marysuevirus | The Mary Sue Virus: Beyond Death (Reply)

Title: The Mary Sue Virus: Beyond Death
Chapter Seventy Two: Confession is Good for the Soul
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: look at all that plot up in here. what?

The Mary Sue Virus: Beyond Death - Index Link

The air was cold around her but she didn't care. There was only one thing on her mind. It was dark and wrong, but she couldn't push the thought aside. It had been lodged there ever since Edward had mentioned a name to her in the hospital earlier in the day. His name. The fear boiled up inside of her, almost driving the red haze of rage from her. She hated being afraid, hated giving him that kind of power over her, so she pushed the fear aside. She held on to the anger, held on to the rage and the passionate hatred she felt. It was the only thing that kept her on her feet.

Carter Solomon. Priest. Madman. Murderer. Father. Her father. For as long as she could remember, she'd been afraid of him. She'd been acutely aware just how poorly she fit in with her family. She was the only red-headed child. Her eyes were greyish-blue instead of clear sky blue like her siblings. She was the only one who could command the dead. When her abilities had first taken shape, when they had first shown themselves to her and the world, her father had called her the Devil's spawn and had laid 'healing hands' on her. At first, she'd been unable to hold the power in. It had forced him to tell her what would happen to her soul when Satan finally came to claim it. He'd told her she'd burn in Hell for all eternity. He'd told her that she would be lost to her family, to God's love, forsaken and cast into the fiery pits. He'd told her she would become Lucifer's consort, little more than a captive whore for his wicked, deviant lusts.

She'd been perhaps seven or eight when he'd first told her this. So young and impressionable. He'd been so calm and serene. So deadly serious. He'd scared her so badly, she'd been unable to sleep for a week out of sheer terror. So she'd struggled to hide her powers. Every time she'd slipped, he'd laid hands on her and tried to purify her soul. And he'd muttered those things until she'd been so frightened of herself that she couldn't look in the mirror for fear of what she'd see there. While he'd never come out and said it, she'd understood that he considered her some kind of demon. And his feelings toward her had started coloring her siblings' feelings for her. Her curse, as Solomon had termed it, was the reason he'd sent her off to that religious school. And it was what had brought Edward into her life.

He'd told her everything while she'd lain in that hospital bed earlier in the day. Told her all about how her father had hired him to take care of the zombies she'd unintentionally raised. His orders had been to deal with the problem. All of it. However he'd seen fit. She'd known even back then that he'd been meant to end her life so her father could wipe his hands of her. It had only been because he'd seen something of Anita in her that he'd decided to ignore the contract and help her at all. And then he'd told her about how he'd discovered that Carter Solomon was responsible for her real mother's death.

The son of a bitch who'd given her life had killed her mother.

She'd waited until after he'd left to take her leave of the hospital. Claiming a tiredness she didn't have to feign, she'd told him she wanted to sleep. Edward had left with a promise to be back after he had something to eat. As soon as she was sure he'd gone, she'd disconnected everything she'd been hooked up to and climbed from the bed. By the time a nurse had shown up to investigate, she'd been fully dressed and ready to go. The nurse had tried arguing with her, then had called the doctor to argue with her. Either her tone of voice or the look on her face had convinced both of them that she wasn't playing and she'd walked out of the hospital room, very much against the doctor's orders, with foul deeds on her mind.

A cab had taken her to her apartment, which still held a few personal items. She hadn't been able to return to the Circus to collect her weapons because she was supposed to be in the hospital resting and recovering. She'd known that Minette would have seen her intention in her eyes and she'd have stopped her. It wouldn't have taken more than closing her arms around Aedan's body to keep her there. It had taken nearly all her strength to simply climb from the bed. Minette would prove no match for her. Once they'd caught her, she knew they'd have either taken her back to the hospital or kept her locked in her room until Jean Claude had risen. Her apartment was best. She'd closed herself off from everything and everyone. That included Minette and Jean Claude. There was no way she was going to let them, or anyone else, stop her in this.

At her apartment, she'd cleaned up using the bathroom sink and taken stock. One of her shoulders had been dislocated during her imprisonment and torture. While it had been put back in place, it was still tender and sore. Moving her arm would be a challenge but she could manage. Her torso had been peppered with bandaging to cover all the wounds left in her flesh. She didn't know how many of her ribs were broken, but the bruises showing under the skin not covered by bandages were still almost completely black. It hurt to breathe, but she'd shut that away as unimportant. Cuts and scrapes had littered her skin, were raw and red though already healing. There'd been more bruises scattered everywhere and her hair was in desperate need of a good washing. She looked as if she'd been held in a prisoner of war camp. It hadn't mattered. She wasn't out to impress.

After dressing herself, she'd left her apartment. She'd had no doubt her absence at the hospital had been noticed. People were going to be looking for her and someone - she was sure that someone would be Edward - would think to check her apartment right away. She'd quickly found a pay phone, then made a call. All that had been left was to while away the time.

Darkness had brought her to this sad, crumbling cemetery that rarely saw visitors anymore. It was old and forgotten. Ignored. She'd picked it for just that reason. It would be quiet and empty. It would make what she planned to do that much easier. She'd also picked one of the large marble mausoleums as the meeting place. It was good to have a wall at her back. Now all she needed to do was wait for him to show.

It wasn't much longer before she saw the slow, cautious creep of headlights coming up the main drive into the cemetery. A chill slid over her that had nothing to do with the cold and she fought once more to shove the fear down. She was so tired of being afraid. Focusing on those things that Edward had whispered to her earlier in the day helped bring the rage back to boiling point. By the time the car halted, she was swamped in the anger and the hatred and the rage. Then the door was opening and everything simply fell away.

Carter Solomon looked much the same as he had the last time she'd seen him. Not that she recalled when that actually was. She knew it had to be something like ten years ago. But she couldn't be sure. Still, the man standing before her had changed little in those years. Tall and thin, Carter Solomon sported a practical cut that kept his blonde hair short and neat. His blue eyes still appeared as if they carried the weight of the world in them, though they failed to touch her in ways they once had. He wore his customary suit beneath a heavier weight winter coat that one would expect to see on a man who spent his time lying about his piety. The wool overcoat hung to his knees, a scarf was wrapped around his neck, and a pair of leather gloves encased his hands. He smiled and took a step forward.

"Katherine." She cringed at the name, at the power in his voice. She'd never realized that there was some kind of actual power to his voice until now. There was a good dose of weight and presence to it, more so than one would find in a normal voice. It was almost like the power that she could hear in one of the vampire's voices when they were trying to bespell someone. She allowed a scowl to cross her face and glared at him. "My sweet daughter. You have no idea how I've worried over you. I was afraid something terrible had happened to you."

"Katherine is dead. My name is Aedan." Despite the bubbling turmoil of emotion that swirled within her, her voice came out soft and calm. As if she were doing nothing more than discussing the weather.

Solomon gave a smile meant to soothe her. She ignored it. There was no way the bastard would get past her defenses now. Never again. Not after everything he'd done. "Katherine, can't we talk about this like normal people? Can't we go somewhere warm to talk?"

"No, Mr. Solomon. This is where I belong. I feel quite at home here." She allowed herself a moment while the cemetery and its dead sang to her, a faint, sweet whisper of a song that filled her with more warmth and joy than he ever had. Then she let her scowl deepen. "And I would appreciate it if you would call me Miss Kinkade."

Perhaps it was the expression on her face. Or perhaps it was her tone of voice. Perhaps it was her choice of words. Whatever it was, it stopped him in his tracks and brought a look of confusion to his face. "Katherine, I don't understand..."

"I believe I told you, Mr. Solomon, that Katherine Solomon is dead and buried. She has been since just after graduating high school," Aedan told him, her voice slowly taking on the coldness that filled her up inside. Even now, her fingers itched for the reassuring feel of her gun.

"What's this Mr. Solomon business? I'm your father, Katherine, and I expect you to refer to me and respect me as such." His tone sounded strained, as if he was attempting to hold on to his temper. The thought that she could infuriate him so easily brought a cold smile to her lips. She actually saw hesitation skitter across his face before he once more took refuge in his man of God persona.

"The way you respected Katherine? You told her she was the spawn of the Devil, Solomon. You made her think that she was nothing more than shit beneath your feet. You abused her, treated her worse than you would those homeless, down-trodden souls who disgust you so much. You don't know just how glad she was to get away from you."

"Stop this foolishness, Katherine. Stop it and come home with me now so that I can pray for your soul. You can't imagine how worried your mother and I have been," he demanded. There was a hint of desperation to his tone and she reveled in the fact that he wasn't as cool and calm as he liked people to always think he was. She reveled in the notion that she could do that to him.

"My name, Solomon, is Aedan Kinkade. I am a Federal Marshal, a necromancer, a licensed vampire killer and that woman is not, was never, Katherine Solomon's mother," she hissed.

She watched him cycle through everything she said and knew the moment he latched on to the one thing she knew would have caught his attention above all others. He stepped toward her, his eyes burning with madness. When he reached for her, she knocked his hand away and glared him into stillness. "Don't you see, my girl? You were meant to come back to me. You were meant to come back to the fold. God will welcome you back, my child. You need to repent your sins, confess the unholy things you've done and swear off this Devil's mark you wear. Do all this and, together, we can hunt down and destroy those unclean creatures."

"The way you destroyed my mother?" she asked him softly. The words caught him by surprise and he blinked at her. It was obvious he hadn't expected her to know that. She smiled at him then, the look something wild and almost evil. "Penny Lynn Hayes. Your mistress. The woman you went to instead of your wife. The woman you had an affair with, that you fucked and fucked and fucked until you got her fat with your bastard child."

"You will mind your tongue around me, girl," he cautioned softly. She knew he was losing his temper, knew that he couldn't understand why he couldn't control her as he once had. "I am still your father."

"You're a sick, twisted psychopath who killed my mother."

"Your mother gave herself over to demon kind. It was my heavenly duty, charged unto me by God Himself," he thundered, one finger pointing meaningfully toward the sky. "To purify her soul. To save her from the fiery pits. Just as He's charged me with saving you."

"I don't need saving. I like the way I am. I'm not evil or corrupt. I'm a person with a gift." The marble of the building behind her was cold and she cherished it. The cemetery welcomed her, held her close. Even if she wasn't dead, she belonged here. Was part of it. This place welcomed her the way her own flesh and blood never had. "I have friends here, people who care about me. People who love me for who and what I am. They don't look upon me as a freak, as Satan's spawn. I will not let you or your people take that from me."

"Katherine." That single word was meant to calm and placate, to coax and fool. It snapped the last of her control and the gun she'd retrieved from her apartment simply leapt into her hand as if it had always been there. Her mind was already telling her to pull the trigger, to end it. To finish him off and be done with that part of her life.

"Call me Katherine again and I'll shoot your testicles off."

His lips pursed and she finally saw the first real signs of temper in his eyes. The madness was gone, replaced with his own anger. Good. She could handle that. "Threatening me will not save your soul."

"You just don't get it," she shook her head, a mirthless laugh staining the air between them. "I don't want or need you to save me. There's nothing wrong with me or my soul."

"Kath... Aedan," he corrected himself. She smiled grimly in the dark and kept telling herself that she couldn't pull the trigger yet. "Come back to the Ministry with me. Let's talk this out like rational adults. I'm sure we can reach some kind of understanding."

"Oh, no. Your people already tried that with me. It got them a permanent case of death." Her smile was positively evil this time. The sudden way he stilled and simply stared at her told her he hadn't known. "Oh, didn't I mention it? I'm the new human servant for the Master of the City of St. Louis." Aedan paused to let that sink in. Then she snarled out her next words. "Daddy dear."

There was a long, pregnant stretch of silence. It grew and swelled and she could almost feel the disbelief and astonishment in him. The sense of failure. He couldn't understand how such a thing had happened. He'd always done his best to raise her as a God fearing, good Christian woman and she'd done the worst thing imaginable. She'd taken up with the vampires. She could almost see the thoughts as they crawled through his brain. And then the horror dawned cold and clear. He stared at her in disgust, visibly repelled. "You... whore," the words came out as a whisper, the emotions behind them more than plain to hear in the heavy silence. "Satan's spawn. I told you... I knew..."

"You know nothing! Nothing of me and the person I've become. You see nothing beyond your fear and hatred," she spat and stepped forward. The move drove him back a few steps and his eyes focused on the gun in her hand.

"Come back to the Ministry with me, child. I can help you!" he insisted and the belief poured back into him. He truly thought he could do so.

"How will you help me? Chain me to a wall and beat me until I can't breathe for the pain? Wrench my arm out of its socket to hear me scream? Will you use a knife to cut the evil out of me? Hit me? Kick me? Call me things like filthy whore and demon spawn? Will you heal me like you used to heal Katherine?" Aedan drove him further back, closed the distance between them until there were only a few feet separating them. "Your men already tried. It didn't work."

"What are you talking about, girl? I don't know what you mean."

"Don't you? Did you or did you not put word out through your killing squad that you wanted the Master's new human servant brought to you? Peter gave me to your torturers," she told him, then sneered at him. "Daddy."

"No one told me..." his voice was soft, lost in the thoughts no doubt rolling through his brain. "How did Peter find you?"

"He attacked the Church of Eternal Life. Fire bombed it. He was caught. That's how he found me," she told him coldly. There was a look on his face that she recognized. Pride. He was proud of his son. She gave him that same nasty smile again. "He died for what he did to them. And to me."

"How? How did Peter die?"

"You don't fuck with the vampires like that. Not in this town. They consider it a personal attack. They made an example of him," she smirked. "I was told last night. He apparently died screaming like the weak piece of shit that he was."

Solomon stared at her, eyes wide as he tried to digest what she'd told him. Pain filled his expression and his lips turned down in sorrow. Then the anger that had been bubbling just under the surface boiled over and he stepped forward, radiating hatred and loathing. "You rotten little bitch! How could you let them kill him? How could you let them kill your brother? How could you side with the devil spawn against your own flesh and blood?"

"Peter was not my brother. I don't have any siblings. I don't have any parents. Katherine had siblings that hated and despised her. She had a stepmother who ignored her because she was a constant reminder of her husband's infidelity. She had a psycho father who thought he could cure her of something she had no control over. Katherine Solomon is dead and gone." Aedan brought the gun up until the barrel was lined up with his forehead. "I'm doing you a favor, Solomon. You get to go see your God sooner rather than later. How do you think He's going to look upon you?"

"God will understand what I've done here. He'll offer me forgiveness. He knows I purify the demons from this world in His name. I will stand at His side, one of his chosen. Righteous in my death as I was righteous in my life. I will be His avenging angel and I will smite you and your kind down," he promised. She sneered at him, stepped forward until the muzzle was dead center in his forehead. Her finger was tight against the trigger, her brain screaming that she do it, that she pull the trigger and put one round into his skull. It was what he deserved for what he'd done to her mother, to her friends. To her.

She wanted to do it. She wanted to do it so badly, her hands shook. But there was some small part of her that wouldn't allow her to shoot him. Not like this. He had no weapon in his hands, hadn't personally threatened her life. All of her training had taught her that it was wrong to kill someone unless it was in self-defense. Unless they'd done something horrific and criminal and she had proof.

He saw it. Saw her indecision, her inability. He saw it and a smirk spread across his face. Growling in frustration, she adjusted her position and pressed the barrel harder into his skull and tried... tried... to pull the trigger. She couldn't make her finger squeeze it. "You can't kill me, girl. You don't have it in you. I'm your flesh and blood, your father. It doesn't matter who say you are. It doesn't matter who you become. You'll never be able to kill me."

"Fuck!" The short bark of sound cut across the silence, frightening a few ghosts that had moved closer to her. They'd sensed her anger and her hate, the rage that boiled inside of her and threatened to explode outward in an act of senseless violence. Their very presence had been a kind of soothing balm and a buffer between herself and her father. Now, though, they scattered on the wind with her outburst, drifting away to leave her feeling bereft and utterly alone.

"Give me the gun, child. Give it to me and we'll see redemption together." There was smooth persuasion in his voice again and, for just a moment, she wanted to do as he'd said. She wanted to hand him the gun and let everything go away. The desire was pushed away by the return of the spirits. As if they'd sensed her wavering strength and wanted to lend her their own. They wrapped around her, brought back the coldness of the grave, and cleared her head. Her hand steadied and lifted just a fraction of an inch higher.

"Go to hell." Her fingers tightened on the trigger again. She was filled with such rage and such hatred. There had to be something she could do. Some way she could punish him.

It was then that she realized that the dead were calling to her. She could feel them all around her, lying forgotten in their final resting places and begging for a touch of her power. All she had to do was give it to them. She had a lot of power, too. She could do it. She could raise the entire cemetery if she wanted.

Offering him a smile, she gathered up all of the power she possessed and cast it out around them. It went seeking vessels to fill, slammed into the ground and burrowed down through dirt and stone and concrete and metal and wood until it found the decaying and decayed corpses that had been laid to rest there. She felt the power sink into the bodies under her feet only a moment before the ground began boiling around them. Solomon looked around him, uncertain as to what was going on.

Hands broke the surface, clawed at the grass as they pulled the bodies attached to them free of their graves. One by one, the zombies broke the surface and rose to their feet to stand in a circle around her and the man across from her. Each of them was perfectly formed and looked alive. Only the older style of their clothes spoke to the fact that they'd been dead for some time. And each of them stared unblinkingly at Carter Solomon. "What is this? What new horror must I face before I can save you, child?"

"This, Mr. Solomon," Aedan drawled, her voice filled with vicious glee. "This is me. This is what I can do. These zombies... They'll do what I say. This is my power." She motioned with one hand and one of the zombies shuffled closer to him. Solomon's eyes went wide with fright. "This is what you said was evil."

"It is evil, Katherine!" He forgot himself in his fear. She could see in his eyes that he didn't trust the zombies that stood waiting so close to him. "This is an abomination in the eyes of God. You have to stop this before you're damned for all eternity."

"Damned, hmmm? Maybe I should make it good and earn my place in Hell." One of the zombies inched closer to him, until it was nearly touching him. She offered the man a smile. "You have a choice, Mr. Solomon. I can pull the trigger and shoot you in the head. Quick and painless. Or you can die at their hands. Slow and filled with pain. Choose."

He stared at her, eyes wide with fear. But his voice was strong and certain when it came. "You can't kill me, girl. I'm your blood. You can't do it."

"Maybe she can't do it, Carter. But I can." The voice was as cold as the grave. It came from behind her, flowed over her and touched her. A moment later, Edward stood at her side. Aedan didn't question it, didn't wonder how he'd found her. She simply felt a relief that ran so deep, it left her knees shaky. She watched as her father's eyes shifted from her to the man beside her. Puzzlement shone out of them, a deep confusion that made a frown of his lips. Then his eyes went wide and the man stumbled backward a step. His body hit the zombie behind him and he jerked away, stepping to the side.

Only a second or two later, cold power washed over her and she felt her own respond to it. It flared across her skin, then Jean Claude was wrapping one arm around her waist carefully while the other slid along her extended arm so that his hand could curl over the weapon she held. Tension flowed out of her as his energy surrounded her and his breath whispered across her ear. "Let me have the gun, ma mie. Send the zombies back to their graves. You do not want to do this."

The zombies didn't move. They hadn't moved when Edward and Jean Claude had crept up behind her. Obviously they hadn't thought that the two men posed a threat to her. They stood staring at her and at the man she'd come here to put down, waiting for her to give them some kind of order. She wasn't sure what kept them from running amok and she didn't care. If she couldn't make herself pull the trigger, she'd use the zombies to end her father's miserable life.

"Oh, but I do," she replied, refusing for the moment to let go of the gun she held. "I'm going to blow his fucking head off for what he's done."

"You are no killer, Aedan. No cold blooded murderer. Give me the gun." Oh, if only he knew.

"Fine. Then take him back to the Circus and do to him what you did to that crazy that tried to kill Asher and Janika. Let him really get to know what a vampire is like. He's hunted enough of your kind to deserve that fate." Her words brought a fresh spike of fear to the man being held at gun point. She swore she could taste it on him like a strong cologne. Solomon did the only thing he could think of. He resorted to his holier than thou persona.

"Demon! Foul creature. Release my daughter!" Solomon hissed at them. She knew that Jean Claude's eyes sought out the other man, that he looked upon him with distaste. She could almost feel the anger buzzing at the back of her brain. "I command you to release her!"

"Aedan is mine and she enjoys her position very much. Is this not so, ma mie?" His words were a caress in her ear. She was more than certain that his face held the sexual satisfaction that carried in his voice. He held her in an intimate manner and she couldn't stop the shudder that rolled up her spine.

"It is," she sighed. His fingers closed over her hand and once more tried to take the gun from her. She resisted, focusing on Carter Solomon's face. "You can have it after I've killed him."

"You do this, Aedan, and you'll be no better than him. Is that really what you want?" Edward asked, his gaze never leaving her father. There was something in his voice that sounded suspiciously like pleading and concern. She couldn't recall ever hearing such things from him before and it broke through the haze of simmering anger. Slowly, as if her hand wasn't sure it agreed with the rest of her, she loosened her grip on the weapon she held. Jean Claude plucked it from nerveless fingers and it disappeared behind her back. He did not, however, let her go. She sagged against him, suddenly more tired than she'd ever been in her life. The relief of having him there was almost overwhelming.

"You! You were supposed to bring her back to me! I paid you a great deal of money to bring her back home to me. You lied to me," Solomon spat at Edward. From the corner of her eye, she saw his lips twitch up into a cold, empty smile.

"Technically, you paid me a great deal of money to kill her. You didn't want her back. You don't deserve her," Edward replied softly, then stuck his hand into one of his pockets. When he withdrew it, there was a small bundle of something caught between his fingers. Aedan watched as he tossed a dozen or so paper squares at the man's feet. They turned out to be photographs. "You didn't deserve her mother."

"How dare you!?! These photos are my personal property. Where did you get them?" Her father dropped down and began scooping the glossy pictures up. When he stood, he was seething with rage. And he found himself looking down the barrel of Edward's gun. Something crossed his face and he looked down at the photos he held. Eyes wide, he returned his gaze to Edward. "You... You look like her," he whispered softly.

Aedan blinked, glancing from her father to Edward and back again. What the hell was he talking about? "You look like who?" she asked. Solomon lifted his free hand to show her the square he held. It was a photo of a woman with dark hair and a laughing smile. She was holding a baby in her arms and Aedan felt a blade of pain shaft into her heart. The baby was small, obviously not very old, and was bundled in a soft looking pink blanket. The baby was her, shortly after being born. She didn't know how she knew it, but she did. That meant the woman was her mother, happily holding her. Her mother, a woman she'd never met.

Her mother. A woman who looked like...

Aedan felt the blood drain from her face and turned to stare at Edward. He was looking at Carter Solomon, a slight grin on his face. "You look like Penny," her father whispered softly. And he did. It wasn't as if they could be mistaken for brother and sister, but there was a definite resemblance there. "I don't understand. Penny had no family to speak of. Her mother and father were dead and there were perhaps a few aunts. But... Who are you?"

Edward's voice was as cold as she'd ever heard it when he finally drew a breath and responded. "Penny Lynn Hayes was my cousin, Carter. You killed a member of my family and that's something I can't let pass."

Aedan was glad of Jean Claude's arm around her. She'd have fallen on her ass if he hadn't been holding her. This was just too much. Her mother? Edward's cousin? She was related to Death? How could she actually be related to Death? How was it possible?

"I loved Penny. But she gave her soul to the demons, let them take her into their arms and pervert her purity. She was evil. She had to be destroyed. For the sake of my child. I had to protect my child." Solomon turned his gaze toward Aedan and she actually shrank back from him. This was getting far too weird. "Katherine. You have to believe me. I did it to protect you. Your mother was evil. She'd already left a taint upon your soul. I was trying to save you. I've always loved you, my child."

"Oh gods," she moaned. Her legs shook and she clung to the arm around her, ignoring the tightness of it that made her ribs ache. "Give me back my gun, Jean Claude. Give it to me now! I'm going to put a hole in the middle of his head. Give it to me."

"Aedan," his voice was soft and soothing. It stroked along her tattered nerves in an attempt to calm her.

"My gun! Give me my fucking gun!" This could not be happening. None of this was real. She had to be dreaming, caught in a never ending nightmare. It simply couldn't be happening. Her distress sent a ripple through the waiting zombies.

"Katherine. You have to believe me. I loved your mother. But she turned away from God's love and light. She gave herself over to the darkness. I saved her soul. I released her and..."

"Shut up! Just shut up!" she snarled and tore herself from the arm holding her. Rage blinded her as she flew at the man who called himself her father. Even before she got close enough, Jean Claude had a hold of her again. But she found the gun he'd taken from her, found it and leveled it on Solomon. Her hands shook so badly, she could barely hold the weapon.

"Thank you," Edward said softly. He stepped closer to the other man and the momentary distraction his actions brought was enough for Jean Claude to catch her hand and pull it back until the gun was pointed up. His grip was like iron, though he didn't try to wrest the weapon from her hand. He simply held it there. "I didn't want her to think this was about her, Carter. Its not. This is about Penny. Justice for Penny. And I wanted her to hear it from your lips before I killed you."

Time held and Aedan saw it all happen so clearly. Edward's hand caressed the butt of his gun, his finger gentle on the trigger. He barely tapped it, barely nudged it back. There was a soft click, then nothing but a faint sound. A wuft of pale blue smoke. A red eye opened in the middle of Solomon's forehead and he jerked with the force. For a few seconds, he stood there, staring at everyone in shock with wide eyes and mouth hanging open. Then a small river of crimson poured from the gaping hole and his body tumbled over backward. The pictures fluttered from his hand, scattering across the grass at his feet, the tattered remains of a life long ago destroyed.

"NO! No! That was my kill! You had no right. It was my kill!" Despite the strength in her voice, Aedan was nearly limp in Jean Claude's embrace. She watched, numb, as Edward stepped forward. It was stupid of him to do. It was obvious that Carter Solomon was dead. But he knelt, gun in one hand, and pressed his fingers against the body's neck. After several moments, he stood and tucked the gun away. Crossed to where she stood. Hot tears of impotent rage and crippling shame ran down her cheeks. With a tenderness she'd never have credited to him, Edward wiped the tears from her face before gently tugging her from the vampire's hold to hug her to him. "You had no right, Edward," she whispered.

He ignored the feeble exclamation and simply held her close. She thought she felt his lips brush her forehead, but she was so angry and confused and lost and heartbroken. She couldn't be sure if anything she felt was real. "I won't let him turn Penny's little girl into a murderer. She deserved better and so do you." He tilted her head back to look at him, surprising her by showing her the gentlest expression she'd ever seen on his face. "There's no redemption for me, Aedan. I'm a cold blooded killer. Its what I do. Its the way I make my living. You're not cold. You're not a killer. I'd like to keep it that way for as long as possible. Killing him wouldn't have made you feel better. It would have left you cold inside. Less human. I'd be poor family if I'd let you do that to yourself."

"Come, ma mie. Let us return to the Circus. You are supposed to be in bed, resting." There was the slightest note of censure in Jean Claude's voice and Edward silently handed her back to the vampire. "Put the zombies back into their graves and allow them peace."

"How long have you known?" she whispered the question, looking up into Edward's face even as she ignored Jean Claude's words.

"Long enough." He turned his attention to Jean Claude. "You'll take care of her for me?"

"Of course, mon ami," Jean Claude inclined his head, then looked down at the man on the ground. "You will take care of him for me?" Edward only nodded. It was over. The whole mess was over. She trusted Edward to deal with Solomon's body so that no one would ever find it. Which left her with no choice but to release her hold on the zombies. She took a few minutes to send them back to their graves, thanking them for coming to her side when she'd called. When they were all once more in the earth, she sagged with exhaustion against the man that held her.

Wordlessly, Jean Claude swung her up into his arms. She didn't have the energy to fight with him about it. He was murmuring to her in French, words she didn't understand. It didn't matter. They did what he meant them to. They soothed her and coaxed her toward sleep. The last thing she saw before she drifted off was Edward kneeling in the grass, carefully collecting the pictures that had spilled to the ground when Carter Solomon had died.

~*~*~*~*~

One hand absently, gently stroked up and down Aedan's arm while his mind turned over what little he'd learned during his trip to the cemetery. The fear he'd felt upon rising had left him disconcerted. Until he'd discovered that the fear he felt was because his people were filled with panic. A quick mental search had told him that Aedan had shut him out once again. What reason would she have had to do such a thing? None. Unless something had happened to her. His people's panic had become his own.

It had been Jason who had come to him and told him that she'd left the hospital on her own. Without a word to anyone. He'd found that his people had gotten together to make plans, then had implemented those plans while he'd still slept. Micah had been the one to take control, had sent out groups of any shifter willing to help to search Aedan out. He'd also been told that even Edward was searching, that the man had showed up at the Circus looking as worried as Jason had ever seen him.

Only moments after Jason had finished explaining the situation to Jean Claude, Edward had returned to the Circus. There'd been an air of determination surrounding him that Jean Claude had found interesting and confusing. There had been no time, however, to ponder that bit of information because Edward had claimed to know where to find Aedan. And he'd asked Jean Claude for his help in retrieving her.

They'd taken separate cars to the cemetery, per Edward's orders, and Jean Claude had been left to wonder just what this whole thing was all about.

Seeing Aedan in the cemetery, gun trained on a man Jean Claude knew only by reputation, had started his heart pounding in his chest. She'd looked so frail and yet so determined. And then he'd felt her anger, waves of it pouring out across the cemetery as if they stood on the beach while the tide rolled in around them. There'd been so much hatred and rage. And so much fear. Her emotions had been so strong that they'd hidden his and Edward's arrival until they'd stood right behind her.

He still didn't understand everything he'd heard. There was a great deal he felt Aedan needed to explain to him but that would have to wait until she was awake again. She'd drifted off the moment he'd carried her away. Wicked and Truth had been waiting for him at the car, their faces masks that had hidden their concern when they'd seen Aedan. Wicked had taken her from his arms while Truth had climbed into the backseat. Once Jean Claude had taken his seat in the car, Wicked had handed Aedan in to him, then joined them. The car had rolled smoothly into motion and Jean Claude had started issuing orders.

Now that the rush was over and he could simply think, his mind turned over what he'd heard transpire between Aedan, Edward, and the other man. Carter Solomon, known Evangelist and enemy to all who did not fit into his view of the world. And, apparently, Aedan's father. That last part was hard to process because she was the very antithesis of everything Carter Solomon stood for. But he'd heard it from the man himself. Jean Claude glanced down at Aedan and tried to see the father in the daughter's face.

There was no sign of the man in his child. None at all. What he could see was the suffering she'd done, years of it simply because she had been born with a gift few people understood. Never again. Not if he could prevent it. The car hit a bump in the road, jostling Aedan in his arms. She hissed under her breath, eyes fluttering open briefly to find and connect with his face, then she smiled faintly and slid back into sleep. He reached up to brush her hair from her face and, intent on the joy at having her back, put his thoughts, worries, and fears aside for the moment.

There would be time later to get answers to his questions.

It seemed everyone was waiting for the car when it pulled up outside the backdoor of the Circus. Minette was held tightly between Micah and Jason. Janika stood beside Asher, one of his arms slung around her shoulders. Rafael waited with Dr. Lillian and her niece. Richard stood behind the girl, face grave with concern. Being with Constance had mellowed Richard and left him more level headed, more capable of leading his pack. Jean Claude knew he was both thrilled and terrified of his impending fatherhood. Rhiannon and Nathaniel stood off to one side, her hands twisted in worry or fear while he whispered softly in her ear. Isis and Damian were there, as were several members of the pack, pard, and rodere. People Aedan had made friends with, people she had fought and bled for. People she protected and cared about. The only face not in the crowd was Edward's, which was just as well. It meant that he was going to do a very good job getting rid of Carter Solomon's body.

He looked at the two men with him. "Wicked. Truth. I want you to keep everyone back. Aedan's friends will want to come to her side. I need them to give Dr. Lillian time to look her over before they crowd around her. And I need time alone with her."

"As you wish," Truth replied. Even before the limo came to a complete stop, he was out of the car and working to keep the crowd back. Wicked climbed from the back and took Aedan from Jean Claude, holding her so that his master could exit the automobile himself. Jean Claude then took her back, cradling her carefully against his chest.

"Dr. Lillian, if you will come with me?" he asked the older woman quietly. She nodded and started after him. He felt her stop and turned to see her looking at her niece.

"Stay here, Constance. You're under enough stress at the moment. I don't want to add to it."

"I want to help," Constance replied. Her tone was genuine but it was plain to hear the she was tired.

"I know you do, child. But I can manage," Lillian assured her.

"I'll go with," Rhia volunteered. Constance looked as if she wanted to argue and Jean Claude thought he felt a touch of something akin to jealousy swirling beneath the woman's skin. The hesitation on Lillian's face and the determination on Rhiannon's made the decision for him.

"I am deeply appreciative of your desire to help, Constance, but you are in need of rest yourself. No doubt the child draws upon all your energy. Please. Stay with Richard and relax. Rhiannon will assist your aunt. If they require your help, I will send for you." His voice was pleasant enough, but there was steel in his words that kept the woman rooted where she stood. Jean Claude turned toward the door without another word and disappeared into the building, Lillian and Rhiannon following behind him.

He took Aedan to his bedroom and carefully laid her on the bed before stepping back so that Lillian and Rhiannon could work. The only times Lillian spoke was when she needed to give instructions to Rhiannon. The other woman didn't speak at all, only carried out her tasks with silent efficiency that served to soothe his battered nerves. By the time Lillian stepped back, she and Rhiannon had gotten Aedan out of her clothes and into something more suited to recuperating, she'd given her patient a full examination, she'd started an IV of fluids, and she'd even written out a prescription that she'd given to Rhiannon with the order to fill it at a particular pharmacy. Rhiannon had been told that Nathaniel would know it and then she'd been sent off to see it done. That left Jean Claude alone with Lillian and Aedan.

The good doctor turned her attention to him and he could see she looked tired. "I can offer you a bed here for the night," he said quietly.

"I think I'd like that." She moved to settle into a chair, shoulders drooping as she did so. He gave her a few moments to collect herself, watched as she put herself back together piece by piece. Soon her spine stiffened and her shoulders squared. Finally, she lifted her gaze to stare at him. "What the hell was she thinking?"

Jean Claude debated telling her everything. Dr. Lillian had served the preternatural community of St. Louis for a good many years. She no doubt still held secrets that he had forgotten. He was more than certain she would keep this one. But it really wasn't his secret to tell. So he settled on something that would answer her question without betraying Aedan's trust. "Revenge."

"Silly girl. She could have killed herself." He only inclined his head at that. Sighing, Lillian rose to her feet and began packing equipment back into her bags. "I've got access to her files from the hospital. Someone claiming next of kinship was kind enough to have them released to me earlier today. Almost as if they knew I'd need them." She paused at that and leveled a look on him. Jean Claude gave her his most innocent look but his brain was ticking over on that one. He would have to ask questions later. "At any rate, she hasn't done any irreparable damage. Thanks to the marks, the damage inflicted by her kidnappers has started healing. And they call us animals."

Lillian paused to make a face, perfectly displaying her feelings on the matter. Then she shook her head and checked Aedan over one last time. "How she managed to stay on her feet after everything they did to her is beyond me. But she needs bed rest. Until everything is healed up, she needs to stay in bed. No running around to crime scenes, no raising zombies, nothing. The marks can only heal so much. She's got to give her body time to recover. She'd barely healed from the demon before this all happened."

"I will ensure that she remains in bed, Lillian," he promised. She shot him a glare that saw a genuine smile spread across his lips. It was the first since he'd woken. "That is not what I had in mind. I simply planned to ask members of the pack, pard, and rodere to sit watch over her."

The smile she sent him was filled with mischief and sympathy. "You'd better be ready to put that tongue of yours to work, then. Because you give her a babysitter and she won't forgive you."

Jean Claude's smile wilted a little at the edges, but didn't fade completely. "I think this time, she will forgive me. Thank you, Lillian. For everything."

"Don't thank me. Aedan has done her best to keep us all safe. I don't know if that's who she is or if its because Anita dumped so much onto her shoulders. But she's kept us as safe as she could. We couldn't ask for a better protector for the city." Lillian turned for the door, stopping before she could put her hand on the knob. She looked back at him. "Rhiannon is filling a prescription for painkillers. I haven't given her anything for the pain yet. Make sure Aedan gets a pill when Rhiannon gets back."

"Of course, Lillian. London is waiting outside to escort you to your room. Please, do not hesitate to let us know if you need anything."

"Thank you, Jean Claude." She left without another word, opening the door as quietly as she could. London stuck his head into the room, gaze dropping briefly to Aedan's face before lifting to his again.

"Death is here. He wishes to see you."

"Send him in," Jean Claude replied. He didn't want Edward this deep into his underground sanctuary, but there would be no keeping him at bay now. Not when he knew that Aedan shared the same blood. London nodded and withdrew, closing the door behind him. Jean Claude shifted some furniture around while he waited, moving a chair closer to the bed so that he could sit and hold Aedan's hand without disturbing her rest. He also sent a silent command to Wicked and Truth instructing them to keep everyone but Rhiannon away from his door until he gave further orders. Then he settled into the chair to wait, one hand reaching out to capture Aedan's and hold it gently even though instinct told him to grip it tight and never let go again.

It didn't take long for Edward to slip through the door, opening and closing it as silently as any vampire would. He crossed to the bed wordlessly, stepping around to the other side so that he could check on Aedan for himself. They remained silent while Edward ran a gentle hand over her forehead, brushing her hair back from her face. When he finally lifted his gaze to the other man, the depth of emotion he saw in those normally cold eyes left Jean Claude momentarily without anything to say.

There was a moment of discomfort when Jean Claude realized that Edward was sorting through his feelings in an effort to find the nicest way possible to tell the vampire that he wouldn't hesitate to take his head and heart if he ever did anything to hurt Aedan. But he was saved the effort when she shifted against the sheets. A hiss of pain saw her eyes fluttering open. Her gaze focused on Jean Claude and she managed a soft smile. It lasted until Edward spoke and drew her attention his way. "That was a stupid thing to do, Aedan."

"He had to die." That was all she said. The lack of emotion behind those words was worse than any anger or fear Jean Claude had ever gotten from her. Aedan sighed and rolled her gaze around the room. Then she shifted it back to Edward. "You followed me."

Edward said nothing for a moment or two, simply stared down at her with eyes darkened by emotion. Then he smiled and relaxed. "I knew you were smart. I'm just sorry it took you this long to figure it out for yourself."

"Fuck you," she retorted without heat. When she made to shift into a sitting position, both Jean Claude and Edward moved to help her. She glared balefully at them both, but didn't protest when they eased her into a sitting position. Then her gaze slid back to Edward. "Why?"

"Because I knew, after telling you everything, you'd go after him. And I knew that if you called him, he'd meet with you." Edward didn't seem bothered by his actions even though Aedan was glaring at him as hard as was possible when she was on the verge of collapse. "I put a tracker in your clothes and then waited. You didn't disappoint. Its kind of nice that you're so predictable."

"Fuck you," she said. This time, the heat was there. He didn't react to her show of spine, only smiled down at her. "Don't ever use me like that again, Edward. Blood or no blood, I'll put a hole in you."

"I'm sorry, Aedan. It had to be done. After I found out that it was Solomon's orders that saw you beaten that way, he had to die. Since he's been hot for you to come home since after high school, I knew you'd draw him out." Edward reached out to gently trail his fingers along her bruised skin. The expression on his face became soft and gentle. "Besides, he needed to see the woman you'd grown into. He needed to know that you'd chosen your own path and had gone on to make something of your life."

"You were rubbing his nose in it," she accused. His lips twitched up into a faint smile.

"Maybe just a little."

Jean Claude watched the exchange silently, taking in and filing away the information Edward had provided to them both. She huffed an angry breath at Edward, then turned to look at Jean Claude. When he remained silent for several moments, she heaved a sigh and gave his hand a brief squeeze. "Go on. Get it over with. I know you have shit you need to get off your chest. Just do it so I can go back to sleep."

"There is nothing I need to get off my chest," he told her, choosing to ignore her choice of language. She shot him his own baleful glare, letting him know that she clearly didn't believe him. Of course he had things to get off his chest. But he would do that when she was recovered and they were alone. Such things were not meant for prying eyes. There was, however, something he would have from her before she slid back into sleep. The truth. All of it. He gave her hand a gentle tug, bringing her eyes, which had slipped closed, open and back to his face. "Explain."

Even though he only said the one word, she obviously understood what it was he wanted to know. She heaved another sigh and rolled her gaze to the canopy covering the bed. He gave her a moment to collect her thoughts, his attention moving to Edward. The other man had stepped away from the bed and put his back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest in a pose meant to make one think he was relaxed and off his guard. Anyone who knew Edward knew it for the lie it was.

"Carter Solomon was a small time minister until he married Ruth Ann Garner. Her father owned Pure Heart Ministries and naturally gave the whole thing over to Carter upon his retirement. Solomon took a small ministry and grew it into a world name. He and Ruth Ann had eight children, six boys and two girls. Life seemed perfect. But it wasn't. Ruth Ann had no interest in Carter, wanted nothing to do with him or sex. That pushed him into the arms of various mistresses. One of them was Penny Lynn Hayes." It felt weird to say the name. Even weirder to think that name was tied to her by blood.

"Your mother," Jean Claude supplied even though there was no need. Aedan gave a nod.

"She was. I don't remember her. Not at all. Even the pictures I saw of her seemed foreign and alien. When I was really young, I thought that Ruth Ann was my mother. And I couldn't understand why she would show my brothers and sisters so much love and devotion when she did her best to pretend I didn't exist." There was a hint of the sadness and hurt that a young, confused Aedan must have felt at that rejection. But it was gone in an instant, replaced by a long lived weariness. "But I learned soon enough that I was my father's sin. His mistake. I learned that he'd taken a whore outside of the marriage bed and that he'd gotten her pregnant. But she'd died when I was young and Solomon had brought me home to live with his family. I didn't know until Edward told me that Solomon had killed her himself."

Jean Claude shifted his attention to Edward, who watched Aedan with open concern. "Penny fell in with a bad crowd. The people I talked to who remember her know that Aedan was only a few months old when some kind of trauma happened. Penny was gone for a few days or a week. No one was sure which. But they were sure, when she returned, that she had changed. No one put it together at first. Sleeping all day. Up all night. Despite that, they had nothing but kind things to say about her as a mother. She loved her baby and took great care of her. It was a horrible thing the day they discovered Penny murdered in her own home, her daughter gone without a trace."

"Solomon," Jean Claude stated.

"Yes. He found out Penny had been turned. I don't know the whole story, but what I understand is it wasn't by choice. She had a new life, but she wasn't going to give up her only child. So she went home and returned to her role as a mom. When Solomon learned about the change, he declared her unclean and killed her. God's word, he claimed. He took Aedan with him and erased her past. Changed her name to Katherine Ann and passed her off as one of his own."

When it became clear that Edward had told all he either planned on or knew, and Jean Claude was sure he knew more than he'd said, the vampire turned back to Aedan. She was staring resolutely at the canopy overhead. "What happened next?"

"My necromancy manifested. And Ruth Ann casually let it slip to her children that I was the product of an illicit affair with a shameless whore. Those who were old enough to understand turned on me, started treating me like a piece of shit. The younger ones learned to do the same from their siblings. The more they pushed me away, the worse the accidental raisings became. And that's when Solomon tried to heal me by laying hands on me."

Aedan paused to take a breath and Jean Claude caught wisps of her memories, tasted the fear her father had instilled in her. His hand tightened around hers, offering her his strength. She didn't look at him. Nor did she look at Edward. She continued to stare at the ceiling. "He told me I was evil. That I was foul and corrupt and that I was going to go to Hell. That I'd become the Devil's whore. That such would be my fate if I continued to walk the path I was on. Like I'd chosen this for myself. He said that if I renounced my ways and accepted God's love, I would be blessed and clean and pure. I wanted to stop. I wanted to be normal. I wanted someone to like me. My childhood was spent isolated and lonely, hated and feared and ignored. I wanted to please my father. I didn't know until tonight that Carter Solomon had power of his own. And he used it against me shamelessly. He used it against anyone who didn't bend to his will."

She turned to look at him, eyes haunted by shadows and memories. "He used that voice on all of us. Not just me. All of his children. On his wife. He used it to get whatever he wanted. He used his power to twist his family into something dark and horrible."

She was telling him more with her eyes than she was with her words. He could well imagine what Carter Solomon used his powers for, how he used them against his own children. How it would have twisted them. Power such as his, used as he'd chosen to use it, would have made monsters of them...

That thought saw him stop and consider her. And suddenly, her behavior began to make sense. "The pair that was murdering lycanthropes? Siblings?" he asked, even though he was sure of her answer. She swallowed and nodded her head.

"He twisted their minds, warped them into crazed killers because of his beliefs," she whispered.

"The murders were not your sister's idea," Edward offered. Aedan turned to look at him, face a mask of confusion. He nodded, stepped over to the edge and stroked one hand across her forehead in a gentle caress. "Richard recognized the wolf in her and used his position of Ulfric to convince her to tell him what happened. She told him everything before she died. Your brother was the one who instigated the killings. He was using them in an effort to take the taint of evil off her soul. Made her pay for her perceived sins by forcing her to participate in his sick games."

"Then there was Peter," she murmured. Curious. Jean Claude had been unaware that she was related to him. "He firebombed a vampire church to impress his father. Because Solomon shaped him into a freak with his power. And he paid for his father's actions with his life."

"Mark." The name dropped into the room, flat and heavy and distasteful. Aedan blinked at that, obviously confused by what he meant. "Peter gave you to Mark. I would have ignored the church bombing. But when I found out he handed you over to Mark so that he could torture Jean Claude's location out of you... That sealed his fate. And Mark did the same when he called you a whore."

The information left Aedan reeling. She could only stare at Edward while she tried to make sense of what she'd just heard. It took some time before she showed signs of life again. "You shot him?"

"No. Janika did. She didn't like him calling you a whore anymore than I did," Edward replied.

"Why were you not twisted and warped as your siblings were?" Jean Claude asked, bringing the conversation back on track. Aedan rolled her head so she could look at him. He could see pain and exhaustion creeping into her face and knew that she wouldn't be able to remain awake much longer.

"I think my necromancy protected me. The same way it gave me partial immunity to a vampire's voice tricks. But it didn't matter for very long. By the time high school rolled around, I think it became obvious to Solomon that I couldn't be scared into not raising the dead. So he sent me away in the hopes that not having me around would allow him a normal life. Only it didn't work that way. I still kept raising bodies."

"Which is when Carter Solomon hired me. He told me to take care of the problem. However I saw fit. I went to her school, fully intent on putting a bullet in her head. I figured she was as twisted as her family. But what I found was a scared little girl who didn't understand what was happening to her. I saw a lot of Anita in Aedan on our first meeting. So I took her under my wing. And then I realized that she looked like Penny." Edward paused to remove a stack of photos from inside his coat. He handed them to Aedan, forcing her to pull her hand from Jean Claude's grasp so she could look through them. "I did some research and found out that you were my dead cousin's child."

"That's why you helped me?" she asked, eyes still glued to the photos.

"I gave you back your name, hid you while you went to college, nudged Anita in your direction." Edward fell silent a moment, then his gaze lifted and caught Jean Claude's. "I never meant for you to end up here. This is not the life I wanted for you, Aedan."

"I know. And I'm sorry," she whispered. There was silence a moment as she stared at the top photo on the stack Edward had handed her. Then she turned a defiant look his way. "But you're the one who insisted I protect Anita. You're as much to blame for this as I am."

The look Edward gave her saw her shrinking back against the pillows. Just a little bit. Jean Claude was acutely aware of the fact that she was running on nothing but adrenaline and stubbornness, that she didn't want to appear any weaker than she already did in front of the other man. He considered asking the man to leave, but one did not throw Death out the door. It generally didn't go well. "We'll talk about this more later, when you don't have recent physical injuries as an excuse." It was phrased like a threat, but it sounded like anything but.

"Go away, Edward. You make my head hurt," Aedan ordered just before giving in to a yawn.

The other man looked on the verge of making a comment, but instead said nothing and sent a soft smile her way. "Get some rest, Aedan. You look like shit." Jean Claude felt the urge to make a snappy come back rise up within her, only to die just as quickly as it came. She nodded at him and let her eyes flutter closed. Edward leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, then started for the door. When he rounded the end of the bed, he shot a look to Jean Claude, one that said the words he wouldn't give voice to. Take care of her. Jean Claude nodded in reply. Then Edward was gone, steps as silent as any vampire's.

Two seconds after the door closed, Aedan's eyes popped open again. "Is he gone?" she whispered.

Jean Claude smiled and gave her hand a squeeze. "Oui. Edward has left."

"Good," she smiled and tugged on his hand. "Get in bed with me."

It sounded like heaven. And he wanted to join her. But he wouldn't risk hurting her any further. And there were things they needed to discuss. Something must have shown on his face or she caught a whisper of his thoughts because the smile faded. He sensed that she was hurt a moment before she shut him out, then she was tugging her hand from his grip. "Aedan..."

Her name was the only thing he got out before she broke in on him. "No. I understand. Its fine."

"That is not what I meant, Aedan. Do you think I wish to hurt you? Every inch of you is bruised and beaten. I am afraid of touching you for the pain it will bring." He could tell by the set of her shoulders that she didn't believe him. Unwilling to spend what little time they had left of the evening together fighting, he decided to compromise and settled himself carefully on the edge of the bed. Despite his caution, she flinched slightly when the bed shifted under her. "Why would you do something so reckless, Aedan? I had just gotten you back and, suddenly, you were gone again."

"He needed to die," she whispered. He was pleased that she didn't pretend she didn't know what he was talking about. He took her hand again, his fingers giving it a gentle squeeze.

"You should have taken me with you, Aedan. We could have dealt with him together." There was a gentle rebuke in his words that saw her shifting her gaze back to his face. Her jaw was set with stubbornness.

"He was my problem to deal with. My fear to face. If you had been there from the start, he would have believed you put me up to it. He needed to know that I'm not a scared little girl anymore. That he was the monster. Not me." Her last words were dipped in fear.

"He was a monster. He terrorized you as a child because he hated that you were different. He hated that he could not control you." Jean Claude lifted the hand he held with the greatest of care so that he could press a gentle kiss against her palm. Had Edward not disposed of the man, Jean Claude would have happily spent years teaching Carter Solomon all about the monsters. What the man had done to his child was the worst kind of sin. "Aedan, ma mie, you are no monster. You are filled with anger and rage and hatred, yes. But you are also filled with compassion and love. You care deeply and with all your heart. You are soft and warm and very human and nothing that man did ever took that away."

"I was so afraid I'd grow up to be just like him," she whispered.

He might have laughed at the very idea, but her tone was so serious that he only smiled at her. "You will never be like him." She stared up at him, eyes wide and frightened. He let her see the truth in his eyes, on his face. His free hand reached up to stroke the unbruised side of her face. The puffiness and bruises were fading, but not yet gone. "You cannot do that to me again, Aedan. When I learned you had left the hospital... I cannot bear the thought of losing you. I do not think I would survive."

He felt the argument boil up beneath her skin, felt it come to rest on the tip of her tongue. She still felt that his emotions for her were tainted by the gifts she'd received from Anita. She believed that his feelings for her were there simply because of the lingering taste of Anita that she carried. And perhaps in the beginning, that had once held true. But he knew his own mind and he knew his own heart. Naturally he craved power. It was in a vampire's nature to crave power. And Aedan offered him power the likes of which few of his kind had ever tasted. Power that had come from Anita. He wouldn't deny that he wanted to hold on to that for the rest of his days. Power that came from Aedan.

But there was more to it than simply power. There was Aedan herself. Smart, giving, selfless, courageous. She was talented and gifted. She was beautiful, filled with grace. She protected her loved ones with a fierce loyalty that few people could lay claim to. And, despite the things she'd seen and lived through and been forced to do, there was still a kind of innocence to her that was refreshing. Aedan was, quite simply, amazing.

Before he could take her to task for such thoughts, he sensed the coming arrival of Rhiannon and Nathaniel. "Perhaps, when you are better rested, we can argue about how mistaken you are about my feelings for you. For now, you will take the medication Lillian has prescribed for you and you will rest."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," she replied. Her voice was filled with exhaustion and a small amount of pain. He nodded and rose from the bed, then moved for the door. He pulled it open only moments before Rhiannon could knock. She smiled at him and offered up a white bag.

"The pain killers. The pharmacist said she should take them with some food," Rhiannon told him. He took the bag from her and offered her a smile.

"Thank you for all your help, Rhiannon." He wanted to say more, but the words wouldn't come. She nodded and flicked her gaze toward the room behind him. He could see she wanted to ask questions but didn't know if she should. He gave her a smile that told her Aedan was okay. He watched her shoulders drop as tension washed out of her.

"You're welcome," she nodded. Nathaniel slid an arm around her shoulder and pulled her to his side. The two of them turned and started up the hall. Jean Claude watched them go, then retreated into the chamber and closed the door so that they were once again alone. When he turned back to the bed, it was to find Aedan's eyes were once more closed. She was starting to drift toward sleep. Jean Claude didn't want to wake her, but Lillian had said to give her a pain killer before sleep. He set the bag down on the bedside table, then made his way into the bathroom to fetch a glass of water.

Aedan was nearly fully asleep when he returned, head rolled to the side to expose the bruised side of her face. She was still propped up so the position she was in looked awkward. He was going to have to wake her and help her sit up so that she could swallow her pill. He considered putting a hand on her good shoulder and shaking her awake, but she had a tendency to forget where she was so she would react to being woken in that manner with her fist. It wouldn't be good for her to waken so violently.

Jean Claude set the glass down by the bag of medication, then made quick work of the buttons on his shirt. For some reason, she reacted better to the feel of a body against her own. Maybe it had to do with his powers. Maybe it was just him. He didn't know for certain. And, in the long run, it wasn't important. His boots followed his shirt so that he was left in his jeans. She stirred slightly when he retrieved the bottle from the bag and rattled it as he shook out the prescribed dosage, but she didn't fully wake. Pill laid out, Jean Claude eased himself into the bed beside her.

She muttered something in her sleep at his touch, shifting closer to him as best she was able. He ran a hand down the side of her face, fingers feather light against her skin. She mumbled and shifted, then hissed as pain shafted through her. That brought her eyes open so that she could glance up at him. Her smile was sleepy and genuine. "Hey. Couldn't stay away, huh? Can't say I blame you. I am one hot cookie with all these bruises."

He gave a soft smile and leaned over to press a kiss against her forehead. "You are a very hot cookie," he teased. Then he gave her a serious look. "I need to shift you up so you can take your pill. I apologize in advance for the pain this may cause."

She nodded at him, letting him know she was ready. He maneuvered her carefully until she was sitting up far enough to make swallowing her medication and some water as easy as possible. There was a hiss of pain but nothing else to give away her discomfort. After retrieving the glass of water and pill, he handed the pain killer over and watched as she popped it into her mouth. Then she chased it down with some water. "Stay with me," she said through a yawn.

"Of course, ma mie," he told her, carefully shifting her back into a more comfortable sleeping position. Then he settled in beside her, wrapped one arm around her and pulled her close. Aedan settled her head against his shoulder and dozed off without another word. For the first time in days, it felt like he could breathe again.