1. I do not own any of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. We must thank JR Ward for all their brillance.
2. I want to thank all the readers and reviews. You help keep me motivated.
3. Most importantly. A special thanks to asil502 for dealing with me. I rant and rave and girl you are so keeping me going. You came into my life just when I needed you.
4. As always I hope you all enjoy.
5. Reposted on 6-10-12 with corrections thanks to GothicBelle.
Chapter Two
Payne moved silently through the mansion. She was very glad Jane had given her the door code this morning. She was only supposed to use it to visit the Pit or the PT room.
'Yeah right,' she thought, 'like I'm going to let Doc Bitch dictate to me. I'm the only one telling me what to do from here on out. Hell, after what my mother did, they are all damn lucky I'm as civil as I am.'
Her goal today was to see the female, Syhren. She really wanted to see if her eyes were indeed lavender. She made it all the way to the physical therapy room without anyone catching her. She was excited. She had spent every night since Syhren's arrival wondering what the female really looked like.
Manello and V had two different opinions of her. Both did say she was beautiful. Manello seemed to be all about her physical form. Her tender looking lips and long raven hair. Where as, Vishous tended to drone on about her bravado, her grace under pressure, and her will power.
Payne hated the fact that when she'd asked about Syhren both males took advantage. Both seemed to love the sound of their own voice. She had simply wanted to know a few facts, instead once they started talking neither one would shut up until she ran them out of her room.
She slowly eased the door open not wanting to disturb anyone or be discovered. Fury flared through her at the sight of the empty room.
"Dammit," she said aloud.
They had moved the female. She was furious, she had no way of knowing were Syhren was now. She just couldn't go through the mansion checking every room. That was sure to get her caught.
"Dammit," she said again.
This was so completely unfair. She was so out of here. If she couldn't see the female she'd just go check out the city. It had been so long since she had been out in society. This new time could be fascinating. It was possible she might even find a lesser or two to take her frustration out on.
She went back through the gym. She paused at the doors to the hall and checked the little window to see if anyone was in the hall. A dark haired female was coming out of a door just down the hall. Luckily she headed back toward the mansion.
Payne cracked the door open and waited until she could no longer hear any foot steps. She quickly made her way down the hall to the room the female had existed.
'And what do you know,' she thought, 'I get my reward after all.'
And what a reward it was. This had to be Syhren. The female was sleeping. Which was good, that meant she could look the female over thoroughly before waking her. Syhren's chest was rising and falling in a lulling rhythm.
'You are defiantly a beauty.' She thought.
It was hard to tell with her lying down, but Syhren seemed to be shorter that most females. About the same as a tall human woman, but for her own race she would be considered petite. However, it didn't detract from her beauty. In fact it gave Payne an odd feeling of protectiveness for her.
The males had been telling the truth about her hair. The color of her hair was very prominent laid over the stark white sheet that draped her body. It was as black as oblivion and still shown as if she had captured moonbeams in it. Her braid was thick and nearly reached her knees. Payne slowly crept forward and lifted the braid into her hand. It was soft and silky and she ran her hand down the length of it. It would be beautiful cascading in waves down Syhren's back.
Syhren's skin was just the opposite of her hair. It was a lovely porcelain color. It highlighted her facial features making her appear as a statue. Her arms were well defined yet lady like. Not overly muscular like Payne's, but enough you knew she could defend herself. Her lips were pale red and perfectly shaped with a cupid's bow. She was like the art pieces that line the hall on the second floor. It was as if she was living marble and Michelangelo or maybe Algardi had carved her into being.
Glancing at Syhren's closed eyes she longed to see them for herself. She lifted her hand intent on touching the female's check when she heard her name being softly called from the back of the room.
~~~BDB~~~BDB~~~BDB~~~BDB~~~BDB~~~BDB~~~BDB~~~
Jane materialized in the back of the classroom they had temporarily moved Syhren to when Butch had been hurt earlier that night. She had planned on merely popping in to tell Syhren that after she feed today they would move her upstairs. However, when she appeared Payne was at Syhren's beside.
"Payne," Jane softly called not wanting to surprise her or wake Syhren.
Payne spun around to look at her.
"What are you doing here?" Jane asked. She had an idea since her hellern had told her about his sister's new obsession with Syhren. Lavender eyes seemed to appeal to her sister-in-law.
"I was board so I thought I would explore. Learn a little about the layout of the place. I knew the training center was down here and thought I'd have a look. I'm not hurting anyone," Payne said.
Jane thought it was sad that Payne lied to her so easily. Jane wasn't sure what kind of life she had before coming here but it must have been awful to make someone behave as she did. Payne was far too aggressive and had absolutely no respect for authority.
'Payne is just that,' Jane thought, 'a pain in the ass.'
"I know for a fact you were told to stay away from Syhren. You were told you could have run of the mansion but other than the Pit and PT room everything else down here is off limits," she reminded Payne.
"It's not like I'm going to hurt her," Payne snapped. She stood taller positioning herself into a fighting stance. If Jane had still been alive Payne would have scared her.
"Not the point," Jane squared off with her sister-in-law. "Wrath brought you here because you were badly injured and needed our help. You've healed now. So let me give you some advice; fall in line before you're out on your ass."
"Back the hell off, bitch," Payne yelled stepping toward her.
"Oh, you do not want to take me on. Remember, I'm a ghost, you literally can't touch me."
~~~BDB~~~BDB~~~BDB~~~BDB~~~BDB~~~BDB~~~BDB~~~
Syhren had just laid back down when she heard the door of the classroom open. She caught a glimpse of a deep red humanoid shape and quickly closed her eyes. She pretended to be asleep as the footsteps started towards her. She kept her breathes steady and even. The stranger stopped beside the bed. Defiantly a female from the smell of her.
When the stranger grabbed her braid and started stroking it, Syhren took another quick look. Yes, defiantly a female from her size. Her soul was the darkest, most disturbing Syhren had ever seen. This worried her so she continued to lay still.
Even when she heard Doc Jane call out she still stayed as she was. But when the two females started arguing she thought better of her plan. She had to do something before one or both of them were hurt.
"Excuse me," she said as she sat up in the bed. "If I may, Doc Jane where am I?
Both turned to look at her. Just before the stranger had come in, Ehlena had explained that she had been moved to one of the classrooms in the Training Center because one of the Brothers had been injured in the field earlier and Doc Jane had need the PT room for his care. But she thought asking the doctor to explain again was a plausible way to distract the two females.
"Fuck me," said the one Doc Jane had called Payne.
"You're in a classroom, but only temporarily," Doc Jane reassured her. "Payne watch your mouth, please. Syhren was raised a lady and you should show her proper respect by using some manors." She thought the praise of her was undo and she blushed a little.
"But her eyes," Payne said. It always bothers her when someone says something about her eyes. She wished she knew what was wrong with them. Every time she went to Havers's clinic someone made a comment or worse some even whispered to each other about them. She didn't understand what was wrong with them. Darius and the doggen always told her people were just jealous because of how pretty they were. She was beginning to think that was a sweet lie they told her to keep her from being even more disappointed with her self.
"You need to get back to your room, Payne," Doc Jane said to the other female.
Payne didn't seem to be listening to the doctor and in fact was walking back towards the bed. The colors of her soul were shifting and changing too fast for Syhren to interpret all the meanings.
"Payne, out now," Doc Jane ordered.
Syhren threw her legs over the side of the bed, knowing that she had to be careful or this was going to be embarrassing for her.
"You are not fucking telling me what to do," Payne screamed, as she turned back to the other female.
Syhren slid off the bed keeping one hand on the rail just in case. Thankfully her legs held.
"If you don't mind," she raised her voice to be heard over the once again bickering females. Hoping she wasn't making too bad an impression on the good doctor she continued. "I'd rather not be witness to this display of aggression. If one of you would be so kind as to call a doggen to assist me, I will make my way to the main house and visit my young. I would be most grateful if you would, please."
"You need to sit back down," Doc Jane said in a calming voice. "You haven't been out of bed for days and haven't fed enough to be up yet."
"I am well enough. As I said I will not be subjected to this type of environment," she stated using her best glymera voice and vocabulary.
Jane started moving towards her. At the same time Payne backed to the door.
"Doc Bitch," Payne barked from the doorway. "This between you and me isn't over yet. I'm leaving cause we're upsetting her, not because of you."
"Fine," Doc Jane snapped back. "Just get the hell out of here."
Payne slammed the door behind her. Syhren sat back on the edge of the bed. Her legs had gotten weaker by the minute and were now so shaky she was surprise she hadn't collapsed before Payne had left.
"That female is mental," she said trying to get her self back in bed.
The Doc helped her get properly situated on the bed. "You're a very clever lady, aren't you?" she asked.
"I try," she smiled. Glad that Doc Jane didn't seem offended by her little intervention. Darius had prided himself in his ability to read people and assess situations to be able to manipulate the outcome to his satisfaction. He had been a sneaky bastard at times. He had worked hard to pass this particular skill on to her. He thought it would be the handiest thing he could teach her. And it seemed to have been a success.
"Well, you're very good at the acting," the doctor said sounding amused at the situation.
"I'm just glad you're not mad at me. You are a fierce female and I would never want to cross you," she said very sincerely. "When did you realize I was bluffing?"
"Not until she was gone. Then you looked like you might fall over," she paused. "Now tell me how bad are you?"
"Just weaker than I thought I would be."
"I want you to feed again. It will help you more than anything else," Doc Jane paused again and she placed the stethoscope on Syhren's chest and listened. "Then we can move you upstairs and you can be with your young." Doc Jane patted her arm as she said the last part.
"Thank you." Syhren said.
Doc Jane checked her ears, throat, and eyes. Syhren knew her eyes wouldn't respond to the light and waited for the doctor to say something.
"V already told the King , a couple of the Brothers, and me that you are blind. You don't have to worry about what we think. There is nothing wrong with you and you shouldn't be embarrassed," Doc Jane said.
"I do have a defect, but I am not totally blind. I can see your soul or essence or what ever you may want to call it. I can tell how you feel, see your emotions, your temperament, I can see your bonds with others and I always know when someone is lying. However, with in our race I will never be a female of worth and I am not considered breedable. But I will not be pitied," she said with conviction.
"Not by me you won't and not anyone else in this mansion either. You are a female of worth as your race puts it. There are other's here that are what your glymera calls defective and none of them are any less important or worthy than the rest. John Matthew is mute, but he still became a Brother. V , Rhage, and Phury all have defects. Three males that reside here are gay. So see we're all just a rag tag bunch anyways. One more blind person isn't going to change things," Doc Jane had a strange way of making her feel better, but she still appreciated the effort.
"Thank you," she said again.
"And thank you for stopping that fight. I have a bad feeling about Payne. I don't want you left alone again while you are down here," Doc Jane told her. "I don't care if she is V's sister, I don't trust her any further than I could throw her."
"I believe she has suffered much in her life," Syhren revealed her concerns. "Her behavior has been influenced by her past. She is so very dark. I think that helping her is going to be a great challenge to us all."