The Mary Sue Virus: Beyond Death
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marysuevirusTitle: The Mary Sue Virus: Beyond Death
Chapter Sixty Two: After Dinner Mints
Fandom: Anita Blake universe
Rating: 18 and up
Warnings: graphic sex and violence, language, anything else i can toss in.
Disclaimer: the recognizable characters and places contained herein are the property of LKH. i'm merely borrowing for the sake of entertainment. no money is being made from this venture. the Sues are the sole property of their originators, Ginevra, Dazzledfirestar, Nanaea, SilverFoxChan and ladydeathfaerie. the concept and title of The Mary Sue Virus are used with permission from Dazzledfirestar.
Author's Notes: .... yeah. i got nothing. this is just *waves hands at chapter* shit that fell out of my head. i don't know why i bother with these anymore
The Mary Sue Virus: Beyond Death - Index Link
"There's going to be a little scarring," Lillian said, eyes glued to the remnants of the bite mark on Rhia's arm. She'd been waiting for them in one of the spare rooms at the Circus, mouth turned down in a frown and impatience written all over her face. Rhia had sat silent and acquiescent as Lillian had tended to her. The blood had been cleared away from her arm, washed off with a soft cloth that had been discarded absently once the blood was gone. A thick, fluffy towel had been used to dry the remaining moisture from her skin, which had allowed Lillian an opportunity to get a good look at Rhia's wound.
Her fingers prodded the area gently, prompting a few twinges of pain here and there. Rhia couldn't help the hiss that slipped out. She was surprised it was still a little tender, given how much energy Aedan had poured into healing it. Lillian ran the tips of her fingers along the faint impression left by the zombie's teeth. Doing so made Rhia aware of every little bump and dip in her skin. "Aedan did a good job healing it. Maybe if she'd waited a bit longer before stopping, there wouldn't be any scarring. But this is almost as good as the healing we lycanthropes can do."
"She mentioned something about an antibiotic?" Rhia said, wondering why Aedan had quit when she had.
"Of course," Lillian agreed. "There's no telling how much bacteria was in that zombie's mouth. I'll write you a prescription for a general antibiotic that should help kill anything the zombie might have given you. But do monitor the wound. If it starts to swell or redden or look odd, contact me immediately. Also if you experience any kind of pain or other unusual sensations."
"You think that's possible?" Rhia asked, suddenly concerned about what could happen with the bite.
"I think its a slim possibility. But its better to be safe than sorry. Based on the fact that Asher is still with us, its likely that Aedan did an excellent job healing the bite. Its just the old doctor in me worrying." Lillian sent her a reassuring smile before reaching for her bag. Rhia watched as she pulled a pad of paper from it, then a pen. She scribbled something on the pad, pulled the top sheet off, and handed it over to Rhia. "Get this filled and take the whole course of antibiotics. Just to be safe."
"Of course," Rhia replied, staring at the square of paper.
"If you don't have anything else, I'm going to see myself out," Lillian said. It was her way of offering to answer any questions Rhia might have. Rhia considered it a moment, then shook her head.
"No. I think I'm good for tonight. Nathaniel and I can go get this filled." She held up the square of paper. "Then we can just relax for the rest of the evening. Now that the adrenalin is wearing off, I am starting to feel a little tired."
"A good night's sleep is in order after today's ordeal. Take it easy for a day or two. Rest up," Lillian suggested. She carefully returned her property to her bag before closing it up. She let her gaze slide from Rhia to Nathaniel, who had thus far sat silent beside her, then back again. The older woman smiled at them both, turned, and left the room.
Rhia stared at the scrip in her hand. "We should go get this filled."
"Rhia," Nathaniel said. There was an unmistakable tone to his voice. He was as unhappy as she'd ever seen him since they'd first met. She turned to look at him and saw the haunted expression in his eyes.
"I'm fine, Nathaniel," she began, trying to cut him off at the pass.
"You are not fine," he replied.
"I am," she insisted. "Its just a minor thing. I'm fine. Let's not make a big deal out of this."
Nathaniel sighed and reached for her arm. Drew it into his hold so he could lightly run his fingers over the faint indentations in her skin. His touch brought shivers. And a memory of the zombie's grip on her arm as it had taken a bite. "This is a big deal. You were hurt tonight. You could have lost your arm."
"I think you're being a little melodramatic," she chided. His gaze focused on hers, the normal lavender of his eyes darkened to a deep purple.
"I've seen what zombies can do, Rhia. I don't have to ask Aedan or Minette or Isis what this looked like before Aedan healed it. I know. The zombie wouldn't have stopped until it reached bone. Probably not even then."
"Nathaniel," she began, but his frown intensified and the grip he had on her arm tightened. Just a little.
"No. We're not going to brush this aside and pretend it didn't happen. You could have been killed, Rhia. I need you to think about that. That zombie would not have stopped until you were dead. And there was nothing you could have done to stop it. If Aedan hadn't been there..." He trailed off, let her see the fear he felt.
"I had to save that child, Nathaniel. A little girl would have become the zombie's snack if I hadn't stepped out of the circle to try and rescue her. Is that what you'd rather had happened? That a child died so I could remain safe and unharmed." She made sure he heard the disbelief in her voice. How could he want her to choose her own safety over the life of a child?
Nathaniel sighed, shaking his head at her question. "Damn it, Rhia. No. That isn't what I would want you to do. I'm not explaining this right. There's still too much fear and worry for the words to come the right way."
"I wasn't going to let the zombie kill that girl, Nathaniel. I wasn't going to stand by and watch it try to eat her. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I'd had to listen to that little girl scream. If I'd had to listen to her mother cry and wail and beg and plead," Rhia told him. "Maybe Aedan could have gotten to her before the zombie did. Maybe not. We won't know. I made a split second decision in the heat of the moment. I don't regret it."
"I know you wouldn't have let the zombie kill that girl. You're brave and fearless, Rhia. I love that about you," he told her, a gentle smile on his face. The smile melted away and became something filled with sorrow. "Those are things I loved about Anita. And you see where her selflessness got her."
"Nathaniel," she began, but the look in his eyes darkened again and brought her to silence.
"No, Rhia. You willingly put yourself in danger. And while I understand why you did it, and I even agree that you had no choice, I'm still angry about it. I'm still scared by it. You don't get to take those feelings from me because you think everything worked out in the end." He stood up then, started pacing the floor. As if his emotions couldn't be contained and he had to find a way to rid himself of them. "You were supposed to be going out for a little shopping. Maybe a nice meal. You were supposed to be spending time with the girls. That's what you told me. That's what I expected from today."
"That's what today was supposed to be," she replied.
"Do you know what went through my mind when Jean Claude came to me and told me that there was trouble?" he asked her quietly. There was no disguising the riot of emotions that tangled under his words. "I saw things... It was almost as bad as the night Anita died."
She frowned at that. Was he saying he'd glimpsed what happened to Anita? If he was, he'd never mentioned it before. Rhia supposed it was possible. Nathaniel had been tied to her, not only as a lover but as a member of her personal triumvirate. Rhia had no clue how that had worked for them, but maybe it had allowed Anita and Nathaniel to share things in secret. "You saw her die?" she asked him, voice so soft it barely made a dent in the silence pressing down on the room.
He looked up at her and his eyes were haunted with memory. Flooded with guilt. "I don't think I was supposed to. But she was so intent on fighting, on protecting Aedan and Minette..." he broke off to chuff a humorless laugh. "She was trying to protect them because she was sure they'd have been slaughtered right along side of her if they'd tried to help her. She got out of that car, knowing she was going to die. She knew, Rhia. But she got out and she faced them all down. Because she wanted to do what was right. So she fought and she got injured and she died on that road. And she passed her legacy on because she knew that it was the only option she had left to her. She knew it was the only way she could continue to protect the people she loved. And then she was gone. I felt her go. It left a gaping hole in my heart, Rhia. One I never thought could be filled."
Their gazes were locked, and she saw the look in them change. Saw the guilt and the pain ebb away. Hope and love, fresh and new, replaced them. And fear. A fear that felt new and raw. Her heart stopped a moment, then pounded harder. "Nathaniel. I didn't know."
"When Jean Claude came and said there'd been an attack, my mind was back on that road. And I felt fear I'd never had a chance to feel before. There was no time with Anita. It all happened too fast. But with you... Don't put me through that again, Rhia. Please. I am not strong enough to lose you."
"I'm so sorry, Nathaniel," she whispered. Rhia slid off the bed so that she could cross to where he stood. He looked so lost standing by himself. So young. All she could do was wrap her arms around him and hold him close. She wanted to promise him that she'd never do something like that again. They'd both know it to be a lie, though, so she didn't. All she did was hold him to her and press her face against his throat.
His arms were tight as they coiled around her, his body tense. She heard him take a deep breath, nose buried in her hair. He was scenting her, making sure she was whole and hale and hearty. Memorizing her all over again.
They stood like that for a moment, while Nathaniel simply drank down the smell and the feel of her. And then it all changed in the blink of an eye. His grip on her tightened, until it was almost painful. His head lifted, and she could see that his eyes were dark again. This time, though, they were filled with a completely different emotion. She had a second to sigh before his lips found hers, ground against them in a kiss that was overflowing with every last ounce of his love, his devotion, and his anger.
She melted into his hold, let him take what he wanted. She trusted that he wouldn't hurt her. This was Nathaniel. She knew him almost better than she knew herself. And she knew this was his reaction to the events of the evening, his way of purging the dark thoughts that had consumed him. His way of dealing with the fear and the helplessness. He would strip her naked and take her down to the bed and assure himself that they were both safe and sound and good.
Rhia thought that was a good way to end what had been a very scary, very hectic day.
So she wrapped herself around him, twined her hands into the loose braid that lay against his back and tugged on it. Just a little bit. He gave a soft growl that vibrated its way up his throat. His arms tightened around her, his fingers tangling in the ends of her curls. She hissed a breath when he pulled on them, canting her head back so that her neck was exposed. Then his mouth slid away from hers and he nipped his way over her chin and down so that his teeth left little marks all over her throat. She shuddered softly when he bit down over her windpipe. She wasn't sure if he meant it to be a sexual move or a predatory one or if it was both. But it did more to turn her on than scare her off. She heard him inhale a deep breath and a rumble of appreciation rolled up his throat.
There was no slow, sweet tenderness to his actions. He released her from his hold in order to start stripping the clothes off her body. The tattered remains of her shirt were shredded and left in a pile of scraps on the floor. Rhia hadn't thought the sound of tearing cloth would be such a turn on, but her body flushed hot with need. The smile Nathaniel gave her, one with almost too many teeth, told her he knew exactly what he was doing to her.
He rid her of her jeans methodically, stopping only long enough to tug her shoes from her feet and throw them across the room. Her panties went next, leaving her in a pair of socks and her bra. His gaze slid over her, took in every inch of her, before he turned her around and pushed her toward the bed. Rhia went, started to climb up onto it. But his hands stopped her, positioned her so that her hands rested on the edge of the mattress and her ass was presented to him. She heard the soft shushing sound of his shirt being skimmed off. Heard the zipper on his jeans as he pulled it down.
There was no foreplay beyond Nathaniel rubbing the length of his cock against her ass as he took his place behind her. Then he was shoving himself inside of her, filling her completely with one stroke that was hard enough to drive the breath from her lungs. Rhia made a strangled sound as her hands curled tightly into the mattress. Nathaniel gave her a second or two to pull air into her lungs before he pulled back and thrust back in.
His hips drove against her with hard, fast strokes that barely gave her time to inhale and exhale. One arm slid around her waist to hold her in place, ensuring she had no choice but to remain standing as he'd positioned her. That left her torso almost parallel to the floor, arms stretched slightly away from the bed so that she had no choice but to remain standing. Her legs were spread, feet positioned just past shoulder width apart. It left her trembling with the effort of holding her position. That somehow added to the feel of Nathaniel driving in and out of her body and Rhia felt herself spiraling toward climax only moments after he'd made his initial thrust.
Once he was sure she had the rhythm set by his hips, that she'd continue to meet it with her own, his free hand trailed up her spine in order to once more tangle in her hair. He pulled her head back, making it harder for her to draw a breath. Her gasps for air filled the room alongside the slap of his hips against her ass. She whimpered when he leaned over her, his cock slipping deeper, and trembled under the onslaught of sensations and emotions. "I want you to come for me, Rhia," he whispered in her ear.
The command startled her. This was not a Nathaniel she'd met before. He'd never been this dominant in bed before. She found she liked it, She liked it so much that she came, just as he'd told her to. Her body tightened around his, muscles squeezing down tight around his cock as her orgasm washed through her. Rhia cried out, then did so again when he started thrusting harder.
It had to be the fear that had him asserting his dominance. It felt to her almost as if he was claiming ownership over her, showing the Fates and the world that she was his and he wasn't willing to let her go without a fight. Just the thought of it brought forth a small orgasm, her body shivering its way through the release.
The hand in her hair let go its hold, slid over the smooth expanse of her back before slipping around the side of her body so that his hand could cup her breast through the material of her bra. His fingers kneaded at the flesh, pulled at it until he had her nipple pulled almost painfully taut. Then he let go, only to do it again. And again. Heat filled her, flowed along in her veins as it spread out all over her body. Until it gathered and pooled low in her belly, announcing that another orgasm was on its way.
His palm was hot against her breast when he nudged the cup of her bra aside, fingers still rough as they skimmed the soft flesh with a much gentler touch than before. Some of the fear and the anger must have worked itself from his system because his actions were calming. Rhia tossed her head so that she could look at him over her shoulder. "Don't stop now, Nathaniel. Harder. Fuck me harder," she whispered, voice a mixture of plea and command. She saw his eyes darken. They were so purple they were almost black. He smiled at her, his hips rocking with bruising force as he continued to thrust in and out of her eager body.
"I know you need to come, Rhia. I want you to wait so you can come with me," Nathaniel whispered. His hand shifted to her other breast, tugging it from the safety of the bra cup so that he could treat it to the same attention its mate had gotten. Rhia whimpered, her arms trembling.
"Then hurry up and come," she snarled, body strung tight with the need to climax. The feel of his cock stretching and filling her, of it sliding in and out was like torture. The wet sounds that came from their joining were a filthy symphony of desire that punctuated the slap of flesh against flesh.
"Are you that eager for me, Rhia?" he asked. The question should have been odd, should have been something that came before they started. But it wasn't. Because she was. She was eager for him, for his orgasm and the feel of his body reaching completion while buried in her own. She was eager for the groans that would come when he did. She needed it like she needed air or water. She needed him. All of him.
"Yes," she whimpered. His hips were doing something that felt like it should have been impossible and her entire body tensed with the need to come. She struggled to hold it back, struggled to wait for him because she knew it would please him. Because she wanted to come with him.
He draped himself over her back, the hand that had been teasing her breasts leaving off in order to plant itself in the mattress next to hers. His hips flashed faster and harder. His strokes shortened as he chased his orgasm. She followed the coil of her own emotions, seeking out her own release. "You feel so good around me, Rhia. So wet and tight and hot and... "
His words trailed off on a low groan as his hips shoved deep. She felt him swell inside of her, felt the beginning of his orgasm. "Come for me, Rhia," he whispered, his voice right next to her ear.
She came, body tensing under his own as she clung to his cock. As she milked it dry. As her body tightened and shattered and left her nearly blind and gasping for breath. She came as he did, as their mingled cries of completion filled the room.
And then she was left limp, arms barely able to hold herself up any longer, with Nathaniel's weight pressing down on top of her. Instead of pulling away, he inched closer and gathered her up in his arms and held her to him. He pressed a soft, gentle kiss to her shoulder. "I love you, Rhia." The words were whispered, a promise and a prayer and a plea.
"I love you, too, Nathaniel."
~*~*~*~*~
Minette had to admit she was mildly surprised that she, Jason, and Micah had had a car to themselves. She'd expected to be riding with Jean Claude, honestly. She wasn't surprised in the least that there had been two rats in the front seat and another carload of them following behind. It was obvious that the Master of the City was taking the death threats being leveled at his human servant with as much seriousness as he could. And especially now that whoever the mastermind was had attacked a crowded restaurant. It was a fortunate thing that none of the innocent bystanders had been hurt or killed. But it was a low blow to have attacked a family oriented restaurant like that in the first place.
"You're sure you're okay?" Jason asked her for the sixth time. They were snuggled up together in their big bed under the Circus. Minette sighed and nodded her head. She wanted to be snippy with him for asking the same question over and over again, but she held on to the urge. She was fairly certain Jason couldn't help himself. And, really, getting mad at him wouldn't do them any good.
"Yes. I'm sure I'm okay," she told him. "We were lucky we had a few minutes to make a plan. Otherwise..." she trailed off, sure that his imagination could fill in her unspoken words.
"You had warning they were coming?" Micah asked. His voice suggested he was confused by that.
"Isis and I could smell the zombies before they got close. They smelled strongly of rot. Aedan sensed the vamp. And the shifters with him. That gave us just enough time to formulate a plan."
"Then those people are lucky that you guys were paying attention." Jason tightened his hold on her, the one arm he had wrapped around her pulling her closer for just a moment or two.
Micah frowned at her. "How long ago did this attack take place?"
There was something in his voice that caught Minette's attention, so she gave it careful consideration. "Well, the attack took maybe ten or fifteen minutes. Dolph held us at the scene for about two hours. So... two and a half, three hours ago?" Minette estimated. "Why?"
"The sun was still up," Micah pointed out. "Not completely, because it was setting. But there was still enough light to brighten the sky. There shouldn't have been a vampire at the attack."
"Dolph said much the same thing," Minette returned. She recalled clearly just how unhappy he was when he'd figured that little tidbit out. He was even more unhappy when Aedan had given him what she felt were the reasons behind the vampire's presence. "Aedan thinks the vamp is from the same line as Damian. She thinks he's one of the few vampires who can walk in the sun without it hurting him. Though he was wearing a pretty heavy cloak. So its possible she was wrong about that."
Micah gave that consideration, then shook his head. "I doubt it. I don't like that they went after all of you. In front of innocent people, too. And so soon after they attacked Aedan privately. It feels... wrong. Almost desperate."
"They went after all of us in an attempt to try and fluster Aedan. Get her to make a mistake. They used such a public setting to only increase the chances. I don't think they expected Aedan to do what she did," Minette replied. She let the disgust shine through in her voice. The more she thought of what had happened, of what could have happened, the angrier she got.
"What did she do?"
"She took her aggression out on most of the zombies. With a meat cleaver. I'm willing to bet that the owner of that place is going to have professional cleaners go over the kitchen more than once," she replied, wrinkling her nose at what the kitchen must have looked like when Aedan had finished. The cops who'd gone back there had seemed less than impressed with the scene. "Then she joined us in the front and took control of the last remaining zombie."
"She stopped its attack on Rhia," Micah said, nodding. "Smart move. Better than trying to hack it apart while it still had a hold on Rhia's arm."
"I guess so. Either that or she just really wanted to show up the animator that had come along with the vampire. Neither one of them believed that anyone could take control of someone else's zombie like that. They apparently didn't know she's a full on necromancer, even though the vampire called her necromancer. That's weird."
"That is strange. You would think they'd know that, as a necromancer, Aedan can control the dead," Micah commented. It sounded to Minette like he was considering what it might mean.
"They didn't. Both the vampire and the animator told her to her face she couldn't do that." Minette frowned as she thought back to that part of the evening. Both the vampire and the animator had seemed very confused and surprised that Aedan had been able to take control of the zombie. And the vampire.
"She disabused them of the notion?" Micah asked.
"She did."
"How? I assume that the zombie wasn't her only trick."
"She took control of the vampire. And then she used his energy to heal Rhia. The bite was really bad and she was losing a lot of blood." Minette shuddered at the memory of the bite mark. She wasn't sure Aedan had really seen it. She was fairly sure that Rhia hadn't actually seen it. Both Minette and Isis had seen it, though. And it hadn't been pretty. The zombie had been gnawing its way through muscle by the time Aedan had stopped it. Minette was sure she'd seen a bit of bone gleaming through the bloody mess of chewed meat and shredded flesh. That Aedan had healed it as well as she'd done had surprised Minette. She'd felt certain that it would have been a life altering injury for Rhia otherwise.
"What happened to the vamp and the animator?" This question came from Jason. He wore a look that told Minette he was trying to piece everything together. She sometimes forgot that he was much smarter than he let people see.
"Dolph took them both into custody. Chances are good the vamp will be staked. And the animator... I'm sure he's looking at death. He used zombies specifically to attack people."
"Dolph doesn't know about the attack on Rhia, does he?" Jason asked quietly. Minette turned to look at him, frowning at the question. But she shook her head in answer.
"No. Aedan never mentioned it."
"Too hard to explain how the zombie nearly took Rhia's arm off, but Rhia's arm is whole. I don't think Aedan was ready to explain that trick away. She's an anomaly in the preternatural world. And she's an anomaly in the mundane world. Imagine what would happen if people, normal people, knew she could heal people using other people's energy."
"They'd lock her away," Minette whispered.
"Probably," Jason confirmed. His tone suggested he was thinking along other, much darker lines.
"That's enough talk about what happened tonight," Micah said before either of them could continue their line of conversation. Minette turned to look at him and found that her Nimir-Raj looked slightly put out. And that's when she realized that he'd been worried. About her. She pulled away from Jason so she could wrap her arms around Micah and hug him tight.
"What do you want to talk about?" she asked him, giving him the opportunity to change the direction of their conversation.
Micah turned to look at her, eyes considering as he studied her. Then he let his gaze slide past her to where Jason sat. Before Minette could look over at the wolf and see what kind of expression he had on his face, Micah was back to looking at her. And he was wearing a big smile. "Date night," he replied.
Minette blinked. "Date night? What kind of date night?"
"Micah and I were talking when you were out shopping earlier this afternoon. And we think we should institute a date night. One night a week where we go out and do something fun. Something that doesn't involve vampires or undead politics or the coalition or any of that stuff. Just Micah and Minette and Jason, having fun."
"The three of us? Together?" Minette asked, this time letting her gaze slide from Micah to Jason and then back again.
"Of course," Micah nodded. "Jason might not be a leopard, but he's still family. You and he are my family as much as you and the pard. I can't imagine leaving him out of a date night with you."
Minette considered it. To be honest, date night sounded fun. It sounded like a good idea. They'd spent so much time lately going from one crisis to the next that there hadn't been much time for fun. Today was supposed to have been a fun day for her and the girls. And, for the most part, it had. The interruption at the restaurant aside, they'd had fun. Even their trip to the gun store had been fun, in a very odd kind of way. It had been interesting to see both Janika and Aedan argue the merits of weapons for first time users.
Then she frowned. Because the idea did sound fun. Just like today had been fun. But there had been the interruption. And Minette suspected that Jean Claude wouldn't want anyone leaving the Circus without proper protection. She and Micah were capable of inflicting damage, but Jason wasn't. And she wasn't sure that any of them would enjoy going out with a small army of rats at their backs.
"Is there a problem, Minette?" Jason asked, one hand reaching out to take hold of her chin. He turned her to face him, eyes searching her face for whatever reason had prompted the frown.
"You know that Jean Claude isn't going to let us leave the Circus without protection," she returned.
"You think he's going to extend the round the clock coverage to us?"
"Not us. Me. Though I suppose technically that would be us." Her hand gestured between the three of them to make her point. "They attacked the five of us tonight. Not just Aedan. Us. I think they did it intentionally. I think Aedan thinks they did it intentionally. To make it harder on her. They probably figured she wouldn't be able to fight them all with her friends so close by. And with all those civilians in the way."
"Or maybe they did it intentionally for another reason," Micah said, voice filled with consideration.
Minette looked at him. "What are you thinking?"
"It just seems odd that they'd attack again so soon after the last one. Its only been a couple of days. And other than a small problem at the beginning, Aedan proved that she was quite capable of dealing with a lone attacker. Even without a gun on hand. She did a damn good job of improvising weaponry when the need arose." Micah paused there and took a moment to gather his thoughts together. "I think the mastermind behind the attacks is testing Aedan's mettle. Or something to that effect. Because there's no other explanation for another attack. Not so soon and not in a public place. Now when all of you were there. I think he's looking for the best way to take her down."
She considered that a moment. "So you think these scenarios are just tests? Until he can figure out the best way to stop her. He's just going to send people to St. Louis to attack her and watch them die and... what? Look for her weakness?"
"Yeah," Micah nodded his head at her question. "I think that's exactly what he's doing. He's going to find the one thing that will render her incapable of fighting back. And he'll attack her there."
"So he attacked all of us, in public where there were innocent people surrounding us, on purpose?" Minette questioned.
"I think so, yeah," Micah nodded. "And knowing Jean Claude, he's going to figure this out eventually. He's been alive a long time and he knows how vampires think."
"He's definitely going to put protection details on us," Jason commented. There was perhaps a touch of distaste in his voice. "That's really going to put a crimp in things."
"Not necessarily," Micah said, sounding very much like it wasn't a big deal they'd have people's noses in their business constantly if they wanted to do anything. "We just coordinate with Jean Claude. Let him know what we're going to do. Where we're going. When. He can pick someone to go with us and we'll just make sure they're close, but not breathing down our necks. We be careful when we go someplace public that'll be hard to defend, like a restaurant. We keep our eyes open for any sign of trouble. It'll make things a little less spontaneous, but we can still enjoy ourselves. We can't stay down here all the time. Its no fun and I can imagine we'd get bored in no time flat."
Minette considered it. It wasn't ideal, but it wasn't the worst thing ever. Chances were good they could manage to go out and enjoy themselves and still stay safe. They'd just have to be a little more cautious than usual. And, like Micah had said, no spontaneous trips. But that was okay. Spontaneous could be fun, but it wasn't always the best way to do things. "Okay. I'm willing to give it a try. If that's what you guys want to do." She let her gaze slide from one man to the next, trying to gauge their feelings on the matter.
It was pretty obvious that Micah was okay with it. After all, he was the one who'd come up with the idea. But Jason got a say in their relationship, too, seeing as he was a part of it. So if this wasn't something he was okay with, she wasn't about to go along with it. "Jason?" she asked, waiting for him to share his thoughts.
"It isn't the best idea. But it isn't the worst. I'd rather have the protection that would allow us to have a mildly normal life than be stuck someplace where I'd get bored too quickly. We can try it. See how it pans out for us. If it doesn't work, we'll find some other solution," he responded. It was the best they were going to get. Minette turned to look at Micah.
"So? What's the plan? What are we going to do for our first official date night?" she asked, curious to know if they'd already come up with something.
"We're going to take a page out of Jean Claude's book and we're going to go to the movies," Micah informed her. Minette frowned at him.
"The movies? Really?"
"Yes. Its something innocuous. And fun. We don't have to think. We don't have to dress up. We can sit in the dark and munch popcorn and we can maybe fool around a little bit," Micah said. His smile at the last was just this side of obscene. She narrowed her eyes on him.
"You've been taking lessons from Jason. That is not a Micah look. That is absolutely a Jason look," she accused, then turned to look at the man in question. "You've been giving him smirking lessons, haven't you?"
Jason laughed at that. "Micah doesn't need my help smirking. He's more than capable of doing so without any help from me."
"Uh huh," Minette replied, making sure her tone told him exactly how much she believed that line.
"See, now. Where he does need some schooling is in places like this," Jason said and it was the only warning she got. The next second, Jason was taking her down to the bed so that he could tickle her mercilessly. Minette found herself giggling mindlessly, trying hard to get away from Jason's wickedly accurate fingers. Somehow, he found all the spots on her that made her react, fingertips gliding over her sides and up under her arms. She was out of breath with laughter in short order. "I didn't realize you were so ticklish, Minette. You know what this means, don't you?"
"Don't you dare!" she gasped out, struggling to wiggle away from him and catch her breath at the same time. She managed to get a hand against his chest and shove him far enough away from her that she could turn over and try crawling away. But Jason grabbed hold of her and pulled her back to him, pinning her body under his own by sitting on her. "Jason! Don't even think it!" she ordered, voice a touch shrill with the certainty that he was going to start tickling her again.
"Why not, Minette? Because I'm going to have to move your shirt in order to tickle you properly," he informed her, hands already pushing her t-shirt up to expose her back to view. His hands slid up her spine, fingers grazing her flesh lightly in a touch that brought other sensations to life. Minette absolutely did not feel like laughing. "This bra strap is in the way. Let's get rid of that."
She felt the hooks disengage. The clinging tightness of her bra was suddenly gone. And then Jason was leaning over to press a kiss against her back, right where the bra had been closed only seconds before. His hands glided down toward the small of her back, barely grazing her skin in strokes that sent curls of heat rushing through her. She couldn't hold back the moan that came with his touch, and she was insanely pleased that she could bury her face in the blankets so that he couldn't see just what he was doing to her.
"You should probably remove her jeans," Micah suggested. There was a faint rumble at the back of his words and the sound of it drove all thought from Minette's head.
"That is an excellent idea, Micah. Why didn't I think of that?" Jason asked, his voice filled with a touch of a growl.
Hands reached for her waist. Minette let them roll her over. Micah was there to press a kiss against her lips. When he pulled away, he removed her t-shirt and bra. Jason dealt with her jeans, tugging them and her panties down to her ankles. Minette did him the favor of kicking them off, then stared up at the two of them. "This is no fair. You're both fully dressed. And I'm completely naked." She sat up and reached for the two of them. "Let me take care of that for you."
~*~*~*~*~
"Are you okay, Isis?" Lettie asked, eyes wide as Isis and Damian settled on the couch in her condo. She'd called the pride together, asking them to meet at her place, because she'd wanted to make sure that they were all safe. That they were all protected. She was more than a little rattled by the events of the evening and she was woman enough to admit that she wanted to keep her little family together so she could protect them. The idea of someone attacking her pride filled her with a rage the likes of which she hadn't felt before.
"I'm fine, Lettie," she replied with a smile. Lettie stared at her as if she didn't believe it, so Isis held her arms out to the rest of her family and invited them to come crowd around. They did, somehow managing to gather around her and Damian despite the fact that the two of them were on the couch. Hands touched her, seeking out bare skin to strengthen the contact. They did the same with Damian. The feel of their energy running over her skin went a long way toward soothing her.
"When we heard there was an attack... We were worried," the girl replied quietly. But that didn't stop Isis from hearing the fear in her voice.
"I'm okay," Isis reassured her.
"What happened?" Rosamund questioned. Her eyes were wide and huge and Isis could tell she was trying hard to hold back the fear. "No one told us anything. We just heard that there was an attack. Travis tried calling you, but got no answer."
Isis shared a look with Damian. She didn't know if she should be sharing this story because she didn't feel it was hers to tell. He studied her a moment before brushing his hand against her side gently. He then turned to look at the gathered members of the pride. "The people who murdered Anita have decided that Aedan must die, too," he began, not bothering to build up to it or sugar coat anything. Isis saw the looks of surprise that came from everyone and she had to wonder just which part of Damian's statement they were reacting to. "It is apparently some kind of cabal and the group is large. We know that members of the vampire council's elite group of assassins are involved. They do not like that Aedan has brought so much power to Jean Claude and his kiss."
"They're going to kill her because they think she's too powerful?" Travis asked, eyes big as saucers.
"Yes," Damian nodded. "And they have tried to do just that. Three times already."
"Three times?" Rosamund's voice plainly said she didn't want to believe it. "Why haven't we heard about this? Aedan is one of our layers of protection. We should have known that someone was trying to kill her." The last statement held accusation.
"Aedan is intensely private. I doubt she'd want you to know that someone's trying to kill her. She wouldn't want you to worry," Isis countered. She made sure to keep her voice calm and free of emotions.
"Why not? If someone wants her dead, she should have protection. She's an official, unofficial member of the pride. We have the right to try and keep her safe," Rosamund argued. Anger had risen to taint her words.
"We do have that right. Aedan is a member of the pride. We all agree on this. We'd all do whatever we could to help her. But Aedan doesn't see it like that," Isis replied. Rosamund frowned, trying to figure out what her Regina meant.
"Aedan believes it is her job to do to the protecting," Damian explained, picking up where Isis had left off. "She looks upon it as her duty. To the pard. To the vampires. To the pack. To the rats. To the pride. To everyone in the kiss. She is supposed to protect us. We are not supposed to protect her. So she would not tell anyone she felt did not need to know. She would never willingly put any of you in danger. Thus she chooses not to tell you about the things to which she knows you are most likely to react."
"Three attacks, though?" Travis questioned.
"Yes," Isis nodded. She briefly debated telling them the whole story. She wasn't sure Aedan would be happy with everyone knowing her business. But her business was now affecting everyone else's business. Isis' lions needed to be prepared, in case something happened. So she pressed on and hoped that Aedan would forgive her. "The first was in her apartment. A vampire and a shape shifted witch broke into her apartment and waited for her to come home. They attacked her there. She'd just come back from a date with Jean Claude. So he was there and Claudia was there and neither of them felt anything amiss. If not for outside help, someone would have died that night."
"The second attack was only a few nights ago. At a charity function she attended with Jean Claude. A woman tried to attack her in the bathroom when she was alone. If not for Aedan's quick thinking... " Damian trailed off, not bothering to finish the sentence.
"And then there's tonight." Isis frowned at the memory of the attack, how it had taken an otherwise lovely day and made it horrible and scary. "I was out with Aedan, Minette, Janika, and Rhia. We'd spent the day together, just doing nothing important. A little shopping. Some food. Mostly just an excuse to spend time together. After our day spent looking at weapons and dresses, we decided to go someplace quiet where we could sit and have a meal together. Where we could chat. And it was actually going that way until I noticed something smelled... off."
"What was it?" Lettie asked, anxious to hear the rest of the story.
"It was a zombie. Minette smelled it, too. Aedan named it as zombie rot. Probably because she could sense the zombies. She also sensed the shifters waiting outside the restaurant. And the vampire. She told us we were about to be attacked. She made a plan to try and keep the innocent people in the restaurant from being hurt. And we acted on it." Isis fell silent a moment, doing little else but breathing as she let the evening's events run once more through her mind. It had all happened so fast... "Rhia and Janika got to try and round up the patrons. The workers. Get them into a circle. Rhia was supposed to cast a circle once everyone was gathered together. The circle would keep everyone inside it safe from everyone outside it. Minette and I took on the shifters when they came in. Aedan went to the kitchen to deal with the zombies that had come in through the back door. It was a good plan. A solid plan. And it was working."
"Something happened, didn't it?" The question came from Travis, who was as caught up in the story as Lettie seemed to be.
"A lone zombie came in through the front door. Ripped the door practically off its hinges. And went straight at a little girl who had been forgotten in the panic. So Rhia left the protection of the circle to grab the girl, to try and get her to safety. But the zombie moved faster than she expected. It caught her. And it started gnawing on her arm."
"Oh, shit. I've seen zombies go after people. They don't let up until someone makes them or they finish the job," Rosamund whispered. A murmur rose up through the gathered group as they compared their personal notes on zombies. Isis waited until they wound down before finishing her story.
"Aedan stopped the zombie. She came from the back and took control of it and made it stop. She shot one of the shifters in the head. Let Minette and I finish the other three off. Then she used her powers to take control of the vampire that waited outside and she forced him to come in. Forced him to bring the animator who had raised the zombies with him. She used the vampire to heal Rhia. I've never felt power like that before. It made all the hair on my body stand on end." Isis stopped and rubbed her hands over her arms. Just thinking about that moment made the hair stand up again. "She was pissed. She could have killed both the vampire and the animator. It would have been justified. She had every right. But she turned them over to the police. We spent the next two hours answering questions. Then we came home."
"So... What are we going to do?" Travis questioned, his gaze sliding from Isis to Damian and back again. Isis stared at him, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Travis gestured about the living area of Isis' condo. "Tonight. All of us here together. This isn't our normal get together night. But we're here. I say we make the best of it."
Isis glanced at Damian to gauge his reaction to the suggestion. He was already smiling, eyes bright with pleasure. She watched as his hand reached for the phone with unerring accuracy, even though he was staring at her. "I will order the pizza," he said.
"Woo!" Travis exclaimed, already heading for the television. "What movie are we watching tonight?"
"I want to watch something from Disney," Lettie said, somehow managing to beat Travis to the shelf where Isis stored her movies. "Let's watch 'The Lion King'!"
Travis groaned. "Seriously, Lettie? That's so cliché."
"We watched horror movies the last time we got together," Lettie replied, already feeding the disc into the player. Travis was giving her a sullen look that said he didn't like her idea for a movie. "And look how that turned out. Isis was attacked tonight. So I think we should watch something light, with a happy ending."
"Can't you do something about this, Isis?" Travis turned to look at her. She gave him a shrug.
"Lettie's right. You picked movies for the last get together. And all we watched was horror. I think a little light-hearted fun would be good. Maybe you'll even enjoy it. Why don't you go make popcorn to tide us over until our pizza arrives?"
Travis gave her the hairy eyeball, as if expecting her to sprout a second head or something. But he got up and headed for the kitchen area, grumbling under his breath as he went. It was all for effect, because he knew every one would overhear him. Isis hid her smile as he went, leaning even closer into Damian. His arm slid around her shoulder so that he could hold her up against his side, as if keeping her there would keep her safe.
Maybe it would. She knew Damian had been a warrior long before he'd become a vampire. He was deadly with or without a sword and she had no doubt there were few foes he couldn't best. But only if they were foes he could see and face.
She realized then, as they sat there and watched Lettie feed the disc into the player, that he was tense and far quieter than usual. Not that Damian was much of a talker. He tended to stay quiet and observe rather than talk and be oblivious. But he'd spoken less tonight than usual. Which left her wondering if he was upset about the attack. If he wished he'd been there to help protect her. He hadn't really said much of anything about the events of the evening when they'd been driving back to her place.
She took a moment to steal a glance at his face and found that he was watching her rather than the ads at the beginning of the movie. There was no expression on his face, but she felt certain that he was not happy. That made her wish she had the ability to communicate silently with him, like Aedan and Janika with Jean Claude and Asher. It would allow her to find out what he was thinking without the others being able to overhear their words. She suspected that he'd rather keep his fears between them for the time being.
Isis offered him a smile, hoping that it would be infectious. For a moment, she was sure she'd failed because his look remained blank and empty. Then, so very slowly, he returned it with one of his own. The smile brought a light to his green eyes that held her captivated.
He was beautiful when he wore no expression, when his face was blank and empty in that way that only old vampires could manage. When he smiled... Beautiful didn't even begin to describe how he looked. His smile made her breath still in her chest. Made her heart beat a little faster. Made her want to wrap herself around him and stay there for all eternity. She wrapped an arm around him and leaned closer, tipping her head back to offer him her lips. He took them without being asked twice. The kiss curled her toes in her shoes and left her wishing, for just a moment, that she hadn't called the pride over to make sure they were all okay.
"Wow. That's totally uncalled for," Travis' voice broke them apart. He was standing behind the couch, bowl of popcorn in his hands, staring at them. Isis grinned, much less annoyed by his antics than she might have been any other day. He was mostly teasing, though there was still a touch of annoyance in his voice. Isis guessed this was payback for not siding with him where the night's entertainment was concerned.
"Be glad we're not fucking in front of you," she replied, a hint of mischief in her voice.
"I'm in no way a prude. You know that. Being part of the pride doesn't allow for it. Cats are social creatures. But wow. I don't need to see that. I really don't," Travis said.
Isis grinned at him. "There's a difference between being social and being lewd," she told him. "If you're not up for lewd, don't hang out with too many vampires. Especially not Jean Claude."
Travis blinked at that. Isis knew that the pride had been around the members of Jean Claude's kiss before. Hell, they'd been around Jean Claude before. But probably never when he was trying to put people in their places. "His line of vampires tend to be pretty sexual. Up to and including public displays for one reason or another. The last time I was witness to that was shortly after Anita's death."
"Augustine," Damian snorted. Yeah. That about summed that evening up.
"Was there an orgy or something?" Travis asked, far more interested than Isis felt he should have been. She shook her head.
"No. But there could have been. As it was, everyone got a show. Not just Augustine."
That night had been bizarre, but Isis could clearly recall the hunger in Augustine's gaze as he'd watched both Aedan and Minette deal with the arduer in their own ways. Minette had chosen Rafael, a fairly safe bet. But Aedan had nearly started a brawl when she'd gone after Rhiannon. Isis still wondered if the two of them would've finished things if they hadn't been interrupted. Fortunately, Jean Claude had pulled Aedan away from Rhiannon before Richard had turned into a raging jerk about the whole thing. Then he and Rhia had disappeared for a short while...
She absolutely was not going to tell Travis how that night had finished. He didn't need to know.
The intro to the movie was playing, bringing an end to conversation. Travis found a spot on the floor near Lettie and set the popcorn down in a mostly central location. Isis watched her little family settle in to watch the movie and felt contentment wash through her. She never thought, all those years ago when she'd first been infected, that this would be the way her life would go. She'd never really gotten over her parents' reactions to her changed status, though she supposed she could understand it. To them, it had been the end of their hopes and dreams. To Isis, it had only been the beginning of her life.
She reflected upon the path that she'd been on since that ill-fated trip to Africa. She'd accomplished so much, done so much, simply because her parents had felt that being infected had been the worst thing in the world for her. It hadn't been. It had opened doors she'd never known were closed to her. And it had brought her here, to the best part of her life.
She'd never expected to have someone like Damian. The best she'd expected was some not so alpha male lion that would try and rule her. But here she had a wonderful home. She had good friends. She had a wonderful family of people who were not blood, but were more closely bound to her than anyone who shared blood could be. She was Regina. She had a man in her life that she loved. Who loved her. Who respected her and who treated her like a queen. She couldn't really ask for much more. And if you paired that with her professional life... She'd accomplished so much.
A knock at the door announced the arrival of the pizza. Rosamund climbed to her feet without saying a word and headed for the entryway. She opened the door and accepted the pizza, handing over a few bills as a tip. Isis had no doubt Damian had charged the pizza when he'd placed the order. The door closed and Rosamund came back to the living area, the aromas of tomato sauce, hot cheese, and meat and veggies trailing after her.
Yeah. It was a good life. Better than good. It was the best. Isis couldn't ask for anything better.
~*~*~*~*~
It said something about how long it had been since he'd last seen the sun and the moon and the stars was when the highlight of his evening was when she came to visit. She didn't come with wrath and ruin glowing in her eyes this time. Nor did she slam into the cell like a hurricane bent on destroying everything in its path. Instead, she let herself in almost silently, cloaked in sadness and fear. He suspected there was rage beneath it all. But, for once, that emotion wasn't simmering away on the surface. He greeted her with a soft smile and a look of welcome to let her know that he was glad to see her.
Was it sad that he actually was glad to see her? Maybe just a little bit. If only because she broke up the monotony.
"What has she done this time?" he asked.
"She is with him," the vampire intoned, voice empty and flat. "And she is with his second."
He had to fight to keep the confusion off his face. This wasn't anything he'd expected to hear. "At the same time?" he asked, in order to make sure he understood what she was telling him.
"Yes. At the same time. She has slithered her way into both their hearts and their beds." There was a touch of acid in her words this time.
He drew a breath, then reached out a hand and patted a spot on the thin mattress next to where he sat. "Come and join me. We'll talk and we'll make a plan. We'll see if we can't win you back the heart of your master."
She stared at him a moment, almost as if she didn't believe him. Perhaps she didn't. He'd gotten the impression, through every one of their encounters, that she had few friends. And that she didn't easily trust. The idea that she kept coming back to him, was novel to him. Either she truly thought he cared about her and considered him a friend, or she was desperate and he was the only one who was willing to help her achieve her goals. Either way, he was still surprised that there was any kind of relationship between the two of them.
Finally, after staring for far longer than he was comfortable with, she crossed the room and settled down on the mattress beside him. Her mouth pulled down in a frown. "I am afraid there is no breaking the spell she has cast upon my master," the woman admitted softly.
He gave her a gentle smile. "There is always hope, my dear."
"Easy for you to say. You are not the one who has been passed over twice for some mortal whore who toys with my master's emotions for her own amusement," she replied. He could hear the hatred in her voice, letting him know she wasn't as emotionless as she wanted to appear.
"You're right. I'm not. So it is easy for me to tell you there's hope. But its the truth. There is always hope when you ask God for help. God is hope."
She gave him a sullen look, and he could see that she wanted to repeat her tired mantra that God didn't live in this place. He might have believed it, save for the fact that he was still alive. He'd expected the vampires to end his life shortly after he'd been brought to this place. But, thus far, no one had seemed even the slightest bit interested in killing him. Which he found odd. Not that he was questioning their lack of action. He was positive that God had a hand in the continued beat of his heart. It was likely that the Almighty was sparing him so that he could accomplish a task that would earn him the respect and love of the one human on the planet who meant anything to him.
He was beginning to think he knew what that task was.
"Why would God help me? Did I not forsake him when I became vampire?" she asked quietly.
"You are still one of God's children. He helps his children because he cares," he told her. He fell silent and let her consider his words. He wasn't sure why she believed him. Maybe she was so desperate for any kind of attention that she would take it where she could. He knew she was using him to her own ends. But that was okay with him, because he was using her for the same reasons. To see his own goals met.
"You said there is a number to call," she finally spoke, voice low and careful. As if she was still uncertain about her actions.
"Yes. You need to go to the news stand I told you about," he returned.
"Near the Church of the Holy Light," she said. He liked that she remembered. It was highly probable she'd been clinging to the words because they'd offered her hope like nothing else had.
"Yes," he nodded.
"I am to speak to the man there. His name is Franklin. I am to tell him that you have sent me there," she continued, eyes lifting to catch his. He felt the pull in them before shifting his attention just a little to the side so that he was almost staring straight at her. Almost, but not quite.
"Yes. My name is Peter. Tell him I sent you for the number. He'll know what you mean and he'll give it to you," he told her. He fought to keep the excitement from his words. The last thing he needed was for her to know that she was giving him everything he wanted.
"When Franklin gives me this number, I am to call it and tell the person who answers where to find the master's whore," she finished up.
"Yes. But you should call her the demon's whore," he suggested, careful to keep his tone friendly. "They may not know who you're talking about if you don't. If they don't know, the might not act. We can't have that."
"Fine. I tell them that I know where they can find the demon's whore."
"Yes," he agreed. He reached out and laid a hand over her own, a gesture meant to convince her that he cared. That she was doing the right thing. "Don't make the call until you discover a time and place when she'll be away from your master. She needs to be alone. We wouldn't want your master to get involved and possibly foil our plans, would we?"
"No." Her eyes flashed with a touch of the rage he'd seen on her before. She didn't move her hand from under his, which he counted as a win. "Would I be able to get the number from Franklin if I went to the stand tonight and requested it?"
"Of course you would," he assured her. She stared at him, obviously considering whether or not to do it tonight. Then she frowned and he knew she was hooked.
"I will go tonight. Now. My master is locked away in a chamber with his second, his second's human servant, and the whore. I suspect they'll be busy for some time to come. I have plenty of time to retrieve the number."
"You remember our agreement?" he asked her quietly, hoping that he wasn't pushing his luck in doing so.
"Yes. If this succeeds and the spell on my master is broken by these people you know, then I will release you from this place. But only if it works." She rose from the cot, forcing his hand to slide off of hers. She stood over him, staring down into his face as if she could see his secrets in it. Then she turned and headed for the door. "I will keep you informed on events as they unfold."
He said nothing, simply watched her go. When she was gone, when the door was closed and locked behind her and she was alone again, he considered the epiphany he'd had while speaking to her. He knew now why he'd failed in his attempt to firebomb the vampires' farce of a church. He'd failed because he'd been given the chance to do something no one else had done. He was going to make a gift of the demon's whore and, through her, the demon himself.
He got down on his knees and took up a position of prayer. They would see that he had his faith. They would see.
~*~*~*~*~
"Sir," Matthew said as he pushed through the door. The young man stopped at the edge of the desk and waited until he lifted his head to look at him.
"You have news?" he asked.
Matthew nodded. "Franklin at the stand called and said a woman showed up there tonight to ask for the number. And she used Peter's name."
He made a soft noise at the back of his throat and almost smiled. "Then Peter is still alive. Did Franklin have anything else to say?"
"No, sir. Not about Peter, at least. But he did say that he thought the woman was a demon," Matthew told him.
"Interesting."
"There's one other thing, sir," Matthew said, though he got the impression the young man didn't want to say anything. He gave the other man a look and motioned with his hand to proceed. Matthew pulled a paper out from under his arm and laid it on the desk. "The front page may be of interest to you."
Matthew turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He looked down at the paper, folded in half with the front page turned in toward itself. He reached for it, opening it so that it lay spread across the surface of his desk. The headline said something about an attack on the innocent, but he paid it little mind. His focus was on the photo that dominated much of the page. It was in color and, bright and vivid against the grey-ish white of the paper. It looked like it had been snapped by someone using a camera without a zoom lens or anything, because the shot was grainy. There were people in the image, but their features were hard to discern.
He stared at the photo, then squinted at it. Could it be? Was it possible? He leaned in, but it didn't do much to help. Not that it mattered because he was fairly sure... Yes. Yes. It was. He sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"Thank you, Lord. Thank you for granting me this one wish. Thank you."
Chapter Sixty Two: After Dinner Mints
Fandom: Anita Blake universe
Rating: 18 and up
Warnings: graphic sex and violence, language, anything else i can toss in.
Disclaimer: the recognizable characters and places contained herein are the property of LKH. i'm merely borrowing for the sake of entertainment. no money is being made from this venture. the Sues are the sole property of their originators, Ginevra, Dazzledfirestar, Nanaea, SilverFoxChan and ladydeathfaerie. the concept and title of The Mary Sue Virus are used with permission from Dazzledfirestar.
Author's Notes: .... yeah. i got nothing. this is just *waves hands at chapter* shit that fell out of my head. i don't know why i bother with these anymore
The Mary Sue Virus: Beyond Death - Index Link
"There's going to be a little scarring," Lillian said, eyes glued to the remnants of the bite mark on Rhia's arm. She'd been waiting for them in one of the spare rooms at the Circus, mouth turned down in a frown and impatience written all over her face. Rhia had sat silent and acquiescent as Lillian had tended to her. The blood had been cleared away from her arm, washed off with a soft cloth that had been discarded absently once the blood was gone. A thick, fluffy towel had been used to dry the remaining moisture from her skin, which had allowed Lillian an opportunity to get a good look at Rhia's wound.
Her fingers prodded the area gently, prompting a few twinges of pain here and there. Rhia couldn't help the hiss that slipped out. She was surprised it was still a little tender, given how much energy Aedan had poured into healing it. Lillian ran the tips of her fingers along the faint impression left by the zombie's teeth. Doing so made Rhia aware of every little bump and dip in her skin. "Aedan did a good job healing it. Maybe if she'd waited a bit longer before stopping, there wouldn't be any scarring. But this is almost as good as the healing we lycanthropes can do."
"She mentioned something about an antibiotic?" Rhia said, wondering why Aedan had quit when she had.
"Of course," Lillian agreed. "There's no telling how much bacteria was in that zombie's mouth. I'll write you a prescription for a general antibiotic that should help kill anything the zombie might have given you. But do monitor the wound. If it starts to swell or redden or look odd, contact me immediately. Also if you experience any kind of pain or other unusual sensations."
"You think that's possible?" Rhia asked, suddenly concerned about what could happen with the bite.
"I think its a slim possibility. But its better to be safe than sorry. Based on the fact that Asher is still with us, its likely that Aedan did an excellent job healing the bite. Its just the old doctor in me worrying." Lillian sent her a reassuring smile before reaching for her bag. Rhia watched as she pulled a pad of paper from it, then a pen. She scribbled something on the pad, pulled the top sheet off, and handed it over to Rhia. "Get this filled and take the whole course of antibiotics. Just to be safe."
"Of course," Rhia replied, staring at the square of paper.
"If you don't have anything else, I'm going to see myself out," Lillian said. It was her way of offering to answer any questions Rhia might have. Rhia considered it a moment, then shook her head.
"No. I think I'm good for tonight. Nathaniel and I can go get this filled." She held up the square of paper. "Then we can just relax for the rest of the evening. Now that the adrenalin is wearing off, I am starting to feel a little tired."
"A good night's sleep is in order after today's ordeal. Take it easy for a day or two. Rest up," Lillian suggested. She carefully returned her property to her bag before closing it up. She let her gaze slide from Rhia to Nathaniel, who had thus far sat silent beside her, then back again. The older woman smiled at them both, turned, and left the room.
Rhia stared at the scrip in her hand. "We should go get this filled."
"Rhia," Nathaniel said. There was an unmistakable tone to his voice. He was as unhappy as she'd ever seen him since they'd first met. She turned to look at him and saw the haunted expression in his eyes.
"I'm fine, Nathaniel," she began, trying to cut him off at the pass.
"You are not fine," he replied.
"I am," she insisted. "Its just a minor thing. I'm fine. Let's not make a big deal out of this."
Nathaniel sighed and reached for her arm. Drew it into his hold so he could lightly run his fingers over the faint indentations in her skin. His touch brought shivers. And a memory of the zombie's grip on her arm as it had taken a bite. "This is a big deal. You were hurt tonight. You could have lost your arm."
"I think you're being a little melodramatic," she chided. His gaze focused on hers, the normal lavender of his eyes darkened to a deep purple.
"I've seen what zombies can do, Rhia. I don't have to ask Aedan or Minette or Isis what this looked like before Aedan healed it. I know. The zombie wouldn't have stopped until it reached bone. Probably not even then."
"Nathaniel," she began, but his frown intensified and the grip he had on her arm tightened. Just a little.
"No. We're not going to brush this aside and pretend it didn't happen. You could have been killed, Rhia. I need you to think about that. That zombie would not have stopped until you were dead. And there was nothing you could have done to stop it. If Aedan hadn't been there..." He trailed off, let her see the fear he felt.
"I had to save that child, Nathaniel. A little girl would have become the zombie's snack if I hadn't stepped out of the circle to try and rescue her. Is that what you'd rather had happened? That a child died so I could remain safe and unharmed." She made sure he heard the disbelief in her voice. How could he want her to choose her own safety over the life of a child?
Nathaniel sighed, shaking his head at her question. "Damn it, Rhia. No. That isn't what I would want you to do. I'm not explaining this right. There's still too much fear and worry for the words to come the right way."
"I wasn't going to let the zombie kill that girl, Nathaniel. I wasn't going to stand by and watch it try to eat her. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I'd had to listen to that little girl scream. If I'd had to listen to her mother cry and wail and beg and plead," Rhia told him. "Maybe Aedan could have gotten to her before the zombie did. Maybe not. We won't know. I made a split second decision in the heat of the moment. I don't regret it."
"I know you wouldn't have let the zombie kill that girl. You're brave and fearless, Rhia. I love that about you," he told her, a gentle smile on his face. The smile melted away and became something filled with sorrow. "Those are things I loved about Anita. And you see where her selflessness got her."
"Nathaniel," she began, but the look in his eyes darkened again and brought her to silence.
"No, Rhia. You willingly put yourself in danger. And while I understand why you did it, and I even agree that you had no choice, I'm still angry about it. I'm still scared by it. You don't get to take those feelings from me because you think everything worked out in the end." He stood up then, started pacing the floor. As if his emotions couldn't be contained and he had to find a way to rid himself of them. "You were supposed to be going out for a little shopping. Maybe a nice meal. You were supposed to be spending time with the girls. That's what you told me. That's what I expected from today."
"That's what today was supposed to be," she replied.
"Do you know what went through my mind when Jean Claude came to me and told me that there was trouble?" he asked her quietly. There was no disguising the riot of emotions that tangled under his words. "I saw things... It was almost as bad as the night Anita died."
She frowned at that. Was he saying he'd glimpsed what happened to Anita? If he was, he'd never mentioned it before. Rhia supposed it was possible. Nathaniel had been tied to her, not only as a lover but as a member of her personal triumvirate. Rhia had no clue how that had worked for them, but maybe it had allowed Anita and Nathaniel to share things in secret. "You saw her die?" she asked him, voice so soft it barely made a dent in the silence pressing down on the room.
He looked up at her and his eyes were haunted with memory. Flooded with guilt. "I don't think I was supposed to. But she was so intent on fighting, on protecting Aedan and Minette..." he broke off to chuff a humorless laugh. "She was trying to protect them because she was sure they'd have been slaughtered right along side of her if they'd tried to help her. She got out of that car, knowing she was going to die. She knew, Rhia. But she got out and she faced them all down. Because she wanted to do what was right. So she fought and she got injured and she died on that road. And she passed her legacy on because she knew that it was the only option she had left to her. She knew it was the only way she could continue to protect the people she loved. And then she was gone. I felt her go. It left a gaping hole in my heart, Rhia. One I never thought could be filled."
Their gazes were locked, and she saw the look in them change. Saw the guilt and the pain ebb away. Hope and love, fresh and new, replaced them. And fear. A fear that felt new and raw. Her heart stopped a moment, then pounded harder. "Nathaniel. I didn't know."
"When Jean Claude came and said there'd been an attack, my mind was back on that road. And I felt fear I'd never had a chance to feel before. There was no time with Anita. It all happened too fast. But with you... Don't put me through that again, Rhia. Please. I am not strong enough to lose you."
"I'm so sorry, Nathaniel," she whispered. Rhia slid off the bed so that she could cross to where he stood. He looked so lost standing by himself. So young. All she could do was wrap her arms around him and hold him close. She wanted to promise him that she'd never do something like that again. They'd both know it to be a lie, though, so she didn't. All she did was hold him to her and press her face against his throat.
His arms were tight as they coiled around her, his body tense. She heard him take a deep breath, nose buried in her hair. He was scenting her, making sure she was whole and hale and hearty. Memorizing her all over again.
They stood like that for a moment, while Nathaniel simply drank down the smell and the feel of her. And then it all changed in the blink of an eye. His grip on her tightened, until it was almost painful. His head lifted, and she could see that his eyes were dark again. This time, though, they were filled with a completely different emotion. She had a second to sigh before his lips found hers, ground against them in a kiss that was overflowing with every last ounce of his love, his devotion, and his anger.
She melted into his hold, let him take what he wanted. She trusted that he wouldn't hurt her. This was Nathaniel. She knew him almost better than she knew herself. And she knew this was his reaction to the events of the evening, his way of purging the dark thoughts that had consumed him. His way of dealing with the fear and the helplessness. He would strip her naked and take her down to the bed and assure himself that they were both safe and sound and good.
Rhia thought that was a good way to end what had been a very scary, very hectic day.
So she wrapped herself around him, twined her hands into the loose braid that lay against his back and tugged on it. Just a little bit. He gave a soft growl that vibrated its way up his throat. His arms tightened around her, his fingers tangling in the ends of her curls. She hissed a breath when he pulled on them, canting her head back so that her neck was exposed. Then his mouth slid away from hers and he nipped his way over her chin and down so that his teeth left little marks all over her throat. She shuddered softly when he bit down over her windpipe. She wasn't sure if he meant it to be a sexual move or a predatory one or if it was both. But it did more to turn her on than scare her off. She heard him inhale a deep breath and a rumble of appreciation rolled up his throat.
There was no slow, sweet tenderness to his actions. He released her from his hold in order to start stripping the clothes off her body. The tattered remains of her shirt were shredded and left in a pile of scraps on the floor. Rhia hadn't thought the sound of tearing cloth would be such a turn on, but her body flushed hot with need. The smile Nathaniel gave her, one with almost too many teeth, told her he knew exactly what he was doing to her.
He rid her of her jeans methodically, stopping only long enough to tug her shoes from her feet and throw them across the room. Her panties went next, leaving her in a pair of socks and her bra. His gaze slid over her, took in every inch of her, before he turned her around and pushed her toward the bed. Rhia went, started to climb up onto it. But his hands stopped her, positioned her so that her hands rested on the edge of the mattress and her ass was presented to him. She heard the soft shushing sound of his shirt being skimmed off. Heard the zipper on his jeans as he pulled it down.
There was no foreplay beyond Nathaniel rubbing the length of his cock against her ass as he took his place behind her. Then he was shoving himself inside of her, filling her completely with one stroke that was hard enough to drive the breath from her lungs. Rhia made a strangled sound as her hands curled tightly into the mattress. Nathaniel gave her a second or two to pull air into her lungs before he pulled back and thrust back in.
His hips drove against her with hard, fast strokes that barely gave her time to inhale and exhale. One arm slid around her waist to hold her in place, ensuring she had no choice but to remain standing as he'd positioned her. That left her torso almost parallel to the floor, arms stretched slightly away from the bed so that she had no choice but to remain standing. Her legs were spread, feet positioned just past shoulder width apart. It left her trembling with the effort of holding her position. That somehow added to the feel of Nathaniel driving in and out of her body and Rhia felt herself spiraling toward climax only moments after he'd made his initial thrust.
Once he was sure she had the rhythm set by his hips, that she'd continue to meet it with her own, his free hand trailed up her spine in order to once more tangle in her hair. He pulled her head back, making it harder for her to draw a breath. Her gasps for air filled the room alongside the slap of his hips against her ass. She whimpered when he leaned over her, his cock slipping deeper, and trembled under the onslaught of sensations and emotions. "I want you to come for me, Rhia," he whispered in her ear.
The command startled her. This was not a Nathaniel she'd met before. He'd never been this dominant in bed before. She found she liked it, She liked it so much that she came, just as he'd told her to. Her body tightened around his, muscles squeezing down tight around his cock as her orgasm washed through her. Rhia cried out, then did so again when he started thrusting harder.
It had to be the fear that had him asserting his dominance. It felt to her almost as if he was claiming ownership over her, showing the Fates and the world that she was his and he wasn't willing to let her go without a fight. Just the thought of it brought forth a small orgasm, her body shivering its way through the release.
The hand in her hair let go its hold, slid over the smooth expanse of her back before slipping around the side of her body so that his hand could cup her breast through the material of her bra. His fingers kneaded at the flesh, pulled at it until he had her nipple pulled almost painfully taut. Then he let go, only to do it again. And again. Heat filled her, flowed along in her veins as it spread out all over her body. Until it gathered and pooled low in her belly, announcing that another orgasm was on its way.
His palm was hot against her breast when he nudged the cup of her bra aside, fingers still rough as they skimmed the soft flesh with a much gentler touch than before. Some of the fear and the anger must have worked itself from his system because his actions were calming. Rhia tossed her head so that she could look at him over her shoulder. "Don't stop now, Nathaniel. Harder. Fuck me harder," she whispered, voice a mixture of plea and command. She saw his eyes darken. They were so purple they were almost black. He smiled at her, his hips rocking with bruising force as he continued to thrust in and out of her eager body.
"I know you need to come, Rhia. I want you to wait so you can come with me," Nathaniel whispered. His hand shifted to her other breast, tugging it from the safety of the bra cup so that he could treat it to the same attention its mate had gotten. Rhia whimpered, her arms trembling.
"Then hurry up and come," she snarled, body strung tight with the need to climax. The feel of his cock stretching and filling her, of it sliding in and out was like torture. The wet sounds that came from their joining were a filthy symphony of desire that punctuated the slap of flesh against flesh.
"Are you that eager for me, Rhia?" he asked. The question should have been odd, should have been something that came before they started. But it wasn't. Because she was. She was eager for him, for his orgasm and the feel of his body reaching completion while buried in her own. She was eager for the groans that would come when he did. She needed it like she needed air or water. She needed him. All of him.
"Yes," she whimpered. His hips were doing something that felt like it should have been impossible and her entire body tensed with the need to come. She struggled to hold it back, struggled to wait for him because she knew it would please him. Because she wanted to come with him.
He draped himself over her back, the hand that had been teasing her breasts leaving off in order to plant itself in the mattress next to hers. His hips flashed faster and harder. His strokes shortened as he chased his orgasm. She followed the coil of her own emotions, seeking out her own release. "You feel so good around me, Rhia. So wet and tight and hot and... "
His words trailed off on a low groan as his hips shoved deep. She felt him swell inside of her, felt the beginning of his orgasm. "Come for me, Rhia," he whispered, his voice right next to her ear.
She came, body tensing under his own as she clung to his cock. As she milked it dry. As her body tightened and shattered and left her nearly blind and gasping for breath. She came as he did, as their mingled cries of completion filled the room.
And then she was left limp, arms barely able to hold herself up any longer, with Nathaniel's weight pressing down on top of her. Instead of pulling away, he inched closer and gathered her up in his arms and held her to him. He pressed a soft, gentle kiss to her shoulder. "I love you, Rhia." The words were whispered, a promise and a prayer and a plea.
"I love you, too, Nathaniel."
~*~*~*~*~
Minette had to admit she was mildly surprised that she, Jason, and Micah had had a car to themselves. She'd expected to be riding with Jean Claude, honestly. She wasn't surprised in the least that there had been two rats in the front seat and another carload of them following behind. It was obvious that the Master of the City was taking the death threats being leveled at his human servant with as much seriousness as he could. And especially now that whoever the mastermind was had attacked a crowded restaurant. It was a fortunate thing that none of the innocent bystanders had been hurt or killed. But it was a low blow to have attacked a family oriented restaurant like that in the first place.
"You're sure you're okay?" Jason asked her for the sixth time. They were snuggled up together in their big bed under the Circus. Minette sighed and nodded her head. She wanted to be snippy with him for asking the same question over and over again, but she held on to the urge. She was fairly certain Jason couldn't help himself. And, really, getting mad at him wouldn't do them any good.
"Yes. I'm sure I'm okay," she told him. "We were lucky we had a few minutes to make a plan. Otherwise..." she trailed off, sure that his imagination could fill in her unspoken words.
"You had warning they were coming?" Micah asked. His voice suggested he was confused by that.
"Isis and I could smell the zombies before they got close. They smelled strongly of rot. Aedan sensed the vamp. And the shifters with him. That gave us just enough time to formulate a plan."
"Then those people are lucky that you guys were paying attention." Jason tightened his hold on her, the one arm he had wrapped around her pulling her closer for just a moment or two.
Micah frowned at her. "How long ago did this attack take place?"
There was something in his voice that caught Minette's attention, so she gave it careful consideration. "Well, the attack took maybe ten or fifteen minutes. Dolph held us at the scene for about two hours. So... two and a half, three hours ago?" Minette estimated. "Why?"
"The sun was still up," Micah pointed out. "Not completely, because it was setting. But there was still enough light to brighten the sky. There shouldn't have been a vampire at the attack."
"Dolph said much the same thing," Minette returned. She recalled clearly just how unhappy he was when he'd figured that little tidbit out. He was even more unhappy when Aedan had given him what she felt were the reasons behind the vampire's presence. "Aedan thinks the vamp is from the same line as Damian. She thinks he's one of the few vampires who can walk in the sun without it hurting him. Though he was wearing a pretty heavy cloak. So its possible she was wrong about that."
Micah gave that consideration, then shook his head. "I doubt it. I don't like that they went after all of you. In front of innocent people, too. And so soon after they attacked Aedan privately. It feels... wrong. Almost desperate."
"They went after all of us in an attempt to try and fluster Aedan. Get her to make a mistake. They used such a public setting to only increase the chances. I don't think they expected Aedan to do what she did," Minette replied. She let the disgust shine through in her voice. The more she thought of what had happened, of what could have happened, the angrier she got.
"What did she do?"
"She took her aggression out on most of the zombies. With a meat cleaver. I'm willing to bet that the owner of that place is going to have professional cleaners go over the kitchen more than once," she replied, wrinkling her nose at what the kitchen must have looked like when Aedan had finished. The cops who'd gone back there had seemed less than impressed with the scene. "Then she joined us in the front and took control of the last remaining zombie."
"She stopped its attack on Rhia," Micah said, nodding. "Smart move. Better than trying to hack it apart while it still had a hold on Rhia's arm."
"I guess so. Either that or she just really wanted to show up the animator that had come along with the vampire. Neither one of them believed that anyone could take control of someone else's zombie like that. They apparently didn't know she's a full on necromancer, even though the vampire called her necromancer. That's weird."
"That is strange. You would think they'd know that, as a necromancer, Aedan can control the dead," Micah commented. It sounded to Minette like he was considering what it might mean.
"They didn't. Both the vampire and the animator told her to her face she couldn't do that." Minette frowned as she thought back to that part of the evening. Both the vampire and the animator had seemed very confused and surprised that Aedan had been able to take control of the zombie. And the vampire.
"She disabused them of the notion?" Micah asked.
"She did."
"How? I assume that the zombie wasn't her only trick."
"She took control of the vampire. And then she used his energy to heal Rhia. The bite was really bad and she was losing a lot of blood." Minette shuddered at the memory of the bite mark. She wasn't sure Aedan had really seen it. She was fairly sure that Rhia hadn't actually seen it. Both Minette and Isis had seen it, though. And it hadn't been pretty. The zombie had been gnawing its way through muscle by the time Aedan had stopped it. Minette was sure she'd seen a bit of bone gleaming through the bloody mess of chewed meat and shredded flesh. That Aedan had healed it as well as she'd done had surprised Minette. She'd felt certain that it would have been a life altering injury for Rhia otherwise.
"What happened to the vamp and the animator?" This question came from Jason. He wore a look that told Minette he was trying to piece everything together. She sometimes forgot that he was much smarter than he let people see.
"Dolph took them both into custody. Chances are good the vamp will be staked. And the animator... I'm sure he's looking at death. He used zombies specifically to attack people."
"Dolph doesn't know about the attack on Rhia, does he?" Jason asked quietly. Minette turned to look at him, frowning at the question. But she shook her head in answer.
"No. Aedan never mentioned it."
"Too hard to explain how the zombie nearly took Rhia's arm off, but Rhia's arm is whole. I don't think Aedan was ready to explain that trick away. She's an anomaly in the preternatural world. And she's an anomaly in the mundane world. Imagine what would happen if people, normal people, knew she could heal people using other people's energy."
"They'd lock her away," Minette whispered.
"Probably," Jason confirmed. His tone suggested he was thinking along other, much darker lines.
"That's enough talk about what happened tonight," Micah said before either of them could continue their line of conversation. Minette turned to look at him and found that her Nimir-Raj looked slightly put out. And that's when she realized that he'd been worried. About her. She pulled away from Jason so she could wrap her arms around Micah and hug him tight.
"What do you want to talk about?" she asked him, giving him the opportunity to change the direction of their conversation.
Micah turned to look at her, eyes considering as he studied her. Then he let his gaze slide past her to where Jason sat. Before Minette could look over at the wolf and see what kind of expression he had on his face, Micah was back to looking at her. And he was wearing a big smile. "Date night," he replied.
Minette blinked. "Date night? What kind of date night?"
"Micah and I were talking when you were out shopping earlier this afternoon. And we think we should institute a date night. One night a week where we go out and do something fun. Something that doesn't involve vampires or undead politics or the coalition or any of that stuff. Just Micah and Minette and Jason, having fun."
"The three of us? Together?" Minette asked, this time letting her gaze slide from Micah to Jason and then back again.
"Of course," Micah nodded. "Jason might not be a leopard, but he's still family. You and he are my family as much as you and the pard. I can't imagine leaving him out of a date night with you."
Minette considered it. To be honest, date night sounded fun. It sounded like a good idea. They'd spent so much time lately going from one crisis to the next that there hadn't been much time for fun. Today was supposed to have been a fun day for her and the girls. And, for the most part, it had. The interruption at the restaurant aside, they'd had fun. Even their trip to the gun store had been fun, in a very odd kind of way. It had been interesting to see both Janika and Aedan argue the merits of weapons for first time users.
Then she frowned. Because the idea did sound fun. Just like today had been fun. But there had been the interruption. And Minette suspected that Jean Claude wouldn't want anyone leaving the Circus without proper protection. She and Micah were capable of inflicting damage, but Jason wasn't. And she wasn't sure that any of them would enjoy going out with a small army of rats at their backs.
"Is there a problem, Minette?" Jason asked, one hand reaching out to take hold of her chin. He turned her to face him, eyes searching her face for whatever reason had prompted the frown.
"You know that Jean Claude isn't going to let us leave the Circus without protection," she returned.
"You think he's going to extend the round the clock coverage to us?"
"Not us. Me. Though I suppose technically that would be us." Her hand gestured between the three of them to make her point. "They attacked the five of us tonight. Not just Aedan. Us. I think they did it intentionally. I think Aedan thinks they did it intentionally. To make it harder on her. They probably figured she wouldn't be able to fight them all with her friends so close by. And with all those civilians in the way."
"Or maybe they did it intentionally for another reason," Micah said, voice filled with consideration.
Minette looked at him. "What are you thinking?"
"It just seems odd that they'd attack again so soon after the last one. Its only been a couple of days. And other than a small problem at the beginning, Aedan proved that she was quite capable of dealing with a lone attacker. Even without a gun on hand. She did a damn good job of improvising weaponry when the need arose." Micah paused there and took a moment to gather his thoughts together. "I think the mastermind behind the attacks is testing Aedan's mettle. Or something to that effect. Because there's no other explanation for another attack. Not so soon and not in a public place. Now when all of you were there. I think he's looking for the best way to take her down."
She considered that a moment. "So you think these scenarios are just tests? Until he can figure out the best way to stop her. He's just going to send people to St. Louis to attack her and watch them die and... what? Look for her weakness?"
"Yeah," Micah nodded his head at her question. "I think that's exactly what he's doing. He's going to find the one thing that will render her incapable of fighting back. And he'll attack her there."
"So he attacked all of us, in public where there were innocent people surrounding us, on purpose?" Minette questioned.
"I think so, yeah," Micah nodded. "And knowing Jean Claude, he's going to figure this out eventually. He's been alive a long time and he knows how vampires think."
"He's definitely going to put protection details on us," Jason commented. There was perhaps a touch of distaste in his voice. "That's really going to put a crimp in things."
"Not necessarily," Micah said, sounding very much like it wasn't a big deal they'd have people's noses in their business constantly if they wanted to do anything. "We just coordinate with Jean Claude. Let him know what we're going to do. Where we're going. When. He can pick someone to go with us and we'll just make sure they're close, but not breathing down our necks. We be careful when we go someplace public that'll be hard to defend, like a restaurant. We keep our eyes open for any sign of trouble. It'll make things a little less spontaneous, but we can still enjoy ourselves. We can't stay down here all the time. Its no fun and I can imagine we'd get bored in no time flat."
Minette considered it. It wasn't ideal, but it wasn't the worst thing ever. Chances were good they could manage to go out and enjoy themselves and still stay safe. They'd just have to be a little more cautious than usual. And, like Micah had said, no spontaneous trips. But that was okay. Spontaneous could be fun, but it wasn't always the best way to do things. "Okay. I'm willing to give it a try. If that's what you guys want to do." She let her gaze slide from one man to the next, trying to gauge their feelings on the matter.
It was pretty obvious that Micah was okay with it. After all, he was the one who'd come up with the idea. But Jason got a say in their relationship, too, seeing as he was a part of it. So if this wasn't something he was okay with, she wasn't about to go along with it. "Jason?" she asked, waiting for him to share his thoughts.
"It isn't the best idea. But it isn't the worst. I'd rather have the protection that would allow us to have a mildly normal life than be stuck someplace where I'd get bored too quickly. We can try it. See how it pans out for us. If it doesn't work, we'll find some other solution," he responded. It was the best they were going to get. Minette turned to look at Micah.
"So? What's the plan? What are we going to do for our first official date night?" she asked, curious to know if they'd already come up with something.
"We're going to take a page out of Jean Claude's book and we're going to go to the movies," Micah informed her. Minette frowned at him.
"The movies? Really?"
"Yes. Its something innocuous. And fun. We don't have to think. We don't have to dress up. We can sit in the dark and munch popcorn and we can maybe fool around a little bit," Micah said. His smile at the last was just this side of obscene. She narrowed her eyes on him.
"You've been taking lessons from Jason. That is not a Micah look. That is absolutely a Jason look," she accused, then turned to look at the man in question. "You've been giving him smirking lessons, haven't you?"
Jason laughed at that. "Micah doesn't need my help smirking. He's more than capable of doing so without any help from me."
"Uh huh," Minette replied, making sure her tone told him exactly how much she believed that line.
"See, now. Where he does need some schooling is in places like this," Jason said and it was the only warning she got. The next second, Jason was taking her down to the bed so that he could tickle her mercilessly. Minette found herself giggling mindlessly, trying hard to get away from Jason's wickedly accurate fingers. Somehow, he found all the spots on her that made her react, fingertips gliding over her sides and up under her arms. She was out of breath with laughter in short order. "I didn't realize you were so ticklish, Minette. You know what this means, don't you?"
"Don't you dare!" she gasped out, struggling to wiggle away from him and catch her breath at the same time. She managed to get a hand against his chest and shove him far enough away from her that she could turn over and try crawling away. But Jason grabbed hold of her and pulled her back to him, pinning her body under his own by sitting on her. "Jason! Don't even think it!" she ordered, voice a touch shrill with the certainty that he was going to start tickling her again.
"Why not, Minette? Because I'm going to have to move your shirt in order to tickle you properly," he informed her, hands already pushing her t-shirt up to expose her back to view. His hands slid up her spine, fingers grazing her flesh lightly in a touch that brought other sensations to life. Minette absolutely did not feel like laughing. "This bra strap is in the way. Let's get rid of that."
She felt the hooks disengage. The clinging tightness of her bra was suddenly gone. And then Jason was leaning over to press a kiss against her back, right where the bra had been closed only seconds before. His hands glided down toward the small of her back, barely grazing her skin in strokes that sent curls of heat rushing through her. She couldn't hold back the moan that came with his touch, and she was insanely pleased that she could bury her face in the blankets so that he couldn't see just what he was doing to her.
"You should probably remove her jeans," Micah suggested. There was a faint rumble at the back of his words and the sound of it drove all thought from Minette's head.
"That is an excellent idea, Micah. Why didn't I think of that?" Jason asked, his voice filled with a touch of a growl.
Hands reached for her waist. Minette let them roll her over. Micah was there to press a kiss against her lips. When he pulled away, he removed her t-shirt and bra. Jason dealt with her jeans, tugging them and her panties down to her ankles. Minette did him the favor of kicking them off, then stared up at the two of them. "This is no fair. You're both fully dressed. And I'm completely naked." She sat up and reached for the two of them. "Let me take care of that for you."
~*~*~*~*~
"Are you okay, Isis?" Lettie asked, eyes wide as Isis and Damian settled on the couch in her condo. She'd called the pride together, asking them to meet at her place, because she'd wanted to make sure that they were all safe. That they were all protected. She was more than a little rattled by the events of the evening and she was woman enough to admit that she wanted to keep her little family together so she could protect them. The idea of someone attacking her pride filled her with a rage the likes of which she hadn't felt before.
"I'm fine, Lettie," she replied with a smile. Lettie stared at her as if she didn't believe it, so Isis held her arms out to the rest of her family and invited them to come crowd around. They did, somehow managing to gather around her and Damian despite the fact that the two of them were on the couch. Hands touched her, seeking out bare skin to strengthen the contact. They did the same with Damian. The feel of their energy running over her skin went a long way toward soothing her.
"When we heard there was an attack... We were worried," the girl replied quietly. But that didn't stop Isis from hearing the fear in her voice.
"I'm okay," Isis reassured her.
"What happened?" Rosamund questioned. Her eyes were wide and huge and Isis could tell she was trying hard to hold back the fear. "No one told us anything. We just heard that there was an attack. Travis tried calling you, but got no answer."
Isis shared a look with Damian. She didn't know if she should be sharing this story because she didn't feel it was hers to tell. He studied her a moment before brushing his hand against her side gently. He then turned to look at the gathered members of the pride. "The people who murdered Anita have decided that Aedan must die, too," he began, not bothering to build up to it or sugar coat anything. Isis saw the looks of surprise that came from everyone and she had to wonder just which part of Damian's statement they were reacting to. "It is apparently some kind of cabal and the group is large. We know that members of the vampire council's elite group of assassins are involved. They do not like that Aedan has brought so much power to Jean Claude and his kiss."
"They're going to kill her because they think she's too powerful?" Travis asked, eyes big as saucers.
"Yes," Damian nodded. "And they have tried to do just that. Three times already."
"Three times?" Rosamund's voice plainly said she didn't want to believe it. "Why haven't we heard about this? Aedan is one of our layers of protection. We should have known that someone was trying to kill her." The last statement held accusation.
"Aedan is intensely private. I doubt she'd want you to know that someone's trying to kill her. She wouldn't want you to worry," Isis countered. She made sure to keep her voice calm and free of emotions.
"Why not? If someone wants her dead, she should have protection. She's an official, unofficial member of the pride. We have the right to try and keep her safe," Rosamund argued. Anger had risen to taint her words.
"We do have that right. Aedan is a member of the pride. We all agree on this. We'd all do whatever we could to help her. But Aedan doesn't see it like that," Isis replied. Rosamund frowned, trying to figure out what her Regina meant.
"Aedan believes it is her job to do to the protecting," Damian explained, picking up where Isis had left off. "She looks upon it as her duty. To the pard. To the vampires. To the pack. To the rats. To the pride. To everyone in the kiss. She is supposed to protect us. We are not supposed to protect her. So she would not tell anyone she felt did not need to know. She would never willingly put any of you in danger. Thus she chooses not to tell you about the things to which she knows you are most likely to react."
"Three attacks, though?" Travis questioned.
"Yes," Isis nodded. She briefly debated telling them the whole story. She wasn't sure Aedan would be happy with everyone knowing her business. But her business was now affecting everyone else's business. Isis' lions needed to be prepared, in case something happened. So she pressed on and hoped that Aedan would forgive her. "The first was in her apartment. A vampire and a shape shifted witch broke into her apartment and waited for her to come home. They attacked her there. She'd just come back from a date with Jean Claude. So he was there and Claudia was there and neither of them felt anything amiss. If not for outside help, someone would have died that night."
"The second attack was only a few nights ago. At a charity function she attended with Jean Claude. A woman tried to attack her in the bathroom when she was alone. If not for Aedan's quick thinking... " Damian trailed off, not bothering to finish the sentence.
"And then there's tonight." Isis frowned at the memory of the attack, how it had taken an otherwise lovely day and made it horrible and scary. "I was out with Aedan, Minette, Janika, and Rhia. We'd spent the day together, just doing nothing important. A little shopping. Some food. Mostly just an excuse to spend time together. After our day spent looking at weapons and dresses, we decided to go someplace quiet where we could sit and have a meal together. Where we could chat. And it was actually going that way until I noticed something smelled... off."
"What was it?" Lettie asked, anxious to hear the rest of the story.
"It was a zombie. Minette smelled it, too. Aedan named it as zombie rot. Probably because she could sense the zombies. She also sensed the shifters waiting outside the restaurant. And the vampire. She told us we were about to be attacked. She made a plan to try and keep the innocent people in the restaurant from being hurt. And we acted on it." Isis fell silent a moment, doing little else but breathing as she let the evening's events run once more through her mind. It had all happened so fast... "Rhia and Janika got to try and round up the patrons. The workers. Get them into a circle. Rhia was supposed to cast a circle once everyone was gathered together. The circle would keep everyone inside it safe from everyone outside it. Minette and I took on the shifters when they came in. Aedan went to the kitchen to deal with the zombies that had come in through the back door. It was a good plan. A solid plan. And it was working."
"Something happened, didn't it?" The question came from Travis, who was as caught up in the story as Lettie seemed to be.
"A lone zombie came in through the front door. Ripped the door practically off its hinges. And went straight at a little girl who had been forgotten in the panic. So Rhia left the protection of the circle to grab the girl, to try and get her to safety. But the zombie moved faster than she expected. It caught her. And it started gnawing on her arm."
"Oh, shit. I've seen zombies go after people. They don't let up until someone makes them or they finish the job," Rosamund whispered. A murmur rose up through the gathered group as they compared their personal notes on zombies. Isis waited until they wound down before finishing her story.
"Aedan stopped the zombie. She came from the back and took control of it and made it stop. She shot one of the shifters in the head. Let Minette and I finish the other three off. Then she used her powers to take control of the vampire that waited outside and she forced him to come in. Forced him to bring the animator who had raised the zombies with him. She used the vampire to heal Rhia. I've never felt power like that before. It made all the hair on my body stand on end." Isis stopped and rubbed her hands over her arms. Just thinking about that moment made the hair stand up again. "She was pissed. She could have killed both the vampire and the animator. It would have been justified. She had every right. But she turned them over to the police. We spent the next two hours answering questions. Then we came home."
"So... What are we going to do?" Travis questioned, his gaze sliding from Isis to Damian and back again. Isis stared at him, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Travis gestured about the living area of Isis' condo. "Tonight. All of us here together. This isn't our normal get together night. But we're here. I say we make the best of it."
Isis glanced at Damian to gauge his reaction to the suggestion. He was already smiling, eyes bright with pleasure. She watched as his hand reached for the phone with unerring accuracy, even though he was staring at her. "I will order the pizza," he said.
"Woo!" Travis exclaimed, already heading for the television. "What movie are we watching tonight?"
"I want to watch something from Disney," Lettie said, somehow managing to beat Travis to the shelf where Isis stored her movies. "Let's watch 'The Lion King'!"
Travis groaned. "Seriously, Lettie? That's so cliché."
"We watched horror movies the last time we got together," Lettie replied, already feeding the disc into the player. Travis was giving her a sullen look that said he didn't like her idea for a movie. "And look how that turned out. Isis was attacked tonight. So I think we should watch something light, with a happy ending."
"Can't you do something about this, Isis?" Travis turned to look at her. She gave him a shrug.
"Lettie's right. You picked movies for the last get together. And all we watched was horror. I think a little light-hearted fun would be good. Maybe you'll even enjoy it. Why don't you go make popcorn to tide us over until our pizza arrives?"
Travis gave her the hairy eyeball, as if expecting her to sprout a second head or something. But he got up and headed for the kitchen area, grumbling under his breath as he went. It was all for effect, because he knew every one would overhear him. Isis hid her smile as he went, leaning even closer into Damian. His arm slid around her shoulder so that he could hold her up against his side, as if keeping her there would keep her safe.
Maybe it would. She knew Damian had been a warrior long before he'd become a vampire. He was deadly with or without a sword and she had no doubt there were few foes he couldn't best. But only if they were foes he could see and face.
She realized then, as they sat there and watched Lettie feed the disc into the player, that he was tense and far quieter than usual. Not that Damian was much of a talker. He tended to stay quiet and observe rather than talk and be oblivious. But he'd spoken less tonight than usual. Which left her wondering if he was upset about the attack. If he wished he'd been there to help protect her. He hadn't really said much of anything about the events of the evening when they'd been driving back to her place.
She took a moment to steal a glance at his face and found that he was watching her rather than the ads at the beginning of the movie. There was no expression on his face, but she felt certain that he was not happy. That made her wish she had the ability to communicate silently with him, like Aedan and Janika with Jean Claude and Asher. It would allow her to find out what he was thinking without the others being able to overhear their words. She suspected that he'd rather keep his fears between them for the time being.
Isis offered him a smile, hoping that it would be infectious. For a moment, she was sure she'd failed because his look remained blank and empty. Then, so very slowly, he returned it with one of his own. The smile brought a light to his green eyes that held her captivated.
He was beautiful when he wore no expression, when his face was blank and empty in that way that only old vampires could manage. When he smiled... Beautiful didn't even begin to describe how he looked. His smile made her breath still in her chest. Made her heart beat a little faster. Made her want to wrap herself around him and stay there for all eternity. She wrapped an arm around him and leaned closer, tipping her head back to offer him her lips. He took them without being asked twice. The kiss curled her toes in her shoes and left her wishing, for just a moment, that she hadn't called the pride over to make sure they were all okay.
"Wow. That's totally uncalled for," Travis' voice broke them apart. He was standing behind the couch, bowl of popcorn in his hands, staring at them. Isis grinned, much less annoyed by his antics than she might have been any other day. He was mostly teasing, though there was still a touch of annoyance in his voice. Isis guessed this was payback for not siding with him where the night's entertainment was concerned.
"Be glad we're not fucking in front of you," she replied, a hint of mischief in her voice.
"I'm in no way a prude. You know that. Being part of the pride doesn't allow for it. Cats are social creatures. But wow. I don't need to see that. I really don't," Travis said.
Isis grinned at him. "There's a difference between being social and being lewd," she told him. "If you're not up for lewd, don't hang out with too many vampires. Especially not Jean Claude."
Travis blinked at that. Isis knew that the pride had been around the members of Jean Claude's kiss before. Hell, they'd been around Jean Claude before. But probably never when he was trying to put people in their places. "His line of vampires tend to be pretty sexual. Up to and including public displays for one reason or another. The last time I was witness to that was shortly after Anita's death."
"Augustine," Damian snorted. Yeah. That about summed that evening up.
"Was there an orgy or something?" Travis asked, far more interested than Isis felt he should have been. She shook her head.
"No. But there could have been. As it was, everyone got a show. Not just Augustine."
That night had been bizarre, but Isis could clearly recall the hunger in Augustine's gaze as he'd watched both Aedan and Minette deal with the arduer in their own ways. Minette had chosen Rafael, a fairly safe bet. But Aedan had nearly started a brawl when she'd gone after Rhiannon. Isis still wondered if the two of them would've finished things if they hadn't been interrupted. Fortunately, Jean Claude had pulled Aedan away from Rhiannon before Richard had turned into a raging jerk about the whole thing. Then he and Rhia had disappeared for a short while...
She absolutely was not going to tell Travis how that night had finished. He didn't need to know.
The intro to the movie was playing, bringing an end to conversation. Travis found a spot on the floor near Lettie and set the popcorn down in a mostly central location. Isis watched her little family settle in to watch the movie and felt contentment wash through her. She never thought, all those years ago when she'd first been infected, that this would be the way her life would go. She'd never really gotten over her parents' reactions to her changed status, though she supposed she could understand it. To them, it had been the end of their hopes and dreams. To Isis, it had only been the beginning of her life.
She reflected upon the path that she'd been on since that ill-fated trip to Africa. She'd accomplished so much, done so much, simply because her parents had felt that being infected had been the worst thing in the world for her. It hadn't been. It had opened doors she'd never known were closed to her. And it had brought her here, to the best part of her life.
She'd never expected to have someone like Damian. The best she'd expected was some not so alpha male lion that would try and rule her. But here she had a wonderful home. She had good friends. She had a wonderful family of people who were not blood, but were more closely bound to her than anyone who shared blood could be. She was Regina. She had a man in her life that she loved. Who loved her. Who respected her and who treated her like a queen. She couldn't really ask for much more. And if you paired that with her professional life... She'd accomplished so much.
A knock at the door announced the arrival of the pizza. Rosamund climbed to her feet without saying a word and headed for the entryway. She opened the door and accepted the pizza, handing over a few bills as a tip. Isis had no doubt Damian had charged the pizza when he'd placed the order. The door closed and Rosamund came back to the living area, the aromas of tomato sauce, hot cheese, and meat and veggies trailing after her.
Yeah. It was a good life. Better than good. It was the best. Isis couldn't ask for anything better.
~*~*~*~*~
It said something about how long it had been since he'd last seen the sun and the moon and the stars was when the highlight of his evening was when she came to visit. She didn't come with wrath and ruin glowing in her eyes this time. Nor did she slam into the cell like a hurricane bent on destroying everything in its path. Instead, she let herself in almost silently, cloaked in sadness and fear. He suspected there was rage beneath it all. But, for once, that emotion wasn't simmering away on the surface. He greeted her with a soft smile and a look of welcome to let her know that he was glad to see her.
Was it sad that he actually was glad to see her? Maybe just a little bit. If only because she broke up the monotony.
"What has she done this time?" he asked.
"She is with him," the vampire intoned, voice empty and flat. "And she is with his second."
He had to fight to keep the confusion off his face. This wasn't anything he'd expected to hear. "At the same time?" he asked, in order to make sure he understood what she was telling him.
"Yes. At the same time. She has slithered her way into both their hearts and their beds." There was a touch of acid in her words this time.
He drew a breath, then reached out a hand and patted a spot on the thin mattress next to where he sat. "Come and join me. We'll talk and we'll make a plan. We'll see if we can't win you back the heart of your master."
She stared at him a moment, almost as if she didn't believe him. Perhaps she didn't. He'd gotten the impression, through every one of their encounters, that she had few friends. And that she didn't easily trust. The idea that she kept coming back to him, was novel to him. Either she truly thought he cared about her and considered him a friend, or she was desperate and he was the only one who was willing to help her achieve her goals. Either way, he was still surprised that there was any kind of relationship between the two of them.
Finally, after staring for far longer than he was comfortable with, she crossed the room and settled down on the mattress beside him. Her mouth pulled down in a frown. "I am afraid there is no breaking the spell she has cast upon my master," the woman admitted softly.
He gave her a gentle smile. "There is always hope, my dear."
"Easy for you to say. You are not the one who has been passed over twice for some mortal whore who toys with my master's emotions for her own amusement," she replied. He could hear the hatred in her voice, letting him know she wasn't as emotionless as she wanted to appear.
"You're right. I'm not. So it is easy for me to tell you there's hope. But its the truth. There is always hope when you ask God for help. God is hope."
She gave him a sullen look, and he could see that she wanted to repeat her tired mantra that God didn't live in this place. He might have believed it, save for the fact that he was still alive. He'd expected the vampires to end his life shortly after he'd been brought to this place. But, thus far, no one had seemed even the slightest bit interested in killing him. Which he found odd. Not that he was questioning their lack of action. He was positive that God had a hand in the continued beat of his heart. It was likely that the Almighty was sparing him so that he could accomplish a task that would earn him the respect and love of the one human on the planet who meant anything to him.
He was beginning to think he knew what that task was.
"Why would God help me? Did I not forsake him when I became vampire?" she asked quietly.
"You are still one of God's children. He helps his children because he cares," he told her. He fell silent and let her consider his words. He wasn't sure why she believed him. Maybe she was so desperate for any kind of attention that she would take it where she could. He knew she was using him to her own ends. But that was okay with him, because he was using her for the same reasons. To see his own goals met.
"You said there is a number to call," she finally spoke, voice low and careful. As if she was still uncertain about her actions.
"Yes. You need to go to the news stand I told you about," he returned.
"Near the Church of the Holy Light," she said. He liked that she remembered. It was highly probable she'd been clinging to the words because they'd offered her hope like nothing else had.
"Yes," he nodded.
"I am to speak to the man there. His name is Franklin. I am to tell him that you have sent me there," she continued, eyes lifting to catch his. He felt the pull in them before shifting his attention just a little to the side so that he was almost staring straight at her. Almost, but not quite.
"Yes. My name is Peter. Tell him I sent you for the number. He'll know what you mean and he'll give it to you," he told her. He fought to keep the excitement from his words. The last thing he needed was for her to know that she was giving him everything he wanted.
"When Franklin gives me this number, I am to call it and tell the person who answers where to find the master's whore," she finished up.
"Yes. But you should call her the demon's whore," he suggested, careful to keep his tone friendly. "They may not know who you're talking about if you don't. If they don't know, the might not act. We can't have that."
"Fine. I tell them that I know where they can find the demon's whore."
"Yes," he agreed. He reached out and laid a hand over her own, a gesture meant to convince her that he cared. That she was doing the right thing. "Don't make the call until you discover a time and place when she'll be away from your master. She needs to be alone. We wouldn't want your master to get involved and possibly foil our plans, would we?"
"No." Her eyes flashed with a touch of the rage he'd seen on her before. She didn't move her hand from under his, which he counted as a win. "Would I be able to get the number from Franklin if I went to the stand tonight and requested it?"
"Of course you would," he assured her. She stared at him, obviously considering whether or not to do it tonight. Then she frowned and he knew she was hooked.
"I will go tonight. Now. My master is locked away in a chamber with his second, his second's human servant, and the whore. I suspect they'll be busy for some time to come. I have plenty of time to retrieve the number."
"You remember our agreement?" he asked her quietly, hoping that he wasn't pushing his luck in doing so.
"Yes. If this succeeds and the spell on my master is broken by these people you know, then I will release you from this place. But only if it works." She rose from the cot, forcing his hand to slide off of hers. She stood over him, staring down into his face as if she could see his secrets in it. Then she turned and headed for the door. "I will keep you informed on events as they unfold."
He said nothing, simply watched her go. When she was gone, when the door was closed and locked behind her and she was alone again, he considered the epiphany he'd had while speaking to her. He knew now why he'd failed in his attempt to firebomb the vampires' farce of a church. He'd failed because he'd been given the chance to do something no one else had done. He was going to make a gift of the demon's whore and, through her, the demon himself.
He got down on his knees and took up a position of prayer. They would see that he had his faith. They would see.
~*~*~*~*~
"Sir," Matthew said as he pushed through the door. The young man stopped at the edge of the desk and waited until he lifted his head to look at him.
"You have news?" he asked.
Matthew nodded. "Franklin at the stand called and said a woman showed up there tonight to ask for the number. And she used Peter's name."
He made a soft noise at the back of his throat and almost smiled. "Then Peter is still alive. Did Franklin have anything else to say?"
"No, sir. Not about Peter, at least. But he did say that he thought the woman was a demon," Matthew told him.
"Interesting."
"There's one other thing, sir," Matthew said, though he got the impression the young man didn't want to say anything. He gave the other man a look and motioned with his hand to proceed. Matthew pulled a paper out from under his arm and laid it on the desk. "The front page may be of interest to you."
Matthew turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He looked down at the paper, folded in half with the front page turned in toward itself. He reached for it, opening it so that it lay spread across the surface of his desk. The headline said something about an attack on the innocent, but he paid it little mind. His focus was on the photo that dominated much of the page. It was in color and, bright and vivid against the grey-ish white of the paper. It looked like it had been snapped by someone using a camera without a zoom lens or anything, because the shot was grainy. There were people in the image, but their features were hard to discern.
He stared at the photo, then squinted at it. Could it be? Was it possible? He leaned in, but it didn't do much to help. Not that it mattered because he was fairly sure... Yes. Yes. It was. He sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"Thank you, Lord. Thank you for granting me this one wish. Thank you."
(no subject)
Date: 2018-06-11 03:47 am (UTC)I have to admit I freaking LOVED when Nathaniel got a bit dominant....holy crap that was hot. At least, to me it was. LOL ;)
Love the cats sitting around for movie night, watching 'The Lion King.'
The different ways the couples comfort each other is really interesting to read. Sounds stupid, but I really love me some hurt/comfort and it gives me feelies to read these. :-)
And shitfuck I have a feeling the worst is yet to come. How much more can they all take?! :-)
*nibbles fingernails* I can't wait to find out.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-06-12 03:58 am (UTC)i liked it when Nathaniel let some of his dominant side show. i had to check and make sure that it was a possibility before i wrote it because i didn't want to do something inaccurate to the character. but then again, i think i left so much of canon behind in the dust about 40 chapters ago that it doesn't really matter at this point. maybe. i don't know.
i really loved the idea of the pride sitting around Isis' house, watching "The Lion King" and enjoying some pizza and popcorn. it sounded like a good way to pass time and reaffirm that they were all okay.
i definitely wanted the chapter to be all about the various couples finding ways to comfort one another and to process the events of the evening. cuddling is generally a good way to accomplish this.
the worst is always yet to come. haven't you figured that out yet?
glad you enjoyed, sweetie. thanks for taking the time to read and comment.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-07-15 02:27 pm (UTC)I read this over the past several days, piece by piece. Then I had to go back an re-read the beginning, because HOLY FUCK woman!
Yes. Exactly this.
I just ... I can't even....
You know, I totally expected this chapter to start with the Aedan/JC/Asher/Janika foursome. And they're ... Not. Even. Here. Maybe next chapter? If not, I guess I'll just have to use my imagination.... ;D
I thoroughly enjoyed the other bits as well. Watching Lion King? Priceless! And I'm glad I don't have to deal with Jason. LOL I think I'd have to kill him if I got held down and tickled like that.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-07-16 01:57 am (UTC)see, i told you i made it up to Rhia. and the whole thing just kind of... flowed when i started writing it. i mean, i knew i was going to have Nathaniel and Rhia have life-affirming sex after what had happened. but Nathaniel's tone and demeanor just kind of came to me as i put the words down and this is what happened.
you'll probably find this unbelievable, but i actually had no plans to write the foursome with Aedan, Jean Claude, Asher, and Janika. in point of fact, that ending was absolutely on the fly. and when i got to the end of the chapter, i figured i'd leave it as is. cos i'm actually trying not to have Aedan dominate so much page time. i am trying to share with everyone else. which is sometimes super hard to do.
i liked the mental image of the pride sitting down to watch The Lion King. it just felt right. even if it was a little cheesy. and its a good thing Jason tried that with Minette and no one else. i don't know what Aedan would do, but i kick when people try to tickle me.
glad you liked it, hon. thanks for taking the time to read and comment.