Underworld - The Turning
Written by
Wendy Dale Smith
st7ci-at-hotmail.com
To Reviewers: Just a reminder, I've moved the review replies to the end of the chapter.
Chapter 7
Without ceremony, Vivienne pushed the huge double-doors open wide. Taking two quick steps, she stopped briefly at the edge of a small semi-circular rise, and surveyed the immense room before her. Standing on either side of her, Michael and Selene could only stare in disbelief. The gigantic space was easily over a hundred meters square. They took the half dozen steps down into the chamber with caution, following the coven's leader into the lycan's den.
What registered to their eye first were the four-meter-thick support columns that lined the massive room at regular intervals. The huge blocks of rock were hewn from the very limestone that formed the foundation under Paris. Light fixtures imbedded in the columns illuminated the heavy-laden dark spaces with a soft golden glow. The columns sat in groups of four, creating alternating light and shadow that broke up the cavernous expanse into orderly, square sections. In between these sections were placed large open rooms that conformed to various activities. To their immediate right was a library sectioned off by four of the limestone columns. To their left was a cordoned off space that held sofas and couches and a large television set. As Selene looked farther down the wide central hallway, she could clearly see a recreation center, another library, a glass enclosed conference room, and what she guessed were several classrooms.
Vivienne paused at the first hallway intersection and nodded down a narrower hallway to her right. "Down there are the dormitories and the larger family rooms." She then turned to her left, "And in that direction is the dining hall and infirmary." As she began to walk again, she continued, "Up ahead is our laboratory, training room, and armory." Selene's ears pricked at that last word. With a space this large, one could store quite an arsenal. She swallowed down the unease starting to clench in her stomach like nausea.
"There is enough space for at least three hundred people," Vivienne said with no little pride as she made her way slowly down the immense central hallway. She was taking obvious delight in their gaping and awestruck reactions.
Selene simply shook her head in disbelief. What her eyes were telling her was making it difficult to believe this was a lycan's den at all. Then she became aware of a more fundamental problem. It was the smell, or rather, the lack of it. She looked down at the hallway floors. The floors were constructed from a carefully laid ceramic tile with stylized mosaics. The mosaics were interspersed with elaborate geometric patterns as far as she could see down the halls. The hallways were gleaming and pristine, spartan in their cleanliness. She could even smell the floor wax from a recent polish. Giving one of the massive limestone columns closer inspection, she saw elaborately carved reliefs in more geometric patterns all along its surface. Great care was given to the building of this structure. It had an ancient air about it.
Looking up ahead, Selene saw they were approaching a large, orderly crowd at the other end of the massive main hallway. She breathed in deeply, trying to smell them, and only just discerned the entire group of lycans. Selene looked over at Michael. He seemed not to notice the lack of odor or filth. He was too busy looking about him in avid, wide-eyed curiosity. Not a bloody care in the world, she thought with irritation.
"I noticed your brand on their shoulders," Michael said suddenly. Selene looked sharply back at him, surprised he had noticed the marks as well, and knew what they meant.
"My brand?" Vivienne replied with an angry snort of aggravation, and stopped to look at him. It was clear then to Michael that this was a sore issue with Vivienne. "I did not order they burn that into their skin! They are branding each other. The young ones think it is 'cool', like some sort of gang ritual. Les enfants d'aujourd'hui…" she mumbled, shaking her head in consternation. She looked young and beautiful to Michael, yet she sounded more like a stodgy grandmother. This is the woman who grabbed my crotch? he thought in amusement.
Michael had his senses trained on the group of lycans the moment he stepped into the massive room. He could sense their nervous anxiety across the hundred meter distance. Their fear calmed his own quickly enough. He took comfort in knowing they were afraid of Selene and him. It left more room in his thoughts to worry over her. He glanced at Selene out of the corner of his eye, keeping careful watch. She was so tense he could taste it, and it took every bit of willpower he possessed not to hover over her. That action, he knew, would only make her tension worse.
Suddenly, Michael heard rapid footfalls coming from behind and to their right. Someone was running toward them from the direction of the dormitories. Michael looked at Selene in alarm. She was several paces back, lagging behind. She stopped and scowled, and turned to look back at the hallway intersection they had just passed. She took a cautious step backward, listening, and tensing. He shot a glance at Vivienne, who seemed to be tallying the large group of lycans waiting for them. Then she suddenly grimaced in comprehension. "Merde," Vivienne whispered through clenched teeth as she immediately put a calming hand on Michael's arm. She turned back to Selene. "Selene! Get out of…!"
Too late, the body came barreling around the corner straight at Selene. She only had time to raise her arm protectively, but Michael was much faster. In a flash, he halted the hurtling body with one palm in front of her. The figure bounced off Michael's raised hand like it was a brick wall and hit the hard tiled floor with a bone jarring thud. Michael looked down at the lanky male. The lycan had an odd smell…like a puppy dog, Michael realized in surprise. He was just a kid, a young adolescent. The boy's eyes were fixated in shock upon the dark female figure looming over him. Michael looked up and noted with dismay that Selene had a very rare, very sudden, expression of pure fury. She was about to vent on the poor boy.
Michael instantly had to change tactics, grabbing Selene as she launched herself, fangs bared, at the unfortunate teenager. When she hissed, that was enough to get the boy motivated to move. Scrambling backwards on the floor like a desperate crab, the youth took off in the opposite direction, disappearing back around the corner.
"Well," said Vivienne mildly, "maybe now he'll stop running in the hallways." Michael, still holding Selene, looked over at the woman in charge. Inexplicably, he sensed she was hiding humor. He looked back at Selene as she angrily shoved his arm away. He watched as she turned her furious gaze in Vivienne's direction. Uh oh, Michael panicked, and looked desperately at Vivienne. She was grinning now like a madwoman. "What can I say?" she said with a shrug. "I told you to brace yourself," she said, now chuckling softly. Still smiling, she turned toward a well-dressed lycan woman who was tentatively approaching them from the far group. Vivienne then walked with the lycan to the next intersection several meters away, already in deep, quiet conversation.
Michael looked at Selene. She was eyeing the coven leader with murderous intent. Vivienne wasn't making this easy for Selene at all, Michael realized. She was taking a strange sort of enjoyment in Selene's angry and confused reaction to her domain. It confused Michael as well, because he sensed Vivienne wasn't a malicious person, and did not wish them harm. Selene suddenly intruded into his thoughts.
"She's rubbing my nose in it," she said angrily, quietly.
"In what?" he said.
Selene looked up at him, and he was surprised to see a look of shame and humiliation pass over her face. The emotion was covered immediately. "My ignorance," she finally replied enigmatically. With a deep breath, Selene straightened her spotless black leather jacket and walked with determination closer to Vivienne.
Michael sighed, feeling stupid again. He realized that while he might have been feeling a sense of satisfaction in seeing this grand lycan den, Selene was finding it very traumatic. Michael could remember quite vividly that Lucian had been well-mannered, with smooth, refined speech. His recollection of Lucian's stronghold in Budapest, however, was vague and tumultuous. It was a home to sewer rats, not intelligent, sentient beings. The lycans he had witnessed there seemed like mindless killing machines, like animals. If that was the only characteristic the lycan's ever allowed the vampires to see during their war, then it was no wonder Selene had such a low opinion of them. Why? he thought. Why did the lycan's do that? He could only shake his head in irritation. He watched Selene warily approach the two softly conversing women.
Getting no closer than several meters from the statuesque lycan standing with Vivienne, Selene crossed her arms impatiently. The lycan was attractive, Selene admitted begrudgingly, and dressed quite stylishly in a formal business suit. Selene could just discern the two talking about various things, none of which involved her. She tried to ignore them.
Her curiosity got the better of her when she heard the lycan mention a database being down. What would a lycan know about computers? Then Selene clearly heard the word "réservations d'hôtel," "concierge," and "sommelier" and realized they were talking about the attached hotel. They must own it, she thought suddenly in surprise. They were discussing business. She heard a cell phone beep and the woman quickly pulled it out. The lycan then shook her head apologetically at Vivienne and glanced discreetly in Selene's direction. She saw Vivienne gently pat the lycan's arm with shocking familiarity. The lycan bowed her head in respect and departed hurriedly down another hall toward the area Vivienne said contained the infirmary.
"I apologize for Eleanor. She is alpha of our den," Vivienne said as she approached her guests. "And my hotel director. It takes all her time. One emergency after another," she sighed as she looked up to the high ceiling in mild exasperation.
"You own the hotel?" he said in surprise. Michael had almost forgotten it was actually in the middle of a work day above.
The older vampire nodded. "And the entire block." She motioned them to continue, but Selene hesitated.
Selene took a step backward, toward Michael. He then knew it was starting to get to her. It was too much information, too quickly, even for him. He couldn't imagine what was going through Selene's mind. He could feel her rising panic as she stared with unease down the hall. He looked up at Vivienne and drew his brows together, silently and unconsciously asking the woman for help.
Vivienne just shook her head, suddenly sober, revealing her true concern. He understood then that Vivienne was deliberately taking her time walking toward the large group of lycans. It was for Selene's sake, to give the younger woman time to get her fear under control. Michael also knew it wasn't just Selene she was concerned about. It was the lycans in her charge, as well. This was a delicate and dangerous situation, for Selene had been a Death Dealer trained to do one thing very well. Vivienne must have known she could kill almost as easily without her weapons.
Vivienne looked down the hall and sighed slowly, as though trying to decide something. Finally, she grimaced with determination. "Come, Selene. I want you to meet my daytime staff," she ordered quietly with an encouraging, small smile. Selene looked at Vivienne, then looked at the lycans, then looked back at Vivienne again. Michael saw Vivienne's expression change, becoming taunting. Selene narrowed her eyes, and shot a glance at Michael. Michael looked back blankly, innocently. She sighed and stared at the lycans. When she started working her teeth together, Michael knew she had talked herself into it.
"Fine," she said simply.
Vivienne smiled, and without another word led them to the two dozen lycans that were now standing shoulder to shoulder in an orderly line down the length of the hallway. With a clench of her jaw, Selene followed a pace behind, Michael right behind her.
One by one Vivienne introduced her "staff" to Michael and Selene. She knew each of their names, and their job function. The lycans nervously bowed or curtsied, first to Vivienne and then to Michael and Selene. Some were in work uniforms and some were casually dressed, while others were dressed in plain business suits. Michael noted that most of them were women, and all the males seemed young, just like the four he had subdued at the elevators. Where are the men? he wondered ominously. All were modestly attired, with no jewelry or signs of ostentation. They worked in the hotel, the restaurant, and the various shops within the city block.
None of them looked the two vampires or the hybrid directly in the eye. They kept their heads downcast, submissive, but Michael felt no animosity from them. Michael sensed that they revered their leader, and that they were in awe of the ancient lady. He felt his initial intimidation of Vivienne creeping back into his emotions. She held absolute power over the immortals around her. To both vampire and lycan alike, she was queen.
Selene kept her distance, her guard firmly, stubbornly in place. He knew she could sense their fear of them as easily as he could, yet she still acted like they would attack her at any moment. He looked down the row of people he had just met. He knew they were lycans, werewolves, all. But they were in no way the evil creatures he half-expected they would be. With a start and a glance at Selene, he suddenly understood what the problem was.
They weren't soldiers. They weren't trained killers. Without the full moon pushing them, they wouldn't change, would in no way feel compelled to defend themselves against a Death Dealer, or a very powerful hybrid. These lycans wouldn't know how. And they thought he was the animal, the wolf in the hen house. Michael felt shame for taking consolation in their frightened state, and suddenly wished he could remove their fear of him. He was no soldier, no killer.
When Vivienne finally completed her introduction, she smiled at the quiet servants, radiating gratitude Michael knew the lycans could sense. "Thank you for enduring my disruption," she said gracefully. "You may return to your duties now." Without preamble, the entire group began to rapidly disperse to their various daily routines. Within seconds, the hallway had completely emptied. Vivienne sighed in relief.
"Are you finished?" Selene said suddenly, rudely, to Vivienne. Selene exuded anger. It was the only emotion she was willing to acknowledge.
Vivienne scowled back at the younger vampire, but held on to her patience. "Not quite," she said quietly, ominously. She turned and walked to the very back of the colossal chamber, past several doors with darkened red lights above them. That's the armory, Selene guessed. It was characteristic of indoor firing ranges. The caution lights were used to indicate when weapons were being fired. But Vivienne ignored those rooms, much to Selene's confusion. Selene had been convinced the tour would end with a display of their weapons capabilities. Instead, Vivienne took them to a darkened alcove in the very back of the facility. She walked quietly to a door nestled in the farthest back corner and opened it.
"Here is our most precious resource," she said in a whisper as she carefully opened the door set off from the main hall. They entered a brightly lit vestibule with a desk to one side and large reinforced window on the other. Another brightly painted door sat opposite the main entry. At Vivienne's entrance, a very pregnant female sitting at the desk started to awkwardly stand. Vivienne motioned sternly for her not to get up. "Pourquoi êtes-vous ici, Geraldine? Je vous ai commandé de reposer," she scolded gently, then switched to English without thought. "These babies can do without their teacher for a few days."
The lycan sat back down guiltily, but gratefully. "Pardonnez-moi, Madame. M-My back was hurting…" she trailed off when she saw who followed Vivienne. Michael saw her actually shrink in fear at seeing them. He felt instantly ashamed that he would cause the woman, who looked very overdue, to feel any more pain than she was obviously already in. He tried to look as passive as he could, but the woman still got up as fast as her bulging stomach would allow. She looked suddenly sick. "I-I didn't know…If you will…vous m'excuserez…" she said, giving up her tentative English as she hurried to the inside door. Michael saw another large room beyond as she quickly opened and closed it. He sensed several other individuals, but couldn't make out any details.
Vivienne shook her head as the woman escaped. She motioned Selene and Michael to the window. "It is nap time," she whispered with a slight smile. Curious, Michael and Selene looked through the window. To both their astonishment, the large room contained at least three dozen children, all lying on pallets around what looked like a large children's playroom. The room was dimly lit. The children were of varying ages. Some were infants, while others looked on the verge of adolescence. With sympathy, Michael noticed some of the older ones looked over at them in bored curiosity. He had hated naptime too.
Suddenly, he turned his head to Selene in alarm, sensing her rapidly darkening emotion. Her brows were sharply drawn together as she studied the children coldly, almost calculatingly. Selene was clearly disturbed by what she was seeing, even more so than the parade of adult lycans in the hallway. Vivienne too had turned darkly pensive as she stared through the window. Michael was confused. He could not understand why the two women were upset, until Vivienne began to soberly explain. She must have seen his confusion.
"What you are seeing Michael, would have been the next generation," Vivienne swallowed with difficulty as her eyes darted briefly to Selene. "Of soldiers," she whispered finally. She nodded her head to the inner door. "Beyond, there is one other room like this one…All the lycan children left on this continent." Vivienne voice was pain-filled. She turned to look at Selene, who was stubbornly refusing to stare back. Vivienne closed her eyes briefly, and swallowed. She then followed Selene's gaze back to the room beyond. Michael watched as her eyes picked out each child, and he knew then that the elder vampire adored those lycan children. She spoke in a pained whisper. "Thank God, you killed Viktor, Selene. Thank God you stopped that murderer," she nearly choked.
Michael watched the two women, one dark and one light, while both stared through the glass with heartbreaking expressions. It made his chest tighten to realize what all these people had gone through for so many centuries, all because of one man's hate-filled obsession. He dearly hoped it was all finally ending.
He watched Vivienne quietly exit the vestibule, leaving them alone. She must have sensed what he was detecting too. That Selene was upset would have been an understatement. He didn't even try to think of something consoling to say. It was impossible. He looked at the sleeping children, seeing no difference in them than any other human children. "She must have seen generation after generation go to war," he said quietly. "It never would have ended."
"Yes, it would," she finally spoke quietly as she continued to stare stone-faced through the glass. "We would have found this place, eventually." Selene looked up at him briefly. "And slaughtered them as well," she said almost matter-of-factly.
"Jesus Christ, Selene. They're just children…babies," he whispered.
Her brows drew together as her scowl deepened considerably. She turned to look at him, stared at him ruthlessly. His eyes widened further in horror, but he couldn't bring himself to have her confirm what that look was telling him, that she had killed children before. He shook his head, unable to believe she was capable of such a heinous act. She turned away from him to give the lycan children one last look, and followed Vivienne out into the hallway.
It was several minutes before Michael could follow.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Michael finally caught up to Selene near the infirmary. He rounded a corner and found her leaning casually against one of the giant stone pillars, one boot-clad foot propped against it. Her arms were crossed. She was tapping her long fingers in slow staccato impatience. He looked farther down the hall and saw Jacob and two other Death Dealers talking privately to Vivienne. Selene turned her head to him. She seemed to have gotten her wayward emotions back under control. The initial shock of the den was passing. And now she was brooding in silence, Michael realized with a slight grimace. Michael hated it when she got like this. She could be that way for days, and never once reveal what she was thinking or feeling. Rather than make the futile attempt to pull a full sentence from her, he decided to snoop around his surroundings instead.
Selene was eavesdropping, or trying to. Vivienne was angry about something, but Selene could not make out what they were saying. She recognized the other two Death Dealers, Samantha and Jonah. They had been a very close couple when they were in Viktor's coven. That had not changed, she noticed. They eyed her and Michael with blatant suspicion. When her two former colleagues stared her down, Selene resisted the urge to look away. She would be damned before they saw her distress.
Jacob broke away from the mysterious conversation and walked slowly up to Selene, keeping a wary eye on Michael. Michael, she noticed, had wandered into a laboratory across from the infirmary, and was sniffing around in curiosity. She barely acknowledged Jacob as she continued to monitor Michael and the occasional lycan roaming to and from rooms in the large basement complex. She noticed they gave the vampires a wide berth, and skirted Michael most of all. The fact that they didn't exactly make them feel welcome did not bother Selene in the least, but it seemed to disturb Michael greatly. She realized it was only natural he be curious about that part of himself, the part that was lycan. Jacob finally sighed.
"Spit it out," she said, tired of waiting for him to work up the courage to ask whatever it was he wanted to ask.
"Oh, I was just wondering what you thought of our little set up," Jacob said lightly. That he was smug was obvious. He seemed to take unabashed joy in fooling his former comrade. If the comment was intended to make her angry, it worked.
"I think it's pathetic." She looked at him, cold as ice. "I think the lycans are pathetic. I think trying to rekindle a past that should remain dead and buried most pathetic of all." She looked away with a glower. "I take no pride in being a traitor, Jacob, and it sickens me that you do."
"Traitor to what? To Viktor and that ridiculous covenant? To never ending war?" he scoffed softly. He was silent for a moment as he studied her expressionless face. "Some of us didn't have your excuse, Selene…to commit genocide." Jacob looked at her soberly. "And I just couldn't live with myself anymore." He walked away then, shaking his head. He bowed to Vivienne as he returned to the heated, private discussion.
After a few moments, the three Death Dealers entered the infirmary. Selene knew Kraven was in there, being treated for his hybrid-inflicted wounds. She grimaced as Vivienne approached her. The coven leader did not look happy. "Twelve years since he finally broke his ties, and still it takes little prodding to bring that guilt to the surface," she quietly reproved Selene.
Selene was too angry to feel repentant about needling Jacob. She was tired of everyone feeling smug at her expense.
Then they heard a commotion from the infirmary, what sounded like metal trays banging loudly on the floor.
"Argh! Get away from me, you mangy bitch!" came Kraven's muffled, angry voice. Selene could plainly hear the slap that followed that remark. Her mouth twitched in memory. Kraven had a swift, painful backhand.
Suddenly, Eleanor burst out of the double-doors. Her eyes darted about frantically. They had turned ice blue, almost white. The arresting lycan was furious, and trying not to turn. Selene could see the bright red mark where Kraven had slapped her across the face. Eleanor's lips twitched into a quick snarl, revealing lethal canines. When she finally spotted Vivienne and Selene just a few paces away, she stepped quickly back in alarm and looked down, drawing deep soothing breaths. She straightened and smoothed her jacket. To Selene's surprise, she then looked straight at her. Eleanor was looking at Selene now with vivid violet-blue eyes drawn in abject shame. "I'm sorry," she said softly in a very proper English accent. Her eyes darted in Vivienne's direction, including her mistress in the apology.
Vivienne growled. "Go, my friend. You have more important things to do," she said angrily. As the other woman bowed and began to walk briskly away, Vivienne stopped her. "Oh, and that little technical problem? It will be resolved by this evening's briefing?" she asked.
"It will be resolved within the hour, my Lady," Eleanor replied softly. She smiled and hurried down the hall, headed for the hotel above them.
Just then, Kraven burst out of the infirmary with the three Death Dealers in tow. He was clutching his bandaged neck as though in pain. As he turned down the hall opposite Selene, he suddenly halted, hearing a distinctive hiss. Slowly, he turned his scowling face around to find Selene staring back with blatant fury. Vivienne walked cautiously to the suddenly enraged Death Dealer and growled the woman's name under her breath in warning.
Kraven sneered as he looked Selene up and down.
Suddenly, his faced changed. Selene saw Kraven, and the three Death Dealers surrounding him, suddenly look up in apprehension. She sensed Michael walk quietly up behind her and Vivienne. Kraven took a step back, then scowled further. He looked at Selene with blatant hatred. "From now on, keep your dog on a leash," he growled.
Before Selene could take a step in Kraven's direction, Vivienne clamped hold of her upper arm. Selene shot a furious glare at the woman, but Vivienne's grip was firm. "Not in front of them," Vivienne growled quietly. Her eyes shot to a lycan nervously skirting the angry group of vampires. Selene realized Vivienne didn't want her servants to witness dissention among the vampires. She looked at Kraven, who now had a superior expression on his face, then back at Vivienne. Selene yanked her arm loose from the woman's biting grip and sighed fiercely.
Kraven then smiled at Selene contemptuously, and bowed to Vivienne with seemingly genuine reverence. As he turned around, Selene couldn't resist the taunt. "Watch your back," she barked in warning. Kraven merely balled his hands into fists as he continued down the hall, his Death Dealer escorts in close pursuit.
She kept her eye on Kraven until he disappeared around the far corner. Only then did she turn her head to look at the coven leader's ominous countenance. Selene had never seen the old vampire look quite that angry.
"Michael," Vivienne said lightly as she eyed Selene. "You are hungry, oui?" She glanced at him as he nodded slightly. Michael looked back and forth between the two furious women. Vivienne smiled amicably to him. "Get yourself to the hotel kitchen. The cook will make anything you want," Vivienne said as she turned her eyes, and her scowl, back toward Selene. "Selene and I have a few things to discuss."
Michael wasn't stupid enough to protest.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Selene confronted Vivienne before the office door could close. Stalking to her from behind, she snarled, "How could you harbor Kraven," Selene was in an irrational rage. She stood not a breath away from the other woman, hands balled into tight fists, threatening. "You cannot trust him! He's a traitor! He should be killed immediat…"
"Silence!" Vivienne suddenly hissed, losing patience. Her eyes were inflamed in angry shock at Selene's outburst. Eyes narrowed, Vivienne lowered her voice in warning. "If anyone should be accused of anything, it is I. For whatever traitorous act he committed, he did so under my command!" Vivienne managed to remain calm, until she barked those last words through gritted teeth, fangs barred, not backing from Selene an inch.
Selene jerked her head back, stunned by the woman's vehement assertion. Vivienne's intense burst of fury brought Viktor instantly to mind. Selene stepped back, realizing she was standing too close. This was a side of Vivienne's personality she had never witnessed. The senior vampire had never expressed anything beyond reckless frivolity while in Viktor's coven. Despite that, Selene had been much too young to show the ancient vampire anything but the most deferential respect, and certainly had never raised her voice to the older woman as she had just done. Selene chided herself mentally. One did not raise one's voice to a vampire ten times their elder. It was unthinkable. It was rude. Her personal feelings aside, Selene realized she had overstepped her bounds and forgotten her place.
She took a calming breath and lowered her eyes. "I apologize for my outburst," she said much more calmly. After a pause, she looked up at Vivienne with somewhat calmer eyes. "But my feelings remain the same."
Vivienne cocked her head angrily at Selene, as though listening for insincerity. After a moment, she sighed heavily, still scowling deeply at the young female vampire. "I understand your feelings, Selene. He is a most disagreeable vampire," she said staunchly, "but a necessary one nonetheless."
"Necessary?!" Selene growled. At Vivienne's stern glance, Selene stilled her anger. "What could possibly outweigh the risks of having Kraven here?"
Vivienne gritted her teeth in frustration. "Selene, you stubborn girl, there are things you don't understand. Things I am not ready to tell you because you're not ready to hear them."
Selene shook her head. She refused to budge. What the elderly vampire was asking of her was just too much. Never again would she live under the same roof with Kraven. "All I know is that he'll stop at nothing to see Michael and me dead. And that's not something I'm willing to tolerate. I'm sorry." Having seen and heard enough, Selene abruptly turned to leave.
Vivienne let her get as far as the door. "Where will you go? Back to your little house in the mountains?"
That stopped Selene cold. She stood there, facing the door as her mind raced, suddenly panic-filled.
Vivienne continued, bringing her implicit point home. "You don't honestly believe such vast sums of money would escape our notice?" she said not unkindly.
That got Selene's back up. "I didn't steal it, if that's what you're implying," Selene said vehemently, scowling at the older woman.
"I imply no such thing. I know you earned it," she admonished the younger vampire. Vivienne looked at her for a few moments more before turning and walking to her desk. She casually leaned against it, waiting patiently. Selene was trying to figure out when and how Vivienne learned about her hidden wealth.
Then it hit Selene, why Kraven was under Vivienne's protection. Her eyes widened and she whispered, "Kraven had legal control of Ziodex Industries." She stared at Vivienne, as part of the truth was revealed.
"He still has it," Vivienne replied bluntly.
Selene stepped to the other woman. "That's why you need him. He's been funneling money to you. All this time," she spoke quietly.
Vivienne shook her head. "Let's get this clear from the start. I am in control of Ziodex. I have been from its inception," she said darkly, brooking no argument. She stood from the desk and closed the distance to Selene. She gave the young vampire a piercing stare. "You're a smart girl. Think. You don't honestly believe him capable of building something so complex? Kraven...He is just a bureaucrate." Vivienne fumbled for the right word, "An administrator only."
"But, Amelia…"
"Amelia," Vivienne said dismissively. She shook her head "She was too busy breeding her new coven to pay attention to what was happening here. That was her mistake," she said reproachfully.
Selene's mind whirled with the implications of what she was hearing. She simply stared at the older woman, finding it difficult to believe how completely she had duped everyone. The depth of underhanded scheming went far beyond what she learned in Budapest. What surprised her most was how she felt. Vivienne had committed the height of betrayal, but Selene held no desire for retribution. She had no loyalty to Viktor's coven. She just felt an overwhelming confusion. That alone was enough to make her angry.
The older woman smiled at Selene's discomfiture. Taking pity on her, she decided to change the subject. "Michael…he is a nice boy, Selene, a gentle, kind man. He reminds me very much of Lucian in that regard," she thought reflectively. "He is surprisingly well adjusted, considering he was turned by one so young. I was convinced you could not handle it." Vivienne then looked at nothing, her mind suddenly in a very different place. "Viktor would be…infuriated," she said, smiling in quiet satisfaction.
Despite her chaotic thoughts, Selene couldn't help the twinge of pride that came through at the older woman's statement. That the elder vampire found her turning and mentoring of Michael a success was no small compliment. It was one of the most difficult things a vampire could master, and was rarely attempted even by those centuries older than herself. It had been a secret worry in Selene's mind since she had bitten Michael. That, because of her ignorance, he would succumb to the madness so common with the turning, that he would not be able cope with the changes it wrought. But, Selene acknowledged, in that regard she could not take complete responsibility for his well being. Michael had played no small role in easing his own transformation.
"Michael made it easy for me," she confessed quietly.
Vivienne looked at Selene candidly, eyes calculating. "C'est vrai, it helps when their minds are good to begin with," she said reflectively, now watching Selene with blatant curiosity. Selene turned her eyes away from the woman. She had the disquieting sensation the other vampire was pulling her soul through them, laying it bare. Vivienne suddenly laughed quietly. "You really impressed Ferdinand, that lycan boy you so terrified. He has an unusually dominant personality. I've never seen that child run from anything, including me," she smiled.
Selene could not muster a smile in return. She was smart enough to know this wasn't mere small talk. She was being tested. Selene felt she was constantly being tested. She cleared her throat with difficulty, feeling a mysterious compulsion to ask a question she knew she would regret hearing the answer to. "I saw many more lycan children than adults. Where are their parents?"
Vivienne sighed with sincere sadness. She looked away then, and frowned. "Most died with Lucian." She turned her piercing gaze back to Selene. "You very nearly achieved Viktor's goal you know."
Selene drew her brows together, staring at anything but the coven leader. "How many children are there?" she said quietly.
Vivienne guessed the question inside the question. "Eighty-seven…fifty-four of which are orphaned."
Still not facing Vivienne, Selene looked down, eyes deeply furrowed. Well over half had no parents.
Vivienne quickly intruded into Selene's growing disquiet. "This is their den, Selene. They are not true orphans, for every lycan female is a mother to them, every male a father."
That got to Selene. Suddenly, she felt her anger rise to the surface again. "Forgive me for saying, but why would I give a damn how lycans are raised?" She turned to Vivienne fully, her features now controlled and blank. She sighed. "Look, I don't mean to be rude. But it's very late in the day, and I'm very tired."
"Of course, you've had quite a shock. Return to your room," the older woman said softly. "This evening you will meet the rest of the vampires here, the one's you have not pummeled," she said with a trace of humorous censure.
Selene tried not to look like she was escaping.
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Selene closed the guest bedroom door behind her and leaned against it. She shut her eyes tightly, fighting the tormenting thoughts running through her mind. She thought of her home in the Alps, how she wished she were there, with Michael. It was several seconds before she noticed the smell of blood, and then the sound of water running. The last she had seen Michael, he was still fully engrossed below with the lycans. Quietly, she picked up her pistol off the sideboard. She walked cautiously around the bed toward the bathroom. The door was ajar.
Then she heard him curse. It was Michael. Sighing in relief, she put the gun down on the bedside table. With a second's hesitation, she opened the door fully.
Michael jerked up, startled by the door's sudden movement. When he saw it was Selene, he closed his eyes immediately and cursed under his breath again. Selene had the courtesy to cringe, belatedly realizing he didn't hear her coming with the water running.
Shirtless, he was straddling the toilet seat holding a bloodied towel to his face. He'd had another nose bleed. They were a frequent consequence of his transformation. This one seemed particularly nasty. He had streaks of blood on his face and neck. His hopelessly blood-stained shirt lay discarded on the floor. Looking up at him again, she couldn't help but notice the results of his many months of rigorous training. His figure was absolutely flawless. Selene swallowed with difficulty.
She'd never seen anything so alluring in her entire life.
With a start she realized she was staring. Blinking rapidly, she said the first thing that came to mind. "You're bleeding."
Sighing deeply, his eyes rolled to her. No shit, Selene. She flinched slightly, getting the message. She watched his frustration as he flipped the towel around to a less bloody spot and brought it back to his nose again. She moved toward the bathroom cabinet. "Here. Let me get you another." Grabbing a towel from the cabinet, she went to the sink to dampen it. She could feel his eyes watching her. How could he not know what this is doing to me? Go. Leave now, before… "You told me your nose bleeds had stopped," she said gruffly.
He grimaced and sighed. "I lied," he said.
As Selene wrung out the cloth, she sent him a look. She moved rapidly to stand in front of him, towel in hand. He went to grab the towel, but she had other intentions. Gently, she reached up and started to wipe the blood from his face.
Michael was so shocked, his hand froze in midair. He didn't move for several seconds. She was touching him. Selene was touching him. He suddenly felt lightheaded, and not from blood loss. When she moved the towel to his neck, the coldness of it snapped him out of his trance. He grimaced and jerked back. Mortification doused him in ice water. The hybrid was having another nose bleed.
"It's all right. I got it," he grumbled softly. His nose refused to stop bleeding. With a stubborn frown, she gave him one of her looks and continued to clean his face. But he was having none of it. "Selene…" he said, frustrated. Michael was edging away from her ministrations like a reluctant child.
With a frustrated grimace, she straightened up in front of him. "Fine." She roughly handed him the towel and took a step back, still watching him closely. He wouldn't look at her. Selene crossed her arms and snorted softly to herself, guessing exactly why he was acting so uncomfortable. "It's not true, you know. What you're thinking."
Michael kept his face carefully neutral, deliberately unconcerned. He sighed, "What am I thinking?" He pulled back the towel. The blood had nearly stopped. Finally. He knew over time his change would become almost effortless and pain free. But for the moment, it just plain sucked.
"When I look at you, yes, I do see the lycan." She lowered her arms to her sides, lowered her aggressive stance, and waited till he had the courage to look her in the eyes. When soft blue-green eyes were raised to hers, she looked openly into them. "But not a monster," she said softly.
Ashamed that she could so easily read his mind, Michael looked back down at the floor. After a long moment, he grimaced a smile. "It's not fair," he said quietly.
"What isn't?"
He paused, about to speak, but then suddenly shook his head. "Nothing." He refused to look at her again.
She raised her eyebrows at that answer and waited patiently for elaboration.
Finally, he sighed, throwing the bloodied towel aside. "I wish…I wish I could tell what you're thinking." He looked at her from under blond locks and smiled in self-derision. He drew his brows together and brought his head back down, wishing he hadn't just said that. He stared patiently at her feet.
"I want you." It was the softest whisper.
He had been rubbing the blood off his forefinger, thinking he would need a shower again, when her whispered words finally hit him. His brain froze solid. With a swallow he almost choked upon, he raised his head to look at her, and caught his breath.
Her mouth was slightly open, like she was out of breath. He could see her chest gently rising and falling as she drew the shallow breaths. Her eyes became languorous and dilated in the span of a few seconds, as she gave in fully to the lust that was coursing through her. She looked like she wanted to devour him. Michael had never seen anything so sexy in his entire, young life.
He stood up slowly, after all this time not quite believing this was finally happening. After a quiet pause, Selene took an uncertain step to him, closing the distance between them. His own arousal began to build, then overflow as he watched her eyes focus obsessively on his lips. They were inches apart. He could feel her breath on him.
Then he felt the slow trickle of blood oozing from his nostril. His suddenly accelerated heartbeat had burst the tentative clot, reopening the wound in his sinus cavity. Michael jerked his head aside and brought up his hand to swipe at the blood that had already reached his lips. "Shit," he cursed under his breath, realizing instantly he probably just ruined the most crucial of moments. Completely disgusted, he brought his hand back to look at the blood smeared across his index finger. That's when he caught Selene's eyes.
They had turned ice blue. She was fixated on the hand he held up between them. He looked at his hand, at his blood. He thought instantly of the subway, of the menstruating girl, and how it so profoundly affected him. He then looked up at her again. Still watching his fingers, she licked opened lips, her fangs. Bloodlust. She was in the throes of bloodlust. She really did want to devour him, he realized.
With a painful sigh, he looked down and closed his eyes. Not like this. He would not take her like this, not their first time, not her first time. No matter that his body was demanding it, begging that he throw her against the wall and pound into her till he could no longer stand. Neither one of them deserved that. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and slowly blew out his breath, trying desperately to reign in that feral part of himself. If Selene touched him, he feared he would split her in two.
She stepped away instead. Surprised, Michael took the opportunity she gave him. He reached down quickly to grab the discarded towel. As he brought it up to staunch the bleeding, he somehow found the courage to glance at her, and then could not turn away.
She was looking at anything but him. Her brows drew together as she finally found her reflection in the mirror. He watched as she fought for control. For the first time, he saw her willfully beat down all the emotions she kept so well hidden from him. As they both stared at her reflection in the mirror, her eyes slowly turned back to their golden brown, then hardened almost instantly. The vulnerability was replaced with a wall of ice. She turned her head and looked at him. This was the Selene he had lived with for five long months. Her expression was cold, ruthless, and a lie.
He stared back soberly. It was all a pretense, he realized, an outward show to keep him at bay, to keep everyone at bay. What she revealed to him hadn't been simple desire, not just lust. He was reminded vividly of that first night in Budapest, when she had told him of her family. Like that night, there had been pain, a Pandora's Box of it. And to let it out unmistakably terrified her.
She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice sounding strained and cracked.
He said nothing. Now was not the time. He pulled his eyes away from hers to check the towel he still held to his nose. Goddamn nosebleeds.
Realizing the moment had left them, she sighed. He couldn't tell if it was in relief or regret. When she spoke again, it was in the voice he knew well. "Get cleaned up, Michael." With that she left, softly closing the door behind her.
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To Reviewers:
Seraphina Kye – 61,531, 14 chapters.
Jubillie-gurl – Ack! You asked a simple question with a complex answer. I think bloodlust is quite complicated, and I try to inadvertently explain how it works throughout the story. Michael came under the influence of bloodlust because he'd never smelled human blood before, not as a hybrid. That it was menstruation blood made it worse – that blood is infused with strong pheromones (scent particles) associated with reproduction (i.e. sex). Hence the comment by Selene about vampire reproduction cycles and how she feared what his reaction would be. Because they are huge olfactory triggers, whenever blood and sex are combined, they tend to bring about bloodlust. Also, if a vampire has been without blood for a while, they are much more susceptible to it. Bloodlust is not so different from plain old sexual lust. It can be controlled, or overridden by other emotions, like fear. When Selene was hemorrhaging from enormous blood loss, Michael wasn't exactly in the frame of mind to be taken over by bloodlust, though it was causing the temptation to turn into his hybrid form.
Katylar – I hope this chapter answered your question about the lycan brands. [grin]
Josh Maxwell – Things move very rapidly from here on out. The story is halfway through after Chapter 7. There is a ton of stuff thrown into a very short period of time – just like the movie.
Hanachan2 – Woohoo! I'm glad you adore eet! Heh. But seriously…My French sucks. I'm keeping it "see spot run" simple for a reason. Thanks for being kind though.
Imraith-Nimphias – My, my, my...Aren't you the jaded one. [laughs] Excessive unresolved sexual tension? You bet ya! After five months of close-quarters company (in an Alpine chalet no less), I think I've rather down-played it. It's more than justified. And, just as you say, Selene is Victorian. They won't just jump into bed together. The circumstances will have to be exactly right. And – correct me if I'm wrong – but didn't Vivienne bitch about this very problem in the story? Regarding Michael and tearing Selene's clothing…she was bleeding to "death" basically. He panicked and tore it off. In ERs, they typically don't even bother with unzipping or unfastening clothing – they cut the clothes off. Besides, he explains in the next chapter how embarrassed he was at having to rip up her bodice. And as for her reaction…how else would she have handled it? Why cry over spilt milk? She just let him know she wasn't pleased at finding herself in such a state, and he apologized. [shrug] Selene is not the type to go into hysterics about something relatively trivial. Also too, she trusts him completely, so much so that she was shocked at his violent reaction in the subway. That trust is unspoken, but also very obvious. I mean…come on!..Michael could have taken advantage of her – raped her in fact – an infinite number of times back in the mountains. He's not suddenly going to get that yen while she's lying near death's door on the filth-ridden ground of the Paris Catacombs. [wink] And as for resolving that UST (that is your real gripe I think), you'll just have to keep reading…[grin] Tiresome tension aside, I'm glad you find the story entertaining. I hope I don't let you down.