by Pepper Pace
Marcelle stared at me curiously. “In my country,” I said sternly, “we knock before we enter.” He just nodded.
“Do you require sustenance?” He asked me.
“No, but Julie might.” Julie had her own set of donors but had utilized my ladies in waiting while we were overseas which kept our party as small as possible.
Julie charmed him with an innocent smile. “I haven’t had Spanish in ages. It’s tempting but I fed last night.”
My other ladies had been quiet. I saw Karen smile at Julie as one indulges a child. She took her hand to help the illusion. Yes, we were playing it cool. Tyler inched closer to me. The human driver was apparently guarding her; making sure she didn’t use her death touch on any of them.
I knew Monica and Karen would be wearing their crosses…but no one else would know that. Vampires never allowed their donors religious implements…
Marcelle introduced us to more people. Everyone he introduced us to was a Council member. Luckily they all spoke pretty decent English because with the exception of Karen and Julie none of us could understand a lick of Spanish.
“Shall we?” Marcelle gestured to a door. Here we go. He led us into a large room. Everyone that he’d introduced us to was present. I didn’t remember seeing them leave the party, but here they were.
The room didn’t have the feel of a basement encampment like ours did. The room was like a hotel conference room. Marcelle was right. There was beautiful music playing from a hidden sound system. It smelled like there were fresh flowers just recently picked. The soft gurgling of a fountain could be heard.
This council sat behind a long table just like ours when we held ceremonies, but facing the table was a sofa and comfortable wing chairs. Marcelle gestured for us to be seated and then he found his place behind the table.
“Kim?”
It was Julie.
“I don’t know. Just stay alert.”
“Kim Russell,” a man wearing an immaculate suit spoke. His dark hair was combed back neatly and he sported a moustache. He appeared to be in his forties. Very attractive. “Do you know why you have been asked to stand before this Council?”
“I’ve been told very little.”
“The reason that you are here is because you were warned against going to Epic Cu. And yet reports state that you and two others were there.”
“Yes…well, after that visit by Marcelle my interest was piqued. I apologize for trespassing but we Americans are often times considered thrill seekers. We just wanted to know what all the mystery was about. No harm no foul. We couldn’t get in anyways.”
No one spoke and I wouldn’t blink an eye.
“We understand that you have a lover in Epic Cu?” A woman spoke this time.
I stared at her. “How do you understand these things?”
The woman watched me coolly. “Know that Marcelle is a gentleman. I am not a gentle woman. Please answer the question.”
I felt my feathers ruffle. “Regardless of how gentle you are, I am a visiting Council Member. And as such should be treated with a bit more hospitality. You wouldn’t want me going back to my board with tales of ill treatment by the Barcelona Council, would you?”
The woman who was not so gentle did not speak another word. Marcelle smiled that winning smile of his.
“Kim, if you were not a Council level Neratomay, then you would not be questioned now by our Board. You’d be punished.”
I raised a brow. “Why should you care what lovers I have? I told you why we were at Epic Cu. Curiosity. That’s it.”
Esmerelda spoke in a chilly voice. “You are bound to Alexis. He is the reason that you went to Epic Cu.”
“If you already have the answers then why do you need me here?”
The not so gentle woman spoke. “Now it is you that is being rude.”
“Rude? You hold me and my people against our will. And my reaction is not to your liking?”
“You trespass, against our warning, and you try to dictate the treatment you should receive.” This from a little fat Vampire with a bulbous nose. Unlike the others, he didn’t seem Spanish. I would guess English. “You are being judged for your crimes. And if found guilty you will be punished. Your position as a Council Member will not supersede that.”
Well, I was probably not going to talk our way out of this. How the hell was I going to protect my people? I could fight, so could Tyler and Julie. But Monica and Karen had never had to do anything more then look pretty for Johan.
I looked at the little fat man. I think Marcelle had said his name was Hillson. They seemed awfully curious about Alexis…Why question me. They already knew that we had trespassed. What were they really wanting to know?
“Well if you are not going to let us go, then ask your questions.”
Esmerelda spoke again. “Did Alexis ask you to come to Epic Cu?”
“No.”
They waited for me to expand. I didn’t.
“Why did you come?” Esmerelda asked.
“Curiosity.” And that wasn’t lying. I was curious about Alexis. Even the weakest Vampire could smell a lie, so I knew that they would know if I lied. My answer wasn’t the whole truth, but it wasn’t a lie.
“Did you come to break Alexis out of his prison?”
I narrowed my eyes at Esmerelda. “You’re awfully curious about Alexis? Why?”
As is so often the case with Elders, Esmerelda struck fast. I didn’t even see her flinch but I felt as if someone had hit me with a baseball bat! She smacked me. But it wasn’t a human smack. She hadn’t used her hand. Her power smacked me and I felt my head snap back and I went flying out of the wing chair that I had been sitting in. I found myself kneeling on all fours on the floor with blood dripping out of my nose. When I tried to raise my head a sharp pain stabbed down my shoulders and back. Shit! She’d broken or sprained my neck with the blow!
I sensed more then heard scuffling. Julie screeched and I think she had gone after Esmerelda. I heard her cry of pain. I took a deep breath and put my hand on my neck to hold it in place so that I could see what was happening to my people.
“My love…” I froze. Then there was a familiar tingling going up my neck as if he were materializing. But he hadn’t.
“Alexis?” How could I hear him?
“I am in you. You will need to retreat into a corner so that I can come into you.”
“I…I don’t know how.”
“I will help you.”
I felt myself grow smaller. That’s the only way that I could describe it. I was physically the same size but I could see a small me sitting in the corner of a neat little room. In my mind’s eye I saw Alexis come sweeping into the room in dark clothing and he was larger then life. His eyes were ruby red and he was perfect; no scars could be seen. The sight of him took my breath away.
I felt light fingers stroke my neck. Alexis was healing me from within. I jumped as someone screamed. I wanted to jerk away form Alexis’ touch and turn to the sound but I was just a little figure in the corner and Alexis was in control. For a split second the idea of it scared me. But then my neck stopped hurting and my body was standing.
No…I didn’t stand up. It was like strings were attached to me and I was pulled up smoothly. Alexis spun us quickly to face the ruckus. Julie had been thrown across the room, no doubt by Esmerelda. She was being held down by invisible hands because I could see her struggling to stand.
But it was Tyler that caused my heart to practically knock its way out of my chest. Tyler was holding her wrist, writhing on the floor. The wrist had been broken badly and her hand was cocked at a strange angle.
I felt the small me that had been sitting in the corner tremble with rage. I hissed and thought distantly that I sounded like a pit of snakes. The only thing that kept me from pushing Alexis away was the surprised look in his eyes when he turned back to me. The look let me know just how much I’d shocked him.
I sat back down…only because I knew that he could hurt them much more the
n I ever could. And at that moment I wanted them to hurt.
Alexis and I turned blazing eyes at the Council. One of the Council men was screaming and running gripping a smoking arm. At least Tyler had managed to put a hand on him which was most likely the reason her wrist had been broken. The Council man wouldn’t die from the wound but he might loose his arm and it might be permanent.
Esmerelda, seeing Alexis and I stand, raised a hand to do more mischief to us. Alexis made a slight shooing motion and Esmerelda’s hand began curling backwards. It reminded me of The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy’s house landed on the Wicked Witch of East. And when her Evil sister tried to take the ruby shoes from her feet her feet curled up like a deflated party favor. That’s exactly what Esmerelda’s arm looked like, except that hers was filled with blood, bones and muscles so when it rolled up blood and bones exploded from her skin like sausage bursting from its casing.
Esmerelda screamed like nothing I’d ever heard before. Initially it was very human and pained but it turned into the sound of an animal; one being slaughtered.
The other Council members were stunned into stillness, that is, with the exception of the one that was running around trying to stop the burning in his arm. They stared from Alexis and I to Esmerelda as she writhed on the floor.
Alexis and I strolled closer to the Council. It was Alexis’ words but my voice that spoke; “And you would not see one hair harmed on my Love’s head?”
Marcelle stared at us with bugged out eyes. “A-Alexis?”
It wasn’t the voice because the voice was my own. But it was the way Alexis held our hands behind our back and the way that his head lowered but his eyes held you. It was the way he glided to the table without walking.
Marcelle’s hands went to his head and he rubbed it surprised. I could see his mouth open in surprise. His hand shot to another part of his head and then another and then I could see what was happening. Strands of Marcelle’s hair was flying from his head. It was happening so fast that Marcelle covered his head with his splayed fingers and ran screaming from the room.
Marcelle was an old Vampire. He had probably never gone screaming from any room in his entire afterlife.
Hillson hissed at us showing fangs that were more saber tooth tiger then Vampire. With barely a movement, just a slight tilt of our chin, we sent Hillson flying across the room before he could jump at us. Then Alexis did move. He made a sweeping motion with his hand and the rest of the Council went flying across the floor.
The double doors to the Council room flew open and the Vampires from the party were standing there all hissy faced. In my little corner I grew nervous. But Alexis just smiled with his blazing red eyes. He drew in a deep breath and blew the Vampires back out the door.
Someone screeched beside us. It was the sneaky little British man. He had flown at us while our backs were turned but Tyler had leaped at him and apparently had made contact with his face because his skin was smoking and bubbling in a matter of seconds.
“ENOUGH!” Esmerelda screamed. Her ruined arm was hanging uselessly at her side but at least everyone froze.
“Alexis…you’ve left Epic Cu and forfeited your bargain with the Elder Council-”
He chuckled. “Esmerelda, it has been many years; centuries in fact, since last we spoke. I see that you are still governed by your ridiculous jealousy. I have not left Epic Cu. As we speak I am staring out of one of the stained glass windows at the stars. It’s such a beautiful night. I love Spain and its dark, sultry beauty.”
Esmerelda grew dark, darker then was natural even with her Latin heritage. She cursed him in Spanish, but somehow I understood every word.
“You pig! You bastard! How dare you call this…this Third ‘Your Love’ when we shared a bed for close to 200 years and you barely even spoke to me!”
“Your jealous fits is but one of the reasons that you could have never been ‘My Love.’” Esmerelda went sprawling onto her little ass with a surprised look as Alexis strolled closer. “Her nose bleeds, your nose bleeds.”
Blood went spraying out of Esmerelda’s nose. She tried to staunch the flow with her hands and then she threw some wave of force towards us. With Alexis in my body I could feel her counter attack from a mile away. Easily, we knocked it away.
Alexis continued as if she hadn’t tried to attack.
“Her neck breaks, your neck breaks.” I watched with awe as Esmerelda’s head spun backwards like something from the Exorcist. I felt myself wanting to scream at the sight of it. True, a broken neck wouldn’t kill even the weakest Vampire but pain was pain regardless of whether or not you were human or Vampire and the sight of her broken neck was fucking bad.
Julie was now standing over Monica and Karen and keeping an eye on the door. The one or two Council members still present were not hurrying to try to come to the rescue of their Elder.
Hillson had stopped his mewling and the skin on his cheek had slid away. It would grow back…in time but he wouldn’t be passing for human until it did.
The other man that had been screaming earlier had disappeared…probably to find water to soak what was left of his hand in.
“She missed her plane back to America because of you. And as long as she is on this side of the ocean I can enter her body at will and wreak whatever havoc I desire. And still I won’t be in violation of my arrangement. We Neratomay are such creatures of habit. Our rules don’t change with the times. And no Council level Vampire would have ever had the nerve to set a foot on the grounds of Epic Cu. And no Elder would have ever willingly bound themselves to another that wasn’t of their own status…until me…and until my beautiful Kim…until now. So you see, there are no rules against what we are doing now.”
Alexis smiled slightly. “My love has taught me to…think outside of the box, as she would say.” His thoughtful look instantly disappeared. “If she and her people are not back in America by sunset tomorrow I will return to each of you and you will not like what I will do to you.”
One of the Council members spoke in a shaky voice. “Senor…I mean, my lady…we have a personal jet that can fly you back across the ocean. If you please I can drive you to the airstrip before sunrise?”
Alexis and I bowed our heads slightly and gestured for him to lead the way. Karen and Monica were directly behind me and Julie and Tyler took up the flank. The Council member led us quickly to the same limo that we had arrived in. As we cut through the ruined party no one dared budge in our direction.
Once we were safely in the limo Tyler threw back her head and groaned. She held her wrist close to her chest.
Alexis suddenly grew small within my head and in turn I grew large, until I filled up my own body again. Still I could see him within me. Before when he said that he was in me I never had the visual. Now I could plainly see him with his hand behind his back watching over us to be sure this was no set up.
“Is everyone ok?” I asked. They all looked at me.
“Kim?” Monica asked. “It is you again, right?”
“Yes, but Alexis is still here.” That was for the benefit of the limo driver and Council member riding in the front seat.
Julie was staring at Tyler’s wrist. “It’s a bad break. She’ll heal faster then the normal human. Her wrist will need to be set as quickly as possible.”
“Do you think it will hold until we get back to the States?”
Julie nodded. “Yes but ease her pain.”
I slid close to Tyler and she rolled her head to the side. Gently I placed my lips on her neck and quickly sought out her rapidly beating pulse. Within me I felt Alexis stir with interest. I wondered how he fed while imprisoned…
I sank my teeth carefully into Tyler’s throat concentrating on calm…no pain…no fear…
But what I didn’t remember to do was to bring up my shields. And with Alexis inside of me watching me feed, and with the deliciously warm liquid gliding down my throat I felt a sudden warmth flare between my thighs. I sucked in a surprised breath and almost choked on the
blood!
I saw Alexis’ lip curl up slightly. I could see him so clearly. I had never understood until now what it meant when he would say to me that he was in me and I was in him. It could be literally if we wanted it so. At that moment when I fed I was never happier to have him inside of me.
The warmth between my thighs ignited into a full flame. I rocked my hips lightly in my seat but it didn’t help, it only made the pleasure more intense. Alexis’ eyes seemed to gleam in my mind. He was watching me as if he were an Incubus. Tyler’s blood and our passion for each other created a tornado that sucked us completely. Alexis gently cupped my face and his tongue sought out my lips and mouth. I gasped at the shock and complete passion the taste of him brought.
I understood then how we could exist in our beach house but be in the real world because we were doing it now. Inside of my mind Alexis was pressing his body against mine and stroking my skin. I could plainly feel him pushing his erect penis against my thigh. I slid my hand down his body to release him from his pants.
Something gripped my wrist insistently. My eyes opened and the image of Alexis faded.
Awareness dawned on me quickly. I was sucking on Tyler’s neck like a dog working a bone! She was moaning low in her throat. I pulled back carefully. How much blood had I taken?!
I belched and was appalled at my gluttony.
Julie had gripped my wrist and she released it when she saw that I was back to myself. What I was doing with that hand before Julie grasped it is cloudy…and I wanted it to stay that way!
Tyler tossed her head slowly from side to side with her eyes still closed. “Damn Kim…” She muttered. “You and Alexis would make Deep Throat look like a Disney movie.” OhmyGod! She could see us?! She smiled and I slowly relaxed.
“Sorry about that.” I said sheepishly.
She squinted at me still lazing against the seat. “Anytime you want to invite me to join in one of your sessions just let me know. Now I understand why you’d travel half way around the world to see Alexis.”
I turned to look at him. He eyed me hungrily but didn’t touch.
.
***
