“Oh?” Julien flicked a wide, surprised eye to Ash and then back to him. “You two really are boyfriend and girlfriend then? That’s so weird.”
It sounded so juvenile, coming from someone barely over three feet tall. “Why’s that?” Tristan asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Julien’s stupid ass grin never faltered as he scratched at the melted skin hidden under the hair over his face. “We eat your kind, not fuck them.”
Tristan bristled. “How old are you, kid?”
“What, you rather have a little boy like me than an adult woman like her?”
Tristan flinched back, a disgusted noise slipping past his lips. “What? No. God…”
The boy just laughed and laughed as he turned away, leading the pair deeper into the castle.
“Tell me, Tristan,” the boy said and then shot Tristan a smirk over his shoulder. “You’re not human, are you?”
“Sure I am.”
Julien stopped and turned to face the pair. “Now we both know that’s not true. I may be a child, but you know I’m not. I can read your silly little non-human mind—have from the moment you arrived. I gave you the chance to fess up, but you’re a cautious one even if you’ve got a quick temper and foul mouth. Mind you, I don’t care for your lot, but, well it’s up to Master if he wants you to leave here or not. We have filled our bellies tonight, but there is always room for more.”
Ash moved in an instant, positioning herself against Tristan’s front, glaring at the boy.
“Oooh, so you are his protector? That’s a new one.” The boy turned away, waving a hand in the air. “Whatever, I don’t care for Uruwashi myself. Master on the other hand…”
Tristan tensed. In front of him, Ash mirrored his reaction. She hadn’t been able to read Julien’s mind since their meeting and was hoping he was unable to read theirs clearly. She knew the boy was a vanilla and older than her, but that was the extent of her knowledge of the child vampire. If he knew of the Uruwashi, that could mean trouble in leaving the home with Tristan alive.
“Oh please,” Julien said still marching off, “the only one of us you need to worry about is Master Audric. His home, his rules.”
The pair remained in their spot, watching the child vampire walk off. After a moment, Ash sighed and turned to face Tristan. “Are you okay?” she asked in a low voice.
He snorted a little laugh. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking that?” He lifted her left hand to look at the damage the jikininki left. But then, he knew there’d be nothing to see. There was nothing now to prove she’d ever opened her vein except for a few drops of blood staining her expensive blouse that had yet to flake away.
“I said I would take care of it.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“No, but you need not speak aloud.”
Tristan groaned. “Fine, yes. It bothers me, but there’s nothing I can do about it. Anyway, I’m too busy worrying about you.”
“I can take care of myself. You should be more concerned over your wellbeing.”
“You think? God, a head’s up on these people would have been nice.”
“I agree, however, I know as much as you do.”
“You can’t read his mind, can you?”
Ash looked affronted as her mouth gaped open at him. “I may not tell you full truths, but I am no liar.”
“Fair enough. Sorry. Yeah, anyway, let’s wrap this shit up and then get the hell out of Dodge. I’m getting gross vibes.”
Ash’s lips tightened for a moment and then she leaned in for a hug. He happily accepted her, even if there was a tiny voice screaming at the back of his mind telling him that she’d just used a lot of energy with nothing to support or replace it. That he was a yummy smelling restorative elixir.
“Mon Dieu.” The strong, masculine voice echoed off the dense stone walls around them.
The pair jumped apart and Tristan’s hand automatically went for his gun as he sized up the newcomer. The man standing next to Julien with a hand on his shoulder was short, maybe even an inch or two shorter than Ash—like Sebastian short. But this guy was no faerie. Yuki’s brand of pale almost seemed tan on this guy. His hair was nearly translucent so that it absorbed the yellow light of the torches and shone slightly. And his eyes, they held only the barest hint of tint to suggest that they’d once been blue. In fact the only color about the guy was his vibrant red silk shirt left with the tails left free and unbuttoned to show a smooth hairless chest, and a pair of dark chocolate dress slacks. And just like Yuki, he had no shoes. Maybe it was an aversion of the older kind? Ash still liked her shoes.
The man smirked. “Truly a night of wonders to start for sure… First an urgent letter from Japan, begging my lenience and admittance of two strangers and then this, in my very home none less—a vampire embracing that and not for food or vengeance. How very... drôle. But I must say, how lovely you both are, such a delicious mix of light and shadow.”
Tristan let go of the butt of his gun, wondering if he was the light or shadow. He felt like the shadow lately anyway, doing things he never thought he would or could.
Ash shot him a warning look as she pulled away and dropped to a knee, bowing her head in the same gesture she presented to Julien earlier. Her skirt was too short, but she managed it without flashing anyone her intimates. “Master Audric of Wind. I beg pardon. I did not mean to delay you, nor expect you to escort us personally—”
“Arrêt,” Audric commanded.
Ash’s jaw tightened as she scowled at the floor, hoping the older vampire wouldn’t notice it. She really hated vampire culture and their interpretation of proper and just. Really, she envied Tristan and his honesty. He always said what he was thinking regardless of culture. Granted, it could be a dangerous thing to slap vampire social rules in the face like that, but he did it with his chin held high. Ash envied such honesty and wondered if she could ever be like that.
“There is no need to be so formal in my home. While I do appreciate some level of propriety, I am not that princess, Yukihime.”
Ash couldn’t help but smirk even as Tristan had to hide a laugh with a fake cough. She stood giving the older vampire a soft nod. “Merci, le maître de maison.”
“Please, Audric.” He took a step forward, hand out, palm up. “And English is… tolerable.”
She went to the older man and placed her smaller hand into his. Ash was tan next to the ancient vampire.
“Ash of Earth. Truly, it is an honor. Much has been heard of you over the years.” Audric smiled, brought her fingers to his lips, and kissed the ends lightly.
Feeling as uncomfortable as Ash looked, Tristan cleared his throat and stepped up behind her. Audric’s clear eyes fell on him, taking him in. It was the first time the old vamp even bothered looking at him. Tristan wasn’t sure what the guy saw but it made him smile, showing off his own set of saber tooth fangs, the match to Yuki’s. Most impressive, most terrible.
“Arriver,” Audric beckoned and turned still holding Ash’s hand in his palm. Tristan was shocked to find the man’s hair was longer than it looked from the front, done up in a tight French braid that brushed the back of his knees. “The passage is nowhere for us to converse. Let’s talk somewhere more comfortable.”
Tristan was left to trail along behind. Not that he minded really. Julien brought up the rear, grinning at the American when Tristan’s blood whispered about vampires too close and he glanced back.
“If I do recall, you were once called Asta, no?”
Ash looked away quickly, down to her feet. She gave a single nod and whispered, “Master.”
He harrumphed and lifted Ash’s hand to his mouth again. “Ash is a lovely name as well.”
She looked up just as quickly as she had shied away earlier. She was playing modest, though Tristan wasn’t sure why. “Thank you.”
Trailing after the pair, Tristan shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed softly to himself. Audric was grinning at Ash, a wicked smile as if he knew somethi
ng about her that Tristan didn’t. The guy probably did. Tristan was willing to bet he was the only one around Ash that knew nothing about her. Hell, even the kid vampire probably knew Ash much more intimately. Tristan had a fleeting thought that maybe he should drink her blood and see if his own called to her like he suspected it might, if he would see her memories. Because, he was starting to think he was more vampire than human these days…
Both vampires glanced back at him at the same time, Ash’s pale brows high. Audric tilted his head to the side for a moment, silver eyes studying him. By the look on their faces they had heard his last thought. Tristan stared back, uncaring. He was already found out as an Uruwashi and not dead yet.
Audric stopped, and turned enough to face Tristan. “Do not mistake my leniency for compassion. It is merely tolerance for greater things promised by your Master.”
Tristan flinched back. Master? His Master? He looked to Ash. Her jaw was set hard, eyes fixed on Audric as he walked towards Tristan. Refusing to give in, Tristan held his ground as the vampire stopped inches from him. The man may have been nearly a foot shorter, but he held an air of menace, of imminent violence. Tristan gave a little gasp when he felt the old vampire in his blood and said a silent thanks that he didn’t moan at the power of it all.
The night he met Yuki, she tested him by pouring some of her ancient energy into him and lit a fire in his veins. The vampire in him called to her, begged to have her, but it was more than blood this hunger wanted. The energy he felt now off this short Frenchmen was nothing compared to Ash or even Yuki. The Master vampire felt… electric.
Audric’s brow twitched as he fought to hide his own emotions. “I was alive to see the end of your retched clan’s existence. I was too young a vampire then to kill the Uruwashi myself, though I would have gladly. Your people killed many beloved to me. Do not test the extent of my patience, boy. Favor to Yukihime or not, I will kill you given a reason.” He let out a hot, blood-laden breath. “And it does not need to be good reason. Do you understand?”
After a shocked moment, Tristan’s expression shifted into anger. “Oh yeah, I understand. I understand plenty.” He pulled his gun and thumbed off the safety.
“Tristan,” Ash warned.
The Master saw the show of violence but was too distracted by something else. He leaned in close, nose almost pressed to Tristan, and gave him a good look up and down, considering and curious. “You smell of Desmond.”
Tristan made a small involuntary noise and stepped back. That’s not what he was expecting.
Audric flashed a smile full of very white teeth and two very big fangs. “I take it you’re lovers with the famed warrior of Crete too? Is that how this arrangement works?” He gave a tilt of his head towards Ash standing at his back.
Tristan looked around the Frenchmen to Ash with a brow raised in shocked question. She swallowed hard when their eyes met and she held his gaze, hoping he didn’t say anything to get them killed.
“Desmond and I had a slight...” Tristan nodded his head to the side and said, “Disagreement before I left Japan. I had to bitch slap that fucking jerk before I could leave.”
Ash let out a sigh of relief when the older vampire straightened, smiling.
“I see.” He turned away, swaying those narrow hips, making his long braid wag behind him like a tail. “And here you are. Alive and well. Very impressive, for a half-breed abomination.”
He offered his hand to Ash again and then glanced back. “You will not need that in here.” He motioned with a nod towards the gun in Tristan’s hand. “I have already told my scions they are not permitted dine upon either of you. Mind you, this is only as much of a favor as I can promise Yukihime. However, if your blood is to be spilt, than it will be of my doing, know that.”
Tristan frowned at the ancient vampire, knowing exactly what he saying without spelling it out. Audric just needed a tiny excuse and then he’d kill Tristan, no regrets. He fingered the cool metal. “Yeah, thanks.”
Audric gave a soft humph and turned his gaze to Ash, giving a whimsical sort of shrug. “Uruwashi, always so jittery.”
Julien, nearly forgotten, pushed past Tristan, making him flinch. As he stood in the hall watching the others walk away, he wondered just what in the hell he’d gotten himself into. Sadly, he knew the answer: a big pile of oh shit, someone’s going to die tonight. If Tristan had his way, it’d be Lucien. If he got his way for once.
10: Desperately Wanting
They were escorted into a large chamber lit only by a few strategically placed torches high up on the drab stone walls. There was a closed door of planked oak to the left, imagines of wolves burned into the wood. The light that showed under the door and leaked through the slats said there was a more substantial source of illumination than torches in there.
An enormous fire burned in a hearth the size of a VW Bug across from the entrance, ornate metal sconces in the shape of wolves’ heads flanking each side. Exotic animal skins spotted across the room like pale islands amidst the cold gray stone. Two pristine white sofas bordered the opposing walls, framing the fireplace. Tristan wondered how they managed to keep those so clean in a house full of vampires. Maybe they had a whole room full of back-up sofas to replace when things got wet and wild. Then again, what stains were to be had when their blood simply dissolved into nothing?
“Cleanliness is close to godliness.” Audric stopped halfway across the room with Ash on his arm and smirked over his shoulder to Tristan. “Isn’t that the old saying?”
Tristan stopped just inside the room, sliding to the side to put a wall at his back, crossing his arms over his chest and slipping his hand inside his jacket to touch his gun. “You’d know.”
Ash’s attention snapped around to him and she gave him a look begging him to behave himself. Though, they both knew that was nearly impossible. It’s what she liked most about him, his freedom.
“Please, Ash,” Master Audric said as he showed her towards a sofa, “make yourself comfortable.”
Tristan scowled, realizing the vampire purposefully excluded him. This was his hunt, but as it was, he had nothing to bargain with. He was still only human and this was vampire territory, something he knew little to nothing about. Dammit, Ash was right. They were totally unprepared for this hunt. He might as well have gone chasing after Lucien with a torch and pitchfork and wearing a big ass sign that said “eat me”.
There was a dark haired woman wearing a short red dress draped on the sofa across from Audric. She looked up when the others entered the room and smiled coyly, but didn’t bother to stand, instead dropping her cheek back to the sofa arm. She was feigning boredom, but had her eyes fixed on Ash as she sat down next to the Master of the House. Something flashed in those brown eyes, it might have been jealousy. The boy vampire, Julien, skipped in past the others and plopped down on the bearskin rug in front of the hearth. He rolled over onto his stomach, rested elbows on the floor, putting his chin into his hands and kicked bare feet up in the air.
Tristan rolled his eyes, wondering what the child vampire was up to. That was when he noticed the others in the room. One was just a pale arm draped over the edge of the sofa touching the leg of the woman still staring at Ash with hate in her eyes. The other was a man almost hidden by the sofa, sitting on the floor and staring at the fire as if he didn’t give a shit about anything.
Tristan could see it in Ash’s face, the tightness in her jaw, around her eyes, she didn’t want to be sitting, but she had to. It was her job as the guest vampire in another Master’s home to do anything asked of her. She really did loathe vampire law. Next to her Master Audric wedged into the corner to face the others, arms across the back so that his open shirt exposed all of his glow-in-the-dark flesh. He was posing. Question was, for whom.
Audric motioned to the empty space next to the woman across from him. “Please, monsieur Uruwashi, you may join us.” His words were kind, but the look in his eyes said, “For now.” Audric didn’t like Tristan one bit and it had
nothing to do with the brash American’s personality.
Tristan’s attention darted between the others. Julien was the only one who smiled, and the only one besides the two Masters who knew what the Uruwashi were. Even with no apparent threat, Tristan couldn’t help but touch the gun under his arm, and he wished that he’d left the jacket in the car. It was in the way.
“I prefer to stand, thank you,” he said, sounding a little snippy.
Audric laughed softly. “Have it your way.” Eyes settling on Ash sitting at his hip, he smiled in a way that made Tristan’s skin crawl. “Tell me, lovely Ash of Earth, why are you here?”
She held back a grimace, forced herself to not squirm in her seat. He knew exactly why she’d come to him. Already annoyed over the bullshit, Tristan opened his mouth to answer, not very nicely, when Ash interrupted. “Yukihime gives word that you may have knowledge on the last of the Fire House, Lucien. As you are well aware, fire users must be closely monitored.” Closely monitored, was code for kill them all.
Audric’s smile sobered, his expression going cold. “Oui.” He paused for a long time, the silence of the room overwhelming.
“It is my understanding,” he said thoughtfully, “that Lucien was allowed to live after your former Master killed his.”
Ash confidently answered, “That was the folly of others weaker than I. I cannot answer to their actions. I am here to dispatch Lucien now and that is what will happen.”
“Weaker?” Audric lifted his chin. “Malik truly is dead? Such rumors were not idle gossip?”
Tristan tensed. Word of Malik’s death made it this far? Then again, Yuki probably told him everything. She seemed like a blabbermouth. He just wondered if she left out the part of him being only part Uruwashi and the fact that he only killed naughty vampires.
Ash looked proud when she said, “He most certainly is. Malik of Earth has returned to such.”
“By your hand?” The Master fixed his eyes with hers. He was probing her mind for images of the man’s death. As weak as she was right then, she was powerless to stop the Master from violating her. All he had to do was ask nicely and she would have gladly shown him. As it was, the man’s arrogance pushed her to fight back and block what she could.
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