76__His Majesty pet dragon

Viktor leaned back in his chair, staring with heavy-lidded eyes at the open laptop on the new meeting hall table.
It was Kamilla’s. The desktop background was a picture of her and Demetrius in front of the Onyx silver fountain.

Viktor’s eyes drank in the sight of her, even if it was just in a damn picture. Her hair had the wind in it, sending a few red tendrils across her cheek to tickle her nose. She was smiling brightly at the camera, her cheeks pink from delight.
Viktor swallowed hard.

Kamilla.
The subject of his every waking thought. The image that filled his every dream, leaving him aching and burning with desire. He was tortured day and night by thoughts of her, images of her. Her laughter, her scent, the feel of her soft skin. It *haunted* him.

So what if the damn bond had been broken? She was still carved into his soul. And no matter how many nights Viktor spend standing on the tip of Witcher’s Cliff, no matter how many nights of full moon he spent hunting through the Onyx forest, he wouldn’t be able to remove his need for her.

He’d regretted sending her away even before she’d left the castle, but what could he do? She deserved better.

Viktor’s mouth curved in a humorless smile. Who would’ve thought one woman could’ve made him wish he was good enough for her twice in his lifetime? He, a Vampire King.

Reaching out, he slid her cellphone toward him and picked it up. Only today had he realized that she’d left everything behind except for the stuff she’d bought in and on the way from England.
Viktor pressed a button and watched the screen light up. His own face greeted him, stunning him.

It was in the car with him behind the wheel. It showed his side profile silhouetted against the blue sky outside his window as he drove. The angle was bizarre, showing that she’d hidden it from him. She’d snuck a picture of him and he hadn’t even realized.
And she’d set it as her screen saver. Viktor scoffed, his mouth twitching at the corners. She was such a *human*. What a corny thing to do, saving people as screensavers.

Releasing a breath, he slid the phone back onto the table and eased back in the chair, staring at the ceiling.
Viktor wasn’t sure how to deal with this. There was a hollow space in his soul and he couldn’t even pretend he didn’t know what filled it before. He knew exactly where she was and what she was doing.
He couldn’t deny that her signing up for lessons immediately after leaving him had surprised him. But what had he expected? That she mope around and be as miserable as he was? No. Kamilla was different. He was the one who was screwed, she’d only gained freedom to live a normal life with any normal human man of her choice.
The moment the thought entered his head, Viktor felt his blood boil. He wasn’t fake enough to deny himself the truth. And the truth was that he was most likely to drag any man who went near her to the depths of hell and leave him there to die a very painful death.

Inhaling deeply to calm his sudden rage, Viktor raised his arms and placed them behind his head as he allowed himself to simply stop fighting thoughts of her. Closing his eyes, he let Kamilla fill his head as much as soul needed, trying to relive every single moment that she’d been by his side. Every single frustrating and temper provoking moment.

Never before had he met someone as hard-headed and infuriating. He could read her as easily as an open book and still, sometimes, he couldn’t understand the woman. She was stubborn and feisty and such a damn smart-mouth, but yet she had the duality of suddenly turning into the softest, most precious little creation he’d *ever* seen. Like when she’d gotten drunk off his century old wine and had become the first thing in the universe to make Viktor think: *cute*.

God, she was a nutcase. Why did he love her so much?

Suddenly, Viktor heard a very Kamilla-like squeal. “Damon!” he heard her voice scream. He frowned. What was this? He’d gotten to the point of hearing her voice now? For crying out loud. Would he really survive being without her?

“I missed you too, you big baby!” he heard her squeal again, before her laughter reached him like the cheerful jingle of bells.

Viktor’s eyes snapped open as he shot upright in his chair.

With a frown, he slowly reached a hand up and, tilting his head, gave his ear a few good rubs.
Viktor straightened his head and frowned around at the empty room. Silence. Slowly relaxing, he sighed.
He’d really been hearing things? Fuck’s sake. He was really becoming a—

“DEMETRIUS!!” her voice screamed through the house, making Viktor shoot out of his seat.

He looked up at the ceiling with wide eyes as he turned around in circles.

“What the hell?” Viktor muttered. “What is this?”
He was losing his mind. Losing Kamilla was making him lose his goddamn mind!

“KAMILLA!!” came an equally loud scream in response. Viktor froze, a frown deeply etched into his face. He couldn’t be hearing Demetrius’s voice in his head too, could he? No. Surely not.

Viktor looked at the door. Impossible.

Pushing aside his chair, he stalked out of the room and down the spiraling staircase.

The voices got louder as he walked, making Viktor’s chest get tighter with every step he took.

“What do you mean I’ve lost weight?” Viktor heard Kamilla ask with a laugh and his heart thudded until it was full-on racing in his chest.
His foot landed on the floor of the front hall as he appeared from the staircase and Viktor stared.

The Legion was there, standing with Demetrius and Damon. There in the middle of the group, surrounded by her own little protection army, was Kamilla.
He stared with bated breath at her.
The moment his eyes landed on her, Viktor watched Kamilla freeze, her expression slipping off her face as she became aware of his gaze on her.

With wide eyes, she turned to him and like the most powerful magic, their gazes met and locked.
Viktor felt such a perfect peace possess him as he looked at Kamilla, her expression of shock melting into one that seemed to reflect how he felt inside.
The urge to embrace her was nearly overwhelming, but he bit down on it. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her.

Before he could say anything, Kamilla turned away and delivered a swift kick to Damon’s shin.
“Ow!” yelped Damon. “Kamilla!”

“You said on the phone that he went to England today!” she yelled, glaring and pink-cheeked.

Damon’s expression of pain morphed into a sly grin. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!

“What’s going on here?” Viktor asked very quietly, his face not betraying any of his emotions.

Kamilla was certain that he was about to rage at them. Swallowing to give moisture to her parched throat, she gripped the strap of her bag with trembling fingers.
Seeing how nervous she was, the Legion formed a sort of arch around her, their automatic reaction to protect her as clear as day.
Viktor raised a brow at them. Since when were they more loyal to Kamilla than to him?

Damon carefully approached. “Uhm, Viktor—”

“I didn’t come back to Onyx or anything!” Kamilla blurted out, cutting Damon off.
Viktor narrowed his eyes.
“I only went to visit Cassius because I missed it so much! And then Damon said you weren’t here so I thought I’d pay a visit! It’s not because of you!”

Viktor listened as she rambled, taking in every ounce of her. Her voice, her blush, the way she could barely look him in the eyes. She spoke with an attitude and a pout that showed the peak of her stubbornness. He’d missed her *so fucking much*.
“Doing what in Cassius?” Viktor asked calmly.

Kamilla peaked at him before quickly turning her gaze away. “M-minding my own business,” she responded. “I had an appointment to spend the weekend emptying bottles at a little pub with Dre and Jaime! I’m also going to dye my hair green like Sniper’s and take lessons in the Magic of Cassius so I and my new friends can have more in common!”

Viktor closed his eyes for a moment and with a sigh, opened them to look at her again. Her nose was becoming as pink as her cheeks, telling Viktor just how hard she was trying to hold back tears. His gaze softened and he felt even more like a jerk. “Do you not have classes at the college?”

Kamilla was stunned that he knew she was in college, but quickly refocused. “You-you lost the right to care about that when you shipped me off! What? Did you really think you could send me away into the world and I wouldn’t immediately jump on a Cassius train full of magically brewed alcohol, bad influences and all life-threatening decisions?”

Viktor ran his tongue over the inside of his cheek as he looked at his men and their downcast faces, some of their mouths even twitching with humor. These traitors. They’d really gone and schemed to get Kamilla in front of him somehow, knowing how it would weaken him to see her again.

And now she was slowly driving him insane with talks of dying her beautiful red hair green and turning herself into an enchantress! Viktor fisted his hands. They were all trying to break his resolve to keep Kamilla safe from him.

He looked at her. “Kamilla—”

“Sorry! Can’t stay for long!” Kamilla said hurriedly, turning her tearing eyes away as she headed for the door. “I’ve got a *friend* waiting!”

Viktor narrowed his eyes. “Hold on,” he muttered, going after her. “What damn friend?”

Kamilla tugged open the heavy door and Viktor stopped in his steps, a snarl curling his mouth.
Standing at the first entrance to the castle, leaning on the iron bars, was none other than the kid from the Cassius pub.

“Jaime!” called Kamilla with a happy wave.

The kid raised his head and had the audacity to smile.
“You all done, little love?” His gaze went further than Kamilla to meet Viktor’s and, to Viktor’s utter annoyance, he waved.

“Hello there, His Majesty pet dragon!”