Dancing Dragon (39 page)

I don't know how long the Light lasted. How long we all laid there unable to move. I'd lost so much blood that part of me thought my Light had fried me too. That it wasn't just the vampires on top of me who were toast, but I would soon be facing the sweet, sweet music of
Elysium.
Which to me always sounded like children laughing in a playground in the sky. I waited for that sound, but all I heard was a ringing in my ears accompanied by a pounding in my skull, both of which sounded out of kilter and definitely lacking any rhythm at all.

It was warm, soft hands on my face that I noticed first, a stream of French words that made no sense forcing their way inside my head. Dulling the ringing and pounding to a background noise of thumping soft beats. There, but not there. I felt his
Sanguis Vitam
wash over me, but I was unable to lower my shields and let him in. It was Avery who did it. I don't know how, but somehow he had got inside my head and lowered them so Michel could enter.

Michel's healing wave of power swept through me, filling me with warmth and chasing away the cold. The pounding petered out. The ringing became a buzz, then a hum, then nothing more. And I finally took a deep breath in and felt my lungs expand making me gasp in shock at how long it had been since I had last breathed in at all. Michel crushed me to his chest, still speaking in French, still making absolutely no sense at all. And I looked over his shoulder to see Antonio and Ricardo holding the Russians, who were both kneeling but firmly contained in the shadow guards' grasps.

No dust. Still solid. But I noticed immediately, no longer all Dark. I felt it then. The connection. The one that told me they were now mine. I groaned in disbelief and outright fear. I'd had no intention of adding to my line. Samson was enough. And even when I do use my
Lux Lucis Tribuo
powers to balance out the Light and the Dark in a vampire, I don't touch. I never touch. By not touching they simply get to choose. Good or bad. Light or Dark. But,
they
had been touching me. Sergei with his arms around my waist and his fangs in my neck and Nataliya with both hands flat against my chest.

I had not been thinking of balancing them out, let alone bringing them over to my line. But, my Light obviously had.

Add to the list of uncontrolled Lucinda Light events: Adding a vampire to my line. Crap.

Michel's arms finally loosened from around me and his French was replaced with murmured words in English. I felt his fear at the sight of me when he had arrived. Called here by Ricardo and Antonio. I felt his despair that he couldn't heal me without Avery's help. I also felt his anger that Avery had that ability at all. To get inside my head and lower my shields. The repercussions of such an ability were frightening. But, I pushed them all aside, drawn to my two newest members of the family. Of my line.

Out of nowhere Samson appeared. He stared at the Russians for a few moments, then knelt down before me as well. I got to my feet with the aid of Michel's hand on my elbow and took a shaky step toward all three. Samson looked shocked, a little pale and also a little upset. I couldn't tell why. The connection we share isn't that specific. But, I could hazard a guess. He had to share me now with two others. Two vampires who were much more powerful than him.

Didn't he know that a mother always has a soft spot for her first born? I ran my hand through his blonde hair and rested it on his head while I watched the two Russians. He leaned into the touch and I felt his shoulders relax just a little.

I could feel Michel humming behind me, his
Sanguis Vitam
thrumming in the air. It wasn't a spill over from healing me. It wasn't even in response to the emotions he had recently shared. It was all an intense thrill. Excited at the thought that I had demonstrated again, just how powerful a Nosferatin I am. To steal a vampire from another takes clout. To break the blood blond of a master like Viktor is impressive. I wasn't thinking much on that right now, but I could feel Michel was.

I
had
broken their blood bond with Viktor, but I had replaced it with a Light bond with me. I could feel the Light inside them as though it was my own. In a way it is. Their Dark, for now, held dear by me. I couldn't feel it. I can't even tell where exactly the Dark is held. But, the Prophesy is clear on this fact. I don't destroy their Dark, I
hold it dear
.
The Light will capture the Dark and will hold it dear
.
You would think that having solved the mystery of the Prophesy and come into my powers, it would all be over. But, the Prophesy was only the start. Every day I battle for the Prophesy. I battle on its behalf. The war isn't over, we're just slap bang in the middle of it now.

I took a deep breath in and just let my body go. There was no point being angry or scared. What was done was done. I looked into the eyes of my newest vampires, their faces no longer such sharp, hard angles, but with softer edges somehow. More beautiful, more at ease. As though they had fought the Dark daily and finally had found some relief. I waited for the words they all say. Well, at least Samson had said them, so I assumed these two would too.

Together they both intoned the pledge. “Mistress. We are your servants forever more.”

I smiled, but I don't think it reached my eyes. “Sergei and Nataliya, I accept your fealty. Welcome to the family.”

My eyes came up from the twins and rested on Avery at their backs. I hadn't noticed him there. So consumed with what had happened and how fate kept throwing me a curve ball or two. Two new vampires to protect and keep safe. Two new vampires to offer me loyalty and service. Avery's eyes glowed jade and amber, just a hint of ochre left in their depths. His lips were curved in an appreciative smile.

Then his words floated in my mind, jolting me from the moment and forcing me to throw every conceivable shield I had up to keep him out. It probably wouldn't do a blind bit of good.

You will do nicely, Sanguis Vitam Cupitor. Very nicely indeed.

Great. Just one more reason for Avery to hunt me. But I was prey that would bite back.

Before I even knew what I was doing, I threw my last stake through the air towards his chest. Knives I can throw with accuracy, stakes not so much. Nero was good at chucking a stake, but I needed a bit more practice. The stake curved tip over base, over tip over base, flashing in the lights of the street and Avery simply stepped sideways, out of its path. Then threw back his head and laughed as the stake smashed a window at his back.

His laughter died abruptly when my silver dagger found his thigh. I hadn't thrown it. Sergei had.

It was my turn to laugh.

Welcome to the family indeed.

We retreated to Michel's house for two reasons. One, it was bigger than Samson's and we now had a fairly large entourage. And two, it was closer to Knightsbridge and I was getting tired of finding Alastair too late.

Alastair. Four more dead and I failed again to do my job. As much as there was to discuss, I excused myself from the horde of vampires, or would that be
nest
of vampires - how many vampires constitutes a nest? Three or more? - in the front room and went upstairs to Michel's bedroom. I needed some space to think. And pray.

Nut doesn't answer, but I know she hears. So, I prayed for guidance. I prayed for forgiveness. I prayed I was strong enough and good enough to do what she had tasked me with. I prayed for those lost souls I had failed to protect. I don't know if it makes a difference to any future outcome when I pray to my goddess, but it helps to get the past all straight in my head. I felt like a failure. I felt incompetent. I felt bereft with guilt. But, I knew Nut had chosen me for a reason. She had faith in me that I could do the job, even if I sometimes failed to see. I had to have faith in my goddess. Without it, where would I be?

Michel found me a half hour later curled in a ball, knees up to my chin, arms wrapped tightly around them, sitting on the chaise longue in the bay window of the bedroom, taking in the night time scene on the street. I wasn't feeling sorry for myself, that had been and gone, I was just existing in a bubble of quiet, letting my thoughts have free rein. He came and sat down beside me without a word and pulled me back against his chest. My legs uncurled and stretched out in front of me and I let his warmth cocoon me instead.

“
Are you hungry,
ma douce
?” he asked quietly, kissing the side of my neck behind my ear. “Nataliya has made you soup.
Ukha
I believe. She wishes to make amends.”

I let a little huff of a laugh out. One of the rules Samson and I devised when he first joined my line, was:
what happened before my Light converted him, was the past and stayed firmly in the past.
So, Nataliya and Sergei had tried to kill me. That was the old them, the new ones began today. If I harped on about all the Dark deeds vampires who joined my line had performed, we'd never get along. They were always Dark, very Dark before I found them. They had acted accordingly. But no more.

I'd have a word with Nataliya and Sergei in due course and I
was
hungry, but for now I just needed some more peace. And Michel. I always needed Michel.

He sighed against my skin. A happy, contented sound. He'd heard my thoughts. His arms wrapped tighter around me and he started nibbling on my ear.

“Did you ever think I would come with so much baggage, Michel?” I asked, enjoying his hot breath down my neck. He didn't stop nibbling and kissing, but spoke in between each.

“I will gladly take you anyway I can get you,
ma douce
. I have wasted time recently, I intend to make up for it.”

He was referring to how he had acted, pushing me away. Lashing out at me because of what Erika had done, betraying him. His trust had taken a bashing, but he trusted me now. Michel's Dark was still there, it always would be. He hadn't become a powerful master vampire without a smattering of Dark. But, it was contained in a healthy glow of Light now. I think he had healed his wounds and I think I had helped him. We were good for each other. I couldn't imagine doing what I do without him at my side. Not that I would ever have to face that, the joining would ensure when one of us goes to the afterlife, the other will follow.

He bit a little more firmly on my shoulder, a move to make me change my train of thought. A slight chastisement for my morose musings. I was betting his vampire was still fairly close to the surface. Or simply hanging around because it liked it here. I hadn't quite got my head around his dragon-vampire, I was betting I was going to see a little more of it than I had ever seen before. His vampire had finally claimed me. Even though we had been through so much, Michel and me, I hadn't realised until now that there was still someone,
something
, else to win over inside of him. It had been won over now.

Michel growled a low sound behind me. If I could have seen his eyes, I was betting they were shining a little magenta, if not a lot. I wasn't sure if he was pleased with my recognising I had won his vampire over or not. The sound was threatening, but also possessive. I tried to pull away from him to get a good look in his eyes and that's all it took. The momentary thought of me running and his vampire pounced.

“Lucinda,” he said in a low, urgent voice, pulling me tightly back against his chest. “Do. Not. Run.”

His breath was hot on my pulse, feathering against the rapidly increasing beat beneath the skin. I swallowed and told myself this was Michel. Despite his vampire trying to take control lately, Michel loved me. He wouldn't hurt me. Not now. But, then there was that part of me that hadn't forgotten. Hadn't forgotten the pain he had caused.

The growl grew more sorrowful, his hands started to caress me, to calm me, to try to make me feel safe, but the glow I had spotted in the reflection of the window made it impossible to relax. His eyes were magenta, but more than that, they weren't exactly his.

“Do not be scared,” he whispered, hugging me to him. His tongue came out and lapped at my vein. “I love you too.” I knew he wasn't speaking as Michel, telling me he loved me too, as I loved him. It was his vampire, telling me he loved too, as Michel loved me. I felt myself relaxing with those words. His vampire loved me, the reminder of that spread warmth throughout my soul.

Although I did feel that Michel had more time to become accustomed to my independence, his vampire had only just begun to take any notice of me and hadn't quite caught up. When vampires mate, do they choose their partners carefully? Ensure there is only one dominant in the relationship. Making it more cohesive and natural. Two dominants would clash. Vampires clashing is not a good thing. I may not be as dominant as Michel, but I have some authority anger issues that could make a simple dominant/submissive relationship turn on its heels. I can give Michel a run for his money, that's for sure.

I can also play the submissive when need be. It's an act. At least, I tell myself that and I am actually pretty sure it is. My mother, my aunt in fact, always told me that you had to pick your fights with your husband. She and dad, my uncle, had some serious doozies when I was growing up, but sometimes she would give in when I knew she hadn't really meant it. I'd ask her later why. She'd always say,
you pick your fights, Lucinda, you choose what you can live with and what you can't. That's how you work at a relationship. It can't all be one way.

I liked to think I fought Michel for the things I truly believed in, the things I couldn't compromise myself on. And if I'm honest, he usually met me halfway. But when it comes to his vampire, I know I am out matched. He is stronger, more vicious, more calculating and more capable of doing harm than I am. 

His low chuckle reached my ears. I couldn't tell if it was Michel's or his vampire's. But he had heard my thoughts. A flush crept up my cheeks. He turned me to face him, taking my head in one of his hands. His other hand traced down my neck sending a shockwave of heat through my body. Punching right into my stomach and making me catch my breath. I forgot sometimes, just how easily he could fan that flame that never seemed to go out when I was around him. Just settled to embers and then instantly roared to life at the simplest of his touches.

“I like your fight,
ma douce
. I like that you can bite back at any given moment. I like that you are never afraid, that you are not a vampyre and inherently know the rules. I like that despite your fragility - that human part of you that makes you like glass - you never give an inch.” His head lowered and he inhaled deeply with his nose in my hair. “My vampyre likes it too. Do not fear him. I have him on a leash. He may surface now and then, but never give in to him,
ma belle
. I could not stand to see you meek.”

My head slowly raised up to meet his eyes. The magenta was still there, but they were Michel's eyes. The eyes I had grown to love. We stared at each other for a moment and then for some inexplicable reason, my gaze drifted to his neck and the steady beat of his pulse. I hadn't even been thinking about the taste of his blood, but now I couldn't get it out of my head.

Michel growled, grabbed the back of my head, sucked in a breath and pulled me towards his neck.

“Yes,” he said in a rough, guttural voice. Him or his vampire? I didn't know, but he wasn't going to let me pull back. His hold was so firm, so rigid. I had no hope of getting out of his embrace. I did hesitate though and then his
Sanguis Vitam
slammed into me as he commanded, “Bite!”

I don't think the command worked, I was sure my shields were all intact, but the force of his will had an immediate effect on my body and my body took over. My teeth sunk into his flesh, not as smoothly as a vampire's fangs, my teeth aren't as sharp, they are blunt and not designed for this. But, he didn't care, neither did I. The first taste of that coppery liquid jolted through my body making me groan, making Michel growl louder in appreciation and then I was climbing his body, straddling his legs and sucking back on vintage fourteen hundred and something and floating away on a drug induced high.

Michel rocked my body slowly as I drank him down, a soft purr coming from the back of his throat that only added to the trip I was on. Nothing else mattered but tasting his sweet blood. The more I had, the more I had to have. It was more than just addictive, it was mind altering, body numbing, sensation overloading. My skin tingled, my belly tightened, my toes began to curl. The room became a hazy background and faint music began to hum in my mind. As I felt my body separate from my consciousness, the point of final release achieved, Michel pulled me back from his neck, lifted me up and turned me around, so my upper body lay over the chaise longue and smoothly slid away my tights and underwear.

With one hard firm thrust he plunged deep inside me from behind and was instantly met with the wet velvet of my core wrapping around his hard sex. He groaned out in bliss and said with a rasping voice, “You are mine.” Forcing himself in as deeply as he would go. He pumped me hard and fast, making the already spinning room take on a blur. The spin increasing, the effect on my body doubling, tripling, until I was lost in a hazy weightless place, floating away into space.

He reached round in front of me and began caressing the moist folds between my thighs, never slowing his speed as he continued to pound into me from behind with force. But, it only took a second, maybe two, before I screamed out as an orgasm robbed me of all cognitive thought and he thrust one last time deep inside me finding his own release and shuddering against my back. I collapsed against the chaise with his body still wrapped around me, his heartbeat pounding into my back, his ragged breath hot against my neck.

He was still fully clothed, I hadn't realised, he still wore his trousers, he'd simply unzipped his pants and pulled his erection out. They hadn't even fallen below his hips. His urgency to claim me had been too great. The room was still spinning and a small part of my mind was informing me I was drunk, while another part was just laughing uncontrollably in the background enjoying its high.

“
Mon dieu, ma douce,
” Michel breathed heavily, letting me know his vampire had fully retreated. I was sure only Michel spoke in French. His vampire somehow didn't come across that way to me. “You are simply too hard to resist.”

I wasn't so sure about that, it had been
his
neck,
his
blood, that had been too hard for
me
to resist. Not the other way around.

He laughed against me. “It was you drinking from me that was too much to resist. I have told you already, you drinking my blood turns me on. I wanted my blood in you so much and then when you began to drink, I wanted my seed inside you too.” He took a deep breath. “Can we do that again? Soon?”

My turn to laugh as pictures of him grinding into me at the same time as I drank down his blood flitted through my mind. I don't know if they were his or mine, but he hardened inside me as they took on full form in my head, accompanied by colour and sound.

“Michel,” I chastised gently, as he started to roll his hips behind me.

“What,
ma douce
?” he asked, leaning forward and nibbling my ear. “Do you want me to stop?” He didn't stop. “Or would you prefer me to turn you over so you have access to the other side of my neck?”

And without warning he did just that. Pulling out, flipping me over so my back lay across the edge of the chaise longue and then entering me again in a slow, languid thrust. The angle of my back wasn't right so he picked me up and stood in one swift, smooth motion and then backed me into the wall beside the bed. My legs wrapped around him automatically and he started up a rhythm, thrusting into me and rocking me slowly back against the wall.

“Now, shall we do this properly?” He ground out in a growl, rolling his hips into me again. He pulled his upper body back slightly and ripped off his shirt, supporting my body with his own and the wall at my back. Then when the offending article had been removed, he grabbed my head and pushed my face into the curve of his neck. The side I hadn't already bitten. I wasn't sure if I was up to drinking more of his intoxicating blood. Being slightly smashed on his blood was one thing, being totally hammered was completely another. But, he wasn't going to take no for an answer, because when I didn't bite immediately, he reached up and with a slight flick of his nail opened up his blood vessel right beneath my hovering mouth.