Love's Abuse

by Flynn Eire

  “Who are you?” Dimitri whispered as he stared at me like I was growing another head.

  “I am with the Wyrok.” The name echoed off the walls, and it was Matteo who reacted first, his hands slowly changing into claws as if I wouldn’t see it as he moved closer.

  “Oh come on,” Dimitri snickered. “The Wyrok is a myth. It’s what parents tell their children to get them to eat their Brussel sprouts.”

  “Dimika, the Wyrok is very, very real, my love. Please do not insult one of them,” Alexander warned as he moved in front of his mate and gave me a nod of apology. “Pups these days, right?”

  “Oh for fuck’s sake, Alexander! I’m not going to eat your mate because he laughed at the idea of the Wyrok being real.”

  “You are acting a bit unhinged,” Matteo defended. “And from what I know of the Wyrok, you can’t even get invited into the club unless you’re over a thousand years old which would make you incredibly powerful.”

  I shot him a smirk as I let my fangs slide out. “You have no idea, child.” Just to be a shit, and honestly, because I needed the distraction and to feel like I wasn’t so powerless for a moment when truly I was in the situation with Rune… I acted like an asshole. I flew around the room, faster than any of them could track, and with only having one hand to use, tied them all down to chairs with their own shirts and whatever electrical cords were in the waiting area.

  There might have been a few more broken lamps now, but they could take it out of my pay.

  “Okay, I believe in the Wyrok, I believe in the Wyrok,” Dimitri chanted, glancing between himself and his mate before looking at Matteo next.

  “You’ve made your point,” Matteo growled. “I don’t understand why you came to make friends and infiltrate us. The Wyrok is a hammer that wipes everyone out when a situation is past no return.”

  “Oh is that what we are?” I drawled, raising an eyebrow. “And you know all of this because you’ve—what? Worked for them for half of your life? Interacted with them so many, many times?”

  “Fair enough,” he conceded, giving me a firm nod. At least he was smart enough and well-mannered enough to have the good grace to seem embarrassed at his blunder.

  I spent the next few minutes filling them in and to say Matteo and Dimitri were shocked was an understatement. I also untied them since that had been a bitch move on my part and there really was no reason to keep them that way. Besides, I was pretty sure they could all get out of it, but why ruin the shirts, and breaking electrical cords hurt.

  “So no, I’m not here to wipe out the camp or eat anyone’s firstborn,” I wrapped up as I paced the waiting room. “A large number of us dispersed and inserted ourselves among each camp and council to get a better feel of the full situation.”

  “Wait, the council ordered you to insert yourselves in councils?” Alexander hedged.

  I blinked at them a moment, realizing how little the average vampire, even warriors, truly knew about the Wyrok. “We don’t answer to the council. The councils are in place to make the laws. The warriors are born to protect our people. The Wyrok are those who have been either one or both who have lived long enough to understand that both need to be policed at times and checked up on. We answer to neither.” I saw them all frown at that. “However, we do report our findings to the head of each council.”

  “So you are not the council’s hammer,” Matteo hedged, waving his hand as if trying to find the right words when he realized how bad that sounded. “But you are not necessarily running free to do as you please either.”

  “No. We hold the council accountable to keep them in line as they do you, and as the people do them and you. And we do not pass sentencing. The boogeyman stories you have been told were in days of long, long ago where by the time a situation reached us, nothing was left to do but wipe out a coven’s leadership of corruption.”

  “Yes, I was alive for one of those,” Matteo muttered, shivering. “I was a boy when rumors circulated in Spain that the Wyrok had handled a situation in Seville. All we knew was that someone fucked up and the Wyrok was called in and they killed everyone.”

  I blinked at him a moment before throwing my head back and laughing. “I love rumors. No, that’s not what happened. I was there for that. The coven leader and about two dozen others decided they wanted to rule the humans of Seville, and while they weren’t killing anyone and turning them into Zakasacs, they were keeping humans like cattle and enslaving them. We took care of the ones in charge, wiped the memories of the humans, disbanded the coven, and relocated the rest of the vampires to new covens.”

  “That way no one else would start that shit up again,” Dimitri murmured, nodding.

  “Exactly. There has not been another coven allowed in Seville since. It took centuries for the rumors of vampires to die down there but that was the cost. Those vampires had to leave their homes and find new ones, but they lived because they were not directly involved. We don’t kill innocents. And that was a severe situation if I’ve ever seen one. Normally it is one as we are in, red flags, find out what is going on, report the situation, and formulate a plan. No one is ever the wiser we were there.”

  “So why tell us now? What changed?” Matteo asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Rune,” I muttered, looking away. “I met Rune. He’s special and I need to help him.”

  Dimitri stood and moved closer to me. “So you don’t think he’s a traitor?”

  “No.” I shook my head and stared out the windows. “But I also can’t help him the way he’s going to need it until I get the answers I need officially.” I glanced at them over my shoulder. “I promised him I wouldn’t tell anyone what I learned so don’t even ask. They aren’t my secrets.”

  So they didn’t. We simply waited for Rune to come back from his sedation.

  It was the some of the worst hours of my life.

  * * * *

  When he finally came back around, it was well after breakfast, and Alexander had gotten people to cover for us that day. Rune was more important. I waited until I saw he was fully lucid to open my mouth but he beat me to the punch.

  “You’re doing something to me, aren’t you?” he accused quietly, staring past me as he sat up with his back to the wall and pulled his knees to his chest. “That’s why I’m telling you things. I’ve never slipped up in the twenty years I’ve been at this camp, and you’re getting me to admit things as easy as can be.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat that felt like barbed wire going down and nodded. “Yes, it’s my gift.”

  “Get out.”

  “I can’t, Sebastian.”

  He met my eyes then and snarled. “Don’t call me that! Don’t ever call me that again, you asshole. That’s not my name anymore.”

  I was shocked when it was Alexander who stepped up to help me. “Rune, I have known you longest. I have always been fair to you and always approved your requests, trusting you when you said it would keep us safe even when I have had no idea what the gadgets were, have I not?”

  “Yes, Alexander,” Rune murmured, glancing at the man as he started to shake.

  Alexander slowly sat on the cot next to Rune with a sigh. “My friend, it is time to tell to the truth. You know I am a man of honor, and it will go no further than the four of us. I do not know what has happened behind closed doors between you and Helios, but he is with the Wyrok and they have questioned this camp’s loyalty in part because of you.”

  My heart broke as Rune’s lower lip quivered. “I’m loyal. I would never betray any of you.”

  “I believe that, Rune,” I assured him, reaching out to pat his leg.

  “Don’t touch me,” he seethed, smacking my hand away. “Fine. You’re here on official business and have questions. Ask them, but don’t pretend you give a shit about me anymore.”

  “Rune, I do—”

  “Ask your questions,” Alexander interrupted. “The rest can wait until Rune has rested. And if anyone breathes a word of what Rune is about to tell us
, they will deal with me and my sword.”

  “You would do that for me?” Rune whispered, staring at Alexander with wide eyes, looking so lost, so fragile again.

  “We protect our own, Rune. Nothing you can say will change the fact that you are one of ours, our team.”

  Rune’s eyes filled with tears as he ducked his head. “You won’t say that after you hear the truth.” He took in a few shaky breaths and let them out slowly. “Yes, I was born Sebastian Roland of the Portland coven.”

  “And you erased your file from our servers and changed your name?” I waited until he nodded. “Why?”

  “Because of what was in there and what people did to me when they learned how I was raised,” he rasped, wiping his eyes.

  “And how was that?”

  “You’re a bastard for making this official,” he spat at me, shaking as his eyes filled with hate.

  “I have to, Rune. I can ask the others to leave, but I’m here to get answers for red flags that came up. I don’t have to put it all in my report, that’s normal. But I have to assess the situation,” I explained. “That’s why I met up with Ben and Dean. I wanted the intro to get to know you, but then—”

  “But then why not use me like everyone else?” he cut me off, shaking his head. I didn’t get a chance to answer. “Fine, whatever. I already told you my father was my last Master. You want the whole ugly truth? Here it is. I grew up in a dog cage. My first memories were of him telling me his bitch had died bringing me into this world, that made me his dog. He treated me as one except the parts where he molested me as if it was a Master/slave animal play thing too.”

  “My god, Rune,” Dimitri whispered, and I saw him lean against the wall out of the corner of my eye.

  “She must have lied about my due date because he had no idea I was to be a warrior,” Rune went on, not looking at any of us. “I was so malnourished from growing up on dog food, all the abuse, and being kept in a cage, my growth was stunted. So when my transition came, he and his friends fled. Someone in the Portland coven must have heard the screams because for the first time, strangers came into house and onto the back porch I’d been kept on all my life.”

  I swallowed the bile that wanted to come up when he didn’t continue and asked what I needed to. “And they let you out?”

  His eyes met mine, hollow and almost dead. “No. They let me complete my transition in a fucking metal dog crate because they thought I must be feral given how they’d found me.”

  “We don’t go feral. That’s animals,” Matteo hissed.

  “I was in an animal cage,” Rune chuckled bitterly. “Finally it was almost over and my fangs came in. They realized I was going to survive somehow even with everything against me, and I broke the cage. Only then did someone do something and they knocked me out. All the time I begged, screamed for help, and they did nothing, but when it was over, someone punches me in the face and knocks me out. I woke up in the warrior camp outside Seattle.

  “They told me I would never walk because of how I’d grown up, how my transition had gone, and the fact that it had taken hours after my transition for me to receive any care. The doctors walked away, saying there was no shame in doing the honorable thing and not be a burden to my people. They left me a dagger on the tray by the bed. They wanted me to take my own life so they didn’t have to deal with me.”

  “Holy shit,” Dimitri choked out as my own eyes filled with tears.

  “I threw the dagger across the room and the next person who came in the room I asked to speak with someone who could help me walk. They told me there was no way, but after weeks of me pestering them, finally they gave in and sent me some pre-trans who was from a lower class family who I guess was new and no one wanted to deal with either. He had no clue what he was doing but still he helped me. He taught me how to read, we read books on rehab, learned how to use braces and crutches.

  “And I finally walked with them. I busted my ass, and he helped when he wasn’t training. One day he stops coming. After pestering a bunch more people, I found out he didn’t make it through his transition. Part of me wonders if that was the truth or just what they said, because he was never brought to the infirmary like the other pre-trans I saw go through their transitions. Either way, I knew I had to get better and fast or I might be next. So I did. It took six months but I could walk with a limp and a cane.”

  “They trained you then?” Alexander asked.

  Rune glanced at him with wide eyes and started laughing. “No, not even close. They stuck me in a dusty basement, called me a warrior just so they didn’t have to deal with me, gave me a computer, and had me do data entry. I did all their bitch work, and in between, I kept with my rehab, worked out, got stronger, and learned everything I could. It took five years for me to archive all their records, bulk up the way I am now, run as I can today, and learn every in and out about security.

  “I forged my transfer to the most remote camp, changed my name, deleted myself off the servers, got new identification, and got the fuck out of there. I started over here.”

  “Rune, you said last night you had to run,” I hedged, hating that I had to bring this up. “That once people found out they would be mean to you. What happened there that made you say that?”

  His eyes found mine again, and the pain was so deep in them my heart fluttered. “The warriors and trainees would corner me, tie me up with dog leashes, pincers, and choker collars, stuff dog food down my throat. Everyone knew my story, and they did everything they could to never let me forget it. If they caught me using their gym, the one meant for real warriors, they’d whip me with leather leashes. I had to train during the middle of the night. I did it all on my own.”

  “So when did you learn how to do the things that are needed to pass post-trans training?” Dimitri asked gently. “Like use a sword or a gun?”

  Rune hung his head as he twisted his hands. “I don’t know how. That’s why I always conceded the challenges. Someone caught me with a sword once, and they tied me down and cut me up so bad I thought I was going to die.” He glanced at Alexander. “I’m sorry I lied. I had to get out of there. I wasn’t going to survive that place and the way they treated me. I always stay in the truck and run surveillance when we go out in the field. I’ve never been at anyone’s back or put someone in danger because I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  “I know, Rune,” Alexander murmured, sounding choked up even to me as he hugged Rune close. “This is not your fault, my friend. It is ours. We failed you—all the warriors have. We will make this right.”

  “They never even went after my father after I testified to the council as to what he did to me,” Rune sobbed.

  “That’s not true,” I sighed, scrubbing my hands over my face. “Sean Roland was apprehended a decade ago in New Jersey, breaking into a human blood bank and an already council-sanctioned execution was carried out that night. There were no living relatives on record to contact. The files of his crimes had been sealed and the record of them gone when I looked into them, but there were fifty-six counts of something mentioned in his file for such a severe and immediate sentencing.”

  “He’s dead?” Rune gasped, his head snapping up as he looked at me with wide eyes. “He’s really gone?”

  “Yes, and his three accomplices. They were found a while ago.”

  Rune nodded as tears flowed down his cheeks. “Are you done with your questions then?”

  “Yes, I’ll tell the council the matter is resolved.”

  He wiped his eyes and took a deep breath before gazing at me with hate. “Good. Then go. Don’t come near me again.”

  “Rune, please, this wasn’t only about—”

  “I don’t ever want to see you again!” he shouted, shoving me away from him. “I’ve had enough abuse to last me five lifetimes. Enough manipulation and lies. You did both. Get away from me!” He broke down, sobbing against Alexander who shot me a nasty look and nodded to the door—a clear signal I should leave.

  “I’m s
orry, Rune,” I rasped as I stood. “What I feel for you is real. I was going to tell you. I just wanted to help you first. That was more important to me than the red flags because I knew you weren’t a traitor.”

  I spun on my heel and quickly walked from the room, the sight of him so upset and not being able to help him, killing me. A piece of my heart broke off for every step I took away from him though. Rune was the first man in all my many, many, many years that had ever touched me as he had. I wanted him in my life more than any job, any mission, or any assignment had mattered to me.

  And I’d just lost him because of all of that.

  5 Rune

  “Get up, lazy bones,” Dimitri ordered as he walked into my room the day after my meltdown in the infirmary. “You’ve got lots of training to do in between your regular duties.”

  “What?” I muttered as I rolled over and wiped my eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  He shot me his bright, Dimitri-style grin that at one time had turned me into mush. “An idea has been suggested as to how to get you trained to where you should be without letting anyone know that you never were trained. You interested?”

  “In becoming a real warrior?” He nodded, and suddenly I was completely awake and alert, hopping out of bed. “Fuck yeah! How?”

  “Well, we have a bunch of post-trans that could use some training,” he chuckled, his eyes lighting up at my enthusiasm. “And the best way to solidify their own skills is to teach. So we sat down a few yesterday and told them that we had a special project for them. That one of our own finest had volunteered to play new trainee and pretend they were coming in as a blank slate, knew nothing, and they would be training that warrior. They’re thrilled and are so grateful at the chance that I think they’re half in love with you.”

  “Dimitri, I don’t know what to say,” I whispered, truly touched that he would do this for me.

  “I can’t take the credit,” he muttered, wincing. “Helios set it all up. It was his idea even. He talked to the council and reamed them for how you were treated in Seattle. They agree that we failed you, and however you need help, you’ve got it. He worked this out with Alexander and put it all in place. He’s also got a specialist flying in from somewhere in Europe he’s worked with before that knows how to undo behavioral modification and has succeeded with warriors who’ve been held prisoner for long durations by Zakasacs.”