by Ella Frank
The man tilted his head to the side, and the coppery highlights in his dark hair shone when the candlelight caught them in their glow. “You don’t remember, file mou?”
Without thinking, Leo said, “Stop calling me that.”
“Calling you what?”
“Your friend,” he stated. “We’re not friends. I don’t even know who you are or why I’m here.” His voice got louder as the panic set in all over again.
“You understand Greek?”
Leo bit his bottom lip, deciding that he’d said more than he should have. That clearly hadn’t been the right response, however, because with the accuracy of well-wielded whip, a frigid hand clamped around his throat and drew him forward, effortlessly raising him off the ground. His feet dangled, and his breath choked him in gasping pants as he flailed around, reaching out with both hands to try to free himself from the unrelenting hold.
“I asked you a question, human. Answer me.”
The face Leo had been admiring only seconds ago began to morph. The forehead furrowed as suspicious eyes studied him, and then white teeth flashed in a cruel sneer as the man’s top lip curled back and two wicked sharp fangs appeared. The sheer beauty of him altered to that of a deadly monster in the blink of an eye, and everything came crashing back.
It was true.
The nightmare Leo had started to believe had been a delusion hadn’t been a delusion at all. He had been chased and attacked by a vampire. By this vampire. And as he stared wide-eyed at the creature holding him in midair, Leo knew that whatever he did next would either secure his survival or guarantee his death.
With an overwhelming sense of misplaced courage, he answered, “No.”
Without warning, the hand around his neck hurled him across the room to the floor and the candlelight vanished, plunging them into complete darkness. Before he could get his feet under him to stand, a warm breath brushed by his ear.
“Wrong answer.”
There was nowhere for him to go as his nightmare crouched in front of him and took his jaw between his fingers, bringing his face around to meet his. Those green eyes flared in the pitch dark and his teeth gleamed white, and all Leo could think was how utterly magnificent he was in his savagery.
THERE WAS A distinct shift in the air, and Alasdair immediately picked up on the emotion. The fear he’d sensed when the man had remembered what he was had vanished, and in its place was a much more curious one—one he could use later.
When he let his tongue come out and slide across the lip he’d pulled back over his teeth, Alasdair discovered that the man looking back at him wasn’t scared. He was aroused.
“You continue to surprise me, for a human. And that takes some doing with the years I have been alive. I figured, after your realization, you would be either crying or praying. That’s usually what occurs when one such as yourself discovers we exist.” He could hear the rapid heartbeat thumping inside the chest inches from him, and as he shifted closer, the man remained rigid. “But prayer won’t help you down here, and tears make mortals appear weaker than they already are. And our kind preys on the weak.”
The human’s face registered shock, and when their eyes clashed, Alasdair’s own arousal started to surface. He’d made a vow during those agonizing hours following his punishment that he would unravel the secret as to how this man had debilitated him. And for that reason alone, he would not dispose of him any time soon. Neither would anyone else, for that matter.
“If you’re going to kill me,” the man said bravely, “just do it.”
Alasdair tightened his fingers on the chin he was holding, silencing him. “I don’t plan to kill you. At least, not yet.”
He released his hold and backed away, bringing the candles back to life with a mere thought. Then he stared down at the man, who was still on the floor, and thought, No…we have too much to discuss. And no one is going to touch you until I have my answers.
LEO KEPT A wary eye on the unpredictable vampire as he paced back and forth. He was both fascinated and terrified as he watched him move about. He’d never been in the presence of something so ancient and alive. As an archaeologist and lover of history, he was in awe.
The creature walked as if he were gliding across the surface, his motions fluid and soundless. He had broad shoulders currently covered by a loose, white button-down shirt, and where Leo would have guessed him to be around six three, maybe six four, he now realized that wasn’t the case at all.
This vampire, who had picked him up like some kind of rag doll, was six foot at the most. Like him.
“Get up.”
Leo raised his head but remained where he was. Maybe, if I stay still, he won’t—
“I said—” Get. Up.
This time, the order entered Leo’s mind, and before he could even try to understand how that had happened, he was on his feet and toe-to-toe with the male. Almost like his brain was issuing an instruction that he was not giving. He tried to clear the fog swirling through his head, but it was no use. It was as if it were squashing down his own thoughts while being manipulated into doing someone else’s.
Look at me.
Leo’s eyes fastened on the face opposite him as he stood transfixed.
“There’s something different about you,” the vampire drawled as he left Leo’s line of sight. It wasn’t until he spoke again that Leo realized he was now behind him. “I want to know what it is.”
Still unable to move or talk, Leo remained helpless to do anything but listen as he tried to sift through his blurry thoughts.
Who are you? Tell me your name.
The question was shoved inside his head, and he couldn’t stop himself from answering.
“Leo. Leonidas Chapel.”
“Ahh. That explains one thing. We have something in common, you and I. I, too, am of Greek descent. Wouldn’t that be a stroke of ironic fate? If you were of my bloodline all those years ago?”
Leo’s heart raced when he realized what was happening. He’d somehow lost complete control over his free will, and there was no way to stop himself from giving any and all information to the one who was demanding answers.
Tell me everything about you in less time than it takes for me to become bored.
Without a second thought, Leo rattled off, “I’m twenty-seven years old, an only child, and I lost my mother three months ago to cancer.” His throat physically tightened around the words, practically choking him, even as the drive to continue talking remained. “I’m an archeologist, and I work as a curator at the National History Museum downtown.”
His mouth clamped shut after that, his brain deciding that that was the right amount of information to give. The room was so incredibly still he thought he’d been left alone. That the vampire had done that thing where he vanished from sight—but a warm breath skimmed the back of his neck and a third question was asked.
That’s everything? I don’t think so. How did you stop me that night in your room? What are you, Leonidas?
Leo’s mind started to whirl—as if it were sifting through every thought and memory he’d ever had. Like someone flicking through a filing cabinet in search of an answer to the question.
It wasn’t until he saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye that he was aware that the one who was questioning him was walking back around to face him. He stared at the vampire, who was waiting with a look of dangerous interest on his face, and then his expression intensified when he finally replied, “I don’t know.”
HE DIDN’T BELIEVE him—the human. Or perhaps he’d call him Leonidas now. As Alasdair circled him, he looked over his naked chest and back, checking for any kind of supernatural markings. Any indicator that he wasn’t merely the human he claimed to be. But there was nothing.
“I don’t believe you,” Alasdair said when he stopped in front of him.
Leo watched him with the blank stare of someone under the force of compulsion, and Alasdair found himself disliking the dull expression on him. It was an odd thought to have s
ince he’d never given much credence to any others’ reactions in the past. But he quickly removed the fog from Leo’s mind and watched the light of awareness spark back in the eyes focused on him.
Then Alasdair asked, “Are you telling me the truth?” He waited for Leo to regain control over both his mind and his body, and when Leo finally spoke, the words were not what he’d been expecting.
“It’s hard not to when you’re being forced. How did you do that?”
Well, well, Alasdair thought. Isn’t that curious. Remembering what happened after a full compulsion. “I did something to you? What? Pray tell.”
“You were in my head,” Leo accused and took a wary step back. “Somehow controlling my thoughts. My actions.”
“Was I?” Alasdair asked. Then he closed the distance between them, unable to fight the desire to be close to the human. “You felt me inside your mind?”
Those wary eyes of Leo’s darted over his shoulder as Isadora appeared in the room. Alasdair had sensed her before she had faded in, but he hadn’t wanted to turn away from the wired man. Leo’s tense shoulders and fidgety hands gave him away. He was ready to bolt if given the chance.
Not that he’d get very far.
His hair was like it had been the first time Alasdair had seen him—sticking out at every angle, in complete disarray, as if he’d been worrying it with his hands. Considering his circumstances, Alasdair imagined that was exactly why it was a mess—but somehow, the mess suited this guy. As did the strong line of his jaw, which he had a sudden desire to scrape his teeth along.
His eyes were intelligent but jumpy as hell as they continued shifting between him and his cousin, trying to work them out like some kind of puzzle. Then a frown appeared between his eyebrows.
He asked, “How did she do that?”
Unfazed by the question, Alasdair forced his thoughts into Leo’s mind. It’s nothing that concerns you.
“Shit. I mean…” Leo shook his head. “How do you do that? It’s…it’s weird as hell, but totally fascinating.”
Blindsided by the curiosity in Leo’s voice, Alasdair actually found himself on the verge of explaining the finer workings of how he enters a mind, that he could only communicate inside his head this way because he’d fed from him. But that would have to wait, because suddenly, he felt him—Vasilios.
He twisted his head to the side to acknowledge Isadora for the first time. Her eyes flicked towards Leo and then back to him. The reason for her arrival was now crystal clear.
Fuck. Fuck. He’d thought he’d have more time. What the hell am I going to tell him?
Alasdair wrapped his fingers around Leo’s bicep, holding him in place. “Listen to me very carefully. If you want to live past the next five minutes, do exactly what I tell you to.”
The curiosity from seconds ago vanished, and a frown of concern formed between his brows. “I thought you said you weren’t going to kill me.”
Alasdair tugged him close and shoved his face in so their noses touched. “I’m about to be the least of your worries. If you want to live, keep your eyes down, your mouth shut, and your thoughts empty. I may be the only one who can talk inside your head, but all of us can hear exactly what others are thinking—so don’t think at all.”
Alasdair pushed him away before he could respond, and with lightning speed, he moved across the room to stand side by side with Isadora, who was glaring at him like he was certifiable.
“I can’t believe you’re risking us both. For him?” she hissed under her breath.
“He’s uncommon for a human. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“You mean he’s appealing and you want to fuck him.”
“Well, that too.”
“He’s far too curious, Alasdair. And stupid, for that matter. Talking to you in such a manner, asking all those questions. Who does he think he is?” she asked. “Not that it matters. He’ll be dead within seconds. No mortal can control their thoughts when Vasilios is near. And I hardly think he’ll be overjoyed to find out what his precious Alasdair has been up to this past month. ”
“Shut it, Isa. If you stop acting as if there’s something wrong, he will merely do whatever it is he’s coming for and then leave.”
The air in the room vibrated under the enormity of power that had entered it as she replied, “You’re mad if you think he won’t notice there’s more going on here. It’s as obvious as your cock every time that male looks at you.”
“The only thing going on here is what you said: curiosity. A mystery. One I wish to get to the bottom of.”
Isadora parted her glossy lips to retort, but she shut her mouth as Vasilios, striking as ever, walked over to them.
“Alasdair. Isadora. Finally, I have found you.” He said it as if he’d been looking for hours. In actuality, it would’ve only taken him seconds to pin point the two of them if he had truly been trying to find their location.
“So you have.” Isadora smiled tightly.
Alasdair stepped around her, deliberately pulling the attention to himself. He was the one distraction his Ancient could never resist.
“You’re looking very debonair this evening,” Alasdair told him as he ran his fingers down the arm of Vasilios’s black suit jacket.
“I have an engagement to attend to. A meeting of utmost importance, I am told. Diomêdês called it. But I wanted to come and see you first since I heard you were…back on your feet, shall we say.”
Alasdair extended his arms out to the sides and gave a slight bow. “As you can see. I’m in perfect health once more.”
Vasilios drank in the sight of him. He inspected his body as if searching for any permanent damage after their last encounter. Alasdair could see the lustful desire in that gaze, but as those eyes traveled over his face and then lower, they creased around the edges in question.
Alasdair looked down his own body to see what the issue was, and that’s when he spotted the three buttons missing at the bottom of his shirt. The white material was parted, showing the button to his pants. It must’ve happened earlier, when he threw Leo across the room.
“Did I interrupt something between you two?” Vasilios asked, glancing from him to Isadora, who was shaking her head vehemently.
“No. You certainly did not.”
“You needn’t sound so appalled,” Vasilios assured her. “Alasdair has a spectacular cock, and he knows exactly how to use it.”
Alasdair thought his cousin’s eyes might fall out of their sockets with the fierce way she was glaring at him.
“I’ll be sure to take that into consideration if, for some reason, there are no other options available and someone has chopped off both my hands, leaving him as the last person in the world I could go to for an orgasm.”
Alasdair inclined his head when her spiel ended, thinking of the one time they’d been together. “Touché, cousin. Touché.”
A playful but vindictive smile stretched her lips as she slowly stepped aside, drawing all attention towards the other occupant in the room. The one who was standing behind them exactly how Alasdair had instructed.
Silent, still, and with his eyes on the floor.
“Vasilios, have you seen Alasdair’s…yielding?” She knew full well that Vasilios had not and that Leo was no such thing. “I thought he was going to send them all away as usual. But this one,” she purred, “he seems rather taken with.”
“Is that so?” Vasilios replied, the man across the room now becoming his primary focus.
“Isa has it wrong,” Alasdair grit out, promising himself that she would pay for this. “He’s not my anything.”
“No? Then why is he here?” Vasilios asked as he turned back to face him. But before anything came to mind, Vasilios cupped his cheek. “Ahh, Alasdair. You do know how to please me. You brought me a gift after disappointing me last week.” He stepped between him and Isadora and put a hand on his shoulder.
Alasdair caught his cousin’s self-satisfied grin as she faded from the room. Then his attention was drawn b
ack to Vasilios as he trailed his fingers down his chest while making his way towards Leo, who, thirteen days ago, was going to be a gift to himself.
“He’s not a gift,” he rushed out as he followed behind. “And certainly not fit enough to be presented to one such as you, Vasilios.”
Vasilios halted his footsteps and then pivoted back in his direction. “He is not fit for me?”
Alasdair watched the male he’d been bound to for over two millennia look over at the man standing in the shadows cast by the candlelight—the one he couldn’t seem to get out of his head. “That’s right.”
“He certainly looks fit from where I’m standing,” he mused. “But I think I need to see him up close. What do you say?”
THE ROOM HE’D been locked in for the past thirteen days was full of tension. Fear or sexual, or maybe both, Leo couldn’t decide as he listened to their voices.
Like the vampire Alasdair had suggested, he kept his eyes on the hardwood beneath his bare feet while the others conversed as if he wasn’t even there. The third occupant who’d joined them, clearly a male, had a voice that Leo imagined would belong to angels, if they existed.
Deep and harmonious, it instantly caught and held his attention, urging him to raise his head and look into the face it belonged to. But Leo didn’t dare follow that instinct after what Alasdair had told him.
Instead, he pressed his palms to his thighs and willed himself to remain still and think of nothing at all. Somehow, he knew in the pit of his stomach that who, or whatever, was now walking towards him was someone he should fear. He wasn’t even looking at the individual, but he was smart enough to know when he was in a room with someone more powerful than he.
The shiny tips of black leather dress shoes stopped in front of him, and Leo heard, “Raise your eyes, human.”
Leo’s body reacted to the order with a shudder, and gooseflesh raised over his skin as he lifted his head, determined to do as he had been told. He wanted to live, and if what Alasdair had said was true, this was the man, or vampire, who’d decide if that would happen.