Somewhere In Between

Title: Somewhere In Between
Author: MakaiKitty
Rating: NC-17
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, Catbois, Vampire Sex, Werewolf Sex, Daemon Sex, Anal, Rimming, Death, Angst
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...

Author's Notes: I'm done! This is the first of the last four chapters, and I've got them all sitting on my harddrive waiting to be posted. Yay! Please let me know what you think. This took me a lot longer than planned (13 months instead of 6) but I think in the end I'm mostly happy with it. I hope you all are too!

I'll be posting twice a week (Thrusdays and Mondays) and the final chapter will be posted on Memorial Day. Enjoy!

Somewhere In Between

Chapter Twenty-One: Point of No Return

The distance between their rooms had always seemed minimal to Victor, but now that he ran down the hallway that would lead him to his sister's room it felt like miles lay in his way. The grey stone of the castle walls blurred before his eyes, the cool air going unnoticed against his bare chest, Caspian's dagger a comforting weight where it was tucked securely against the small of his back, the sound of his shoes slapping against the ground lost to the roar of his own heartbeat in his ears. If he passed anyone in the hallways Victor didn't notice them, so intent was he on reaching Lennora's side.

He was even more determined now that her screaming had become a near deafening and continual sound that echoed throughout the castle as well as the insides of his head.

He could still see Tamara in his mind's eye, laying cold and unmoving against the dark surface of his couch, and he could not bear the thought of laying his sister beside her. The very thought gave him a renewed burst of speed, but all too soon he was stopped dead in his tracks by the sound of a cold and humorless laugh. He knew that laugh all too well, and although the desire to get to his sister was nearly all consuming, Victor had made a promise to Tamara as he'd closed her crystalline eyes for the very last time. A promise that he intended to keep.

"Talfryn." The one word held enough venom to sear a less confident man down to his very soul. Talfryn, however, only sneered and continued to look down at Victor as he laughed.

"Why such a rush?" He leapt down from the slightly raised alcove that he had been leaning in, the tales of his shadow grey waistcoat flaring up behind him as he landed lightly on the tips of his toes. Victor was sure that the dramatic effect was for his benefit, but he didn't really care. "Is something the matter? I do hope that it's not one of your women. Although, if you're looking for your lamb, I can save you the trouble. She should still be right where I left her."

Victor roared wordlessly and launched himself at Talfryn.

The suddenness of it caught Talfryn off guard, and he didn't have the time to move before Victor plowed into him, the other vampire's shoulder connecting with his stomach with the thick sound of flesh hitting flesh. It knocked the breath out of him, and left the elder vampire momentarily stunned. His head hit the unforgiving stones of a wall, blurring his vision and leaving him unable to fend off the rapid fire blows that were suddenly coming at him from every angle. All the while the sound of Victor's growling filled Talfryn's ears, mingling with the sound of his own ragged breath as he fought to find himself again.

***
"Sorrel..."

"You know, Lennora dearest, I've been wanting to try this with you for years now." Sorrel spoke conversationally, as though there wasn't a keening lycanthrope hybrid writhing at her feet, begging her for help as the moons threatened to tear her apart. There was something strangely detached about the normally sharp sorceress, and even through the haze of pain that was wracking her frail body Lennora knew that nothing she said or did would have the strength to reach her once kind and indulgent benefactor. "Your brother, stubborn boy that he is, would never let me go through with it. I always knew that. I really didn't want to upset him, so I never tried anything more than a small experiment here and there, but now things are different. Victor needs to learn that he can't always have his way."

"Sorrel, please."

"It'll stop soon, Lennora. Don't worry." Sorrel patted the younger girl on the head like a pet, and even that small touch seemed to send Lennora into a new fit of screaming. "I made you to be strong. The moons are only testing you, and you will prevail in the end. I'm certain of it." Although, in truth, Sorrel didn't seem at all certain. Anything but, actually. She muttered to herself, looking up at the twin moons with a wrinkle of her noble brow. "At least, that's how it's supposed to go."

Sorrel looked down suddenly as she felt a strong tug at the hem of her long skirt. Lennora's mouth looked to be trying to form her name again, but all the girl seemed capable of was laying on her side and grasping futilely at Sorrel's skirt. There was a strange movement across her skin, just under the surface, that rippled steadily from one end of her body to the other, showing strongest in the pained lines of her face. Her gold and black eyes also had taken on a strange glow, shining brightly even from behind her closed lids. Then Sorrel saw the lengthening of Lennora's nails as her hands began to take on the shape of claws. She congratulated herself upon that sight.

"Not to worry, Lennora." Her smile was lost on the shrieking werewolf. "It looks like things are progressing perfectly."

***
"The bitch didn't know her place!" Talfryn screamed, narrowly avoiding another blow aimed at his face. "And neither do you!"

"Tamara didn't know her place so you murdered her!?!" That was too much, even for Talfryn. Victor had known that the pureblood was stuck-up, overly sure of his race's superior place in the world, and more than a little obsessed with his noble birth, but he hadn't known that he was capable of such coldhearted and callous hatred. "Will you murder me too? Am I not good enough to live now?"

"If only I were allowed." He tried for a cocky sneer, but Talfryn's normally cool and collected air was ruined by the fact that he was panting and bleeding, fighting tooth and nail with a vampire who had the advantage of both a lycanthrope's strength and a man's heartache. "Mother still loves you, for whatever reason. But if you keep pushing me, then I can't be held responsible for what I'm forced to do to defend myself. Mother will understand. After all, only one of us is her real son."

"Not allowed?!?" Victor knew that he should try to calm down, to fight with his mind instead of his heart, but every time that he tried to do this he would picture Tamara and he would feel another fit of passion forcing him to tear the other vampire apart. Then he would feel his sister's screams filling his head and everything would go red. "She was your mother's fucking lover!"

"And now she's dead." He knew that his next words would form a blow that would hit harder than any fist ever could. "Besides, who do you think told me to get rid of the little slut in the first place?"

"Liar!"

"Better be careful, or you might be next." Talfryn would have laughed, but an enraged vampire slamming into him with the full force of a grown male body resulted in it coming out more as a pained gasp. He barely had time to put up his hands before the next barrage of blows began to fly. "Bastard."

Looking into Victor's firey black eyes, full of hatred that burned deep into the other man's soul, Talfryn knew that Victor wasn't just angry. He was furious. Filled with hatred and a thirst for revenge. And he was out for blood. Hoping that his mother would forgive him, Talfryn reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a bejeweled dagger, brandishing it at the other vampire, pleased to see Victor pause as his eyes caught sight of the weapon.

"Children shouldn't play at adult's games." Talfryn teased, taking Victor's hesitancy for fear.

When Victor at last looked up into Talfryn's confident gray eyes his own were not filled with the shock that the other man was expecting, Victor could tell, and it brought a humorless smile to his lips. Never looking away from Talfryn, never faltering, Victor reached behind himself and pulled Caspian's dagger from it's sheath where it had been resting at the small of his back. He took a moment to turn the dagger slowly, letting it catch the flickering firelight, reflecting the flames of the torches menacingly.

"You are so right, Talfryn." The fire drained from his eyes, and what was left was colder than ice and more than enough to send a shiver down the other man's spine. "So very right."

***
Claws that hadn't been there before. Fangs that were longer than they should be. A face that was slightly distorted in ways that the eye couldn't quite catch and the mind couldn't quite process. Fur that was drenched in blood. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. It wasn't what she'd planned. When had it all gone so wrong?

"Sorrr... growl... ellll..."

"It's just the Moon, my dear." Sorrel didn't know who she was trying to convince anymore. She hadn't thought that the moon's effects would be so strong, or that Lennora would take the change so badly. In truth, she hadn't even thought that the girl could make the change. She had hoped that the wolfsbane would give the hybrid a boost in strength, maybe heighten her senses, not begin the process of turning her into a full-wolf. And, now that she had started, Sorrel wasn't at all certain how to stop it.

A whimper was the only response that Sorrel received. One that was more a whine than anything else, because wolves can't exactly whimper. Not that it really mattered. Whimper or whine, either way it spoke of pain and anguish and unimaginable suffering.

In response, Sorrel stepped back, just out of reach as a clawed hand reached for the hem of her gown again. "It'll all be better once the change is done. Just wait it out, darling."

Lennora couldn't respond. Although, could she have managed the very non-wolf ability of speech, she would have argued that it didn't feel like it would all be better soon. It felt like she was being torn apart from the inside. Like something within her was trying to get out, and it didn't matter if that meant destroying everything that she was in the process.

"Just wait it out." Sorrel repeated, taking a deep breath, trying her best to center herself. She was the Lady Sorrel. Nothing rattled her. Nothing. Furthermore, she did not make mistakes. If this was how things were turning out, if this was the result of her experiment, then obviously this was how it was meant to be. She just had to wait it out.

Sorrel walked over to the room's overstuffed white couch, smoothing her skirts out with hands that had ceased to tremble as she sat. She watched Lennora still writhing on the floor, but the eyes that watched her had resumed their usual cool and dispassionate air of detachment. She began to mentally take notes, ever the scientist, watching the changes that her hybrid went through with mild curiosity and nothing more. The experiment was now out of her hands, and its results would be as much of a mystery to her as to anyone. It was mildly disconcerting, but there was nothing that she could do about it now.

"I really wish that you could stop screaming though," she wasn't accustomed to talking to herself, or to muttering out loud, but it was preferable to hearing the lycanthrope's shrieking. She couldn't admit it to herself, but the sounds wounded Sorrel. She had created this child, reared her and watched her grow into a sweetly simple young woman. No matter how cold she could often seem, how empty or unfeeling, the suffering before her did not sit well with Sorrel. The talking was as much to silence her own mind's cries as to drown out Lennora's. "You'll wake the whole castle if you're not careful. I really should have done this during the day, when such things are expected, commonplace even. I'll be surprised if your brother doesn't come running in here any moment now."

Victor. She'd been trying to put the other vampire out of her mind all night. She still wasn't sure how she was going to deal with him. He needed to learn his lesson. Needed to learn who was in charge. Besides, it wasn't like she was going to let his sister die. There had already been too much bloodshed for one day, and Sorrel didn't want to have to put another young woman into the cold ground anytime soon. She just needed to teach Victor a lesson about control. About who held the power in their relationship. Once he knew his place then things would be peaceful between them again. Things would go back to normal. Her obedient son would be returned to her. That is why you're doing this, Sorrel reminded herself. This is all for Victor. She only hoped that he'd understand when it was all over. Understand that it had all been for him. He was, after all, the future of the kingdom. He just didn't know it yet.

***
Talfryn had age, experience, and size to his advantage. He should have been able to take Victor easily. The other vampire was, truth be told, just a boy with no real battle experience to lend him strength. In fact, Talfryn wasn't even sure if Victor had even been trained to fight. His mother had always seemed more concerned with teaching her pet hybrid the mysteries of science and knowledge, not the difficult physical skills that most males were trained in. Not that he had been trained to fight either, but at least he had been in a fair number of bar brawls. All of which he had won, one way or the other.

He should have been winning this time as well. But he wasn't.

"I'll see you rot in the earth for what you have done!" Victor wasn't even breathing hard, and his pale and perfect body didn't have a single scratch on it, and that fact alone infuriated Talfryn to no end.

"In your dreams, mutt!" Talfryn barely dodged Victor's blade, and his shoulder caught painfully against the corner of the stone wall before he was able to spin his body around and parry the next blow. "You'll wish you were dead by the time that I'm done with you."

Victor was relying purely on instinct, his vision blurred by red hot hatred, and every time his blade struck home his heart rejoiced. He knew that maiming, or even killing Talfryn wouldn't bring Tamara back, and that fighting with the other vampire wasn't helping him reach his sister any faster, but it still felt unbelievably good to share even a portion of his pain with the other man. Any other time that bloodlust might have bothered him, but not this time. Talfryn deserved to suffer. And Victor felt that he deserved his revenge.

The ragged scream coming from Talfryn was almost completely unexpected. Victor was so lost in the darkness that surrounded him that he hadn't realized that he had wounded Talfryn until the blood was flowing hot across his fist, right where it gripped the hilt of his dagger.

Both men looked down with synchronous movements to see the knife sticking out of Talfryn's side, hilt deep, neither one really comprehending what had just happened. They froze, their fight suddenly so much truer than it had been only moments before, first blood going to the supposed underdog. Until that blow had been struck the fight had somehow remained unreal to the two young vampires. Afterwards, it was almost surreal.

Then Victor pulled out the blade. The two boys, now silent, backed away from each other, readied their weapons, and lunged at each other simultaneously. It was time to end the battle. No matter what it took.

***
The pain had to be unimaginable. It was all that Sorrel could do to keep her eyes trained on the werewolf as she continued with the painful change.

Lennora looked more wolf than woman. Fur was more prominent than flesh. What was once pale had gone darkly golden, drenched now in a fresh coat of blood. Hands turned to paws. Nails to claws. Teeth to fangs. Jaws to snout. And nothing was as it should be.

She couldn't even scream anymore.

***
The knife tore deep into the meat of his upper arm, but Victor barely flinched. The strangled howl coming from further down the hallway took the sting from the wound and diverted it directly to his heart. The emotional wound hurt more than anything that a blade could inflict.

Talfryn was suddenly forgotten, and Victor moved to go past the older vampire without so much as a last glance, remembering why he had run out of his rooms in the first place. Remembering that some things were far more important than revenge.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Talfryn growled. "We're not done here."

"Yes," the dagger moved with lightening speed, finding it's mark unerringly, "we are."

Talfryn looked down at the dagger where it was sticking out of his chest, gasping in mixture of shock and pain, wanting to scream as the blade was pulled from his chest but unable to as thick blood filled his mouth and he fell to his knees.

He was left kneeling on the ground, watching as Victor turned his back on him and walked steadily towards the other end of the hallway. He could not follow.

***
The change should have been complete. With any normal lycanthrope it would have been over ages ago. Nearly painlessly. But Lennora was no ordinary lycanthrope. And nothing was going as planned.

But Sorrel did not see Lennora's suffering. Her mind was with another.

"Did she suffer this much?" Sorrel didn't want to doubt herself. She had made the right choice. It wouldn't haunt her dreams for years to come. It wouldn't. "No, he wouldn't do that to me."

The door crashing open interrupted her musings. There, standing in the doorway, was Victor, panting with anger and exertion, dark tracks of blood covering his naked torso, his eyes full of murderous hatred.

Sorrel knew at that moment that not everyone in the room would be surviving the night.

"What have you done?!"

TBC ...