Crimson Dreams

I was standing in the middle of Alex's meeting hall between him and Hayden. Rachel wasn't here yet but Lucas had texted Alex to tell him they had been trapped in a car accident on the interstate. I had scanned the room when we first got here to see if Nathan had come. When I seen he wasn't here I relaxed greatly. I was starting to get antsy again because I was standing center stage and half naked with everyone looking at us. Hayden and Alex agreed it would be best if we kept our claims hidden until their lines had been joined. A small part of me didn't want to hide or claims for the sake of rubbing it in Rachel's face but I had agreed with them.

My dress was skin tight and barely low enough to cover my rear. It was black velvet with lace along the shoulders. There was a slit down the front of the dress that ran from the top to just above my pelvic bone. That special tape that models use to hold their breast up was used to keep mine from slipping out the dress. My boots were leather with three inch spiked heels and stopped just above my knees. My hair was pulled up in a ponytail with a few strands loose to brush my shoulders. The jacket I wore was more like a cape since it stopped just before the floor and only covered my backside and part of my upper arms. It hid my upper arm sheaths well.

Hayden was wearing his typical black jeans with a black trench coat and his black boots to finish him off. Alex was wearing brown leather pants that laced up the sides and where the zipper should be. His shirt was crimson silk with little vines woven around the cuffs and collar. Hayden was introducing Alex and me to his people who had made it on such short notice. The line was dwindling down finally and there were only about ten people left.

The man approaching was about mid twenties and an exact replica of Hayden except his eyes were a lighter blue and his hair just a touch darker. I looked from him to Hayden as I took his hand. He had a tattoo around the knuckle of his thumb of a ladybug. He shook my hand firmly with a dazzling smile that looked just like Hayden's before giving Hayden a big hug.

"Angel, this is my son Kendrick," He motioned behind Kendrick to the next vampire. "and his wife Ivy."

Ivy gave me a tight squeeze that nearly blinded me with all her light brown curls. She was very attractive with her yellow-brown eyes to match the light brown curls. She was about my size with less curves and breast.

"And these are their children, Claire and Emily." He motioned for them to come over and they did with hugs and kisses. Both were very beautiful and looked more like their mother instead of Kendrick. "These are Emily's children." He motioned to the last people in line. "Sadie, Wyatt, and Vincent." More hugs and kisses for me. "Eric and Edwin are Vincent’s sons." He motioned to two more men who waved to me. "And the rest couldn't make it."

"You have been turning your descendants?"

"Only if we wanted it." Kendrick said. He had a thick English accent.

"His sister couldn't get here in time. She is tied up at the moment but she really wanted to meet you."

"Oh Hazel has been a busy, busy little girl, pops." Kendrick said with a laugh before Ivy elbowed him in the ribs."

"Now you know my secret. A good chunk of my line is made up of my descendants. The neighbor that took the children in is also one of my line. She couldn't make it either. Her name is Elenora."

"Wow."

The sounds of movement brought our attention to the doors just as Lucas entered the hall. He bowed to Alex and dipped his head to Hayden and I. Behind him was a very petite blonde wearing a long and flowing red dress. It didn't escape my notice that Hayden's descendants wondered off as soon as the doors opened. Guess they weren't big fans of her either. I waited for Lucas to move so I could get a good look at the woman who Hayden had married while he was human.

Lucas finally stepped aside and Rachel came into view. She just under five foot but the bright red heels added another four inches. The toe her heels were open to reveal a darker shade of toenails to match her fingernails. Her face was circular with virtually no jaw line. Her eyes were so brown they almost looked black. She had pulled her hair up into intricate braids that cascaded around her face and shoulders. Add in the button nose and full lips with her tiny breast and slim hips, she was beautiful.

On her left hand was a simple diamond ring with an even simpler band. The ring was very old and I was betting it was the ring Hayden had married her with. I looked at her closely trying to see the resemblance between her and Kendrick. I was pulling a blank. She held herself with such high regard that I didn't know weather to take her hand or bow to her. Seeing how I bow to no one, I pasted on a fake smile and held my hand out to her.

"You must be Rachel." I said it nicely.

"I am." Her lips curled as she took my hand. Clearly she thought me bowing would have been better. Too bad. "Who are you?"

"I am Alex." No need to give her my full name. She wasn't important to my line.

"This is my daughter for intents and purposes." Alex said as a look of hatred crossed her face. He was casually informing her that to insult me was to insult him.

"Pretty for a human." She said before pulling her hand away from mine.

I let the human part slide. No need letting her and her people know about my mixed heritage just yet. There were four male vampires behind her and their eyes were glued to me. I turned my back on them and went to my seat beside where Tack was standing. Before people started filing in I was told to stay with Tack at all times. Marco was a little to my left behind me. Their weapons were plain for all to see so me going to them was symbolic that I was a protected human. Polo was between Alex and I and he too was visibly armed. I was armed but you couldn't see my weapons. My gun was in Tack's back pocket. If things went down badly he was going to give me my gun while fighting our way out of here.

"You, Rachel Iris Thomas, have been brought here to either accept my challenge for Hayden Cameron Edwards or relinquish him to me, Alexander Russell Blane. What is your choice?" Alex's voiced boomed through the hall.

"I, Rachel Iris Thomas, relinquish Hayden Cameron Edwards from my line to the line of Alexander Russell Blane."

"With all here to witness we will seal our oath in blood." He took a step to the first bowl in the center of the room and picked up the silver blade before slicing through his palm. He pushed on his hand to force the blood to drip into the bowl. "My blood as contract."

Rachel gave Hayden a hard stare as she met Alex and took the blade from him. Polo and Tack tensed with the hands ready to fight if she tried to attack Alex. She sliced her palm and worked the blood out to mix in the bowl with Alex's. "My blood to warrant no claim over Hayden Cameron Edwards."

I thought there would be some kind of sound or shift in the air that made the claim final but there was nothing as she handed the blade back to Alex. He held the blade back to Polo who took it and pocketed it before bending down and grabbing another blade from the second bowl. He sliced through his palm again without taking his eyes off of Rachel.

"I, Alexander Russell Blane, release you, Hayden Cameron Edwards, to your own free standing line with no claim to you or your people." He pushed his blood into the bowl as Hayden took the blade from him.

Rachel’s face went from shock to betrayal and then to down right pissed off. Polo took a step closer to Alex and effectively putting himself more between her and me. I felt Marco take a step up just as Tack did the same thing. Hayden kept his eyes on Rachel as some of his own line closed in closer. He sliced his palm and pushed some blood into the bowl.

"My blood to seal our deal." He said before handing the blade back to Alex.

"I challenge you Hayden."

"Once our rituals are over you can challenge him." Alex's voice was cool with an undertone of authority. "This is my gathering and my will comes first. There is still another ritual to take place."

"Fine. But after your ritual I challenge him to be my line again or dead."

"Alex." Alex held his hand out to me. "Let us finish what we have started."

I stood and took his outstretched hand as Hayden grabbed the blade from the last bowl. Marco had explained to me that different blades had to be used to keep the contamination down and the blood seals pure. The blade Hayden passed to Alex was a gift from Sherri to me last year. Running the length of the blade was an engraved image of a snake swallowing a dragon.

"I, Alexander Russell Blane, release you, Alexandria Taylor Blane, to the line of Hayden Cameron Edwards." He cut through his palm again and added some blood to the third bowl before passing the blade back to Hayden.

"I, Hayden Cameron Edwards, accept you, Alexandria Taylor Blane, as one of my own people." He did the same as Alex had done before passing the blade to me.

"I, Alexandria Taylor Blane, go willingly to the line of Hayden Cameron Edwards." I too sliced my palm but I had a pulse so I didn't have to push on my hand to get a few drops of blood in the bowl. I wiped the blood off the blade before tucking it into my boot where it belonged.

I looked around the room and didn't feel any different. Wasn't there a law somewhere that said if it was a big change than it was supposed to feel different? I looked at Alex's people and knew they would all still protect me with their undead lives. I looked at Hayden's people and knew that a good chunk of his people saw me as just a human who would be gone from his life in a matter of months. His descendants looked at me as their family and they too would protect me.

Kendrick stepped up to Hayden's side and gave him a hug before turning and giving me a hug as well. He was standing between Rachel and I but when he bent down to gather the bowls from the floor I seen the shock on her face bleed to rage. She turned and took in the sight of Hayden's people. They didn't all look like Hayden but I watched her piece it all together. Was she still considering challenging Hayden with their descendants there?

"I offer blood sacrifice so that my line will be joined with your line." Hayden tilted his head to the left as Alex stepped to him. A few of Hayden's guards came to circle us with their backs to us and they met in the middle with Alex’s guards who had done the same thing.

One of the vampires who had come in with Rachel cursed loudly and started coming towards the circle quickly. Tack jerked his head in the vampires’ direction and the vampire fell to the floor silently. Rachel looked down at the vampire before gathering him up in her arms. He wasn't dead. Tack had the ability to put vampires to rest for a few hours. He was kind of like a vampire tranquilizer.

Alex pulled away from Hayden and licked his lips. "Blood accepted." He said before tilting his head to the right and offering his neck to Hayden. "I offer power sacrifice so that our lines will be better protected from outside threats."

When Hayden sank his fangs into Alex I felt the rush of power. Alex was channeling his aura through his blood and into Hayden. Hayden's aura absorbed most of Alex's aura and what Hayden didn't take he pushed back to Alex. Their auras flared to sight and I resisted the urge to rub my arms as a thousand ants marched along my skin. The whole thing lasted less than ten seconds but when Hayden pulled away from Alex he stumbled and Kendrick caught him.

I ran to Hayden's side just as his eyes fluttered closed. The control he had on keeping our claims hidden broke. I heard Rachel gasp along with a handful of Hayden's own people. Guess they were reconsidering how long I was going to be around. I looked at Kendrick who winked at me and motioned to Alex. I stood and walked to Alex. He looked better than Hayden. He was standing with a content smile on his face with Marco supporting most of his weight.

"It is done. From this day fourth our lines are joined."

I gave Alex a tight hug before turning to look at Rachel. The hate in her eyes was shone with unshed tears. In a way I felt sorry for her. She still loved him. She may have fucked up and then gone about the wrong way to make him forgive her but she still loved him. Add that to finding out her children were vampires who have been hidden right under her nose and she was going through a lot of pain. A small part of me may have felt sorry for her but it wasn't enough for me to concern myself over.

"Do you still challenge Hayden?"

She looked from me to Alex and then to Hayden. When she spoke it was softly and barely audible even with my super hearing. "No. To fight him would bring war on my people. He is not worth that." She still had the sleeping vampire in her arms as she turned and left the meeting hall with the other three vampires close on her heels.

"Lucas?" I called

"Yes ma'am?" He stepped between Polo and Tack.

"Take three more vampires and two demons with you to escort her from our city. If she doesn't go willingly then I will handle her myself." I didn't look to Kendrick to see if he approved of my threatening his mother. She may be his mother but this city belonged to Alex and I wasn't going to let her hurt our people.

"Yes ma'am." He said with a bow before leaving to gather people and follow her.

Alex pulled back from one of his humans and walked to my side just as Hayden wrapped his arms around me. "Nice to know you still protect this city as your own."

"Am I no longer to do so?" I asked. I hadn't thought about the fact I was no longer Alex's.

"You are still heir to my line so you have every right to protect this city by all means."

"She's heir to your line?" This came from Kendrick.

"So long as she remains as she is or a vampire." Alex kept from mentioning my mixed heritage.

"Mom's not to happy pops."

"She will get over it or attack me later." Hayden pressed his finger to the tip of my nose. "She heard your threat and that angered her more than anything I did." There was no anger on his face or in his words.

"Glad someone finally threatened that bitch." Kendrick said with a wink to me.

"This is a celebration people." Alex said as he addressed the whole room. "Let us celebrate."

There was a round of applause and then people started moving around the room. The noise level grew as everyone teamed off and started talking. Hayden's people mingled with Alex's as if they had known each other all their lives. I had been pulled in every direction as Kendrick and Ivy took me around and talked to others. It was nearly four in the morning and I was getting tired. Hayden and Alex were across the room talking to Daniel and someone of Hayden's line. Daniel was a demon and I knew him more through Alex and not Nathan. He was an all around good guy. He had a human wife but she was sterile so no risk of mixed children.

I was sitting at the only table in the room. There was food for the humans and since I was human enough to have to eat I was sitting here. One of the girls was named Jessie and she was obviously new to the scene. She was still self conscious of eating while none of the vampires ate. The rest of us were used to being the only ones to eat and had nothing against piling our plates full. Kendrick sat next to me. He had practically thrown Hayden out of the seat while laughing and telling him to share me. Hayden and kissed my forehead and went to stand with Alex but it didn't escape the attention of Kendrick and I that he kept me in eye sight.

"Don't worry about him. He is just over protective." Kendrick said with a chuckle as I looked up at Hayden again.

"So I have heard."

I was so busy laughing and talking with Kendrick that I didn't notice the man walking to the table. Had I seen him before he spoke I would have been able to control my reaction to him. Why hadn't I felt him when he came in the room?

"A gift for the newly claimed Alex." That smooth voice sent a chill down my spine and I tensed. When I looked up Nathan was setting a box on the table. "I thought maybe you and Hayden would enjoy these." His smile was wicked but in his eyes was only lust.

Kendrick was looking from me to Nathan but I could find no words. I was focusing on staying where I was and not looking at Hayden. If I looked at him then he would see it in my eyes who was standing in front of us. Kendrick's hand took mine under the table.

"Thanks." I finally said.

Nathan leaned down over the table and closer to me. He ignored my gasp as his face was next to mine. "I see you have become easier since your time with me. You've known this man for what? All of a month?"

I pushed away from Nathan and looked up at Hayden and Alex. Hayden's eyes met mine with rage but Alex looked honestly confused as he looked from me to Hayden. Three things happened at once. Kendrick stood up, Nathan pressed his lips to mine, and understanding dawned on Alex's face. Everything else was a blur as I hit the floor with Ivy on top of me. I turned and fought against her until she let me up.

In the center of the room was Nathan trying to fight off Alex, Hayden, Marco, Polo, Tack, Sherri and Kendrick. Nathan was a very powerful demon and didn't seem to be straining at all as he took blow after blow. For each blow he received he delivered that much more. The other demons stood behind Daniel who looked to be keeping the rest of the demons from fighting with Nathan. He was looking at me and not the fight.

"Is he going to attack you?" Ivy asked me as she nodded in Daniel's direction.

"No. He is keeping the other demons from helping Nathan. He must know." The look he gave me was not anger but more of regret.

"Know what?" She asked me.

"Later." I stood up just as Sherri got the better of Nathan and pinned him to the floor.

Nathan started struggling to get away but Marco and Polo were there to help hold him down. He stopped fighting and looked at Alex. The look on Alex's face was mixed with rage and pain. The pain in his eyes was why I had never told him, or anyone else who would have told him, what Nathan had done.