Somewhere In Between

Title: Somewhere In Between
Author: MakaiKitty
Rating: NC-17
Category: Original Fantasy, "Fate" storyline
Pairing: Victor/Blaine, Victor/Caspian, Victor/Sorrel/Victor, North/Victor, Victor/Tamara, Sorrel/Tamara
Warnings: Slash, Het, and Yuri, M/M, M/F, F/F, Violence, Language, Vampire Sex, Werewolf sex, Anal, Rimming, Who knows what else... I haven't decided yet *LOL*
Distribution: My website, My LJ and any LJs I choose to post at, AFF.net, FicWad, and DeviantArt. All of my accounts are under the user name MakaiKitty. If you'd like to use it just let me know.
Disclaimer: The characters, daemon realms, and situations in this story are all original and belong solely to MakaiKitty. Please don't steal, borrow, take, or otherwise use anything from my fics.
Updates: Just join my YahooGroup to be informed of any updates to this or any of my other fics - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/makaikittyfics
Status: Complete
Story Notes: This story contains characters that were first introduced in "Fate". However, it is not really necessary to have read "Fate" to understand this story. In fact, you may like Victor better if you haven't read "Fate". As for those of you who have read "Fate"? No, Shayne and Lexi will not be showing up in this fic. Maybe in later stories (Victor has a long back story), but not this one. Also, I have a general outline for this story, but everything isn't set in stone yet. Just like with "Perceived Perceptions", I'm sure that some things will not go as planned. So, the warning lable above is just a general guide, I really don't know for sure where this fic will go. Just a warning, if you're squicky about some stuff (don't worry, there won't be beastiality or scat or anything too extreme) then read the warnings at the start of each chapter. However, I know from experiance, that most of my regular readers can handle anything that I throw at them, so I'm not too worried about any of you. Either way, I hope you enjoy the fic...

Somewhere In Between

Chapter Nine: The Other Side of the Mirror

Victor couldn't sleep. And, as was usually the case when his mind would refuse to allow his body to rest, he found himself making his way slowly but surely towards the west wing of the castle. There was always someone willing to listen to him there. Someone who was even more restless than he was. He knew that he could have woken North up if he had really wanted to talk to him, but the werewolf had looked so peaceful in his slumber that Victor had been loath to wake him. Besides, he wasn't certain that he was ready to face North just yet. Their encounter had been extraordinary, and Victor didn't regret it in the least, but he also wasn't sure that he wanted to discuss it with the other man right now. It had been fun, so why ruin it now with too much talk? Not that sex was what he wanted to talk about anyway. Not really. There were other, more pressing, matters occupying his mind at the moment.

He barely remembered to knock, but the late hour reminded him that she might actually be asleep for once. When he heard excited voices on the other side of the door Victor knew that he need not have worried.

"Brother!" The moment that he stepped through the door he was met with an armful of lilac scented warmth. "I've been waiting for you all day."

"Sorry." Victor mumbled as he held his twin close, burying his nose in the mass of curls piled atop her head. She felt so frail in his arms, and not for the first time did he worry that one day she would simply waste away. That some day soon her tiny little body would be borne away by the wind never to be seen again. He had to forcibly shake himself to dismiss the all too familiar image from his mind, and he held his sister at arms length as he looked her over to assure himself that she was indeed well. Or as well as she ever was. "I didn't mean to make you worry. Forgive me, Lass?"

Lennora instantly smiled, her face lighting up as she did, and Victor knew that all was forgiven.

"She's been begging me all night to go and find out how your feed went." The room's other occupant said from across the room, the scientist pushing his glasses further up onto the bridge of his nose as he looked over some notes while he spoke. "I tried to tell her that you would most likely be occupied for the entirety of the evening, but she insisted on waiting for you none the less." Then, looking up from his papers to gaze upon the twins with dark rust colored eyes as Lennora nuzzled against her brother affectionately, he added, "Although, it seems that I was mistaken. Forgive me, Lady Lennora."

Lennora just giggled, ignoring the apology completely, her mind still occupied with her brother's sudden appearance.

"I take it the feed went well?" Lorcan asked once Lennora had dragged her twin over to one of her room's overstuffed white leather sofas. She settled herself comfortably against Victor's side, and sighed contentedly when he began to comb his fingers through her soft brown hair, practically purring as she cuddled closer. "Did your wolf blood attempt to take control or were you able to feed without interruption?"

"Everything went fine." Victor assured him, used to the scientist's invasive questions. He was, after all, Sorrel's right hand in the lab, and regardless of how he was treated on a daily basis Victor never forgot that he and his sister had been the sorceress' greatest experiment. An experiment that was still ongoing. "Sorrel was there."

"Yes, I thought that she would be." Lorcan nodded. "She was worried that you might not find Miss Tamara to your liking."

"Does this mean that I get to feed soon?" Lennora asked innocently, her mismatched eyes looking at first Lorcan and then her brother.

Silence fell in the room and Lorcan and Victor shared a look over Lennora's head. It wasn't the first time that she had asked such a question, and it was getting harder and harder to find good excuses that would pacify the young hybrid. Sorrel and Lorcan believed, and rightfully so in Victor's opinion, that Lennora held too much of their shared lycanthrope blood to ever function as a proper vampire. In the past, every time that they had attempted to give her more than a small amount of blood her body had violently rejected it, and neither Victor nor Lorcan really believed that she could accomplish a full feeding without serious damage to her already frail body. Convincing her of that, however, was proving to be more than a little difficult.

"Lass," Victor began, prepared to rehash an age old argument once again, "I'm not sure that-"

"I will speak to Lady Sorrel about it tomorrow." Lorcan interrupted, the lie in his voice evident to Victor, even if Lennora didn't hear it. "I will let you know of her decision as soon as she provides me with an answer."

"Okay." Lennora answered amicably, soothed for the moment by an empty promise. "Whatever you say, Lorcan."

Victor nodded his head in thanks when Lorcan's dark eyes met his. Lorcan had watched over his sister since their birth, and he knew that he could rely on the other vampire to know the best way to handle the young woman. He probably knew Lennora better than Victor himself did. Sometimes that made Victor feel a pang of jealousy, and no small amount of shame, but knowing that the older male took such care in looking after his sister usually squashed those feelings before anything could come of them. Besides, even though the other man was timid and somewhat weak, his mind was sharp and his centuries of experience made him the best guardian that Victor could ask for.

Thinking of Lorcan's qualifications as his sister's caretaker suddenly sparked an idea within Victor's head. Why he hadn't thought of it earlier was beyond him. "Lorcan." Victor asked without a second thought. "Have you ever heard of a kokkonor? It might be a human term."

Lorcan's eyes widened behind his glasses at the mere mention of the word, and Victor knew that he was lying when next he spoke. "I-I'm not really sure, Lord Victor. Th-the term sounds vaguely familiar, but I'm sure it's just... just..."

"Just what, Lorcan?"

There was utter silence as the two men stared at each other, the air pregnant with expectation, the power struggle between them all but palpable. At first, neither seemed willing to bend. Then the moment was broken by a sigh and the fight was over before it had even begun, the tension in the room disapating as though it had never been there in the first place.

"Where did you hear that term, Lord Victor?" Lorcan finally asked after a long pause, bowing his head in defeat as he questioned Victor further. He never had been able to lie to the young hybrid vampire, no matter the centuries that he had on the boy. There was just an air about Victor that demanded his respect and obedience, and Lorcan was unable to hold much of anything back from him, be it trivial or otherwise. "It's not something that one normally hears about every day. Not in normal conversation, anyway."

"Tamara mentioned it after I fed from her." Victor held Lorcan's rust colored eyes with his own coal black orbs for a moment longer, all but daring the scientist to look away. "It seemed to upset Sorrel to no end."

"Yes, I rather suspect that it would."

"Why?" Victor wanted to know. "She usually tells me anything that I want to know, she even encourages my inquisitive nature most days, but when I asked her about this she got angry with me and refused to tell me anything. Now she will not even speak to me."

"She probably thinks that you won't be able to handle the magnitude of what she knows. Of what it means." Lorcan speculated. "Or maybe she doesn't know anything and she's simply loath to admit it."

"She does hate to admit ignorance on any topic." Victor admitted. "She might actually know nothing after all. North couldn't tell me much either."

"That's who I was smelling all over you!" Lennora piped up from beside her brother. She had been listening quietly, only mildly interested in the conversation between the two men, more concerned with her brother's presence than with the actual content of their discussion. Now, however, she couldn't help but insert herself into the conversation. "What were you two doing to get so worked up?" She wondered, sniffing at Victor and giggling when he tried to push her away. "You two didn't fight, did you?"

"No." Victor smirked. "We did not have a fight."

"Oh," Lennora nodded her head with a serious expression on her pretty face, "that's good. I'd hate to think of you two having a fight."

"I'm not surprised that North didn't know anything." Lorcan said, smiling at Lennora's naivety, confident that it had most definitely not been a fight that had put the werewolf's scent all over her brother. "You were correct in assuming that it is indeed a human term. I believe that the lycanthropes may have another word for it, or several different words in fact, although I'm not entirely certain about that. Either way, Miss Tamara would most likely know more than either of us."

"Yes, but she is not going to tell me anything without Sorrel's permission." He remembered the way that Tamara had panicked when Sorrel had become angry, the way that she had obediently rolled over and feigned sleep when the sorceress had demanded an end to the conversation. "Which she isn't going to give."

"A kokkonor," Lorcan slid easily into what Victor liked to call lecture mode. It was a tone that both of the twins had heard often enough growing up. "Is, as I have said, a human term. It roughly translates to unifier."

"Unifier?"

"Yes." Lorcan gave a disapproving look from behind his glasses, prompting Victor to remain silent until the lecture was over. "There have been many rumors about a prophecy predicting the coming of the great unifier over the centuries, and as such you will find reference to it in both human and immortal lore. However, I have always believed it to be just that. Lore."

"But what is it that the kokkonor is supposed to be? What is he supposed to unify?" Victor demanded, never having had much patience with the long winded scientist. "And why would Tamara think that I am supposed to be this unifier?"

"How should I know?" Lorcan answered with a sigh, already weary of what was sure to be an unending litany of questions. "I am a man of science, of fact, not fantasy. I never have had much time for fairy tales."

"Then who does?" Victor was beginning to grow frustrated. Everywhere that he turned there seemed to be a decided lack of answers, concrete or otherwise, and all that he was left with were more questions. Someone had to know what a kokkonor was. But, if not Lorcan, then who?

"Not so fast, Lord Victor." Lorcan said, attempting to pacify the impatient vampire. "I only said that I am not intimately familiar with the legend. Not that I am unable to find you your answers."

"Really?" Victor's eyes lit up as he leaned forward, scrutinizing Lorcan for any signs that he may be leading him on. He was, after all, Sorrel's right hand. "You can really find out what it all means?"

"Yes, really." Lorcan all but preened at the sudden attention. "I am a scientist, and as such research is one of my strong points. There is not a single piece of information in this entire realm that can remain hidden from me if I wish to know it."

"Then you'll investigate for me?" Victor gave his most charming smile, knowing that speaking to the other man's pride had been the right move. He didn't like using Lorcan like this, he considered the man something of an older brother, but something told him that the answers to his questions were important. Very important. "You'll help me find out what a kokkonor is and what it has to do with me?"

"If you wish."

"I wish."

"Then consider it done."

Victor felt an immediate sense of triumph, as well as a satisfying feeling of relief, knowing that he was one step closer to getting the answers that he so desperately coveted. Sorrel may have believed that she was keeping him from finding anything out by refusing to speak to him about it, but he would prove to her just how wrong she was. Maybe then she would realized just how futile it was to fight him.

His task accomplished, his mind now at ease, he decided it was best to reward Lorcan for his efforts. He knew that, regardless of the affection shared between them, Lorcan was a scientist first and foremost. He would be itching for answers of his own, the results of Victor's first feeding more important to him that it had been to Victor himself. He was, after all, still an ongoing experiment. Feeling grateful for Lorcan's assistance, Victor opened his mouth to begin explaining the night's events to Lorcan, but he was forced to pause before anything was actually said. Something had caught his eye. Something that shouldn't be in his sister's rooms.

"What the hell is that?" Victor all but growled, already knowing the answer but wanting to hear Lorcan say it all the same.

"What is what, Lord Victor?" Lorcan had gone very still, feigning ignorance even though he was certain that he knew exactly what Victor was referring to. He was only glad that it had taken Victor so long to notice something was wrong.

"What is that?" Victor repeated, his voice carefully measured, his form a study in practiced control. He stood and pointed a hand that trembled ever so slightly towards a windowsill on the far side of the room. "What is that plant doing in my sister's rooms?"

"It's wolfsbane, my dearest. You know that."

He hadn't even heard Sorrel entering the room, something that would have bothered him at any other time, but Victor spun to face her the instant that he knew she was there. There was a barely contained fury in his dark eyes, and it took every ounce of restraint that he possessed to keep from snarling at the sorceress. He knew, without asking, that Sorrel was responsible for the offending plant being in Lennora's rooms. The question was, why?

"Yes, I know that it is wolfsbane." Were he calmer Victor would have been proud of himself for not yelling. "The question is, why is it in Lennora's rooms? You know that wolfsbane makes vampires sick."

"But, unfortunately, your darling sister isn't exactly a vampire, now is she?" Sorrel didn't seem bothered in the least by Victor's anger, and she smiled indulgently as Victor all but seethed at her honesty and lack of defensiveness. It was really rather cute, in her opinion. Victor may have become a man this night, at least in the eyes of the community, but he would always be her sweet child to Sorrel. "There's no reason why the plant will affect her as it would a vampire, so stop worrying. Have you forgotten who I am? I've been a scientist for a very long time, and I think that I know what I'm doing, Victor."

"It also has horrible side effects on werewolves, or have you forgotten that, Sorrel?"

"But it strengthens their powers, at least temporarily, before draining them of their strength." Sorrel countered.

"And that's only a temporary effect. The weakness, I mean." Lorcan came to his superior's defense, even though he made a point of staying well away from both of them as he did it. "There's no evidence that it has any permanent effects on a lycanthrope's well being. Not in the long run."

Lennora, for her part, had sat up on the couch and was looking from her brother to her surrogate mother-slash-creator and back again, confusion clear in her mismatched gold and black eyes. She knew that they were talking about her, and that her twin was angry for some reason, but she didn't understand why. Victor and Sorrel never fought. Was it somehow her fault? Was that why they were arguing over her? Thinking that this must be the cause of the disagreement Lennora opened her mouth to speak, to apologize for whatever it was that she had done wrong, but her brother quickly silenced her before anything came out.

"This is not your fault, Lass." Victor assured his sister, knowing full well that she had been about to take the blame for this argument. She always thought that she was to blame when things went wrong. It was a belief that Victor had never quite been able to break his twin of. "This is between Sorrel and me."

"Or, more precisely, there is nothing wrong at all." Sorrel corrected. "That little plant isn't going to do your beloved sister any harm, so stop worrying over it."

"How can I not worry over it?" Victor was growing impatient with Sorrel's nonchalance over the issue. Every immortal in their realm knew that they should stay away from the deceptively innocent looking plant, they all learned it in childhood, and now Sorrel was saying that it was okay to have it sitting in his sister's rooms where she could easily get into it? He couldn't believe that she would be so careless with his twin. "Even if it does make a werewolf stronger, regardless of the consequences, my sister isn't any more a wolf than I am! You know very well that she can't slip her skin, and that's the only time that wolfsbane helps a lycanthrope, so why would you even let her anywhere near the vile thing?"

"Now, now, Victor, my darling." Sorrel cooed, gliding closer to her irate young charge and placing a placating hand on his shoulder. Victor jerked back as if he had been scalded, but Sorrel persisted, taking another step forward and stroking the tips of her nails across the younger vampire's jaw in a gesture that she knew had always soothed him. This time Victor did not fight her. "You know that I would never endanger our sweet Lennora's health. Lorcan has been monitoring this experiment very carefully, day in and day out, and if she had shown any signs of discomfort we would have immediately ceased her contact with the wolfsbane. Or do you not trust me to take care of the two of you? You should know how much you mean to me."

"Of course not, Sorrel. I do not doubt your love for us." Victor felt deflated, his anger all but gone in the face of Sorrel's soothing voice and gentle touch. Looking into the fathomless depths of the sorceress' dark eyes, so full of affection and sincerity, Victor suddenly couldn't understand how he had ever doubted her. He knew that his new found calm was most likely, at least in part, due to some slight magickal manipulation by the sorceress, a glamour of some sort perhaps, but Victor didn't really mind. Sorrel had raised him for the entirety of his life, was the very reason that he and his twin existed in the first place, so why would she allow Lennora to be hurt? He felt a little stupid for even having suggested it. "I am sure that you would never intentionally harm Lass. I'm sorry to have implied otherwise."

"Apology accepted, dearest." Sorrel answered, drawing Victor close in a warm embrace. "You know that I will always do what's best for the two of you."

"But why wolfsbane?" Victor still had to know. Even if it wasn't going to harm his sister, Victor still couldn't understand what the scientists could gain from bringing Lennora into contact with the unpredictable herb. "What are you trying to accomplish?"

"Just a little theory of mine." Sorrel answered offhandedly, her tone implying that it was nothing more than a mild curiosity. "It's unimportant, really."

"Then you would not mind letting me in on your little theory, now would you, Sorrel?"

There was a nearly imperceptible tick at the corner of Sorrel's left eye, evidence that Victor was treading on thin ice, but she gave in and told Victor about the experiment none the less. "I was attempting to sway her nature more strongly one way or the other. Even though she is obviously no vampire, she isn't exactly a lycanthrope either. Since wolfsbane makes a werewolf's power levels increase, even momentarily, I was hopping that being around it would trigger a reaction from Lennora's somewhat latent werewolf blood. We were starting slowly, introducing her to the plant just being in her rooms, before allowing her any real contact with it."

"And then?"

"It doesn't matter," Sorrel waved it off, effectively dismissing any further questions, "it's just a theory."

Victor wasn't sure that he believed her, having spent far too many years watching Sorrel manipulate others just as he was certain she was now doing to him, but he let it go for the time being. He could always find a way to make Lorcan put a stop to the experiment later.

"Now, you've had a long day, my sweet angel." Sorrel's smile was bright enough to make him forget his misgivings of only a moment ago. Somehow, when his pseudo-mother looked at him like that it was always impossible to deny her anything, or to doubt the depth of her devotion to him. With that in mind, Victor let himself be steered towards the door, pausing briefly to kiss his sister goodnight before heading down the hall and back towards his own rooms. "You need your rest. Everything will make more sense in the morning."

"Yes, I am sure that you're right, Sorrel."

"Of course I am," the sorceress admitted, showing not the least hint of modesty as she agreed with Victor's statement, "I'm always right."

TBC ...

Review Responses:

Blacks_Hearted:
Hey hey ^_^

i love caspian and North...i WANT THEM togther..^_^..that would be so cute!

I'm glad you like them both. Sorry to say that your wish won't come true, because I've got plans for both of my boys. There are some very special people waiting to make them both very happy in the future... or at least that's my plan. I just hope it works out that way *evil laugh*

great chapter....but when you called Tamara 'Mara' for a sec..it was kind of weird because thats MY name...^_^..well its my nickname (real name: maranatha...mara for short)...but yeah!!! i love that name Tamra...like Tamara Pierce...her books are great!

Hope you don't mind too much that I'm using your name? I know it can be kind of weird to find your name or nick in a fic or movie or something. Your birth name is very pretty, btw ^-^

Michelle:
Look it's me! Actually reveiwing agian! XD Sorry I've missed so many posts -_- I feel like such a mean person. I've read them all though ^^. You're doing a great job as always. Keep up the great work and good luck with your move!

Thanks for the good luck wishes, and don't worry, you're not a mean person. I know RL can get in the way of reviewing, and I appreciate any feedback I can get, late or not.

Kaz-kun:
GAH! Sorry I didn't review the last chapter, I forget alot of important things! XD (this always seems to screw me over) Absolutely scrumpcious chapter, my dear, I have to say, North is quite the Alpha Male *wink*. And oooh? Is Sorrel jealous? *raises eyebrow* Hope everything is going good with your move to Vegas, by the way! Promise not to bet too much and sell your comp! *Cracks up* (Sadly, I've heard of someone doing that before) Can't wait for the next chapter!

Like I told Michelle, don't worry about late reviews, the fact that you review at all is enough to make me happy.

Glad you like North so much. Orginally he was just a throw-away character who only existed to pop Victor's cherry because I wanted Vicy to bottom to someone for once (poor Blaine never gets to top) to keep him from getting too full of himself *LOL* He can get too dominant sometimes so I thought it would be a good idea to make him the sub for once, although he wasn't exactly the blushing little virgin that some of my boys turn out to be *LOL* But North turned out to be so much fun that I fell in love with him, as have a number of you guys, and now I have plans for our wolf *evil laugh of glee*

As for Vegas, don't worry, my computer is so outdated that a pawnshop wouldn't even take it if I tried to sell it. Sad but true.