Candy: Book 5 of the Lord Emperor Vampire Saga

Chapter 219 : Redefining Boundaries

“Lex, walk me out.”

Lex set the beer can down and rose to his feet. He shuffled around behind me. I never really noticed that he was hunching like Marcus used to do. He wasn’t that tall or massive. He was taller than Jax or Wolf but not anywhere close to Ike. We halted at the entryway to the elevator. “Baby…”

“Papa don’t tell Chesterton about this.”

I turned and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Be careful. Multiple partners who get along, or at least try to get along is not the norm. There are a lot of emotions flowing here and I don’t want any of you to get hurt. I know you guys were raised in a mixed setting and comforting each other in the Lycan sense is just something that is natural. You know what the Vampire Nation says about me and my brothers. I try to ignore it, but it does hurt, especially when they attack your Mom. Don’t give them ammunition.”

“You’re not going to tell us to stop?”

“You want me to slap a chastity belt on everyone? Cause that is something I really want to do but, I can only hope that we raised you with values and that you have the good sense to see where this is going. Now, remember what Azrael and you talked about before? You look out for them. You go nowhere without the Loyal. That Sarah who’s been stalking the band, she’s a sorceress. She wants to kill me and she’s shown that she doesn’t care who she has to step over to get to me.”

“Who is this woman?”

“She is a mistake.”

“Papa?”

The doors to the elevator opened. A boy to a man. My son had made his choice. I reached up and cupped the side of his face. I wouldn’t belittle him. “Her father is the reason Xavier met Armor. He bought a contract from the House of Assassins. Armor killed Xavier. He fulfilled the contract but he didn’t leave us dead. He turned us. Monahan wasn’t going to let that go. He took out another contract with humans. Her father shot Armor in the neck. We returned the favor. We hunted him down and killed him and his son that was following oh so quickly in his footsteps. I don’t believe that the sins of the father extend to the children but it keeps coming back to bite me on the ass. Sarah’s father killed us. We killed her family, Alexander. I suspect that she’s going to try and kill mine. We need you to be strong and on your guard.”

I brought my hand down around the back of his neck and urged him down so our foreheads touched. “I want nothing more for you to be than just a kid with a boyfriend and a garage band but because of who we are, you have to shoulder a load I never wanted you to carry.”

Lex wrapped his arms around me and dragged me up to him. “No one better say anything about you in my presence. You’re the best damned Father a Vampire could want. Find this woman and take care of the problem. I’ll take care of the home front.”

Well bust my buttons. “I ever tell you I’m glad to have you as my son?”

“Yeah. Nice to hear though, even after we’ve done something utterly stupid.”

“Nothing is stupid if it’s to help a kinsman. Wolf’s better. Just remember--armed at all times.”
I kissed his cheek. “Don’t tell me if Callia or Raissa is doing this because X will just die of a heart attack. It wouldn’t do me any good either.”

“You think Wolf is complaining about his sisters – Jax might be a horn dog but Cal and Ray, are his sisters. No man is good enough to speak to them much less try to get up close and personal.”

My cell phone went off in my pocket. I stepped into the elevator.

“By the way, Papa. What you saw was pack business, I got a girlfriend.” I spun on my heel as the door closed then I realized my beer case was gone. The wily little…

“Von Drachenfeld.”

“Sir!” Riot. “I…”

“Riley got anything yet?”

“Ah, not yet.”

“Stay with him.”

“But…”

“When this all done and over with, you have my permission to kick his fairy butt.”

“Good, sir.”

“Call me when Silverstyx’s got something”

“Sir? Where will you be?”

“The batcave.”

“I’ll inform the Imperials.”

“Thanks.” I snapped the phone shut and headed back up to the penthouse. I had to get my ass into the office every morning but when you’re the head of a clandestine house and the face of a international organization, there is no such thing as 9 to 5. It was prudent to just to have a home office. X started building it but why take a journey apprentice when there was a master present. I let Hades have an unlimited budget. I was probably better set up than the Intell floor at Shadoe Inc.

X would be better at this as a hack and grab but at least I could start on the more legitimate search engines. I had access to the House of Assassin’s database. If we needed to get more information about our dear little bitch of a sorceress, I’m sure X could ferret it out. Now that we had the Advisory Council all in an uproar, if we wanted to get the whole of the House involved we could. I don’t know why X was resistant. I think it might be a lingering sense of guilt. I had Princess Sarah Elizabeth and her wasted life on my conscience. He had this other Sarah. We had this other Sarah.

The only thing I was coming up with on the search engines was that she was the only survivor of her family’s unsolved massacre. Since there was no time limit on the death penalty, I would have to make sure it remained unsolved. She was called orphan Annie. Poor little rich girl. Apparently poor little rich girls don’t get sent to orphanages especially when her inheritance numbered in the millions. She grew up every inch the expected heiress. Private schools. Private tutors. Ivy league college. Then she got access to her trust fund at twenty-one and she disappeared off the pages of the easily found. A few tabloid articles linking her with celebrities in Europe but that dried up about seven years ago. The only thing of interest was that ‘quote’ a close personal friend was concerned because little missy richie pants had developed an obsession with the occult. Not just a passing acquaintance with occult but full fledged satanic rituals and the like. There is nothing satanic about magic. I don’t believe that my Dad is suddenly going to sprout horns and go around killing cats. So from the moment of discovering that magic was a real and tangible thing she did a vanishing act.

She popped up on the Regency radar for about a year then she buggered off after more immediate power. She found it. Now, the question was who taught it to her? Another Blood race who didn’t like me or the Vampires, human magical bad asses or Orel Wessel. Lycan? No, as far as I could tell Lycan would rather dance your ass into the ground or rip your face off with their own fangs. They were very into up close and personal in their vendettas. Could it be some other faction? What about this mysterious Morgan that damned Liam, actually William, had dragged out of obscurity? I was getting a headache. It’s hard being hated so actively.

/Yo, Sexy./

/X?/

/Skell needs some of your special TLC./

I glanced at the computer screen. I had gotten I all I could out of this. If I really wanted to I probably could make my way into the darker realms of computers but it really wasn’t my forte. I was rather in agreement with Skell in that regard. Why copy the same skill if one of us all ready had it. Duplication of services. As Skell and Azrael have demonstrated in taking the Lycan throne, we can work together if necessary. I rubbed at my temples. “I got a headache.”

/We got heartache…coming in./

I copped out. I know I did. Skell was shored up and he had volunteered to tell Sex about our familial expansion. The headache I had inherited was not as slight as Sex let on. I closed one eye and groaned. I didn’t want to trot out the healing light for every little bit of misery. I also didn’t want to invest in a pharmaceutical company. No, wait. I already owned a pharmaceutical company. Still...I tensed up as warm hands landed on my shoulders and began a light massage. The scent of blueberry filled my sinus then my hair was swept back off my face and gentle touch of finger pads danced over my hair line. Those fingers finally rested on my temples then began a light circling motion.

“My Lord Emperor...”

Lanseng, ever dependable, ever mysterious blueberry stud muffin of Skell’s heart. This was going to be hard. “Are you here just because you happened to be in the area, or are you here because you know that I now know what Skell knows?” I kept my eyes closed as Lanseng’s hands worked on easing the stress in my head.

“I know you know, My Lord.”

“I find your words pretty, Lanseng. So pretty and enticing that it’s easy to overlook what you don’t say.” I let my voice grow harsh. Lanseng dropped his hands away.

I sat up and turned in the computer chair to find Lanseng kneeling on the floor; his hair a pool of blue that spread out around him. He set his fist down on the floor and lowered his body down into refined elegance of reverence that was just so classic with him. My own bit of anger flared my heart and clenched my stomach. “How long have you known about this? How much longer did you keep this secret and away from us? How many years did you waste before you told Skell?”

“The code forbids...”

“You tell Skell everything he asks for. Why not me? Why not Sex? Or Azrael? Would you have told us about Claudia’s stalker if Skell hadn’t asked you why she was so out of sorts?”

“I am here to serve Hashmalliam.” He ducked his head a little lower. This wasn’t cutting it. Not by far. Not any more.

“That doesn’t answer my question, Lanseng”

“I am a member of the Collective...”

“Would you have let Claudia or Callia die like you did Haley!”

He put both hands down on the floor. “My Lord...I never...”

“Knowledge is power Lanseng. You have held power over this family since the day you arrived here. “

“It has always been Haley’s fate to die in the service of Hashmalliam.”

“How the hell was getting shot in the head in front of a gay bar be of service to Hashmalliam?”

“You are now King of the Lycan.” That was just not the thing any of the brotherhood wanted to hear. “You control the fate of the Lycan on this continent.”

“I never had any intention of becoming king of the Lycan, of becoming anything of the Lycan. Haley was my friend. I don’t have many friends, Lanseng. I can count on one hand those I consider a friend and until this week I thought I had five. Now, I’m down two.”

“Two...my Lord?”

“If I can’t trust someone they are not my friend. I trusted you with the well being of my family...and Haley, Ping and all his puppies are my family. Now, I find out that I have five children. I find out because my little brother is raging, lost in guilt and despair over that fact. He blames himself to leaving our children in the hands of Orel Wessel. He shouldn’t have been the one to tell me that. He shouldn’t be the only one bearing the burden of that knowledge.”

“The Code...”

“Where are my lost children, Lanseng?”

His lowered his head closer to the floor. I stalked over and wrenched his head back by a handful of blue hair. “I will ask you one last time, Seer of the Collective. Two of my children are lost. Where are they? Be careful of your answer, Seer. This isn’t a game. This isn’t a jest. Once, I considered you a friend. I held you in warm regard because you center and ground my little brother but you are fucking with my children. No one touches my children. No one. You say you serve Hashmalliam. He lives with me inside this body. Answer me or get the hell back to the Collective. If you can’t help me, then you’re a hindrance and I don’t need any more enemies at my back.”

“My Lord...”

“Mercy is for the weak. Serephina has shown me that I can’t be weak anymore because I’m not the one to pay for that weakness.”

Lanseng shook his head and his hair swept the ground like a paint brush. His red eyes were more red as tears streamed down his face. There was a crisis of faith within his face but I couldn’t stop what I started. I couldn’t be weak. I was beginning to understand what the role of Emperor was really was. I could see why Sigmund crumbled. When you had no one to depend on, there was only so much strength, only so much determination to call on. I still had Armor, Marcus and Claudius...and Claudia.

“Where are my children, Lanseng!” I shoved the seer to the floor and then moved back because I was so angry that I just might do something worse to him than pull on his hair.

Lanseng begin to speak, his voice was broken and full of sadness and tears but he began to reveal the horror that was Orel Wessel. “They impregnated thirteen coven fledglings with your seed. One of the girls, and that is what they were – young, very, very young barely into their menstrual cycles because that was the time when the female is the most fertile.”

I staggered back and then ended up on my ass on the floor. Thirteen? But he said there were only two.

“What happened?”

“Orel Wessel happened. One girl committed suicide. After that, the rest weren’t so lucky. They were monitored and watched every moment of every day. Seven of the girls miscarried and they were killed as inferior product. The remaining five were brought to the labs. Two who were progressing normally – were spared. The others were experimented on while in the womb.” Lanseng’s voice was monotone. I think that’s what made it worse. This drone of a public service announcement that basically pronounced the death of eleven babies. I wanted to throw my hands up over my ears and block out his voice but I had asked for this. Tears welled in my eyes for my lost children. My babies that were never to be.

“They wanted carriers of the blue gene. Those that didn’t have the right genetic makeup were aborted. Of the two allowed to carry to term, the first was allowed to be born naturally. Both mother and child died in childbirth. They didn’t take any chances with the last one. They did a Caesarean section.”

“And the mother?”

“The vessel had served its purpose.”

“That was my son who was in the park this morning.”

“Yes, My Lord Emperor.”

“You said there were two. Did they try again?”

“All your samples were stored in the facility that you and Claudius destroyed. There are no other viable samples. They would have to get their hands on you again, my Lord.”

“Or they would just have to wait until Six hit puberty.”

“There is that, my Lord.”

“So where is the other one?”

“Your first born is safe.”

I stilled. First born? Callia was first born. She was destined to be Empress. Aside from loving a cup in the name of science that Claudia had swiped, I had only ever...

Oh my god. Thank goodness I was still sitting on my ass because my legs just got weak. Arms came around me and I was hauled up against a wall of blueberry essence. “Surely you must have known, Xavier. He is thirty-one years old. His mother had contacted you before her death.”

“Death? What? No.” I god, I couldn’t even remember her name. What was her name. He? I had another son? No, I now had three sons.

“What’s his name?”

“Sigmund.”

“No...” Who would curse a little baby with that name?

“He is named Sigmund Kain Sythe. He goes by the name Kain.”

Sythe...Karen Sythe. My one and only attempt at heterosexuality. Oh my...dead? He...I mean Kain was alone in the world?

“Is he safe?”

“I don’t understand, Lord?”

“Does Serephina know about him?”

“She uses blood magic. Kain is of your blood.”

Fuck. I scrambled up to my knees. Lanseng grabbed my forearm. “Leave him be.” He pushed his face up close to mine. “I will be sanctioned by the Collective for what I have done but everything I do, I do for a reason. Do NOT bring Kain into your house. You will regret it.”

“Is this Kain mine?”

There was just a slight pause before he answered. “Yes.”

“Because I was an asshole this boy grew up alone. His mother never told me she was pregnant and I don’t remember her ever trying to contact me but doesn’t mean I do nothing now. He is in danger and he doesn’t even know it.”

“It is safer for all involved to leave him to Serephina’s mercy.”

“She has no mercy.”

“My Lord...

“Lanseng...it would serve you well to shut up right now. You are either with us, the whole of the brotherhood, or you are against us, the Code and the Collective. You’ve straddled the line for years because we have never been tested before. I need to know, now, where you stand. Are you friend or foe, Lanny?”

“I am your faithful servant, my Lord Emperor. Ask and if I have knowledge, I will give it to you.”

“What will happen when the Collective finds out that you are truly our servant.”

“They will take back what they have given.”

“Meaning?”

“They will come for me. This body was a combined effort. My abuse of power will be punished.”

“One last question for now, Lanseng. Do you love Skell?”

“With all my being, Lord Emperor.” His answer was quick and immediate.

“Then when your people come for you, they will have to come through the brotherhood to get to you. The last thing the Collective would want is to have the Destroyer of Nations searching for them.”

“Xavier...” I looked down at Lanseng. “Ripley Silverstyx can be trusted. His fate is intertwined with yours.”

“If you can tell that Six is mine, what is he doing?”

“Blood Magic. There is a reason is his known as the Dark Fey. What he does to combat that Serephina has made should not been seen by the Blood Emperor. He builds a weapon that you need to wield in your family’s defence.”

“Will we win?” My voice was soft.

“There are many definitions of win, my Lord.”

That was not a comforting thought. The way Lanseng presented it basically told me that he didn’t know the outcome either. First things first. One son was in the hands of Orel Wessel. He was beyond my reach right at this moment. Another son, a son I never knew about was roaming around with a target on his head. I turned back to the computer and began searching for him. Lanny came up and tentatively laid a hand on my shoulder. The big blue seer was a toucher. Right now both of us were a little raw and needed simple comfort. I leaned back into his touch as my fingers flew over the keyboard. Lanny wrapped his arms around my shoulders and rested his mound of hair on my collarbone. I leaned my cheek against the softness of his hair.

“Let’s bring one of my boys home, Lanny.”

“1313 Mockingbird Lane, My Lord.”

I set the Imperials to track him down and bring him in. Until my Lycan pack came back, Lanny and I just sat in silence in the eerie light of thirty plasma screens. I had a feeling that this was the calm before the storm.


* * *