Ouch! My Vampire Doms Built a Scary Dungeon

By Calista Jayne

Whips, chains...fangs. It’s a whole vibe.

Something’s going on with my body—some kind of illness. Magical or medical, we don’t know, and it’s freaking out these dominant vampires.

Will throws himself into the kitchen, stress-cooking meals large enough to feed a family of sixteen. Xander buys a whole new library’s worth books, searching for answers.

When the local witch goes missing, though, our cozy library hideaway loses its protections and is plunged into danger. Sick or not, I have to help. Our enemies are closing in and time is running out.

Ouch! My Vampire Doms Built a Scary Dungeon is the third book in a planned six-book series featuring kinky vampires, a heroine in distress, and all kinds of paranormal drama. If you want to read ahead or check content warnings, please visit the author’s website.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Calista Jayne
• Release date: Oct 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215658697

Calista Jayne

Calista Jayne adores filthy, smutty romances featuring dominant-yet-tender men. When not writing or reading, she’s falling in love with the heroes in K-dramas or walking along a California beach.

Book preview

1

Will

Autumn’s forehead is warm. She’s slightly feverish. I wet a fresh washcloth and wipe her brow. Her dyed blond hair spills over the pillow in unruly curls and I smooth it away from her face and neck, trying to cool her body and keep her comfortable.

Hey, love, I whisper. Just a little while longer, I hope, and you’ll be back to normal. I’m waiting with you. It’s going to be all right.

This isn’t a normal médusant overdose, Xander says, hovering in the doorway.

Then what is it? I ask.

I don’t know. His gaze is soft on Autumn, his brown eyes full of regret. I fucked up, but I fucked up in too many ways to know what caused this.

The arsehole has been beating himself up for hours. Good. Piling the blame at his feet isn’t fixing whatever is wrong with Autumn, but it makes me feel slightly better.

I fucked up too, though. If I hadn’t shoved my head in the sand at the first whisper of Gaius’s name, we might’ve gotten ahead of him.

We do still think it’s médusant causing it, don’t we? I say.

He shrugs. I thought so, but she wouldn’t be unconscious for hours, even with an overdose.

He’s right. She’d be alert and acting a bit drunk, with slurring speech and fewer inhibitions.

I glance at the windows set close to my bedroom ceiling. It’s still dark outside, but the sun will be rising soon. I’m going to see Gretel.

The witch? Do you think she’ll talk to you?

She will. Especially when I tell her how much I care for Autumn. She was miffed last I spoke to her, telling me that Xander and I needed to settle down with an amant so she could stop making the oubliette potion for us in bulk. Gretel loves her magic, but oubliette is a tricky one.

"You can tell her how much we care for Autumn," Xander says quietly.

I shoot him a look as I change from my suit to jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. It’s about time.

I’m not saying she’s our amant, he insists. She isn’t. That’s a death sentence. But I do care for her. To Gretel, that will count for something.

I’m all set to go. So you’ll sit with Autumn while I’m out?

He nods. Do you think she’ll forgive me someday? I shouldn’t have brought her to Gaius’s like that. I should’ve prepared her better.

He’s right. But I also should’ve been with them both and helped prepare her. I was in denial about even bringing her along, but the truth was, as soon as I arrived at Gaius’s mansion, it became evident that Autumn’s absence would cause trouble. Gaius had been making repeated comments about my lack of respect. Veiled comments, but everyone heard them for what they were. I kept expecting the large men standing over me to drag me outside for a staking. When Xander showed up with her, I was angry, yes—but mostly because I was scared.

Turns out, I was right to be scared. Because look at her now.

I’ll be back soon, I say.

He settles into the chair next to the bed where I’d been sitting. I’ll be here.

Will

Gretel lives in an apartment building right where Dorado Heights meets Old Thirty-Three. It’s respectable and boring and does not at all reflect the flair of Gretel’s profession.

The light coming through the blinds of her apartment window is very faint. She tends to stay up late and sleep through the morning. I hope I haven’t missed her.

She also refuses to get a phone of any kind—landline or mobile. There’s no way for me to ask if she’s available. I just have to hope.

The apartment doors are accessible from outdoor hallways, so nobody has to buzz me in or anything. I take long strides up the concrete steps and knock on her door.

I close my eyes while I wait. All I can see in my mind is Autumn lying helpless in my bed, unconscious.

The door opens and Gretel peers out, her black eyebrows shoved together as she scowls. I’m not making oubliette for you, William Hunt. I’m out of redwood ash.

I don’t want oubliette, I say.

Her scowl eases and she opens the door for me to step inside. She doesn’t offer me a place to sit, but that’s because the sofa is covered in herbs and other plants drying out on towels. The kitchen table and all of its chairs are similarly covered.

I am busy, William Hunt, she says, waving her hands around the tiny apartment and its various messes. What is it you need from me?

Something to help a human. I think she overdosed on médusant.

Her scowl returns. Everything about Gretel is glamorous until that scowl falls into place and she transforms into a witch of nightmares. You and Alexander Johannson don’t use médusant. And if you have started, I’ll hex you into the afterlife.

No, but Gaius Black does.

She lets out a huff of frustration. I hate that man.

I don’t respond.

She continues, I know Gaius Black is in town. Why you and Alexander Johannson haven’t run him off is beyond me.

He travels with warriors, I say. If we try to fight him, the repercussions would be worse than suffering his presence for a short time.

A short time in vampire’s life might be fifty years, William Hunt.

It’s better than a supernatural war fought in San Esteban. I just want to let Gaius do his thing, quickly grow bored, and leave.

Psh, excuses. Do you believe Gaius Black will leave soon?

I want to believe it. But I don’t know.

A vampire who doesn’t pretend he has all the answers, she says. Refreshing. Now, tell me about the girl.

She had access to the potion late last night. We don’t know how much she ingested. She fainted soon after.

This can’t be the first time you’ve seen a human unconscious after taking médusant, Gretel says.

No. But she’s been unconscious for hours.

That’s mildly concerning. If she’s still unconscious after three days, let me know and I will examine her.

Three days? She has to be joking. We can’t let her remain unconscious like this for three days. Please. If you could examine her now…

Gretel shakes her head. It’s médusant. It will do what it is intended to do; it will keep her quiet and complacent for a good long while. After which the potion’s magic will wear off and she’ll return to normal, and you’ll probably dose her with oubliette and she’ll forget it all.

I’m not dosing her with oubliette, I say.

Oh, so she’s special to you. Gretel’s smile turns sly.

I nod. She is special to Xander and me.

Gretel lifts an elegant hand and pats me on the cheek like I’m a little boy. I’m too surprised by the gesture to stop her. She says, The girl will be fine, William Hunt, but you can come for me in three days if I’m wrong.

I leave Gretel’s apartment strangely reassured. I do not like the idea of Autumn unconscious for three days. In fact, I’d feel a lot better if Gretel came back to our place and looked her over.

I pray to whatever gods might listen to an irredeemable vampire warrior that Autumn will be okay.

Autumn

My dreams are hazy, my body is not my own. I’m both awake and not awake. It’s impossible to move. I think I hear Will and Xander talking, but I’m unable to respond. Sleep pulls me under, over and over again. Just when I think I’ll be able to open my eyes, down I go once more.

Sex. Teeth. Murder. Darkness. Blood. Kisses.

The cycle of images includes arousal, despair, love, hope, over and over again.

The next time my consciousness tugs me forward, there’s only one voice speaking—Xander’s.

Autumn. Mouse. Please wake up.

When I open my eyes, it isn’t easy to focus. I blink and blink and for a short moment, I panic that this blurry world around me is my new vision. But then the room comes into focus, and Xander is leaning over me.

Autumn, he says in relief. Fuck. We were so worried. How are you feeling?

I feel like someone yanked off my arms and legs and screwed them back in at the wrong places. But all I can manage to get out is, Not great.

What do you need? I have some water for you here, some crackers, I can help you to the bathroom if you need to go.

I do need to go. He offers to carry me, but I say no, so he walks me there, waits outside the door for me to finish, and walks me back to the bed.

Someone changed me out of my gown at some point, because I’m wearing soft pajama pants and a tank top.

Do you want some food? Xander asks once I’m settled in bed again. Water?

I just want to know what happened to me, I say. Last thing I remember, we all fucked in the parking lot.

He eases back into his chair, but continues to lean forward and rests his head on the bed next to my hand. Fucking hell, Autumn. We think you were drugged, and it’s my fault and I’m so fucking sorry.

It’s okay, I say. Not your fault.

It is, a low voice says from the doorway, but if you forgive him, I will, too.

I look over and see Will standing there, his face haggard but relief shining through his deep blue eyes.

Hey, I say.

Hey. How are you feeling?

I grin up at him when he strides over and sits on the edge of the bed next to me. I’ve been better.

Xander says, She has sore joints, and some pain when she moves her head. Slight disorientation. Her fever’s gone, however.

I turn to stare at him. How do you know all that?

I’ve been paying attention. He shrugs. You winced when I walked you to and from the bathroom.

The pain is fading, I say, checking in with my body to make sure I’m telling the truth.

Taking my hand in his, Will says, We need to talk about what happened, how you were drugged.

I nod. I would like to know these things, too.

Did you eat anything, drink anything at the banquet? he asks.

No, nothing.

Who did you speak to? Could they have gotten close and drugged you?

Nobody. I was with Xander, then James.

Will’s touch on my fingers is soothing. James? Gaius’s novicant?

Novicant?

A human servant, for lack of a better word, Xander says, who hopes to be turned into a vampire.

"Oh. I don’t know about that, but his name was James. We spoke for, I don’t know, three