
strengthen the portals—”

“I don’t know how to do any of that!” Jaidyn protested.
Bas smiled. “I’ll teach you. Don’t fret, Jai.”
“It’s his worst failing,” Leydan said, lifting Jai’s hand to

his cheek. The cat king’s gaze narrowed at the exchange. Jai
tried not to notice, but when a cat scowled—you noticed.
And this guy was scowling, big time.

“So, it’s all over?” Camilla asked.
“Not exactly, sweetheart,” Ril said. “There will be Kin

who will never accept what has occurred here. They will say
it  is  an  abomination  that  humans  are  to  be  allowed  to  join
our  Blood  Realm.  How  many  will  demand  a  return  to  the
old ways, to exclude, to dominate lesser races—or those they
deem are less? How many?” Ril chewed her lip.

The cat king nodded. “There will be work for us all in the

times ahead. I have sent my most clever assassin, Tajan, on a
mission to the traitor cat’s clan. If they are traitors, too…he
will know what to do. But Tajan was not happy to be
diverted from this battle, or from your side, nephew-mine.
He was determined and I had to call Blood Oath on him. He

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probably won’t forgive me for some time. Now, I have to go.
Nephew-mine, please to come.”

Leydan stood up. “I can’t, not just yet.”
“You must return and give account to the families of

those brothers who died with you. You must sing their song
to their clans.”

“Yes and I will. But…” He held out his hand to Jaidyn.

“I’m bound here. I’m Called.”

The cat king’s eyes narrowed. “He is your mate?”
“Yes.” Leydan smiled. “Fate. You can’t argue against

fate.”

The cat king almost smiled. “Yes, I did say that before? I

am trapped by my own words. I had hoped for another
alliance for you, but… Fate.” He flicked back his hair. “Then
I understand. Mating always before duty. Jaidyn Saungeray,
I acknowledge you as a member of my family.” He bowed,
his hand over his heart, purring.

“I have to go,” Sev said, “and return home. William is

with his sister and Tarix. Will and Tarix are always spitting
at each other like two rival cats.”

“Ouch,” Leydan said. “You have my sympathies.”
Severin collected the orbs and returned them to the metal

box. Diodemedes joined the wizard’s side and rekeyed the
wards, securing the box.

“We will accompany you,” the vampire king said.
“My honour,” said Severin.
Together, with the cat king, they left the room.
Bas paused at the courtyard entrance and looked over his

shoulder at his team. “See you opening night.”

With that, the four entered the portal and transported

from the building.

“Phew!” Tony sagged in his chair. “Ril, I always thought

your magic sessions were full on. What happened here and
those guys…” He closed his eyes. “I need a Bex and a good

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110

lie down.”

Leydan turned to Jai for a translation. “A Bex? Who is this

Bex and why does he speak of taking this Bex with his wife
listening?” To say the cat was outraged was an
understatement.

“Bex…is a tranquilizer.”
“Better than chocolate?”
“Hell, no.”
“I hope after a night like this, our opening night won’t

bring the house down again,” Tony said.

“Nephew-mine,” Brutus said, trying to mimic the cat

king’s purr.

“Oh, don’t do that, honey-kins,” Ril said, patting his

hand. “You know what happens when you purr.”

“We both go to mush.”
Ril grinned. “With the wards Wizard Prime’s boys are

going to set, this building won’t fall down, ever. But…” She
frowned. “I’m going to have to cleanse this room, especially
where Kin died. Jai, I’ll build a crystal structure, like
stalactites and stalagmites, floor to ceiling. Is this okay with
you?”

Jaidyn stared. “We’re equals, Ril.”
“Yeah, but you hold the key.”
“Fuck. Has my life just got complicated or what? Build

whatever you want in the room. I’m guessing the crystals
will be purple? Right. Just get rid of the death.” He looked
down at his arms and hands, still covered in blood, now
dark and congealed.

Ril leaned forward, studying Jaidyn. “I told you that

you’d come into your own. I didn’t imagine it’d take a war
to do it, though I suspect it was the arrival of your soul-mate
that did it. I noticed you gnashed your teeth a lot when cat-
boy riled you. And that was often, especially when he raided
your store of chocolate. Now you have fangs. Very

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becoming.”

“They itch like hell, and I can’t retract them.”
Leydan smiled. “Of course not. You have to blood them

first. Fangs are like swords, lover-mine, you can’t draw a
sword without intending to use it, blood it. Same goes for
fangs.” He stood up and held out his hand. “Come with me
and share blood.”

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Chapter Thirteen

he calls of encore, the whistling and stamping of feet and
the applause in the cabaret room was deafening.

Jai, standing in the wings, watched as his cast took the

tenth bow. The audience wasn’t going to let them get away
any time soon. And after that there was the cocktail
reception in the courtyard.

Leydan raced across the stage and dragged Jai into the

spotlight. He took his bow with everyone else.

Finally, fifteen minutes later, the red velvet curtain came

down on the stage.

Laughing, the cast and crew held a quick debrief in the

mezzanine board room above the cabaret room that was
swarming with guests. Caterers slipped through the crowd,
carrying silver platters of finger food and glasses of the
finest champagne and liqueur.

Severin and Will, Bas and Matt joined them. Jai stared at

their transformation. The humans glowed. Not an
otherworldly glow, just the glow of love, contentment. Jai
envied them, their happiness. Ley had been avoiding him for
the last few days, even returning to sleep alone in his gods
forsaken storeroom.

He put aside the hurt as Bas strode up to him.
“It’s an unmitigated success, Jaidyn,” his boss said. “And

there’s a movie producer out there somewhere talking to
Ray about film rights.”

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“Um…er…what?”
“Is he always that articulate?” Will asked Bas, while

pouring him another champagne.

“It’s just as well Ray is doing the talking, Jai, your

mouth’s gone to mush.”

“It’s the fangs.”
Bas sipped his champagne, smiling at Jai over the rim of

his glass.

Jaidyn glanced over the balcony, to the gyrating masses

below. They were being taught the fangtango by Tony.

His eyes widened as he studied the humans. Before the

show  he  had  noticed  many  of  them  had  dressed  in  either
outlandish  Goth  costumes,  or  in  full  evening  attire.  Several
humans  had  sported  excellent  sets  of  fangs.  Jai  ran  his
tongue over his teeth. Fortunately, his fangs were retracted
and behaving themselves.

Jai saw Ray in the corner. Like the rest of the Monsters’

team,  including  Bas  and  Sev,  he  wore  a  tuxedo  that
highlighted  his  tall,  muscular frame.  No…wait!  Ray  wasn’t
that  tall  and  muscular.  He  blinked.  The  lawyer  looked
different.  Perhaps  it  was  the  tuxedo,  instead  of  that  awful
pinstriped suit he favoured. Ray pushed his glasses up to the
bridge  of  his  nose.  The  lawyer  needed  to  do  something
about those ill-fitting specs!

Jai saw Gyng sitting on a velvet cushion on the bar—to

hell with government health regulations, Bas had said, when
the cat first took up his place to oversee the festivities. As a
member of the team, the moggy was also dressed for the
occasion, wearing a black velvet collar with a diamond stud
in the centre.

Bas leant against the railing and studied the room. “I can’t

smell the death any more. Ril’s done an excellent job of
dispelling it. The crystal columns help. But purple. Honestly!
She’s got a one track mind when it comes to colour.”

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114

“One track mind for everything that matters,” Jai said.

“Are you telling me, that maybe Dracula—revamped is going
to Hollywood?”

“No maybe about it,” Ril said, floating past in her peacock

blue kaftan.

“What have you done, Erilla?” Bas demanded.
“Just urged things along a bit.”
“I thought I saw some purple crystal dust on the

director’s table,” Severin added, joining Jai’s side.

“Big bucks are coming your way, lover boy,” Ril said.

“You can buy that property you’ve had your eyes on ever
since you came here.”

“How did you know?”
“Every day logging into the real estate site and mooning

over that mansion? I ain’t dumb. That and the print-out on
your noticeboard.” She laughed. “Strange that no matter
how many viewed the house, no one…um…liked it.”

“Ril…you didn’t, did you?!”
“Honey, a witch never spells and tells.” She walked away

laughing.

Leydan raced up the stairs, to Jai’s side. “Do we really

have to go to the reception?”

“Duty before pleasure, cat-boy,” Bas said. “The audience

expects it and those girls were asking about you.”

“Definitely not going.”
“You incited them,” Jai said. “And you taught them how

to fangtango. When exactly did you teach them? I saw them
up there on the cat walk with you dancing the finale.”

“When Bea and the cleaning ladies were here. They all

came in together. I had to do something to take their minds
off my arse.”

Bas grinned. “Yeah, I saw those old women dancing in

the front row.”

Severin sipped his champagne, Will’s arm linked through

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his. “But did you see Wizard Prime and his entourage? The
old boy was tapping his foot—”

“And that old bastard drank a bottle of cognac, my three-

hundred-year-old vintage!” Bas said.

“And that Zhandor lord hasn’t smiled in one hundred

years,” Severin said. “He was laughing so hard at the flying
bat-cape, he was crying. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I would
never have believed it.”

“A successful night,” Jai said dubiously. “Thanks, Bas.”

He held out his hand, his eyes stinging with tears. “Thanks
for giving me the job.”

The older vampire embraced him. “No, fangs you!” Bas

said, smiling.

“Severin, rumour has it that Wizard Prime offered

Monsters recompense for all that happened, more than just
wards and spells. So, tell me, is it true?” Leydan asked.

“I’m not saying.”
“It’s no use,” Will said. “I’ve been at him to come clean,

and he won’t.”

“Yes, Will’s in a lather about it, he’s fretted so much…”
“My Matt is the same,” Bas said. “It’s a human thing, this

fretting. If they fret, Sev, you know what to do?”

“Enlighten me.”
“Create a diversion. Horizontal usually works the best.”
“So I’ve found.”
“Thought so.” He laughed, linked his arm in Will’s, and

led his lover downstairs into the cabaret room, where they
joined the crowd dancing the fangtango.

“Leyyyydaaaan!” The girls raced upstairs into the board

room.

“Sprung, cat-boy, you’re cornered,” Matt said.
Leydan rolled his eyes.
Jai frowned. “You can play with them, just once more,

and then after that, they’re off limits.”

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116

“I only ever tangle with you, Jai, I told you that.”
“Promise.”
Purr.
The cat stalked away, surrounded by his women. Jai’s

fangs descended.

Leydan breathed a sigh of relief. He’d escaped the girls

and retreated to the bathroom and a long shower to remove
his stage makeup. Never again would he wear it. The water
swirling around his ankles was multi coloured and sparkling
with  glitter.  Leydan  watched  it  disappear  down  the  drain.
He washed the gel out of his hair and lathered himself over,
again, with vanilla lotion. Finally clean, finally free of all that
stink…  Finally  free  of  every  obligation…  But  never  free  of
the one who waited for him so impatiently in the room next
door.  He  smiled,  forcing  himself  not  to  hurry  through  his
bathing. He’d tease Jai, for as long as he could. But he had
his limits.

Leydan turned off the tap, picked up a towel and padded

into the office. He halted. His heart thudded against his ribs,
the beat fanning out to engulf his body, its epicentre in his
cock. Jai was lying face first on the sofa bed, his chin resting
on his crossed arms, watching… Hell, no…waiting for him
with a come-to-me-now look that would do a cat proud.
That curtain of dark hair… Oh, hells… He paused.

The look of hurt in Jai’s eyes stung him to the marrow.
“It’s that prince thing isn’t it?” Jaidyn whispered, sitting

up, drawing the quilt to his chin.

“What?” Ley could hardly think straight as he looked at

his soon-to-be-lover.

“You’re a prince and I’m just a dumb old hybrid—”
“A dumb old hybrid is right!” He paused. “What’s this

about?” His eyes narrowed, scenting. Ah, now he
understood. “You think because I haven’t bedded you…that

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117

I don’t want you? Love you? You don’t understand. I’ve
been waiting for the right time. And there has to be a full
moon for when a cat first takes his mate.”

“It does? Since when?”
“Since forever.” Ley smiled. “Tonight is a full moon and

tonight I intend to love you.” He flung aside the towel and
strode  forward.  In  one  fluid  movement  he  slid  down  onto
the  sofa  bed,  nestling  alongside  Jai.  He  rolled  on  his  side,
propped  up  on  an  elbow  to  smile  down,  running  a  finger
over  Jai’s  chest,  teasing  lower,  returning  to  his  throat,
making intricate little circles with his nail.

“I’m glad to see no more magic-induced impotency,” Jai

whispered, his gaze on Ley’s erection.

“No. That’s behind us,” he said, smiling.
A lot behind us, but more ahead… Ley’s thoughts diverted.

After  the  battle  in  the  cabaret  room,  and  Jai’s  fangs  had
descended, they had retired to Jai’s office and the sofa bed. It
hadn’t been satisfactory, neither of them with hardly enough
energy  to  breathe,  as  Ril’s  elixir  had  worn  off.  Jai  had
carefully sunk his fangs into Ley’s wrist, taking his first taste
of  blood,  when  it  should  have  been  done  at  the  height  of
passion,  when  body  and  soul  were  united.  Thanks  to  the
battle,  and  the  magic  drain,  he’d  been  unable  to  do  more
than  be  a  silent  partner  in  what  should  have  been  Jai’s
triumph.

They had fallen asleep, locked in each other’s arms and

slept for a day. After that, it had been a frantic time to
oversee the renovation and repair of the building and get the
show ready for opening night. No time for intimacy.

After the successful Halloween Eve debut, the following

shows were standing room only. Local papers and one
national magazine had described the food and performances
as out of this world. How close to the truth…

Ray was in the final rounds of negotiating with a

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118

Hollywood studio for film rights to Dracula—revamped. The
lawyer was confident of getting a six-figure sum for the deal.

A day before opening night, the building was finally

restored, the cabaret room and its fixtures and fittings made
whole, as good as new. Wizard Prime had even sent a
special spell to ensure that the building would be warm for
winter, and cool during summer. Bare feet, or paws would
no longer be burned by the touch of cold floors.

Ley brought his mind back to the present. His toes curled.

Jai was looking at him as if he was going to get eaten. Fine,
eating was good, so long as he could reciprocate.

“There’s nothing to stop us, now,” Jai said. “I’m through

with  waiting.  I  want  to  taste  you,  properly.  I  want  to  love
you  properly.  I  want  to  love  you  more  than  properly.  I
bought  lubricant.  They  said  it  was  scented  with
vanilla…your favourite.”

Leydan laughed and raised Jai’s palm to his lips. He

nibbled and licked. “A cat has his own in-built lubricant,
Jaidyn, for when we take, or when we are taken. But thank
you for the thought.” He rolled over Jai, his weight taken by
his elbows and knees as he kissed him thoroughly, holding
the vampire’s head, his fingers tangled in his long hair, as he
plundered. Their tongues met, stroked, teased, a seductive
thrust and parry.

“Yeouch,” Ley said drawing back. “Your fang bit my lip.”
“I’m sorry. They get in the way. I—”
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it. Bite me again.”
Just what Jaidyn would become in the future, neither of

them  knew,  nor  Bas,  but  it  didn’t  matter  to  Leydan.  If  Jai
became  full  vampire  and  underwent  Change,  they’d  face it
together.

“You’re certain you want a vampire for a lover?”
“I was certain the first moment I saw your ankles.”
“My ankles?”

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119

“Sitting at your desk reading, ankles crossed. I wanted to

lick them. I looooove naked ankles. I loooooove naked
anything, so long it’s you who’s naked.” He inched down to
lick Jai’s ankles, placing tiny bites where his tongue caressed.

“Leydan?”
“Mmmm?”
“Tell me something?”
Ley stopped his ankle-licking, his brow raised. He stared

at Jai along the length of his upraised leg.

“Your…um…down there. Leopard pelt. Not like a

human, or vampire.”

Leydan followed the direction of Jai’s gaze. His mate was

actually  blushing.  How  delightful.  The  fang-boy  was
embarrassed.  Such  a  contradiction,  his  Jaidyn.  And  cats  so
loved  contradictions—especially  where  their  mate  was
concerned.  It  made  for  the  most  delicious  entanglements.
“Only pure blood royals have pelts to reveal their cat shifter
form,  down  there,”  he  said,  smiling,  teasing,  delighting  in
Jai’s innocence.

“And the stripes in your hair?”
“Reveals I have a mate. They’ll lengthen over time.”
“Like your uncle’s hair and the stripes?”
“Mmmm.”
“Al…”
“You talk too damn much. You’re fretting. I know how to

deal with fretting.” He bent to Jai’s ankles with renewed
determination.

“Kiss me.” Jai put his foot behind Leydan’s head, tugging

him down onto his body, before guiding him upward with a
knee across his lower back. His mouth touched Ley. Instant
fire. Mouths enjoined, tongues dancing a fangtango.

* * * *

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120

Jai  gasped  as  he  felt  Leydan’s  fingers  stroking  his  cock,
teasing  with  nails  and  caressing  with  his  palm.  Lower,  he
found his balls and applied a pressure to the base of his sacs.
He lifted off the sofa, nerves sparking.

“Roll onto your stomach, Jai.”
He obliged, his breath held. Leydan’s weight pressed into

him,  full  length,  parting  his  thighs.  The  cat  licked  and
nibbled along his spine, up and down, returning to his neck,
drawing  in  strands  of  hair  that  he  sucked  and  teased  with
his  mouth  and  teeth.  He  bit  between  his  shoulder  blades,
while  his  fingers  stroked  his  arms,  his  sides.  He  moved
lower, inexorably lower, gently biting a buttock. Jai groaned,
shivering.

“Shivering is good, fang-of-mine,” Leydan whispered.

“Shiver some more. Turn over.” He positioned himself
between Jai’s widespread legs and paused.

“Why the hells are you stopping?”
Leydan put his hands on Jai’s stomach and purred. The

vibrations raced through Jai. He shivered, his skin
goosepimpling. He reached out to take the cat’s erection.

Leydan reared back out of reach. “I can’t think straight

when you touch me,” he whispered.

“General idea, cat-boy.”
“When I take you, Jai, I want you facing me. I want to

watch your face, kiss you, lick you.”

“But I thought…?”
“Face down? Humans lack imagination. Your lover is a

cat.”

“And that says it all?”
Purrrrrrrr.
Leydan brought Jai sitting astride him. “Wrap your legs

around me, kitten. Just at the base of my spine is a spot…
Yeeeeaaaapurrrrrr.”

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121

Jai smiled to himself. Got it in one, the cat-boy’s pleasure

spot. Then all thought fled as Leydan ran his hands up and
down  his  spine,  cupping  his  arse,  spreading  the  cheeks,
fingers  teasing.  Leydan’s  kiss  seared.  Jai’s  fangs  descended
and teased the cat’s lips, the cat’s nape, the cat’s everywhere.

More kisses, more teasing, exploration to find the love

points and it was Jai who reduced Ley to a quivering,
snarling mess. Cat essence swirled around him.

“Your name is Faren-mit-sur-an,” Jai whispered. Crystal-

singer. The cat’s spirit name.

“Kitten-mine!”
“Now, Faren!”
The blunt end of the Leydan’s cock touched his entrance.

Jai manoeuvred, holding himself poised, then bore down.
He felt his lover hold him back, to try and let his virgin body
accustom itself to his shape.

Hell, no. Now! All of you inside me.
Mind-body linked, they shared the moment of surrender,

and later the moment of oblivion, as wave upon wave of
pleasure rippled through them, between them, over them.

Ley, Oh…God…

Not God, just the cat-boy who loves you…
Nothing just about you, Leydan! Love me again.

Ask me nicely.
Please. Oh…purrrrr.

Nice enough.
Later, in the quiet interlude, Jai kissed Ley, and tasted the

musk of cat’s tears. He drew back. “I hurt you?”

Leydan shook his head. “No, it was mind-blowing. But

you…you’re the one who hurt.”

“Not anymore.” Jai twisted his hips and took Ley full into

his body. “But I want more. Me inside you.” He purred,
feeling the shifter’s cock twitch in response.

Leydan drew strands of Jai’s hair into his mouth and

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122

sucked. Jai’s body ignited with that sucking, a pressure-
drawing deep in his gut. He groaned.

Ley laughed. “So, it is true. A vampire’s hair is his most

erogenous zone.”

“Mmmmmm. Crikey, yes! Do that again.”
As dawn approached, Jai felt Ley’s arms tighten round

him. The thigh flung casually over his, as he lay face first on
the sofa, held him prisoner, that and the cat’s fingers tangled
in his hair. He liked to be tangled—every which way
tangled.

He smiled, his fingers finding the cat bite marks on the

sofa  that  Leydan  had  made  so  many  days  ago  and  next  to
them  were  his  fang  bites,  added  recently  when  Ley  had
taken  him  face  first  on  the  sofa…how  many  times  had  it
been?

Four, but who’s counting?

I thought you were asleep.
I was.

Ley, I want to love you.

No. Later. This is your time. I can wait.
The hell you can. Jai’s fingers found the shifter’s hard, hot

length.  Leydan  shuddered.  Jai  nudged  him  over  and  knelt
between  his  spread  thighs.  He  leaned  forward  and  teased
the  cat,  the  tip  of  his  cock,  begging  entry.  Jai  spread  his
length over his lover, snaking his arms beneath Ley, lifting
him.

Purrrrrr.
Jai probed, entered and Leydan moved his hips, brought

him deep inside in a single movement. Jai paused.

“Don’t stop.”
Jaidyn laughed.
“What’s so damn funny?”
“You once told me that I’d beg you to stop and then I’d

beg you never to stop. I think it’s you doin’ the begging.”

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123

“You talk too fucking much, vampire! Just…oh Hells…

Oh hells…”

Jai moved in slow, languid thrusts, to one side, the other,

then  straight  down  the  middle,  mimicking  the  fangtango.
Leydan was a quivering, purring mess and as the cat essence
coiled  around  him,  the  secret  body  ensnaring,  holding,
seducing  with  its  own  caresses,  Jai  exploded.  They
screamed.

Screaming is good, but purring is better, Jai. Purr with me.

Match my breath. Good. Again. They purred in unison.

Not bad.
Jai purred again, but the sound came out like a slurping

hiss.

“It’s my damn fangs, they’re in the way.”
Leydan laughed. “Like your cock. But I don’t mind if it

gets in the way and I’d like to lick your fangs…”

“You…what?”
“Open your legs and your mouth, lover.”
Later, entangled in arms and legs, they lay side by side.

Leydan raised himself on an elbow and teased back Jai’s hair
with his fingers.

“So, vampire, do you regret the day you dragged in the

cat?”

“Maybe. A leopard has to earn his spots.”
“Have I not just?”
“Not by a long spot.”
Leydan smiled slowly. “You’re teasing me. Delightful.”

He rolled over his lover’s chest and gazed down at him.
“Jai?”

“Mmmmm?”
“I want you to give me the kitten’s kiss. Remember

before, when I loved you as Leydan, that last time I morphed
to cat and sat on your back? I bit your nape. It’s the touch of
mate to mate. That bite mark is there forever. You need to

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124

bite my nape.”

“I…Oh hells, Leydan. Ask me anything but that. When

you bit me, you drew blood. I liked it when you did it, but I
can’t bite you. I…can’t.” Tears sparkled in his eyes.

Leydan frowned. “I don’t—”
“I cut myself yesterday and I bled. I was sick. I’m still not

the full vampire and I know, I just know if I bite you…and
the  blood…  I’m  gonna  puke  all  over  you.  My  gut  and  my
fangs  aren’t  speaking  to  each  other.”  He  swallowed
convulsively.

Leydan rubbed his face against Jai’s chest, feeling the

steady, wild beat of the vampire’s heart. “The bite can wait.”
He licked bronze nipples, tugging at them with his teeth.
“You’re unique, Jaidyn. You’re mine. Stop fretting about the
lack of the bite, or I’ll have to divert you.”

“Mmmmm, please.”
Locked in each other’s arms, they sensed the waning of

the moon. Dawn was not far off. Leydan took Jai’s hand and
put it to his heart. “We cats have a saying. Home is where
the heart is.”

“Humans say it, too.”
“Nevertheless, it’s true. This is my home. You are my

heart.”  Leydan  lifted  Jai  onto  his  body,  wrapping  his  arms
and  legs  around  him.  “And  this is  my  song.  Sing  with  me,
tangle with me.”

The cat song carried them far away.

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125

Epilogue

n  a  place  beyond  time  and  space,  five  creatures  sat
around  a  scrying  mirror.  Their  taloned,  be-jewelled
fingers  rested  on  the  edge  of  the  mirror,  studying  its

reflection, their gazes on the tiny blue planet named earth.

“The battle went according to our plan. Our enemy

believes they were victorious. They have no inkling of their
true nemesis.”

“The time draws near…?”
“Yes, I will send my agent to this world to direct the next

stage of our conquest. These humans and their blood allies
will never see the truth until it is too late.”

The dragon lord spread his wings and laughed.

About the Author

Astrid has been writing other-worldly stories since she could
hold a pencil. Her first book, written at age five, was about a
Princess living on Venus.

Many of her books have hit best-seller lists and won

awards, both in Australia and overseas.

She lives on 2.5 acres in rural South Australia with a

menagerie of rescued animals (mostly cats) from whom she
draws inspiration for her many “cats” in her books.

Her website has more details about her writing, career, as

well as some photos of her animals. Drop by for a visit –
please!

www.astridcooper.com
The website also has a Face Book link if you want to

“friend” her. You can also sign up for her digital, and very
irregular newsletter via her website.