by Julie Wetzel
“Good night.” Vicky clutched the banister to keep from falling over. “I love you,” she called as the elevator slid shut, blocking her sight of the two men.
Darien’s response tingled down their link, filling her with love and desire.
Sitting down on the bottom step, she spent a moment collecting herself before standing up and crossing the foyer to the bedroom in the corner. She tapped lightly on the door.
“Come in,” Karl called from inside.
Carefully pushing the door open, Vicky peeked in the guestroom. A square of light from the partially open bathroom door stretched across the floor, just reaching the end of the bed. She studied the mass piled on the bed. Karl had propped himself up and was watching her over Sue’s curled bulk.
Vicky had learned it was best to check on the state of undress Darien’s houseguests were in before coming into a room. They didn’t seem to have the same inhibitions that normal people possessed. Just a few weeks ago, she’d had quite a nasty shock when she’d blindly walked in the living room to find the twins giving Elliot a massage. She hadn’t even stopped to inquire why all three of them were naked on a fur blanket.
Beating a hasty retreat, she had tried to hide in Darien’s room, but the twins had braved the cross in the doorway to explain that their compromising position was not what she thought. They swore they would never do that to Elliot, well, not unless he wanted them to. But by that point in their explanation, Vicky had buried her face in the pillows on the bed and was trying to scrub the image from her brain. Having the two naked men rambling on did not help at all. Eventually, Darien had come in from his office and threw the apologizing men out with orders to not wander around nude. It hadn’t helped much.
“Hey,” Vicky said. She smiled at the pair of wolves and came fully into the room. “I was wondering if Sue was feeling any better.” She considered the very pregnant werewolf.
Sue made a groaning noise and shifted a little on the bed.
Karl stroked her shoulder soothingly. “Not really. Her stomach is still bothering her.”
“Oh, okay.” Crossing the room, Vicky rubbed the soft spot behind Sue’s ear. She was careful not to look at Karl. Now that she was close to them, she could tell that he wasn’t dressed. Thankfully, Sue’s mass hid him from full view. “I just wanted to let you know you’re welcome to come out and visit if you start feeling better.”
Sue rolled her head to press into Vicky’s hand showing her gratitude.
“We might be out later,” Karl said with a warm smile.
“Cool.” Vicky rubbed her friend’s head once more before heading towards the door. Pausing, she looked back at the pair. “Just make sure to put on pants before coming out.” She shuddered slightly, thinking about the party she was about to go to. “I think there’ll already be enough naked men in the house tonight.”
Sue snickered as Vicky shut the door.
Shaking her head, Vicky turned her attention away from the wolves and headed back into the living room. Of all the people Vanessa could have gotten for entertainment, why did she have to pick the two vampires living with her? Vicky had tried to protest, but her friends had overruled her. Apparently, the twins had worked at some nightclub and knew the finer points of stripping. They’d been more than happy to demonstrate their abilities when Vanessa asked.
Coming into the living room, Vicky found that the paper cranes had been cleared away and the furniture shifted around to give the men more room to practice their craft. “What about the birds?” she asked.
“Don’t worry about them.” Josh smiled at her as he and his brother carried the table into the family room.
Jakob grinned mischievously. “We’ve got it covered.”
Vanessa guided Vicky to a seat on one end of the couch. “You just need to sit back and relax.”
Seeing no good way out of the party, Vicky sat down and looked around for her glass of ginger ale.
Beth held out a glass of red wine instead. “You really should have some wine.” She offered it to Vicky.
She shook her head, refusing. “Thank you, but no.” Sue wasn’t the only one in the house that wasn’t feeling good. Stress from the wedding had Vicky’s insides all twisted up in knots. It had been days since Vicky had eaten anything heavier than soup and crackers. She hadn’t told anyone, but those light meals had an annoying habit of making a second appearance more times than not. Even Darien’s healing touch hadn’t been enough to soothe her frayed nerves and upset stomach. Vicky reclaimed her ginger ale and watched the two vampires stretch. This was not what she had expected to do at her bachelorette party. Hopefully, the wedding tomorrow would go off without a hitch and things would settle down again.
***
The sound of the car door closing echoed through the cold night air. Turning to watch his companion fussing with the seat belt, Darien paused before putting the key in the ignition. “What’s wrong?”
Elliot looked up at the unexpected question. “Nothing.”
Slamming his hand into the steering wheel, Darien pushed himself back in his seat. “Damn it, Elliot. I can tell when you’re lying to me.” He turned to face his friend. “Talk to me.”
Bending his head down, Elliot wilted under Darien’s angry gaze.
Silence fell between them as Darien waited for an explanation. He knew that Elliot blamed himself for the attack Darcy had forced him to make, but the younger vampire was taking this whole self-hatred thing way too far. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Darien tried another direction. “Elliot, you have always been there for me. Even when I’ve done something completely asinine, you’ve come through to help me clean up the mess. And, of all the people I know, you have always been the most reliable. Please, tell me what is wrong and let me be there for you.”
Elliot searched Darien’s pleading eyes and let out a long breath. “All right,” he said, giving in to his master. Folding his hands between his knees, he looked down as he spoke. “It’s more than just the thing with Darcy. Yes, he forced me to attack you, but his use of your power was clumsy at best. I should have been able to resist it, but… part of me didn’t want to.” He turned to catch Darien’s eyes. “It’s been hard for me to resist the call of your blood since I first tasted it in your kitchen.”
Darien sat up straighter, surprised. A memory passed through his mind, bringing a touch of forgotten fears. “And does it call to you now?”
“No.” Elliot shook his head. “Since you’ve regained your powers, the pull has stopped.”
Relief washed over Darien.
“But, Darien, there are times I feel that pull from Vicky.” Concern colored Elliot’s eyes. “I fear whatever drew me to your blood may have been transferred to her.”
“Goodness knows enough other stuff has.” Darien laughed wryly.
“Please be careful with her,” Elliot begged. “Don’t let anyone else bite her; they might not be able to stop.”
Darien sat quietly for a moment, considering his friends worries. “I won’t.” He promised. Anyone who laid fangs on Vicky would rue the day they were turned. Now that Elliot had told him what was going on, Darien understood why the younger vampire had been so hard on himself. The desire to drain his master must have been unbearable for Elliot. “Don’t worry about it Elliot. You are not the first to desire my blood.” He patted his friend’s arm and went to start the car.
“There’s more.” Elliot grabbed his arm before he could turn the key.
Darien looked back at him, waiting.
Licking his lower lip, Elliot looked for a place to begin. “Things have changed.” Yes, the desire to drink from Darien had pressed on his conscious, but it was the effects Darien’s blood had on him that bothered him the most.
“How so?” Darien prompted the stalled vampire.
Elliot pulled his hand back and folded it between his knees again. “Well, it’s kind of embarrassing.” He paused again, unsure how to proceed.
“Elliot, you have seen me at my worst,” Darien re
minded him. “And some of that was within the past year. Nothing could be as bad as getting drunk and nearly killing your girlfriend. Out with it.”
Drawing in another long breath, Elliot nodded his head. “Things have changed.”
“You’ve already said that,” Darien pointed out. “How have they changed?” He pushed before the man could stall again.
“Well,” Elliot glanced over at Darien before continuing, “I can eat solid food.”
This raised one of Darien’s eyebrows. “So? Lots of vampires can handle solid food. It’s something we learn as we get older.”
“But I couldn’t handle it a few months ago,” Elliot pointed out. “I thought I was going to be in real trouble when Vanessa forced those bites of cake on me at the mall, but nothing happened.”
A smile slid across Darien’s face as he remembered the outing. “I’m glad to see that you’ve developed a new skill. It took you long enough.”
“But it’s not just that.” Elliot turned in his seat to face Darien. “I haven’t needed as much blood as before.”
“That just means you’re getting stronger.” Darien grinned.
“But, Darien, I’ve been living off your drawn blood for over a month now,” Elliot protested.
Darien gave him a confused look. “So? I live off it all the time.”
“Yes, and you’re the only vampire I know of who can live off old blood and not see some drop in power level,” Elliot explained. “It’s unnatural.”
The smile on Darien’s face fell away.
“In the last few decades, I’ve traveled through the country and seen vampires who are forced to survive on old blood,” Elliot explained. “It’s horrifying. In most vampire courts, it’s used as punishment. Old blood doesn’t have enough life in it to support a vampire and they wither away in agony. The fact that you live on the stuff is insane.” He paused and studied the confusion in Darien’s face. “If you’re this strong now, could you imagine what your power levels could be if you fed properly?”
“Well…” Darien looked away. He knew his strength waned when he survived off drawn blood alone, but he hadn’t realized that it was that big of a deal.
“Besides.” Elliot broke the silence Darien had left hanging. “I’ve been living off your drawn blood, and while I have seen a drop in my strength, it’s nothing compared to the last time I tried to live off that stuff.”
“Maybe Odette is doing something to it to preserve the life?” Darien suggested.
Elliot shook his head. “There’s not nearly the life in it that we need,” he argued. “Darien, I think this has something to do with your blood.”
Those old memories tickled at the back of Darien’s mind again. “Can’t be.” He brushed the feeling away. “There is nothing special about my blood.” He turned to start the car, but Elliot grabbed his arm again, preventing him from reaching the key.
“Please consider it,” Elliot begged. “Did your sire ever mention anything about it?”
Darien let out a suffering breath. “That was over nine hundred years ago.” He turned to look at Elliot again. “How am I supposed to remember that far back?”
Elliot squeezed Darien’s arm. “Try.”
Darien studied Elliot’s face for a long moment before giving in to the younger man’s demands. If delving into his past was what it took to set his friend straight, he would work to revive some of those faded memories. Leaning back in his seat, Darien turned his mind to the thing that had been nagging at him. It took him a few minutes, but he was able to bring up some things from his distant beginning. “I don’t remember the fire that killed my parents, but I do remember that I was ten when the monks turned me over to Master Brian.” His voice took on the Irish accent from his youth. “That wasn’t my master’s true name, but it was the name the villagers gave him. He was their strength, their protector, and he played the part well.”
Elliot listened intently as Darien went on about his childhood. This was a topic that Darien never went into.
“The village supplied Master Brian with blood offerings in exchange for his protection. Since times were hard, he didn’t take from the men. They needed their strength for work. The menfolk disliked him drinking from their women, for obvious reasons, so that left the old, sick, and children. Master Brian wouldn’t take from the sick or old, so his food came mostly from the children.”
“Children?” Elliot asked horrified.
“It’s not what you think.” Darien turned his head to look at him. “Healthy children are resilient and can afford to donate a little blood once in a while. Master Brian was very careful with the young and rewarded their families well. There were always parents willing to offer us their children in exchange for having their needs met, and there were more than enough children to go around.”
Elliot nodded his understanding. As long as the vampire wasn’t abusing his people, this seemed a logical line of reasoning.
Relaxing back into his seat, Darien closed his eyes again and continued on. “When I turned ten, my turn came up and the monks sent me to Master Brian. I remember being terrified of him, but he was very soothing. I don’t remember the actual bite or what happened afterward, but I do remember waking up in the care of the ladies Master Brian kept. Apparently, my master took too much and nearly killed me. The girls had spent several days tending me, praying that I would live. Once they were sure I would survive, they sent me back to the monastery with orders for the monks to sequester me.”
“Sequester?” Elliot asked.
“I didn’t understand it at the time, and to a ten-year-old child, the order was devastating.” Darien explained. “I spent seemingly endless days in the libraries transcribing manuscripts not knowing why I was being punished. It was two winters before Master Brian called for me again, and again, he nearly killed me in the feeding. This time when I awoke in his castle, the ladies wouldn’t let me leave. I was terrified.
“After a few days, Master Brian came to me and explained that he was taking me in. He changed my name to Aodhan and gave me free run of his castle, but I wasn’t to go outside the walls of the bailey.”
“And did you?” Elliot asked curiously.
Darien turned questioning eyes to him.
“Go outside the bailey?”
“Of course, I did.” He laughed. “I was a kid.” He let out a happy sigh. “Even though I had scars from the fire, I had every maiden in town chasing me by the time I hit sixteen.”
“And what did Master Brian say about it?” Elliot grinned.
“Oh, he was furious.” Darien laughed again. “See, I was somewhat of an unlucky child,” he explained. “I was forever getting myself hurt. Mostly little accidents here and there. If something were going to break, it would do it when I was on it. I nearly crippled myself once when the horse I was on startled and threw me. Thankfully, the healer of the village knew enough to pull the bone straight before packing the limb in comfrey. That was the last time I was allowed out alone.”
“What happened after that?” Elliot prompted.
Darien sat up in his seat and grinned. “After those agonizing months, Master Brian felt I needed more of an education and started training me in magic. I was a pretty good hedge mage by the time I hit twenty-five.”
“As fascinating as your childhood is, it still doesn’t answer the questions about your blood.” Elliot pointed out.
“Oh, yes.” Darien cleared his throat, getting back to the point. “There are a few things that I remember, but they didn’t hit me as odd until later.”
“Like what?”
“I was the only male in Master Brian’s menagerie that he fed from.”
“That’s not unusual.” Elliot pointed out. “Lots of male vampires only feed from females.”
“True, but the ladies were on a regular schedule. Master Brian would only take blood from me once every four moons. And then, only if there were two others present at the feeding.” Darien explained.
“That is a little odd,” Elli
ot agreed. “What else was off?”
“Well,” Darien cleared his throat a little uncomfortably, “there was my turning.”
Elliot’s eyebrows rose in surprise. He had once made the faux pas of asking Darien how he was turned. The older man had skirted around the subject, explaining it wasn’t something he liked recalling. “Go on.” Elliot prompted.
“Yes, well, Master Brian had received an envoy from Rome and restricted me to the tower,” Darien said as he fidgeted in his seat. “I don’t remember what it was that I felt I needed, but I decided to make a quick trip to the buttery. It was the middle of the afternoon, and no one should have been up.”
“But there was someone up,” Elliot guessed.
“Yes.” Darien said, pausing to let out a long breath in regret. “I never made it. I ran into the Roman envoy in the halls. He claimed he couldn’t rest in a strange place, but he had managed to get quite a distance from the chambers where my master had put him up. I remember we talked for a bit and when I turned to leave, he attacked me.”
“Just attacked you?” Elliot said flabbergasted.
Darien nodded. “I don’t remember anything else until I woke up four days later, turned.”
“What did your master say?”
“He was livid.” Darien shivered, remembering the rage Brian had flown into. “It wasn’t until later that I learned one of the maidens heard the commotion and came to my rescue. Apparently, my master hadn’t fully trusted the visiting vampire and armed all the ladies with vials of holy water. She threw it on him, driving him off, but he tore out my throat as he let go.” Darien raised his hand remembering the old injury. “She tried to save me, but the wound was too bad. It took four people to drag me across the castle and wake Master Brian. And it was almost too late. He wasn’t sure I would survive until I finally woke up.”