Pure Healing (10 page)

Valerius dangled lifelessly from his chains, his head bowed, his breathing coming and going in broken gasps. Blood and fluids trickled down his inner thighs, as the tears he’d held back so bravely leaked out of the corners of his eyes.
Silently he sobbed out his pain and degradation. Though he tried to be the man his father taught him to be, though he fought against their breaking of him, right this moment he wanted to curl into a small ball and hug his brutalized body to himself.
Just for this moment, he allowed himself to mourn.
For his murdered father. For his unprotected mother and sister. And for the innocence he would never reclaim.

Seth Tremaine followed two strikingly attractive females in form-fitting white tuxedos through a hidden corridor leading to a high-security elevator that could have blended completely into the interior walls of the Chrysler Building had one not known it was there.

Entering the narrow space with his two
accompaniments, Seth looked neither to his left nor to his right, keeping his gaze straight ahead. He did notice, however, that there were no buttons and no floor signals on the inside of the elevator, just shiny, unmarked steel casing surrounding the passengers on all sides with three overhead halogen lights. And no one had made any movement or sound, yet the elevator began climbing up as soon as the single sliding door closed before its three occupants.

As the reinforced steel box rose upwards, Seth did not need floor indicators to tell him they were rising from the sixty-sixth floor towards the no-public-access Chrysler Crown.

Back in the mid nineteen hundreds, there used to be a snazzy Cloud Club that occupied three floors from the sixty-sixth to the sixty-eighth, but it closed down in nineteen seventy-nine due to various reasons, not the least of which was that the upper-most floors of the building had never been designed architecturally for luxury and entertainment. There were some halfhearted attempts to revive the establishment or something like it, but all met failure mysteriously. There also used to be a viewing gallery on the seventyfirst floor, but that too closed to the public in nineteen forty-five.

Seth had a feeling that the destination of this elevator was going to exceed all expectations.
Soon enough, the polished metal door slid open soundlessly and revealed a breathtaking view. A magnificently opulent, gigantic Great Hall rose thirty feet from the floor to meet at the intricately decorated point of a vaulted dome, surrounded on all sides by floor to ceiling triangular windows,
alternating with ribbed and riveted stainless-steel cladding, radiating outwards in the world-famous sunburst pattern.
Someone, Seth suspected his host, had managed to combine the vertical space of three floors into one and spruced the place up with an ingenious interior decorator without anyone the wiser. That someone, he also suspected, was the true owner of the Chrysler Building, though public records assigned that honor to the Abu Dhabi Investment Council – ninety percent of the ownership, anyway.
The two female adornments at his side closely escorted him into the massive, brightly lit hall, and he noticed that the floor beneath his feet was made of Italian marble. There was no clutter of ostentatious statues, fountains or paintings to distract from the elegant beauty of the architecture itself, but what embellishments were there were of the highest quality and taste.
As they approached the far end of the hall, he could see his host sitting on a well-appointed throne, Chinese in style, but not in construction. Pure gold furniture would surely clash with the rest of the cool, modern décor. Around the throne sat a wide circle of lounges and deep-seated sofas, all black and white with splashes of red in the silk pillows or detailing. Lying, sitting on, loosely standing by and reclining on the floor before those luxurious pieces of furniture were a dozen or so scantily clad, highly sexualized, outrageously good-looking young men and women.
His host was holding court, apparently.
Or perhaps it was just another day in the life of a one-thousand-eight-hundred-year-old Vampire Queen.
His escorts brought him into the circle of dissolute blood-suckers, stopping a few feet before their queen. Seth could feel a dozen pairs of curious black eyes roaming up and down his body, as if to strip him bare to their voracious view. He could also sense the heightened state of their sexual arousal, as well as hear it, when a couple of females and even a male, began to touch themselves and moan loudly.
“Silence,” the regal Vampire Queen commanded in a soft voice that instantly muted all sounds from her court.
Then she regarded her visitor without words, casually sitting back in her throne, a wine glass dangling precariously from her fingertips. Red wine, of course.
But Seth wouldn’t bet it was actually of the grape variety.
The Consul returned the vampire’s steady gaze and conducted a thorough assessment of his own. No one would argue that Jade Cicada, as she was known since her rebirth, was not a sublimely beautiful woman. To every race, to every breed, human and non-humans alike, she was spell-binding.
Her large, almond-shaped eyes tilted slightly at the corners in that mysterious Asian way, long, straight lashes fringing both upper and lower lids, delicate frames for the startling deep blue irises and large black pupils within. She had a classic oval face, with high cheekbones and a pointy little chin. Wisps of reddish-black hair caressed her temples and beside her small ears while the rest of the thick, silky mass was gathered intricately into braids on top of her head, most of the length falling freely down her shoulders and back.
If his knowledge of Chinese history served him well, Seth guessed that her coiffure dated back to third century China, late Eastern Han or Three Kingdoms period.
Like Seth’s twin escorts, Jade was also dressed in a body-hugging ensemble, though the slightly transparent silk flowed over her skin in caressing folds. She was covered from head to toe by the simple long black dress, yet Seth felt his breath quicken as if she were lounging before him entirely naked.
The semi-transparent silk slid teasingly over her curves, and though she was slender in her limbs and waist, her breasts, hips and buttocks were generously round. She wore nothing beneath the delicate black sheath.
He could see the pointed tips of her high breasts, the aureoles large and dark. He could see the tantalizing groove that bisected her taut, but infinitely flexible torso as she sat with her upper body curved to one side, her lower body curved to the other in a voluptuous
S
.
And then she shifted her thighs as if opening herself further to his perusal, encouraging him to continue. When he gazed upon the neat dark triangle there and just a hint of pink at the juncture, his eyes flew back to hers.
She smiled enticingly, knowingly at him, and he fought to break the spell.
For Goddess sake, he was known broadly as the Pure One’s Monk. Not that he was any more selfcontrolled than the rest of them, for they all had to be by the Sacred Laws. But he’d known the love and passion of a good woman when he was human. And he’d given all of himself to her in return. When he died, and was reborn, he had always loved her still.
He’d watched his human wife grow old from afar, watched his small daughter grow into a lovely young lady, marry a kind, diligent man, and raise a family of her own. He’d watched their progeny come into this world and leave it as the ages went by, and he’d protected and guided them from the shadows as much as he could.
He was simply not interested in finding a Mate. And he loved his wife too much to even look, much less stir, at the charms of another woman.
But today, as he beheld the Vampire Queen, he felt himself stir. More than just stir.
He was veritably roasting in the flames of desire. *** *** *** ***
Valerius awakened to find his body curled closely against Rain’s like a living, heat radiating cocoon.
Sometime in the night, after he relaxed to the sound of her even breathing, after exhaustion from her feeding had finally overcome him, he’d drifted into a dreamless sleep and unconsciously tucked her body closer to his, wrapping himself around her as if he wanted to absorb her into himself.
Also during the night, her filmy white robes had shifted and her bare backside was now pressing firmly and tantalizingly into his groin, giving him a clue for the source of his raging erection.
And then there were the invisible hands that caressed him all over, the culprits, in fact, that teased him painfully awake this early morning.
He blinked hard, trying to dispel the last vestiges of slumber, and looked down at himself, trying to ascertain whether he’d dreamed the silken caresses that set him afire.
Her hair.
Flowing white tendrils curved this way and that all over his naked body, meandering like languid serpents seeking the comfort of heat in the cool, autumn dawn. Some tresses pooled over his chest and biceps, tickling his nipples and throat. Other tresses slid impishly over his stomach and thighs, trailing along his hips bones lovingly to wrap around his swollen manhood in a satiny glove.
There they tended him with gentle pressure, punctuated with voluptuous twists that milked him slowly. He could see the transparent strands surge with the milky glow of his Nourishment as it flowed through the silken needles to vitalize the Healer’s body.
“They have a mind of their own sometimes,” the warm female in his arms sighed sleepily. “Sorry about that.”
Slowly, the silvery white tresses left his body, lingering over his crotch as if sad to depart, obediently wove themselves into a fishtail braid and curled like a chastised child against the Healer’s breast.
“I-” Valerius swallowed hard and cleared his throat. Goddess above, would he ever get used to these intimacies?
“I would Serve you before you start the day, if it pleases you,” he finally said in a low, husky rumble.
Haltingly, painstakingly, he guided one of her hands to his swollen flesh with his own and wrapped her fingers around him. Even though he’d brought her touch himself, his body still shuddered involuntarily from head to toe as a wave of inner pain washed over him.
She gave him a long, lazy squeeze, but then took her hand away, taking his hand instead and bringing their entwined fingers to her lips, kissing his knuckles lightly.
Curling her backside deeper into his groin, she sighed in contentment and said, “There will be no Service this morning, warrior, you need to recover your strength. And besides, my misbehaving tresses have already stolen shamelessly from you and I feel better than I’ve felt in ages.”
Valerius could feel her smile against the back of his hand, and his entire being tingled with something akin to pleasure in response. To have fulfilled her, even for a brief period of time, made him feel a hundred times the man he had ever been.
“When must you begin your hunt, Protector?” she asked, a worried note in her voice.
“I am not to hunt today,” Valerius replied, a slow flush heating up his face. “The Circlet advised that I should attend to your needs until you are able to build a sufficient reserve.”
Her smile spread wider and he blushed harder.
“The Royal Council is most considerate,” Rain demurred. “Far be it for me to gainsay them.” She twisted around in his arms until they were facing each other, one of her hands holding his stubbly cheek and the other still in an affectionate clasp with his.
“But I am satisfied for now,
airen
,” she smiled a dazzling smile at him. “You have been everything I ever needed. I am humbled by your sacrifice.”
Valerius started to shake his head, but she stopped him with a kiss to his nose. “Don’t deny how difficult this whole ordeal is to you. We both know the truth. I don’t care anymore why you decided to apply to Serve me. Whether because you felt indebted or because you’re just plain heroic. I’m just so happy you’re here.”
She scooched closer and threw a slender leg possessively over his hips. “You can’t know how delighted I am to have you as mine own for this brief period of time.” She rubbed her thumb tenderly over his sharp cheekbone. “I’ve wanted you since the first time we met, you know.”
Valerius blinked rapidly at her confession. His heart pounded faster as her words flowed forth.
“You are the most beautiful man I’ve ever beheld. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and wow, you more than meet all my aesthetic requirements. But the Healer in me wanted you for another reason.” She softly nuzzled his face with hers, the kittenish touch startlingly as arousing to him as her lips around his cock.
She met his gaze again and said in a saddened whisper, “You are one large, open wound. I can practically feel the pain and torment radiating from your body. How can I possibly resist wanting to heal that wound. It is the purpose of my very existence.”
Valerius dropped his gaze and felt himself withdraw, even as his body stayed still.
“Don’t hide from me, Valerius.” At her use of his name his eyes flew to hers once more.
She smiled her Mona Lisa smile and said, “I can’t make promises, but I truly feel that this union will help heal us both. You provide me Nourishment. Let me take care of you in return. Let me love you for a little while.”
Valerius’ breath hitched and his heart stuttered.
How could he possibly deny her? But it wasn’t enough. Her kindness and generosity wasn’t nearly enough. He wanted…
Goddess above, he wanted an Eternity.
“So,” she said, oblivious to his inner turmoil, “this morning I shall serve you. You must be hungry. It will only take me a little while to prepare some traditional Chinese dim sum.”
Before he could tighten his embrace to keep her with him, she bounced off the bed in a flurry of silk and skipped lightly to the adjoining chamber like a spritely water nymph.
Soon thereafter, he heard the water run and pots and pans clanging, the sounds strangely soothing in their domesticity.
No woman, since his human age of fourteen-yearsold, had ever made him a meal.
And then he heard Rain’s voice humming a bright, cheerful melody, and he gazed at the living mural. Just as she’d promised, the scenery had shifted from night to dawn, with a vibrant pinkish-orange disk rising behind green mountains, playing hide and seek with curls of clouds that drifted past. The songbirds seemed to chirp along with their enchantress as they flitted across the pale blue skies reflecting over a glistening lake.
And slowly, surely, Valerius felt his soul begin to heal.
*** *** *** ***
Leonidas entered the abandoned railroad tunnel with arm raised over his shoulder, ready to unsheathe his
makhaira
, one of the cross swords secured against his back, at the slightest scent of danger.
The General Alexandros followed closely behind, his extra long
sagaris
axe at the ready.
They were some fifty miles north of Boston city, in a remote suburb that met in the middle of three different counties. In the early nineteen hundreds there used to be a thriving town built around the rails which transported manufactured goods to the south, but presently the town center consisted of one main street the length of two stop lights. There wasn’t even a McDonalds nearby.
But the body count in the surrounding towns was taking a sharp rise.
Their tracking of the Horde had led them here, and if their sources were right, deep in the tunnel they would discover a secret labyrinth that would take them to an underground cavern where as many as a dozen vampires slept during the day.
A Horde of this size was unusual. When vampires became well-organized, they formed Hives, or structured societies led by one vampire queen. Rogue vampires seldom traveled in large packs as the position of
alpha
was highly contested in the absence of a natural leader, but they could still form groups for the convenience of hunting.
In the Elite’s experience, Hordes were typically no larger than six to eight vampires, and even then they tended to split off into smaller factions of two to four. A dozen rogue vampires resting in one place was extremely rare, unheard of.
As Leonidas and Alexandros found the entrance to the labyrinth and made their way down the narrow passage that took them deeper and deeper
underground, their senses were intensely alert, for both males felt that something was not quite right.
At the end of the maze, they entered a large cavern, just as the source had described. Dim disks of halogen lights placed in nooks of stalagmites provided some illumination, while dragon-teeth stalagtites descended sharply from the ceiling, the combination casting eerie shadows on the cavern walls. The air was still from wind and sound, save a methodical dripping of water.