Key to Redemption

by Talia Gryphon

  “Goddess above, Trocar, I don’t know if I can walk,” she whispered to him. The more she moved, the worse it got, and the thought of pulling a Harry Met Sally real-life moment in a bar crowded with various Lycanthropes, Vampires and Fey who all knew the state she was in was mortifying.

  “Trust me, Gillyflower. I will get you out of here,” Trocar assured her, reaching down to lift her effortlessly in strong elven arms.

  “Go, Elf!” and “She’s ready for you; we can taste her scent!” were two of the milder commentaries from the assembled males in the bar.

  “Don’t you people have wives or girlfriends of your own to fuck?” Gillian snapped as Trocar carried her past. “I suggest you quit running your mouths and fantasizing at the bar and go get some real action for a change.” That shut them up. Sort of. But it did tone the tittering down a bit as they left.

  As soon as they were outside, Trocar sprinted for the car with Gillian in his arms. Taking her keys, he got the door open and deposited her in the backseat, then slammed the door shut and got in the driver’s side.

  “Hey, you can’t drive!” Gillian said sulkily from the back, still nearly writhing from the overabundance of Vampire sensuality.

  “Watch and learn, Petal.” Trocar was fairly growling as he cranked the engine, threw the car into gear and sped off into the night.

  Half turning, he said over the front seat, “I do not wish to be indelicate with you, Captain, but please take care of your need immediately, I give you my word that I will not watch you.”

  “What?!” Gillian turned a deeper shade of pink. “You are not suggesting that I basically get myself off here in the car with you driving!”

  “That is exactly what I am suggesting. You have just been in the presence of an obviously exceedingly powerful Vampire. You teeter on the edge of lust normally around Aleksei as well when you are not fighting with one another, but fortunately he is there to remedy it. Without him available at the moment, you are once again broadcasting sex and need, and while I would happily volunteer to ease your suffering, I do not want to have you suddenly uncomfortable with our relationship.”

  Gillian would have responded, but she was too busy covering her eyes with her hand and gritting her teeth as the car bounced and vibrated down the road. She just couldn’t do what he asked. Not here, not in front of him.

  Maybe Trocar could help . . . It would just take him pulling over and climbing back here for maybe two seconds. Unleashing that lovely obsidian shaft . . . Gah! What was she thinking?

  “Aleksei!” she yelled through their link. She knew he was occupied at the moment, but . . . but there was another possibility. Of course! There were always alternatives.

  “Perrin!” she ground out. “Get me to Perrin.”

  “Done,” he said and sped up.

  The Dark Elf pulled up almost on top of the front porch of the guesthouse and leapt out, running up to knock on Perrin’s door.

  “I cannot come to you, piccola, but if you have been affected like this by your new patient, you must work on better shielding. If Perrin is not there, let the Elf help you.”

  Aleksei had instantly read everything she fed him. They would discuss her problems with her shielding later; right now, she needed relief and to get out of his mind.

  “I can’t do that!” Gillian insisted.

  “Yes, you can. The identity of your patient is safe, you managed that much, but the sexuality he was projecting did indeed cause you to invade my thoughts and it is a distraction to say the least.

  “Be reasonable, bellissima. Dionysus, Osiris and the Egyptians have thousands of years of practice shielding from others. You respond to me because you care for me; Tanis does not affect you normally nor do most of the others of our kind because they are simply not that powerful nor do they rely on that ability to form relationships or seduce their prey.

  “This Vampire would be a very old, very strong Master. He is using his power as a food resource; it probably keeps any lesser beings he has contact with enamored of him. I would assume he doesn’t realize it is automatic and does not tone it down to a comfortable level. You are merely overwhelmed after being so sensitive to Perrin for so long. There is no shame in this; so please do it. I will be with you when I can.”

  Nice to have a boyfriend who could answer even your unspoken questions. Gill had been wondering why she was reacting so strongly to a Vampire she didn’t know when even their most powerful, Osiris, didn’t affect her in that way.

  “Aleksei, no, I am not fucking Trocar!”

  “Piccola.” Aleksei’s dark, sultry, velvet voice plundered her thoughts. “I can bring you to climax right now if you like. It will take the pressure off, and you will be able to shield.”

  Trocar had turned from the door and shook his head. Perrin wasn’t home. Lovely. She was so not going up to the castle like this.

  “Trocar, put the keys on the hood and leave, please!” Gillian yelled through the window.

  He nodded and did as she asked without inquiry, disappearing into the darkness.

  “Okay, Aleksei, but this had better work,” she grumbled, getting increasingly edgy as time passed. This was so damn humiliating. That was it; she was back on a meditation schedule to get her control back where it should be.

  “Relax, cara, I will help you.”

  Gillian felt the deeper brush of his mind on hers. Quite amazingly, she felt his hand between her legs and his fingers, stroking and probing. Jerking back, she arched into the feeling and could have sworn he was plundering her body, stroking the swollen flesh with his thumb. Biting her lip to keep from screaming, she rocketed over the edge of a tumultuous orgasm.

  “I hate to leave you like this, dolcezza, but I must. There are injured here.” Aleksei abruptly broke off the contact, mind and ghostly hand suddenly gone.

  She lay in the backseat of her car, shuddering in aftershocks, embarrassed and damn glad to be alone. This could not go on. Always priding herself on a remarkable level of control for an empath, she knew she’d been slacking off on her routine, but hadn’t realized it had gotten this bad.

  Several weeks of exposure to Perrin’s auto-glamour and short-circuiting emotional scale should have boosted her ability to shield, not weakened it. Well, it didn’t matter, she’d call her mentor in for some extra skill building in preventing near-orgasmic reactions to strange Vampires.

  Backing the car away from Perrin’s doorway, she parked it in the graveled area and headed for the castle. As she entered, she could hear laughter from the great hall and went to investigate. Kimber, Pavel, some of the Fey and Brownies, Trocar—who had evidently taken the long way around to the castle after leaving her—and Perrin were all by the fireplace, laughing merrily, enjoying tea and tiny Brownie cakes. The little menaces were proving to be very helpful and could cook better than a Cordon Bleu chef.

  Perrin looked luscious. Tight nutmeg brown pants that left little to the imagination and matching jacket, rich copper silk shirt, black boots, black mask tonight . . . no gloves . . . hooray! He was sitting next to Trocar and a couple of Brownies, arm over the back of the couch, legs stylishly crossed. Gloriosky.

  It was a good thing Aleksei had . . . er . . . relieved the pressure or she would have jumped him on sight. Decorum. Professional. Like hell. Trocar raised a crystalline white brow, and she nodded just enough so he’d understand all might not be well but it was better.

  Kimber waved from under Pavel’s arm. “Come on in, girlfriend!”

  She looked cute with the gorgeous blond Lycanthrope, all one hundred ten pounds of her skinny self against his six-foot-three, two-hundred-pound bulk. They looked charming together.

  “Hi, everyone, I will be back in a few minutes. I have to make a couple of phone calls,” she said cheerfully, waving at them all and leering appreciatively at Perrin, who winked at her, smiling.

  It was good to see him more relaxed and beginning to enjoy real camaraderie. He was less clingy and insecure too. Trocar and Aleksei especially had
been trying to include him in excursions around the property and in the inevitable male-bonding chats.

  Even Daed had positive comments about the fascinating masked man. Since he was the new team psychiatrist, she and Helmut had staffed Perrin’s case with him and Daed had spent some one-on-one time with Perrin himself. He’d remarked proudly how well-adjusted Perrin had become under Gillian’s care. Helmut was all for making sex therapy a regular option at the Institute, a thought which Gillian negated rather forcefully. She’d had quite enough of that for a while. It was too draining in too many ways to run those clients one after another.

  Watching Perrin now, as he looked directly at the others when they spoke and laughed openly with her friends, was all the reward and thanks she needed. He could leave without her worrying about him. That brightened her thoughts somewhat as she went to the library.

  Turning on her computer, she opened her browser and initiated chat. Almost at once there was a cheerful chime.

  “Darling, Gillian! What can I do for you?”

  The chime and the typed words were from her mentor at the Miller-Jackson Center for Intimacy, Cassiopeia Delphi, Ph.D., and Master Vampire, whom she’d called for advice regarding Perrin’s inclusion in social outings. Cassiopeia was honest, blunt and occasionally as tactless as Gillian. Ever since they’d discovered their similarities, they’d been fast friends.

  “I am having a hell of a time maintaining my shields,” Gillian wrote quickly after she had explained the situation.

  “You have not been observant with your meditation and practicing your healing, especially with having that Fey-Gargoyle for a client, Gilly. You have better discipline than that,” Cassiopeia scolded, but she did it nicely.

  Gillian knew her. Her mentor had never in anyone’s knowledge raised her voice above her normal sultry tones. She was also one of two people who could call Gillian “Gilly” and not be shot.

  “Yes, I fucked up.” No sense in denying it.

  “And I assume that you would like me to come there and give you a refresher?”

  “Please, if you have time, I would appreciate it.”

  “I just finished a class yester eve, so I am free for the next few nights. I will get there if you will take care of my accommodations, darling.”

  “You can stay here at the Institute, we have plenty of room.”

  “Wonderful, Ducks, I am looking forward to meeting your Lord and this patient who has had you all atwitter. Please introduce me only as your former instructor who is now your meditation guru. I would rather not actually work while there.”

  Cassiopeia had been Reborn during the late 1930s. She was of Dionysus’ Line, looked like a thirty-year-old violet-eyed Greek goddess, spoke like a forties USO girl and was a delight.

  “Thanks, Cass.” Gill signed off. Cassiopeia was completely reliable. She also hated being called “Cass,” but let Gillian get away with it occasionally for the same reason she was allowed to use “Gilly” as a pet name for her protégée.

  Great, now she had to tell Aleksei they were having more company. That was fine. Perrin was leaving with Helmut night after tomorrow, which would coincide with Cassiopeia’s arrival. That thought stopped her. Gods above, she was thinking in “Vamp speak,” using their terms in how they related to time passing. She really needed to get up early once in a while and remember what a sunrise looked like.

  CHAPTER 21

  “BELLISSIMA, can you gather anyone you know amongst our fair company who is a healer? The Humans are all safe, with the exception of minor injuries, and are being looked after in the town hall. We have a number of wounded Vampires, Sidhe and Shifters with us. Most will heal naturally in due course but I fear that some of the injuries are rather serious as the enemies were armed with silver, iron and wood. We simply do not have enough blood between all of us to heal them quickly.” Aleksei’s thoughts skated into her mind on silvered glass.

  “I’m on it.” Gillian didn’t waste his time or hers questioning him on the situation. As a soldier, you generally had only minimal information at your disposal and you acted on it until told differently. She took off at a dead run, nearly stomping some Brownies outside the library, and bolted for the Great Hall, yelling for Trocar, Dalton and Finian.

  “Gillian, what do you need us to do?” Luis was unexpectedly beside her, running with her, Oscar flanking him.

  “We need healers, Luis. And why weren’t you two with Aleksei? You in particular, Oscar, since you took a Loyalty Oath,” Gillian said curtly, glancing at the blond Vampire over her shoulder.

  “I am sorry, Gillian. You are right, of course. I had taken Luis away for a few days, we’ve only just returned.” Oscar gave off nothing but complete honesty. There was no tingle, no flare from him to indicate a lie.

  “Okay, fine, take it up with Aleksei then. Meanwhile, get any of the Fey in the area that can heal.” She skidded around the corner into the Great Hall while the two Vampires ran past her and out the front door to follow her command.

  Thud is quite descriptive of the sound that occurs when a fast-moving Human takes a corner too quickly and plows into a Dark Elf, who, while not running, was hurrying with one of the Sidhe Princes she’d asked for right behind him.

  “Ow! Dammit! Sorry, Trocar,” Gill said as he steadied her with a glare. She took that moment to unwrap herself from his sheathed sword and check for accidental puncture wounds.

  “What is it, Kynzare?” Finian asked, his hand on his own blade.

  “Aleksei’s coming with wounded. The attackers used silver, iron and wood so we’ve got wounded Vamps, Fey and Shifters, and I don’t know who else. Can any of your people heal?” That was to Finian. She knew Trocar was a healer and quite capable of assisting.

  “Yes, let me call to them.” Finian unhooked a small silver horn from his belt and went to the front door. Several of the other Sidhe in the Hall heard her, coming forward to announce themselves as healers.

  Two or three spriggans, it was hard to tell, lumped over. “We do not heal, but we are magic and can help the cause,” one said in its gravelly thick voice.

  “Thank you. We can use all the power we can get,” Gillian thanked it gravely. They were even worse-looking than the Sluagh that’d had Trocar in its clutches the other night, but she kept her face pleasant and pushed accepting and grateful feelings toward all of them. They collectively nodded and moved back to a darker corner of the Great Hall.

  Perrin was abruptly at her side. “What can I do to help?”

  Shit, he looked magnificent, but the gray green eyes were worried. She could feel his need to be useful to his newfound friends beating at her.

  Thinking quickly, she had an idea. “Tell you what, we need your music.”

  Turning to Pavel, still seated with Kimber, she asked, “Pavel, get whatever Wolves you can and get the piano from Perrin’s house, please, then bring it here. Kimber, Perrin, help me move these couches out of the way.”

  They all moved to obey her, Perrin grabbing the opposite end of the couch she had. “What good can my music do anyone in this situation, ma chérie? It caused so much trouble before.”

  “I have an idea. Can you tone down the erotic part of it and make it about healing? Dial up the glamour to respond to curative magic?”

  He set the couch down, nodding in understanding. “You want me to amplify whatever healing the rest of you can do. I am not certain, but I will try nonetheless. You must tell me if it causes any discomfort among the wounded.”

  “Yeah, that would suck to have a bunch of bloody, dismembered people trying to screw each other.” Gillian laughed; Kimber laughed; even Trocar and Pavel laughed. Perrin wasn’t laughing; Perrin was abruptly pale. Oops.

  “Look, Perrin, I’m sorry. The situation is bad, so we make bad jokes. It’s called ‘gallows humor.’ It’s a defense mechanism, nothing more. We’re not making light of anyone being injured or killed. Understand?” She’d stopped rolling up the rug with Kimber and focused on Perrin’s distress.

&nb
sp; “I know, Gillian. I really cannot joke about any kind of pain.” He turned away from her and went off in the direction of the foyer.

  “Dammit, I keep forgetting he’s not used to us.” She raked her hair back. “He just fits in now, you know?”

  “Yeah, he does, honey, but you know you can’t think like that.” Kimber was right, as usual.

  “I know. It just sucks. I’m trying to keep my own objectivity, but he got to me. First client in all my years of practice that actually got to me,” Gillian admitted, more to herself than anyone else.

  Trocar put his arm around her. “It is only Human of you, Gillyflower. He is no longer in the pain he knew when he first arrived. Now, it is a joy to see him as he should have been all along and now can be. Be glad of what you have accomplished here, keep that perspective, then let him try his wings. He is not as fragile as you might think.”

  She hugged him for a moment, allowing herself to be comforted, then stepped away. “I know he’s not fragile, he lived for over one hundred fifty years with not one kind word or thought or deed from anyone. It just amazes me that he’s adapted so well. I guess he was just waiting for the time when everything would be all right. I can let go, guys, really. I’ve just gotten used to him being around, but I can let go.”

  “We know you will, Kemo Sabe, but we worry about you too, that’s all.” Kimber hugged her friend.

  “Thanks, Kimmy. Now let’s get this ready for the incoming.”

  Soon, they had the room cleared as Perrin returned with all the linens, pillows and towels he could find on a cart he’d pilfered from somewhere in the castle. Pallets were laid out from one end of the hall to the other with the help of the Brownies to straighten out wrinkles in the blankets and smooth the corners. They didn’t know how many were coming back—Aleksei hadn’t been specific—so they decided to take no chances and go for possibly too many rather than not enough.

  Daed was there with his proverbial little black bag. He had ordered a generous amount of various pharmaceuticals from Brasov after the Ripper incident and felt confident he had enough types of drugs to handle any being who needed medication.