I don't really have an excuse for why I haven't updated in so long. The best I can offer is that I've been working constantly, and I ended up quitting one of my jobs because of stress. I'm really sorry for the lack of updates. I do intend to finish this story for everyone, though; as an added incentive for it, I've even written part of the final chapter to this already. Anyways, here's the new chapter.
Chapter Nine
"To find fulfillment…don't exist with life – embrace it."
- Jim Beggs
Hector was always such a hard person to read. It's not that he closed himself off to her, but his life was too open to her. He laid everything out of his life in his head to her, and fully expected her to look at his memories, and get to know him.
It was easier to just read his emotions. But his heart pumped in synch with hers, as though they were a single person. Even now it was unsettling.
Hector led her into another bedroom. It was a very inviting room, even if it was a little bare. There was only one window in here, but it had steel inside shutters to shut out any sunlight. That would make it easier for him to move around in the house if he had to during the day.
"Something is odd about this blood. It's not corrupted, but there's something…not quite right about it."
That was what Brahm had said when he took a little of Martin's blood. Just a little though, and not enough to count for a blood exchange. The other man had still been unconscious, but Brahm's claim made Hector a little uneasy. What if a mage had gotten to Martin? Maybe that was the "taint" that Brahm could sense. Hector didn't like knowing so little about the human man.
Penny slowly sat down on the bed. "Well, what is it?"
Just seeing her dark eyes on him was enough to dispel Martin from Hector's mind for the moment. Without saying a word swept over to her and took her into his arms. He curled his body around hers and gently guided her to lay down with him on the bed. The feel of her in his arms gave him such a profound sense of comfort. He could feel the ache in his chest of the sympathy he felt for Brahm, and his tragic predicament. Mostly in part because it was all too similar to his own circumstances, and he fully understood the pain and emptiness the unclaimed hunter was experiencing.
"Hector." Penny felt slightly awkward as she slid an arm around his abdomen. His body felt warm, and to lie here like this with him was so…natural. It made her heart pound. "Did something happen at the facility?"
Instead of responding, Hector leaned over and pressed a kiss over her mouth. The sensation of it was almost too much for him. He groaned quietly and pressed small kisses around her mouth, on her cheeks and across her face. He buried his fingers into her curls and arched her neck slightly, his mouth moving over her chin and downwards.
Penny knew he was going to take her blood, drink from her again. She knew she could say no, and try to push him away. But she didn't want to. He was kissing her so simply, and yet it stirred many things inside of her. It was terrifying, but she couldn't deny him. She didn't want to. As if sensing her thoughts Hector leaned back up and claimed her mouth once more with a deeper intimacy than before. He maneuvered her so that she was underneath him on the bed, still kissing her so deeply. Penny could feel a soft groan in her throat and she dug her fingers into his shoulders.
Hector broke the kiss with great reluctance, and buried his face into her dark curls. He took in her naturally sweet scent, and his body clenched with need once more. But he knew he couldn't claim her body; not yet. Though she hadn't run from him again she still was wary of him. He could feel her fear of him taking her blood, and he knew better than to take it any further than that. He knew it would be difficult for her to understand that he was trying to keep her safe.
He couldn't deny himself anymore. And, he didn't want to scare her further by prolonging the wait. Hector dipped his head down, gently tilting her head back with his hand. He tenderly kissed along the curve of her neck, feeling her pulse pound strongly against his mouth. His tongue slid over her skin, directly above her pulse.
"Hector—!" Penny gasped.
His teeth gently grazed her skin before they sank deep. Penny gasped again, and her eyes squeezed shut at the sharp pain. Her fingers dug deep into his shoulders. She knew she had to push him away, but she wasn't. Instead her hands curled into his shirt and her body arched against him. As much as it hurt, feeling his mouth on him and taking her blood invoked so many feelings inside her. She was scared, and she thought it was all crazy…but her body was relaxing, her heart slowing down and easing away from panic. Her head fell back against the bed, only held steady by the hand he had woven into her curls, his other hand bracing himself against the bed.
Hector pulled himself away from her, gasping for breath. The feel of her skin against his mouth and her blood inside him made his body so incredibly hot and full of need. He lay her fully down upon the bed, as he forced himself to relax. His natural instincts were ordering him to claim her body and to complete the ritual of their bond. And oh, how he wanted to give into temptation!
But…but he looked down upon Penny. Her body and her soul had instinctively submitted to him, but not her mind. And he'd taken too much blood; her eyes were closed, surely now because she didn't have the strength to open them, and her breathing was labored. Her face was so pale too…her hair looked black surrounding it.
Hector cursed to himself, and scrubbed a hand through his hair. It was what he intended, but he regretted not showing restraint, and taking too wantonly from Penny. There was nothing he could do about it now. She needed blood, and this would count as her second blood exchange.
"I give of myself freely to you, sívamet," he spoke aloud, slowly removing his shirt and baring his broad chest. "Anything and all of me…my body and my life, I give only for you."
He cradled Penny into his arms as the fingernail on his index finger extended. "You must drink my blood, Penny. Please, take from me of your own free will." He cut a line straight over his heart and guided her head towards the wound. "Don't be afraid…"
Penny's head felt so heavy…and she knew Hector had taken a lot of her blood. Not enough to be lethal, but well over enough. And she knew that he wanted her to drink his blood. She groaned weakly in dismay, and awaited his compulsion on her mind to force her to drink.
Only, it didn't come. She could smell his blood in front of her, but he wasn't taking control of her. He'd wanted her to take his blood freely, without the compulsion. That he was giving her this much freedom was moving, but he still took her blood!
"Don't fight me," Hector soothed, gently pressing her mouth over his wound. "Take all that you need, päläfertiil. My life exists just for you…"
It was unnatural. People just didn't drink blood! But Penny felt the hot fluid under her lips. She remembered the taste of it the last time he'd given her blood and though it frightened her, she still remembered it. And…it didn't disgust her.
Because I need it. Because I need the blood because he took it from me…
She opened her mouth on her own and started to drink. She tried not to think about how weird it was—she was still a human, after all. Nor did she want to think about how good it felt.
It was a struggle for him to maintain control. He held onto her so gently, trying not to give in to the temptation of possessing her. This was enough…this had to be enough for now!
It was a little while longer before Penny regained most of her strength, and she tried to pull away. "Stop it, Hector."
Hector released her, and sealed his wound. "Are you okay, Penny?"
Despite having her strength back, Penny's arm still felt like a lead weight as she raised her hand to wipe her mouth. "Don't ever do that again. Don't think you can just take my blood whenever you like! You know what it does to me! How sick it makes me feel, and how I can't eat or look at lights! So why did you do it again?"
Her anger stung him deeply, but Hector knew that he deserved it in a way. "Forgive me, sívamet." He retrieved his shirt and slid it back on. "Being around the hunter forced me to recall painful memories. I've lost too much in my life, and if I…" he shook his head. No, no. He couldn't think of the possibility of losing Penny. If he did he knew he would go mad as when his father Alcyone had done when he lost his mother Jacynta.
Penny relaxed at the sadness in Hector's voice, even as she still felt a measure of anger. "D-Do you mean Brahm? What did he say to you?" she remembered that when Hector had been with Brahm that Hector felt great distress and that had affected her as well.
Hector slowly moved down to lie down beside her. Penny didn't like that her body immediately relaxed and molded into his. "He is suffering, Penny. He once had a large family, with three younger sisters. He lost them all, as I had lost my own family. But…" he paused before he continued. "He has reason to believe one of his sisters is alive, and he's scouring the world trying to find her."
"I-I see…" Penny swallowed thickly as she looked at him. Brahm had seemed very intimidating to her, but she could tell by his heartbeat that he was suffering greatly from sadness. It almost reminded her of Hector when she first met him. "Did he lose his family…the same way you did?"
"Yes," Hector said reluctantly. He gently stroked her hair. "I'm sorry I acted so impulsively as to take your blood. I may have my colors restored to me, but the fact you live in constant danger does cause me some stress. If anything were to happen to you, I would lose myself entirely. So I will do everything in my power to keep you safe."
"Like giving me your blood?" Penny asked. "You've done it twice already. If you keep doing it you're going to change me into a Carpathian, right?"
Hector paused, choosing his words carefully for her. "That is correct, Penny. But because this exchange has distressed you, I will not do it again without your permission."
"Good," Penny said firmly. "Because I don't want it to happen again. I'm perfectly happy and safer being a human. The fact that you're Carpathian, while it helps us, also disables us because we can't move around during the daylight. If I'm turned, I'll never be able to see sunlight again!"
"That…isn't necessarily true," Hector said. "A vampire cannot be touched by any rays of sunlight. A Carpathian, however, is able to go out during dawn and dusk. We are at our weakest though when the sun is at its highest, and then we must go to ground."
"Still," Penny said. "My life won't be normal if I'm turned!"
Hector looked at her very closely. "Your life has never been normal, päläfertiil."
He was right. He was absolutely right. Her life stopped being normal the day Landen decided to lend his talents to the Morrison Center. Ever since then it's just been constant running and worrying over herself, and Grace. "I…" she ducked her head.
"Penny." Hector pulled her into a tight embrace. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be talking to you like this. You are my lifemate and it's my duty to put your needs before my own. I'm not lying to you when I say to you that things would be easier for you if you converted to a Carpathian. We are a hunted species, but we take care of each other. You wouldn't be in danger so much if you went through with it."
"…And Gracie?" Penny asked quietly. "What would happen to her?"
"Of course I wouldn't convert her," Hector said. "She is just a child and she needs to develop as her own person. Converting her would be safer for her as well, but I would never change her as a child." Then there was the fact that Grace had the same abilities as Penny, which meant she most likely had a lifemate. Hector knew several years down the road she may meet her lifemate, and that hunter would convert her.
"I won't convert either of you," Hector insisted. "Never without your permission. I make this vow to you, Penny. I know you would be safer as a Carpathian, but I won't push you into it."
It was what Penny needed to hear. She felt sick and tired, but she allowed herself to relax fully into his arms. "Thank you, Hector."
"But it is Grace," Hector said. "That worries me. She has been traumatized more than any child should be. I believe—"
"No."
"Penny—"
"You're not going to erase her memories," Penny said sharply. "And Grace wouldn't want you to, either!"
"Sívamet, Grace would have no awareness afterwards that her memories were tampered with."
"It's still no, Hector. I don't feel comfortable doing that to her."
"Penny, I'm not doing this to be malicious. We've unfortunately had to do this in the past with children. Aidan Savage erased his lifemate's younger brother's memories after his traumatic experience with a vampire. Rafael De La Cruz did the same with his lifemate's younger sister, when she saw her brother under the influence of a vampire. It's very important to understand a developing child's mind, Penny. We have to think about Grace's future, and how all of these traumas may affect her later on in life."
Penny saw his point, but she still shook his head. "Gracie isn't like that. I believe that these experiences, while traumatic, are still part of her life. I don't feel right giving her the illusion of a happy childhood."
Hector felt her turmoil over this, but also her resolve in refusing this offer. "All right, Penny. I will not wipe her memories without either of yours permission. But let's not dwell on this now." He stroked her cheek and kissed her on her forehead. "You need sleep, päläfertiil."
"Don't put me to sleep," Penny insisted.
"Don't worry, I won't." Hector smiled at her. "But I will lie with you until you do fall asleep."
"O-Okay." Penny allowed herself to relax against the bed. After a moment, she opened her eyes to look at him. "Hector?"
"What is it?"
"Thank you."
Hector pulled her closer into his arms. "Anything for you."
Penny didn't know how it could be nighttime. Even the hall light was hurting her eyes. She had to shut off all the lights she saw as she ventured through the house.
Hector was gone when she woke up, but that didn't surprise her. She knew he had to go to ground to fully regain his strength.
She looked in on Grace. The child had been able to sleep on her own for once, without a prompt for sleep. Now she was fast asleep, her body curled up next to the picture she had drawn. Curious, Penny walked into the room, reluctantly turning on the light as she looked at the picture Grace held onto. It was another colorful picture of a horse. It looked identical to the one in the photo. The horse was running, but the sky behind it was dark blue. She'd drawn it in a nighttime setting.
Well, it's really no surprise. She hasn't seen much sunlight for awhile.
Penny tucked her sister in a little more tightly and left her alone to head downstairs. She started when she saw Martin slumped on the couch in the same position he was left in yesterday. Feeling awkward for being the only person awake, Penny ventured into the kitchen to prepare something to eat. There wasn't any meat in this refrigerator, but that didn't really surprise her. Hector seemed quite adamant to avoid meat altogether, which Penny found a little annoying but she knew she wasn't much she could do about it. Just the thought of food though made her stomach turn, but she knew Grace would be hungry when she woke up. Martin would most likely be hungry too, though she hadn't really seen him eat.
She was preparing a vegetable stir-fry when the back of her neck suddenly tingled. "Good morning, päläfertiil."
"It's evening, Hector," Penny said, nearly jumping out of her skin. She dropped her knife on the cutting board. "You're lucky I didn't use this on you!"
"You wouldn't stab me, Penny. And besides, I would stop you before you did so." Hector pressed his nose very lightly against the back of her neck. Her scent was stirring him, and his body filled with need. But…he knew he had to exercise restraint and patience. "It was kind of you to prepare something to eat for the others."
"I want Grace to stay healthy," Penny said. She tried to shake Hector's hold on her, but he wasn't budging. "After last night, I want her to be as comfortable as possible."
"She was calm during her panic-attack, Penny. It shows that she is a strong girl." But even saying it made Hector uneasy. He didn't like that the child had to suffer so much throughout her life, even though Penny's suffering was much more profound. "Grace will tell you if anything bothers her."
Penny sighed softly. "I don't think she would, Hector. She only told me about that panic-attack because she didn't know what was going on with her heart. But I don't think Gracie would show her fear to me because she doesn't want me to worry." She shrugged stiffly. "It's just in her nature to act calm around me, to further ease my troubles."
"But I would be able to sense if anything bothered her, too," Hector said. His eyes wandered to Martin, who was still asleep on the couch. "It is my duty to look out for you, so that all of your life's troubles never bother you again."
"I appreciate it, Hector, but everything wrong with my life won't just simply disappear." Penny finished chopping up the vegetables and dumped them into the frying pan. His conviction in giving her an easier life made her a bit uneasy…especially since she wanted to believe strongly in his words. "Will Brahm be stopping by?" she asked, wanting to change the subject.
"I have not heard from him, sívamet." Hector disguised his unease at this thought as he left Penny's side to approach Martin. After checking on his lifemate and the other humans in this safe house, he had reached for Brahm. He'd been surprised to sense that the other hunter was closed off to him, and hadn't responded to his calls. "But he is in pursuit of the vampire, so he must not want any distractions."
"…Okay," Penny said after a long moment. She stirred the vegetables idly, glancing at him over her shoulder. "Are you going to wake Martin up? It took the both of you to put him to sleep, so wouldn't you need Brahm here to wake him up?"
"It shouldn't be necessary, Penny." At least, Hector hoped not. He never had an experience of needing another hunter to put a human to sleep, but that was probably attributable to Martin's haywire psychic powers. "Kidü," he commanded, waving a hand over Martin's face.
In an instant the man was awake. His blue eyes were incredibly groggy, and he blinked several times in confusion. "…What?" Martin slowly sat up, and rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. "I fell asleep? What time is it?"
"Just after seven," Penny called from the kitchen. "I'm making a vegetable stir-fry for dinner, if you're hungry."
"No, I'm not really hungry. But thank you anyways." Martin pressed a hand to the right side of his head as he looked at Hector. "I slept through last night, all day today, into tonight? I could've sworn I wasn't feeling tired last night. Did you have a hand in that?"
"You need your sleep, human," Hector said coldly, though he felt Penny's sting at his rudeness. "I can tell by your body that you hadn't slept in three days prior to last night. Men drop dead because of such carelessness."
Martin shook his head slightly before he nodded. "You're absolutely right. I need to be more careful." He reached for his laptop, which rested on the coffee table. "Did you want me to look more into the Morrison Center? Find out about this Greene they were referring to?"
Hector nodded. "Yes." He glanced towards the kitchen. "You don't need to defend this human, Penny. He is incredibly reckless with his lack of care for his own body. He doesn't sleep like a regular person, and he's not eating like a regular person. I cannot help but be incredibly suspicious of his actions."
"Maybe that has to do with his psychic powers. Maybe they're causing an imbalance." "Martin," Penny called from the kitchen. "You really do need to eat! You haven't eaten since we came here!"
"…All right," Martin said slowly, typing into his laptop. "Thank you, Penny."
Hector tried not to bristle at the growing familiarity between the two of them. He knew that despite these human relations, it couldn't transcend the bond between lifemates. "Keep us informed about what you find…please."
Penny snorted from the kitchen. "That's a start, somewhat."
"It wouldn't really surprise me if this Greene was related to the one you were talking about," Martin said, typing furiously into his laptop. "With the kind of activities that the Morrison Center does, it's better to keep these sorts of things…in the family, more or less."
"You care correct," Hector conceded. "We've dealt with many cases in the past where families work together, whether within the Morrison Center or through…other means." He stopped short of actually referring to vampires in front of Martin. "So it would really be no surprise if this new Greene is related to the previous one."
Penny sighed, idly stirring the vegetables in the pan. "I seem to have racked up a list of enemies. The Morrison Center and Sevan. But it's not anything I'm not use to, I just wish things were much easier for Gracie."
"I will make everything better for you both, sívamet," Hector told her. "That I promise you."
It was easy to make promises, but not to keep them. Penny said nothing as she turned the heat off on the stove. "The stir-fry is done." Try as she might though, she didn't have the appetite for this food. She knew it was because of Hector, and because he gave her blood. It would wear off in time she knew, but if she followed his lead and went through the whole conversion, then she could never eat like a normal person again.
"Don't be bothered by notions of normalcy, päläfertiil. There is no such thing as normal. You may find that the life you have with me is very normal."
"Somehow I doubt that," Penny said aloud, coming into the living room.
"Eh?" Martin looked up from his laptop. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"
Penny realized she'd spoken aloud when Hector and she had been conversing mentally. She flushed in embarrassment. "I-It's nothing."
"I still find it amazing you two have a psychic link in such a way," Martin said, continuing his search on his computer. "It must be nice to have such an intimate link in such a way."
"It—"
Hector interjected. "It is certainly a privilege…Martin." He reluctantly referred to the human by his first name. "The bond of a lifemate is deeper than simple marriage."
"Hector, that's—" Penny tried to cut in.
"You're very lucky," Martin said thoughtfully. "A lot of marriages fail in this day and age, but your relationship sounds more intimate than that. Most people never get to experience such a thing in their life." He shrugged idly. "I'm certain I wouldn't be so lucky."
"As a human male, he is quite correct," Hector said.
"I-I'm sure you will find someone, er, sometime," Penny said, glaring at Hector for his comment.
But Martin only shook his head. "I'm never going to get married."
The finality of his tone took Penny off guard. She knew that a lot of people preferred solitude to companionship—she was one of them—but the way Martin had said it made her uneasy. It almost felt like…he didn't want to say it, but had to.
"I've got it!" Martin said suddenly. He pointed to the screen. "Look here. Ulysses Greene."
Penny took a seat at the couch and looked over his shoulder. Hector moved beside them but with a little bit of concentration he forced Martin to move slightly away from her. It was slight enough that Martin didn't notice, but he could tell by Penny's glare that she did. "So this is the one they referred to?"
"More than likely," Martin said. "He's the only one I found that would match up. But man, look at his track record!" Martin scrolled down the list of crimes he'd been arrested for. "He was arrested for suspected murder eighteen times?"
"I'm sure he had a hand in all eighteen murders," Penny said coldly, looking over the list herself. Ulysses had also been arrested six different times for suspected sexual assault. Just knowing that increased her nausea…and derision. "That's not counting the other possible murders he got away with."
"Let me see his picture," Hector said. Seeing the list of heinous crimes the man had committed further increased his rage. Whether or not this man was the one after Penny, he had to pay for everything that he had done.
Martin scrolled all the way up to the top of the page. "There it is."
Penny looked at Ulysses Greene's face. Seeing his face, and seeing his eyes… "Ugh." She pressed a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes. He looked like Sherman. He looked like the man who butchered her mother, and undoubtedly killed her father. This had to be the man hunting for her!
"Penny." A warm feeling engulfed her mind, pushing away all of her unease. "Do not be frightened. We will stop this monster. I swear that we will."
Penny lowered her hand from her mouth. She no longer felt sick. She still felt uneasy, but she certainly felt better than she had a few moments ago. "Thank you," she said to Hector.
He smiled back at her. "Anything for you, päläfertiil."
"It looks like he's the older brother of Sherman," Martin said. Already it seemed he was getting used to the quiet dialogue between Hector and Penny. "Would you like me to double-check Sherman's record?"
"No," Penny said firmly. "I already know he's a murderer too, and I'm glad he's dead."
Martin's mouth formed a thin line. "I can imagine that his track record's as bad as Ulysses. But I would like to check his crime pattern if that's okay."
Penny waved her hand. "…Whatever." She leaned away from Martin and refused to look at the computer screen. It was bad enough seeing Ulysses's face, but if she saw the face of the man who ruined her life…
"Please do not distress. Sherman is dead and you avenged your parent's death. I can see Martin's concern though in checking that monster, especially since his living brother is the older one."
Penny knew Hector was right, and his presence in her mind, constantly wiping away all of her negative feelings, was having a profound effect on her. She didn't want to depend on anyone, especially a man who depended on her so fiercely, but it was hard not to.
"…As I thought," Martin said, closing out of Sherman's profile. "Sherman's rap sheet is just as long, but it increased in velocity after he joined with the Morrison Center. As for Ulysses…" he scanned his profile as well. "It looks like Ulysses joined the Center first, and he was the connection Sherman used to join."
"…Sherman had a lot of power," Penny said very quietly. "He visited one of my high schools posing as a counselor. And he was the last person eyewitnesses saw my father with when he…disappeared." Her hands clenched into fists in her lap. "And he seemed to be in charge of my mother's…" she shook her head, unable to articulate that horrible memory into words. "He…"
"It looks like," Hector said, quickly coming to Penny's side. "That Sherman had been in charge of the investigation into your family. And I know, sívamet, that you believe since he had such a job, and since his brother brought him into the Morrison Center, that Ulysses has more power."
"That might be correct," Martin said. He was scrolling through another page. "I've brought up a credit card statement that might be his."
"How did you do that?" Penny demanded, sitting up straight. "And why? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? What if he can trace you?"
"I told you," Martin said. "That my satellite uplink is encrypted. About the only organization that could possibly crack it is our own government, and I seriously doubt the Morrison Center would ever reach that far."
"And this place is shielded," Hector reminded her. "No human can detect it."
Penny tried to relax, but it wasn't easy. "Is it really his credit card statement?"
"It's a long shot," Martin said. "Because this card has his real name on it. But I see purchases criss-crossing all over the East Coast."
Penny skimmed the list, and a growing sense of dread filled her. All of the different cities listed on the bill for the purchases were cities both Grace and herself had lived in in the past few months.
Hector felt her distress, and read the list. Towards the top of the list he saw various purchases made in Boston, and clenched his jaw. "He really is after you, Penny."
"—Greene was angry! He wants that woman dead!"
"…If he's been hunting me this long, as Sevan has," Penny said slowly. "Then he probably wants to kill me because of Sherman."
"It…doesn't look like Ulysses has arrived here in Maine yet," Martin said. "And he might have to lay low for a while because one of their facilities exploded."
"But he is a criminal," Hector said. His eyes held Penny's. "I know these type of humans, and he will not be idle for long."
They heard the foot-falls on the stairs, and Penny knew Grace was coming downstairs. "So Ulysses might still come for me? To avenge his brother?" she shook her head in disgust. "Unbelievable. His brother murdered both of my parents. Why would it shock him that I killed Sherman?"
"When your heart is full of evil and darkness, you don't need to look at other details," Hector said grimly. "To him, all he sees in you is his brother's killer, not as the daughter of both of his murder victims."
Penny swallowed thickly bit down on her bottom lip. She saw Grace reach the last step and forced a smile as she stood up from the couch. "Good evening, Gracie! Did you sleep well?"
Grace stared at her as she entered the living room. "So the bad guys are still coming for us?"
Penny's smile faded. "Grace—"
"You're upset, Penny. If everything was okay, you wouldn't be so upset."
"…You're very keen," Martin said thoughtfully. "Just by hearing a heart rhythm you can sense emotions?"
Grace shrugged. "I'm just keen with Penny. Hers is the only heartbeat I've ever heard every single day of my life."
Hector almost smiled, but he kept his face serious. Grace's sage-like demeanor was beneficial for their current environment, as life-threatening situations didn't seem to faze her. But it still made him uneasy that she was eight years old and yet didn't act like a child. She didn't even act like most adults would in this type of situation.
This is something I'll take care of later.
"Don't tamper with Gracie's memories," Penny said warningly. "She's just a child."
"It would only be for her sake, sívamet, that I would alter her memories. She's had nothing resembling a normal childhood, as you have. I would only do this to lessen the sting of her daily trauma."
Penny didn't have a reply for that. She watched Grace enter the kitchen and calmly serve herself a plate of the vegetable stir-fry. Grace was always naturally a very calm child, despite her life's circumstances. There had been a time when Penny had thought that Grace would be a traumatic person, especially in light of how she was…born. But Grace was calm, even in a life-or-death situation, and not a lot fazed her. Even now though, Penny wasn't sure if this was a good thing or bad thing.
"Oh, that reminds me," Grace said, setting her plate down on the counter. "When I woke up I was hearing voices, again."
"W-What?" Penny screamed. She rushed to her sister's side and grabbed her shoulders. "Are you okay? Did they say anything bad to you?"
"I was sleepy, so I wasn't paying attention really. I don't know, it sounded like someone was mumbling inside my head—"
Hector gently took Grace from Penny and looked at the little girl. "Was it a man or woman speaking to you?"
"I really don't know," Grace said honestly. "I was tired, so all I heard was a mumble. It sort of quickly cut off after a minute."
Hector looked at Penny briefly before he looked at Grace. "Csitri, I can look into your memories to see if I recognize this voice. Is it all right with you if I do this?"
"Hector—" Penny said.
"Okay," Grace said. "If you know the person, then the better we'll all be, right?"
Hector managed a smile. "That's right, Grace." "I know you're uneasy about me looking through her memories, Penny," he said through their connection. "But I promise you I'm not using this as an opportunity to erase her memories. I wouldn't do something so sneaky without your consent."
"Like convert me into a Carpathian?"
Hector stiffened, and he looked at Penny again. "I'm a very patient man, sívamet. I've been looking for you for six hundred years. I can wait longer, if necessary, until you are ready for conversion."
"And what if I'm never ready? What if I want to be a human forever?"
"Then I will stay with you, forever. And when you die of old age, I will walk into the dawn."
There was no hesitation in his words. It really was as simple as that for Hector. His unblinking sacrifice for her was so surprising that it took Penny off-guard. And…she felt uneasy. She wasn't use to anyone doing something like this for her. It was always she doing the lookout, for herself and for Grace. But Hector…he wanted to protect her, and be with her. In his mind, protecting her meant changing her into a Carpathian. But if Penny wasn't consenting in this, then he would leave her as a human. Could someone really be so unselfish?
Penny was too stunned to respond. Hector took the time to enter Grace's mind. As usual he found comfort in her youthful, yet sagely innocence. Many minds he tampered with had some darkness to them, but there was nothing dark about this child. Only Penny's mind was far more beautiful to him, but both sisters were refreshing. It made Hector incredibly nervous of the unclaimed hunters in the world. Skyler had triggered Dimitri's colors at the unheard of age of sixteen, mostly because the horrendous trauma she'd experienced for many years had aged her. Would Grace's demeanor and lifelong trauma be enough to induce colors?
"—above the world so high. Like a diamond in the sky—"
Hector pulled himself from Grace's mind once that voice struck him. "Sevan," he said aloud. "The vampire has contacted her."
"He has?" Penny cried out. She pulled Grace into her arms and stood up. "Then he knows where we are! Quick, we need to move! Otherwise he's going to kill more children!"
"So it was him?" Grace said neutrally. "That's weird. Why would he contact me?"
"We're not going anywhere," Hector said. "No more running away, Penny. This insanity ends now. We're going to stop Sevan here, and we're going to stop the Morrison Center here."
"So we stop Sevan," Penny said heatedly. "What then? We can't stop the entire Morrison Center! It's like you told me, they have global influence and have been around for years! I understand you're trying to help us, but if you think everything is going to magically be better for us, you're mistaken!"
"Penny." Hector rested his hands on her shoulders. "We Carpathians may still have small numbers, but we are stronger than humans. And, our numbers are growing more and more each day. I must be honest with you, though the Morrison Center is a threat to us, they are a minor threat. At one point we had to combat the Morrison Center and the sorcerer Xavier. But we've had many victories in the last several years, and now we've had very little to worry about."
"…Xavier?" without realizing it, Penny reached for his mind. She saw a hollowed, decrepit face with dark eyes full of evil. Beyond this face, she saw…bodies. Bloodied, charred bodies strewed everywhere. She saw the charred remains of a tiny little body, of an innocent face…
"Penny!" Grace was tugging on her hair. "Are you all right? Are you all right?"
Penny realized she'd been screaming. Her arms turned to jelly, but Grace slid simply out of her arms and to the floor. Hector held her once more and was looking at her with alarm. "Päläfertiil, what is wrong? Is the vampire trying to control you?"
Penny's breathing was ragged, but she looked at Hector. She could felt her heart pounding strongly in her ears, but she felt it twist up inside her chest. She was taken off-guard by the sadness that overtook her. "Hector…" she swallowed thickly before she continued. "Xavier…he killed your sister?"
She looked at more of his memories. As much as it pleased Hector that Penny was trying to get to know him better, the memory she'd seen caused him great pain. "Xavier didn't directly kill Fatima, Penny. But he instigated the genocide against my people, which included the murder of my former Prince. My whole family was killed on that day, but Fatima's death could've been avoided. It was my absolute carelessness that killed her."
"But…she looked like a toddler!" Penny cried out. She grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "What kind of a monster kills a child in such a way?"
"Who can really tell?" Hector said softly. He had to close his eyes and suppress that awful image as much as possible. "But we lost so much that day. However…Xavier was finally, finally killed recently. My only regret was that I wasn't present when Ivory and Razvan ripped his body and soul apart."
"I…" Penny looked at Grace briefly, who was staring at Hector with an unreadable expression. She looked back at Hector. "I'm so sorry, Hector. What's happened to me…I wouldn't wish on anyone. But it'd happened to you? And you lived with it all these years?"
"We are far too similar with our tragedies, sívamet." Hector pulled her into a quick hug. "But we have each other now. All I ask of you is that you trust in me a little more. I will never lose you, or Grace, to the monsters who have ruined you. I will protect you both no matter what."
"Hector," Grace said. "You lost your family, too?" she shifted her feet uncomfortably. "I'm sorry."
Hector managed a smile to her. "I appreciate that, sisar."
On the other side of the room, Martin watched all of this in silence. It was slightly uncomfortable for him to watch such an intimate scene, but more so it was uncomfortable to see the suffering in these people. It seemed so cliché for them to find each other after what they'd suffered in their own individual lives, but it seemed like a blessing as well.
"Tell me where the baby is."
Martin winced, and raised a hand to his head once more. He didn't understand why that voice caused him so much discomfort. He'd only heard it once, but it bothered him. So many voices bombarded his unfiltered mind that it gave him so many headaches.
But that voice…that woman's voice, if it could be described as a woman's voice, was unsettling. For a voice that sounded like it was searching for a baby, she didn't sound concerned.
And…the more Martin thought about it, the more he realized that she didn't even sound human.
"Hector, we must speak."
Brahm. It sounded like the hunter had gone to ground already. Hector allowed himself to relax into the soil while keeping his mind open. He double-checked Penny and Grace. Grace was asleep, while Penny was slowly getting ready for bed "I hadn't heard from you all day, Brahm. Are you well?"
"I was on the hunt for the vampire last night. I found his hiding spot, but the sun had come out. But I slept close to his resting place. Hector…" the hunter hesitated for a moment. "We are dealing with a monster, indeed."
"What has he done?"
"He is not alone in his killing spree."
A cold chill overtook Hector's body. He thought of the three humans resting above him, most importantly his lifemate. "So, Sevan is working with another vampire?"
"…No." Brahm paused again before he spoke. "He has a vampiress with him."
Hector stiffened. "A vampiress? Are you certain?"
"Yes. I couldn't get a good look at her, and I don't think Sevan realized she was there at first. Once he did though, he grabbed her and took off. I could've stopped them then, but I was…surprised. I haven't seen a vampiress in almost two hundred years."
A vampiress. The Carpathian people have had to convert humans, jaguars, and other beings into Carpathians in their past. Thanks to their special traits and force of will, women and the rare occasion men could survive the conversion. A regular person though, without any special abilities, would be driven mad. A vampiress was a poor woman who was either forced into conversion, or voluntarily gave herself up, but body and mind couldn't handle it and their bodies became corrupted as vampires.
"Some neighbors had said they'd heard singing in the night, and they'd mistaken it for some crazy woman."
That was what had been said of that one boy who'd been murdered. Hector had dismissed it as an illusion created by the vampire, but…
Hector felt sick to his stomach. Everything made sense now. He didn't doubt that Sevan had a hand in killing some of those children, but a vampiress got her greatest strength from the life blood of an innocent. These murders, while used to taunt them, were most likely carried out by Sevan's companion. "So he is siccing this unfortunate soul on children. I knew it was too unusual for a vampire to do this himself."
"More than likely, though he stinks of innocent blood himself. I wouldn't be surprised if the both of them are participating in these killings."
Hector locked his jaw. A vampiress wasn't so common to find anymore. Vampires used to use them as bait against unclaimed hunters, who would hesitate to kill a woman. In recent years vampires found more pleasure to seek out a woman with a special trait to use and torment, most likely knowing these types were the ones who most likely had lifemates. He'd remembered hearing about Destiny, and that her Carpathian change had occurred from vampire blood. Vampires probably also realized that it was the special ones who drew lifemates, and expected to find their lifemate in one of these women.
Obviously, Sevan had no intention of seeking out a psychic woman for these purposes. His purpose seemed to be challenging them, and an unexplainable hatred for Penny. He would be a definite hassle to take care of, but the vampiress would be relatively easy to take of. These unfortunate women, while crazy and thirsting for children's blood, were very weak and couldn't even fight. It's what made the situation even more disgusting to Hector.
"Hector, what's wrong?"
Penny. Hector felt his body relax once more. She couldn't bring herself to fully trust him, and she was rebelling fiercely against the notion of turning. But anytime she felt his distress, she always reached for him and tried to comfort him. That gave him a greater sense of peace, even with this dire situation. "Päläfertiil, I'm afraid I have some bad news. Sevan isn't working alone."
"So he is working with the Morrison Center?"
"Not exactly. He is keeping company with a vampiress."
Penny was silent for a long moment. "…A vampiress? I thought you said Carpathian women couldn't turn vampire."
"They can't, sívamet. A vampiress is a regular human woman who was converted, either on Carpathian blood or vampire blood, whose body and mind couldn't handle the conversion. If someone can't handle being changed, then they are driven mad and they turn evil."
"…And when exactly were you going to tell ME this?" Penny snapped. "You've never once said that I could go crazy if you change me!"
"You are psychic, Penny. For whatever reason, individuals with psychic powers or special traits, like mage craft or shape-shifting, can handle the conversion. A regular human being cannot handle it."
"How would you know if this worked for me? How would you even know if I wouldn't go crazy?"
"Two reasons, Penny. One—most of the women coupled with Carpathian males right now were not born Carpathian. And two—you have me."
"…Really?" she didn't sound so convinced.
"Yes, really. There is no way I would ever allow you to lose yourself. And I would do everything I possibly could to lessen the pain of your conversion."
Penny was sitting on the bed, her back pressed into the wall. For some reason, she just felt so incredibly uneasy. News of this vampiress suddenly made her sick on the inside. Was it fear of the unknown? But everything she encountered in her life was part of the unknown. The Morrison Center, Sevan, the vampiress, Hector…nothing was ever normal or peaceful.
"My converting you doesn't mean you lose your peace," Hector tried to soothe her. "In fact, you'll most likely find the world to be so much safer. You'll be restricted to the night, yes, but you can read the minds of most humans, you can shape-shift into mist and any animal, and if necessary you can turn your body into a weapon. And I will always be there beside you."
"…I don't want to talk about this anymore." Penny closed her eyes. "I don't want to think about it anymore…"
Hector didn't push her. Instead he sent her some of warmth and comfort as he addressed Brahm again. "Please contact me with any further updates on this."
"Understood," Brahm said. "But we have confirmed that the vampire and his…companion are here in this city. So we won't have to go far to search for them."
