I Do Not Own Vampire Knight! (More's The pity)
A/N At Bottom!
Let's Go!
Chapter Seventeen
Links And Bonds
Yuki bolted up, her skin and tummy stretching painfully with her sudden movement. She whimpered, rubbing her startled baby through the thin skin of her belly. Beside her Ichijo was already throwing the blankets back. His hand joined hers in soothing, their combined touch calming their child. She tilted her head, shining mahogany hair spilling down her back, blinking up at him. Their thoughts flashed between them like lightening.
I'm going!
You're staying here. We don't know what the situation is there. There's no way I'm letting you walk in there.
Yuki gazed at him in silence, her chocolate eyes serious.
Fine, but I'll be right behind you when you leave so you might as well take me with you now.
Damned stubborn pureblood.
Your stubborn pureblood, Yuki chortled through their link, happy that she'd won. That's my brother and my best friend! There's no way I wouldn't go to Zero's side. Ichijo's face was somber as he left the bed and began to rummage through their temporary closet in their temporary room at the King's mansion. They'd had clothes delivered to the mansion at Kaname's decree and now they both regretted that decision as Cross' school was closer to their home.
With the pain fully subsided by this time, Yuki slid from the bed, a little awkwardly with her ten month belly. Joining Ichi at the closet, she opted for casual cotton pants that flowed around her ankles, a thin t-shirt that strained over her belly and a soft boy friend cardigan. Soft sandals completed the impromptu ensemble. Ichijo was faster, throwing on jeans, a thin white t-shirt and a short leather jacket. White tennis on his feet and they were ready to go. They walked briskly down the hall, ignoring the guards that melted into the dark corners of the hallways.
TD
Ichiru jerked awake even as Hana was rolling to one side, exiting the bed with angered swiftness.
"Damn it! I knew we shouldn't have left him to his own devices!" Hana muttered slipping a loose black t-shirt over his head. "But no! He prances around like he isn't a King. Shit!"
Ichiru left the bed a little more slowly, aching with the imprint of Hana's possession. He averted his eyes from his mate, pouting slightly as he slipped his own black shirt over his head. Fucking barbarian. He didn't even want to think of the last several hours. He pulled dark pants over his legs, forcing the memories from his thoughts. Zero needed him right now. For the briefest of seconds he'd felt Zero's startled pain and confusion and then nothing. It hurt. That his twin hurt was an anathema to him. The feeling made him move little quicker, his hands swift as he pulled dark cargo pants over his legs.
They'd opted for running as their mode of transportation. Ichiru turned to his mate prickled suddenly by the sharp stab of desire that ran through him at the sight of his handsome mate dressed and ready to go. Seeing Hana clothed and so sure of himself as he tucked weapons into his belt and boots made him fight his natural impulses. He wanted to walk over to Hana and bestow a kiss on his lips that would distract them both.
Gah!
Suddenly Hana looked up, sensing his agitation. Hard fingers wrapped around his forearm, pulling him into his tightly squeezing arms. "Don't worry about it so much. It's a natural reaction," the blonde behemoth soothed. "The link is still new."
"How long will this last?" Ichiru asked hoarsely, shaken.
Hana sighed. "One of the longest documented cases lasted well over two years. Your brother's and Kaname's heat hasn't abated yet," He admitted quietly. "Which is why Zero hasn't been able to effectively counter Kaname."
"Huh?" Ichiru knew his mouth was open in surprise but he couldn't snap it shut. The thought of five plus years subjected to this torment was overwhelming. Almost more overwhelming than his brother's current plight. But not quite and he was able to free himself from Hana's grip though with no little amount of difficulty. "We can have this discussion when I know that my brother is safe."
Fortunately, Hana didn't argue with sentiment, releasing him slowly. His eyes were cautious as if he suspected Ichiru of some ridiculousness.
"I promise that we will talk," He said quietly, knowing that Hana wouldn't let him go otherwise.
Not that it didn't work. Hana was so deeply entrenched within him that he knew a lie before it was even uttered. "I'm going to make sure that we do. Let's go."
TD
Kain spared a bare glance at Ruka as he dressed, his movements swift and economical. He wasn't surprised that she wasn't up. She'd cut her ties to Kaname long ago even when he'd refused to do so once the King had mated Zero. It hadn't felt as though that barrier couldn't be overcome. Zero was a good man, a fact that he'd witnessed for the last five years of living in the palace and serving both Kaname and his mate. That hadn't swayed Ruka though. She still hated Kaname with a passion for something that he couldn't have possibly given her.
Everything that Kain was willing to.
Everything she didn't acknowledge.
Yes, she was here with him and he treasured her. But he knew that their 'alliance' was going nowhere.
He looked at her as he walked out of the door.
It didn't matter any longer if it did.
He'd given up.
Was long past surrendering.
TD
"Fuck!"
Seiren cradled Zero in her arms as Hairi Miki went to work. Her eyes were wild as she searched Zero for signs of life. He lay limp and unresponsive in her arms. Even the stoutest slap hadn't awakened him when she'd been prepared for Armageddon when he woke to the pain. That scared her more than she'd ever been scared in her life. He was eternally attached to Kaname. If Zero wasn't responding then that meant that Kaname wasn't either.
Her heartbeat was like the wash of the ocean in her ears, eclipsing the frantic pain.
Finally she was able to detect the faint tell tale sign of Zero's chest moving with his shallow breaths and relief poured over and through her. It was small sign that Kaname lived too although it was known for pregnant mates to outlast their dead counterparts. The pregnancy was too early to make a difference especially in a case like this one. She allowed her attention to swing back to her main objective. Not that Zero wasn't important in her eyes, in fact he as the only reason that she hadn't moved from her spot on the floor, but she'd been at Kaname's side longer than she'd even known Zero.
Her eyes widened at the dark blood that coated Miki's sleeves, the panic returning to hit her in the chest like a sledgehammer. Miki probed and it looked gently to Seiren's eyes. That didn't stop the hot well of resentment from surging up through her body. She was the only one who was supposed to save Kaname.
She shook her head, dazed. She hadn't felt this way in a long while. Ever since Kaname had mated Zero she'd felt the loosening bonds between them, allowing both of them a little more freedom from the genetic bond that had linked them from the time that Kaname's guardians decided that he needed a bodyguard slash caretaker. She sill remembered that youngly vulnerable Kaname as he'd hadn't been in over a thousand years.
"Bring him here!" The healer snapped, the command obviously not her first. Seiren moved immediately, her mates flocking to her sides as she lifted with her knees. Just that quick her hands were empty, Cross lifting Zero from her arms, his backwards glance darkly promising. She just stared back, too dazed to do anything else but follow numbly as he settled the half hunter half vampire down gently next to the pureblood. Miki didn't hesitate, reaching over with one hand still probing at Kaname's wound, grabbing Zero's closest hand and bringing it so that it lay over Kaname's mouth. She rubbed his wrist over Kaname's mouth, hissing when the pureblood didn't respond.
"He needs blood to heal, more specifically his mate's."
In response a small, sharp dagger materialized in Cross' capable hand, the tip dragging across Zero's forearm. The smell of coppery blood hit the air and Kaname twitched. Miki hummed in approval and repeated her earlier action, rubbing Zero's bloody arm over his mouth. Her fingers were still buried in the jagged wound that opened Kaname's side and Seiren felt slightly nauseous. Solid warmth at her back was the only thing that held her up.
"Hold his arm right there. I have to get the rest of the fragments out," Miki ordered, turning back to the gruesome task, trusting that Cross would obey. Cross gave her a faintly sardonic look. The healer was not paying the slightest attention.
"You stay. The rest can wait outside. Keep the others out of here."
Others? Seiren looked at the door blankly. And then she could feel them. Six presences moved like lightening towards their location in the pre dawn. She shivered feeling cold, and Yagari's arms slipped around her, almost forcibly dragging her from the room. She responded automatically, lashing out with with the blade of one hand. Yagari countered smoothly, grabbing her hand inches from his throat and curling it within his larger one.
"Seiren, you can't help him like this."
One of the only voices that could reach her did and she sagged limply letting Yagari remove her from the hall, following blindly as he led her down the steps and into Cross' study. The soft cushion beneath her buttocks didn't register, but Yagari's warmth at her side did and she turned wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in the crook of his neck. Her future mate held her securely, stopping her instinctive struggles with raw strength.
"He's going to be all right."
She almost laughed at the gruff, hunter trying to offer comfort, knowing that she, Cross and Zero would be the only ones to ever benefit from it. And one of those three was fast declining.
"Don't," Yagari ordered gruffly. "Let the healer do her job."
"I was supposed to protect him," She muttered back brokenly. "But I was too busy sating myself with you two." She pushed out of his arms strongly, hot bile rising in her throat. She was almost hyperventilating She stumbled back towards the staircase and batted ineffectually at Yagari as he once again stopped her.
"Let go!" She screamed, but his hands were immovable.
"It's too late for that Seiren."
A hand clamped around the nape of her neck and she stilled immediately, years of sex and intimacy and dominance trained in her bones. She collapsed against him with a broken cry. Firm lips hushed her tears, Yagari's hand stroking through her hair.
"Do you really want them to see you like this?" He asked softly against her mouth. "Dry those tears. They're almost here."
Almost apparently meant 'right now'. They both turned at the front door opening, heavy footsteps trampling over the floor of the hallway. Ichiru burst through the doorway as frazzled as she felt, his lavender eyes huge in his face, his face paler with fear. Aidou was close on his heels, his face filled with a terrible anger. He grabbed his mate as he made a beeline for the stairs.
"Wait. Let's find out what's going on."
Seiren had the gratification of watching the pale hunter turn on his mate like a hissing cat, his blonde hair practically standing on his head. "That's my fucking brother in there! I-"
"And my King is up there fighting for his life," Aidou interrupted smoothly. "But Seiren is down here. Meaning that if something could be done then she would be there." He glanced at Toga and Seiren. "What happened?"
Seiren explained as succinctly as she could, the action calming her. She watched as Aidou's eyes got angrier and was even more relieved that she wasn't the only one. "Cross is up there with them. Yuki is on her way." She paused ashamed, "All we can do is wait."
"You two can fucking wait. I'm going up there."
"And if it means that Zero dies would you still go?" Aidou asked.
Ichiru froze just as the door opened and Yuki stepped in. Her belly stopped her from moving quickly so the same scene was repeated although in something like slow motion with Ichijou gently calming his wife down before they sat through the same explanation. By that time Kain and Aaron had made appearances. Seiren had known of Kaname's and Aaron's tenuous alliance so she wasn't surprised to see him. She wasn't surprised at the glare that Ichiru leveled on him either. Though she'd accepted it she still didn't agree with it.
"What is he doing here?" The silver hunter growled restrained by Aidou's hands.
"Where else would I be but at my King's side?" Aaron asked mildly, impassively. This seemed to spark Ichiru's ire even higher. And the silverette lunged at him, curses falling from his lips.
"Is this how adults conduct themselves in the face of adversity?"
Miki's cold, firm voice cut through the bullshit and everyone turned to watch as she alighted the stairs, blood staining the fingertips of one hand. The other was curled around something. Her hair was a ragged mess of curls down her back and her dark eyes gleamed frostily. "I'm sure that your sovereigns would be shamed to see it." She scolded. "They are both resting at the moment though I don't know how long that will last. Kaname is not healing as quickly as he should even with Zero's blood."
She held out her hand as she reached the ground floor. Glittering black shards rested in the palm. They all gathered around her to inspect the pieces.
"Obsidian. The knife they used was made from it. It's ancient and apparently deadly to vampires. We don't see it very often these days. Every single dead body up there is equipped with at least three. Though I would say that they were not attempting to use them effectively when it came to Zero. And I'm thinking they only used them against Kaname in self defense. Fortunately there were no major organ damage. The worst is the blood loss and the slow healing."
And then she uttered those hateful words that made Seiren want kill.
"All we can do is wait."
She gave Ichiru a hard glare when he would have protested. "Your hysterics are not going to help. I've done all that I can. Only time will tell if it will be enough. Now then I suggest you all get comfortable and wait. And while we wait I would like to know what I've gotten myself into."
Seiren had a better idea. " That we can do, but first. Takuma, Kain. Contact the palace. I want those bodies on ice. I want to know why they're not dust right now. I fucking want to know who they are. Preferably before Kaname wakes up."
If he did.
TD
Yes this was a short chapter, but hey I hate adding more just for the sake of adding more. So….Hope you enjoyed!
Thank you for all of your Awesome reviews! And the faves and the follows!
Until Next Time…