"I don't know how you did it, but I've got to thank you. Darrin's decided he doesn't want to be a vampire after all, or at least not yet." Dolph couldn't get through to me, so he left a message, and I knew just how grateful he was. Finding out that his son didn't want to die and become a vampire after all made everything else seem so much better in comparison – and when it came to grandchildren he could always hope Darrin would divorce Christine and find someone else. The assurance that his son was staying human combined with the therapy he'd been ordered to take seemed to help him get his issues under control, and we even managed to resume our earlier friendship, albeit tinged with some wariness on my part. He'd changed towards me before, and I knew he could change again, probably would when he learned what I was.
My architect got back to me, telling me that we'd need about 4000 of the larger sized stones as I'd outlined to him, and the rest could be cut down into the smaller size again as we'd discussed. He told me that this scheme gave the same thickness to the walls of the inner courtyard as to the outermost walls, and that left about 700 000 of the smaller sized stones. I prepared the stones overnight, and then all I had to do was wait for the builders to actually put them together. It took no more than six months, and then I fitted my home with all the wiring it needed, using the diagram drawn out by a qualified electrician as a guide, and added the dimensionally shifted area that was my true home.
Nathaniel settled almost perfectly into his position as one of my personal attendants, he was willing to spend as long as he needed to holding and reassuring one of my consorts if they needed it, well except for Micah, but then Micah would never go to him or Damian, no matter how great his need. Not that they needed it comfort often, only after they'd argued with me, chafing at my dominance, and that didn't happen often enough to be a true concern. Donne, on the rare occasions he questioned my judgement always directed his doubts about Jean-Claude's ability to lead and guide the city, by his lights that was my place, not my primary consort's. Jean-Claude would sometimes try to manipulate me, and always got a short lecture and the knowledge that I wouldn't take him to my bed for at least three days for his pains, and he had some fights with Asher. Asher was the most defiant of my consorts, ready to shout at me whenever he thought I was behaving unjustly, and he would sometimes be right, but he always needed comfort after he'd yelled at me. I wasn't entirely sure what stories explained how often Nathaniel was with one of my vampire consorts in privacy. And he was able to reprimand my consorts discretely if he had to, on one occasion when Micah and Jean-Claude were sniping at each other he silenced them simply by pointing out that they were embarrassing me. He was among the best of my retinue at hiding his true status, carefully submissive among outsiders, although he did gain a little status among the pard, and he had requested my permission to accept the overtures Detective Arnet made to him – which permission I gave willingly.
The sensory net I'd set up for Jean-Claude worked perfectly, and by linking it through his bracers he wasn't overwhelmed by knowing exactly what every vampire in the city was doing. More than one intruder got a surprise to see the Master of the City stroll up to them casually when they hadn't even warned him of their arrival. But it only lasted a year before the council contacted us, requesting permission to send a delegation to St. Louis.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
"We need to work out how we're going to greet our guests." I'd created a council room in my dimensionally shifted quarters where we gathered to discuss the upcoming visit. Apparently all seven council members would be sending representatives, including the Earthmover's replacement, a master of his line about two thousand years old called Beresmenes. But three of them would be coming themselves, the Traveler, Morte d'Amour and Belle Morte. I'd only invited people who already knew about what I was to this council, I had thought about calling all the leaders of the weres, but decided against it. Donne and Caspian weren't necessary for the council, they didn't even think it their place to attend, and neither Nathaniel nor Damian thought they had anything to contribute, but Asher, Jean-Claude and Micah all were there, all wearing their collars. Richard was sitting opposite me, trying his best not to look at my consorts, obviously uncomfortable at their behaviour – well Asher and Jean-Claude's behaviour anyway; my vampires were curled up against me, with eyes cast down submissively.
"Do you really have to hide what you are Anita?" Micah might have agreed to wear his collar but he wasn't comfortable with it and he resented the fact that I wanted to pretend to be human, after all he didn't, he couldn't.
"From the humans, yes for now I do. They'd be scared of what I am, and there aren't any laws about my kind. If I don't hide what I am the humans might attack me, and I'd be forced to conquer them all. I don't want to do that. But I can let the council know what I am, you are right. Jean-Claude, Asher how would they react to one of the Demonkin?"
"By our law there is only one way to deal with one of the Demonkin. Comply with their every wish, and hope they do not demand anything too terrible. It is the only practical way to work. And if there is a representative of all seven council members then they will probably be able to answer whatever terms you choose to dictate almost immediately." It was Jean-Claude who answered, Asher hadn't learned as much about my kind as he had before they left Belle Morte for the first time.
"Kind of like the way normal vampires feel about masters then?" It was a joke, but there was a strong element of bitter truth to it, and I could taste that bitterness in Asher's agreement.
"Or those who do not have the council's favour feel about those who do."
"Could we get away with only greeting the council members initially even if I wasn't Demonkin?" Richard didn't seem too happy at being left out of the conversation, but he seemed to recognise that this was a vampire matter, not something for shapeshifters, not really and his part would come once we'd worked out what would normally happen if I was human.
"Yes, I think we could. But…you won't be able to hide what you are from them, they will know that you are far from a normal necromancer." Jean-Claude sounded tentative, nervous at the idea of seeming to contradict me.
"I realise that. But I'd rather just deal with the council members first, perhaps that way I won't have to meet with the representatives personally. I'll declare myself as Demonkin when they arrive. Richard, will you stand by me as an ally?"
"Of course. What do you need?" Helping his allies and friends was a strong, a very strong, instinct for Richard.
"You at my side when I meet with the council members, and with as many of your pack as you feel comfortable bringing."
"Agreed, but I'm your ally, not your servant."
"I'll create a lesser throne for you. But greater than the thrones our visitors will sit on. Now, we need to discuss what will make the strongest impression." And we began to decide just how we would present ourselves.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
Jean-Claude curled at my feet, with my other consorts, but he was the only one close enough to rest his head on my lap. Richard sat to my right hand in a throne made of onyx, the same size as mine, but less ornate. He'd been persuaded into dark green leather by the simple fact that my consorts were all too plainly dressed as sex toys. They were wearing loose trousers in heavy silk brocade and thin silk shirts which exposed their bracers and collars. Jean- Claude was wearing crimson while the others were all in black, and leashes were fastened to their collars, and left lying loose. I was wearing my Demonkin form and clothed in nothing but my power, forming a layer of flames around my body. There was no conventional way we could have redecorated the room in time so I'd used my power instead, sending all of Jean-Claude's efforts at decoration into suspension to be replaced by my throne room. My throne was on a slight dais, raised above the rest of the room, while Richard's was not so the height difference was less noticeable. I'd sheathed the entire room in black marble and created my own throne out of a single ruby. The three thrones I'd prepared for our council visitors were smaller than mine or Richard's and made of white marble and white velvet cushions littered the floor in front of them, so any companions they chose to bring could be seated, as my consorts were, save that my consorts sat, or rather lounged, on red velvet cushions.
Damian, Nathaniel and Casper guided our guests in, all of them had dressed in white, a dramatic contrast to the black leather my personal attendants were wearing and the loose red cotton tunic and trousers Caspian had chosen as giving good range of movement. The Traveler's body this time was a darkly handsome man heavily muscled and dark enough in life to still be a light coffee colour. He'd only brought Balthasar as his companion and they were wearing matching white linen suits, surprisingly modern. Belle Morte had chosen a white silk dress that wouldn't have looked out of place at the French court four hundred years ago and her hair was styled to match. She had brought two snow leopards, lycanthropes in animal form and two male vampires, master vampires. From Jean-Claude's memories I knew that the seven hundred year old with clear grey eyes and ash blond hair was called Giacomo while the bulky dark haired vampire with black eyes was Arturo, and they were both dressed to match Belle Morte. Morte d'Amour looked ordinary, even in his white tux, with brown hair and eyes. But the two vampires with him and Belle Morte's leopards were the only of the close attendants not offended by the seating arrangement – everyone else but the servants who followed and stood waiting, holding packages, was adverse to sitting on the floor at their masters' feet.
"Demonkin, might I introduce the Traveler, Belle Morte and Morte d'Amour of the council." Damian made the announcement as the more senior of my personal attendants while our guests seated themselves and then he and Nathaniel came to kneel to my left while Caspian stood behind them and to the left of my throne. I just leaned back and waited for my guests to speak petting my consorts while I waited, finally the Traveler as the most powerful council member present spoke.
"Lady, our apologies for our presumption, but we were unaware that you had manifested. The gifts that we brought are not worthy of you, and we had planned to offer separate gifts to each of your triumvirate. Shall we offer all gifts now to you?"
"No, only those you had planned to offer me. Give those gifts intended for my primary consort and my ally, the Ulfric of the Thronnos Roke clan, directly to them."
"As you wish Lady." The Traveler nodded to his human servant, Belle Morte let her hand fall to touch Giacomo's shoulder and Morte d'Amour leaned down to whisper an instruction to one of his vampires. Each of the three stood and collected wrapped packages from the servant at the back then brought them forward. Giacomo knelt to lay a wrapped picture in front of Jean-Claude, who smiled at him as he backed away and opened it. Balthasar knelt before me to present a delicate red glass vase and a box from a jeweller, one of the designers, containing a choker made of rubies set in white gold. The gift presented to Richard was a book, near five hundred years old, containing hand written observations of trolls, in Old High German, accompanied by a second book which was a printed translation.
"I appreciate your gifts. You have the right to hunt in my territory, but my gifts for you will ensure you have no need to." Caspian lifted a box from behind the throne and walked over to hand an amulet to each vampire. "So long as you remain within my territory you can draw all the energy you need from me through this, it will also feed the ardeur for you and your line Belle Morte. I will not force any of my followers into anyone's bed."
"Thank you Demonkin. We came here because there were reports of an unexplainable rise in Jean-Claude and Asher's power level, and an unprecedented leap in Jean-Claude's ability to sense his city. Naturally we understand that now, but what do you wish of us?" Well, I hadn't expected that, despite what Jean-Claude had told me. Considering how little I wanted they should accept my terms easily enough.
"No vampire is to stop or trouble me or mine anywhere we choose to travel. I am Master of St. Louis and vampires will know and accept that, but as far as humans are concerned Jean-Claude remains in that position – and he will continue to deputise for me for most purposes. The council will not trouble me nor will I trouble you."
They exchanged glances, united by their fear of me. "That is a most generous offer, we will have to allow the whole council to vote on it, but I cannot envisage it being refused."
"Naturally not. But this agreement will only last for a period of one century, after that I will visit you and we shall renegotiate our agreement. I doubt it shall be much different, but I might have chosen to live in a different city. If you have nothing more you wish to discuss you may leave."
They recognised the dismissal and rose to depart. Morte d'Amour asked a final question before he left.
"Might we still remain within your city to visit?"
"Of course. And if you return to make any more visits, bring the amulets to me and I will reactivate them. But I expect a response to my offer from the full council within a month."
"Naturally. I had thought that if it does not offend you we could send the representatives of the other council members back with the information so you need not be troubled with meeting functionaries."
"It does not offend me in the least. And if you really wish to socialise with me you can reach me through the Circus and Jean- Claude."
"And if I wish to speak with Jean-Claude alone, and not through you?" Belle Morte couldn't keep her hatred of me out of her voice, not that I could blame her for it.
"Then contact me, and I will consider your request." They finally left, and I had a chance to look at the portrait Belle Morte had given to Jean-Claude. It was of the same series as the pictures of Asher as Hephaestus, and of Asher as Cupid and Jean-Claude as Psyche, and depicted Asher as Hades offering a pomegranate to Jean- Claude as Persephone.
"What do you want to do with it my raven?"
"If Belle Morte does not see it on the walls she might be offended, and there is no reason to offend her is there?"
"No, but I take it you don't particularly want it displayed?"
"Non."
"Then we'll put it on the room you'll meet with Belle Morte in if you do meet her. Richard what do you think of your gift?"
"Incredible. I love it."
"Thank you for co-operating. From now on my retinue can act as such while inside the private areas of the Circus, but I don't think we need this anymore." And I restored the prior décor with a thought before we separated.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
The representatives of the other council members didn't stay, instead they were sent back to tell their masters who and what I was, and to convey my terms, but the Traveler visited me and offered to see about getting my kind the same legal status as vampires. I accepted willingly, and I found out just why he used the bodies of other vampires – his own was near ruined, by the effects of a miscast spell, but he had been able to share others' bodies even then, and since then he raised it to an art. He had hoped I'd be able to do something to help him regain his own body, to restore it to how it was originally. I agreed and told him to come visit me with his body once my kind had legal protection in America.
Belle Morte also approached me, she wanted to speak to Jean-Claude alone, or at least without me present. I could understand that in a way, she felt threatened by me – and any way she knew that no one could touch Jean-Claude sexually but me and mine, so I let my raven make the decision himself. He agreed to speak with her in private, but only in the Circus, where he'd be near to me. They met in the room we'd put Belle Morte's picture in, Jean-Claude wearing his collar with an open-necked shirt to emphasise who he belonged to and stayed there for about an hour until Belle left.
Jean-Claude refused to look at me after Belle Morte left, he kept his eyes cast down and head bowed – reverting to his behaviour when he first learned what I am. All I could think of to do was hold him, so that was what I did. I led him back to the bedroom and pulled him to lie with me, holding his head against my shoulder. I held him and whispered reassurances of my love for him, and of how greatly I desired him until he got up confidence enough to initiate sex. He enjoyed it well enough, even though he focused himself on my desires and pleasure, I could tell that from my link to him. And yet there was something anxious about his actions, almost desperate.
"Did I please you Demonkin?" The fear and desperation in his voice were even more apparent, and I could not understand why.
"Of course you pleased me. You always do. Why are you so nervous now?" He didn't answer, just tried to slide down my body to arouse me again with his mouth and tongue. I pulled him up and repeated the question. "I asked you why you're so nervous, and uncertain of your skills. I want you to answer me." He began to tremble at my words but he did answer in a quiet voice.
"Belle Morte said that Demonkin like to dominate their lovers, to be in charge and I'm scared that my fears have kept me from pleasing you, I saw how you were with Nathaniel."
"Love, I do enjoy dominating my lovers, but it doesn't have to be physical the way it is with Nathaniel. I dominate him that way because he enjoys it, and it does make a change. You always submit to me and place my pleasure first. I promise you that you do satisfy me, in every way."
"Truly?" It was a measure of how much Belle Morte had scared him that he questioned me, and I vowed that she would never be welcome in my lands again. Later I told her that, and sent her, just her without her retinue, back to Paris by my magic. But at that moment all I could do was comfort my beautiful raven, and I did, with words and with my body.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
Only a month after the council left my raven was captured. He'd had to visit Richard to negotiate for the continued support of the wolves, for the pomme de sangs and the other services they offered. Richard had become much more insistent on such things since he'd learned what I am, and I didn't care to make an issue of it. He'd assured me that he had facilities if Jean-Claude needed to stay with him during the day, and my raven had promised to contact me if he thought they were inadequate. Obviously they had failed to consider the possibility of anyone breaking into Richard's house, because he rang me in a panic when he got back the next day, reporting that he had been broken into, Jean-Claude was almost the only thing missing, and he had no idea what to say to the cops. He could hardly tell them that he'd had the Master of the City in the basement, could he?
As a matter of fact he could – but not the cops who'd responded to his alarm. I told him to contact Dolph, and to tell him what had happened. I hadn't been paying attention to my link to Jean-Claude, and although I could trace it through the past as far as I wanted to, theoretically locating him at any given time it had become confused, and seemed to echo equally strongly from about ten different locations – constantly changing locations at that. This confusion had started just a block away from Richard's house. I could locate his bracers easily enough, they weren't affected by whatever was confusing my sense of him, but I didn't have any history record for them, and to make matters worse they were three miles apart – both in skips somewhere. That worried me, because there were only two ways the bastards could have got them off my raven's wrists – cutting his hands off, or simply crushing them, hopefully the latter which would heal much easier. I picked them up using magic but I didn't see any point in sharing that information with the police. I did prepare a map and set a spell to plot the locations I sensed Jean-Claude's presence – perhaps there'd be an obvious focal point of the readings. That didn't work either, so all we really had to rely on was the pure police work Dolph and the RPIT team were doing.
At least almost all we had to rely on. There was only one thing that could give the sort of confused location crowd I was sensing from Jean-Claude – a demon collar. They were the product of a sorcerer and a necromancer working together and bound a minor demon into the collar, to control a master vampire. It took someone with a touch of necromancy (albeit not enough even to be an animator) or empathy to use it, and it had to be activated by the murder of a vampire descended from the master you wanted to enslave and abuse. I reported this to Dolph, explaining that I had a link with Jean- Claude, and I recognised the effects because I'd found out about the demon collars by accident when I was trying to create something that would provide Jean-Claude with extra reserves if he needed them as a Christmas gift. It gave them at least a starting point, and helped eased my frustration at finding my magic useless. And I couldn't even devote too much time to helping in more mundane ways; I was too occupied in maintaining the pretence that Jean-Claude was still Master of the City for humans and learning how to control it directly with vampires, rather than through Jean-Claude as I had planned. The only thing I could do was make sure no vampire broke the law, or distracted RPIT from finding the bastards who'd stolen my consort, and that I did ensure, mostly by terrorising them.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
"Anita, we've got one of them. At least we think he's one of them. Can you come down here and try to help us get a confession?"
"Definitely. What do you want me to do?"
"We need to find out the name of his group and where they're keeping your lover. He's a member of HAV, but I have a feeling he's part of a splinter group. You need to find out as much as you can about that. We've just brought him in for questioning, he isn't a suspect at the moment, but he hasn't called for a lawyer yet, probably thinks it'd make him look guilty."
"Right. What did you get him on?"
"We traced him as having access to one of the important parts of that collar you described – the focus jewel – it fits the description you gave us, but no one knew what it was, except very few empaths, telepaths or clairvoyants could stand to be near it for long. It was part of a private collection, and our `witness' bought it when the owner died. We have Mirandised him, so we can use anything you get out of him."
"Right. I'll be down there in ten minutes." This time I hung up on Dolph, to keep my promise – teleporting to the RPIT headquarters more or less, only staying far enough away to make it appear as if I'd been driving there.
"Hello, Detective Perry. Dolph said he wanted me to help question a witness?"
"Yes, he's just down the corridor, interview room 3. Good luck."
"Thanks." Dolph and Zerbrowski were waiting there with a blond, blue- eyed man, five foot seven, the perfect WASP to be honest.
"Mr. Winton, this is our preternatural expert Ms. Blake."
"I know who the bitch is. She's the traitor who's been screwing a fucking vampire."
"Well, yes. Vampires are perfect slaves if you can convince them you're strong enough. Of course there are shortcuts." I used just a little bit of magic to encourage him to open up to me and forget there were two policemen in the same room.
"But it's almost impossible to get them nowadays. It took Adam's Sons nearly a year to get the parts together for one bonding collar. I'm not entirely sure it's working right even now. The slut tries to pretend he doesn't want it, but once you get past his inhibitions he's quite a firecracker."
"I know. Still did you have to take that one? I spent four years teaching him his place and training him up to my tastes, and now I've lost that investment of time."
"I'm afraid so, it's the principle of the thing you see, proving we can take and break their so-called `Master of the City'. It's just an excuse for a monster to swan around with real people and pretend he's one of us."
"They were created to be slaves did you know? And when their owners died is it any wonder they became parasites? How did you manage to get the entire bonding collar together? Isn't there something special about the leather?"
"Yeah. We had to kill one of the vampires that creature had infected, and tan the skin for the leather – it took about six or seven layers stitched together to get it thick enough. I didn't know they were designed as slaves, doesn't surprise me though. Hey, if you want I could show you where we've got your pet, you can at least use him."
"No." I let my voice go cold, I was tired of dealing with the bastard who'd helped kidnap and rape my raven. "He belongs to me, I gave him my protection. That means it is my duty to prevent the sort of thing you did to him from happening, or failing that to avenge him. Dolph, have you got enough?"
"Yes, to book him, but we still need to know where they've got Jean- Claude hidden."
"If he isn't willing to tell you then you can always let him go – on the basis on insufficient evidence. I promise that I'll get back to you with the location within twenty-four hours, and there'll be no evidence that any crime was committed."
"I'll tell you!" Mr. Winton apparently recognised what I was, at least in part. It was an effective little game. Except it wasn't a game, I would have done anything to get my lover back.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
"What were you thinking of Anita? You as good as said you were going to torture him to get information!" Dolph waited until there wasn't any chance of being overheard before he began shouting at me.
"I hinted at it yes, to encourage him to tell you what you needed to know, all I explicitly said was that if you let him go I could find out where they were keeping Jean-Claude within twenty-four hours and there wouldn't be any evidence of a crime being committed. For all you know that could mean that I intended to have him followed." They looked disbelieving so I elaborated. "It didn't of course, not exactly. I also learned how to use my magic to follow a signal from something I'd prepared properly, and I intended to plant one of the signalling devices on him, then check, or have my people check places where he spent more than an hour."
"And there wouldn't have been any evidence?" Zerbrowski sounded curious, rather than condemning what was after all illegal.
"No, the devices I created fall to dust within at most two days of when they were created."
"I don't want to know any more. You haven't actually done anything, but try not to let anyone realise what you're capable of. And what was that about vampires making perfect slaves if you're strong enough?"
"In some ways it's the truth. Weak vampires are slaves, owned by whatever master claims them. And if you have the right sort of magic then you can control vampires. I needed to convince him I had similar views to his, and so I spun a web of half truths and lies to get him to open up to me. It worked didn't it?" There was pain in my voice, that I'd had to talk of my raven as if he were nothing more than an animal, or a toy, in order to rescue him from those human bastards.
"You spent four years training Count Dracula eh?" Zerbrowski sounded amused by the thought, and I had to admit it was a bit funny, at least from their point of view, the Executioner claiming to have trained the Master of the City.
"Well, yes. Training him not to assume he has the right to make decisions for me, to actually show his emotions to me – and to fasten his seatbelt when he's in my car!"
"I don't…think that's…what…he thought you…meant." Zerbrowski got out through his laughter.
"I know it isn't, but it does make what I told him the truth if you look at it the right way. What are you going to do about getting my lover out of there?"
"We can get everything together to raid them in about six hours. Will your lover be awake by then?" That would be four in the afternoon.
"Yes, even naturally. The demon collar they put on him will keep him awake no matter what. He'll need to feed and I'm the only person who knows how to get it off his neck."
"Right. Then meet us here at half past three. You won't be involved in the raid itself, you'll come in afterwards to keep him calm and take care of him."
"As long as I can do that it should be fine. And he'll need someone who can touch him without getting automatically attacked during his daytime slumber to take him home."
"What do you mean?"
"That cursed thing will have kept him continually conscious since they put it on him, as soon as I take it off he'll collapse into normal daylight slumber, I suspect that for the next week at the very least he'll have the same sleeping pattern as one of the new dead."
"You mean he won't be waking until dusk?"
"If we get him back, no. We can cope, we have been for the past two weeks, but you'll have to wait to get a statement from him."
"Right. Do you want to go back home and get some sleep?"
"Yes, I need it. You woke me up after I'd barely been asleep an hour." And with that I left.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
I knelt beside Jean-Claude as he cowered in a corner away from the humans. I knew the only reason he was still awake was the collar around his neck and so I couldn't take it off until I'd fed him at least. When he saw me he broke into a smile and spoke in a whisper.
"Master, I knew you'd come for me." His voice was hoarse, from screaming?
I pulled his bracers from my pocket and, hiding what I was doing from the camera the perverts had set up to record their abuse of Jean-Claude, and Dolph, with my body, returned the solid bands of sapphire to his wrists. He smiled weakly at me, grateful for the power inherent in my gifts, and already stronger for it. I pulled him up against me.
"Did they break your hands to get these off?" I touched the bracers lightly and he nodded against my shoulder. I scanned him gently with my power to find that as I'd expected he hadn't fed since he'd been captured. "They didn't let you feed did they?" A rhetorical question, more for the record than anything else. I met Dolph's eyes as I pressed Jean-Claude's head into my throat. "Drink and grow strong. He'll collapse as soon as I get that cursed thing off him and I want to make sure he will wake up with nightfall."
When Jean-Claude stopped feeding I unfastened the collar, letting my magic seep into it and break the link to my raven the demon trapped inside the focus jewel had created, and let it drop to the floor as I caught the unconscious body of my vampire in my arms.
"Go ahead, ask."
"Why did he call you master? I thought he was Master of the City?"
"The council declared that I am Master of the City, not he, as we formed a triumvirate with the local Ulfric, and I am powerful enough to dominate him if I wished to. All the vampires know this, so any challenges come to me, not to him. A lot of Masters of the City use stalking horses to avoid being challenged themselves, I'm using Jean- Claude as a stalking horse against something that scares me even more."
"I saw how protective you've gotten of him, what sort of creatures are you so afraid of that you'll let him face them instead?"
"Reporters." I kept an absolutely straight face but Dolph burst out into laughter. I couldn't blame him, I'd faced Master Vampires fearlessly, even when I thought I was human, but put me against a reporter and I'm useless.
"I can't really blame you there." He finally admitted his own fear of the press, all cops hate and fear the media, who can sometimes make or break a case, or career. "He needs to make a statement. I want him down at the station as soon after it's dark as possible."
"I'll be with him when he gives his statement, and if you can manage to make the case in court without his testimony do it."
"The videos will probably be enough for some of it, but why don't you want him to testify?"
"It would be a media circus, I don't want him hurt as he would be if he had to go through that."
"He'll almost certainly need to be present I'm afraid."
"One of the main charges should be ritual murder. That thing wouldn't have worked if someone hadn't been killed to make it, and another to make it work, and if whoever fixed it on Jean-Claude's neck didn't have magic of their own – a little bit of necromancy, or telepathy, or empathy. I'll testify about this nasty piece of work.
"I want Adam's Sons destroyed for this, their reputation so bad that no one will join them."
"Vindictive."
"They hurt Jean-Claude; no one hurts what's mine. Can I take him with me now?"
"He's yours?" Dolph sounded shocked by my casual declaration of ownership but he gathered himself together enough to answer my question. "Yes, but you can't let him wash until we've done a rape kit at the station."
"Then can you get someone to do the rape kit here while he's out. I'll make sure he doesn't react. I know that he'll want to bathe when he wakes up, he spends hours in the bath even under ordinary circumstances." A long suffering sigh and eye roll made Dolph laugh again as I continued. "It's the only thing I can't trust his word on."
"All right, I'm not sure I'd want to have to deal with a conscious master vampire for this, it's rather unpleasant and undignified."
"I was thinking more along the lines of it being traumatic for him." I watched over my consort while the police poked and prodded at him, making sure he would never know what they had been doing to his unconscious body. I could spare him that much at least, and when they were finished I took him back to the Circus.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
Half an hour before dusk I had Jason and Stephen run a bath, as hot as they could stand it, and watched as they began to bathe my raven, cleaning the scent of those humans from him. I'd already removed much of the scent with magic, almost all of it, but I knew he would feel better to be cleaned by water as well.
"Wash his hair as well." It was tangled and semen had dried in it, it would take a long time, or magic to untangle it. In truth I would prefer to take the time to brush it out myself, but I wasn't sure I had that option.
By the time Jean-Claude woke the werewolves had cleaned him totally from head to toe and run another bath to soak with him in. There was a degree of panic in my consort's eyes when he realised that two men were holding and touching him. He calmed when he realised who was touching him and that he was under my eyes, relaxing and submitting passively to their attentions.
"Feed on both of them, you need the energy."
"Yes Anita." He fed on Stephen first, and then on Jason. Both wolves lay limp in the bath after he had sated himself as much as he could.
"You'll need to feed again later tonight. For now let's put these somewhere they can sleep it off." I dried and dressed him with a thought, including drying and detangling his hair, as I picked up Stephen and he took Jason. He was looking at me nervously, as if he was unsure of his place.
"Where should we put them?"
"Jason's bedroom will do. Then we're coming back here." We'd reached Jean-Claude's bedroom by this point. I suddenly realised just why my primary consort was so uncertain – he thought I would be ashamed of him, and no longer want him because he'd been raped. I put Stephen down and took Jason from my consort, putting him down as well just long enough to sink my teeth into my raven's neck, where it met his left shoulder. "You are mine and mine alone. What those humans did to you means nothing, and I will show you that once we've put the wolves to bed."
"Yes Anita." He smiled at me gratefully as he bent to pick Jason back up and he ran back to his bedroom once we'd put them together. I followed a bit more slowly and found him lying naked on his bed, legs spread and arms stretched above his head, which was thrown back and to one side, exposing his throat, and highlighting the bite I'd left there. He was also displaying his arousal for me, and that, combined with his total submission aroused me enough that I slid right onto him.
At first I moved above him, emphasising my superior position, but all I could do with my hands like that was clutch his shoulders, and I wanted to scratch, to feel his flesh part beneath my nails – it was the only way I could let go to any degree without risking damaging him. I rolled us so he was on top and growled a single order into his ears. "Fuck me hard." He obeyed and I felt his skin part beneath my nails, tearing into his flesh as I came around him.
"You can get dressed now." I didn't bother to check how much damage I'd done to him – it would serve him as a reminder that he belonged to me, and whatever those mortals had done to him didn't matter. "We need to go to RPIT headquarters so you can give a statement. He obeyed quietly and we set off, I could feel that the marks I'd left on him made him feel better, and that was all that mattered. The fact that he was moving stiffly was irrelevant.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
My consort sat beside me in my car, playing with his bracers as I drove us to RPIT headquarters. His head was bowed and he was biting his lip lightly, to show so many signs of emotion he had to be truly upset.
"What is wrong my raven?"
"They all know what happened, how weak I am. And my weakness reflects badly on you."
"No one can hold you responsible for what those bastards did to you. They turned to dark magic, evil magic, hell, they murdered two of your line to power that cursed thing they put around your neck. I am so sorry that I didn't protect you better. I won't let anyone rape you ever again." And with those words I bound a spell into his bones to ensure that no one ever could.
"Thank you ma petite." I knew he felt what I'd done, and I could taste his gratitude. Then he took a deep breath squaring his shoulders. "We should not keep your police friends waiting should we, ma petite?" And he opened the door of the car getting out.
"No, we shouldn't. But I'm not going to let them question you alone." I got out locking the door behind me and walked around the car to join my lover, putting one arm around his waist. We walked into the station like that, and my hands on his body distracted my raven from realising how many people were surreptitiously watching him. "Can someone find Dolph, we'll be waiting in the interview room." I assumed that someone would comply, and sure enough I was just getting my raven settled when Dolph and Zerbrowski arrived.
"We have to record this, for the records." Zerbrowski explained while he was setting up a tape recorder and microphone.
"As you wish." My raven spoke quietly, waiting for instructions I would suppose. He sat forward in the chair, carefully not leaning against the back, but at the same time he was leaning into my touch, desperate for the reassurance that I offered.
"Okay." Dolph gave the date, who was present and what was happening before he began to ask questions. "Jean-Claude, could you tell us in your own words exactly how you were caught?"
"I was visiting a friend and did not have time to return to my home, and so I had to spend the day with him. I must have been in my daylight slumber when they arrived as the first I was aware of it I was standing and strangling someone."
"You were strangling someone?" Dolph was obviously angry, but trying to hide it, my raven's confession had just given him an excuse to let his prejudices free.
"Older vampires react instinctively to attack in their sleep by defending themselves – lethally. Jean-Claude had no control over his reaction, and he wouldn't have reacted that way if he hadn't been attacked."
"Right. Did you kill him Jean-Claude?"
"No, what brought me back to awareness was someone fastening that collar around my neck. And it…punished me I suppose. I collapsed in pain, and every time I tried to defend myself against them it hurt me more. I…couldn't stop them putting me into a body bag and taking me out to their van." My raven was shaking very slightly at the knowledge of his helplessness. I tightened the arm I had around his waist to comfort him and he smiled gratefully at me, resting his head on my shoulder.
"They used magic designed to control vampires on you. You were as helpless to fight them as Damian is to fight me." Or as helpless as he is to fight me, but I didn't mention that.
"Why is Damian helpless to fight you Anita?"
"Because of an accident when our triumvirate was experimenting with calling power and controlling it. It isn't relevant."
"No, it isn't. What happened next Jean-Claude?"
"They took me out of the body bag in the van, and one of them tried to take these off my wrists."
"Let the record show that the witness touched the bracers he wears on his wrists at this point." Dolph explained my raven's actions for the tape recorder. "Do you know why?"
"He seemed to know that Anita could use them to track me, and the collar didn't confuse their signal as it did my link to her."
"You say he tried to take them off your wrists, do you know why he failed?"
"Anita made these for me as a gift, they supply me with extra power if I need it. One unexpected effect is that she's the only one who can take them on and off normally."
"But obviously they were removed from your wrists, how?"
"He…crushed my hands, and then he pulled them off over the broken bones and torn flesh. That collar increased the rate of my healing, but it made me exhausted and stopped me using any other powers.
"When they got me back to their hideout they chained me in the room you found me in and began to play with me. Some of them just raped me, others preferred more elaborate games. I…they wouldn't give me blood, so I fed on their lust in an attempt to survive until Anita came for me."
"You fed on their lust, can you expand on that?" Dolph actually sounded curious, but then he'd sounded detached as he asked every single question. He was probably afraid that sympathy would make my raven break down.
"I'm an incubus. It is a power that some vampires who descend from Belle Morte's line have – we can, and must, feed on lust as well as on blood. If we cannot have one then we must have more of the other."
"Right. That could cause a problem. Is there anything else you want to add? The videos give us quite enough detail of what they did and said to you."
"No."
"In that case Anita I'd like to talk to you for a moment. Alone."
"Very well. Stay here Jean-Claude." I left him reluctantly and kept a link with him so I knew what was happening.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
"Could you explain something to me Jean-Claude?" Zerbrowski spoke quietly to my consort once Dolph had led me away.
"I will try if it is permissible but some things must stay amongst vampires alone."
"What happened to you? You're moving, and sitting as if something happened to your back and there's that bite on your neck."
He reached to my mind for permission before speaking. "I needed reassuring that I belong to Anita and she will protect me before I came here. I'm not sure what you want to know."
"Then just tell me everything that happened since you woke up."
"I was in a hot bath with two of my wolves washing me when I woke up. They let me feed from both of them – I'm going to need more blood than usual for the next few days, even with these." I knew that he dropped his eyes and bit his lip for a second before continuing. "It didn't...hurt your case that my master wanted me clean and marked only with her scent, did it?"
"Nope, Anita insisted that we do a rape kit on you there and then." Zerbrowski reassured Jean-Claude. "What happened after you fed?"
"Anita came to me, she told me that I am hers alone and bit me, then we had sex. She tends to scratch at the best of times, you know that from Jason, when she needed to remind me who I belong to…"
"Slavery is illegal. So is domestic abuse, if she's hurting you there are people you can go to, people who'll help you get away from her."
"But I don't want to get away from her. I love her, and she really doesn't hurt me that badly. I didn't notice until after, and I'll heal the next time I feed. If she was a less powerful necromancer I'd already be healed, but because she's so powerful injuries from her heal almost human slow, at least for vampires. Weres heal a bit faster, but still slower than normal."
"Let me see your back. I want to check how much damage she's done." It was an order and I knew that Jean-Claude would respond to that.
I was glad that Zerbrowski cared enough to make sure my raven wasn't hurt too badly, but I could feel his unease, edging to fear as he pulled his jacket and shirt off, kneeling to show his back to Zerbrowski.
"Dolph I'm glad you're finding the rest of the bastards who did that to Jean-Claude, but I don't need to know their names, or all the details you've been giving me. I know you brought me here so Zerbrowski could check up on Jean-Claude and I appreciate it that you're concerned about him, but he's scared and I need to go to him." I didn't wait for a response, just returned to the interview room to find Zerbrowski crouched behind my consort, reaching out as if to touch him but hesitating.
"Molesting my vampire Zerbrowski?" I didn't try to hide my amusement as he pulled back quickly. Jean-Claude just bowed his head and whispered my name, trembling. I moved over and crouched in front of him, stroking the hair falling around him away from his face. "I'm not angry at you or anything my raven. I was only teasing Zerbrowski, nothing more."
"Look at his back Anita. Do you know what you did to him?" I was a bit puzzled, but that vanished when I saw how much damage I'd done to his back – I could see the bone in places!
"I hadn't realised, why didn't you tell me Jean-Claude?"
"I thought it was punishment for the carelessness that caused me to be captured." He sounded so accepting of that, he assumed that he deserved to be punished because he was kidnapped and raped. "I should have told you when I found out Richard's house didn't have enough security against being broken into. Then I'd have been at the Circus and safe."
"No, it wasn't your fault. I didn't think about protection from humans breaking in, only about protection from the sun. Drink." And I pulled him to me, so he could feed from my blood. "I would never punish you for being captured." His injured back healed quickly, but there was a slightly lost look in his eyes when he lifted his head.
"What is going on here?" Dolph had just arrived. Quite a bit behind me, but then he is human.
"She's just fixed the damage she did to his back. It was horrible. I can't believe how much damage you did to him – that isn't love!" Zerbrowski sounded outraged. I stood and moved to my seat.
"Jean-Claude, get up and put something on, then sit down. Zerbrowski that only difference between what I did to Jean-Claude today and what I did to Jason before you hauled him in at Dolph's insistence about a year and a half ago is that I didn't switch to scratching myself up when I realised what I was doing." While I was speaking Jean-Claude had stood and pulled his shirt and jacket on before bringing a chair to sit beside me and lean up against me, pressed up against my body. "It was entirely consensual, I assure you, and I know Jean-Claude will have said the same thing."
"I did. Anita has never abused me, she has hurt me but that is different from abuse. I needed to be reassured that I am hers and under her protection, this does that for me." As soon as he'd finished speaking Jean-Claude buried his face in the crook of my shoulder. I stroked his hair to soothe him as Dolph and Zerbrowski gaped.
"How can hurting him make him feel under your protection?"
"If I hurt him no one else is allowed to. It's a vampire thing." I shrugged with my free shoulder, careful not to disturb Jean-Claude and turned my attention to him. "Do you need something from me my raven?" He lifted his head just enough to speak.
"To be marked as yours, something permanent. These are good," he touched his bracers looking down sadly, "but they can be removed, and they aren't recognisable as marking me as yours."
"Here, for now." I bit him on the neck to renew the mark I'd healed with my blood. "We'll discuss what you'd like later. Is there anything else you need us for?" I directed the last question to Dolph and Zerbrowski.
"No, you can both go." Dolph admitted it reluctantly and I took my raven with me as we left.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
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