by Carol Lynne
“Yeah.”
“Around here we call that the blood bank. Folks from the area sell pints of their blood to Neo. He does something special to it. I don’t know all the particulars since he won’t allow anyone but Joseph to mix it for him, but the result is something he calls, Liquid Crimson. I think it’s donor blood mixed with different stuff, including wine. Although blood has been his only source of food since he was turned, Neo still doesn’t like the taste unless it’s mixed with something else. There is a pleasant side-effect though. Liquid Crimson is the only thing I’ve seen that can get him drunk.” Gunnar shrugged. “That’s not to say he’s always drunk, of course. Neo doesn’t indulge very often. Mostly he just drinks enough to stay alive.”
“No shit? Why does he do it that way? I’ve seen vampires feed, and I gotta say, it’s hotter than hell.”
Gunnar covered his eyes and chuckled. “I can’t believe some of the things that come out of your mouth. I think you’re just what this place needs.”
“Oh yippee. I’m so glad you approve, now answer my question.”
Gunnar stood and looked out towards the ‘blood bank’. “I’ve known Neo for hundreds of years, and I’ve never heard of him drinking directly from the source.” He looked over his shoulder at Michael. “If you know what I mean.”
“Why?”
“Shame, I suppose. I think it’s when the shame gets too much that he indulges in more of the Liquid Crimson than what he needs to stay alive.”
Michael’s first reaction was to wonder if he’d been given some of Neo’s special wine hours earlier in the study. Naw, no way, he decided, but his heart melted for the lonely vampire asleep in the house. “That sucks.”
“Yeah.” Gunnar started walking back towards the house with Michael on his heels. “I have a feeling you being here will be good for him.”
“Once again, so glad you approve.” Michael bumped his shoulder against Gunnar’s heavily muscled body. “I’m going to take a shower.” He made a point of sniffing Gunnar. “You should, too,” he said, screwing up his face.
Inside his room, Michael stripped and stepped under the spray. What would it be like to feel ashamed of who you were? He honestly couldn’t imagine how lonely life must be for someone like that. Maybe he’d try and take a long nap later so he could stay up with Neo? Ooh, I wonder if he plays chess?
Chapter Three
From his bedroom window, Michael watched Neo roam the vineyard. It had been almost two months since he’d arrived, and he didn’t think he was any closer to getting to know the vampire. He’d changed his schedule, hoping that would help, but Neo always found something else to do rather than spend time with him.
The lustful noises coming from Neo’s bedroom on occasion further contributed to Michael’s loneliness. He wondered what Neo would do if he took a lover? Several evenings he’d seen Rafi disappear with Neo, either into the study or into his bedroom. Neo had good taste, at least Michael could give him that. Rafi, with his silky black hair and almond-shaped eyes was breathtaking. Being the alpha of the weretigers, Michael assumed the man’s body looked even better naked than it did in the tight clothes he wore.
He pushed away from the sill and headed towards the door. If Neo wanted him gone, Michael wished he’d just say so. Stepping out into the cool night air, he almost tripped over Sema.
“Shit, sorry.” Michael squatted down and rubbed the black tiger behind the ears. Sema’s eyes drooped as he began to purr. Unlike a housecat, Sema’s purr was loud and deep enough that Michael felt the rumble in his chest. “Yeah, you’re a pretty boy,” he continued to soothe, stroking the strong cat. “Why can’t you shift and keep Rafi company? Hmmm?”
When Sema appeared content once again, Michael took off towards the vineyard. He managed to get twenty yards from Neo before he was yelled at.
“What’re you doing out here, Michael? I’ve told you the vineyards are mine at night.”
Michael looked around. True, there were vines still in place, but the grapes had been harvested several weeks earlier. He took a chance and moved closer. “What is it you find so fascinating about fruitless vines that you’d rather spend time with them over me?” he bravely asked.
Neo gave Michael a sideways glance before turning to slowly walk away. Stubborn since birth, Michael followed, waiting for an answer. When Neo reached the end of the row he started back up the other side. Within a few yards, Michael came face to face with Neo, though the vines grew between them.
“The vines don’t make me want something I can’t have,” Neo grumbled.
Michael stared into Neo’s black eyes. It was the first time since the morning after he’d arrived that Neo gave any indication he wanted him. “I offered myself to you the second day of my stay. I’ve tried everything I could think of to get you to notice me, but it seems you prefer Rafi’s company to my own.”
“I notice you,” Neo said in the softest voice Michael had ever heard him use. It was more than a whisper, it was almost a prayer. “Rafi is nothing more than a release. I can’t hurt him, and his company helps me keep my head around you.”
Michael’s eyes flitted around the landscape. The explanation of Rafi’s company made him feel better. Hadn’t he once taken a lover to get him through the lonely nights? Maybe he should’ve joined Neo in the vineyard earlier. This was the longest conversation they’d had in weeks. Perhaps if Neo got to know him better, he would send Rafi away when he knocked on his door.
“Will you talk with me as you walk?” Michael asked. He turned and headed back down the same row he’d come, hoping that by keeping the row between them, Neo would feel more comfortable.
Neo continued to walk, hands clasped behind his back. “What do you wish to discuss?”
Michael chuckled. “I don’t wish to discuss anything. I just thought we’d talk, ya know, get to know each other.”
When Neo didn’t say anything more, Michael tried to think of something to say. “Have you ever been to America?”
Neo glanced Michael’s way. “Once. I didn’t care for it.”
“Really? Because Father took me to New York City on my twenty-first birthday, and I thought it was amazing.”
“What did you find so amazing about a city filled with so many humans?”
“Hot dogs, I fell in love with them. Ooh, especially Gray’s Papaya.” Michael laughed and rubbed his stomach. “I ate so many I think I gained five pounds in the week we were there.”
“Did Spiro take you many places growing up?”
“Like most people I guess. We went on a couple of trips a year. Usually on what Father called learning vacations, but sometimes he let me pick the places.”
“What was your favourite vacation?”
Michael smiled. The conversation seemed easier now. “Hmmm, that’s a tough one. I really enjoyed Greece, but I didn’t care much for the food.”
Neo gasped. “Blasphemy. Greece has the best food on the planet.”
“Oh, you think so, do ya? What’s your favourite?”
“Though I haven’t been able to eat real food in many years, I remember my mother making a dish of lamb and artichoke hearts. She’d put a sauce over it, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it was.” Neo sighed. “It was my favourite.”
Mention of his mother shocked him. Spiro had never talked about his mother only that Neo’s father was Zeus. “Can I ask you something personal?”
“You can always ask. Doesn’t mean I’ll answer.”
“Fair enough. Will you tell me about your mother? I asked Father once, but he said it was a topic for another day. Needless to say, that day never came.”
Michael noticed how Neo’s strides faltered at the question. “No, Spiro would never talk about our mother. He blames me for her death, you see, and he wouldn’t have wanted to give you a bad impression of me.”
“So she’s dead,” Michael said. Well at least he’d learned more than he had before.
“Yes. Triana, our mother, was fae. She had the
gift of vision, like Spiro.” Neo stopped talking. Michael began to wonder if he would continue. After several steps, Neo tilted his head back to look up at the moon.
“When Francois LaMont captured me, my mother saw and felt it all. For four hundred years she tried to figure out where LaMont held me captive. Then one day LaMont made an error by wearing a sprig of a Lonigal bush in full bloom on the lapel of his coat. My mother saw it in one of her visions, and they were finally able to track me down.”
Neo lowered his head and looked at Michael. “You see, the Lonigal bush only grows in a small pocket of central Austria.”
Neo continued down the row. “My mother couldn’t cope with the creature I’d become and killed herself shortly after my rescue.”
“Fuck,” Michael gasped. “No wonder you hate yourself,” he said without thinking. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Michael wished he could take them back. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Neo surprised him by chuckling. “Do you blame me for hating what I’ve become?”
Michael knew he could answer the surface question Neo had proposed, but he decided to delve deeper. “When I was younger, there was a servant boy, Tim, who I played with. One day a rat bit Tim’s leg as he slept. The rat must’ve had some kind of illness that I was too young to understand. Anyway, the bite became so infected the doctors had to remove Tim’s leg. I know that some people would’ve crawled off and become bitter for what had happened, but Tim’s philosophy was different. He believed he should have died from that fever in his leg but the gods had saved him for a purpose. Tim uses an artificial leg now. He’s going to school to become a doctor.”
Neo turned and stalked towards Michael. “Are you saying I have no right to be angry over what has happened to me?”
Michael shook his head but held his ground. Showing the man fear would only push back the progress he’d made. “No. I haven’t been through what you’ve been through, so I don’t know if what you feel is right or wrong. All I was trying to say was maybe the gods saved you from death for a higher purpose.”
“What? Like becoming the King my brother wants me to be?” Neo spat.
“Have you ever thought about how unique you are now?”
“Unique? Is that another term for freak or monster?”
Michael knew he probably deserved the sarcastic barbs Neo flung his way, but he wouldn’t be dissuaded. “You were born to be king over a great many species. Within yourself you house the blood of a god, the blood of the fae, and the blood of a vampire. Who would be more perfect to lead the Blessed Creatures into the next millennium?”
Neo growled and turned to stomp away. Michael stood where he was, watching the back of the man he was falling for. He wondered how many more weeks it would be before he’d get another chance to speak to Neo. All hopes of replacing Rafi in Neo’s bed came to a screeching halt. “No doubt I’m on his shit list now.”
* * * *
Although the last of the evening sun had dipped below the horizon, Michael continued to paint the image still burned into his mind with the aid of an overhead light. He carefully, methodically, added colour to some of the grape leaves in his painting. At one point, the entire vineyard in front of him appeared to be covered in diamonds.
They had been blessed with a nice rain earlier in the day. When the sun came out, the droplets still clinging to the leaves sparkled. The rain had moistened the soil, making it darker in colour. The contrast between the green of the leaves, the blue of the sky and the dark soil was too perfect for Michael not to paint.
A noise startled him, almost upsetting him from his stool. A strong hand reached out to balance Michael before he could topple to the ground.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” Neo said, releasing Michael.
Michael rubbed his arm where Neo’s had touched him. “That’s okay. I was too far in my head to hear you approach.”
“Did I hurt you?” Neo asked, gesturing to Michael’s arm.
“No.” How did he explain the way Neo’s touch made him feel? “When you touch me, it feels like my skin is coming alive.” He shook his head, searching for a better explanation. He decided to go with simple. “It tingles.”
Neo nodded but didn’t comment. Instead, Neo peered over at the painting Michael had been working on. “You did that?”
“Yes, but it’s not finished yet.” Michael held his breath, wondering what Neo’s reaction would be to his work. Why it mattered so much, he didn’t understand. In the Realm, he’d painted for his own pleasure never caring what others thought.
Neo reached towards the painting, but pulled back before touching the wet canvas. “It’s been so long.”
The words were whispered so softly Michael barely heard them. “So long since what?” Michael asked.
“Since I’ve seen the way the sunlight plays off of the land.” Neo took a deep breath and turned, moisture swimming in his eyes. “I believe your dinner is ready.”
Michael was moved by Neo’s display of emotion. “Would you like it?” He gestured to the canvas. “The painting, I mean.”
With his hands clasped behind his back, Neo started towards the house. “Perhaps.”
Michael stood, looking after the man until he disappeared through the side door. He turned back to his painting and smiled. If it would make Neo happy, Michael would paint nothing but sunlit scenes from this day forward.
* * * *
Although it took Michael another couple of days to get the painting finished to his satisfaction, it was finally ready. The previous evening, Neo had actually invited him into the study to play a game of chess. Michael was still flying high from the almost three hours spent with the handsome man.
Neo wasn’t outwardly funny, but he did have a rather dry sense of humour that Michael found charming. The evening had gone so well, Michael had hopes of a late night visit, but that hadn’t happened, much to his disappointment.
Michael took a deep breath and knocked on the study door with his free hand.
“Come in,” Neo called.
Michael opened the door and stepped inside. He held up his gift. “I finished your painting.”
Neo glanced up from the paperwork on his desk and beckoned Michael further into the room. “Come closer.”
Michael strode to Neo’s desk and held out the painting, holding his breath. He’d taken a chance adding Neo’s shadowed silhouette into the painting, knowing Neo’s reaction could go one of two ways. “I hope you don’t mind,” he said, gesturing to the addition.
Without taking his eyes from the canvas, Neo shook his head. “I don’t mind at all. It’s breathtaking.” Neo took the opportunity to do what he’d wanted days before. He ran his fingers over the dried painting, following the rays of sunshine as they illuminated the vineyard. “Your talent is extraordinary.”
“Thank you.” The compliment made Michael feel warm and fuzzy inside.
“I’ll have Joseph send it out to be framed.” Neo stood and carried the canvas towards the fireplace. “Until then, I think I’ll enjoy it on the mantel.”
Michael moved to stand next to Neo. “I’m glad you like it. That means a lot to me.”
Neo put his hand on the small of Michael’s back. “You could do so much with your life. Why do you choose to spend it here, away from the world?”
With his chin tipped up, Michael stared into Neo’s dark eyes. “Because you’re here.” He gestured towards the window. “Besides, I’ve quickly grown to love this place.” Lost in Neo’s gaze, Michael stood on his tip toes and brushed his lips over Neo’s.
Neo’s head jerked back at the touch. He continued to stare down at Michael for several heartbeats before retreating to his desk.
Michael was surprised to see Neo’s hands shaking as he sat in his chair. “Do I still make you uncomfortable?” Michael asked.
“Yes,” Neo whispered moments later. “My feelings for you come too easily, and I know in my heart, you don’t belong here. My future should not be
yours to suffer through.”
“I think you’re wrong. I belong here with you if only you would give me the chance to prove it to you.”
Neo shook his head. “My heart is no longer big enough for all that you deserve. You would do better to find the man in that picture you painted.” Neo glanced at the painting. “That man with his face warmed by the sun? That’s not me.”
“You may not be able to stand in the sun, but you are that man. At least to me.”
Neo looked away from the painting back down at his paperwork. “Thank you again for the painting, but I have to get this finished.”
Once again, Michael felt like he was being shut out. He nodded and turned to leave. With his hand on the doorknob, he bowed his head. “You’re a much better person then you think you are. I’ve watched you interact with the others. I’ve seen you work alongside of them, and I’ve studied you when you thought no one else was around. You may require blood to survive, but that doesn’t define who you really are.”
“Thank you, but you’re wrong.”
“No, I’m not, but until you see that, I’d be wasting my breath to try to change your mind.”
* * * *
Michael was spread out on a blanket under his favourite tree when Gunnar found him. “Here you are. I’ve been looking all over for you,” Gunnar said, sitting beside Michael.
Michael barely managed to open his eyes enough to acknowledge one of his few friends. “I’m thinking about leaving,” he admitted.
“What? You can’t leave. Neo would go crazy if you weren’t here.”
Michael laughed. “Oh, you’re a funny man. Neo hasn’t so much as said boo to me in almost a month and a half, since the night I gave him the painting. Meanwhile he seems to enjoy torturing me by fucking that damn alpha weretiger every night.”
Gunnar pulled a blade of grass out of the ground and started chewing it. “Neo’s not an easy person to get along with, but I can guarantee you he cares, despite keeping company with Rafi. I also happen to know your painting is hanging over his bed, so don’t tell me he doesn’t think of you.”