“Master Xavier, it’s time for a shower. You like those, don’t you? Come on, get up. I purchased more of that body soap that you like.” I uncurled and stared vacantly across the empty expanse of sheets.
“Please, Xavier.”
I didn’t like it when that British voice got sad, so I crawled off the bed, and I followed Chesterton into the bathroom, watching as he set the temperature of the water and then standing still as he helped me get undressed. I liked the smell of the body wash that I used. It smelled of apples and reminded me of an orchard in fall. It was my favorite scent, and I lingered in the shower until my skin started to wrinkle just so that I could keep breathing it in.
Chesterton had me sit on a bench as he towel dried my body and hair. I liked my hair: it was a pretty color. Pretty…where was my Pretty? I missed him, I thought, as Chesterton took up a soft brush and started stroking out the tangles in my hair. That felt good, and I leaned back against him and closed my eyes, sitting still as I felt him start to braid my hair.
The bathroom was still steamy, and the towel that was wrapped around me was warm enough that I started to drift off.
“Master Xavier. It’s time to brush your teeth.”
I frowned but opened my eyes, obediently crossing over to the sink and taking the toothbrush Chesterton had ready for me.
“Remember, you have to drop your fangs all the way down.”
Yawning, I dropped my fangs and had just started brushing my teeth when Claudius came back upstairs.
“Chesterton, will you bring Xavier into the living room after he is dressed, please. Seal us in when you leave. I want no one to come in once you are gone.” The black-haired vampire waited at the bathroom door for a moment then turned on his heel and stalked back to the living room.
“Spit.”
I spat. I gargled, and Chesterton wiped my face clean before letting me loose in the bedroom. I got to my closet and smiled. I had lots and lots of clothes. Today, I picked out a black-and-white bowling shirt and a pair of black jeans, and after dressing, Chesterton helped me into my black running shoes. Then he led me into the living room, where Claudius was sitting on the floor. Why was he sitting on the floor?
“Come here, Xavier. I have something to show you,” he told me. “And Chesterton,” he said, turning to the butler, “see to it that no one comes up. I do not wish to be disturbed.”
“Understood, sir,” Chesterton replied, complying.
I crossed over to Claudius, and he pointed to a spot on the floor just in front of him. “Take a seat there, Xavier, and hold out your hands.”
Cupping my hands, I held my breath as Claudius laid something warm in my palms.
“Be very, very careful. She is still young and could be hurt easily,” he told me, and I looked down to see that I was holding a red kitten. It was so small and so adorable. And then it yawned, opening its tiny jaws wide and showing me a broad, black tongue. Cute.
“Xavier…Xavier, listen to me. This is a Hellion or more commonly known as a Hellcat. She is very rare. Only special people get to see a Hellcat. And only very, very special people get to take care of one. Do you think you could take care of this one?”
I nodded as I ran a finger gently between her eyes and down towards the black-capped nose. She felt so soft.
“Okay, now pay attention,” Claudius began. “Cut your finger with your fang and put the bloodied tip up to her nose. If she wants to eat, she will find your blood and lick at it. That will mean she likes you.”
I opened my finger as instructed, and I set it in front of the Hellcat’s face. The little triangle nose sniffed and twitched, and then the tiny, black tongue came out and tickled my bleeding finger. I laughed out loud as she did so, watching and smiling until the hungry kitty stopped feeding. Then she yawned and smacked her small, little lips together.
“That is good, Xavier. She likes you.” Claudius seemed pleased. “Would you like her to talk to you? Hellcats are special, and they have their very own kind of magic. Is your finger still bleeding? Good, because you have to spell your name between her ears with your blood. You print one letter at a time on her fur, and then wait for her magic to draw it in. So, start with the letter ‘X’.”
I narrowed my eyes at Claudius.
“Sorry. I know that you know how to spell your own name. Continue,” he said.
When the last of the letters had disappeared, I frowned, because the weight of the little kitten that I held suddenly felt like that of an adult cat.
“Is she heavy now, Xavier?”
I nodded and shifted her to my lap.
“That means the magic has taken your name,” Claudius explained. “She will only talk to you. She will only play with you. And she will protect you and never leave you. Now…this is the hard part, Xavier. If a Hellcat lives with people, it wears an earring. You have to bite her ear and put a hole in it to place her earring in, while she is still a little kitten.”
I looked at Claudius, horrified. I wasn’t going to be biting her. Chewing on a kitten? No way! I shook my head fiercely.
“It is Hellcat law, Xavier. If another Hellcat finds her and then discovers your name on her without an earring, it will kill her,” he told me. “Remember, your saliva has healing properties. The hole will heal almost immediately, once you lick it.”
I picked her up in my hands again. Yes, she was definitely heavier now. I knew I didn’t want the Hellcat to die, and knowing how to prevent it, I reluctantly allowed my fangs to drop and lifted one of her cute little ears to my mouth.
“Quickly, Xavier. Try to do it without causing pain.”
The little kitten yowled as its ear actually crunched in my mouth. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.
For a moment I panicked, thinking that I didn’t have an earring to put in the newly made hole, but wait…yes, I did. Taking the ruby stud from out of my own ear, I quickly popped it into my mouth to sterilize it, and then I pushed it in through the opening my fang had made, before lifting her up and licking at the small little wound. Her cries stopped and were soon replaced with a rumbling purr. I snapped the back of the earring on to secure it and nuzzled my face into her soft fur.
“You did well, Xavier.”
I noticed Claudius kept looking at my newly bare ear, seemingly distressed at its nakedness. I could take care of that.
Cradling the kitten to me, I headed back into the bedroom and headed towards my closet. I had boxes of earrings. I didn’t know why I’d only ever worn that red one, and opening a box, I picked out a small gold hoop, putting that in my ear in its place.
Claudius looked even sadder now as I walked towards him and patted his glossy black hair. He caught my wrist and brought the back of my hand to his lips, pressing a quick kiss there and looking up at me.
“What do you want to do today, Xavier?”
I grabbed a huge overstuffed pillow from off the couch and carried it over to the baby grand piano that Claudius had installed a few days ago, tossing it onto the floor below the musical instrument. I liked to hear him play for me. It was soothing, and I liked being soothed. Fetching a smaller pillow, I put my new friend on it and flopped down on mine, waiting for Claudius to take his own place on the piano stool. And when he did, and he played his calming music, I drifted off.
I could feel an intermittent tickling at my nose. I waved at it sleepily, thinking I was being bothered by a fly. It came back, and I opened my eyes to see the end of a large red tail flicking in front of me. I sat bolt upright when I saw that the tail was attached to a large red panther, whose yellow-gold eyes were staring back at me.
You are hard to wake up, Lord Emperor.
The panther’s voice was rich and low and female. The Hellcat?
“But…But…You’re just a kitten!” I exclaimed.
You have set the magic in me free. I can shape-shift to any cat I want. I can be a kitten, or I can be a large housecat. I can be a lynx or a panther or even a tiger. I like being a panther best though. But enough about me. Why are
you here, Lord Emperor?
“What?”
Your body…is there. Yet your mind is here. Why are you separated? Aha, I see. Someone has brutalized your mind. Messy, messy. They didn’t even try to be gentle. I will fix it for you.
I jerked up to my knees, rapping my skull on the bottom of the baby grand as I began screaming. I screamed until my voice began to crack, and my hands fisted up, pushing at my temples.
My voice finally trailed off, and I was left shivering and deathly pale. It felt like my entire head was trapped in a vice. And then suddenly, it eased. And all the pain, all the confusion…just flowed from me.
“What’s your name, kitty cat?” I asked, shakily.
Nightshade
I glanced over at the small pillow, at the little red kitten that was lying there so innocently, seemingly sound asleep. “Thank you, Nightshade. You can be a panther all you want,” I told her gratefully.
Claudius had stopped playing and was kneeling beside me. “Xavier?” I reached out and touched his cheek lovingly. He could have abandoned me when I’d been locked inside my head. He didn’t have to help me. But he did. And I would never forget it.
“What day is it?” I asked him.
“Saturday.”
“What time?”
“4:00pm. Why do you want to know that?” he asked in return, yanking me up to my feet and then holding me upright until my legs were steady enough to support me.
“Because I’ve got to be at work by six,” I replied. “How long does it take to get from here to Joker’s Wilde?”
“Twenty minutes. But, Xavier?”
I matched my steady gaze with his own arctic blue shaded eyes. “You’ve got about an hour and a half to teach me how to make a mental shield, because that mind-fuck crap is never happening again,” I told him, bunching up the front of his shirt and actually shaking him.
“What did they do to you?” he said, his voice concerned, his hand reaching out and catching me by the back of the head, drawing me in close to his chest.
I pushed him back. “What do you mean, they? They didn’t do it. Marcus did!” I had to hold onto the piano. I was still so weak. I glanced down at Nightshade as I saw a paw the size of my hand flex, and her long red tail twitched on the floor. “What do you eat, Nightshade?” I asked her, wondering if she were as hungry as I.
The Lord Emperor.
Okay, wasn’t expecting that. “Exclusively?”
Yes.
“You’re going to have a wait a bit,” I said, faintly.
You are weak. You need to eat. I can wait.
Happy with her response, I shifted my vision and found the Blood mark I wanted in the room. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other, I slowly made it across the vast vista of the living room without help, though Claudius was hovering to catch me just in case I fell.
Reaching my destination I opened the Blood mark, and then pressed the intercom. “Chesterton?”
The butler’s cultured voice came over the system quickly. “Master Xavier? I am glad that you are well!”
At the excited pitch he used, I realized I had a bitch of a headache to go with my hunger. “Can you send up three blood packs?” I asked, wincing.
“I can warm them for you, sir.”
“I’ll take them cold and…thank you for all the care and attention you and the staff have given me these past few days,” I said humbly.
“We live to serve.”
Once the dumbwaiter arrived, I took the bags out and sat on the piano bench that Claudius had vacated, sticking one of the bags onto my fangs and looking at him expectantly. He sighed and came to sit beside me, and as I supped, he began explaining how to keep Marcus out of my head.
Claudius finally stood and walked away, leaving the room again, and I knew without having to be told that he was pissed with Marcus because his beloved son hadn’t revealed that it was the result of his mind grab that had seen me staying in a coma-like state for the past three days.
I felt a warm nose nudging at my wrist, and looking down I saw a big, solid red head looking back up at me from under the baby grand. “Nightshade?”
You have had enough now, Lord Emperor. And I’m hungry.
“How do we do this?” I asked her. “Do you bite me?”
Never, my Lord Emperor. Open your wrist, and I will lick what blood I need. Once my hunger is satisfied, then I will heal you.
“Heal me?”
Nightshade’s big yellow eyes blinked.
He left a hole in your soul, and a scar on your mind. They are festering. Do you want to be poisoned?
“I have a soul?” I was surprised at learning that. Pleasantly so. I don’t know why, but I’d always thought me being a vampire would be like in the old horror movies…I’d be a soulless monster. It was good to know I wasn’t.
My fangs descended and I bit my wrist, letting the blood flow easily. Then, dropping to my knees, I held out my palm, and the great cat came forward, that rough black tongue of hers scraping across the bleeding cut.
I looked at the crimson cat as she fed. She was beautiful and strong. Her long tail came around and brushed against my neck. It tickled me, so I laughed. It felt good to finally laugh, and I sensed a burning at the back of my eyes, not that of a flame, but of unshed tears. It seemed almost as if an eternity had passed to me, since something felt good enough to cause me to submit to laughter.
Nightshade gave my wrist one last lick and then hunkered down on the floor with a contented sigh. I held a hand over the cut and lifted my arm up to stop the bleeding. A simple but basic first aid rule.
Heal it, my Lord Emperor.
I looked over at her knowing golden eyes.
It won’t give you cat breath, I promise.
Her purr was her laugh, and she laughed now as I ran my own small pink tongue over my cut wrist until the bleeding turned sluggish and then stopped altogether. A few more licks and my skin looked like it had never been cut open.
“I have a soul?” I asked her, my fingers caressing one of her soft ears.
Every one born mortal has a soul. Yours is bright and shiny, but you have a black nick, and that nick is not yours. The longer you keep your soul, the more wear it gets. Mortals’ souls are still new when they die. Immortals, and Bloods like yourself, their souls get worn and soiled and sometimes so injured that it dies. You will know when you meet a Blood whose soul has died. I can heal you, Lord Emperor. I can take that black mark away. I can heal that scar in your mind. I can even heal the pain sitting in your heart.
The thick, fluffy tail brushed at my neck and cheek teasingly.
“Just heal my soul and my mind, Nightshade. I’ve worked hard to feel the heartache. What do I have to do?”
Everything you just learned from Claudius, release it, so I can walk with you freely.
“Will I forget everything?”
Do you want to?
“No,” I admitted. “I don’t need this agony he caused, but I don’t want to forget what he did either. He made me a promise, and he broke it. And he shattered me in the process.”
But we can rebuild you. We can make you stronger.
I broke out laughing again. She had sounded like some corny television show I used to watch. “Isn’t this supposed to be serious business?”
Who says we are not being serious? This is healing too, my little master. This is something that you have been sadly lacking. Once, when you were mortal, you laughed all the time. That is what drew people to you—your bright, shiny, happy soul. That laughter has been missing for a while. Right now, though it’s not so bright, it still shines. It’s protected, like a candle in a hurricane shade, but the happiness is almost gone.
Closing my eyes, I relaxed until each breath I took was a little smoother, a little calmer. “Walk where you need to, Nightshade,” I said trustingly. “I won’t stop you.”
I could feel her feline touch tracing through my mind and everywhere she went there was a sense of peace left behind, and my body turne
d to mush. I ended up propped against her chest, my head resting limply on her furry red shoulder.
Claudius came back into the room, and seeing us, he halted, unsure of what to do. He approached and reached for me, intending to pull me to him, but a low warning growl came out of Nightshade’s throat, and he let me be.
You don’t need this heartache to stay, my Lord Emperor.
“It’s mine,” I insisted.
Then we are done.
The fur on her red tail tickled my lips for a moment as it came up and brushed against my mouth before flicking back and smacking me in the head. Damn, that hurt! I put a hand up and rubbed at my sore skull.
Don’t ever drop your guard again. That was bad. If he hadn’t forced you into a coma, you would have died.
“What? Who forced me into a coma, and why?”
Marcus. I can’t tell you why he did it, unless I walk through his mind to find out. But someone as strong as him will never have his guard lowered…not at all.
“Xavier, the car is ready downstairs,” Claudius interrupted. “I called Frederick, and he said that if you wanted to reschedule he would understand. I told him that you seemed quite determined to be there today.”
I thanked Nightshade and hugged her before climbing to my feet, getting a slight head rush in the process. Claudius grabbed one arm to keep me from toppling over, and Nightshade pressed against my knee, bracing me steadily between them.
“I think I need some more blood,” I said ruefully.
“If you are still set on going, then Frederick asked me to tell you to wear the last outfit you had on,” Claudius said, watching me carefully.
I nodded, and on slightly shaky legs, I headed back to my closet where everything that had been purchased that day had been retrieved from the ambushed limousine.
The clothing was still in the original boxes and tissue paper, and I dug in, looking for the gold shirt and leather coat, stripping off the top I was wearing once I’d found them and ripping loose my hair from the tight braid it had been bound in. Not that I’d ever been involved in a photo shoot before, but didn’t they have a hairdresser or something like that on the set?
Cake: A Blood Nation Novel (Volume 1) Page 26
