Somewhere In Between

Title: Somewhere In Between
Author: MakaiKitty
Rating (this chapter): R
Category: Original Fantasy, "Fate" storyline
Pairing: Victor/Blaine, Victor/Caspian, North/Victor, Victor/Tamara, Sorrel/Tamara, Telen/Caspian
Warnings: Slash, Het, and Yuri, M/M, M/F, F/F, Violence, Language, Vampire Sex, Werewolf Sex, Daemon Sex, Anal, Rimming, Who knows what else... I haven't decided yet *LOL*
Distribution: My website, My LJ and any LJs I choose to post at, AFF.net, FicWad, and DeviantArt. All of my accounts are under the user name MakaiKitty. If you'd like to use it just let me know.
Disclaimer: The characters, daemon realms, and situations in this story are all original and belong solely to MakaiKitty. Please don't steal, borrow, take, or otherwise use anything from my fics.
Updates: Just join my YahooGroup to be informed of any updates to this or any of my other fics - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/makaikittyfics
Status: Complete
Story Notes: This story contains characters that were first introduced in "Fate". However, it is not really necessary to have read "Fate" to understand this story. In fact, you may like Victor better if you haven't read "Fate". As for those of you who have read "Fate"? No, Shayne and Lexi will not be showing up in this fic. Maybe in later stories (Victor has a long back story), but not this one. Also, I have a general outline for this story, but everything isn't set in stone yet. Just like with "Perceived Perceptions", I'm sure that some things will not go as planned. So, the warning lable above is just a general guide, I really don't know for sure where this fic will go. Just a warning, if you're squicky about some stuff (don't worry, there won't be beastiality or scat or anything too extreme) then read the warnings at the start of each chapter. However, I know from experiance, that most of my regular readers can handle anything that I throw at them, so I'm not too worried about any of you. Either way, I hope you enjoy the fic...

Chapter Twelve: Fight for Control

Several days after her argument with Victor Sorrel was still attempting to formulate an acceptable plan that would both quiet Victor's questions and protests, as well as enable her to finish her preparations, all without Victor finding out the truth. She had not been at all successful.

The library was a huge circular room full of winding corridors made up of wall upon wall of book filled shelves that stretched up to the heavens and beyond. There were books there that were as old as time itself, covering every conceivable subject from science to classical literature, and their origins were as varied as the realms themselves. It was also one of the most impressive private collections in all of the known world. As Sorrel walked through the familiar pathways in a flurry of crimson silk she was not at all surprised to find her assistant with his nose in a book, stacks of research materials nearly obscuring him from view, the cold remnants of his lunch lying forgotten at the edge of the table. The sight nearly brought a smile to Sorrel's face. Nearly.

"What has you so engrossed this time, Lorcan?" She didn't really care about his answer, at least so long as their experiments were still on track, but she felt compelled to ask anyway. Perhaps he would tell her something useful. At the very least he could be a distraction and keep her mind off of her current dilemma. "Don't tell me that you're studying the mating habits of the Aldurian black betel again? I keep telling you that those bugs of yours are utterly and completely disgusting."

"No, Lady Sorrel, I am not reading about bugs." There was the barest edge of anger to his clipped tone, but Sorrel chose to let it go. It was rare that Lorcan found the spine to talk back to her like that and it almost left her wanting to congratulate him. The way that he seemed to be shielding the contents of his books from her only told the sorceress that she really didn't want to know what he was up to. "I'm just doing a little background research."

"Whatever." Sorrel was barely listening to him, still thinking about her troubles with Victor instead. "How goes the wolfsbane experiment? Has Lennora had any further adverse reactions?"

Lorcan heaved a heartfelt sigh before speaking, reaching up to rub at the bridge of his nose and rearranging his glasses afterwards, obviously not entirely pleased with the answer he was about to give. "She seems to be getting more agitate the closer that we get to the full moons. However, as you predicted, she also seems to be getting stronger and her senses are growing sharper by the day. Her nails are even starting to resemble claws and both of her eyes have begun to glow at times."

"Good." Although she didn't sound as pleased as her words would suggest. In fact, Sorrel sounded about as bothered as Lorcan had heard her in a very long while. "Keep a close eye on her and watch for signs that she's trying to slip her skin. And, by the Blessed Mother of Night, do not let Victor find out about this. He just refuses to see the possible long term benefits of this experiment." Sorrel shook her head in mild disbelief before giving Lorcan her most important instruction yet. Victor would just have to be a problem for another day. "If she seems to be in any danger take that plant away from her right away. And I don't want it anywhere near her when the full moons hit, are we clear?" She fixed Lorcan with a harsh glare, her grey gaze never wavering, and he knew that failure to comply would result in dire consequences. "I don't care if you have to watch her around the clock."

"Understood."

***

Sorrel was still thinking about the wolfsbane, and whether or not she should add an extra plant to Lennora's rooms before the full moons got too close, as she walked out into the southern courtyard for some fresh air. The twin moons were nothing more than slivers hanging high in the sky, barely more than a few days into their thirty-three day cycle, but the multitude of stars that surrounded them gave off nearly as much light as the two celestial orbs would when full. Not that she needed them to see by. The brilliant stars and the few well tended torches that burned on the stone walls, as well as her sharp vampiric senses, allowed Sorrel to see the beauty of the courtyard with perfect clarity. The massive walls that stretched towards the sky were made up of smoothly polished grey stones that gleamed in the reflected torchlight, and the huge, burning torches that were set into them at regular intervals around the circular area were fastened with huge iron fixtures that snaked across the walls in intricate patterns. The ground was covered in lush green grass that would feel like the softest of carpets to bare feet, and the delicate stocks glistening from a recent and unexpected rain. Bushes that were taller than even the largest lycanthrope were placed at seemingly random places around the grounds, although everyone knew that nothing was random in the Lady Sorrel's castle, and they were cut into varying and unusual shapes. Sorrel left the patterns to the gardeners, and she often found herself sitting on one of the courtyard's many carved wooden benches staring at the plants and trying to decipher the newest designs. It was actually quite calming. However, even the topiaries couldn't calm the sorceress this night as she sat and contemplated magickal plants, hybrid children, and secret prophecies. No, plants were the last thing on her mind as she settled down to think.

A sound to her right brought Sorrel out of her contemplations before she had even come close to an answer, her mind running in circles until the moment that she was interrupted, and her grey locks glinted sliver in the darkness as she spun around to face the source of the noise with lightening speed. She bared her fangs and growled low in her throat, but there was nothing there to feel the brunt of her aggression. Sorrel looked around in the darkness, her sharp eyes moving from one possible hiding spot to the next, looking behind the shrubs with a preditor's eyes as she readied her body for an attack. No threats showed themselves to the sorceress. She had almost succeeded in convincing herself that she was hearing things, something that she knew was not truly possible, when a lone figure appeared out of the doorway and distracted her from her moment of self doubt.

"Victor, darling, what brings you out here tonight?" Not even a hint of her recent unease showed on Sorrel's lovely face. She smiled and reached out a hand to her young charge, seemingly at ease in the beauty of the torch lit courtyard, motioning for Victor to come and join her on her bench. "The stars are unusually bright tonight, won't you come and watch them with me for a bit?"

Victor smiled and nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets and moving at an easy pace across the lawn to join his benefactor, momentarily forgetting that he was still angry with her for keeping secrets that were his to know by right. He had just reached the walkway, mere feet away from his destination, when Victor heard a suspicious rustling from directly behind Sorrel. The sorceress heard it mere moments before the younger man, and she had already lept from the bench and turned to face the source of the noise before Victor had even had time to descend into a defensive crouch.

Sorrel's dark red gown spun about her, the long folds resting on the gravel walkway like a puddle of blood as she crouched low to the ground, growling dangerously as first one intruder showed herself, followed by two men seconds later. The woman was tall and slender, a rough handsewn gown of forest green fabric hanging off of her slight body in a haphazard fashion, her long blond hair fluttering in the wind created by her own power. The energy radiating off of her and the crystal toped wooden staff in her delicate hand told Sorrel clearly that she was dealing with a fellow sorceress, although the quality of her clothing and her light coloring told her that this was most likely an untrained human as opposed to a formally trained high class immortal. The man to the intruder's left seemed to be much the same, his coloring and features so alike to the woman's that Sorrel assumed that he was her brother, or at least a close blood relative, and the matching staff in his right hand marked him as another magick user. To their right stood a man much taller than the other two, his body broad and strong, his hair was a dark mahogany that hung past his waist and his eyes glowed with the golden aura of a lycanthrope. Sorrel's powers provided the detail that he was, in fact, a werelion. The three stood in a semi-circle, their backs to the wall, all eyes intent on Sorrel, although each spared a glance in turn to look at Victor.

"Intruders," Sorrel snarled, "how dare you invade my sanctuary. Explain yourselves and then prepare to die." As she began to call forth her power from within the winds around her began to stir, and she had to raise her voice to be heard above the sudden rustling of leaves and debris that swirled about her with that wind. "Choose your words carefully, mortals, because your explanations will determine just how much you beg before I grant you the peace that only comes with blessed oblivion."

Surrounded by a flurry of her own power the blond sorceress spoke with a strong, and surprisingly calm, voice. "We have come for the Kokkonor. The days of your control over him end now, Witch."

"Worthless humans, you think that you can say such things to me and live? Me? The Lady Sorrel, Daughter of the High Priestess of Pannave, Sorceress of the Vinorian Order, and Ruler of the Azvarian Kingdom?!" She sneered at the three as though they were not worthy to be in her presence, to breath the same air as she, and calling upon her titles only seemed to have added fuel to the fire that burned in the depths of her stormy eyes. "I will teach you all the meaning of respect before I end your pathetic lives, as well as giving you a lesson in true power, this I swear by the blood of the Blessed Mother of Night."

"Sorrel." Victor called out, only to have Sorrel's anger turned on him a split second after the utterance had left his mouth.

"Stay out of this child!" She shouted. Then, in a voice only a fraction gentler, "There is no need for you to be involved in this, as it will be over very soon."

"Says you." The tall lycanthrope added, his voice distorting as his teeth lengthened into fangs and his growl turned into something that a man's throat was never meant to be capable of. "We'll see how true your prophecy holds when I am feasting on your still steaming entrails!"

Victor had a second to think, a mere fraction of a heartbeat to begin moving towards Sorrel when he saw that all three intruders had started to move in tandem, before everything in the courtyard turned red. One moment the two men and one woman were moving towards Sorrel, the two humans raising their staffs and calling forth their magicks, the werelion morphing into a half human-half animal form and raising his claws to strike, and the next moment there were three mangled bodies lying at Sorrel's feet. Even Victor's preternatural sight couldn't tell him what had happened, his eyes unable to track the speed with which the sorceress had moved, and he was left wondering what had just occurred. All he knew was that two sorcerers and a lycanthrope had been no match for Sorrel even when they were teamed up and attacking together. It left him in awe of the woman before him.

"Fools." Sorrel spat, a dark smile on her crimson lips, a slightly mad gleam in her dark eyes. Her hair and gown were splattered with droplets of blood, nearly black in the starlight, the color striking in contrast against her pale skin. She smiled down at the bodies at her feet, the pink tip of her tongue darting out to lick at the heady elixir that peppered her skin before speaking to the two hapless mortals and the unfortunate lion that lay on the ground. "Be grateful that I have rewarded your tenacity with a quick end." Then she laughed, and the sound sent a chill down Victor's spine. "Let it never be said that I am not a benevolent ruler."

Silence descended around them after Sorrel's declaration, but then a sudden sound drew both immortal's eyes to the gruesome sight on the ground, and an unexpected sight met their dark gazes.

"The Kokkonor..." The two humans were obviously quite dead, but it seemed that the lycanthrope was still holding on, if only by a thread. He choked on his own blood as he fought to force the words past his mangled throat, and it seemed to be with great effort that he turned his head ever so slightly to stare at Victor with golden eyes that were quickly dimming. "You will be the one to free us all... the one to finally..." Anything else that the man might have had the strength to utter was cut short by a burst of magick directed from Sorrel's left hand, the power bowing the lion's back as it caused him to cry out in pain. Then Sorrel withdrew her magick and his form fell back to the ground, his body meeting the ground with a sickening thud, then all was still.

The silence seemed to stretch on forever, and Victor felt as though he had been struck dumb by all that had just occurred, his eyes moving slowly over each of the three bodies. The lycanthrope's final utterances hung heavy in his mind, the words nearly tangible in the air about him, and Victor fought to regain his footing in a world that suddenly felt as though it had been turned on it's head. Why was it that it seemed as though everything came back around to the Kokkonor these days? And why were the answers always kept just out of his reach? He couldn't understand why fate suddenly seemed to delight in tormenting him so.

The sound of gravel being crushed beneath sharp heals brought Victor out of his mind in time to watch Sorrel delicately pick up the folds of her gown and step over the mangled bodies without so much as a passing glance. Her blood splattered face was the picture of calm indifference as she paused at Victor's side, placing a gore coated hand on his shoulder as she spoke to him with a voice that held nothing of the recent violence that she had just taken part in.

"Don't look so lost, my darling boy." She smiled gently, as though they were speaking of nothing more serious than the weather, and Victor couldn't help the shudder that passed through him at her practiced indifference. "They were obviously mad to have challenged me, so pay their words no mind. It was nothing more than the meaningless ramblings of a frightened assassin who saw his end approaching and knew that there was nothing that he could do to save himself."

"But-"

"It meant nothing." Sorrel said with more force. "Now come inside, I need to get cleaned up before my meeting with the western magistrate and you have your studies to see to." Then, as an afterthought, she added, "Do be a dear and find someone to clean up this trash before it starts to smell. There is no scent more intoxicating than that of fresh spilt blood, so warm and sweetly spiced, but rotting meat is another thing all together."

She turned and exited the courtyard without another word and Victor was left alone with the three bodies and more questions than he knew what to do with.

TBC ...

Review Responses:

Kaz-kun:
Kya! Total Love for this and previous chapters. The suspense is practically killing me with what a Kokkonor really is. I feel for Victor. Something tells me that source isn't going to be alive long enough to tell Victor what he wants... Oh, lovely F/F smut, by the way. Totally exotic to me, seeing as how I read yaoi more, but I loved it. Sorrel and Tamara are a scrumptious pairing.

Thanks, I'm glad to hear that I'm building some supsense. I wasn't sure if I was doing any good with that or not.

I read yaoi as well, so I was a little nervous about the f/f stuff. Glad you liked it ^-^