Caramel: Book 3 of the Lord Emperor Vampire Series
folder
Vampire › Slash - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
49
Views:
23,323
Reviews:
696
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
Vampire › Slash - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
49
Views:
23,323
Reviews:
696
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
Guilt
Drive by & drop. Later, gator.
_______________________________________________________
K
Observation (O)::Thirsty Xavier - wow. Does the thirst get stronger since the Pheonixwings? The first time, Xavier was struck by it, he hold himself pretty well together - even pressed Armanita to feed Armor.
A:When X first experienced Blood Starvation, he gained his wings, and he fed Armor. He had actually went beyond the initial rush. He was closer to deaths door at that time. Now this time, with the Phoenix wings, it is even more intense and deadly. (Liam explains more…read on)
Thank you Loyal and true. Mauh, mauh, mmmmmmmaauuuuhhhh. Blue slushies for everyone: DemonAkasha; Rosei; Rosemary; Laur(x2); HisokaXD (welcome and wow, nice reading); k; the dragon within (welcome); and Spirit.
Note: I have entered a challenge contest. If you check under my kiix, you’ll find the title “A Night at the Golden Pheasant.” The challenge was to have two types of dancing; a passing reference to the hokey pokey and some humor but be seductively intense. This is chapter 79 from Cinnamon. I don’t think the voting has started yet but it would be great if I could get some votes from the Loyal. (Now why did I do this? I like chapter 79 and the next time I try sending my work out to publishers, it would be nice to say…award winning series…) Any help would be appreciated.
As always, ENJOY!
Chapter 123: Guilt
Not counting myself, there were four men in my bed. Wait. This isn’t even my bed. What the hell? I sat up and gave myself a hell of a headache. What was... Armor was on my left side, Haley was squished between Armor and me starting at my butt. Vladimir was on top of Lanseng. Lanseng! What the hell happened? Why couldn’t I remember anything?
Armor’s massive arm came up and over and he dragged me back to the mattress. “Are you all right now, Little One?”
“What happened?”
“It might be better if you do not remember.”
His arm trailed down my side. I slapped a hand to my chest. I had glowing metal pole sticking out my ribcage. I didn’t even have a scar. I know I had it...why? I blew up Petty Logistics quiet spectacularly if my memory wasn’t screwed up. Then...I fanged someone...rich hot sweet blood...like candy. Candy....oh my god! Oh. My. God.
Armor gathered me to his chest. “No one blames you, Xavier.”
What do you mean no one blames me? I ate two Vampires. I killed that Petty boy. I tried to eat Armor. I reached out and touched Haley. He was still warm. He stirred and opened his eyes.
/Lord Alpha./
Vladimir opened his eyes and looked at us. /Lord Alpha./
/Did I hurt you?/
/You bit the back of my neck./
/I’m sorry./
/You tried to kill me./
“I’m sorry.”
I tried to force back the tears. I know my face screwed up with my emotions but I didn’t get the luxury of tears. I didn’t deserve them. I killed today. Not as part of my job. I ate people. Haley should have been running the other direction. He crawled over my sprawled legs and hugged my back as I held desperately onto my Apple...apple. I wanted to devour him too. Children. If they hadn’t dropped me like a rhino, I would have eaten children.
I wailed. It came on so fast. I didn’t even have a chance to fight it. Blood Starvation. Armor brought his hand up and cupped the back of my head, pressing it to his shoulder. I felt Haley rub his face between my shoulder blades. I tried to paralyze him. I didn’t deserve any comfort from either of them.
Armor wouldn’t let me go when I tried to push away. “Ssssh, let it out, Little One. This is not your doing. A Fledgling’s first Starvation is always worst. Just…”
“What?” My voice was muffled with emotion and his shirt.
“Normally it does not take two tranquilizer darts and a tazer to bring a Fledgling down. You have gotten so strong, X. Stronger than anyone suspected.”
“I suspected he would be a little menace when he lost it. He was a bitch on the beach.” Liam stood at the door to Lanseng’s bedroom.
“Vlad, can you go and heat up a couple of mugs of blood. I think both the Blood Emperor and his Imperial Consort need something to calm their nerves.” Lanseng’s calm voice broke through.
“Seer, may I have the room? Armor, you need to stay.” The big blue haired Seer, easily slipped out of bed and shooed Haley off the comforter forward the exit out of the room.
“Where’s Hades?” Haley demanded dodged around Lanny’s efforts to get him moving and plopped back on the bed.
Liam arched an eyebrow at the little pup. “Your mate is doing wonders for you, Pup. Hades is out hunting Orel Wessel. Once he locates a cell, you’ll hear about it. I’ve forgotten how singled minded my Honeybee can get. It’s rather magnificent to watch.”
Billiam walked over to us then climbed on the bed. He ruffled Haley’s hair. “I like you Pup, however this is Emperor business. Get the Little Emperor something to eat. He’ll be down in a bit. He needs food as well as blood.”
Haley paused for a moment then lifted my hair out of the way and pressed his lips to the back of my neck, exactly were I had tried to… I started crying again. I could tell Haley didn’t want to leave. “He’ll be fine, Haley. He just needs some grounding. You’re leaving him in good hands. Close the door behind you.”
Liam rolled over and turned Armor into monkey in the middle. The progenitor reached over Armor’s shoulder and cupped my chin. He pulled my face up to his. “Open your eyes. I need to see if you are truly back in your right mind or if you’re still a danger to yourself and everyone you hold dear.”
My eyes popped open with that.
There was nothing teasing in his face. “You, Little Emperor…are too young to have all this power. This is the first time it has broken free…it won’t be the last.”
What? What was that?
“I don’t…”
“Ssshhh. Your need for Blood is tripled the amount of a normal vampire. You burn hot, Xavier. You need more fuel. The post burn hyper metabolism is just the first physical side effect of being a phoenix.”
“Why? Why did I…” My voice choked off.
“You were mortally wounded, Little Emperor. You were dying and all that makes us top of the Blood food chain woke up and fought against it. There is a reason why the Vampire Nation is known as the only one who wants immortality. There is something within us that refuses to die. It rages against the dying of our light. It shows itself as Blood Starvation. It will take your reason and makes the base level, the instinctive level, the animal level dominant. It will do everything it can to cure the body. As a Blue, you are stronger than a normal Red. As a member of the Blue Line, you are stronger than a regular Blue. And…” He stared at me directly in the eyes, “because you drank directly from the pure source, you are the most powerful Vampire since Sigmund. Actually, I think you are stronger than Sigmund. There is a price to pay for that kind of power and I think you have made the first payment.”
Armor pulled me back from Liam’s touch, “Pure source?”
Liam let out a big sigh. “You didn’t tell him? You probably didn’t tell Claudius either.”
“About what?”
“Just remember that I am only merged with this Vampire. William had nothing to do with what went on before.”
“What happened?”
“Sex bit Liam.” I muttered tiredly. I was physically and emotionally wrung out.
“Here?”
“No, back on the beach.”
“When you were trying to get X to merge with you?”
Liam shook his head. “Really, Little Emperor. I didn’t know you kept secrets from your beloveds. I wasn’t trying to merge with Xavier, nor with Azrael. It was my intention to re-integrate everyone back into the original Edward then merge from there.”
I bounced off the mattress as Armor shoved me out of the way and elbowed Billiam hard in the face. I heard the telltale crack of a broken nose again.
Billiam scrambled off the bed. William was only about 140 years old. Armor, physically was 244. I was almost 3. Everything I understood getting tossed out the window. I don’t know how strong Billiam was now that he merged with the progenitor but he had to be stronger than Armor. Otherwise Hades would pound him into the woodwork when he got slap happy.
Armor chased after Billiam who just back away holding his face. “You would have taken Xavier from me.”
“He is not the original.”
“You would have taken Azrael from Marcus.”
“They’re doing a good enough job on their own of fucking up.”
“STOP IT!” I sat in the middle of the bed and held my hands to my temples. Armor turned from Billiam and came back to the bed. As soon as he put on knee forward, I scrambled back from him until I hit the headboard. I tried to kill him. The love of my life. I would have fanged him to death. The worse part was, he would have let me. To ease my hunger he would have let me drain him dry. I leaned against the headboard and started crying. He would have let me kill him.
“Xavier…”
“Stay away from me.” I shivered. I was still weak. I was scared. Armor stilled.
“What is it with you young Von Drachenfelds and breaking noses?” Liam grimaced as he snapped it back in place.
“Little One, let me help you.”
“Don’t come any closer.”
Liam stood at the foot of the kingsize bed. “Listen to me, Little Emperor. Through all that hunger, there was something else there. Something whispering to you. Something that prevented you from killing Armor, from killing that troublesome little Pup. What did it whisper to you?”
I raised my head and turned my tear streaked face and snotty nose toward him. “I can’t eat what’s mine.”
There was a sadness deep in Billiams grey eyes. My voice was raw, “You’ve heard it before.”
“Yes, I did Little Emperor. That whisper is the thing that made me quit fighting Sigmund and his longing for death.”
“Hades.”
“I’ve faced Blood Starvation before. As Emperor, I had learned to master it. Even in my many reincarnations, I brought that knowledge and force of will with me. Sigmund and those Phoenix wings amped up everything. When an Phoenix Emperor wants blood…he gets a river. If Hades hadn’t gotten in our way, we might have shown the rest of the Bloods why the Vampire Nation is superior. That rush of honey in my mouth, snapped me out of starvation. I had my heart-- the one who had followed me, found me, protected me, loved me for 500 years -- on his back with his life pouring out of his savaged neck. Sigmund let me save my little honeybee. He might have longed for the end of his existence but he knew Hades didn’t.”
Liam leaned forward and held out a hand to me. “I am the only other one in this world that knows what you are going through, Xavier. You are not alone in this. You needed blood but your core tempered it. You did not harm those you loved.”
“But I almost…”
“You stopped.”
“But..”
“You stopped. I didn’t. You don’t have that burden to bear, Xavier. I almost killed my Honeybee.” There was such pain in his voice. It wasn’t fear that kept him from his little menace’s side all these years. It was guilt. He hurt the one he loved and suffered in a tropical paradise alone for 400 years.
I sniffled and held my hands out to him like I would a cat and beckoned him. He looked at me like I had hauled off and broken his nose again. He was already getting black eyes. When he moved forward, we met halfway in the middle. I buried my face in his neck and just hung on to him as tight as I could. He was right. He was the only one who knew what else would be going on, or coming. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“You’re a Von Drachenfeld, little Emperor. That’s what we do. We are the killer elite of a nation of killers. You forget how good everyone is around you. You’ve only seen the best since your birth. The highest of the high. Now, you are the best.”
I felt the bed move as Armor returned to my side. My body leaned towards his even as I hung onto Billiam’s neck. “And you…you never offer your self to him in Starvation again. What do you think it would do to him to snap out of it and have your carcass in his arms? I wish that feeling on no one.”
“X was in need.”
“Then you throw food at him. You get humans, vampires, lycans, whatever you can to cure it. You don’t offer yourself as sacrifice. If you do, you might as well kill him yourself. Our pale Angel of Death will not survive your loss, Armor.”
Liam pet my hair for a bit. I hear movement at the door. I untangled us and went to wipe at my tears. Liam brushed my cheek dry. “I wish I could tell it you it was love that stayed your fangs, but it wasn’t and you know it.”
“It was scent. I smelled apples. I wanted to feed but I was supposed to protect apples.”
“And the pup?”
“I smelled my scent on him.”
“Unless you plan to live as a hermit away from everyone and everything, which we all know won’t happen, your beloveds, your imperials and your loyal won’t allow you to leave them. You must scent mark any and all who travel with you.”
“Everyone?” Armor stroked my upper arms. Liam pushed me back to my big hunk of Vampire. Armor gathered me close and enveloped me in all that he was.
“Blood Starvation is not a planned event. You saw how quick it came. Why did it come?”
Armor kissed my temple. “X was protecting Haley and myself. He had to phoenix quickly and harder than he has in a long time. See.” He ruffled my hair. It had grown back to extra long and tangled. So much for the mullet. I gave a weak laugh. “Thank you, Little One. You saved me, yet again.”
“That’s my line.” I reached back and tangled my fingers in his hair. I urged his face down to mine and we rested cheek to cheek, breathing in tandem and praying to our lucky charms to have survived the day. The silence dragged on for a bit then there was a big sigh.
“So, when do we get down to the dirty and nasty?”
I popped my eyes open at Liams remark. He grinned at me then kissed my cheek. “You were drifting off, Little Emperor. While you’ve been shot twice and tazered, this day is not done. Oh, don’t worry about the opera.”
“You’ll go?”
“Hell no. I hate that stuff. Back in the day, that is all that there was. I’d rather go sit in the dark of a movie theatre and try to get to third base with my little Honeybee.” Liam shifted and crawled off the bed. “Actually that was our way of trying to be matchmakers…you know, phantom…of the opera.”
I furrowed my brow.
“You mindfucked a musician and you don’t know ‘Phantom of the Opera’?”
“I know the classic black and white film.”
“Anyway, you can forget it, it’s not a office matter.” Liam dug into his pants and pulled out two tickets, “However, they are here if you want to use them.”
“I don’t think so.” Armor replied rocking me gently.
“These aren’t for you two, these are for Azrael and Marcus.”
Both Armor and I stilled. “You need to ground, young Von Drachenfelds. To ground is to make love…not have sex. It is to make you grateful you are still in this world. It is a touch of humanity, which is odd as we are vampire. You lose that connection even once after an episode like this, it makes it harder and harder to come back from that feral place. Xavier, Armor. Both of you need to rest, you’ve healed the body. Let the others heal your soul. That’s why they are music. They are the caretakers.”
Liam hustled over to the door and wrenched it open. Haley and Vladimir fell in from trying to listen. “Feed him then stay out of their way. They have some things they have to do without either of you interfering.” Liam stepped over the two Lycan and looked up at the blue haired Seer.
“Lanny! Tell me my future.”
“No.” Lanseng stepped over the Lycan and carried a tray towards us.
“Six hundred years later, you’re still no fun.”
“Shut the door behind you on your way out, William.”
I stared at him as he set the tray on the bed. “Six hundred years?”
“I told you, I serve Hashmallim. In this time, I serve you, Blood Emperor.” He handed me a mug. His hand came out and stroked through my hair. “I am sorry, Lord Xavier. The heat of your fire melted Saitou’s gift.”
There was a chunk of silver on the tray. Haley bounded up and looked at it. “Ping is going to kick your ass.”
“I’m sorry Haley. It was beautiful.”
Haley picked it off the tray. “Maybe they can re-make it.”
“It is 5:15. May I have Azrael now?” I looked up at Lanseng over the rim of my mug.
Armor leaned over. “It is as Liam said. I am at my limit. I wish I could say that I could hold your soul the way I can touch your heart, but we both know that Marcus touches Azrael’s soul. He just needs to start healing it instead of ripping it apart. I will shower and leave you in peace.”
Armor shimmied off the bed, “Come Haley, you could do with one too. You smell like burnt trees.”
Vladimir paused for a moment then turned and moved to follow them to the bathroom.
“You can stay, Vlad. There is one more brother you need to meet.”
I set the mug of blood on my leg, “What are you doing, wolfhound? What are you doing to me?”
I closed my eyes. Everything was raw and tender. Oh, X. “Azrael?”
I blinked. Lanseng had been talking. “What?”
“This is Valdimir. Sex has added him to your mix.”
I looked at the tall White Russian. Oh Shit. Damn it. /Think before you act. I thought you were getting better./
There was no reply. Sex was on the beach. /X?/
/Take the night, Azrael. I think I’m going to stay here for a while./
/Go to the beach./
/I’ll get there eventually. I just want to be alone for a bit. Enjoy the opera./ I don’t think I’ve ever heard X sound so…..defeated.
“Greetings, Vladimir. You know you’re an accident.”
The blonde Lycan grinned down at me. Oh, god. I made another conquest. “Accidents are fortunate meetings.”
“Well just so you know, you won’t be getting any fortunate meetings out of me. I might be unattached right now, but I’ve got a full bed as it is.”
“Come…we do not have much time if you are to make it the Opera House for 7:30.”
“What makes you think I’m going to go to the opera?”
“I have seen it.”
“You sure are one big flaw, Lanseng.” I drained the mug and set it on the tray. “What did he do now that has your panties in a twist?”
“You know I don’t wear panties, Azrael.”
Cute. After the day that We, yes, the Royal we, have been through, I couldn’t do cute. Wait a minute, where did these clothes come from? The phoenix wings would have burnt everything off me. Nice, but these weren’t my clothes.
“I thought these would look good on you. Now is not the time to discuss clothing. Come.” Lanseng glided toward the door. How can someone so tall be so graceful. Both the Lycan and I stared after him.
“Lord Alpha.” I swung my head around to see the white Russian on his knee, offering me a hand out of bed. I was going to have to watch myself around this one. I took his hand mainly because I was still a titch lightheaded. Once I got to my feet, he took my hand and pressed his lips to the back of it then brought it to his cheek. Oh yeah, I was going to have to watch him.
I had only been to Lanseng’s once and in the middle of the night I had a nightmare. What else could you call it, dreaming of my Love in bed with in my brother, which was really me but not. I had to walk for a bit to calm my thoughts. I had explored this floor by the light of the moon. I knew what room Marcus would pick. The windows were big and bright. Daylight would have to be limited but the unfettered light of the moon would make a perfect studio. Lanseng was no where to be seen so I headed to that room.
A sad smile crossed my face. I was right. Lanseng stood in the room and beckoned me forward. I really didn’t want to look at whatever Marcus had painted. Vladimir brushed passed me and stumbled to a halt. There was a look of awe on his face.
“Azrael, come see what Marcus has made for you.”
I don’t wanna. My feet felt like lead as I forced myself forward. The canvass was ethereal, especially in the blue light of the moon.
“It is called Az Melancholy. A client wandered in and saw it, she runs an art gallery. She wants this as the main piece of an upcoming art exhibit.”
With all that was wrong between us, Marcus’ art and talent were never in doubt. A man or should I say a boy on the brink of manhood, stood staring out a rain dappled window. It was a blue painting. The tones were remarkable. The long blue hair hung in straight lengths, cascading over a naked shoulder, curling on a naked chest. The large wings sprouting from the youth’s back looking like they could flap off the canvass. Shades of blue, everything was in shades of blue but it was the expression on that beautiful pale face that made the picture. It was a mix of longing….and hurt…and hope.
“Make it go away, or make it better.” I whispered unbidden.
It was devastatingly beautiful. Tears came to my eyes. I turned and walked away heading for the stairs. It was beautiful. It was his love on display. No one could paint like that without strong feelings for the subject.
“Azreal?”
Too bad it was X.
* * *
_______________________________________________________
K
Observation (O)::Thirsty Xavier - wow. Does the thirst get stronger since the Pheonixwings? The first time, Xavier was struck by it, he hold himself pretty well together - even pressed Armanita to feed Armor.
A:When X first experienced Blood Starvation, he gained his wings, and he fed Armor. He had actually went beyond the initial rush. He was closer to deaths door at that time. Now this time, with the Phoenix wings, it is even more intense and deadly. (Liam explains more…read on)
Thank you Loyal and true. Mauh, mauh, mmmmmmmaauuuuhhhh. Blue slushies for everyone: DemonAkasha; Rosei; Rosemary; Laur(x2); HisokaXD (welcome and wow, nice reading); k; the dragon within (welcome); and Spirit.
Note: I have entered a challenge contest. If you check under my kiix, you’ll find the title “A Night at the Golden Pheasant.” The challenge was to have two types of dancing; a passing reference to the hokey pokey and some humor but be seductively intense. This is chapter 79 from Cinnamon. I don’t think the voting has started yet but it would be great if I could get some votes from the Loyal. (Now why did I do this? I like chapter 79 and the next time I try sending my work out to publishers, it would be nice to say…award winning series…) Any help would be appreciated.
As always, ENJOY!
Chapter 123: Guilt
Not counting myself, there were four men in my bed. Wait. This isn’t even my bed. What the hell? I sat up and gave myself a hell of a headache. What was... Armor was on my left side, Haley was squished between Armor and me starting at my butt. Vladimir was on top of Lanseng. Lanseng! What the hell happened? Why couldn’t I remember anything?
Armor’s massive arm came up and over and he dragged me back to the mattress. “Are you all right now, Little One?”
“What happened?”
“It might be better if you do not remember.”
His arm trailed down my side. I slapped a hand to my chest. I had glowing metal pole sticking out my ribcage. I didn’t even have a scar. I know I had it...why? I blew up Petty Logistics quiet spectacularly if my memory wasn’t screwed up. Then...I fanged someone...rich hot sweet blood...like candy. Candy....oh my god! Oh. My. God.
Armor gathered me to his chest. “No one blames you, Xavier.”
What do you mean no one blames me? I ate two Vampires. I killed that Petty boy. I tried to eat Armor. I reached out and touched Haley. He was still warm. He stirred and opened his eyes.
/Lord Alpha./
Vladimir opened his eyes and looked at us. /Lord Alpha./
/Did I hurt you?/
/You bit the back of my neck./
/I’m sorry./
/You tried to kill me./
“I’m sorry.”
I tried to force back the tears. I know my face screwed up with my emotions but I didn’t get the luxury of tears. I didn’t deserve them. I killed today. Not as part of my job. I ate people. Haley should have been running the other direction. He crawled over my sprawled legs and hugged my back as I held desperately onto my Apple...apple. I wanted to devour him too. Children. If they hadn’t dropped me like a rhino, I would have eaten children.
I wailed. It came on so fast. I didn’t even have a chance to fight it. Blood Starvation. Armor brought his hand up and cupped the back of my head, pressing it to his shoulder. I felt Haley rub his face between my shoulder blades. I tried to paralyze him. I didn’t deserve any comfort from either of them.
Armor wouldn’t let me go when I tried to push away. “Ssssh, let it out, Little One. This is not your doing. A Fledgling’s first Starvation is always worst. Just…”
“What?” My voice was muffled with emotion and his shirt.
“Normally it does not take two tranquilizer darts and a tazer to bring a Fledgling down. You have gotten so strong, X. Stronger than anyone suspected.”
“I suspected he would be a little menace when he lost it. He was a bitch on the beach.” Liam stood at the door to Lanseng’s bedroom.
“Vlad, can you go and heat up a couple of mugs of blood. I think both the Blood Emperor and his Imperial Consort need something to calm their nerves.” Lanseng’s calm voice broke through.
“Seer, may I have the room? Armor, you need to stay.” The big blue haired Seer, easily slipped out of bed and shooed Haley off the comforter forward the exit out of the room.
“Where’s Hades?” Haley demanded dodged around Lanny’s efforts to get him moving and plopped back on the bed.
Liam arched an eyebrow at the little pup. “Your mate is doing wonders for you, Pup. Hades is out hunting Orel Wessel. Once he locates a cell, you’ll hear about it. I’ve forgotten how singled minded my Honeybee can get. It’s rather magnificent to watch.”
Billiam walked over to us then climbed on the bed. He ruffled Haley’s hair. “I like you Pup, however this is Emperor business. Get the Little Emperor something to eat. He’ll be down in a bit. He needs food as well as blood.”
Haley paused for a moment then lifted my hair out of the way and pressed his lips to the back of my neck, exactly were I had tried to… I started crying again. I could tell Haley didn’t want to leave. “He’ll be fine, Haley. He just needs some grounding. You’re leaving him in good hands. Close the door behind you.”
Liam rolled over and turned Armor into monkey in the middle. The progenitor reached over Armor’s shoulder and cupped my chin. He pulled my face up to his. “Open your eyes. I need to see if you are truly back in your right mind or if you’re still a danger to yourself and everyone you hold dear.”
My eyes popped open with that.
There was nothing teasing in his face. “You, Little Emperor…are too young to have all this power. This is the first time it has broken free…it won’t be the last.”
What? What was that?
“I don’t…”
“Ssshhh. Your need for Blood is tripled the amount of a normal vampire. You burn hot, Xavier. You need more fuel. The post burn hyper metabolism is just the first physical side effect of being a phoenix.”
“Why? Why did I…” My voice choked off.
“You were mortally wounded, Little Emperor. You were dying and all that makes us top of the Blood food chain woke up and fought against it. There is a reason why the Vampire Nation is known as the only one who wants immortality. There is something within us that refuses to die. It rages against the dying of our light. It shows itself as Blood Starvation. It will take your reason and makes the base level, the instinctive level, the animal level dominant. It will do everything it can to cure the body. As a Blue, you are stronger than a normal Red. As a member of the Blue Line, you are stronger than a regular Blue. And…” He stared at me directly in the eyes, “because you drank directly from the pure source, you are the most powerful Vampire since Sigmund. Actually, I think you are stronger than Sigmund. There is a price to pay for that kind of power and I think you have made the first payment.”
Armor pulled me back from Liam’s touch, “Pure source?”
Liam let out a big sigh. “You didn’t tell him? You probably didn’t tell Claudius either.”
“About what?”
“Just remember that I am only merged with this Vampire. William had nothing to do with what went on before.”
“What happened?”
“Sex bit Liam.” I muttered tiredly. I was physically and emotionally wrung out.
“Here?”
“No, back on the beach.”
“When you were trying to get X to merge with you?”
Liam shook his head. “Really, Little Emperor. I didn’t know you kept secrets from your beloveds. I wasn’t trying to merge with Xavier, nor with Azrael. It was my intention to re-integrate everyone back into the original Edward then merge from there.”
I bounced off the mattress as Armor shoved me out of the way and elbowed Billiam hard in the face. I heard the telltale crack of a broken nose again.
Billiam scrambled off the bed. William was only about 140 years old. Armor, physically was 244. I was almost 3. Everything I understood getting tossed out the window. I don’t know how strong Billiam was now that he merged with the progenitor but he had to be stronger than Armor. Otherwise Hades would pound him into the woodwork when he got slap happy.
Armor chased after Billiam who just back away holding his face. “You would have taken Xavier from me.”
“He is not the original.”
“You would have taken Azrael from Marcus.”
“They’re doing a good enough job on their own of fucking up.”
“STOP IT!” I sat in the middle of the bed and held my hands to my temples. Armor turned from Billiam and came back to the bed. As soon as he put on knee forward, I scrambled back from him until I hit the headboard. I tried to kill him. The love of my life. I would have fanged him to death. The worse part was, he would have let me. To ease my hunger he would have let me drain him dry. I leaned against the headboard and started crying. He would have let me kill him.
“Xavier…”
“Stay away from me.” I shivered. I was still weak. I was scared. Armor stilled.
“What is it with you young Von Drachenfelds and breaking noses?” Liam grimaced as he snapped it back in place.
“Little One, let me help you.”
“Don’t come any closer.”
Liam stood at the foot of the kingsize bed. “Listen to me, Little Emperor. Through all that hunger, there was something else there. Something whispering to you. Something that prevented you from killing Armor, from killing that troublesome little Pup. What did it whisper to you?”
I raised my head and turned my tear streaked face and snotty nose toward him. “I can’t eat what’s mine.”
There was a sadness deep in Billiams grey eyes. My voice was raw, “You’ve heard it before.”
“Yes, I did Little Emperor. That whisper is the thing that made me quit fighting Sigmund and his longing for death.”
“Hades.”
“I’ve faced Blood Starvation before. As Emperor, I had learned to master it. Even in my many reincarnations, I brought that knowledge and force of will with me. Sigmund and those Phoenix wings amped up everything. When an Phoenix Emperor wants blood…he gets a river. If Hades hadn’t gotten in our way, we might have shown the rest of the Bloods why the Vampire Nation is superior. That rush of honey in my mouth, snapped me out of starvation. I had my heart-- the one who had followed me, found me, protected me, loved me for 500 years -- on his back with his life pouring out of his savaged neck. Sigmund let me save my little honeybee. He might have longed for the end of his existence but he knew Hades didn’t.”
Liam leaned forward and held out a hand to me. “I am the only other one in this world that knows what you are going through, Xavier. You are not alone in this. You needed blood but your core tempered it. You did not harm those you loved.”
“But I almost…”
“You stopped.”
“But..”
“You stopped. I didn’t. You don’t have that burden to bear, Xavier. I almost killed my Honeybee.” There was such pain in his voice. It wasn’t fear that kept him from his little menace’s side all these years. It was guilt. He hurt the one he loved and suffered in a tropical paradise alone for 400 years.
I sniffled and held my hands out to him like I would a cat and beckoned him. He looked at me like I had hauled off and broken his nose again. He was already getting black eyes. When he moved forward, we met halfway in the middle. I buried my face in his neck and just hung on to him as tight as I could. He was right. He was the only one who knew what else would be going on, or coming. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“You’re a Von Drachenfeld, little Emperor. That’s what we do. We are the killer elite of a nation of killers. You forget how good everyone is around you. You’ve only seen the best since your birth. The highest of the high. Now, you are the best.”
I felt the bed move as Armor returned to my side. My body leaned towards his even as I hung onto Billiam’s neck. “And you…you never offer your self to him in Starvation again. What do you think it would do to him to snap out of it and have your carcass in his arms? I wish that feeling on no one.”
“X was in need.”
“Then you throw food at him. You get humans, vampires, lycans, whatever you can to cure it. You don’t offer yourself as sacrifice. If you do, you might as well kill him yourself. Our pale Angel of Death will not survive your loss, Armor.”
Liam pet my hair for a bit. I hear movement at the door. I untangled us and went to wipe at my tears. Liam brushed my cheek dry. “I wish I could tell it you it was love that stayed your fangs, but it wasn’t and you know it.”
“It was scent. I smelled apples. I wanted to feed but I was supposed to protect apples.”
“And the pup?”
“I smelled my scent on him.”
“Unless you plan to live as a hermit away from everyone and everything, which we all know won’t happen, your beloveds, your imperials and your loyal won’t allow you to leave them. You must scent mark any and all who travel with you.”
“Everyone?” Armor stroked my upper arms. Liam pushed me back to my big hunk of Vampire. Armor gathered me close and enveloped me in all that he was.
“Blood Starvation is not a planned event. You saw how quick it came. Why did it come?”
Armor kissed my temple. “X was protecting Haley and myself. He had to phoenix quickly and harder than he has in a long time. See.” He ruffled my hair. It had grown back to extra long and tangled. So much for the mullet. I gave a weak laugh. “Thank you, Little One. You saved me, yet again.”
“That’s my line.” I reached back and tangled my fingers in his hair. I urged his face down to mine and we rested cheek to cheek, breathing in tandem and praying to our lucky charms to have survived the day. The silence dragged on for a bit then there was a big sigh.
“So, when do we get down to the dirty and nasty?”
I popped my eyes open at Liams remark. He grinned at me then kissed my cheek. “You were drifting off, Little Emperor. While you’ve been shot twice and tazered, this day is not done. Oh, don’t worry about the opera.”
“You’ll go?”
“Hell no. I hate that stuff. Back in the day, that is all that there was. I’d rather go sit in the dark of a movie theatre and try to get to third base with my little Honeybee.” Liam shifted and crawled off the bed. “Actually that was our way of trying to be matchmakers…you know, phantom…of the opera.”
I furrowed my brow.
“You mindfucked a musician and you don’t know ‘Phantom of the Opera’?”
“I know the classic black and white film.”
“Anyway, you can forget it, it’s not a office matter.” Liam dug into his pants and pulled out two tickets, “However, they are here if you want to use them.”
“I don’t think so.” Armor replied rocking me gently.
“These aren’t for you two, these are for Azrael and Marcus.”
Both Armor and I stilled. “You need to ground, young Von Drachenfelds. To ground is to make love…not have sex. It is to make you grateful you are still in this world. It is a touch of humanity, which is odd as we are vampire. You lose that connection even once after an episode like this, it makes it harder and harder to come back from that feral place. Xavier, Armor. Both of you need to rest, you’ve healed the body. Let the others heal your soul. That’s why they are music. They are the caretakers.”
Liam hustled over to the door and wrenched it open. Haley and Vladimir fell in from trying to listen. “Feed him then stay out of their way. They have some things they have to do without either of you interfering.” Liam stepped over the two Lycan and looked up at the blue haired Seer.
“Lanny! Tell me my future.”
“No.” Lanseng stepped over the Lycan and carried a tray towards us.
“Six hundred years later, you’re still no fun.”
“Shut the door behind you on your way out, William.”
I stared at him as he set the tray on the bed. “Six hundred years?”
“I told you, I serve Hashmallim. In this time, I serve you, Blood Emperor.” He handed me a mug. His hand came out and stroked through my hair. “I am sorry, Lord Xavier. The heat of your fire melted Saitou’s gift.”
There was a chunk of silver on the tray. Haley bounded up and looked at it. “Ping is going to kick your ass.”
“I’m sorry Haley. It was beautiful.”
Haley picked it off the tray. “Maybe they can re-make it.”
“It is 5:15. May I have Azrael now?” I looked up at Lanseng over the rim of my mug.
Armor leaned over. “It is as Liam said. I am at my limit. I wish I could say that I could hold your soul the way I can touch your heart, but we both know that Marcus touches Azrael’s soul. He just needs to start healing it instead of ripping it apart. I will shower and leave you in peace.”
Armor shimmied off the bed, “Come Haley, you could do with one too. You smell like burnt trees.”
Vladimir paused for a moment then turned and moved to follow them to the bathroom.
“You can stay, Vlad. There is one more brother you need to meet.”
I set the mug of blood on my leg, “What are you doing, wolfhound? What are you doing to me?”
I closed my eyes. Everything was raw and tender. Oh, X. “Azrael?”
I blinked. Lanseng had been talking. “What?”
“This is Valdimir. Sex has added him to your mix.”
I looked at the tall White Russian. Oh Shit. Damn it. /Think before you act. I thought you were getting better./
There was no reply. Sex was on the beach. /X?/
/Take the night, Azrael. I think I’m going to stay here for a while./
/Go to the beach./
/I’ll get there eventually. I just want to be alone for a bit. Enjoy the opera./ I don’t think I’ve ever heard X sound so…..defeated.
“Greetings, Vladimir. You know you’re an accident.”
The blonde Lycan grinned down at me. Oh, god. I made another conquest. “Accidents are fortunate meetings.”
“Well just so you know, you won’t be getting any fortunate meetings out of me. I might be unattached right now, but I’ve got a full bed as it is.”
“Come…we do not have much time if you are to make it the Opera House for 7:30.”
“What makes you think I’m going to go to the opera?”
“I have seen it.”
“You sure are one big flaw, Lanseng.” I drained the mug and set it on the tray. “What did he do now that has your panties in a twist?”
“You know I don’t wear panties, Azrael.”
Cute. After the day that We, yes, the Royal we, have been through, I couldn’t do cute. Wait a minute, where did these clothes come from? The phoenix wings would have burnt everything off me. Nice, but these weren’t my clothes.
“I thought these would look good on you. Now is not the time to discuss clothing. Come.” Lanseng glided toward the door. How can someone so tall be so graceful. Both the Lycan and I stared after him.
“Lord Alpha.” I swung my head around to see the white Russian on his knee, offering me a hand out of bed. I was going to have to watch myself around this one. I took his hand mainly because I was still a titch lightheaded. Once I got to my feet, he took my hand and pressed his lips to the back of it then brought it to his cheek. Oh yeah, I was going to have to watch him.
I had only been to Lanseng’s once and in the middle of the night I had a nightmare. What else could you call it, dreaming of my Love in bed with in my brother, which was really me but not. I had to walk for a bit to calm my thoughts. I had explored this floor by the light of the moon. I knew what room Marcus would pick. The windows were big and bright. Daylight would have to be limited but the unfettered light of the moon would make a perfect studio. Lanseng was no where to be seen so I headed to that room.
A sad smile crossed my face. I was right. Lanseng stood in the room and beckoned me forward. I really didn’t want to look at whatever Marcus had painted. Vladimir brushed passed me and stumbled to a halt. There was a look of awe on his face.
“Azrael, come see what Marcus has made for you.”
I don’t wanna. My feet felt like lead as I forced myself forward. The canvass was ethereal, especially in the blue light of the moon.
“It is called Az Melancholy. A client wandered in and saw it, she runs an art gallery. She wants this as the main piece of an upcoming art exhibit.”
With all that was wrong between us, Marcus’ art and talent were never in doubt. A man or should I say a boy on the brink of manhood, stood staring out a rain dappled window. It was a blue painting. The tones were remarkable. The long blue hair hung in straight lengths, cascading over a naked shoulder, curling on a naked chest. The large wings sprouting from the youth’s back looking like they could flap off the canvass. Shades of blue, everything was in shades of blue but it was the expression on that beautiful pale face that made the picture. It was a mix of longing….and hurt…and hope.
“Make it go away, or make it better.” I whispered unbidden.
It was devastatingly beautiful. Tears came to my eyes. I turned and walked away heading for the stairs. It was beautiful. It was his love on display. No one could paint like that without strong feelings for the subject.
“Azreal?”
Too bad it was X.
* * *