by Lund, S. E.
"I don't know anything about operatives."
"You don't know much, do you? Michel just can't commit."
I say nothing and wait.
"Tell me about Eve," he says, standing up and pulling a chair over. "I know you're an Adept. You work for the SCU." He sits on the chair across from me. "I think Michel's in love." He looks me over. "He really has kept you in the dark. Must be guilt." He leans in and runs a gloved finger over my cheek. "Tell you what," he says. "You're not happy with him? You feel unsafe? You just have to call my name and I'll be glad to add you to the harem."
"Harem?"
"Oh, sorry," he says and smiles again. "I forget the politically correct times we're in. I should have said my 'staff'. I suppose I could have called them my 'feedstock', or maybe my 'collection' or maybe my 'donors'. I really just like to call them my slaves."
I look away from him, disgusted with his obvious delight in his power over mortals. He immediately takes hold of my chin and turns my face back so that I have to look at him.
"You're not very quick are you?" he says. "Or are you just impetuous? I like impetuous. One thing I've learned in all my long years of existence is that the hunt and the chase are almost as much fun as the kill. I can see it's going to be a lot of fun to get you broken in if Michel doesn't claim you."
Then, a guard enters the room. "My Lord, he's here."
The vampire stands and faces the door. Several men dressed in dark coats enter the room, all of them with weapons of silver drawn – guns, knives. One even carries a crossbow. They stand in a circle around the vampire as if to protect him.
And then, Michel walks in and my heart jumps – except it's not Michel. It's Julien. He's wearing black leather and black jeans. He glances in my direction quickly and when I'm just about to say something, he gives a quick shake of his head. Then, he stands in front of the other vampire. He had no body armor that I can see or weapons.
"Finally," the vampire says and extends a hand to Julien. They clasp forearms. "I'm surprised Michel sent you. Aren't you two still quarrelling?"
"Luke," Julien says. "Thanks for picking her up when her security detail was taken out."
"Glad to hear Michel was able to get you out of trouble."
Julien nods.
The vampire – Luke – turns to me.
"I thought I was going to have to train her myself. She's a cheeky one, despite the tears. Michel must like them saucy."
"You can leave the training to me," Julien says.
"Oh, that's too bad. You know how I like to break a new slave in, but I have a feeling this one will only top from the bottom," he says, smiling. He pulls up another chair and gestures to it. "Where's Michel?"
"Soren's making Michel stay in Pittsburgh. I'm taking over his territory."
At that, my heart skips a beat. Soren's making Michel stay in Pittsburgh?
"Julien," I say, unable to stop myself. "What do you mean Michel's staying in Pittsburgh?" Tears brim once more in my eyes.
Julien comes to me and stands in front of me.
"Hush," he says and runs the back of his fingers over my cheek, sending some kind of calm chemical through me. "We'll talk later."
"But, Michel…" I start to say but he shakes his head again, and holds his fingers up to my lips.
"Hush."
He returns to his chair and the two vampires sit facing each other, eyeing each other intently.
"How's he taking it? That must be upsetting for him, considering she's here."
"He's resigned to it," Julien says. "It was him or her, and there's no way he'd want Soren to have her."
"I figured Michel would pay some price to get you back."
"So are you going to tell me what happened with Eve?"
Luke raises his hands.
"When Jim saw Eve wandering around and Michel's man wasn't in sight, he stepped in and took her off the street. You can't be too careful with the females, I always say. Too valuable. Tell Michel he really must hire better help."
"Point taken."
"And here she is," Luke says, pointing to me. "Only a little worse for wear. Jim was a bit exuberant in retrieving her. She got a bit of a bruise on her forehead when she fell and of course, there's that," he says and points to my breast. "He was a bit too enthusiastic in bringing me a sample of her blood as proof of life but better overkill than underkill."
"Of course," Julien says. "Now, if you don't mind, I think it's time to get back home. I have a long night ahead of me."
Luke smiles. "I'll bet you do. Be my guest," he says and motions to me. "Jim, cut her loose."
Jim goes behind me and removes the ropes binding my hands and I clutch at my breasts, trying to cover up. Julien stands and holds his hand out to Luke, palm up. "If you don't mind?"
"Of course." Luke reaches into a pocket and withdraws the vial of blood, handing it over to Julien. "It was just insurance, you understand. In case one of you didn't show and needed convincing."
"Of course." Julien puts the vial into a pocket in his jacket.
Elaine comes in the room with some clothes on hangars.
"My Lord, you asked for these?" She holds them up, one after the other. One is a short black leather dress with a low cut back and the other is a sleeveless black velvet cocktail dress, with a scoop neck, corset bodice and a lace up back.
Luke stands in front of the two dresses and studies each one, a finger at his lips. "I think the velvet is more her style, don't you think Julien?"
Julien nods. "Definitely."
"Good," he says. "Consider this my gift for your new pet." He motions to Elaine. "Take her and help her change."
Elaine tilts her head to me and I look at Julien for some direction. He nods without meeting my eyes and so I follow Elaine into the other room.
"Here, sweetie," she says, her voice soft. "You put this on. I'll see what I can do about your hair."
I undress quickly, not wanting to argue with either Julien or Luke. The dress is a bit loose, but it fits as well as can be expected. Elaine pulls the laces in the back of the dress tightly and it fits more snugly. The bustier pushes my breasts up and the thin cut is still lined with dried blood, but it's no longer bleeding. Then she pulls my hair back, securing it with a series of clips, tendrils falling in long curls around my face. She turns me around.
"You look much better."
She reaches into a wardrobe and pulls out a pair of heels. "I think these will fit you well enough."
I try them on. Sure enough they fit. I look her over. She has several sets of bite marks on her neck and left breast.
"Are you all right?" I ask. "You look like you've lost too much blood."
"It's my week," she says, smiling. "My Lord's very experienced. He knows how much to take. He feeds me a bit of his blood each time so I'll be fine."
"Aren't you afraid you'll die one of these times?"
"Oh, no." She shakes her head. "I'm one of his favorites. He takes good care of us."
I sigh, unable to believe that a woman could be happy as part of a harem, for a vampire or mortal.
"Can I ask what you do when it's not your week?"
"Recover," she says brightly. "Eat really well, rest, sleep. Luke isn't really much for television so we tend to listen to music or I can read if I want to."
"You don't work?"
She laughs. "This is my work," she says and points to her wound.
"You know he called you his slave?"
She leads me out of the room. "I know. I don't really care what he calls me. He's one of the oldest vampires and is very powerful. More powerful than even Michel and Julien."
Than even Michel and Julien? I try to absorb this new information as we return to the room.
"Ah, there she is," Luke says. He stands with his arms crossed and looks me up and down. "Much better. Good enough to eat. I tell you, if you grow tired of her, you can always send her here."
"I'll keep it in mind if she becomes too bothersome." Julien glances at me briefly,
but his face is unreadable. Luke goes to the door, one arm draped over Elaine's shoulders. "I'm so glad we had the chance to chat," he says to Julien. "And so glad Michel was able to get you out of your little predicament. Give him my regards."
"Luke," Julien says, bowing slightly. He turns to leave and motions to me with a quick wave of his hand. I follow him. When we get to the door, I frown.
"Wait," I say and it hits me. The sun's still out. "How can you go outside during the day?"
Julien opens the door for me.
"Need to know, Eve." He leads me down the stairs to the loading dock. "Everything's different now."
"What do you mean, everything?"
"I mean everything," he says, taking my arm. "I've been able for years, but I haven't been out, so to speak. This is the price Michel had to pay to resurrect me."
This sends a shock through me. Vampires can daywalk? The questions pour out of me.
"How many of you can do this? How is it possible? Why is Michel staying in Pittsburgh?"
"Not many can daywalk. A handful remain. I was part of a project your mother was involved in. Now leave it at that," Julien says, all matter of fact, like this isn't about the biggest shock of all.
"Wait," I say and grab his arm. "You can't tell me this is related to my mother's work and not explain."
"Why, yes I can."
I clench my fists and follow him outside. A driver opens the door to a limo and Julien motions for me to get in. I shiver in the cool air, too numb to even consider refusing. I sit inside and lean back, enormous fatigue filling me as if I've just escaped a death sentence – which of course I most likely have.
Julien leans over and clips on my seat belt, and I see him eye the cut on my breast. He takes off his coat and covers me with it, and I'm glad to have something against the chill.
"Why is Michel in Pittsburgh," I say again, tears once again blurring my vision. "Can I go to him?"
Julien says nothing while the driver speeds off.
"Julien, please, tell me!"
He turns to me and cups my cheek, frowning. I feel another wave of something sedative flow through me.
"Shh," he says. "Michel's gone and he's not coming back. He had to do this in order to get me back. It was you or him and he would never let Soren have you. You're mine now."
I frown at him, but my ability to argue is fading fast.
"I'm Michel's,'" I say in weak protest.
"Yes, and he gave you to me so get used to it. You said you'd obey him. Well, this is his order."
"I don't believe you. How do I know you didn't arrange all this just so you could take me?"
He turns back to me and now I see his anger in the thin press of his mouth but I also see pain there, emotion, as if he's almost at the breaking point.
"I died for him, Eve. He wouldn't let me go. This is his wish. Now, just obey and honor his order."
"What do you mean, you died for him? Do you mean in return for Marguerite?"
He says nothing and I can only imagine what's going on between these two brothers. I lean my head back against the seat. Despite Julien's efforts to calm me, the pain is deep.
Michel's gone.
"I have to go to him," I say, my voice breaking. Then, Julien leans close to me and takes my hand, looking in my eyes and he's so intense that my heart does a flip-flop.
"Eve," he says, his voice soft. "We're at war now. You have to get this obedience thing clear. Soren knows about you and he wanted you in exchange for my resurrection but Michel and I made another deal."
"What deal?"
He sighs. "We have to become everything we've hated the most."
"What do you mean?"
He just shakes his head as if he's unable to speak for a moment.
"Soren gave us a choice and we made it. Michel didn't want you to become Soren's property and neither did I. Both of us know what that would mean. He chose to stay with Soren instead."
"For how long?"
"A quarter century. Maybe more. It means nothing to a vampire, but to a human it's almost half your life. You have to just accept it."
"How can you accept this?" I say, my voice breaking. "We have to fight Soren. I'll kill him."
Julien tries to calm me again, but I succeed in pulling my arm away
"Don't!" I say. "I want to feel my emotions." But he grabs my arm again and squeezes.
"Michel wouldn't want you to cry. I don't want you to cry." And then my grief fades once more. I just sit there, like an emotionless zombie, staring at Julien as he wipes my tears away. "We can't do anything to change this. Michel knew it would cost us. Eve, Soren isn't just any old vampire. He's an Ancient. They're not of this world. Your vampire hunter skills? Useless."
"Why? Are they faster?"
"They're metamorphs. They can transform at will. You think you've got them? They dematerialize."
"Is that where the vampires turning into fog myth comes from?"
He nods, his face so grim that I'm afraid.
"They have to have a weakness," I say. I dig my nails into my palms, and the pain is short and sharp and I know Julien won't be able to read me as long as the pain lasts. In those brief moments, I make a commitment to myself. I don't care what Michel forbids or what Julien demands. I'll find a way to kill Soren. I'll find a way to kill him and get Michel back.
Julien grabs my hands and pries my fists open. My nails have dug into my palm in three places, drawing blood.
He clucks his tongue. "You won't be able to keep it up forever, Eve. Pain takes a lot of energy and will eventually exhaust you so I'll find out any plans you have in place." He pulls the wound up to his mouth and tongues it and I fight him, trying to jerk my hand away but of course, he's stronger and he does it anyway.
"Don't you do that!' I say, angry that he's doing what Michel did. "Don't try to be Michel. You aren't him."
"I know that only too well," he says and lifts his head from my hand. He has the characteristic red-rimmed eyes and huge pupils of the hunter feeding, his teeth long, his mouth stained with my blood. He licks his lips and just stares at me, not smiling, his face a little terrifying in its feral expression.
"I didn't want this," he says, his face slowly returning to normal. "Michel didn't want this, but we're brothers first. He saved my life many times and I've saved his. He wouldn't want Soren to have you so that he could go free. He gave you to me."
"He can't just give me away," I say, horrified. "I'm not a possession you can exchange."
"Yes, you are," Julien says, his brow furrowed. "Get this straight, Eve. We're predators. You're prey. You're an Adept, which makes you valuable. You will be claimed by someone. Better you were claimed by me than Luke. Being my possession saved your life just now."
Then I reach up and touch the mark on my neck. There are two wounds where teeth have penetrated my skin.
"I'm not yours. I'm Michel's. He came to me in the night. Why didn't I see this when I got ready today?"
He doesn't say anything.
"Michel did come to me in the night." I say again. "If he did, he can come any time."
"Once Soren knew you were alive, one of us had to claim you. Michel wanted to delay claiming you, but he was wrong. It put you more at risk. He didn't come to you, Eve. I did. I had to do it. "
"You what?" My blood feels as if it's turned to ice. "Then you raped me because I didn't give you consent."
He shakes his head.
"I didn't. I gave you a nice dream of Michel so you'd be happy. I did it for your protection and it's a good thing, too, considering Luke took you. If you'd been unclaimed, you'd be his now and there'd be nothing I could do about it. Even now, he's stronger than I am."
I look away and close my eyes, the reality that any vampire can just hack into my mind and affect my dreams unsettling.
"I feel like some pawn in this game of power you and Michel are playing."
"Not a pawn, Eve. The queen."
I frown. In chess, the queen is the most powerful pi
ece.
"Eve," he says and leans closer. "This isn't about what you want or what any of us want. This is about what has to be. This was the price we had to pay to keep Soren from claiming you. As soon as he knew Michel had you, he wanted you."
"Why is he doing this to you?"
"You read parts of the manuscript. Michel killed Marguerite. Soren's used that over the years to get much out of us but in truth, the debt will never be repaid. No human life, not even a powerful Adept, can equal that of an Ancient's progeny. Not even my life."
"Why?"
"There's a hierarchy among my kind based on how close you are to the first vampires. Nephilim are at the top, because they’re the progeny of fallen angels. Ancients beneath them, then an Ancient's progeny, then the rest of us. Soren enjoys manipulating us, making us do things neither of us would do on our own. He's a monster. But even though he has Michel, and even though he has my compliance, I don't trust him not to come after you as well. I had to claim you. Be thankful it's me and not Luke."
I just sit there, numb, staring into Julien's eyes, Robin's egg blue, fringed with thick black lashes just like Michel's, and I remember my dream and how much I loved it when Michel – when Julien bit me.
Unable to argue, drained of all emotion, I close my eyes and turn my head away.
Chapter 24
“We love the things we love for what they are.”
Robert Frost
We drive in silence. Before we've driven very far, I become nauseated, the headache that's been threatening for the last hour coming into full bloom, blinding in intensity.
"I'm not feeling well," I say, hardly able to hold my head up.
Julien leans over and turns my head towards him, looking in my eyes. I can barely keep them open.
"Stop the car."
Once the car comes to a stop, he unbuckles his seatbelt and moves closer to me, my face in his hands.
"Jesus Christ."
"I'm so tired," I manage to say, but the world is spinning, darkness closing in on me. I feel like I'm going to pass out. "Maybe you should take me to the nearest emergency room."
"No need," Julien says, and I pry my eyelids open and watch him. His eyes become bloodshot, his pupils dilated, and he bites his own wrist, twin punctures over his veins. He holds his wrist up to my mouth.
