Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Underworld or it's characters, so don't sue. The other characters and subsequent storylines are mine, so don't infringe. Many Thanks.
Chapter 3 - Safe Haven
They'd been on the run for so long now that life didn't seem real to him anymore. It was a living nightmare instead. There was a constant tug-of-war raging within him, pulling him apart at the seams. The Lycan and Vampyre, each battling for supremacy and his own last vestige of humanity crying out for salvation. It was wearing him thin, this inner war, and he was at the end of his rope. How he longed for guidance, but there was none forthcoming. He wished for a guidebook, some ancient tome full of diagrams and data, to explain to him just what was happening and how he could control it. But there was no such thing.
She tried. He knew that, but even her love couldn't help him now. Maybe if they could just stop and rest for awhile...but no, not without allies to guard their backs. It seemed all the denizen's of Underworld were after them. There was nowhere to go but forward, to an uncertain future.
"This will have to do for now." She startled him out of his thoughts and he turned, bleary eyed, to face her.
"It's fine." He dropped his pack and a tidal wave of dust rose up to greet him. The abandoned mansion was better than their usual haunts. At least he didn't smell any rats lingering in the darkened corners. He was getting real sick of rats.
He pulled the moth eaten drapes closed tight against the pale, watery dawn, watching her from the corner of his eye as she fought with a weather swollen door. With a mighty tug, the door flew open, sending her sprawling on her backside. Her startled gaze immediately locked with his.
"Don't even think about laughing."
The corner of his mouth twitched, "I wouldn't dare."
Through the humor of the situation, he sensed the underlying tension radiating from her and knew she was bone tired. A few months ago, she would have opened that door as easily as a warm knife could slice through butter. They both needed rest and if they didn't get it soon, he didn't know what would happen to them. Still, he had other things on his mind. Things that worried him more with each passing day.
"Well, the basement's a death trap, but at least it's without windows." She announced, sweeping cobwebs from her hair. It had grown longer in the past weeks, settling like a thunder-blackened cloud on her shoulders.
He cupped her face in his hands, those same hands that had nearly killed her a few weeks ago. His skin rippled as he remembered the first full moon after becoming the hybrid he now was. He had lost all control of himself, had been consumed with a primal urge to gorge himself on flesh. If she hadn't been so quick with that tranquilizer...
"Are you cold?"
He shook his head, "No, I'm fine."
As she moved to the basement door, he stopped her. "We need to talk." He said it quickly, before the words froze in his throat...again.
Her brows drew together, creating that endearing crease in her forehead that he loved to smooth away with kisses. "Talk? About what?"
Nervous energy infused him and he began to pace the room, leaving smeared footprints in his wake. "Tell me something. Do you still feel him?"
"Him?" The word was no more than a gasp through her parted lips.
"You know who I mean. Vik..."
"No, I don't." She cut him off before he could speak the name. "He's dead, remember? I killed him. Why are you asking me that?"
"I just wondered." He stopped pacing and looked at her, "I can still feel him."
Her gaze widened and a shadow of ice moved beneath the surface of her eyes. "That's impossible! Viktor's dead. You should never have been able to feel him in the first place!"
He slashed his hand impatiently through the air, "No, not him. I mean Lucian. If he were dead, I wouldn't be able to sense him anymore, right?"
"But he is dead. There's no way he survived what Kraven did to him. It's just physically impossible, even for a Lycan as powerful as he was."
"What if he'd injected himself with my blood right before it happened?" He braced himself for the onslaught, fully expecting her to fly into a rage for not telling her that tasty bit of info right away.
Instead, she froze; stunned into immobility. Her eyes never left his face, never blinked. "What did you just say?"
"Lucian...he injected himself with my blood. He was waiting for Amelia's blood to finish whatever it was he'd started." He explained, wondering if he should run for his life. Or if he should catch her instead, as she looked like she was about to fall over. "I think he intended to turn himself into a...well, into what I am..." he faltered.
"You're telling me that Lucian injected Corvinus blood into himself? And that you can still sense him?" A tinge of excitement had crept into her voice.
"Yes..."
"Then we must find him." She stated, "He'll protect us."
Now it was his turn to freeze. "What if I don't want to find him? Are you forgetting it's his fault that I'm this...beast...now?"
Her face softened and she moved to him, "You're not a beast." He didn't agree with her, but he didn't contradict her either.
"You're not a beast!" The words were spoken emphatically. "And we can't keep running forever. If you have a better idea, then let me know, but it's only reasonable to assume Lucian would protect you now. He made you. And if he'll take you in..."
"If he wants me, he'll have to protect you too. Whether he likes it or not." This was said bluntly. "I won't leave you unprotected."
She smiled at him then, the first real smile he'd ever seen on her face and they made plans to capture the next Lycan that trailed them. If anyone would know where Lucian was, it would be one of his own. And as they lay together, he listened to Selene's restful breathing and felt a part of himself relax. Finally, they had a plan and though Michael dreaded coming face to face with his sire, he felt a peace come over him as he embraced his lover, enfolding her within his arms and sinking into sleep beside her.
