A/N: To anyone who's wondering why I'm posting this instead of my Po5 fics, I'm waiting for MadCatta to beta those for me and did this in the meantime. I think I used the word vampire too often, though . . .

Caelan looked around the dark room sadly, knowing what was to come. He heard him a moment before he appeared in front of him; Dusk. The vampire stared at him for several long moments before, with unusual gentleness, he placed a white hand on his sharp cheekbone. Dusk gave Caelan a half-smile as he caressed his pale face softly, saying quietly, "I didn't think you'd come."

"I had no choice." The other vampire replied in his usual smooth manner, but this time there was an underlying sorrow laced into his words. Dusk's smile disappeared, but instead of reacting in violence and anger, as was his nature, he gazed upon Caelan in desperation. "You still hate me?"

A spark of anger welled up in the vampire. "Why wouldn't I?" he hissed, half-hoping to provoke Dusk into attacking him, that would be easier to endure than this tenderness. "I was happy with my mortal existence, until you ruined it. Why should I forgive you, especially when you feel no remorse?"

Dusk removed his hand from Caelan's face to grip his shoulder instead, his right hand coming up to do the same. "It's true I don't feel bad for turning you," he began, "But I do feel remorse for putting you through so much pain. I never thought you would hate it so much; I thought you'd be happy . . ."

Caelan averted his eyes, unable to bare the emotion he saw in Dusks dark eyes, ". . . with me. I only turned you because I couldn't face the thought that you would one day die as a mortal and I would live all alone for ever. I wanted us to be together."

He held Caelan's face in his hands and leaned forward so their foreheads were touching, two shades of black hair entwining. "I still want us to be together. I returned to Dublin to help Vengeous because I saw it as a cover for finding you. I was going to wait until you forgave me; until you found me." He was so close, Caelan could feel his breath ghosting his mouth, could sense his lips. "But I can't wait forever. I need you." And their mouths met as Dusk closed that single millimetre of space.

He pulled back after getting no reaction, sighing in frustration. He looked at the other vampire, studying him, before murmuring, "You remember the terms of the agreement?"

"You will give Valkyrie and the detective the information they need on the condition that I spend a week with you," Caelan recited stoically. "I am not allowed to leave until noon on the last day unless you take me somewhere with you and I must do as you ask of me, or you will not provide your end of the bargain."

Though Dusk didn't seem pleased with the way Caelan answered, he smirked in response and said, "Seven days and six nights are a long time, Caelan. I think you'll see things my way by the end." Next thing the other male knew, he was flying through the air before being slammed into the wall that had been about twelve metres behind him, Dusk pressing him there. He grinned, something akin to hunger shadowing his face. He leaned in once more and brushed Caelan's ear with his mouth, whispering, "We haven't had one of our little meetings in quite a few years, mm? I'm sure what I'm going to do to you here will bring back some memories."

One hand locked around Caelan's throat in an iron grip while the other seized his black hair roughly. He cemented their mouths together once more, not bothering to wait for a reaction this time, instead violently forcing Caelan's mouth open with his tongue and thrusting it in, nearly choking him. Eventually, he broke the kiss and pulled back, looking at Caelan's flushed cheeks as he panted, trying to breathe again. Dusk loosened his hold on Caelan's hair and neck, keeping his hands in place without gripping. He smiled once more, half in amusement and half in adoration. "If you're like this already," he let go of Caelan's hair completely and grabbed his left hand instead, guiding it down to rest on his hardened crotch, easily felt through the material of his trousers. "I'm going to have you screaming in pleasure in less than an hour."

Caelan gave him a dark look, his body cringing back as far as possible from Dusk. "I'm like this because I couldn't breathe," he spat, "I will have nothing to do with you again once this is over. Keep in mind that while I allow you to do whatever you wish with my body," he lost what little colour his pallid cheeks had at this, but carried on none the less, "I will not enjoy it. That will not change, no matter what you do."

Dusk looked at him for several long moments, face impassive, eyes glowing. Caelan wondered vaguely if the vampire was going to hit him. However, all he did was say softly, "We'll see. As I said, we have plenty of time." He smirked nastily then and Caelan's stomach churned with dread. "And speaking of time, guess what? It's bed time."

XXXXX

"Who cares, Val?" Tanith sighed, exasperated with Valkyrie's persistent nagging. "He'll be fine."

"No he won't!" the teenager cried. "He's up against Dusk! You know what happened when he tried to fight him, Caelan's no match for him! We have to help him."

"Caelan was aware of the risks when he agreed to help us." Skulduggery said, deciding to add his two cents into the conversation. "He's a vampire, he knows what vampire nature is like, I'm sure he can hold his own should the need arise."

Fletcher, who was sitting on a chair in the background, muttered, "Stupid vamp . . . trying to impress my girl to lure her away . . ." Wisely, they all ignored him.

Skulduggery continued, "Anyway, Dusk's conditions said that he would return to us in a week, so don't worry about it. We'll throw him a party when he comes back." Valkyrie shot him a dirty look. Ghastly chose that moment to get involved. "What I don't understand, is why Dusk set those specific conditions." He said, frowning thoughtfully.

His skeleton friend shrugged. "Doesn't matter, it'll be over soon, Dusk will hand over the information and Caelan."

"And if he doesn't?" Valkyrie challenged. The skull turned to face her. "Then we'll just have to go there and retrieve it by force." Valkyrie didn't know if he meant the information or her vampire friend and she certainly didn't want to find out.

XXXXX

Dusk opened the door and walked out into the hallway, a smirk and sweat on his face, a gleam of satisfaction and delight, almost bliss, in his eyes. Caelan lay on his back on the half-smashed bed, panting, flushed and naked, his clothes lying in shreds on the floor across the room from when Dusk had ripped them clean off his body and thrown them over his shoulder, trickles of blood running down his chest and neck from the harsh bites the vampire had inflicted on him. He simply lay there, in too much pain to move or even cover himself. But what would be the point in that? Dusk would just tear that off of him too. Speaking of Dusk, Caelan heard his light footsteps as he returned, closing the door behind him.

Caelan closed his eyes as he waited for Dusk to do something, but he could feel him just standing in the room and from the brief scene he saw, he guessed the vampire was staring at him, his gaze making Caelan feel contaminated and disgusting. 'As if what you just did wasn't enough,' he thought weakly.

The mattress suddenly dipped as Dusk sat down beside him; he heard a faint clunk as the vampire deposited something on the small wooden bedside table. A hand, strong and cold as death, brushed his black hair back onto the pillow, away from his eyes as Dusk whispered in his ear, "Enjoy that?"

Caelan shook his head. He could hear the frown in Dusks voice as he asked, "Why not? You used to love me pounding you into the mattress." A smirk almost certainly wormed its way across his face as he added, "Or any other surface that happened to be available at the time. What's different this time?"

'We're vampires this time?' Caelan thought bitterly. What he actually managed to force out, hoarsely, was, "Pain."

Dusk flinched as he looked down at his love – especially when he saw that blood was tricking down another part of his anatomy. 'I didn't think I did it that hard . . .' He forced an unconcerned, lazy grin on his face and drawled, "You used to like it rough, Seth."

Caelan's eyes shot wide open and the next thing he knew, Dusk was sprawled on his back on the floor, clutching his jaw as pain radiated from it, looking up at the vampire who was glaring at him fiercely, anger, pain and unshed tears visible in his dark eyes. "Don't you ever call me that!" he roared. "You lost the right to call me that a long time ago!"

In his rage, Caelan jumped off of the bed and turned to the small window that showed the light of the dying sun and for the first time in his life, Caelan wished the night would come soon so he could transform into his horrific other side, so he could have a chance at ripping Dusk's head off once and for all. Instead of feeling pain in his gut, however, he felt it in his forearm. Twisting round, he realised Dusk had inserted a syringe into his arm, flooding his bloodstream with some strange concoction. He lashed out, but the other male caught his other wrist in an iron grip and held fast, explaining, "It's a useful little brew I found out about; it suppresses our natures at night. I only have a limited time with you, Caelan and I do not intend to spend half of it fighting you."

He released the other vampire and backed up, towards the door, saying, "I can see this has been a bit too much for you. I'll come back later when you need another dose, maybe you'll be a bit calmer by then. Meanwhile, I have someone to see. Get some rest." He turned and closed the door as fast as he could, hearing through the reinforced steel Caelan's furious cry of "DUSK!!" and the beating he was unleashing on the other side of it, trying to break through.

'It'll take you hours to do that without transforming,' Dusk thought grimly. He turned and hurried to his own bedroom (he'd put Caelan in one of the spare rooms, knowing he might want space from him at some point) and got changed into his usual black clothes, heading out of the window, plotting carefully. He's taken a dose of the wolfsbane and hemlock earlier than usual, so by the time he arrived, it should wear off and leave him perfectly able to fight. He smirked evilly, his recent scar making him look more deranged than usual as he picked up his pace, thinking, 'Time to get what you deserve, Moloch.'

A/N: Okay, just so no one sends me confused reviews, I'm saying that Dusk and Caelan knew each other as humans (this ties into the plot so I won't say too much) and Seth was Caelan's human name. I'm assuming he did take a new name upon becoming a vampire, 'cause the rest of them all did and he needed the protection for his name or whatever. Okay?

P.S. If in the fifth book we find out Caelan or Dusk's real name, I'll change it, but for now they're Seth and . . . anyone want to guess Dusk's name?