"I have been alone for the last three centuries, Dane. I think I am capable of taking care of myself."
He framed her face in his hands, and was surprised that he could feel her skin under his. "Please listen to me. The Elders are going to kill me if I don't run away. I need to know that you will be happy. My soul will not rest well if you are not. Be happy Ciera, and don't cast Mitch out. He needs you, and you need him. I will always be with you, just maybe not where you can talk to me. I will long to hold your body next to mine always, but as long as I know that I have once touched your heart, I will be happy. I love you, Ciera. Remember that always, and remember that I only want love and happiness for you." He bent and kissed the tear off her cheek, then kissed her lips gently.
Mitch didn't know whether to punch the guy or hug him. He had been following this whole scene, with the three of them, really slowly. It seemed that he couldn't catch up. But he had realized what Dane had just done for him. That is, if Ciera listened to the guy.
"Please, do this for me, Ciera. Stay with Mitch and be happy. He needs you, and you need him."
"I need you, too," she cried.
"I will be here," he pointed to her heart. "Whenever you need me. All you have to do is think of me, and I will be here."
"I love you so much it hurts," she said, and laid her head on his chest. She now completely understood the phrase "love hurts."
Her eyes locked with Mitch's, and she knew that she couldn't leave him. If one of her men were gone from her life, it would be bad. But if they both were absent, she would go insane. "I will stay," she said, and closed her eyes.
When she opened her eyes again, Dane was still holding her and rubbing her back gently. "Sleep now, Ciera. This will all be over with soon enough." She closed her eyes and prayed for a good dream. God only knew how badly she needed one.
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Chapter 61
Mitch was tying his shoe when he heard the unmarked pull in the drive. Talk about perfect timing. He had sent Ciera and Dane on their way about a half hour ago. She had been really upset in thinking that she could never be happy without both him and Dane in her life. He hated to think that the other vampire was kissing her tears away right now, but someone needed to, and it wasn't possible for him to do it at the moment. He wouldn't let her run away when all of this was over. He needed her, and whether she wanted to admit it or not, she needed him as well. If she left here, he would go with her. She could be happy again. He was positive that she could be happy again with him, and only him.
Lazarus walked in the front door with a smile on his face. "Everyone has been asking about you. I finally broke down and told them that you were alright, and would be back to work on Monday. The Captain already has a case lined up for you when you return. He doesn't want anybody working it except you." He shrugged. "Well, me and you."
"I'm ready to go back. I am beginning to feel a little homesick." His brow furrowed. "Speaking of home, the cops didn't confiscate all my belongings in my apartment, did they?"
Lazarus shook his head. "No, but they did trash it looking for clues. You are going to need some serious maid service in that apartment, son."
Mitch sighed. "Look Lazarus, I know that I am your son and all, but you haven't been around my whole life man, and you don't look any older than I do. It is a little weird hearing you call me son."
Lazarus laughed and held his hands up, palms out. "I'm sorry. I will try to squish the urge from now on. Are you ready? I'm gonna go take a quick shower and then we can go. You want to get something to eat first?"
"Yeah, I am starving. The only edible thing you have in this house is Ramen Noodles."
Lazarus chuckled from the bathroom, and Mitch heard the shower come on. "All right, did you decide where you want to go to pick up our other nourishment?"
"Yeah, I used to hit that club over by the lake a lot back in the day. I think it's called The Pulse. They keep their place pretty clean of junkies and trouble-makers."
The shower cut off, and Mitch could hear the guy drying off, then he stuck his head around the door and looked at Mitch with a smile. "Mitch…we are vampires. We are the trouble-makers." He smiled and his fangs shot out.
Mitch smiled nervously, then nodded. "Right."
Lazarus came back to the living room fully dressed, carrying his socks and boots. "Have you had a chance to practice your skills today?"
Mitch shook his head. "No, I pretty much crashed after you left, and didn't wake up until about an hour ago. I guess I was more tired than I thought."
Lazarus nodded as he stood and grabbed his keys and jacket. "No worries, we do have an eternity to figure out all that you can do, but we can talk about some of the different ones over food."
Mitch nodded in agreement and they left the house.
Mitch had chosen Porky's. It was one of his favorite places to eat, and of course they would deliver, as well. After the short blonde took their order, Mitch began the discussion. "You said that you have the ability to block other vampires from finding you. Do you think, if I possess that skill, it would keep me from subconsciously bringing Ciera's spirit to me? I don't want her invading my dreams. I can fight it off when I am awake by thinking of something else, but when I am asleep," Mitch shook his head, "I can't keep it from happening."
Lazarus took a sip of his drink and grimaced. "Yes, and we need you to get that skill mastered very quickly. I am very uncomfortable knowing that you can be tracked. It will only be a matter of time before the Elders find out about you, and I don't want them getting their hands on you. They will want you to become one of them, with all the skills that you possess. Believe me, Mitch, you do not want that life. Your life will never again be your own."
Mitch looked up as the waitress set his plate in front of him. The blonde's wrist was naked before him, and he felt his fangs poke his lower lip. He turned his head and faked coughing. He heard Lazarus tell the girl that he was fine, that they would no longer need her services, and that she could even bring the check. Mitch heard the girl walk away, and he looked back to Lazarus, who had a slight grin spreading across his face.
"It won't take you long to get control of your urges," Lazarus said, then tucked his napkin in his collar and began eating his Bar-B-Q sandwich.
It was still early when they left Porky's, so Lazarus drove them to the other side of the city. He thought feeding again would be a good idea for Mitch. He thought that what happened at the restaurant may just accidentally happen again at the club in front of a hundred plus humans. Better not to take the risk, Lazarus had said.
"It probably only happened because you used your skills so much yesterday and last night. You didn't get enough human blood to make up for it. What you really need is vampire blood," Lazarus smiled hugely. "But we shall save that for another time. I have a friend who would be up to sharing that experience with you, but she is out of the country right now."
"So what does vampire blood do?" Mitch asked curiously.
"Well, it will make you physically and mentally stronger, and it will last longer than human blood, but there is a huge side effect from taking from another vampire, and it is the reason that you can't take from my vein."
"And what is that?" Mitch asked.
Lazarus grin grew even bigger, and he glanced at Mitch. "You will become incredibly horny. I don't want you trying to fuck me."
Mitch smiled and looked out the window. "No, I don't think I will be taking from your vein anytime soon. I mean, you're a sexy son-of-a-bitch and all, but you aren't my type." He was vaguely hearing Lazarus' soft chuckling. Mitch's mind wasn't thinking about taking blood from his partner. He was thinking about taking blood from Ciera, and wondered if she had ever taken blood from another vampire. He suspected that she was no longer innocent. She hadn't come right out and said that she and Dane had been together like that, but he could tell. He had wanted her to wait for him, but he wasn't angry with her that she didn't. He could tell by the way she acted earlier that she really did
love Dane. That hurt like hell, too, because he wanted her whole heart. It was just his luck that the one girl he falls in love with can't love only him.
Mitch looked up as Lazarus pulled the car over to the curb. "You want me to hold your hand, or have you got this?" Lazarus said as he cut the engine off.
Mitch gave him a go to hell look and glanced at his watch. It was nine o'clock. "I got this, and I won't be long. I need a beer."
Lazarus smiled and Mitch left the car to go on his hunt.
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Chapter 62
It didn't take Mitch very long to find, mesmerize, and feed from a lonely homeless guy. The flood of images that he received from the old man's thoughts had been similar to the other homeless guy he had ran across only last night. Although the second guy hadn't lost his family to death. He had lost them because he had lost his job when he failed a drug test. He could imagine that would be a hell of a way for your wife to find out that you were a drug addict. He could tell when he had taken his blood that he had drugs in his system even now. Guess he hadn't learned his lesson, or else he didn't care anymore because he had already lost everything he had ever had.
Mitch had taken only what he needed from the guy, and was surprised to find that it was a lot easier to stop feeding than it had been last night with the girl from outside the bar. He opened the passenger door of Lazarus' personal vehicle. It was a dark blue Toyota Tundra, and it fit the guy's style perfectly. He didn't know how the guy afforded all that he had, and had been sending his mother all of that money over the years. He decided to ask him as he closed himself in the truck. "I know your career isn't paying for everything you have, and it doesn't explain the fat savings account my mother left for me, so what's your secret?"
Lazarus smiled. "I have very good investors." He shrugged and pulled away from the curb, then turned left at the light. They were headed toward Lake Decatur now, so they must be going to the club, he thought. "And I have taken money from a few humans over the years."
Mitch didn't need to ask him what a few meant. He could see it written all over the guy's face. He did it on a regular basis. Probably every time he fed from one, he would clean their wallet or purse out before he compelled them to forget about him. Mitch imagined that most vampires earned their money that way. He couldn't see them holding down a nine to five. The only reason Lazarus had, was to be able to stay close to him.
"So what are your other skills, besides daywalking and blocking?" Mitch asked.
"I am a pro at telekinesis, but other than that, that is all. The daywalking was a very important skill to the Elders. I could go out in the daylight, where no other vampire could. That is how I escaped. You can't just quit being an Elder. When they get you in, you are in until someone kills you, or you kill yourself." Lazarus shrugged. "I thought about the latter."
"Killing yourself?" Mitch asked.
"I was almost six hundred years old before I ran away Mitch. I was tired. I was still considering it when I met your mother, then you came along, so I had something to live for. I had to watch you grow up. I had to make sure that your mother was financially taken care of." Lazarus pulled into the parking lot of The Pulse. There were only about thirty vehicles in the lot, but it was still early. Mitch just didn't know how he was going to get Lazarus to leave by midnight. He was going to have to find some women for them fast. Ciera really had a lot of faith in him. He had never been charming, and now he had only a little over two hours to woo a woman enough to make her want to go home with him. He could always get her drunk. Getting a woman drunk had never been a problem before. He wasn't a bad looking guy. Actually he thought he was rather good looking, but he didn't have the gift of words, and he didn't know how to flirt. Usually, when he opened his mouth to say something nice, it would come out sounding more like an insult.
He nodded to himself. Yes, getting a girl drunk was the current plan.
Ciera opened her eyes to loud knocking on the bedroom door. She sat upright quickly and looked at Dane. He was blinking several times, like he was just coming out of sleep himself. What time was it?
"Yeah! Come in." Ciera said, and the door opened.
Lenya poked her head in the door. "There are a whole lot of vampires here, and they look like they are about to head out to war. I overheard one of them saying that he didn't think this task was very important to you, being that you were going to miss it."
Ciera and Dane both jumped out of the bed and ran for the door. Lenya moved out of the way just in time to keep from getting trampled, then she followed them to a room that was closer to the stairs than they had been in earlier.
There were about forty vampires in the conference room when Ciera, Dane, and Lenya barged in.
Dante looked up and frowned. "So nice of you to join us."
"Were you not going to wake us, Father?" Ciera asked.
He shrugged. "You were the one who was so hell bent on going. I assumed you would set an alarm, but it isn't something that we can't take care of on our own, Ciera."
"How about the fact that Lenya was going to use her skill so he could be captured? Or the fact that you don't even know where he is?"
"We had every intention to take Lenya with us, and we know where the two vampires are located that need to be subdued and eradicated. Your services are not required," He glanced at Dane with a disgusted look on his face. "Nor yours, Dane."
Ciera couldn't catch her breath. She felt like her heart was about to explode in her chest. Her Father did not just say that they were going to kill Mitch. It couldn't be true. "Father…Mitch Foley is on our side. He is helping us take down Lazarus. Why would you destroy him?"
Dante had begun talking to someone else about their plans while Ciera was having her breakdown. But he stopped talking and looked at her then. "You can't be positive that he is helping you. He may only be telling you that he is to lure us all in so Lazarus can complete his task. I can't take that risk."
"But I am positive, Father!" Ciera cried. "Please don't kill him," she pleaded.
Dane touched her hand lightly and whispered, "Ciera, this is a trap. Please don't say anymore."
She turned and looked at him with tears running down her beautiful face. "I have to, or they will kill him."
Dane closed his eyes and shook his head. All the Elders were present, and their Father was trying to get her to tell on herself, and she was going to do it so she could save Mitch. "Please, Ciera. Don't do this."
"I am sorry, Dane," she said, and he sighed in defeat. She looked back at Dante. "Mitch is my soulmate, Father. Lazarus knew I would turn him to save his life. I fell for a trick, but the truth still remains that he is my soulmate and I am in love with him. I have loved him from the first moment I laid eyes on him, and he loves me. That is how I am positive that he is on our side, Father."
Dante sat down in the chair at the head of the table. He laced his fingers together and put them to his mouth as he studied her. "Ciera, you know the consequences for breaking vampire law. Not only did you fall in love with a human, but you exposed us all when you told him what you are."
She nodded once. "He wanted to be one of us. He wasn't going to tell the world about us. He already has five skills, and that is only the ones that he has discovered in the last two days. He will be an asset to our Family, Father. Please don't do this."
"I told you not to let this happen, Ciera. You have just spoken your case in front of the entire Illinois Vampire Aristocracy. They will judge you, not I. I can only wish you the best of luck. You will need it." He looked to Alino, the King or Head Elder. "What say you, Your Highness?"
Ciera and Dane immediately looked in the direction that Dante was looking. Six huge vampire bodyguards moved aside, and the King was before them all. They fell to a bended knee with their heads low in respect. She hadn't noticed that he was in the room. How had she missed his beautiful appearance here in this room amongst all the riffraff?
"How do you believe in destiny and fate and soulmates, after over
three centuries of being the way you are, my child?" Alino asked Ciera.
Her eyes were wide and looking at the floor. He had spoken to her, but he hadn't told her to rise. She didn't know whether to answer his question like this, or stand and face him to answer the question.
"Stand up," Dane whispered.
"Thank you," Ciera whispered back, then stood and made eye contact with the King. He was beautiful. He looked to be no older than thirty. He had slightly tanned skin, much like her own, with bright green eyes that stood out in contrast to his skin color. His hair was flowing black silk, and she longed to touch it, to prove to herself that nothing could actually be that soft. "I did not, only mere weeks ago, Your Highness. I have not, in all my existence, felt something as powerful as love. I have never known it. I know it now, but I actually think that fate is laughing at me."
"Why ever would you think that, Ciera?" he asked, and she could tell that he was really interested. He was talking with her as if they were the only two people in the room, and she was telling him a great story; one where dreams came true for a change. His eyes were dancing with curiosity.
"Fate has dealt me an extra card, Sire. I am in love with two men, and both of their lives are in your hands. I have told you of Mitch, but Dane is just as dear to my heart," Ciera said, and her eyes misted over. She didn't look away from the King.
He tilted his head to the side a little and studied her. "The vampire who committed treason? The male who is at fault for all of this?" He glanced at Dane and one side of his mouth tilted up in a half smile. "You love him as well?"
Ciera shook her head. "No, I mean yes ... yes I do love Dane, but none of this is his fault, Your Highness. Lazarus manipulated him. Dane's love for me was his weakness and Lazarus knew that. The only person responsible for any wrong doing tonight is Lazarus."
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