Candy: Book 5 of the Lord Emperor Vampire Saga

Greetings!!
Happy springish like weather to you all. Thanks for the questions. Here's some answers.

Q: But once again it's just the beginning of an even bigger issue isn't it?
A: hmmm, why yes. Bwahhahahahah

Q: Will we be seeing the vampire pod again in the near future? I just wonder how they will accept and how the lycans and vampires will deal with one another? Being the lycan king is also the emperor to be.
A: The Pod will be back. They have a funeral to attend. It should be fun making things work out between two different species who’s only commonality is their leader or leader to be. (Oh what a tangled web I’m stuck in….gack!!)

Q: Gregor's oath made me wonder about a thing. While you made the Eastern lycan the origin of the Northern pack, Azrael is High Alpha to the Northern pack and a member of the Northern pack. I would expect Gregor to swear to defend the Blood of the Northern Lycan in first place. Doesn't defending the Eastern lycan around fall to the brother's duties?
A: Crap. Crapcrapcrappity crapola. I shall have to go back and spackle over that gianormous plot hole. I got messed up with the Eastern and Western Roman empire kind of thing. The origins of Britta’s Northern pack is Hungary which in the world view at the time, would have made the home pack Eastern. They would have regarded other Lycan, from the Orient, as Far Eastern. Does that help or did I just hammer a nail into your brain? Cause I think I just hurt myself…aspirin…I need aspirin.

Q: What will X's human family say about all this? What about the council for the mages when this new 'witch' is brought to their attention? But just who is this woman. X doesn't know who she is so is it someone with a problem with X's family then?
Okay, Serephina is making ya’ll jump the gun. Let me straighten this little bit out. It is NOT Morgan, Hades daughter. Morgan is more powerful than that. She wouldn’t need to use talismans….and that’s all I’m going to say about that. Nah. :p

I shall pass along a diet coke and some mentos to those who continue to keep me motivated and on track. Mauh, muah, mauh. Violetstorm; milkxness; littleolmee; Ana; Rosemary; k; Negai; star101; laur; newmoon and Emily.

On with the show…ENJOY!

And if you want notification if a story has been updated join my mailing list. It’s easy. It’s quick and I can send you nasty pics….hahaha, no..no, just kidding. To join just email me at
kiix@hotmail.com and put this in the subject KIIX ME. 21 strong and still growing.

Chapter 204: Just Beachy

It was only four o’clock. It was four o’clock and it felt like I had just aged ten years since opening my eyes this morning. I had wanted to get the hell out of Lycan country as soon as possible. Bruce seemed to be doing everything he could to make sure I didn’t. I could see his point. Still didn’t mean I was going to stay. I wanted to go home.

We just kicked Lycan butt to get called King Azrael. King. I couldn’t hold it against Azrael and Skell since both Sex and I basically collapsed. They did what had to be done and they uncovered a plot. Serephina. The image locked in my head was unfamiliar. I wronged that woman? I didn’t even recognize her. Endellion had tasted her hatred and it was real. So for something I couldn’t remember doing to a stranger, my little wolfie brother was killed.

Ping. The strain of the day was hard on her face. The fact that she now took over the Northern Pack, derailed Bruce and his protocols, and kicked my pale ass back home to Von Drachenfeld in a limo was not lost on me. Queen Regent Ping. She was too damn young to be ‘The Elder’. I was too damn young to feel this old. So now here I was sitting in the limo, well leaning heavily against Vladimir, okay, laying on Vladimir as Manu massaged my feet. I’d lost my shoes somewhere but I was back in the yuppie wear from Hades closet. Sang Kyu and Baojia had stayed with Ping and the Female Imperials. Pytor was busy nuking a blood pack off in the far corner.

I could be doing so much right now. I should be calling my Dad. He would want to know about this Serephina woman. Dark Magic, while itself wasn’t illegal; the use of it in the commitment of a crime was. Aside from policing the Bloods, the Regency Mages kept a lock on the magic. In this day and age, the I-want-it-now-with-no-effort-on-my-behalf, Dark Magic was on the rise. I read the reports from Shadoe Inc. Sell off your soul and you become a minor deity, if you had the talent for it to begin with.

I should be calling home...they would probably want to know where the hell I was... I should be...

Vladimir shifted and I found myself plastered against his chest. “I’m not as big as your Vampire, but now is the time to let your grief run its course, my Lord Alpha...my King Alpha. Your tears will go no further than the confines of this back seat.”

I thought I had cried out all my tears on the beach. The body that we all shared stored our combined grief. I keened. I ended up as the monkey in the middle. I clung to Vlad, Manu shifted and pressed up against my side, Pytor took my other side. Haley. Sweet, funny, puppy Haley was gone...and they skinned him and laid his pelt on my bare legs. That was just as disturbing as seeing Father burn so hard with healing light while Haley laid so still. Even in his sleep, that pup was never still...

X was crying again. I closed my eyes and spread my hand over my chest. It felt like my heart was breaking. It turned out that the beach was more in tune with my emotional state than the rest of the brotherhood. It seems to grow stronger on me the longer I stayed here. That could be why Liam was so freaking powerful here. Four hundred years on this freakin beach would get to you. As it was it was probably only a max of twenty years and it was syncing with my emotional state. X just looked at me. “If you go jumping off a building now, Sexy, we’re all fucked.”

I wasn’t suicidal – well not any more. It’s bad enough that the brothers still hold it against me thirteen years later. I wasn’t right in the head, nor the heart. But that was then. Even though the pup’s death was hard, I wasn’t looking to join him. As it was the sky was overcast with grey threatening clouds. The temperature had dropped to a cool twenty degrees Celsius and the normal crystal clear water was murky.

I was basically alone here.

Skell had come back after doing those things to Orel Wessel. He was in no mood to talk and from the expression on his face, he had some things to work through. It was best to leave him be when he was like that. He dropped a hand to my shoulder and squeezed lightly then disappeared off to the Darkness. Azrael came back and he looked like he had been dragged behind a car for a couple of miles. I just got a head nod and he disappeared into his section of the hut.

Which left X crying in the limo and me sitting by my lonesome staring out across the watery horizon.

Yeah, X was right, we dropped the ball. Azrael basically did everything up to now. He tracked. He got the first shooter. Hell, he secured the throne for Arashi. No wonder he looked like shit. Skell uncovered a plot. Not that life was getting dull, but when the shit hit the fan, it flew everywhere.

A sharp pain ripped through my heart. Lightening cut across the sky. I was going to miss that little guy.

There was a disturbance in the force. That was the closest thing I could call it. The whole of the beach just seemed to ripple when my Sasha would arrive. I scanned the water. He always came by water. I think he had to because that was what he was immersed in when he spirit walked. Liam had the force of this place behind him so when he dragged our asses to the beach we were on dry land.

There was a drop of blue light that hit the water and the stillness of the water allowed concentric rings to ripple outwards widening and spreading. I kept still just watching the water. Sasha’s black black hair slowly rose from the sea. He was like a god rising out of the water. Damn. It doesn’t matter that I’ve captured him and slapped my ring on him. My heart just goes dokidoki when he comes around. I got another kick to the chest and it was followed by a flash of lightening that brightened the sky.

Sasha slowly rose up to stand waist deep in the water. Even though I was still grieving, I was a little disappointed that he didn’t have those miniscule speedos on. He was in a black suit. He stood dripping wet, still and with his eyes closed. Unlike the brotherhood, Sasha as a period of disorientation coming to and leaving the Beach. I wrapped my arms around my shins and stared at him waiting...impatiently waiting.

I had to learn the hard way that until Sasha was ‘grounded’, he could easily slip back to the real world. I had been so happy to see him here under his own power I jumped him while he was still in the water. He dissolved in my arms. That has had to have been the worse feeling the world to feel him solid for a brief second then it was just like trying to hold onto helium with my bare hands. It wasn’t a pretty sight getting kicked back to the tub either. As Sasha says, it still a drain as if he had spent half an hour at the Beach.

So, I shifted and sat on my hands and waited for my immortal to rise from the sea.

In this world that was so grey at this moment, when Sasha opened his eyes, they were Technicolor; so blue. I let a smile crack my lips as a shaft of sunlight broke across the horizon. How true. The Black Death lights up my life.

He blinked a few times then his eyes began to scan the sand. His whole countenance changed when he spied me. He smiled. It was such a sweet smile. I doubt Hades would call it sweet, but then again, I am pretty sure that that little ancient has never gotten this smile from my Vampire. It made me feel like I was the center of his universe.

He lifted his arms toward me.

I jumped up and ran into the water towards him. It might look sexy in slow motion but trying to run without tripping and dunking yourself is a hard thing to do. I got to my Vampire and tossed myself at him. His arms came up and wrapped around me dragging me tight to his chest. I wrapped my arms and legs around him.

“Thank you..thank you for trying to save him.” I buried my forehead into his neck and inhaled my love’s dark tone.

His embrace tightened. “It was not enough. It was not nearly enough”

My love was hurting. Tears stung my eyes. “Sasha, Lycan don’t respond that well to the Healing Light.”

“I know you have said that, but when you try so hard and only have it wash away. I truly liked that Lycan.” Sasha’s hands came down and cupped my butt. He hiked me up a little higher and started walking toward the fine sand of the beach. “Where are you now, my Fallen? What is going on? The Loyal are besides themselves with worry. They are making preparations to gear up and come to the rescue.”

He came to a stop. I raised my head up off his shoulder. He was staring up at the sky then turned to take in the whole area. I think this was the first time that he has come here and not seen the tropical paradise post card picture. “Fallen?”

“Azrael is High Alpha of the Eastern Lycan. He is King.” Sasha’s grip on my ass slipped and I ended up having to drop my legs down or I was going to land hard on my backside. There are very few things that shock my love.

“I think I need a full explanation.”

“I can only give you the reader’s digest condensed version. I’ve been sitting here the whole time.” X was the one who did good with puzzles. I liked to color. I knew the overall picture but I couldn’t bring it to life the way X can.

“Where are the others?”

“Skell’s off in the Darkness. Az just got back and he looks like a stretch of bad road. X is topside right now.” I reached up and pushed his wet hanks of hair back off his face. That’s a draw back with long hair. When it’s wet, it gets clammy and frizzes. It was sort of amusing to see my elegant man in black all wet and dishevelled. It made him more human. I don’t think he’d get offended by that, but I wasn’t to going to tell him. I liked my ass unspanked. Sasha doesn’t play with it comes to discipline.

I angled my head as he leaned toward me. A kiss. I could feel his banked hunger. I don’t know what the hell he sees when he looks at me. I might be the original but I know it isn’t little ol me he’s looking at so intensely. Well just not me. I’m not that entrancing.

“You forget, my Fallen...I am a collector. What I covet, I keep.” I blinked up at him. His own hands came up and tangled in my white hair. “I can tell when you question yourself, my love. Your eyes darken and not in the ways of passion. One day, and I long for it, there will never be a question in your heart about me.”

The sky got brighter.

Sasha looked upwards and another smile graced his face. “I am your sunshine?”

I don’t know what the hell I was going to say but what came out instead was, “Haley was killed because of us.”

Sasha’s smile faded and he furrowed his brow. “Because of you and I?”

I snorted. My mutz could be so damned proper with his verbiage that his voice usually stood out because of it. Little did everyone know that he could be so properly filthy with it too. I lifted my hand and laid it over his lips. “No, I mean the brotherhood. I’m giving you the gist as I understand it, Sasha. Somewhere down the line, we pissed off a sorceress. She used Frowny’s ambition to be king to take Haley down. Somehow she also got Orel Wessel in on the coupe too.”

Sasha stiffened. Not in a good way. “Orel Wessel is involved in Haley’s death.”

I took his hand and lead him back to the sandy dunes proper. I flopped down and gently pulled on his hand. He sat down. I urged him to rest against my chest and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. His wet hair was pooled between my thighs. Eww...damp and sandy now. He looked like he was rolling around in cinnamon sugar.

Hmmm...sweet.

“Sex.”

“No...this Serephina chick. Name familiar? No? Well, she hates the brotherhood. I think she might only know us as one, which would be a good thing because even Endellion finds her dark magic powerful.”

“You are skipping around too much. Start from the beginning.”

“Okay. Britta’s dead. Do you know that?”

“Ping told us.”

“Okay, this Richard Hennessy is an heir but he wasn’t an Alpha. He still got himself an Alpha pack and wanted to be on the throne. This Serephina approached him, gave him that talisman that Az recovered and gave to Dad. It was made with her hatred of us. I think she worked part of her soul into that talisman. Haley’s dead. Britta’s weak. Richard goes to make his move but Az shows up convinces Britta that Haley’s death was murder and she makes Az into her 11th litter.”

“uhhhh.”

“Hold your questions to the end.” I patted Sasha’s chest. “She bit Az, declared him High Alpha, Haley’s heir then died. The rest of the morning was Az kicking Lycan ass to secure the throne for Arashi. Halfway through, Orel Wessel shows up. I’m thinking this Serephina wanted to hedge her bets so she got Wessel mixed in to make sure that we get dead.” I frowned. “Except she was, well, she had Orel Wessel shooting at Ping.”

“It sounds like she wants to make you suffer. She took down your closest friend. She targeted someone you regard as a sister. Show me, Fallen. Give me this sorceress’ visage.”
I rested my forehead against the back of his neck. The woman’s face came. I took a good look at it. Nothing. I got nothing from it. Endellion had said that this was personal. That sword scared me but I never thought that she would lie. She didn’t need to. She was immortal and she liked Skelly.

I reached around and touched Sasha’s forehead. His shield was down. His silver feather was glowing in the darkness. My feather of love. I think I just turned all squishy. “Fallen...”

I smiled against the warm skin of his neck then sent him the image. I filled my senses with his warm clovish scent. There was a drawback here on the beach, on this plane where ever the hell it was; things were rather muted. It was almost like things were wrapped in cotton. I really had to inhale to get his essence.

“This face is not familiar to me.” I felt the silver feather pulse and was enveloped in its warmth.

His suit was cool and....his suit. Why the hell was he wearing a suit? He’s never worn a suit...well once but that was Azrael dragging him here when...I went off the deep end. My Muzt hasn’t gotten the hang of changing clothes here on the beach. What he’s wearing in the real world is what he wears here. There is no way that Liam would let him climb into a bathtub in a five thousand dollar suit. He wasn’t as bad a clothes horse as Hades, but William had style and would never let Hades former main squeeze get all shabby. So that meant that Liam or William wasn’t playing guardian angel. I quit calling William, Billy Envoy a while back. He didn’t call me Edward. I couldn’t call him Billy. We had enough respect for each other for that much.

My arms tightened around him. “Where the hell are you?”

“Sitting here with you, my Fallen.”

I could feel myself getting angry. “You were here yesterday. You’re not supposed to be back here until next month. Liam would never have allowed you to...”

“I do not beg permission from Liam.”

“Who’s watching your body?”

Sasha straightened his shoulders as if to say bring it on. Lex does that when he’s pulling a stubborn attitude. I’d never noticed that before. “Damn it! You’re doing this by yourself! Are you stupid!! You could drown.”

“I am fine. There is no need for this worry.”

I shoved Sasha forward and scrambled out from under his weight. “Go back. Go back now.”

He pivoted on his left him in the sand and stared up at me. “You need me.”

“Yes! I need you. I need you alive and breathing!! Where are you? Are you at the penthouse? You have to be. You couldn’t do it at Von Drachenfeld.” Sasha jumped to his feet and caught me in his arms. I stiffed my elbows and shoved myself backwards off his shoulders. Our legs were tangled and our groins were grinding together. Not in a fun way.

“Sex!”

“I can’t lose you too. I can’t lose another important person from my life today.”

“Fallen...”

I fought my way off of Vladimir’s chest and ended up sprawled on the floor of the limo. I twisted to find three sets of Lycan eyes staring down at me. “Phone...I need a phone now.”
My voice was tight with tears and grief. I ended up rubbing at my eyes like a young winglet who’s stayed up way past bedtime. I got handed a blackberry. My hands were quivering so much I dropped the damn thing. Pytor picked it up and held it to dial for me. “Call Shadoe Inc.”

The red Russian dialled the phone then handed it to me when it began to ring. I didn’t even wait for the receptionist to start talking. “This is Lord Von Drachenfeld. Medical Emergency. Patch me through to Security.”

There were a few hasty clicks then head of security dayshift was on the line with me. “Lord Claudius is up in the penthouse bathroom. He’s unconscious. Drag his sorry ass out of the water, make sure he’s breathing then back off. He’ll be pissed when he wakes up.”

“On our way, milord.”

If he wakes up. Sasha can be the most level headed Vampire I have ever known but then he can go and do something reckless. Too reckless. He could drown. He could drown in the tub and there would be no one there to save him. He’s already used up his two trips. He had gotten stronger coming to the Beach and playing with me, laying with me, being with me but he wasn’t that strong yet.

“Shadoe Inc. Step on it.” Pytor ordered through the security window.

The limo lurched forward as an unknown Loyal put the pedal to the metal. I was climbing to my feet and the change sent me crashing into Vladimir’s chest. His arms came up and anchored me to him. I ended up the middle of a puppy sandwich. Vlad took my face in his hands and wiped at my cheeks.

“Tears do not become you Alpha Sex.”

A sad smile crossed my face.

“Haley never wanted to see you cry, Sex. You have shed enough tears over him. You and your brothers have honoured him more than he could have ever hoped.” Paws stroked either side of my waist and Manu rubbed his cheek back and forth on my back.

“It doesn’t make the hurt go away.”

“No it doesn’t.”
“Lord Claudius is in danger?”

I sniffed and just leaned bonelessly on Vlad. “If he’s not, he’s going to be. He can be such a winged ass every once in a while.”

“He loves you, Alpha Sex.” Pytor leaned his chin up on my shoulder.

“I know...”

“You’re beautiful. Lord Claudius pines for you when you are gone.”

“Pines?” Evergreens? He does something with trees?

Vlad’s chest chuckled and all of us shifted. “He longs for you when you are not here.”

Ooh. Duh. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, Lord Sex, but could you get your knee out of my crotch.” Vlad groaned as the limo dipped into a pot hole.

We moved into a new vampire, wolf, wolf, wolf combination, something like a rubik’s cube. I was still in the middle of the tangle of limbs. Manu had Pytor in his arms and they where sort of wrapped around my waist. I was now propped up against Vlad. His arm came down across my chest.

“So you guys dance.”

“So do you.”

“You made Az look good.”

“Azrael has many hidden talents.”

“So he’s a puppy now too eh?”

“King Azrael is an Alpha.”

“So he does make you look like yellow snow?”

I got a feral look down at me for about a blink of an eye then it faded. “Dah.”

I started giggling. Both the Lycan Lovers snorted and snickered below me. Vlad narrowed his eyes at them. We tried to stifle our merriment but I broke out in a big laugh. He started laughing too. Both Manu and Pytor ended up rolling off the seat and squirming on each other like litter mates more than long time lovers.

This laughter broke the tension of the day. Too much sadness. Too much stress. Too much violence. Now Sasha was adding to it. I laughed until my side began to hurt. I curled up around the big white Russian. His paw came down and pet my hair. “Prince Haley was special to us all. It is only fitting that both Alpha Xavier and you feel his passing more. You were more like littermates than just friends. I know that Haley thought of you as his little brother.”

“Little brother?”

“Well you are almost twenty years his junior.”

“Thank you, guys. They might call Azrael King, but without you, he couldn’t have done it.”

“We are the Von Drachenfeld Imperials.” Manu sat up and flipped a wayward lock of hair from his face.

“It is our honor to fight by our Alpha’s side. Truthfully, a King is a step down from Emperor.”

I turned and looked at the red fox. The merriment was gone from my face. “Good Alphas have died today for the throne. The Nation is weakened because of this.”

Pytor ducked his head. “I’m sorry that was in poor taste.”

I reached out and pet his red hair. “This isn’t over. This sorceress is still free out there. Sasha pointed out that she has targeted those the brotherhood cares for. She wants to make us suffer.” The limo pulled up to the front doors of Shadoe Inc. “Keep my family safe, my Imperials. I’m going to kick some common sense into my husband.”

A Loyal opened the back door of the limo. The light of the afternoon sun flooded the back. “Then what, Alpha?”

“Then this Serephina is going to understand the true meaning of suffering.” I climbed over Vladimir and stepped into the true light of day. I had no clue who this woman was but if she hated us for something we had done in the past, she was going to find out what Von Drachenfeld could do...especially with the Regency and the House of Assassins behind us. Her death wouldn’t bring Haley back to his puppies, nor his people, but, it would make me a hell of a whole lot happier.