Clove : Book 4 of Lord Emperor Vampire Series

I have ‘liberated’ a laptop for the weekend. Let’s see if I can get two chappies done!!

P.S. I have a very important poll over in FORUMs / Original Writing / Claudius vs Sex. It gives you some options regarding the challenge for Head of the House. Vote please. I’m torn about what to do. I hope this will help me make up my mind.

QA Later – I will come back and fill it in.

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It’s later and boy do I have a lot to acknowledge….thank you very much for your well wishes and concerns. Me and my fuzzies are fine. I’ve just spent the morning re-arranging the place. The fact that the bastards or bitches sat on my bed and selected the movies they wanted out of my collection just creeped me out. Ewwww. Funny, they left Hellboy and my complete Xena tv series collection. No accounting for taste, I guess. HA!

Gail
Q: In chapter 11 do all the brothers look alike or what? Mean do they all look the same and have the same wings?
A: Get thee back to Cake. (evil eye) Just kidding. The boys are multiple personalities who are aware of each other. They are each distinct and based on this individuality, the powers/gifts of the Blue Line is different. Ie. Azrael, can’t heal, can’t use the hand of light but he does get the phoenix wings. Sex and X are the same gifts, only Sex can master things quicker because of his position as the original brother. In the ‘alternate’ universe called the Darkness or the Beach, the boys true individuality shows itself. X reverts back to the original vampire that Armor birthed. Sex is the pale white angel that Liam influenced. Az is just a vampire assassin and Skell….well he isn’t defined yet. The physical body remains the same. The only different in the real world is the clothing preferences between the brothers. Right now, everyone is wearing Sex’s slut clothes because they happen to fit.

Spirit
O:I thought that Skell and lanny’s scene was a little too picture-perfect, since Skell went through several years of conditioning
A: Interesting. Yah, it could be seen that way. I found Skell was thinking a little too much to be lost in the moment. Is that a sign of a considerate lover, or is that one way of fighting that conditioning by consciously putting your partner first? I chose the later.

Thanks and kudos to the Loyal! This covers chapters 20 & 21. Again thank you for your well wishes and comments. Dealings out strawberry pocky sparingly to make sure it goes around. ENJOY!

Rorarin; rosei; darma;anon; mystic87; Marin Liliz; crmson vixen; duelriel; natana; k; rosemary; kailsean s. krain; mihara; laur; gail; rosemary; rainy; romanticfae; dark avenger; spirit and dramastarelf.


Chapter 157: Sexasha Healing

I snatched the ears from his hair. “Take those off before someone sees you.” I smiled at him with tears in my eyes.

“If Liam can wander Von Drachenfeld in sheeps ears and a fluffy tail and not think anything of it…I can do cat ears.” His embraced tightened painfully. I didn’t care. His arms were around me. “I never thought you would come to me, Fallen. I was trying to build my courage and come to you. To beg you to come and talk to me.”

“I never thought you would keep this…I plucked at the faded pink shirt “much less wear it.”

“I have fore gone pajamas for these. I fall asleep with you on my mind. I wake up the same way. Are you here for the night?” There was a spark of hope in his eyes. I didn’t know really what the hell I wanted, I just knew I had to see him again before noon.

“If you’ll let me.”

“If I could, I would keep you here.”

“I wouldn’t fight you too hard. Armor and Azrael might have something to say about that.”

Claudius gestured to the living room. I shook my head and turned toward the bedroom. Father had fallen into a rut. I didn’t think that I mattered that much. It was touching. Claudius wasn’t following. I stopped and looked back at him.

“If you go there, you are not leaving until morning.”

“I need to tell you some things, Sasha. I want to be in your arms when I tell you for my peace of mind and maybe for yours as well.”

“Sex…”

“I am going to say this once then I am never going to mention it again.” I held out my arm. “Can you bear to hear it...my Son?”

Claudius caught my hand and pulled me to him. “The things that Orel Wessel has done to you. Have your bore this burden on your own?”

“I’m the First brother. It’s my burden to bear.”

“A burden shared is a lighter load.”

“Who did you share your load with?”

“That is not my way.”

I took a deep breath. “Maybe if you talked to me , I wouldn’t have been blindsided. I understand the importance of heritage, of lineage. I’m not…unintelligent.”

“You are not stupid Sex. If that is what you thought, I am sorry. As head of the family, I had always had to stand on my own. I have never had the luxury of being able to lean on someone.”

“Marcus told Azrael he was a big child because you needed him to be. Is that what you are trying to make into now? A helpless, silly child? I may act childish, Sasha, but I’m not. If you knew half of the things I’ve done…”

“I know you are not a child, Sex. I cannot say that being a protector is my nature. You know of my humanhood -- I was predator of the worst kind. Is it wrong to try and protect those I care for?”

“Not to the point of smothering.”

“That was never my intent. I want to wrap you in bubble wrap and shelter you from harm. Is that so wrong? As a Father, as a lover, is wanting to do that so wrong?”

“We are not normal…Sasha. When I’m weak, I want nothing more than to run to you. I know your arms are strong enough to shelter me but…” My voice trailed off as his thumbs rubbed my tears into his cheeks.

“But?”

“I have to be able to stand on my own and shelter those I love as well. Lean on me Father. I’ll lean on you and maybe we can get through all the troubles together. What happened these last seven years is not your doing. Orel Wessel was waiting for any sign, any opportunity to get their hands on the winged fledgling. You don’t need my forgiveness, Father. There is nothing to be forgiven.”

“Then why is there a gaping hole in my chest. My grandchildren fill most of it, but I know it is there. Just weeping.”

Sasha knew how to make me cry. Even after all this talk about not being a child, I clung to him like a sleepy three year old. He carried me to the bedroom and eased me down on the mattress. He brushed my hair back from my face and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Rest, my Fallen. I will get you something else to wear.”

Time had marched on in the outside world. Claudius’ bedroom was unchanged. I lifted an arm and lay my forearm across my forehead staring up at the ceiling. I began counting the holes in the acoustical tile. It felt odd to lay surrounded my Claudius’ close scent and not have him in me, or on me or just beside me. I grabbed his pillow and curled around it burying my nose into the case.

It definitively smelled like home. Well MY home. And I was so tired. Just a moment. I’ll close my eyes for just a moment.


I woke up on the beach, on my lounger. I actually heard laughter. I frowned and turned my head to see my younger brothers playing…hackysack? Azrael kicked the small beanbag over and it plopped right beside me in the sand.

“Hey, what the hell are you doing here?”

I sat up. My white hair flopped all around me. What was I doing here? I should be with my Sasha right now.

“Sex?” Xavier trotted over and picked up the ball. Skell bounced up. Oh, god, he’s got my energy. “Azrael asked you a question?” X tossed himself down on my lounger.

“I fell asleep.”

“So your spirit walking?”

I tried to sense around me. “No…no, the feel isn’t the same. It just doesn’t seem to be that difficult anymore.”

Skell came up and crouched beside us. He looked content. His hair was swept back off his face and his, for the lack of a better word, virtual clothes were the grey uniform of Orel Wessel. I was going to have to take that boy shopping. “It was probably the drugs.”

I glanced at Skell sharply. “Huh?”

“I got shot up everyday. Somedays it was a different cocktail and it would leave me feeling weird and out of touch. I couldn’t get grounded. I thought I was hallucinating. I kept seeing my face with red hair, short white hair, long white hair. I must have been dropping into the Dark and didn’t realize that you guys were real.”

X looked over at Skell, “You told them about this?”

“A few times…then I realized that when I did, the meds got stronger and messed me up even more. After a while, I just said I was lost in the dark. I didn’t know you guys existed.”

Azrael reached out and knocked Skell’s head. Skell pivoted on one knee and kicked Az’s feet from under him and then they tumbled away from X and me rolling in the sand like a couple of puppy Lycans.

“Boys will be boys.” X shook his red hair. He pulled his legs up onto my lounger then looked over at me. He had that expression on his face that told me what he was going to say was going to piss me off but he had to say it.

“Have you forgiven Father?”

“There was nothing to forgive.”

“You hated him for years.”

“That was then. If Marcus can grow up. So can I.”

“That is pretty damned amazing.”

“That’s my Puppy!” I winced as Az got tackled and ended up with a mouthful of sand. I brought my attention back to X.

“Spit it out.”

“Don’t tell him. Don’t tell Father anything about what Orel Wessel did to us. Especially you. I realize now that Claudius is a sensitive soul He takes Fatherhood too seriously. It would only hurt him. He knows it was bad enough that Skell had to come into being.”

“You want me to lie?”

X reached out and laid a hand on my knee. “You already know that Father will not step aside from the challenge. Tell him what we collapsed under Orel Wessel’s psychological and pharmaceutical attacks aren’t going to make him sympathic. In fact, I can only see it enraging him and making him even more resolute in his belief that he has to keep us safe.”

“I’m never telling Armor. Az won’t tell Marcus, no matter how much he has grown. He has proven to be a little, ahem…unstable. Skell. Skell is just happy to be here. I can’t see any benefits coming out of telling him, Sex.”

I grunted at X and turned my head back toward the tousling twosome.

I got a slap to the side of my head. X pointed a finger in my face. “And I saw what they did to you. Me and Az couldn’t get sound but we were able to link into you and get a picture. It could be like a foreign film, I might not have gotten the meaning of every syllable but I sure as hell understood what was going on.”

“I fought them, Sex. I fought them long and hard and somehow they locked me up. I’m pissed I got taken out but I know that I tried. I clawed my way all the way to the Darkness. Azrael did the same thing…and so did you. We got spanked – hard. But none of us willingly bent over and took it, so you shouldn’t be feeling guilty about falling under the onslaught either.”

“It’s kind of creepy to say it, but you made a “mini me” before they kicked your ass out. You made Skell. Not Orel Wessel. Ewwww, now that I say it out loud, it sounds like incest. Is anything getting through that white hair of yours?”

“You can be the best brother in the world X, then in the next breath you can be a complete asshole.”

“And you love me for it.”

I kicked him off my lounger. “Yes, I do.”

X leaned his forearms across the leg rest. His face had dropped into serious mode. “As for that other stuff…about Azrael asking Father to take you. Of me, asking Father to service you. My only excuse is that we didn’t know you. The little that we did know scared us, Sex. You were like a feral child grabbing at anything and everything and both of us didn’t help you much or welcome you. Father did that.” X let a wry chuckle out. “Father tamed you.”

I opened my mouth to protest…but he did.

“And you healed him. You guys need each other. You need to heal each other and you need to get started on it before noon. Otherwise, one is of you is going to end up dead…and I mean Claudius. Go home, big brother. You got work to do.”

“How is he?”

“He’s adjusting Sex. There is so much of you in him.” I heard a yell and saw Skell go flying as Az flipped him over his shoulder. “And..more of Az. No so much of me…well not that I can see.”

“About his wings?”

X shook his head, “Track down Shade. Have her look at your shield, our shield. I think Skell might have one encompassing ours. If it is, it’s an unconscious desire because he has no clue what I am even talking about when I mention shields. Well the mechanics of one anyway.”

I nodded and climbed back to my feet. I was getting tired just watching those two. X caught my wrist. “Are you even a whisper of happy, Sex?”

“I may not be ringing bells but I’m way the hell above a whisper.”

“Good. You deserve to be happy, Sex.”

“X, just so we’re on the same page. I won’t be calling on you guys for the challenge. I have to do this myself. Win or fail, it’s my call.”

“Don’t drag it out. You get tired, accidents happen.”

“He won’t let me walk all over him.”

“He wouldn’t be Father if he did. Good Luck, Sex.”

Yeah, it was odd. I didn’t even have to try any more to get back. I took a deep breath and found my nostril cavities filled with cloves. I felt a weight on my hand. I pulled at it lightly and found it trapped. I blinked my eyes open and found myself propped against Sasha’s chest as his black wings propped up his back. He had his hand interlaced with mine, tight to my stomach. His head was cantilevered to one side and his mouth was slightly open as he slept. He looked at peace. I turned my head and really looked at him from up close.

I used to think he looked pretty damn young for being four hundred and something. He was birthed at twenty-two. He looked a little older but then listening to his hellish life, he was entitled.

“I love you.” I whispered across his darker flesh.

“You better.” One artic blue eye opened and peered down at me. “That is only the third time that I have worn those cat ears.”

“Thanks…how did that fashion show go?”

“Everybody loved the series of posters that came out. I donated all the proceeds of the sales to charity. Once word got out that you were kidnapped, Frederick thought everything would fall apart. He’s a flightly one that Vampire.”

“That’s good. I didn’t want to be ruined because I wasn’t there.” I rested my head back on his warm flesh, my forehead grazing his neck. ‘Who did they get to do it?”

“They lost the angel. Kitten could not get out of it.”

Kitten couldn’t…..ohmygod. “Frederick made you walk the catwalk?”

“Excuse me, I can shasay with the best of them.”

“I wish I could have seen that.” Xavier was getting mentally tortured at that time.

“It’s on dvd. Again all sales go for charity. It was more a theatrical production than just a fashion show. There was a story line. The devil kitty captured an angel and in the end was shown redemption in the form of black wings.”

“I’ll have to watch it one day.”

“Call off the challenge and we can watch it today.”

There it was. “Xavier has explained to you why you and I have to do this.”

“I’ll willing to listen, Fallen.”

“I can’t change your mind.” I just lay on him and stared across the room. He had changed nothing. Oh, Sasha, is this your own version of a shrine?

“I cannot change yours? So where does that leave us, my Fallen Angel?”

“It leaves us facing each other at noon in front of the entire House.” I rested for a moment then struggled to sit up. “X told me I didn’t need it, but I need your forgiveness, Claudius.”

I could feel his eyes on me as I twisted around and knelt on the bed between his legs I lowered my head and set my hands before me flat on the covers. “You asked for my show of loyalty and I bolted. I embarrassed you in front of the House and the High Council. My inability to stop and think is no excuse.”

“I swear Loyalty and service to you, Claudius the First, Lord Emperor of the Vampire Nation.”

I got hauled upright by my upper arms. “Do not…”

“You are the true Von Drachenfeld heir.”

“You are my father.” Claudius shook me.

“Don’t fuck with my head.” I pulled at my arms.

“The question has been raised, my Fallen. Which has more legitimacy? Blood or a Bite. If it is blood, you are the true Lord Emperor. I birthed Marcus. I do not know but I might have set up some blue dormant genes within him and when he bit you, it was a blue line calling to a blue line. If it is bite, you are still the true Lord Emperor. Katrina birthed me. I was a Crimson Flame. Everyone knows that. It is your bite that re-birthed me to the blue line. Sigmund may have been my father, but I am illegitimate. Lenore may have been a red vampire but she was an acknowledged child of the House of Von Drachenfeld.”

“What are you saying?”

“I am a usurper, Sex. You are the true Lord Emperor of the Vampire Nation, through lineage and heritage you are the real thing. I would not have wings if you did not give them to me.”

“Then why?”

“Liam and Hades and brought up the possibility of someone bringing this up. It coming from the Lycan Nation was unexpected”

I shook my head. “Wait. Liam and Hades told you to publicly take over as Lord Emperor?”

“I agreed with their reasoning.”

“No…no. I…Liam and Hades advised you to publicly claim to be Lord Emperor?”

“Yes”

“That’s all I need to know. What time is it?”

“7:30 a.m.”

I thought I just had taken a nap. Well…orgasm city last night. I needed it. I leaned forward and bit the end of Sasha’s nose. “I have some things to get settled before noon. You want to have dinner with me tonight?”

I had stunned Father and his hands had loosened. I slipped off the bed. I had on silk jammies. I must have been out like a light bulb to not have reacted him undressing me.

“I am not forfeiting.”

I swept my hair back over my shoulders and looked around for Hades hand-me-down suit when I spied a nice pile of clothes. I shucked my silk pants and boxers. “Sex?” I turned and looked over at Sasha. His eyes were just a flare up from a true blue flame as he looked at my naked skinny body. Well I was thin, not skinny anymore. You couldn’t count my ribs and vertebrae any longer.

“Not right now, Kitty. Haven’t you heard you are not supposed to indulge the day before the big game?”

I stepped into burnt cinna orange silk boxers. A little loose but not falling off my ass loose. Skinny legged jeans. I wriggled my ass into them and heard a groan behind me. There was a pale orange tank and socks and docs. I slipped into the tank and pulled my hair out. I pulled my lovely locks into a pony tail and spied an elastic on the dresser. I flipped my hair a bit to make sure that it wasn’t going to fall out. I stilled. Under the Docs was forearm sheaths, Glocks and harness and a small blade that would slip into the small of my back.

I turned and squawked. Sasha was standing there all winged and sexy and….kissing me. One wing came around and crushed me up against his hot, delicious body. I let my tongue come out and tap his own. It didn’t take much encouragement to get the mood a but more amorous. I got a hand down the back of my pants, cupping one cheek. I broke the kiss but couldn’t go anywhere. The strength of his wings wasn’t going to let me go.

I was panting with desire. My body was tingling and my flame was ready to come forth if I wanted it. Ooooh, I wanted it. I wanted it bad…er, good…whatever. “Father, thy name should be Sin. My Sin Sasha. As much as I want you to feather my ass…” I got a smile from his perfect lips, “I got things to do this morning. Noon comes quick.”

“Such as?”

I got a thigh pressed up against my stirring erection. He dry humped me. Sinful Sasha indeed. “Sex?”

“I haven’t met my children yet.”

I almost fell on my ass as the great black wings dissolved in a glitter of light. “Yes, you should meet your children, Sex.” I closed my eyes as he zipped up my pants and buttoned them closed. “What makes you think you will want to eat dinner with me tonight? I said, I cannot back down from the challenge. Do you think you can defeat me?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry I’ll try and make it quick. Can Marcus do the assigns today? I have errands that are going to tie me up.”

“You are First for one day and already you are slacking off.”

I gave him the belt dagger and he slid it into my waist band of my jeans. Okay, finger walking down to the end zone. I lifted my head and bit his chin and didn’t let go. His hands came up in the universal sign of surrender.

I bundled the rest of my gear in Hade’s suit coat and turned back to my magnificent winged kitty. “After you get kicked out of the House, I want you back up as First. What will that take, about a week?”

Father’s eyes flashed angrily, “What makes you so confident that you are going to win? You cannot surprise me like the last time in the Arena. You use the Hand of Light, so will I and I do not have the same fine control as yours.”

“Father. That’s cheating.”

“Xavier used it on Hades.”

“Hades is a prick. He still has outstanding debts to this Family. I’m not that thrilled about being his welcoming angel in that den of iniquity. So, dinner? You want to go out?”

“You do realize that we are having a duel at noon.”

I didn’t feel like putting on the shoes so I laid them on top of my hidden weaponry. “That’s just business, Sasha. I try not to bring my work home. Pick a restaurant. I want to see what other changes have been going on.”

I stood on tiptoe and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Later, Sasha.”

“SEX!” I paused at the bedroom doorway. I frowned at him. “What makes you think you are going to win?”

“I love you.”

“That is it?”

“I love you. I don’t want to hurt you so I’m going to take you down quickly. Anything else? I’m burning daylight here.”

“I love you, too.”

I grinned back at him. “I know that.” I gave him a slight wave and headed out into the doorway back to the elevators.

I knew that Sasha loved me. He stopped living and only existed until I came back to him. Besides, now I had somewhere else to direct my anger. Liam and Hades. Well X smacked Hades around pretty good. So only Liam needed to get spanked. The Ancients had been the first to drop and genuflect to Claudius when Bruce the Lycan had shown up. No, it wasn’t my fault. It wasn’t Sasha’s. All the blame falls onto Liam’s broad shoulders.

But first, I had to get ready to make an entrance. A statement if you will. “The Lord Emperor Xavier the First”was in the House, although disguised as me, was back. But first, I had to visit a few old friends.

Tick tock, Liam, tick tock.
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