AN: This chapter was a bitch: a total, relentless, unyielding bitch. It has caused me to swear, groan, growl, and make other irritated noises. It has frustrated me beyond measure and now I finally present it to you in all its 37 page glory. I am filled with trepidation and anxiety over it, though. It has left me feeling jittery and worried. It is unlike anything I have written in a long time… it contains adult themes! Ack! I rarely… and I mean it's been over six years, perhaps more… write the things that have now put this story into the M rating marker. I'm usually a more 'implied scene' type of writer. I work with cliffhangers and often depend on the imagination of my reader to fill in the juicy little details. Not this time… oh dear god, I'm rusty at it, too.
So please, gentle reader, be kind to me. Understand that my fingers wanted me to elaborate and that my brain is out of practice doing such things.
Also, I hate Selene. Well, okay that's unfair. I don't hate Selene, I actually think she's pretty damn sexy and I'm even straight. What I hate is writing Selene. I don't usually do characters so cold and devoid of normal human emotions. She has no snark and I thrive on the sarcastic. She's the other reason I'm a bit nervous about this installment. I can't write witty retorts and glib comments with her; it just doesn't fit the persona her character gave off in the movies. So I hope I've done at least a passing job of writing her.
Onward!
Chapter Nine: Vampires and Lycans and Alcohol, Oh My!
Lucian soon found out - much to his delight and amusement - that Aislyn could hold her own in a game of chess. Her strategy included the use of some surprisingly aggressive pawns and an almost suicidal rook. Even though he won in the end, she at least put up an amazingly fun fight.
They were sitting in one of the upstairs studies, enjoying the last of the late afternoon sunshine through the window the chess board sat under. Aislyn had just reset the board but they had yet to make a move to start the next match.
"When will the Wake actually start?" Lucian asked as they turned back to the game. He motioned for her to go first and wasn't surprised to see her move a pawn forward two squares.
"Mother is out getting the supplies right now. When the sun goes down and the coven wakes up then we will start." She frowned as he took her pawn but brought another out with vigor. He chuckled and took another move.
"What all happens at your Wakes, besides tapping an army's worth of kegs?"
Aislyn took a moment to think about that, toying with one of her knights. "Apart from a lot of drinking, there's usually someone playing some kind of instrument, people often sing and dance. Card games. Mostly we hang out and remember the dead in happier times," she said honestly, setting the horse-shaped piece down on the board. "It's like a celebration of the life they had. We had our time to be sad about it but now its time to get over it and throw a party in their memories, or something like that."
Lucian frowned. "Seems a bit disrespectful," he said slowly.
"Not in the slightest," she defended. "What would you rather have? A bunch of solemn hymns and a pile of snotty tissue, or a grand farewell and a keg stand?"
"Neither," Lucian replied. He studied the board for a minute before moving a pawn into a sacrificial position. "I'd rather just be burned and have that be that."
"Well, in that case I'm just going to have to remind you that my mother is Irish way back. Beer happens." She took the pawn with one of her own, tossing it into the small wooden box on the side of the table.
"I don't suppose I can politely decline drinking?"
Aislyn laughed lightly in the back of her throat. "You can try. There is no law stating you have to drink." She sat quietly for a moment while they took a few more moves. "You know, I think the Wake is more for the sake of those mourning, anyway. It gives us a chance to let loose and release all those pent up emotions." Aislyn shrugged. "I think once you see it, you'll understand. You've never experienced a Wake like Lina's before."
Lucian made a slight noise in the back of his throat that was neither a confirmation nor a disagreement. Aislyn decided to drop the subject. If he didn't enjoy himself tonight he could always go to bed early.
The noise level in the living room had increased as each group of guests arrived. Not surprisingly, the only werewolves present were Lucian's pack, as they lived there. The other packs were not overly interested in the proceedings. They had their own farewells planned.
Aislyn had managed to convince Lucian to at least go to the Wake for a few hours to observe and show his support. He grudgingly admitted that she was right that it wasn't as bad as it sounded once things got underway. Mostly everyone was just sitting or standing in small groups, laughing about things they remembered regarding the dead.
To officially open the celebration, Vlad held a rather somber toast in honor of the departed. Lucian was secretly pleased that the vampire added mention of the sacrifice Remus had made, bringing the lycans into the celebration with the memory of their comrade.
Shortly after things got underway, Lucian found Aislyn sitting next to him on one of the couches. She pressed a glass into his hands. He raised his eyebrows at the amber liquid and turned his gaze to the vampress. He was pretty sure he had mentioned to her his intention to refuse the drinks.
"At least have one," she murmured. "Mother might think you're not being polite."
Lucian sighed but didn't refuse after her comment. She was right, after all. Lina had gone through some effort to set this up in so little time. He should at least have one drink. It was just beer and not nearly enough for Lucian to even feel the slightest bit buzzed. Halfway through, he noticed that whatever it was Aislyn was drinking was not the same as his.
"What is that? It smells sweet." Lucian looked into her tall glass with some curiosity.
"Pear cider," she supplied then offered the glass. "I can't stomach beer until I'm at least mostly tossed."
Lucian accepted the glass from her and took an experimental sip. It was surprisingly good. "Is there more of this?"
"Lots. I'll get you one." Aislyn stood and vanished off into the far side of the room where a table was set with food and drink. That was where the kegs were settled, too. Lucian quickly finished his beer in anticipation of the cider. He wasn't disappointed as she returned quickly, having not only gotten him a glass but refilled her own. She settled herself beside him once more and handed over the new glass. They clinked them together before falling into companionable silence.
As the night started to crawl by, various vampires and a few of Lucian's pack passed by to speak with them. Mostly, though, the two were left in relative privacy. They talked some, in low tones, and nursed their drinks. Lucian was enjoying the return of their comfortable silences and easy friendship. Whatever oddness that had been between them before Christmas seemed to have vanished. Perhaps their mutual decision to ignore the events of the past few days had really given their friendship the jumpstart it needed.
Lucian glanced up from his drink as Lina sidled up to their couch from behind. Leaning over the back between the two of them, she smiled at one and then the other. Although he could smell alcohol on her, she didn't look like she had been affected yet by her party.
"Just checking on you," she explained with a mischievous little smile. "I'll leave you two alone. You seem to be doing fine." She was looking pointedly at the coffee table that was starting to gain quite a collection of empty glasses of various shapes and sizes.
"Actually, while you're here," Lucian began, waylaying the vampress, "have you seen Michael? I think I've seen everyone here but him and Selene." The lycan had wanted to talk to them but was giving the two their space to adjust to their new surroundings. He thought that tonight would be a good opportunity to spend some time with the hybrid he created.
Lina nodded slightly in understanding. "I spoke with Michael earlier when Selene finally woke up. They're fine but they're going to sit this out in their chambers. She needs rest and he's refusing to leave her side for anything short of the apocalypse."
"Ah." Lucian took a sip of his drink, mulling that over for a minute. "I thought I had detected that. He's not fully lycan so I wasn't really sure."
Aislyn poked him in the thigh. "Care to enlighten the rest of us what you're rambling about?"
Lucian started. He hadn't realized he had been thinking out loud. He looked down into his drink suspiciously. He wasn't sure he liked how loose-tongued alcohol was making him tonight. "They're a mated pair," he tried to explain. "He's just being a good mate by not leaving her."
"I see. I just thought perhaps it was a trait he picked up from when you bit him," Lina replied with a bit of cheek.
"What is that supposed to mean?" the werewolf asked, brows furrowed.
Lina smirked again and started to walk away. "Nothing. I just seem to remember more than one occasion where you were that stubborn…" She disappeared into a group of vampires, letting her comment float behind her.
Lucian stared after her not entirely certain he liked what she was getting at. He watched out for Aislyn because that was what friends did. It had absolutely nothing to do with any aspect of being a mated couple. At least, that's what he kept telling himself. He looked over at Aislyn from the corner of his eye but she seemed too absorbed in her drink to notice the obvious thoughts flashing across Lucian's currently transparent face. He quickly schooled his features back to normal and they resumed their companionable drinking.
When he noticed her fingering an empty glass, the lycan offered to get her another. He wound his way through the people, pausing to greet a few here and there until he reached the tables. Perusing the drink area, he stopped to inspect something that looked interesting. It looked like wine and he picked up the bottle to read the label. "Watermelon?" he murmured. He glanced around, found some clean wine glasses, and poured a little into one. He sipped it, found it pleasing, and hoped that Aislyn would, too. She liked pear cider, after all.
He took the entire bottle and two cups with him back to the couch in the far corner she was still occupying. He smiled a little shamefully when she laughed at the fact he brought back the bottle.
"This way I won't have to get back up for a while," he defended, pouring them both glasses and then setting the wine bottle on the coffee table next to their other empty drinks.
"And here I thought you weren't going to indulge in any alcohol," Aislyn teased, taking a generous sip of her wine.
"I wasn't aware there was such a selection of interesting smelling drinks over there," he replied. "You made it sound like your mother planned to tap a few kegs and call it good. I wasn't expecting wine, cider, ales, and liquors."
"Touché." Aislyn raised her glass to that. Lucian obligingly clinked his with hers before taking another drink of the interesting wine. It was definitely a different taste and it made him very curious about what else was on that table.
It was apparently stronger stuff than he had realized. Or perhaps his lack of periodically consuming alcohol was making a lightweight of the werewolf. Either way, he found himself quickly losing track of how much he had actually consumed. Before he knew what was happening, there was nothing coming out of the bottle when he was attempting to refill Aislyn's glass. Frowning, he actually turned the bottle around to look down into the mouth.
"S'empty," he said as if surprised.
"Go get more," Aislyn urged, waggling her empty glass at him. She had pulled her feet up onto the couch and was trying her best to use them to pry him off in order to retrieve another bottle. He stood, took a moment to compose himself, and made his way carefully across the room to the tables.
Lucian couldn't remember ever being drunk before. Slightly buzzed like at the Christmas party, perhaps, but never intoxicated enough to wish the floor would hold still so he could walk a straight line. During the hundreds of years he had been at war with the Virals, alcohol had never been something he wanted to partake in. It dulled the senses and clouded judgment. Here, though, where he was safe from assassination and didn't need to remain in control all the time, he had let his guard down and lost track of himself before he knew what had happened. He thought briefly of blaming Aislyn but shoved it from his mind almost instantly. He could have told her no. Plus he was the one who had brought a full bottle of wine back with him last time. He was just as much to blame as she was for his current lack of control and coordination. Who knew that it would only take a few pints and half a bottle of wine to knock the infamous Lucian on his ass?
He reached the tables without mishap, grateful no one seemed to notice his eyes not tracking properly. As he was looking over the selections, he was pretty sure he heard a piano playing somewhere and paused to wonder at it. Looking around, he spotted the baby-grand in the corner nearest the kitchens. He frowned. How long had that been there? He had been in the coven for three months and couldn't recall ever seeing a piano in this room.
Forgetting alcohol for a moment, he stood there listening to the tune being played out by someone who had obviously been practicing piano for a long time. He craned his neck to see who it was over the shoulders of taller people. When he finally saw, he made a little 'hm' noise in the back of his throat and turned back to the drinks. Although he didn't see any more of the watermelon wine, he did find some little bottles labeled "Apple Pucker" that looked interesting. He took a few of those and went to get a couple more pints of the pear cider.
He moved slowly back to Aislyn, using the excuse that he didn't want to spill the drinks. When he sat next to her once more, passing her a glass, he jerked his head toward the corner where the piano was. "I didn't know Lina played," he managed to say.
"Since she was six," Aislyn replied in a matter-of-fact tone one often adapts when they're close to reaching that "three sheets to the wind" marker. "She tried to teach me, you know, but I'm not as good. Now Daddy... he's friggin' Beethoven on that thing." She jabbed a finger in the direction of the piano, almost spilling her drink in the process.
"I would imagine," Lucian said slowly, "that he has had much more time to practice."
"Mmhmm." Aislyn nodded and drank about half of her cider in one go. She blinked at it as if wondering how it was getting so empty so quickly. She took a hard look at Lucian's glass as if trying to see if he had given her less but his was already on the table, empty. She giggled, finished her drink, and with grace born of an immortal, slipped off the couch as she was trying to place her glass on the coffee table.
Lucian moved to try and help her back up. With a hard yank, he pulled her off the ground and half into his lap in an attempt to get her back on the couch. Reduced to uncontrollable giggles, they sat there in a jumble for a while, unable to contain their drunken mirth long enough to right themselves.
"My lord?" a gravelly voice broke through the laughter. Half choking on barely contained laughter, Aislyn and Lucian managed to pull themselves apart and gaze up at a concerned-looking Raze.
"Raze!" Lucian greeted, perhaps louder than necessary. "Join us! Where is my niece? She should be with you." The older lycan made to stand but decided against it as Aislyn had chosen that moment to prop her legs across his lap.
"I believe Trina is trying something called Jell-O Shots," the lieutenant said slowly, eyeing his leader and the vampress with apprehension. It was obvious that Raze had not been doing much drinking and he was startled by his alpha's visibly drunken behavior. "She said she would join me in a moment-"
"Jell-O Shots?" Aislyn's legs were off Lucian's lap instantly as she tried to claw her way to her feet. "Where?"
Raze looked taken aback and pointed toward the kitchen doors near the piano.
"Oh, I am so in!" Without even looking at Lucian, Aislyn rushed off in the direction Raze had indicted. Lucian looked a bit startled before making an honest attempt to stand himself. Very carefully, he followed Aislyn at a slower pace. Raze hovered nearby, worried his leader might keel over at any moment.
When Lucian arrived at a small card table near the kitchens, Aislyn was standing beside Trina. They each had a line of small plastic shot glasses in front of them, filled with colorful gelatin. Lina, who had abandoned her piano for this particular table, was holding up her hand. Those nearby had gone quiet as they watched the scene unfold.
Lucian sidled up to Aislyn, glanced at the Jell-O, and voiced a somewhat hazy question about what was going on.
"Boat Race. Jus' sit back and watch. Imma cream her." Aislyn smirked in the general direction of Trina. The young werewolf's cheeks were already bright red and she wasn't looking particularly clear-eyed either. It was probably a pretty fair match, all things considered.
"On my mark!" Lina announced. "Ready! Steady! Go!"
Lucian watched with fascination as Aislyn sucked the shots out of the cups. He didn't know, nor did he much care, how Trina was fairing. He was much too absorbed in what Aislyn's tongue was doing.
"Sire," Raze rumbled in his ear. "Your mouth is open…"
Lucian closed his jaw with a snap and tried very hard to compose himself. It wasn't working very well, though. Lina was announcing that Aislyn had won and Lucian looked at the younger Hunter-Vamp in time to see a small dribble of alcoholic gelatin slip down her chin. His foggy brain briefly told him he should clean that off her in some way not involving a napkin. He physically shook himself, managing to keep some semblance of restraint. That had to be the alcohol talking.
Aislyn, in the meantime, was rather pleased with her victory and her chance to eat Jell-O. After being crowned winner, she turned to Lucian and with a grin, draped her arms around his neck. "Toldja!" she chirped then swayed. He quickly caught her and somehow kept his own footing out of sheer will power.
"I didn't doubt you for a second," he affirmed, trying to keep her upright. She was leaning almost the full weight of her body against his and, although he didn't mind the contact in the slightest at this point, he did find it difficult to keep them both on their feet when he wasn't stable on his own. "But I think we should sit."
"Good idea!" Aislyn dropped to the ground, slipping out of the circle of his arms like a serpent. Lucian stared down at her for a long moment as if trying to recall how she got there. He couldn't, shrugged, and followed suit, sitting with her in the middle of the floor.
"Wasn't exactly what I meant," he murmured, leaning toward her to snag her shoulders before she fell backwards.
"Oh." She blinked at him then started laughing again for no apparent reason. He joined her, staggered to his feet, and pulled her up after him.
"Couch!" he announced, pointing at the nearest sofa. He sat heavily and Aislyn plopped down on his lap. The shots were really starting to take their toll on her as she stared up at the ceiling in rapt attention. "What's wrong?" Lucian asked after a moment.
Aislyn shifted slightly to sit more across his lap. She leaned her head into the crook where his neck and shoulder met and screwed her eyes shut. "Ceiling's spinnin'," she explained. "It just keeps going… Gunna fall over…"
Lucian quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and turned his head so that his cheek rested against hers. "I've got you," he murmured. "No falling over."
"M'kay. No letting go."
"None."
"Good."
They sat quietly for a long moment while the world turned around the young woman. Lucian felt extremely comfortable and held her as tightly as he dared. He was too far gone to worry now about what anyone thought. His world consisted of the woman on his lap and not much else. He even managed to tune out anything Raze was saying. He was vaguely aware that the dark lycan was trying to get his alpha to drink some water since it would help with any after effects of the alcohol, but Lucian was far too absorbed in Aislyn and only Aislyn to care what his long-time friend had to say about hang-overs.
"I think," Aislyn started to mutter into Lucian's neck, "that I should go to bed. What time is it?"
Lucian glanced up at a clock he couldn't quite make out then finally stopped ignoring Raze long enough to pass the question on to him.
"Three in the morning," the man rasped.
"Already?" Lucian frowned. "How long have we been drinking?"
Raze hesitated as he thought. "Since ten."
Again, Lucian's brows furrowed. "How much have I had?"
"Too much," Raze replied. "Please eat some bread."
Lucian ignored Raze once more as Aislyn was trying to stand from his lap. Once she was successfully on her feet, Lucian stood as well. "Lemme help you," he offered to Aislyn, who wasn't about to refuse any assistance to stay standing. He turned to Raze and waved off the offered glass of water the black man was trying to force on his inebriated king. "I'll be back in a minute to drink that. Gonna help Ais upstairs."
Without bothering to wait for a reply, Lucian put his arm around Aislyn's waist. She slung one arm over his shoulders and together they made their way toward the far end of the room, behind the kegs, to where the stairway stood. As they went, Lucian noticed the groups had thinned out as people were retiring for the night. Aislyn wasn't the first one calling it quits.
Somewhere behind them a group had broken out in some bawdy Irish drinking ballad. Although Lucian swore he could hear Lina's voice in there, he didn't bother turning to look. He was quite intent to get Aislyn safely put to bed before rejoining the party.
At first, Lucian though that navigating the stairs would prove difficult in his unstable state. He didn't really register that they had made it onto the landing until he was staring at Aislyn's bedroom door. He paused there, trying to remember how in the world they had managed to make it up that far without falling over. In retrospect, it wasn't that important so he pushed it out of his mind and shoved her door open. He faintly heard it click shut behind him and they pressed on into her bedroom without a second thought.
Once there he deposited her on the edge of the bed. She sat for a long moment, staring at the floor as she tried to will the world to stop moving so fast. Lucian stood before her, gazing down with some hesitation.
"Will you be alright?" he started somewhat awkwardly. He wasn't entirely certain at this point if he was going to be able to make it back downstairs without breaking his neck. Aislyn had drunk more than he and that wasn't a very promising thought for her ability to take care of herself for the night.
"Sure," she replied in a tone that wasn't convincing. She started to pull off the sweater she was wearing and got lost in it. That caused her to break into uncontrollable giggling, which made matters worse. Lucian found himself unable to resist the sound of her laughter and let himself chuckle at her.
"Here. Let me help get you bed-worthy." Grabbing the sweater, he yanked it off and tossed it to one side.
Once her sweater was off Aislyn didn't hesitate to grab the bottom of her shirt and lift that over her head, too. Lucian was caught off-guard for a moment and found himself staring at her nearly bare chest. He noted subconsciously that her bra was pink. If he wasn't so surprised by the fact that she was even sitting there with only a bra on he would have found the color funny since she didn't seem the kind to like pink. Right then, however, her favorite color was the furthest thing from his mind.
With almost physical effort, he peeled his eyes away and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. She was struggling to pull off her pants. He vaguely realized that he was trying to voice a question that sounded something like "What are you doing?" although he was almost certain it wasn't quite so articulate.
"Gettin' ready for bed," she explained matter-of-factly. "What? D'you think I usually sleep fully clothed?"
"It'd be rude to think otherwise," he admitted as clearly as he could. He watched her wrestle with her jeans for another moment before resigning to help her further disrobe. He didn't point out to her that trying to take off one's pants while sitting wasn't very effective. "Feet up," he ordered at last, taking hold of the cuffs of her pant legs. She lifted her legs obediently and he pulled back. They came off easier than he had expected and found himself stumbling backwards. Aislyn laughed as he staggered to gain his balance once more. Shaking his head to try and clear it, Lucian moved back to the bedside.
"Alright," he sighed, fixing his eyes on her face for fear he would be lost in her cleavage if he let his eyes wander. He kept reminding himself that it was no different than if she were wearing a bikini. It didn't matter that a bikini would have been just as alluring as her underwear. "Let's get you under-" His voice failed him as she leaned forward suddenly. She brought her face a few inches from his, then giggled.
"You forgot something."
"What?" Lucian's mouth went dry as he heard the small click of a clasp being released. With all the will power his drunken mind could muster, he locked his eyes to her face and refused to look down. He could see her shoulders wriggle as she rid herself of her last upper garment and tossed it aside.
Under normal circumstances, Lucian would not have felt so extremely shy and awkward about nudity. Lycans were cursed with the inability to stay dressed when they transformed back from wolf form to human. The number of people that had seen Lucian naked over the years was astounding. Modesty had nothing to do with their lifestyle.
It was different, though, when the naked party was someone he was physically attracted to. Her nearness was starting to cloud his already unclear mind. He could feel his control starting to slip as they held their positions in silence. He wasn't sure how much time had passed; it felt like an eternity but in reality it was only a few seconds.
Very carefully, Lucian leaned over and planted his hands on either side of her thighs, bringing her face to actual eye level with him. He searched them for a moment. He noticed she was breathing shallowly; her eyes were almost completely dilated. Sighing, he shook his head.
"Good night, Aislyn," he murmured. Carefully, he leaned forward and planted a very small, very soft kiss on her mouth. His intention was to kiss her good night and leave. He accomplished only half of that objective. As he started to pull back from the kiss, his mind changed and he moved back in for a little bit more. His last fully conscious thoughts were along the lines of 'what would it hurt?' After that, instinct took over.
Aislyn's hands snaked up to delve her fingers into his hair, pulling him downward as she lay back. He went willingly, ignoring any little voice that may have been screaming in the back of his mind to stop before things went way too far. He wasn't sure how, but between the efforts of the two of them, he found himself shirtless. He pulled her upright, breaking their embrace long enough to take a deep breath and regard her through half lidded eyes. Her cheeks were flushed with color, her chest heaving as she gasped for air.
Lucian, too, was breathing hard. From somewhere deep inside a well of desire was threatening to overflow. All the denial of the previous month was forgotten as he gazed at woman who was suddenly trying to undo his belt. He stilled her hands, brought them up to his mouth, and kissed each palm gently. His mouth traveled down one of her wrists, along the inside of her forearm, then jumped to her shoulder. He could hear her breath hitch as his lips made contact with the spot on her neck where her pulse throbbed. He could feel it hammering, mirroring his own rapid heart-beat.
He let his hands run down her arms and back up again. There were still faint scars criss-crossing her skin from the Holy blade Helena had used. They would fade in time but Lucian let his fingers explore the difference in texture as his mouth found hers again, drawing her back in deeply. With a sudden urgency, he slipped his arms around her body and pulled her against him, needing to feel her skin more fully against his.
Aislyn shifted slightly to straddle his lap without breaking their contact. She nipped at his bottom lip and slowly slid her hands back down his chest toward that belt she knew was still buckled somewhere down there. She managed to get it undone and whipped it out as she pulled back. She dropped it off the side of the bed and returned her hands to his waist line.
As she fumbled with the snap and zip, he returned his relentless attack to her neck. He bit down gently, not enough to puncture her skin but enough to elicit a tasty moan from her lips. The sound itself had an overwhelming effect on the lycan and he quickly flipped them back over so Aislyn was suddenly staring at the ceiling. She blinked up at him a couple times then smirked.
"Much better," she murmured and popped the button on his pants with a quick twist. "You are much too over dressed for this party."
He gazed down at her body for a long moment while she made some attempts to push his pants off. He finally obliged her and removed them before returning to his hovering position. There was a brief moment of hesitation as he looked down at her. This was probably a very, very bad idea. Right then, though, he didn't give a damn and dipped his head to pull a breast into his mouth.
Aislyn gasped in surprise and pleasure as his tongue roamed over her already erect nipple. His hand had found her other breast and was fully exploring its contours and the texture change at the areola. He bit down softly on the pert nipple and the woman moaned again, arching her back to press further into his ministrations. He shifted and she felt something hard pressing against her thigh that was not his leg. A tingling sensation spread through her lower belly, creeping further down as her hazy mind made the connection about what it was. She hadn't exactly looked but apparently he had removed more than just his pants.
She wiggled downward a little, lost in her own want and not paying much attention to anything else, let alone common sense. He pulled away from her breasts to latch onto her mouth once more. He felt her arch under him and groaned as the slight change in position caused him to press against the restrictive confines of the underwear she was still wearing. The sudden feeling of cloth against his member was frustrating and he had half a mind to rip her panties off. The other half of his mind somehow managed to maintain control and he left them in place as a safeguard against doing something truly stupid.
Aislyn, however, was too far past common sense. Between the alcohol and her own intense feelings of want, she had long since ditched any attempt to stop what was happening. She pressed against him again, growling her frustration at the barrier. Images of past dreams kept forcing their way into her mind and she wanted badly to live those scenes at that very moment. It was she that reached down and pulled off the panties in the end. Bucking her hips upward, Aislyn did her best to invite him in.
Panting, Lucian pulled away and gripped her firmly by the hips, pushing her down to keep her from grinding up against him anymore. He met confused and disappointed eyes and sighed deeply. She whimpered and tried to strain against his force but he was physically stronger. How could he make her understand that he just couldn't allow himself to lose control to that point?
"Why?" she asked at last when neither moved. She was obviously hurt and didn't bother to hide the fact. If he didn't actually want that then it was about the worst rejection she could get from him. "Lucian?" Her feelings remained plastered clearly on her face and he realized that his actions were basically telling her he didn't care an ounce about her. Wolves, after all, only mated with those they loved and Aislyn knew that. Getting as far as they had and then telling her 'no' was sending very mixed signals.
"It's not that," he tried to reassure her.
Anger started to creep into the edges of her eyes. "What then?" With a motion too fast to stop, she reached down and wrapped her fingers around an obviously interested manhood. The feeling of her hand encircling him caused a low moan to escape Lucian's throat. He hung his head for a moment as her hand started to move with agonizing slowness a long his length. "This doesn't seem like a very convincing 'no.'"
"Ais…" he started, trying very unsuccessfully to keep his hips still. They seemed to have a mind of their own as they rocked forward with each stroke. He felt himself bump against her opening and had the sudden urge to ignore his conscience and delve into the inviting darkness. "Not… not drunk," he finally pleaded. It took all his effort to sit back away from her.
Aislyn sat up as well, blinking at him in confusion.
"Not drunk," he said again, shaking his head and running hands through his hair. "You could wake up regretting this. We're not in our right minds."
"I'm fine-"
"Not drunk," he stressed. "Not drunk." Lucian made as if to stand. If he left, he could easily end what they had started. It was obvious his body wanted something completely different, though. Aislyn held him back, stopping him from leaving the bed.
"Okay," she agreed firmly. "Not drunk. Just please don't go." She gazed into his face so earnestly he agreed instantly. She smiled then, tracing the line of his jaw with one finger. He may not have wanted to do that particular thing while intoxicated but there was something she could do that wasn't a binding contract. And it could potentially sate his lust until he was ready to make that commitment.
"Wha-" Lucian's words died on his lips as he felt a hot wetness close around the head of his member. His hands clutched her hair, pulling it back away from her face as she dipped her head. This was an unexpected turn of events…
"We'll have to face them eventually," Michael said logically. "This is their house."
Selene was standing at one of the windows of the rooms they had been given, leaning against the frame as she watched some figures moving in the distant snow. The sun glinted off the white surface of the world, threatening to hurt her sensitive eyes. It wasn't enough to deter her from gazing out at the falling snow in wonderment. She had only been daywalking for a few months and was still amazed at the beauty of the world when the sun was out. She usually did not dare to try and look outside during daylight, just in case. Now that she could stand the direct sunlight, she realized how much she had missed it.
At Michael's words she cast him a partially annoyed look. "I'm not going anywhere while the sun is up."
"I really don't see why-"
"You met a few. You said they were vampires. I'd rather not raise any suspicions. This isn't exactly normal." As if to make her point, Selene let the sunlight fall across her hand, twiddling her fingers in the beam. "Plus this place is crawling with lycans." She jerked her head at the figures patrolling the complex that she had been watching.
"They're allies," Michael reminded her. Selene huffed in the back of her throat.
"They're Lucian's men. Do you know how many hundreds of his people I have slaughtered in my lifetime? I doubt I will be welcomed with open arms." Selene pushed away from the window and walked slowly to where Michael sat. When she had awoken the previous night, he had filled her in on what had happened since the attack. The news of Lucian's arrival was not sitting entirely well with the vampress. Since discovering Viktor's betrayal and utter disregard for any life not his own, Selene was able to better sympathize with the werewolves. Lucian, however, was still a dangerous memory and being on the same side as him was going to take some getting used to.
"Neither of us are dead yet," Michael continued, trying his best not to rise to her crankiness. She was just nervous and he understood that.
"We don't know who these vampires are," Selene said darkly. "They might not be friendly. They're allied with lycans, after all."
"They saved our asses."
"Because of Lucian, most likely."
"Selene, I'm half lycan; you and I are not exactly unfriendly to each other. There is a good chance these vampires are on our side." Michael stood from his seat and took her shoulders firmly in his hands.
"That's different," she tried to argue although she did not pull away from his grip.
Michael threw his hands up in surrender. He didn't want to get into a fight with her over imagined dangers, especially since she had a huge 'I told you so' hanging over him he did not want her to bring up. She had, after all, told him they were being followed and he had ignored it, saying that she was just being paranoid.
He had met Vlad and Lina the night of the attack when they held that meeting. He felt they were sincere and able to be trusted. Once Selene had a chance to speak with them, he had the feeling she would realize that, too.
"So you'll come down tonight?" Michael prompted, trying to steer the conversation back to their plans.
"I suppose I must." She returned to her window, crossing her arms and gazing passively down at the complex grounds.
Michael resisted the urge to pull at his blondish-brown hair in frustration. He loved her. He truly did. But sometimes Selene could be impossible. "When I saved your life back in September, you felt obliged to save mine, even though you knew it would probably end badly for you. Don't you think we owe these people that same debt?"
She didn't respond at first and he watched her shoulders rise and fall as she breathed evenly. She could be so stoic at times it was difficult to read her. When the silence continued, Michael plowed ahead in hopes of getting some sort of reaction.
"Lina spoke of these things called Dolls when I was talking with her. She told me how they're the whole reason everyone is working together right now. They could use all the help they can get."
"It isn't our war," Selene retorted, not moving a muscle as she spoke.
"And those Slayers attacking us, the ones that nearly killed you? That wasn't their fight yet they came to our rescue. You didn't see that woman's leg. I worked the trauma ward at the hospital for over a year, Selene, and never saw anything that mangled. A man lost his arm, for Christ's sake, just to rescue us, to save us."
Selene sighed and finally turned away from the window. She looked worn. "I know we owe these people a debt, Michael, but I'm tired of fighting and war. We were finally rid of one to walk right into another. I know what we should rightfully do but that does not mean I have to like the idea."
"I know that." Michael sighed, too, one arm akimbo, the other in his hair to push it away from his face. "Would it make you feel better if I went down there and scoped things out?"
"Yes." Selene leaned against the windowsill, crossing her legs at the ankles. "Find how what you can about this coven and those within it. I think I'm going to go back to bed for a little bit, I'm feeling weak still."
Those were not his curtains. His bed curtains were green. These curtains were blue. He frowned and tried to sit up but groaned and plopped back down onto a pillow that wasn't his. Even just that small motion was enough to send his head into a deep, painful throb. In the history of hang-overs, this one had to be up there with the greats.
Carefully, Lucian managed to push himself up into a sitting position. He slumped forward, screwing his eye shut tightly until the ache subsided to a manageable level. With eyes still closed against any outside distractions, he sent his mind into a recall state long ago mastered that would allow him to piece together the events that led him to wake up naked in someone else's bed.
"Oh God," he muttered when the memories came rushing back. This was Aislyn's room, of course. This was her bed. And that somewhat dry but sticky feeling on his genitals was mixture of her saliva and his semen. At least, he reflected darkly, it wasn't something else mixed with his bodily fluid. He sent a glance down at her side of the bed then ran his hand over the space. It was empty but warm. She hadn't been up long.
From the direction of her bathroom he heard taps switch on, solving one problem. Unless other members of her family took it upon themselves to break into her room to brush their teeth, she was in there. Lucian threw the blankets to one side, briefly thinking he should find his pants. Then he rolled his eyes at his stupidity and made for the bathroom as he was. He didn't have anything she hadn't literally seen less than twelve hours ago.
He walked in quietly, hoping not to startle her with his presence. The first thing he noticed was that she hadn't bothered to get dressed, either. Something about that made his stomach curl pleasantly. She wasn't trying to cover up in front of him. He moved into her line of vision through the mirror and met her eyes squarely. One look was all it took for him to know she fully remembered the previous night's activities just as well as he did.
They didn't say anything at first, watching each other through the mirror, waiting to see who would break the silence. There were things they desperately needed to discuss and Lucian was not entirely certain how to bring it up in the most tactful way. Aislyn saved him the trouble of figuring that out, though, as she set her toothbrush down, rinsed out her mouth, and turned to face him.
"If you're here to tell me this has all been one giant mistake, get the fuck out now before I throw something at you. I regret nothing."
He regarded her evenly through half closed eyelids – mainly because his head hurt too much to open them fully – as he weighed her words against what he truly felt beneath all the denial and excuses he had been making lately. Then, with fluid motion he was surprised he could muster with the way his head hurt, he closed the distance between them and pulled her into a crushing kiss worthy of any Hollywood film.
It wasn't exactly the response Aislyn had been expecting. She honestly thought he was going to try to talk his way out of it, try to make excuses for their behavior, all the things they had both been doing since the day they realized feelings were running much deeper than what was normal for friends. Last night was going to be a lot harder to just ignore and she was glad he wasn't trying to do that.
She shifted slightly to get a better angle and winced as a splitting pain lanced through her head. Reluctantly, she pushed him back slightly, brow crinkled in pain. "I do regret not drinking any water before bed," she grumbled, one of her hands leaving his chest to rub at her temple. She heard him chuckle into her ear as she laid her head on his shoulder. "We do need to talk, though," she admitted after they stood there for probably longer than necessary. "And I would like to get dressed so I can go to the kitchen and make some Hang-Over Tea."
Halfheartedly, Lucian moved away from her and into the bedroom to gather his clothing. She followed closely behind and started digging through her drawers for something to wear. She settled on a pair of pajama pants and a red tank top. It would do for now.
"What is Hang-Over Tea?" he asked at length after taking an inordinate amount of time to get dressed. They were both discovering that slow movement was the best for this sort of pounding headache.
"Something my mother came up with. It's just a blend of herbs that seem to help dull the pain until you get re-hydrated. It's just what we've always called it." Aislyn sat gingerly on the edge of her bed as she pulled socks onto her feet. "As much as I'd love to figure this whole thing out right now, my head hurts too much to think clearly and I don't want to say anything that will be taken wrong."
Lucian glanced over at her with some concern. "What does that mean? What could you say that I could take wrong given the circumstances? Didn't you just say you had no regrets?"
Aislyn took a deep breath and dug the heels of her palms into her eyes. "I assure you it does not mean anything bad. I just can't think clearly at the moment. Do you really want to talk about this now?"
"Yes, actually," Lucian admitted, pulling his shirt back over his head before sitting next to her on the bed.
"Really?" she almost whined.
Lucian felt a little annoyed at her reluctance. "I don't want to sit on this too long before knowing what's going on here." He reached a gentle hand up to smooth her hair back. "What are we, Aislyn? Where do we go from here?"
"To the kitchens," she snapped. "For a cure to this damnable pounding." She met his eyes and, with a growl, slumped against his shoulder. "Sorry," she apologized. "I know that wasn't what you meant." She really was not in the mood to think but the sooner they sussed out what was going on between them, the sooner she could get her tea. Based on the pinched expression on the lycan's face, he felt about as good as she did. But if this was important enough to him for Lucian to ignore the pain, it was important enough to Aislyn, too.
"What do you want to be?" she asked at length. She felt him shift to put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to his side.
"I think," he said slowly and honestly, "we have both been pretending we're less than we are." That made sense to Aislyn and she nodded against his shoulder. "I want to know how you really feel, though."
"I thought I made that rather obvious last night," she muttered and Lucian sighed again.
"For a lycan, that would have been enough. It's how we function. You're not a werewolf, Aislyn. Your kind is different. You could go and sleep around all you want and it could mean absolutely nothing to you." He touched her chin with his free hand, turning her face up to his. "Do you see now why I don't want to do anything hasty?"
Aislyn opened her mouth to speak but cut herself off before a single sound came out. She really needed to watch what she said about this stuff. It was a sensitive subject for him and she was just about to let herself drop the Sonja bomb on him. She had to chide herself mentally about that. He had known Sonja from childhood when they made that fateful decision. He had known Aislyn three months.
Yet he had just said that last night would have been enough if she had been a lycan. They would have been sealed and she'd have to start making some announcements to her family. But he had held back because she was not a lycan and he feared she would not see it how he saw it. Was he right to be tentative about them becoming truly them? How did she feel? Could she be happily chained to him for an eternity? How had Sonja felt when she realized that he would be it forever? Did she know instantly or did she need time to reflect? Aislyn's head throbbed again and she groaned, attempting to bury her face in his neck. He tightened his arm around her and remained silent, giving her all the time she needed to come up with an answer.
"I understand if you need time," he said at last when she hadn't voiced any opinion. "But I don't want to go back to being just friends. I'm tired of it, Aislyn. I really don't want to play that game anymore."
She looked back up at him again and pressed her lips thin. She wanted badly to tell him she was willing to make that final leap now but something stopped her. She had a strong feeling that she needed to prove to him that he could trust her decision and if she did not take some time about this, he wouldn't take her at her word. Her eyes hardened in determination and he must have noticed that. Lucian smoothed her hair back again and leaned in to plant a soft kiss on her forehead.
"You know, most species," Aislyn started carefully, "partake in this thing called 'dating.'"
Lucian laughed suddenly then cringed as he head disagreed with the loud noise. "You're suggesting a courtship," he reiterated.
"I suppose so, yes." Aislyn nodded thoughtfully at his wording. "No hasty decisions but we don't have to maintain those irritating boundaries all the time."
"Alright." Lucian felt a burden lift off his chest at the thought of being open about his feelings. He hadn't realized how hard it had been to deny what was growing there until he no longer had to. There was a twinge of excitement there, too. With Sonja, it had been hidden for many years. No one had known; they had to be in complete secrecy. Aislyn's people, however, actually seemed to like him. The shear relief of not having to hide made Lucian's head feel exponentially better. Until, that is, he stood up too quickly and had to clutch his head half bent over.
"Now, what was that about tea?" he moaned.
Michael peeked over the banister, surveying the large open living room. There were a few lycans but, as the sun was still up, no vampires. He figured that was pretty safe and headed down the stairs. He spotted Raze – a partially familiar face from his brief stay in Lucian's Budapest den – and made his way over to the large werewolf.
The black man was sitting on the couch Lucian and Aislyn had claimed the night before. A hat sat upturned on the coffee table. Scattered around it and piled inside was part of a deck of cards. The other portion rested in Raze's hands as the wolf attempted to flick each rectangle of cardboard into the hat. Next to the hat was a large glass of water, ignored for so long that hundreds of little air bubbles plastered the inside walls.
Raze looked up as Michael approached. When the young man hesitated, Raze motioned toward an arm chair kiddy-corner to the couch, inviting the hybrid to join him. Michael nodded and sat then looked curiously at a blanket-wrapped bundle that lay on the couch near Raze. A messy shock of blond hair was barely visible at the far end.
"Who's that?" Michael asked quietly in Hungarian. Although his English was passable, he was more comfortable speaking his native tongue.
"Trina, Lucian's niece. Passed out about four last night," Raze replied in a hushed tone, not wanting to disturb her sleep.
Michael noticed Raze's eyes were rimmed with red and he frowned. "Have you been up all night?"
"Yes." The lycan gathered his cards and started again. "How is your mate?" It was an obvious attempt to change the subject and, although Michael wasn't sure why the other man didn't want to elaborate, the hybrid went along with it readily enough.
"She was awake for a bit but she didn't want to come out while it's still day." The hybrid made a vague gesture toward the ceiling. "She'll come down tonight. She wanted to thank you guys anyway and ask some questions." Raze nodded and they lapsed into silence for a bit.
"What exactly is going on here, anyway?" Michael asked at last. "Who are these people? And…" Michael hesitated before plowing ahead. "How the hell is Lucian here? Selene and I were there when he died. I checked his pulse. A rock had more vital signs."
Raze paused in his card-flicking. He sat back and regarded Michael with eyes that were very difficult to read. Finally, he shifted enough to set the cards aside and focused his full attention on the hybrid. "Do you remember the woman who was with Lucian when they found you the other night?"
"Lina. Yes, she explained a little to me but I'm not sure I fully understand. Her Hungarian is as bad as my English."
Raze could believe that and tried to explain the situation. He was not normally a man of many words but he did his best. "Lina was a Hunter – a lycan-slayer - before she was turned into one of these… Ancients. Her daughter Aislyn has inherited some disturbing magic. She pulled Lucian from the brink and brought him back." Raze shuddered slightly at the memory but continued. "Lucian agreed to come back with her. We followed. Now we are at war with these mindless creatures called Dolls."
Michael nodded. "Lina mentioned something about those, too. Selene and I wanted to offer our help. We have no where else to go in particular, and it is about the most we can do for your people saving our lives."
"It is not my decision whether or not to accept it," Raze told him honestly. "That is for the vampires and Lucian to decide. Although I doubt they would tell you no. We have lost a lot of people in this last fight."
"You guys talk too loud," a cranky female voice broke in speaking English. "Whatever gibberish you're going on about can wait."
Both men turned their heads to see a very frumpy Trina sitting up on the couch, blanket rumbled around her lap. She was rubbing blurry eyes, her cheeks flushed. She groaned as the lights of the living room hit her vision, sending shooting pains through her head. She blinked a few times, ran fingers through her short hair, then gazed at Michael curiously. "Who's he?" She sat up straighter. "Oh! You're that hybrid thingy Uncle made!"
Her headache seemed completely forgotten as she reached across Raze to offer Michael her hand. "Hi! Welcome to the coven! This place is great, you'll like it here. Are you going to join Uncle's pack? I mean, you're still part lycan, right? And he did make you a lycan so you have the right to be in his pack. I used to be in Adrian's pack but now I'm here." She shook his hand firmly, letting all her random thoughts bubble out in her excitement to meet the famous Michael. She had heard about him from the other members of Lucian's pack and had wanted to see what a hybrid would look like. He had vanished into his and Selene's room before Trina had woken up from her blow to the head and the young she-lycan had not had a good chance to sate her curiosity about the odd creature now in their midst.
Michael looked a little overwhelmed at her sudden exuberance and he glanced at Raze apprehensively. Trina was continuing to rattle off this and that without a clue that Michael didn't understand everything she was saying. The large lycan shrugged fractionally and went back to flipping cards into the hat. Trina sometimes took some getting used to but she meant well.
"Can I have that?" she asked quickly, pointing to the glass of water. "I don't think I've ever been this thirsty." She snagged the glass before Raze had a chance to say anything.
"You're dehydrated," the older wolf explained in his monotone. "Next time do not drink so much."
"Maybe next time you can actually drink some," she countered, setting the now empty glass back on the table. "What have you been doing all night? Did you stay out here the entire time?" Trina looked around and waved a greeting to the few other lycans present. They nodded politely back. Being the king's niece did give her some social standing in the pack.
Raze hesitated then nodded. "I was waiting up for Lucian. He never came back down…"
Michael jumped about a foot when Trina squealed. She would take a lot of getting used to, actually. He started to ask what that was for but snapped his jaw shut as she was starting to talk again. The hybrid settled on concentrating on trying to follow the English conversation.
"Do you think that…" Trina near whispered, hands covering her mouth.
Raze shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know."
"It would be about time," the girl continued. She tossed the blanket off her legs and stretched them out briefly. "And Lina would be beside herself with glee, wouldn't she."
"I think I would be more worried about Vlad if I were our Lord." Raze tossed his last card and sat back again. "He does not seem to be a very understanding man."
"Aislyn said he stopped impaling people years ago. Uncle will be fine."
Now Michael could not keep silent any longer. He wasn't sure if he understood correctly what they were getting at and his curiosity was getting the better of him. "Vlad? The man with the dark hair from before, Lina's man?"
Trina nodded. "Aislyn's father. He's the Vlad," she said, surprisingly solemn and with a tone hedging on conspiracy. "The one from the old stories that aren't supposed to be true but are. He's ancient, used to kill people with spikes."
Michael frowned, thinking back to his days at the university. When he had been studying pre-med, he had been forced to take a series of history classes not related to his major, some university policy that students had to be well rounded, or something. "Vlad the Impaler? That crazy Romanian king?"
"Yup, that's him." Trina nodded again.
"Wait." Michael held up a hand, half smirking. "Are you saying this is Dracula's house?"
"Yes," Raze answered this time. Michael started to laugh until he saw the look of dead seriousness on both lycan's faces.
"Seriously? Dracula?"
"He catches on quick doesn't he?" Trina half murmured out of the corner of her mouth to Raze in an unconscious imitation of Aislyn's snark. The large man did not bother to reply.
"He doesn't like to be called that, actually," a new voice supplied when no one spoke for a minute. "Just call him Vlad."
The lycans and hybrid looked up to see Lina walking toward them, stifling a yawn behind her hand. She wore a rather uncharacteristic neon-green robe and polka-dot bunny slippers, and looked as though she had been dragged behind a horse for the better part of a quarter mile. Lina carried a mug of something steamy in her other hand and she sipped at it occasionally, grimacing. It smelled strongly of unpleasant herbs.
Michael's initial response to seeing Lina was surprise. He had not expected to see any vampires walking around at that time of day. He covered his shock quickly as he noted there were no windows in this room. She would be relatively safe even if the sun was up. Why she would bother risking it was beyond him so he kept quiet. It wouldn't have mattered, though, if he had decided to ask about it. The she-lycan present was bubbling over with excitement and would have cut him off, anyway.
"Lucian spent the night in Aislyn's room!" Trina chirped by way of greeting when Lina sat next to her on the couch.
Lina winced initially as Trina's over exuberant voice cut into her hang-over. Then she straightened slightly and looked at the girl with greater interest. "Did he now? You're sure?"
Raze looked around for a moment as if checking that they were not being overheard before nodding slightly. "I checked his room not long ago when he never came back down. It is empty. It doesn't look like anyone has been in there all night. Last time I saw him he was taking Aislyn to her room."
Michael was listening closely again, trying to piece together the conversation. "Your daughter is Aislyn," he said to Lina, wanting confirmation that he was getting this straight. "The one who was fighting van Hellsing. She's with Lucian, he is mated now?"
Lina was tempted to laugh at the perplexed look on Michael's handsome face but shook her head instead. "We're hoping they're finally together but it has been a couple of months of very frustrating awkward silences."
Michael looked to Raze for a more clear translation. The dark wolf switched to Hungarian for the benefit of Michael's understanding. "They have been looking at each other like love-sick puppies since October. It's like watching teenagers."
"Very irritating," Lina agreed in her own terrible Hungarian.
Michael thought about that for a moment. He started to open his mouth to add how he hoped it would turn out well. He had memories from Lucian's bite and had seen Sonja's death as if he had been there. He knew that if anyone deserved some happiness it was the alpha. His words were cut off, though by the sound of a door from upstairs. The entire group fell silent as Lucian walked across the overlooking hallway to his own room, disappearing inside. If he had seen them, he had made no outward indication.
Lina looked to Raze and Trina, eyebrows up. They shook their heads.
"Too far away," Raze explained. "When either come down we should know."
"Indeed." Lina pursed her lips.
"Know what?" Michael added.
"Mated couples take on a certain scent," Trina explained. "Can't you sense it?" When Michael shook his head, Trina shrugged. "Must be something lost when you were mixed. Usually you can tell who is with whom. Like, just sitting here with Lina I know she's Vlad's mate even if she never told me so."
"That is a bit weird," Michael admitted.
"Not if you're used to it," Trina said.
A moment after Lucian's brief appearance, before anyone could make further comments on the matter, Aislyn emerged from her bedroom dressed still in her pajamas. She made her way laboriously down the stairwell, one hand gripping the side of her head tightly as if she were afraid it would fall off if she let go. The young woman spared the group a brief glance and a lifting of her hand in greeting before disappearing into the kitchen.
Lina shot a questioning look to the lycans. Trina's face had deflated in disappointment. Raze's expression was as stoic as usual. "Well," the vampress said as she stood. "I'm going to at least find out exactly what did happen." She followed her daughter's path and was soon gone into the kitchens.
Aislyn was standing at a counter on the far end concocting two mugs of the Hang-Over Tea from herbs Lina had left out for just that purpose. She glanced over her shoulder at her mother as Lina approached. "Mornin'," Aislyn greeted gruffly.
"Afternoon," Lina replied. She sipped her own tea and leaned back against the counter next to Aislyn. "Have a good night?"
The corner of Aislyn's eye twitched ever so slightly. "Sure. Drank too much." She held up a sprig of peppermint as if to indicate she was brewing that specific tea for a very good reason.
"Two mugs? Must be some hang-over." Lina shot the porcelain a distinct look.
"One is for Lucian," Aislyn explained evenly.
"How do you know he'll need it?"
Aislyn rolled her eyes and turned to face Lina fully. Her head hurt, she was thirsty, and now was not the time to be pestered about her love-life by her own mom. "Stop fishing, Mother. We didn't have sex."
Lina attempted to look affronted but failed miserably. She gave up on that, shrugged, and stirred her tea with a finger lazily. "So what did you do?"
"Nothing." Aislyn went back to waiting for the water to boil. She hoped it would happen soon so she had an excuse to ignore this uncomfortable conversation.
"Right, and you were an immaculate conception." Lina set her tea down and cocked her head at her daughter. "Aisy, honey, I'm your mother. You can always talk to me about these things."
"Mother, I am thirty-five years old. I am not a child. I don't need to have 'the talk.'" She lifted her hands and made the quote marks with her fingers. "And I am not talking about this with you of all people. What I do in the privacy of my bedroom, and with whom I do it, is none of your business." The tea pot started to whistle violently and Aislyn practically dived for it in her haste to busy her hands with something.
"Oh, so something did happen last night!" Lina clapped her hands and leaned closer to Aislyn. "If you can't tell your mother these things, who can you tell?"
"Tekala?" Aislyn supplied. "Trina? Selene, even? People through whose birth canal I have not traveled, perhaps?"
"You know I'm more than happy to share bed-secrets with you if you need any advice-"
"Holy Hell, I am not hearing this!" Aislyn snagged both the mugs and made a bee-line for the door to the living room.
"You know I'm not going to stop until I get what I want," Lina continued. "You know, one time your father did this thing with a feather that-"
Aislyn spun on her heel and glared at her mother. "I gave him a blow job, alright? Happy? Are you satisfied now that you know? Will you please drop this and let me get over this damnable pain in my head before my skull splits open and my brains pour out onto the tile?"
"I think you're being a little dramatic," Lina confessed. "Your brains aren't going anywhere."
"Mother!" Aislyn took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. "Will you at least promise not to tell anyone? Especially not Daddy?"
Lina snorted at that. "Why the hell would I talk to your father about this? I may be nosy, Sweetheart, but I'm not an idiot."
The younger vampire sighed and screwed her eyes shut for a long moment. "I know you're not an idiot," she ground out through her teeth. "You're just a gossip."
"I promise I won't breathe a word of this unless you give me permission." Lina reached over and smoothed wild hair out of Aislyn's face. "I just want to see you happy."
"Thank you." Aislyn turned again and pushed her way out of the kitchen. Lina followed closely behind.
"So do we have a status for the relationship?" Lina asked quietly before they rejoined the others. Aislyn ignored her pointedly and quickened her pace. Lucian had arrived while she had been making the tea and she was eager to end the conversation with Lina as soon as possible.
The alpha was sitting on the love seat, his clothing changed and his hair damp from the quick shower he had taken while Aislyn was in the kitchen. He had his head tilted to rest on the back of the small couch. One arm was thrown across his eyes to block out the lights. He looked up when he heard the foot falls of the two woman, though, and smiled a welcome at Aislyn.
She handed him a mug then took the cushion next to him. She started to drink the hot liquid without a word while he inspected the contents of the tea. "So this is it?" he murmured. "It smells awful."
Aislyn smirked over the top of her mug. "Oh don't worry. It tastes twice as bad."
Lucian took a swig and nearly choked before swallowing it down. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're trying to poison me."
"Give it fifteen minutes," Lina commented, taking her seat next to Trina again. "You'll swear by it."
The lycan took another drink and grimaced. "At this point, the hang-over seems better than the cure."
"Drink it quickly, you'll hardly taste it at all," Aislyn suggested. He took her up on the advice and downed the contents of the mug in a few more gulps. He gagged a few times and coughed into the crook of his arm, eyes starting to water. "Of course," Aislyn added in the tone of one remembering something too late that was probably important, "that does make the after-taste worse…"
The lycan-king set his mug ever so carefully on the coffee table while he worked to compose himself. He turned to say something possibly scathing, saw a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, and felt any upset vaporize instantly. He could not be mad at her, especially after the last twenty-four hours. He shook his head at her, rolled is eyes and sat back against the cushion of the couch, laying his arm along the back.
Without a pause to consider her actions, Aislyn snuggled herself into the crook of that arm, pulling her feet up onto the seat. She clutched her mug and sipped slowly, letting the soothing herbs take their effect. She ignored the triumphant look that flittered across the face of her mother and didn't bother to even look at the others.
No one spoke at first. Lucian decided to consider their silence as respect for his headache and not as a commentary on Aislyn's actions. Besides, their relationship was no one's business but their own. At least, that was what they were intent to tell themselves when their respective families decided to pry. Being such high profile people, they were well aware that they were going to be bringing a lot of attention to themselves. They just hoped it would smooth over given enough time.
"So when do we get to meet Selene?" Trina asked at last, breaking the start of a potentially awkward silence.
Michael mentally shook himself and looked at the young wolf. "When the sun sets."
"Oh, right." Trina nodded thoughtfully. "She's a Viral, right?"
"A… what?" Michael frowned and turned to Raze. The large man sighed at his newly appointed roll as translator but obliged regardless.
"Virals is what these Ancients call Viktor's lot." He paused, wondering what else he could say. Although Aislyn was not his favorite person – due mainly to how she had placed him under that full body control on their first meeting - he silently thanked her when she came to his rescue.
The younger of the vampresses explained as clearly as she could what Vlad and the Ancients were compared to the Virals. She spoke Hungarian for Michael's benefit but could hear Raze murmuring a brief translation in English into Trina's ear so the girl would not be left out. Aislyn made a mental note to ask Lucian about maybe getting Trina some tutelage, especially in other languages. Adrian's ideas of education were rather lacking.
When she had finished, Michael was slowly nodding his head as if it made a lot of sense. He had not been in this life for very long and was much more open to new ideas than a Viral would have been, or a full-blooded lycan for that matter. Only Lucian's immediate clan really knew that these vampires were a different breed than Viktor's kind. Most of the other packs assumed that Vlad was like Adrian: some offshoot cousin of the major branch that decided they didn't want to be bothered so they moved to an island to get away. The vampires of the Tepes coven were more than happy to let the London packs think that and did not bother to correct them.
"Can I tell all this to Selene?" Michael asked when Aislyn went quiet.
"Yes," Lina answered for her daughter. As the matriarch, she did have more say in things than Aislyn did. "I doubt you came down here, leaving your recovering wife to herself, because you strictly wanted our company. If this isn't a reconnaissance mission to answer some of her questions, I'll eat my slipper."
Michael looked taken aback at first, then smirked and nodded. "She's a little tired of being cooped up but doesn't want to risk the chance of any sunlight hitting her. She really wanted to know a few things, though, and didn't want to wait until she could leave the room."
"I don't blame her. I vaguely remember a time not long ago where I was told to stay in one room for the duration of a recovery," Aislyn said with a bit of pert. Lucian turned his head toward her and raised his brows in mock surprise.
"Yes, and I found you at Victoria Tower," he remarked dryly. "At least Selene has the sense to stay where she has been put."
"This coming from a man that escaped prison to start a six hundred year war," Aislyn commented into her mug. She clamped her mouth shut and shot him an apologetic look but he ignored her words and only squeezed her shoulders slightly to let her know it hadn't upset him. Everyone except for Michael understood how grumpy Aislyn could get when she was not feeling at one-hundred percent.
"Actually, I am surprised she has been there for this long," Michael said, switching back to his heavily accented English to save Raze from his continual raspy translation. "From what I know, she did not behave herself this well at Viktor's."
"That's because we can only have one badly behaved vampire at a time living here. House rules." Lina ducked as a pillow came flying at her from Aislyn's direction. "Case in point." Lina snagged the pillow and threw it back.
Although nothing was explicitly said - besides the confession by Aislyn to Lina in the kitchen earlier that day - everyone who saw Lucian and the younger vampire was aware of the shifted nature of their relationship. The vampires that started emerging once the sun had set were non-committal about their opinions on the matter. Aislyn was their master's daughter. If Vlad wasn't raising a stink about it, none of them would, either. There were perhaps a few that didn't agree with the fact that her chosen man was a lycan but no one could fault her for aiming high on the social ladder. Lycan or not, Lucian was still a king.
The werewolves of Lucian's immediate pack were supportive if a bit confused about the whole affair. They knew well enough Lucian's tastes had always tended toward vampire and Aislyn had proven herself as a warrior to them long ago. She would make a strong, if very unorthodox, queen. Why she hadn't been elevated to that status yet was a mystery to a specie where attraction was all it really took to find one's life partner. As soon as love was discovered that was it, good enough, together forever. I was obvious to any lycan that if Aislyn had been a wolf, they would already have a queen. What were they waiting for?
No one said anything, however. They let the odd drama play out. Some from both species were of the opinion that the courtship period Lucian and Aislyn were observing had something to do with the memory of Sonja. Lucian had been mated before and it had not ended well. Perhaps they were trying not to be too hasty about this? Neither Lucian nor Aislyn made any explanations for their behavior, though, so no one commented aloud, or at least within ear shot.
Selene finally made her appearance that evening when the sun had completely dipped out of sight, maintaining her ruse that she was not the Daywalker she had become. Michael accompanied her down to the living room and into the quiet corner Lucian's little circle had claimed. Although she had awoken a day or so ago, she had yet to leave the confines of her and Michael's chambers for fear her body had not fully recovered. She did not want to do anything to compromise her health in this new and potentially dangerous situation.
The first thing Selene noticed was the lycans. They were all over the manor and it had taken a lot of nerve for her to step out of her room knowing they were there. She had spent her life killing them. Some were bound to remember her unkindly. Michael had to continually reassure her that there was peace now between these vampires and the werewolves. No one was going to be maiming anyone else while under this roof.
Then there was Lucian himself. Even Michael's forewarning that the alpha was not as dead as previously believed had not fully prepared her for the sight of him. She had once lived in fear of him, as all of Viktor's people did, and was having a sickening feeling of déjà vu to know he was, again, still alive after being killed by Kraven. It was actually slightly ironic but Selene was not in the mood to dwell on such thoughts.
Almost as shocking was the vampire sitting ever so casually next to the lycan-king, her hand resting on his thigh, his arm possessively around her shoulders. Selene knew her and felt a very weird sensation in the pit of her stomach akin to panic but not quite the same. It was as if someone had put someone else in a picture where they did not belong.
"You," Selene murmured when she walked up with Michael. The group paused in their conversation and looked between Aislyn and Selene with kindled interest.
"Hello, Selene. You're looking well," Aislyn replied evenly. She had known this was coming and it would involve a lot more explanation and reveal more secrets of Vlad's coven. At least she had been given a few days to decide what all to tell the Viral.
Michael led his mate to one of the couches and urged her to sit, placing himself on the couch between her and any of the strangers in an attempt to make her feel more secure. "I'm a little... confused," Selene admitted. "Michael has been telling me some very strange things. I take it you're not really from Amelia's coven." It was not a question but was still directed at Aislyn.
"Not remotely. I'm not even Viral." Aislyn pursed her lips. "Did Michael tell you what we told him this afternoon?"
Selene nodded, eyes flicking around the group of immortals. She recognized Raze from the train station the day she had first found Lucian's den. Lucian, naturally, she knew, as well as Aislyn. The others, however, were all strangers.
Aislyn unconsciously snuggled a little closer to Lucian while she waited for Selene to voice whatever question was buzzing around in her head. She knew the older woman would be confused and perhaps a little unnerved by the turn of events in her life.
"I don't understand how you were even there, in my coven." Selene frowned ever so slightly. "You were protection for the emissary."
"Your lot are not the only Virals in the world," Aislyn murmured. "You knew that, right?"
"Of course I know that," Selene retorted. "And stop calling me that. It sounds demeaning."
Aislyn took a moment to compose herself, biting back a remark that she was only calling them what they were. That was unfair. The term was merely a label that had stuck, like calling the zombie-like vampires 'Dolls.' "There is at least one coven of your kind in London. There may be more but we mostly ignore them and they ignore us. They are peaceful, unlike Viktor's lot. We are acquainted with one of their Elders and she owed us a favor." Aislyn did not elaborate on that and it was clear she had no intention to. "She had acquaintance with Amelia and it was arranged for me to go to Amelia's clan this past July under the guise of being a new Death Dealer. From there I managed to weasel my way into going with the emissary."
"Who is the Elder?" Selene asked softly, eyes narrowing a fraction. She knew of a few renegade vampires that had managed to vanish before Viktor had them killed. None had ever really caused any trouble so the coven had ignored them, letting them live their lives in secrecy wherever they chose to settle.
"Her name is Luka," Aislyn replied. She had opened her mouth to say something else but hissed as Lucian's nails suddenly dug into her shoulder. She shot him a sharp look, about to say something snippy but it died on her lips at the look on his face.
This was information he had not heard before. He knew how Aislyn had infiltrated the Virals but she had never mentioned the name of the Elder and he had never found it pertinent to ask. Now he wished he had. He felt her wince and realized what he had done. Slowly, the lycan retracted his claws. He muttered an apology in a tone meant for Aislyn's ears alone. At the question in her eyes, he shook his head almost imperceptibly. They would talk about this later.
"I don't know of her," Selene admitted. She had seen the odd exchange between Aislyn and Lucian, though. "But I think that you do," she addressed the lycan.
"Unfortunately." Lucian sighed. He was not in the mood to talk about this, especially not in public and most especially not to Selene. He rubbed his forehead with his free hand, trying to ignore a headache that was starting to form. He was pretty sure his hang-over was gone and had nothing to do with his current state of pain.
"How?" Selene pressed, her curiosity getting the better of her. She had been raised on so many lies that she knew nothing of the world before she was turned by Viktor. Pretty much everything she had ever read about the start of the war was based entirely on fiction Viktor had created to keep her in the dark. Now, due to some miracle beyond her complete understanding, Lucian had survived Kraven's attack and was there in front of her. She knew the answers she craved were hidden away in that secretive mind of his.
"That doesn't concern you," Lucian replied darkly, his eyes warning her to back off. Selene eyed him hard for a moment before glancing at the others present. They seemed slightly uncomfortable about the growing confrontation.
Lina came to the rescue, quickly changing the subject. "Selene, where are our manners tonight? You only know Aislyn and Lucian. You were quite unconscious when you arrived here. I'm Lina." The red-eyed woman leaned forward over the coffee table to offer her hand. Selene took it tentatively and shook. Introductions proceeded around the group until Selene knew that names of Trina, Raze, and Dubas. Her eyes lingered of the second lieutenant's sling for a fraction of a second. That must have been the man Michael said lost his arm. It was re-attached but only time would tell if it would be functional.
"So this is your coven?" Selene asked of Lina, trying to sort through the information Michael had brought to her earlier that evening.
"My husband's," Lina corrected. "Although I am in charge during the daylight hours when Vlad cannot come out."
Selene frowned noticeably. What did that mean?
"We're Daylights," Aislyn's voice added when she noticed the peculiar expression on the Viral's face. "Something to do with the Hunter blood. Michael told you about Mother being a Hunter?"
Selene nodded. "You can go out at day?"
"Yes," mother and daughter answered simultaneously.
"Can anyone else?" Selene's heart rate had picked up, although she hid the excitement well. Too many years of being a Death Dealer led to difficulty breaking her stoic barriers. It was getting easier with Michael around but she still did not easily show her emotions to others.
"Just us," Lina said with a shrug. "We still haven't figured out why that is or we'd have turned the whole coven to Daylight vampires."
Selene exchanged a silent questioning look with Michael. The hybrid nodded encouragingly to his woman. She seemed unsure, though. "I may," she finally started slowly, "be able to help with that."
Michael had been right that these particular vampires were no threat to their well-being. As unconventional as this mixture of vampires and lycans was to a woman who had spent the majority of the last six centuries killing the other immortal species, they seemed to harbor no ill-will or bad vibes toward the two newest members of the house. She also owed them a debt for her life. She knew Michael was right that they should offer any assistance they could.
"It is a long story that deals with how we ended up here in London," Selene warned as she settled herself back into the crook of Michael's arm.
"We live forever," Lucian snorted from his seat. "Where the hell do we have to be?"
Aislyn elbowed him, sending the lycan a dark look. He had turned decidedly testy since she had mentioned Luka. She would be damned if they weren't discussing this before bed.
"Please, tell your story," Lina urged, bringing Selene's eyes away from Lucian and back to the vampress-matron. "I'm curious what befell you after you left that den in Budapest. We've only heard of what happened before that from Lucian and his men."
"Well," Selene started slowly, trying to figure out what all to actually tell them and what wasn't really that important. "Once I bit Michael, Viktor came. He tried to justify what he did, but I knew him for the monster he was. Michael saved me when Viktor tried to kill me, and I killed Viktor with his own sword." She paused to consider what to say next. She noticed Lucian's eyes boring into her with a great deal of intensity and she had a bad feeling about mentioning that they were the ones who took his pendant. Steeling herself, she said it anyway.
"I'm not sure why, but it was important," she tried to explain. Although he did not speak, she could see the corner of the lycan's eye twitch. "We went into hiding for the night at an old, abandoned lab station in the woods…" she pushed on with her story. She told of Marcus becoming a hybrid and how they had to hide in a barn for the day because of her burns. She did omit the consummation of her and Michael's relationship. That wasn't vital to the events of her tale and it was none of their damn business, anyway.
"It was there that I realized I had seen the pendant before, when I was a child. We took it to Tanis knowing he would have the answers and would be easily manipulated to give them to us." She glanced at Lucian. "You seemed to know that, too."
"Tanis was a very resourceful individual for being banished. Viktor should have killed him," Lucian mused. "A vampire with only his own self-preservation at heart was a useful ally."
"Yes, we found the UV-rounds he developed." Selene shook her head. "But that is beside the point. We went to him to find out what he knew about the pendant, not to accuse him of double-crossing his own species…" She vaguely outlined what they learned about the key being crafted to lock William away, about her family being the ones who made the tomb, and that they had to go to the docks to meet the Sweepers. The story of the fight with a hybrid Marcus and of Michael's and Alexander's deaths was met with a very thick silence filled with the rapt attention of everyone present. Selene felt a little uncomfortable with all of their eyes on her so intently.
"The blood of Alexander Corvinus," Lucian breathed finally. "So if you were to bite a human, they may turn to a Daywalker should they survive the virus?"
"More importantly," Lina said, her eyes shining, "What would happen if you bit one of us? Not myself or Aislyn, we are already Daylights. But if you bit Vlad…" she was looking far away, her voice fading into silent thoughts.
"Or if he bit you," Aislyn added. "You bit Alexander to get how you now are. What if Daddy drank your blood? Would the effect be passed on since our vampirism is more of a genetic mutation and not a viral strain?" She exchanged a very significant look with Lina before an excited vice broke in.
"Who cares right now?!" Trina exclaimed. "Michael's dead, Alexander is dying, and Marcus has the key!" She was sitting on the very edge of her seat, wriggling in anticipation. Only Raze's quick hand to the back of her hooded sweatshirt kept her from slipping off her perch.
Even Michael's forewarning about the bubbly young she-lycan was not quite enough to prepare Selene for this woman. She stared at the tiny blond, not sure what to make of her. Were all female lycans like this? There weren't any in Lucian's pack and Selene had not dealt much with she-wolves before. She had probably killed a few in her lifetimes but she had not exactly stopped to chat first.
"Please continue your story!" the she-lycan was pleading. Green eyes so like Lucian's shone from the woman's face at Selene. "It's so exciting, just like a movie!"
"Trina." Lucian barked sharply, giving her a stern look that told her to be silent.
"Yes, Uncle," she murmured meekly, looking a little shamefaced at being reprimanded by the alpha. Lucian turned his gaze to Selene and made a motion to encourage her to finish her tale.
The Viral nodded and continued. She explained how they found the dilapidated castle where the tomb was, fighting Marcus and William, Michael's miraculous appearance, and finally the death of both founders of the species'.
"All three vampire Elders gone." Lucian's face was set with satisfaction.
"What brought you here?" Aislyn asked. "If you didn't know Luka and had no idea I was here, why London?"
"Michael's idea, actually."
Eyes turned to the hybrid and he fidgeted. "An old friend of mine from medical school," he said in his deliberate and thick English. "He came for work. He told me if I needed a place to stay, and London seemed safe enough, far away from fighting." He smirked at the irony. "We should have gone to Fiji."
Lina snickered. "Well, we're glad to have you if you need a place to stay."
"Thank you," Selene said solemnly. She hesitated a minute before touching Michael's arm and jerking her head toward Lucian. Michael jumped slightly as though burned.
"Right." He had almost forgotten. Carefully, he pulled something out from under his shirt. It glittered in the artificial lights of the living room. "We grabbed it before we left the castle," he said in Hungarian. He was addressing Lucian directly and felt it would be easier in their native tongue. "I didn't know why at the time, but now I think it was because it wanted to come home." He offered it to the lycan-king, who reached a trembling hand out to take Sonja's pendant from the hybrid.
Lucian ran his fingers lightly over the metal, not sure what to say or do about the return of what had been his most treasured possession for centuries. He wanted to put it on, feel the familiar heaviness against his chest that was a constant reminder of his late mate. But Aislyn sat beside him, a woman he was certain now would be his mate in the coming months. How would she feel about it? Perhaps he should just pocket it, store it away somewhere safe for the rest of eternity. The thought of placing Sonja's memory in a box stung, though.
A pair of gentle hands covered his in that moment of indecision. With careful and deliberate motions, Aislyn popped the clasp and reached around Lucian's neck to fasten it there. The look he cast her way was filled with gratitude at her understanding. A weight lifted off his shoulders as she smiled, tucked his hair back behind his ears, then turned her attention to the group.
They were discussing the Dolls in more detail for the benefit of filling Michael and Selene in on the situation. Everyone was pointedly ignoring the emotional exchange between the powerful king and the daughter of the house.
"No one has any idea where the creator is?" Selene was asking.
"No. Whoever is doing this is damn good at covering his tracks. We can't seem to get a hold of one of the Dolls either to study it." Lina growled slightly under her breath. "They tend to turn into powder after so long."
"I could see how that would be frustrating," Selene admitted.
"I think our next course of action should be to talk with the Hunters we're on neutral terms with," Aislyn said, joining the conversation. "Especially after Christmas."
"None of them were present, were they?" Lucian asked. Aislyn shook her head.
Lina put a hand to her chin, thinking. "Yes, I have been wondering if perhaps talking with them would do us some good. They probably have alliances with other Hunter clans. We might be able to arrange a sort of peace-treaty with them. I doubt they would help us get rid of the Dolls but we could at least get them off our backs until after we've found the hellion that's making the Dolls."
"Any luck keeping the Slayers from causing problems?" Dubas spoke for the first time. He rubbed absently at his lifeless hand, remembering that it was Helena that had taken it from him.
"Doubtful," Lina replied grimly. "Maybe a couple of the lower ranked clans will agree to ignore us but no one is going to go against the wishes of van Hellsing. If she tells them to jump, they don't even bother asking how high, they just start jumping until she tells them to stop."
"We need to cut the head off the snake," Dubas grumbled.
"Be my guest," Lina returned dryly. "None of us have been able to yet."
"Vlad could have," Raze rumbled. "He had her right there but let her go."
Lina sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Yes, I know. But if we had killed her, the others would not have backed down until either all of us or all of them were dead. They're a disciplined lot. Not even the death of their beloved leader will deter them during a mission."
"Truce was the only way out without losing more," Lucian murmured, nodding slowly. He had wondered at Vlad's actions, too, but had not had time to really dwell on it. Too many other things had happened between Christmas and the present. Now that he knew, he had to agree with Vlad's actions. It was the best way to preserve the life left.
"Let's deal with one thing at a time," Aislyn suggested. "We're spread so thin already with all the patrols and Doll attacks. Hunters first, then we'll see what we can do about the Slayers while we look for more clues about the Doll Maker."
Lina stood from her seat and smiled down at Selene. "I need to go talk to my esteemed husband and let him know what foolhardy thing his daughter and I are up to now. Please, make yourselves at home." She turned and walked away from the group, vanishing through one of the doors beneath the walkway and into Vlad's private studies.
Aislyn stood a bit awkwardly on the landing, wondering if she should be heading for her bedroom, or Lucian's. He had vanished into his rooms a quarter hour ago. They had not exactly discussed if they intended to share quarters or if they were merely being more open about their affections. She knew the latter to be true as they had done some copious snuggling while in the living room. Where was she supposed to be sleeping, though, was an entirely different matter. Finally, giving up on figuring it out, she went to her own rooms and started preparing for bed. She had gotten as far as pulling her shirt up over her head when the door to her main room clicked open then closed. She looked curiously toward the bedroom door and waited to see if it was going to be Lina or Lucian coming through it. She couldn't suppress the grin when it turned out to be the lycan.
He smiled back, finding her expression contagious. He had a bundle of something in his arms that he tossed onto the top of a dresser. It looked like a change of clothes.
"I take it you're staying here tonight?" She asked, jerking her head at the clothing.
"I didn't see a 'no vacancy' sign," he replied, smirking.
"What, so I'm a hotel now?" She tossed her shirt at his face. He caught it deftly and redirected it to the laundry hamper in one corner.
"Party of one, checking in," he retorted, moving to wrap his arms around her waist and press his forehead to hers. "Actually, I figured since we have a few things to discuss tonight, I would stay over. If that's alright with you, of course."
"I'll have to ask my Mother. I'm not usually allowed to host slumber parties." She squealed as he pinched her hip. "Of course you can stay," she said seriously. "I'm rather glad you're here, actually. We need to have a chat about you and your reaction to one Luka."
He pulled back from her slightly, sighed, and then released her to allow the woman to continue her bedtime prep. She made quick work of her garb, tossing it into the hamper with varying degrees of success. Lucian moved to pick up the pieces that did not make it, pausing to admire her before she slipped under the covers. She ran her hand over the bed next to her, patting it a few times invitingly. With a smile, Lucian disrobed, set the pendant on the nightstand, and crawled in. He flipped off the lamp then settled himself on his back; he tugged her toward him so she was resting with her head on his shoulder, one hand splayed over the hair on his chest. She toyed with it idly, exploring the surprisingly silky texture. Not many vampires had hairy chests so this was new to her and she rather liked it.
"How do you know Luka?" Aislyn asked at last in a partially sleepy voice. She was warm and comfortable but wasn't about to be lulled to sleep before she could get her answers.
She felt him sigh under her hand. "Luka was Sonja's maidservant," he murmured softly. "Until Tanis and Viktor found out and the proverbial shit hit the fan, she was the only one that knew." He felt her hand pause in its gentle ministrations but her fingers started stroking again almost immediately.
"Did she betray you?" she asked at length.
"No. It was actually her that told me Viktor had captured Sonja and intended to execute her." He blinked up at the dark canopy of the bed. "She kept Sonja's secrets but she was never happy about it. I wonder if she still blames me…"
"Well, with luck you'll never have to run into her and find out. We do very little with the Virals in London and she is adamant about staying out of any war, regardless of what the war is about." Aislyn pushed herself up onto her elbow to look down at him in the darkness. She could barely see his face but knew he was wearing a pained expression by the tone of his voice. This was not an easy topic for him. It was something she was going to have to accept and live with if they planned on making this work between them.
He nodded and she felt more than saw the motion. "That war is over but it still comes back to haunt me when I least expect it. I'm tired of these little surprises." He felt a hand cup his cheek and leaned against her palm.
"I'm sorry I didn't mention her specifically before."
He shook his head against her palm. "Don't be. Luka was insignificant to the coven in those years. It's no wonder she survived to start her own clan; she would be easily overlooked as unimportant. You would not have known she was another shadow of my past." He felt her move above him and returned the light kiss she suddenly placed on his lips.
"Perhaps from now on we can carry a very bright flashlight to ward off further shadows," she murmured, pulling back slightly. He tucked stray strands of hair behind her ears before pulling her back down.
"Only if you promise not to stop whatever that is you're doing with your hands," he gasped into her ear as he felt them roam lower. Her lips curved up cattishly and conversation was suddenly the last thing of their minds. There were, after all, plenty of things that did not constitute actual mating…
AN: Holy moly, that took a while. Hope you enjoyed it. Please do not leave any scathing remarks, only constructive critz!
