AN: Enjoy this chapter! Happy Reading!- krispybee12 & Butterflybelle

Chapter 25

RPOV

Life returns to my body and I let out an unnecessary sigh upon realizing I'm still in the lab, my body slumped awkwardly in a stool as my top half is sprawled out over the hard, metal table before me. I wake like this more often than not while working on any important project, letting myself succumb to the bleeds as I work through the early morning hours; often working right up to the point that my body finally collapses. I suppose some would say I have an unhealthy work ethic, but I could fucking care less what anyone thinks of me. I'm a man driven by science, by logic, and I'll do whatever it takes to find the answers I seek.

"The fuck?" I mutter out, noticing a soft blanket draped over my shoulders. Okay, I might have been working well past dawn, but I'm sure I'd recall if I'd stopped to grab a blanket.

"Oh, you're up," I hear then, turning to see shining, ebony hair and wide, russet eyes. Willa. I sit up a bit straighter, clearing my throat as she begins drawing closer, those captivating, innocent eyes of hers fixed steadily upon me.

"I suppose I have you to thank for this?" I question, lifting the corner of the blanket towards her.

"Oh, yeah, you just looked so uncomfortable, all slumped over like that," she explains with a small frown as she primly sits herself down upon the empty stool beside me. "I know it's silly, it's not like you were cold or anything, but I guess some human habits die hard," she adds, pulling a small handkerchief from her pocket. I look on curiously as she leans over the counter before turning on the nearby lab sink's faucet.

"For the record, I don't think it's silly," I answer back, watching as a small smile curls upon her lips as she proceeds to wet the small, white cloth. "Thank you, I appreciate you looking out for me," I add somewhat teasingly, seeing her dark eyes lower demurely as she sits herself down beside me once more.

"You're welcome," she answers back, raising the damp cloth before my face. "Um, you've just got a little, uh," she starts, seeming to become flustered, something I can't help but find ridiculously adorable.

"Go ahead, I won't bite…hard," I tease, seeing the smallest of smirks play over her lips before she begins gently dabbing the handkerchief against my face.

"So, is this a habit of yours, working until you literally drop?" she questions, her words laced with light teasing as she proceeds to cleanse the blood from my face.

"When I'm working on something important, yes," I answer back honestly, seeing the previous humor disappear from her face.

"The blood substitute?" she questions, her eyes wide, filled with a burning curiosity I myself know only too well.

"It's ready to be tested," I inform her, seeing her dark eyes alight with the beginnings of excitement as she pulls the now soiled handkerchief from my face, its pristine white now stained a watery pink.

"Do you really think it'll work?" she questions excitedly as she begins rinsing out the sullied cloth. "Do you think we'd really be able to withstand sunlight? Ugh, what I wouldn't give to feel the sun's rays warming my skin once more. Oh! Maybe I could even get my tan back; I've gotten so pale," she gushes out, earning an amused smile from me before I see her turning her head towards me with a rather sheepish smile formed upon her face. "Sorry, guess I got a bit carried away," she admits, only to earn a low chuckle from me.

"Not at all," I answer back with a shrug. "You're rather cute when you ramble," I inform her, watching her eyes subtly widen before she quickly turns her attention back to the bloodied cloth once more.

"So, um, I guess you'll be testing the substitute soon," she remarks lowly, finally shutting off the water before proceeding to wring out the clean cloth. I tilt my head, watching her sit beside me once more and can't help but notice her somewhat tense demeanor.

"At daybreak," I answer, watching as she seems to be carefully avoiding my gaze. "I embarrassed you," I state, watching as she begins nervously nibbling upon her bottom lip. "I didn't mean to," I add, cautiously reaching a hand towards her before gently tilting her head up to meet her gaze.

If her heart was still beating, I've no doubt it'd be positively racing right about now; I'm sure my own would be if such a thing were still possible. A prolonged silence stretches between the two of us, our eyes locked with one another's as the both of us are left waiting to see who will break the silent spell first.

"Um, I-," she finally starts, once more becoming flustered. "I'm sorry, I'm no good at this," she sighs, earning a wide grin from me.

"No good at what?" I question, knowing full well I'm teasing her as she raises a brow at me.

"You know…flirting," she finally blurts out, looking utterly mortified. I find I have to bite back my laughter, finding her entire demeanor utterly endearing.

"Alright then, no flirting," I assure her, raising my hands in mock surrender. She sends me a rather incredulous look before I continue. "Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself; I'm quite curious to know how a sweet girl like you came to the attention of my brother," I suggest before seeing a crestfallen look fall over her face. This only serves to deepen my curiosity as I'm left eagerly awaiting her response.

"I wasn't the one who caught Eric's attention, at least, not initially," she informs me. "He came looking for my father," she adds somewhat hesitantly.

"And who is your father?" I question, beginning to fear I won't like her answer.

"He was Governor Truman Burrell," she answers softly, the hesitance in her eyes succeeding in conveying much more than her words ever could. No fucking way. My fists clench in anger and before I even realize what I'm doing, I'm already on my feet and marching towards the door.

"That son of a bitch," I grit out below my breath, just before a slender hand wraps around my arm to halt my actions.

"Roman, wait," I hear Willa plea as I turn back to face her.

"He used you, Willa," I bite out, my anger with my brother positively boiling. How could he do this!?

"I-, I mean, you're right, but…," she trails off with a sigh. "I agreed to be turned, Roman. I wanted to help, to do my part," she explains softly, her bottom lip beginning to tremble softly. "What my father did, God, it was-, it was horrendous and I really thought going along with Eric's plan would make him change his mind, but…I was wrong," her last words are but a whisper, barely audible even to my highly perceptive ears and my undead heart pinches upon seeing crimson tears beginning to well around wide, russet orbs.

"Willa," I whisper. Slender arms suddenly wrapped around my waist, making my brows rise in momentary surprise. My anger all but melts away once I wrap my own arms around her to hold her close.

"Please don't be angry with Eric," she whispers, sending me bloody, pleading eyes. "He's made his mistakes, but he really is working to make up for them," she assures me, pulling a rather begrudging sigh from me.

"Fine, but know that I'm not doing this on his behalf," I tell her, seeing her brow pinch in confusion. "I'm only willing to even consider letting this go because I can see how much it means to you," I explain, earning me a genuine smile. "Now, I think it's time for me to return the favor," I remark, reaching up to trace my thumb over her cheek before pulling it away to show her my blood coated digit.

"I think you're right," she snickers out, the previous tension between us finally waning. "And thank you," she adds, sending me a glowing smile that assures me I'm making the right decision. I think I'd do just about anything to see that smile. Just what is this woman doing to me?

SPOV

I stand against the far wall of the training center, my vampires standing at either of my sides as the crowd slowly begins filtering through the metal doors. Curious eyes roam over the yoga mats the guys helped me lay out over the floor and Godric and Eric send me matching grins, the two of them being the only ones privy to my plans for this evening's training session.

"We're not sparring today?" Floki questions, obvious disappointment lacing his words.

"Uh, no, not today; sorry," I answer back, seeing his shoulders slump to earn low chuckles of amusement from around the room. "If everyone could just find a mat, today's training will consist of mental exercises," I inform the group, eliciting an assortment of varying responses.

"How the hell is meditatin' gonna help us against a vamper?" my brother questions, slumping down to a mat beside Hoyt.

"I'm glad you asked," Eric answers him, stepping forward before sending a solemn gaze over the room that falls suddenly quiet. "While physical training will prove beneficial, it cannot fully protect us from our enemy's vast arsenal as he will deal not only physical blows, but metaphysical ones as well," he explains. The room remains eerily silent as the assembled group is left contemplating his words.

"And that's where I come in," I state, stepping up beside Eric. "I'm going to teach you all how to protect your minds from attack," I assure them, seeing them exchanging curious looks amongst themselves.

"And vampires need to learn this as well?" Jessica questions to earn firm nods from Godric, Eric and myself.

"Ocella has the ability to invade even our minds, Young One," Godric enlightens her, making her pale blue eyes go wide with surprise. A rather tense silence falls over the room then and I decide to give them all a moment to come to terms with this surprising revelation before continuing.

"Learning to shield your minds will take a bit of practice on all your parts, but once you get the hang of it, you'll find you won't even have to think about it, it'll just be second nature," I explain, earning light nods of understanding. "Okay, to start, I want you all to just take in a deep breath and close your eyes," I ask of them.

"Good, now, I need you to visualize a wall," I tell them, as images of my own mental shields come to mind. "This wall can be made of literally anything you want, but you have to be able to trust in its strength. You have to have confidence that nothing at all will be able to pass through it," I explain, giving them a chance to digest this information.

"It can be made of anything?" Willa questions from the back of the room where I see her sitting rather close to Roman. A small smirk comes to my face, having noted the rather shy glances she's been sending his way, as well as the somewhat smitten looks he's sent her in return.

"Yes, anything at all, so long as you can explicitly trust in its durability," I clarify, seeing several faces scrunching in concentration as they're left mentally implementing my instructions. "Alright, now if anyone thinks they're ready, I'll test your walls," I inform them before letting out a small sigh of defeat. "Unfortunately, any vampires will just have to practice this on their own as I have no way of testing your shields." Low mumbles sound from around the room before I see my brother abruptly stand to his feet.

"I'm ready, Sis," he insists, sending me a cocky grin. "Ya ain't ever gettin' through this sucker," he tells me, tapping the side of his head to elicit soft laughter from around the room.

"Alright, now I'm gonna be pushing against your shields, so you're gonna have to concentrate," I warn him, seeing him send me a 'duh' eye roll. I just shake my head at him, realizing there's only one way to teach him this isn't nearly as easy as he seems to think it is.

I close my eyes, lifting my shields before quickly zeroing in on his thoughts and have to smirk upon hearing him silently chanting at me to 'stay out'. I can see the wall he has in his mind and nod, approving of the standard, safe-like door. It looks thick and sturdy, now to test its strength. I probe his shields, surprised at just how flimsy they truly are before my mind is suddenly bombarded with very vivid, very erotic images.

"Oh, God, stop!" I yell out, having to slam down my own shields as my face drops to my hands in embarrassment.

"Please tell me ya didn't just see what I think ya did, Sook," Jason remarks, as naked, sweaty images of he and Hoyt are still haunting my mind. I fear there's not enough brain bleach in the world to ever fully erase those.

"I told you to concentrate, Jase!" I yell back, lowering my hands to send him a piercing glare as the rest of the room falls into hysterical laughter. Hoyt isn't joining in on the fun though, I notice, seeing him sitting wide eyed on his mat, his face stained crimson red.

"I tried!" Jason yells back over the laughter as I'm left just shaking my head at him, having to take a deep, calming breaths as I'm left silently chanting over and over 'he's your brother, you can't kill him'. Once the laughter finally settles, I see Quinn stand to my right.

"You wanna try?" I question, really hoping the Weretiger is smart enough to keep any erotic thoughts far from his mind. He sends me a firm nod and I close my eyes once more before slowly lifting my shields. I pinpoint Quinn from the crowd, seeing he's chosen sturdy, metal doors.

Cautiously, I probe at them, letting out a small sigh of relief upon finding they seem to be set firmly in place. I push a bit harder then, feeling as he pushes right back, his resilience making it so I can't so much as budge his mental defenses.

"Good," I finally commend, opening my eyes to see a small smile formed over the Were's face. I let out a small sigh of relief then, suddenly feeling much more confident in the strength of our group's mental defenses. Now, if my brother could just learn to concentrate. I shake my head again, hoping Jason, our apparent weak link as far as mental defenses are concerned, can manage to stay out of the line of fire.