Chapter Eleven

'Pretty Nosferatu'

Julian and Adrian were silent as the car took them a few streets away to Hunt. Julian spotted a lone man sitting in an alley huddled up in several thick sweaters. He told Billy to stop but Adrian muttered, "No." A question probed her mind from his. "I want it from someone who can spare it. He can't," she replied.

"Quite a moral predator you're becoming," he lightly teased, however secretly he was rather pleased with her. "We can't wait too much longer."

And it was true on both aspects. Her conscience was bothering her and the sky was now filled with pale blue streaks as the sun neared the horizon. Although it wouldn't kill her right now, Adrian didn't want to feel the sting of those rays on her sensitive skin any more than need be. Her conscience had nothing to do with taking blood, however. She'd already resigned herself to it. As long as the human was not permanently damaged she saw nothing wrong with it. It was what Joshua had said which was on her mind now. "Do you know what they call me, Julian?"

"Who," he asked.

"Everyone. Even some of the Nosferatu."

Julian had heard a few derogatory phrases about his daughter. But he never told her of it.

"They call me the Pretty Nosferatu. Some of the others call me Daedalus' bastard or a mutt." He could feel the sadness overwhelm her to the point where blood tears gently rimmed her eyes. "Fuck it," she said suddenly, lower lip trembling slightly. "Daedalus couldn't spare himself from his own morality or cowardice. I should be grateful he's not my Sire."

Dumbfounded, Julian watched as she jumped out of the car and walked over to the homeless man. She checked her surroundings for witnesses then coaxed him further back into the shadows. Only taking enough to ease the worst pangs of her hunger, she healed him and slipped a few dollars into his pocket, telling him to forget her and to get food for himself with the money. Her eyes glowed in Dominance and the man blinked, confused, and sat back down.

She climbed back into the car and slammed the door shut. Billy looked up in the rear view mirror at his broodmate. He tried to read her thoughts but she kept him out by doing the only thing she could- think of nothing at all. Very young and weak Childer are taught this in the beginning. Billy knew she did it out of fear and sadness, not weakness. She could block her thoughts but didn't try very hard so it was unnatural to her yet. At their Sire's gentle command, he put his foot on the gas pedal and drove.

The mood sober, they returned to the Wolf House and climbed the stairs to bed. She was silent and refused to meet Julian's eyes once. He wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes. He couldn't help but think as he drifted off that perhaps Adrian didn't realize all the possible repercussions of her scheming with the Brujah. How could she know that the Assamite would nearly kill Daedalus? Or that Daedalus would still refuse to Embrace her after the attack? She had only planned for one possible outcome.

Little did they know the backlash would be so destructive…..


'The Breaking Point'

The next evening when Adrian opened her eyes, she was told her Sire had already dressed and was downstairs on the phone with someone. She put on a house robe and hung up the phone at the bedside, thanking the Gangrel for the information. Last thing she wanted was to get in the exact same trouble she had the previous night.

Opening the door to his office, she tread barefoot to him. The Prince looked up at this messy haired apparition and knew there was dissension in her heart. She never slept this late and the past few weeks had been so chaotic he knew she'd have to do something drastic to get her equilibrium back.

Uncharacteristically affectionate, she walked behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her chin on his shoulder. As he finished his conversation, he held her hands within his own, noting the cool temperature of them. She didn't Feed enough last night. She really was depressed.

Julian set the phone down and leaned back into her. He had a feeling that this post-Embrace honeymoon would end soon and the harsh realities would crash down on her. She had made friends, she was learning things she could only dream of before, and she would be young and beautiful forever. Yet in the back of his mind he knew, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Daedalus' passing her onto Julian to Embrace was in her mind the ultimate betrayal. A contract with footnotes and clauses, but illegible. Julian also knew that if he didn't do something to pull her through this that she'd self destruct or despise Daedalus forever.

"Are you sure we can't get drunk," she asked in his ear. "I'm willing to put forth the effort."

Julian led her around to the side then scooted his chair back from the desk. Placing her on his lap he put both hands gently on the side of her face and brought her lips to his for a slow but chaste kiss. Their lips parted and he replied, "No. It really isn't possible. Trust me, I've tried." Her ocean blue eyes looked into his uneven brown ones and she gave a small sigh.

He lay her head down on his shoulder and began to whisper to her. "I know that you're hurting. I know that you're angry. And it will take some time for you to find yourself again. But don't give up on what you felt before your Embrace, Adrian. That was only a formality to make you one of us." She began to tremble, clutching his shoulders. He pushed her head firmly down on his shoulder and hugged her tightly. He could feel her anguish in tall black waves crashing against his mind. Adrian was so unbalanced she was on the verge of Frenzy.

He stood and carried her in his arms to the office door and kicked it. A servant quickly opened it and let the Prince through. Curious eyes watched the pair as they ascended the stairs to their rooms.

They looked at each other questioningly. Cash ran to get Daedalus.

The Nosferatu rematerialized in Julian's suite and looked for them. Julian was holding her down on the bed spread-eagle, trying to calm her and speaking softly in her ear. She wasn't crying and the only sound coming from her was an erratic panting of someone in distress.

Daedalus sniffed the air. No blood. Julian felt his presence and turned his upper body to him. The Ventrue put one hand up, telling him not to come closer, but said, "Morphine. Throw me the bottle then leave us. You can't help with this."

Daedalus reached into his medicine bag and tossed a small corked bottle of enhanced morphine on the bed just beyond the Prince's reach. It was a special brew that only the Nosferatu knew how to make, and it was the only drug which worked on Kindred physiology. Confused and scared for his love, the ancient took one step closer and tried to look at her, but Julian turned and shouted. "Go!" He could see Julian's fear, which only made him more anxious. But he complied and walked out of the suite, too dazed to move in vapor form.

The Nosferatu Primogen dropped his bag once out in the hall and leaned against the wall. He slid down until his knees were near his chin and waited. He wasn't moving until he got an explanation. What had happened to her? He was sure he had not smelled blood. She wasn't physically harmed. But he sensed Frenzy in the room. A Kindred so out of control that they would revert back to letting the Beast out to do as it pleased. And that could only mean it was Adrian who was fighting the Beast now. It would explain the need for morphine. But what had set her off?

Very young Kindred truly had the worst end of the deal. Their hunger was desperate and insatiable. They lacked the controls to their emotions that only came with time and experience. He was sure Julian had taken her Hunting last night. So what had happened between then and now? If he wanted to find out he would have to move, regardless of the instinct holding him there outside the door. Julian had morphine and he was very strong. That should be enough.

Inside the bedroom, the Prince had to make a quick decision; put her to sleep with the drug or try to deal with her. He chose to face the problem now and did so by relying on his own past experiences with depression.

After his wife died in childbirth, Julian had turned to the bottle for comfort. But when Archon Embraced him, his grief persisted, despite the dazzling powers he now possessed. Drunkenness was not an option any longer and so he turned to the next best thing: women.

Daedalus had been right on the money when he talked about there being a parade of women through his bed. And there was a reason for it then. Now however, he only did it because he wanted to. And could. Julian Luna was young(looking), handsome to a fault, and disgustingly rich. What sane woman wouldn't throw themselves at him? Well, Adrian for one. But she was already half in love with Daedalus when she got tossed at Julian's feet. And sanity was at the heart of the issue they now were faced with. She wasn't sane. She was crazy mad with hurt. And if he didn't find a way to reach into her mind, to help her learn to control her emotions, the Beast would win and he'd be forced to destroy her.

That would in turn, destroy Daedalus. And so Julian decided to do the only thing he knew had the greatest chance of success. He set out to seduce her. Whether or not she wanted it was beside the point. He didn't call it rape. He called it a forced seduction to achieve the desired result.

Julian had a right to her body anyway under Kindred law. She was his Childe and Subject within his own Domain. He could do with her as he wished as long as he didn't kill her for his own pleasure. Killing for pleasure was one psychotic whim that Kindred law and the Conclave would not tolerate. But he didn't plan on killing her- not that he got off on that kind of thing anyway.

He just wanted to overload her senses with the opposite emotion that the Beast fed on so much, that it would force her back into reality. If the Beast was starved, the soul and will of the Kindred would be allowed to surface once again.

He straddled her now, holding her hands parallel to her shoulders. Her eyes were Frenzy filled, glazed and unseeing. Her long claws were unsheathed and she tried to tighten her fingers through his enough to draw blood. But he squeezed harder so that her fingers couldn't move at all.

Julian leaned forward and quickly sank his fangs deeply into her neck. The rougher this was the more it would shock and pleasure her at the same time. All his senses and conjecture over the past weeks told him that Adrian and Daedalus had never slept together or even Fed from one another. Her reaction to his assault was proof he was correct. She screamed and then went limp in his arms.

The guards knew enough to dare not intrude and no one came running in at the sound. But the Prince wasn't thinking of them. He was busy enjoying the taste of his Childe as her essence filled every blood vessel in his body. He hadn't intended to almost drain her, but now that he realized what he'd done he knew it was for the best. If she was that much more on edge because of hunger, then her pleasure would be magnified.

His seduction was only hampered by her initial attempts to claw his face but once he managed to get both of her wrists in his grasp he had her under control. He was just lucky she'd not had any serious self defense lessons; otherwise this would be a lot messier than need be.

A little over two hours later, he gave up. He'd let her take as much blood from him as he dared. He'd even let her have free reign with her hands. But once she realized he wasn't going to let her off the bed she became infuriated again and Julian reached for the bottle of morphine.

She nearly bit his fingers off when he touched her lips with the astringent liquid. But he managed to leave enough on her and she eventually licked it off. Meanwhile he was forced to watch as her eyes went from Frenzy-green back to their natural blue, then close as she drifted down into an unconscious state.

She didn't even have enough wits about her to realize it was her Sire who kissed her forehead before dissolving into tears beside her. The Prince rolled off her still body and put his hands over his face.

Now he had to figure out how the hell to explain this to Daedalus. This was not going to be pretty.

Julian squeezed his eyes shut and shuddered. Her dreams had backfired. And now she would probably pay with her life if he couldn't pull her through.

And Daedalus….. Daedalus deserved to know the truth. But the question was- how much of the truth could he spare at this point? If he told him the whole truth of the matter the ancient would take his head and keep it as a trophy on his wall.

The Prince decided finally that he must preserve the Nosferatu Primogen's sanity at all cost. One cautious step at a time was the only way to proceed.