Chapter 32 – What He Can't Have

Myrnin and I sat on the well-used couch, enjoying some alone time. A week had gone by since Eve delivered Faeryn, and they were all settled comfortably back in the Glass house. Eve was going to make a wonderful mother. It was good that she had a fire of attitude inside of her. She was going to need it, because Faeryn had every bit the strong will that Eve did – and more.

We had learned that Faeryn's body would continue to grow at an accelerated rate, compared to a human. Not the same for 4-to-1 ratio that she had during gestation. This was more like 2-to-1 because it would only take nine years for Faeryn to reach her full maturity. It seemed so strange. In the short span of nine years, Faeryn would be completely grown into a young woman – and never change from that point on.

Myrnin drew me out of my internal rambling when his head came down to my neck. I giggled and breathed, "What are you doing?"

"Hmmm," he murmured a non-answer, while his tongue ran along my carotid artery.

I shivered in anticipation, but had been getting better at my resistance to his frequent intimate advances. "I realized that I've made it much too easy for you. I think you need a challenge," I replied with a gleam in my eyes.

He quickly picked up on my tone, further accelerating his desire to claim me. He growled low.

"See, this is what I'm talking about. You think that because you kiss me once, that I will give in to you," I replied in playful petulance.

"And you think you won't?" he returned my challenge huskily, leaning again into my neck.

I placed a hand on his chest to stop him "I think that you need to work for it. See, we've had way too many occurrences where you have left my clothing in shreds. I think it's about time for you to learn how to properly undress a girl without causing her to have to go shopping the next day."

"I would be happy to carefully undress you," he purred in agreement, as he reached for the top button on my blouse.

Fire shot through me at his tone, but I held myself together and quickly swatted his hand away, clarifying, "No… The problem only occurs when you are using your teeth."

Understanding lit his expression. "So…You would like me to remove your clothes – with my teeth – without causing any tears in the fabric?" He grinned wickedly, his fangs sliding down into place.

"You are a brilliant man," I seductively mocked him.

"You know I will want something in return," he warned in a slow drawl of desire.

"I never doubted it, but let's just see how far you get before we start negotiating your prize," I smirked.

He growled low in fierce anticipation, "You don't think I can do it?"

I shook my head at him and teased, "You're good, but I don't think you're that good."

His eyes flashed and his pupils dilated completely. Heat rocked through my body. I knew I was playing a dangerous game. Challenging him always awakened his predator side, but I was confident there was no possible way he was getting me out of my skinny jeans, using only his teeth – and not tearing the fabric.

His head came down to my blouse. He released the top button and murmured, "When I win… "

Quite quickly, he undid a second button and promised, "And I will win…"

A third button easily sprung open. "I get to decide my prize…" he continued hypnotically.

The last button easily surrendered to his will as he commanded low, "– no negotiating."

I sucked in a deep breath; he had clearly done this before. Quite abruptly, our intimate moment was dramatically and completely interrupted, when the door to the lab burst open along with an angry roar that sent shivers hurdling up and down my spine.

Myrnin was in front of me in an instant, vicious growling reverberating from his chest, at the sudden and unknown threat. I quickly reached for my shirt, my hands shaking, to redo the buttons that Myrnin had released with his teeth. When I was finally appropriately covered, I peeked out from behind Myrnin's massive presence – and was shocked to see Professor Silver on the ground, in obvious pain, covered in blood from head to toe. Oliver stood over the Professor, his expression fiercer than I had ever seen – his eyes were wild and flashed with anger and hate. He looked like the angel of death as he towered over the Professor. I sucked in a deep breath, fear rippling down the back of my neck, causing my hair to stand on end.

"Tell him!" Oliver spat and then slammed his foot down on the Professor's arm, breaking it with a sickening snap.

I saw pain flood the Professor's expression, but he didn't cry out. Instead he coughed and spit blood, and said, "It was Gwion."

My heart stopped, and I sucked in a sharp breath. Suddenly, I knew everything he was going to say. Gwion had engineered all of this: the disease, our appeal for his help, taking control of Amelie…all of it.

Myrnin straightened, no longer needing his defensive position in front of me, and sat back down. His back and neck were stiff with anger; his eyes black with fury.

I would have offered a chair to Oliver, but clearly, he wasn't going to move an inch past the point of being able to deliver a deadly blow to Professor Silver, should the inclination strike him.

"How?" I asked quietly. Some of it was obvious. Gwion was able to make the cure, because he had created the disease.

Myrnin interrupted my train of thought with the more important question. "Why? He spoke through gritted teeth.

Professor Silver choked out a laugh, completely devoid of humor. "What do all great men want?" he asked us, looking like the answer should be obvious. When no one responded, he continued, "What they cannot have. He is addicted to power – and no woman is more powerful than her. She is the challenge that he lost. He doesn't like losing. As far as I know, she is the only person he has ever lost to; making her the prize he had to have."

A sense of dread washed through me at his words. "No…not the only one…" I murmured quietly, looking at Myrnin, my eyes wide with fear. Amelie wasn't the only woman Gwion had ever lost to. The game hadn't been same. He had pursued her affection and lost. With me, the challenge was more defined – a head to head battle of wits – and I had won. He seemed to take the loss okay – surprisingly well, actually – but did that mean, I would be a future target?

Professor Silver's full attention turned toward me, and asked intently, "What?"

"I won our challenge," I whispered quietly.

He turned to Myrnin in shock, "You let her challenge him?!"

Myrnin replied, a bit chagrinned, "Claire makes her own decisions."

Amazement crossed the Professor's features. "I knew you were special," he murmured with obvious appreciation. My skin crawled a bit at the way he was looking at me – like I was a prized butterfly to be pinned to a board and dissected. Myrnin must have felt it as well because he growled a deadly warning.

"And now he has her!" Oliver roared, bringing us all back on topic. "Is there anything else you need to know from him," Oliver hissed to Myrnin, "because it is killing me not to snuff out his miserable existence." Oliver leaned down, the muscles in his chest flexing, his fist drawn back, ready to strike. I knew he was seconds away from ripping out the professor's heart. I turned my head.

"Wait!" Myrnin stopped him.

"Why?" Oliver seethed through his teeth, his eyes flashing in anger. His hand twitched; eager to make contact with the Professor's heart and crush it between his fingers.

"Is Gwion aware that we know?" Myrnin asked. I knew he was working on strategy. There had to be a way to fix this; to get Amelie out from Gwion's control.

"Not likely," Oliver replied, "There were no witnesses when I took him and he has only been gone a few hours." A small smile flickered over Oliver's face. I had no doubt what he had been doing to the Professor for the past few hours. I shivered again.

"If he suddenly lost contact, Gwion will know something was amiss. It will be hard enough to defeat him as it is. We need every advantage we can glean, including the element of surprise," Myrnin spoke grimly.

"I am not just going to let him go," Oliver spat; his hand still twitching from his desire to strike.

"Let me compel him," Myrnin reasoned with Oliver. I could see Oliver considering it.

"I want his life," Oliver spoke deathly quietly.

"It will be yours," Myrnin promised as he stood and walked to them.

Oliver relented and said harshly, "Do it."

Myrnin crouched down in front of the Professor. I shifted on the couch, so I could see better, intently curious to watch Myrnin compel him. Professor Silver shuddered when Myrnin guided his chin to look at him. "You will not remember anything that has happened with Oliver or here with us," Myrnin's hypnotic voice began.

I was shocked to realize that I could feel their connection. I reached out with my mind tentatively, timidly to touch the almost tangible thread between them. I barely made contact with it, when Myrnin's head whipped toward me; his eyes black. I froze, quivering under the intensity of his stare. In all of the times I had feared for my life, when Myrnin lost control, I had never seen his expression like this. He was truly frightening; it took my breath away. He released me from his grip and turned back toward the Professor. I exhaled, trembling.

"You will go to Oliver's house tomorrow night at 9:00pm and wait there for him," Myrnin continued his instructions, nodding to Oliver. And then, faster than my eyes could track, Myrnin suddenly had the Professor's neck in his mouth. He clenched his jaw, causing Professor's Silver's body to twitch sporadically.

Myrnin released his grip, licked the excess blood from his lips and addressed Oliver, "Take him back. We will meet you at Amelie's." Without another word, Oliver hoisted the Professor's body over his shoulder and left.

Afraid of Myrnin's response, I waited quietly. He turned toward me, his expression fierce. "What the hell was that?" he hissed.

I cringed, trying to explain, "I don't know…I just…felt it. I was…curious. I'm sorry..." My lip quivered, and a tear slipped down my cheek at his anger. I blinked, trying to keep the rest of my wayward tears in my eyes, but they seemed to have a mind of their own as more followed a path down my face.

His expression softened. He was by my side instantly and wrapped me tightly in his embrace. "Cariad, you do not yet understand the power that is apparently flowing through you. Hell, I don't understand how it has happened and now you appear to have a connection to me when I use it. That's dangerous, Cariad. If I say or do the wrong thing, when you are connected to me like that, I could easily hurt you – or worse."

I shivered at the realization of his words, and tucked my head against his chest, letting his strong arms comfort me. He lifted my face, and gently wiped away the few remaining tears. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to scare you."

I nodded.

"I love you," he murmured, nuzzling into my neck.

"I love you too," I whispered, warmed by his affection and attention. I never wanted to leave the safety of his arms, but I knew we had to do something to free Amelie.

He dropped his head in his hands and groaned, "I should have seen this coming. I knew how cunning that bastard was."

"Can we really be sure that it is Gwion? Maybe the professor lied. I mean, what are the odds that you would seek his help, not even knowing if he was still alive. That's a huge gamble," I reasoned.

"It's no gamble at all – because he had nothing to lose. If I hadn't sought his help; Amelie would be dead now, which would not have affected him in the least. Fuck! How did I miss this?!"

I placed a hand on his shoulder tentatively. "This is not your fault. You said it yourself; Amelie would be dead if we had not sought his help… And Eve and Faeryn… They would be gone too," I spoke around the lump in my throat. "So as shitty as it is, it was the only move we had at the time. Myrnin, why can't Amelie just bite Gwion, to take back her control?"

"Against a lessor vampire, that would work. But not Gwion. He would have to willingly release her, or be killed," he replied, his mouth set in a firm line, knowing how difficult it was going to be to kill Gwion. Thousands had tried; none were successful.

"What is the process for him to willingly let her go? Is there a ritual like Clāmāre?"

"No, nothing that complicated. He just has to speak his release of her. But, we both know he isn't going to be doing that anytime soon, so that just leaves us with Plan B," he said grimly.

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Anyone surprised at the turn of events? Because this was coming from the very beginning (evil giggle). And things get hella-crazy from here. The next few chapters our already written. I will release one per week. I could be convinced to release the next chapter sooner if there happened to be five reviews on this chapter. Just saying...smooches...

:) :)