Outcast Island (Exiled Sector)

10. Magnus

CHAPTER 10

MAGNUS

I commanded my body not to wake until either Guerún had fully relaxed, or if she was in danger.

When my eyes flash open, I listen to decide which had woken me.

It is nightfall based on the wildlife I hear outside, which means Ja’ar will be returning any moment now. But it isn’t a pack of Vampire Alphas who roused me.

It’s the supple Omega at my side.

She had one leg hooked over me with her wet pussy pressed against my hip. Her arm splays over my chest while she softly breathes. Each breath is deep, indicative of the kind of sleep a vampire rarely goes into.

Oh, little diamond.

My heart melts as I realize what she’s done. She’s gone into torpor.

Torpor, a state of complete and utter rest where a vampire can heal, is an ability that most vampires are capable of, but rarely experience it based on the requirements and the vulnerability it creates.

My poor Omega has likely never experienced torpor a moment in her life. I should have known that it might happen if she finally relaxed when she felt safe—but I didn’t dare hope she might feel safe enough with me to fall into the healing sleep of torpor.

She has wounds no one can see. She has absorbed a dark array of emotions from vampires who didn’t care about her, leaving deep scars.

There were wounds within her that she innately knew would never allow her to enter into a true estrus.

Unless she found a way to heal from them—such as a state of torpor.

But that required a protector she trusted enough to put herself in such a deep sleep.

I wasn’t sure if she even knew she could do that. Not many vampires choose to go into torpor. It’s a vulnerable state and one that is difficult, if not impossible, to fall into.

There are two ways to go into torpor.

Near death, or complete and utter trust in a protector and the safety of the surrounding environment.

The impact of making a nest, arranging it in her preference, and then nestling inside of it with her magic-bonded Alpha had been enough to let her go into a state of torpor.

I brush aside a strand of her hair and watch her sleep.

Precious diamond, I marvel. I’m not worthy of you.

But I want to be.

And when my sensitive hearing picks up Ja’ar’s familiar rushing gait through the forest, I know I’ll have my chance to prove myself very soon.

And based on the accompanying footsteps, he’s not alone. There’s a rattling that accompanies each vampire—meaning they’ve brought gear, too.

I brace myself for a fight.

“Sleep well, my diamond,” I tell her as I brush a kiss across her scrunched brow. “I’ll be right back.”

It takes a few attempts, but I manage to ease off the bed without disturbing my Omega’s carefully orchestrated design of her nest. I don’t want to do anything that might disturb her sleep.

Hopefully the bloodshed that’s about to happen doesn’t bother her too much.

After setting the metal door closed and hearing every bolt lock into place, I make my way through the hall and rooms of my lair, only to find Ja’ar outside with a pack spread out behind him. He’s wearing a loose-fitting shirt and jeans, but I’m not fooled by the casual appearance.

Ja’ar is deadly.

He has a canister on his back and his finger is on the trigger of a flame thrower. He shoots it into the air, hurting my eyes with the burst of flame.

He’s threatened me with it before.

Vampires don’t like fire. It’s one of the few things that can really hurt us.

Ja’ar isn’t afraid of fire. His skin has a stronger resistance to it than most. He can still burn, but not as easily as the rest of us.

He could set my entire lair on fire if he wanted to and probably walk out of it with a smile on his charred face.

The crazy asshole.

“I hear you have a little Omega holed up in your lair, Magnus,” he says as he grins. His gaze sweeps over me, then comes back to my eyes that I know betray my hunger with how dark they are. “And more so, you aren’t even feeding on her. Well, if you won’t bite her then we certainly will.” He waves his hands to the vampires still as statues behind him. Their black eyes glow with hunger, likely even darker than mine given I can at least feed on Vampire Alpha blood on occasion, unlike them. “Care to let us play with her so this doesn’t get messy?”

A growl rumbles in my chest and I don’t make any effort to swallow it down. Torpor means my Omega won’t wake until I personally wake her, as her Alpha.

And the only way I can do that is with my knot.

I’m certainly not going to be knotting her with these dick faces around.

“She’s mine,” I tell him, hoping he’ll listen to reason. Just because I could command all these vampires to fuck themselves doesn’t mean I should. Plus, my power has limitations. I can’t command all of them at once. I would have to get into their faces and order them one at a time, which would involve fighting.

Then, the cost would hit me hard and I need to be lucid for my Omega right now.

After killing multiple Vampire Alphas with my bare hands, I’m also exhausted. I don’t usually need sleep, but I had slept in my Omega’s nest also because she had made me feel comfortable to do so. It rejuvenated me enough to deal with this encounter.

But I didn’t feed on her—that would have rejuvenated me so much more.

My stomach twists, wanting to give up the Alpha blood I had imbibed to make room for the sweeter Omega blood that will actually sustain me.

He must misunderstand what I mean, because Ja’ar holds out a bag of blood and pops it open. It smells like tart grapefruit to my senses. “I brought a peace offering. I don’t expect you to starve. But you are going to have to share.”

Snarling, I bark a command. “Burn it.” My stomach dips as the cost of ordering a Vampire Alpha boils a portion of my blood. That’s partially why I require to feed on any blood I can find after I use my power to bloodmist or to command. It eats up my blood in response, making me feel empty. The more resistant a Vampire Alpha is to my command, the higher the cost.

Luckily, Ja’ar likes burning things, so it’s not such a stretch for him.

He doesn’t even bother to throw the bag on the ground. Ja’ar’s flame thrower lights with fire at the same time the bag in his hand ignites.

The vampires behind him back up and hiss.

It’s insane. An entire bag of Vampire Omega blood is very precious, but I have no need of Alpha Fare’s stash of Omega blood or anyone else’s.

I have a mate now.

Even if I haven’t tasted her blood yet, I plan on it very soon.

“That was unwise,” Ja’ar tells me as he flicks the ash from his fingers. His fingertips are red, but not burned. “Take her,” he commands to the vampires behind him.

One of the Vampire Alphas sends a burst of smoke from a flash bang cracking through the forest, raising the fog to diminish my sight.

I don’t need to see, though. There’s only one entrance to my lair and I’m standing right in front of it.

It takes me a few tries to learn the tricks of the vampires that Ja’ar brought with him, but he made tactical choices.

One of them provides smoke coverage, while another activates sound-canceling speakers, making a deathly silence overtake the grounds.

I can’t hear the footsteps of the third vampire who slams into me, his power obviously one of brute strength.

I barrel backward into my door, splintering it and making an opening for the rest of the pack to come through. The front door to my lair is made of wood, mostly because I’m used to replacing it whenever Ja’ar comes to visit.

Luckily, he can’t burn through metal when it comes to the room where my Omega is waiting.

Rage surges through my system as I bark another command. “Stop!” I order the burly vampire—but my voice catches in the still air.

Shit.

My words don’t work in the sound dampening effect through the area.

I know it can’t last long. They would have had to bring a portable energy source with them to power it, but it’ll last long enough for Ja’ar to gain the upper ground.

I rush through my lair back toward Guerún. The one with brute strength stands in my way while Ja’ar disappears behind another splintered door. My ears ring with the impact of the sound-dampening speaker still going strong.

The final door to my bedroom is locked and heavy enough that it’ll take a few vampires to get in.

Or one with a strength power—luckily, I seem to have him occupied.

The cotton feel in my ears tells me that the silence effect is still ongoing, so I don’t try to command him to smash his own head in. Instead, I go for his knees.

He opens his mouth as if to roar, but I can’t hear whatever sound he’s making. It helps me focus as blood gushes over my claws. I rake through his muscles, going for the foundation keeping the Vampire Alpha upright and I’m satisfied when he crumples.

He heads down with his fists, smashing into the ground and sending debris flying. With him in a vulnerable position, I slash clean through his throat and watch as his head rolls across the ground.

Now to find the one with the silencer speakers.

I won’t be any match for Ja’ar if my command doesn’t work on him. He’ll just burn me to a crisp and have his way with my Omega.

The very thought of that fuels me with rage, funneling my energy to find the vampire who had quieted the area.

He has to be nearby. I doubt the range on those speakers can be too large. When I step toward my destroyed front door that had been splintered in, I can pick up sounds again.

You’re inside, I surmise as I turn toward the kitchen.

There are few places to hide in my lair, and that is by design. I skip the open pantry and head toward the sink.

Because there are large cabinets underneath where a vampire might choose to hide.

I don’t bother ripping them open. Instead, I snatch up one of the large knives from my collection and shove it straight through.

“Didn’t hear me coming, huh?” I ask, noting that the silencing effect dropped because he must have been wearing the speaker that I had cut clean through, and a pained gurgle sounds in response to the twist of my blade.

When I pull out the knife and open the door, a skewered vampire falls through with the remains of a mechanical parts fall onto the ground. The speaker had taken the brunt of the blow, though, and he lunges for me, but my voice works now.

I know I should just deal with him and move on, but my bloodrage burns in my chest and demands that this vampire suffers .

I’ll make your death slow and painful—but you can do it yourself, asshole. I have an Omega to get to.

“Cut off your own head,” I order him as I throw the blade on the ground.

He stares at it in horror, then starts to shake when he takes up the knife.

I walk away and let him take care of the rest. He won’t likely succeed in completely beheading himself, but he deserves all the agony he’s going to experience as he tries.

And if he comes after me, I’ll finish the job.

His screams follow me as I rush back toward the bedroom and find Ja’ar glowering at a Vampire Alpha who is setting charges on the door.

“Are you trying to blow up my Omega?” I ask, irritated as I lean against the doorway. The urgency has passed now that I’ve taken care of the silence problem.

“She landed on this island,” Ja’ar says, as if that explains everything. “She’s not yours .”

I expect a shockwave when the charges detonate—but instead they sizzle .

Acid, I realize as the activated vials leak through the door, eating it up in a way that suggests Ja’ar has been preparing for this attack for a very long time. There’s a rare plant that I know to stay away from on the island that exhibits such acidic properties—and would be a chore to harvest. But, it makes for good trading material with the dragons and other species who are brave enough to venture onto the island.

I also note that the technology I’ve seen so far isn’t usually this advanced, but I’ve been a thorn in his side for a while. Ja’ar has been planning this for a long time.

He took his time choosing this pack. That’s for sure.

What toy does the last vampire have?

Not knowing that is what has prevented me from telling Ja’ar to burn his own face off. I had learned by now not to underestimate the Vampire Alpha.

The door creaks open and smoke from the exploded acid charges drifts into the air, giving the sleeping Omega in her nest an ethereal appearance.

All the Vampire Alphas go still when they take in her beauty.

A growl rumbles in my chest, because now other Alphas are encroaching on sacred ground.

“She is mine ,” I insist with a snarl that would make most vampires fall to their knees. “And anyone who touches her will be commanded to rip out their own entrails and eat them.”

Silence muddles my ears again, making me snarl. I figure out what tricks the last vampire has a little too late.

There’s a backup speaker strapped to his chest and he’s hooked himself to the original vampire’s power source. He’s holding the wrist that still grips a blade while he plucks a bag of Omega blood from his pouch and shoves it into the original vampire’s mouth.

I see now he has tons of bags strapped around his waist.

He’s the support backup—ready with blood to quicken healing and activate the second speaker.

Ja’ar certainly has outdone himself.

But now that I know the playing field, I can act.

Ja’ar pulls the trigger, sending a stream of fire at me, but I’m ready for him.

You’ve been waiting for this day for a long time, haven’t you? I think with a feral grin as I attempt to take out his knees.

He’s aware of my trademark move, so he dips out of the way enough so I can only nick his calves.

But we’re in the confines of my lair, now. I know this place better than any of them.

Heat blooms through the building and I know it’s caught on fire from Ja’ar’s attack, but that’s okay. I don’t intend on staying here much longer.

I spin on the vampire with burst bags of Omega blood all over him. It also is likely intended to serve as a distraction, but I’m only interested in one particular Omega now.

I grab a sword on his holster and spear it straight through his neck, slicing into both him and the bloodbag vampire.

Heal this, asshole, I think as I behead both of them at the same time.

When my back warms in warning, I duck just in time for another tunnel of fire to careen over where I’d been standing. I spin and throw a fist at Ja’ar’s face, only to grunt when he holds up a fist now wearing a guard.

“Kill yourself,” I order Ja’ar, but he only grins at me and points to the earbuds sticking out of his ears.

Damn. Where did he get those? Probably found them at the hotel left on the island.

He really did come prepared.

My fangs ache when I find the vampire who set the final charges nearing my Omega’s nest.

My vision turns red.

I predictably lunge for him, which puts me in range of Ja’ar’s fireball attacks. He sends another one straight at me, and I can’t get out of the way. Pain sears up my left side as my skin burns and sizzles at the impact.

I don’t stop, though. If Ja’ar thought a little burning alive would stop me from saving my Omega, he doesn’t know me very well.

Pounding my feet into the ground, I launch myself and wrap my arms around the acid-wielding vampire and send him crashing to the ground. I roar as pain sears up my back, a second fireball no doubt burning me down to the bone.

“Come on, Magnus! You’re making this too easy. Don’t tell me you are compatible with this one? Fuck. Why didn’t you just say so?” Ja’ar taunts, though I know he doesn’t give two shits if I had finally found a compatible Omega.

It would just give him more motivation to knot her right in front of my face.

Ja’ar didn’t like it that I got “special treatment.” Alpha Fare ran this island and didn’t share power—but I wasn’t looking for power. I only wished to be left alone and I needed a supply of blood and violence, in whatever form that took. There was no shortage of that on Outcast Island.

But vampires like Ja’ar needed something to survive, just like I did. Unlike me, they need an excuse to engorge their pride and their cocks. They will never amount to anything, or achieve any great goals, so they live off the blood and the backs of those beneath them.

It’s time that you joined those assholes you hate so much in the ground.

I work my jaw around a mesh armor shirt keeping me from impaling the Vampire Alpha I have pinned on the ground. I couldn’t previously see the armor he was wearing—but now I know why he had chosen not to go shirtless like Vampire Alphas tend to do.

He grunts as he hunches his shoulders to keep the armor over his vital areas, but he’s just buying time. He thinks that enough fireballs from Ja’ar’s attacks will be enough to push me off.

He’s wrong.

Pain scourges down my legs and I’m concerned I might not have enough muscle left that’s not burned, but I’m able to keep my jaw working.

I find a divot in the armor when he scrunches his shoulders again.

You’re mine now.

Pressing down, the male beneath me groans as I work my way through, inching my way deeper until blood grazes my tongue. He snarls and then screams, and I’m rewarded with a burst of healing strength as I fully clamp down on his neck and drink his blood.

It takes longer than I like for me to drain him enough to kill him. A vampire needs his blood to survive. Some can live without blood, but only if they have a special blood type that can leave reserves within the body dormant until awakened—this vampire might be an Alpha, but thankfully, he isn’t royal.

While he’s strong, he’s no stronger than the others I’ve taken down recently. Sheer numbers aren’t enough to slow me down.

I stagger to my feet as blood drips down my chest. I have burns all over me and cool air brushes the insides of my back, concerning me that I’ve lost more mass than I would like. It’ll be a pain to heal.

But a few more Alpha Vampires drained dry might help.

“You know what, Ja’ar?” I say as I slowly saunter toward him. Not all my muscles are intact, making me awkwardly limp, but based on Ja’ar’s flicker of fear in his expression, it only makes me more terrifying. “I think I don’t need a liaison with Alpha Fare anymore,” I say with a grin, glad that I finally get to indulge in this fantasy. “Which means I don’t need you .”

He pales as he backs against a wall while I approach. He holds up both hands in surrender, as if he could possibly save himself now.

“Look, it was just a misunderstanding, okay? Alpha Fare said the Omega was free game. Well, you won the game, yeah? She’s all yours.”

I slowly wrap my fingers around his neck and I ignore the flames that crawl up his skin when he tries to burn me again. I can’t even feel the fire anymore.

He threatened my Omega. Alpha Fare just did what assholes like him do best.

He gave his underlings a carrot to chase. He will get his due in time. I won’t have to kill him. Someone else eventually will do that job for me. There is no doubt in my mind about that.

But a vampire like Ja’ar? He is like a cockroach.

I have to make sure he doesn’t weasel out of this one alive.

I lean into his ear and whisper a command that had been coming to a vampire like Ja’ar for a very long time.

“Burn yourself until you die .”