"What are you doing in my rooms?"
The minion stood stock still at the sound of her voice. It was dangerous to be caught in the Mistress' rooms without her permission, without her being there already. "What are you doing in my rooms?" she asked again, her voice dangerously calm, serene. The slap, slap of her long leather riding gloves didn't help his disposition.
He slowly turned, facing her. "I-I was s-sent."
"Oh," the angle of her head said she didn't believe him, "by whom?"
He would not answer.
"You were sent?" she asked slowly. She had met her fair share of simple vampires before. He nodded. "Someone had a question to ask of me? Spike or perhaps Angel?" There was no recognition in his eyes. "One of my children?" Her patience was running deadly thin. "You realize," she said negligently, "that whoever you are protecting wouldn't protect you." Carefully she removed the beautiful silver and black tabby cat from her left shoulder and placed it on the floor. It sped out of the room. "That they probably sent you up here knowing the consequence. You have committed a capitol offense." Oh, but how she enjoyed the rabbit-fear in his eyes.
"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" No answer. "Fine, I'll get an answer from you. Of some kind."
"Got yourself a pet, Gem?"
Christina, called Gemini, turned to her sire. "He followed me home from school," she said laughing at her own little joke.
"Got him right housebroken. Well, broken at least."
"Mmm, isn't he pretty, Daddy?"
"Indeed he is, Kitten. Does he have a name?"
"What's your name? Tell Spike your name." She yanked hard on the minion's chain.
"Lukas," he managed from around his swollen tongue and between his broken lips.
He could hear the music from the sewers. It seemed someone had skipped sleep altogether and started the party without him.
Spike emerged from the basement to a room full of dancing, painted, writhing vampires. Angelus sat in a wingback chair wearing a paper crown looking rather displeased. A giggling line of painted vamps danced by. "What the bloody hell is going on here?"
One of the dancers disengaged from the line. "Just having some fun, Sire."
"Gemini?"
She bowed with a flourish, "At your service," and giggled. Painted entirely in deep blues, purples and greens, her only distinguishing feature was her new buzzcut. Her head was too large to make it a particularly flattering style, but Spike got the distinct impression that it was a means to an end. About an inch of white hair lay smoothed on her scalp. And it was only standing as close as he was that Spike could tell that she wore a tiny bikini at all. Yet, standing this close she looked wilder than she had when he didn't know who she was -- when she was just another minion.
There was something a little desperate about the way Spike searched his childe's painted face looking for answers to questions he didn't have. Is she mine? Course she is. Of course she is.
"Join us?" she asked demurely as if inviting him to tea instead of a wild saturnalia.
"All right," and it might as well have just been the two of them, "little bit of fun and games never hurt a bloke."
"Much."
Spike grinned. Christina grinned back. The dancing line of vampires came round again. Someone at the end of the line held their hand out. With a whoop, the vampiress took it and rejoined their merry, painted, band.
Taking a better look around Spike noticed some food hanging from a chain. And Christina's new toy. " 'Lo there, Lukas. Enjoying the fun are we?" Crouched like the good dog Christina had trained him to be, Rumor -- whose cat was she? Gemini's or Honey's? -- lay draped across Lukas' shoulder. When he didn't receive an answer Spike yanked on the vampire's chain. "I asked you if you were having fun."
"Yes, Master."
"Now," he continued much more amiably, "is that because I just threatened your life or are you genuinely having a good time?"
If the fledgling wondered why Spike was so interested he gave no indication. "I am pleased to see my mistress pleased."
Spike looked him over carefully. "In love with her, are you?" He shook his head. "Poor sod. She may very well kill you tomorrow, or tonight, you realize."
Lukas nodded.
"Eh, so long as you know," he said off-handedly as a passing vampire painted in gold and red caught his fancy. "Sophie, luv, let's dance." Shucking his duster onto Lukas, he gathered her up and started an old-fashioned reel.
"You used to wear velvet, Angel." Christina stood just behind the low wing-backed chair.
"And you used to wear cotton."
She laughed. "I still am. But you aren't enjoying yourself."
"I'm enjoying watching you," he answered dourly.
"Aw," she pouted, leaning over further, "don't you want to have your way with one of the pretty, young, painted, dead or undead things here?"
"What if I say I want you?"
She laughed brightly by his side. "But I'm the Hostess!" And with that she was off again.
Spike looked up as the three of them barreled into the house. Flush and warm with a night of extravagant kills, Christina, Katie and Derek approached the seated master vampire dragging a pitiful mortal behind them.
Christina sauntered up to him, hips swaying dramatically. "Hey, Daddy!" She sat on his lap. "We got a question that only you can answer."
"Yeah," arm around her waist, he was game, "what's that?"
She looked from Spike to her faithfuls and smiled that wild smile that made her the Gemini. "Well, see, we want to know what kind of blood's the best. From a vampire. Fresh out of the victim, with the vamp as a kinda blood filter, a couple hours old to get some real vamp flavor or full and glutted vamp but aged all night."
Spike raised his expressive brows. "Can't rightly say that I know, Kitten."
"That's okay! We brought the experiment to you!" Hopping off his lap, she went to caught up the mortal gasping in pain behind Derek and Katie. "Had to break his legs. He kept trying to run away." Her voice wondered why he would ever attempt such a thing. "Anyway, Kates, you're up first."
Smiling madly, maliciously, dangerous and deadly like her Mistress, Katie stepped up to the small dias on which Spike sat. Blowing them both an air-kiss, she turned and quickly finished the mortal. Hardly letting the body drop from her dark arms she was in Spike's arms, neck bared to his fangs being drunk whole.
Her smile was decidedly more dreamy when he released her into Derek's waiting embrace. "Whoa."
"Indeed."
Katie let her lover lower her onto the steps after assuring him that Spike had not drained her completely.
"You're next," Christina purred, crooking a finger at Derek. As he bared his neck for Spike, she explained that he had fed only a few hours earlier, sometime between two and six. She couldn't remember, one of her feeds had been a drunk.
Derek stumbled back, caught in Christina's open arms, as Spike released him, very near sated.
"And now I believe it's your turn." Christina turned from her woozy childe at Spike's voice. "Yes," she agreed, "it is." She was tempted, for a moment, to open her arms to him like some kind of supplicant. It passed.
"And when did you eat?" he asked.
"Hours and hours and hours ago. Can't you feel my ghost of a heartbeat? Can't you feel the warmth coming from my skin." Her smile slow, thick, sensual, "Glutted on blood and it's all for you."
Savagely, Spike pulled her head to one side and sank his teeth into the faintly pulsing vein of her neck. Every vampire in the room, hitherto going about their own business, watched the frankly sexual display. Which one got off on the feeding more, no one knew.
"You. Then Katie, then Derek," he growled into her neck, passing his red lips over hers. "You."