"I know baby. That's the housekeeper. She was cleaning your wounds."
"Seithe. I can't see properly. There's two of you."
He looks at his image and smiles in unison down at me. "Better?"
One half of his image has white hair now.
"What happened?"
Seithe starts, "I'm sorry ..."
"I'm sorry ..."
They both stop.
"I've lost my mind," I complain quietly. In fact I'm terrified that I'm so broken, I'm hallucinating.
My vision blurs again and I can't focus at all.
"How are you feeling?"
"STUFF HOW I'M FEELING! WHAT HAPPENED?"
"Phoebe, you need more rest. I'm making you black out now."
"N ..." and they fade to onyx oblivion.
Chapter 41: Darise
I'm being forced to rest and it's making me antsy! Seithe has decided for some reason to let Darise explain it all to me. Which makes me wonder what the hell that little shit is hiding now.
"So what happened?"
"You saw it for yourself."
"Darise, don't play coy. Explain to the ignorant human what happened!"
He sits back in his chair, props his gigantic feet up on the bed, and folds his arms. Near black eyes stare at me thoughtfully.
"Phoebe, you made a choice of your own free will to enter Pravus that night. You were not going to get entry granted until Seithe interceded."
I nod, absently picking at a plaster on my hand.
"From that moment on Seithe became your sponsor."
"Uh huh."
"But you drank blood, opening you up to all of us."
"Oh!"
Bugger!
His eyes crinkle slightly at the edges, softening his stern face.
"Grastle rather liked the look of you after you confronted him."
I'm mildly faint at that idea.
"So Seithe swapped body fluids with you, marking you as his human."
"You're saying Seithe marked me?"
"Yes, he did."
"Then why did he want to brand me?"
I didn't know vampires could get pale, but Darise looks ill suddenly.
"I'll get to that."
"Okay."
"As a human, you're special. You have some strong qualities all your own, which appeal greatly to this family."
"Why me?"
"They are silver eyes. And you stuck around, letting Seithe push you deeper and deeper into your sub-conscious, never breaking. That is a very rare human quality."
Grinning, "Resilient you mean?"
Smiling back he gifts me with a playful wink.
"Silver eyes have a chance at redemption. Which is why your ability and acceptance made you an attractive option to the fallen."
"Hmmm..."
"No, I'm not telling you why. You just are."
"So why was I marked for that stupid stand-off?"
"Jowendrhan didn't think Seithe deserved you."
Instant pounding splinters into my cornea. My voice vehemently leaves my mouth, "
Jowendrhan marked me?
"
"Yes, it was him. He decided to make a play for you."
Waves of dizziness ripple through me, now I'm glad I'm supported with pillows.
"Fucker."
"Ellindt tried the female approach. Appealing to your feminine side, the house makeover was her attempt at getting into your affections."
"Oh ..."
"What you witnessed at Pravus was a daemon lord. They have the power to control us if need be. So they make good judges during conflict. Seithe explained how you are his, he marked you first. You accepted him as your lover, and things were going just fine until Ellindt dropped the bomb that you also have Jowendrhan as your lover."
I'm weak now. I really
really
messed up.
"Jowendrhan marked you here in this house. Right under Seithe's nose. And you let him, in your sleep, verbalising that you loved it when HE touches you."
"Fuck."
"Your voice is a powerful tool, Phoebe. You humans take it too lightly."
"I was
half asleep
!"
"It matters not."
I could kill that man!
"Jowendrhan opposed Seithe's ownership of you by explaining how you chose to go home with him. You chose to join with him mentally and physically. Seithe has no dominion over you."
"Oh jeez."
"That's pretty much when Seithe exploded with outrage. Choosing to decide your fate and true ownership through combat, to the death."
"Rubbish, they can't die."
"They can if the judge decides it. Unlike the Vampyre, Daemon's still answer to the big boss. They still have his power to use."
"Oh heck."
"I was called as a witness for your behaviour inside Pravus, to your drinking blood and being marked by Seithe. We could all smell when Jowendrhan marked you. But because Seithe didn't realise when he marked you with intent to oppose sponsorship, well, that's how he was blind-sided. He was hoping you would make a verbal choice before anyone got hurt."
"But Ellindt and that demon ..."
"Your protector Tarlist was destroyed in the light and fire of the conflict. Many of the red-eyes were. Phoebe, it is said that only fire purifies sin. The silver-eyes are hot because they are still consumed with heavenly fire. They pay everyday of eternity for their sins. We are called Vampyre, because inside we burn like a pyre. Humans deliberately spell it wrong, but the obvious has been in front of you all along. A Vampyre burns for his sins."
A lump lodges in my throat. "I had no idea..."
"Your love means more to them than anything on Earth. It's just awkward that you chose to love them both."
"But not in the same way at all!"
"That's your business, not mine."
"So how come you're okay?"
"I am not a red-eye."
"But you have red flickers."
"Without meaning it, I caused a human to fall. She was beautiful. She agreed to meet me, and I abandoned her in anger, she was consumed inside Pravus. Her death may not have been at my hands, but I caused it. "
"Oh."
"You only become a fully red eyed Vampyre when you have taken human life deliberately. But any death you had anything to do with, it shows."
"Darise, I'm so sorry ..."
"We all make mistakes, Phoebe."
"So what happened in the hearing?"
"If you had willingly chosen to go with Ellindt at her invitation, she would have marked you as her own, hoping the brothers would destroy each other. It's a chance she was willing to take. But you had a few surprises of your own."
Guilty grin.
"When they heard you, they chose to call a truce. The Daemon confirmed the truce, the hearing over, he cancelled the confrontation and dispute at their request."
He smiles sweetly at me, looking pretty again with his long eyelashes and doe eyes, "It seems that they'd both rather go without you, than have harm come to you because of their own ego and pride."
"So why the hell did they make you tell me?"
"Because you would be angry with them no doubt for forcing you into that position. To find out they both marked you as their own."
He winks, "Not to mention they say you have a soft spot for me."
"I do." I smile back widely.
The two of them manifest at the end of the bed, both looking like I caught them raiding the cookie jar.
"See why we don't have windows?" Seithe asks me.
"So what was all that shit about conditions at work?"
Jowendrhan perches next to my legs, offering me a fresh mug of steaming coffee. "If I could get your allegiance in writing, that would have been even better."
This is too much.
"The lot of you deserve bed without dinner!"
Seithe sinks into the padded mattress at my knee, holding my free hand, "Phoebe, you can't keep going to work. It's too crazy. I'll pay you everything you need to never work again if I have to."
"Uh huh. In return for what exactly?"
He gives me a charming smile, turning silver eyes and white hair - brown, instantly younger and irresistible, "Me?"
"So explain to me in your own words what the fuck happened?"
Jowendrhan smirks, dimpling his chin, "You happened. You and your seductive pheromones ..."
"And smile ..."
"And human voice ..."
"Soft hands ..."
"Your tight orgasms ..."
"And breathless sighs ..."
"WOULD YOU STOP IT!" I feel hotter than a fallen angel.
"Look it's easy. Seithe is the oldest and he always gets the hot chicks."
"And he's the youngest and he always steals them because his muscles are bigger ..."
"But we didn't give a shit about who you preferred when we heard your distress ..."
"Suddenly seemed stupid ...”
"Cos we can share you ..."
"Oh no you bloody can't!"
The laughter that resounds, points out to this half-wit they are joking.
Seithe looks into my eyes seriously, "I screwed up baby girl. My obsession is redemption."
Jowendrhan jokes, "Fuck redemption, I'll settle for you."
My cheeks are aching with the embarrassed burn now.
"We've gone back to friends, instead of rivals," Seithe continues explaining, "And I'm hoping you'll keep waking me up the way you did this morning, and not this fucker with bigger muscles that looks like me."
"Just keep your fuck me now pheromones to yourself please." Jowendrhan teases.
Darise is laughing, and I'm decidedly vulnerable and in need of female back up.
"You have free will, Minxy. No more games, no more pressure. What will be, will be."
For some reason, hearing Seithe say he'd willingly give up being in control, when I know he's a total control freak, it presses the emotional discharge button. And my eyes decide to spring a leak.
"How are you feeling? We thought we'd broken you for good."
I nod at Jowendrhan absently, wiping my eyes, "I'm feeling fine. Hungry."
A hot mouth snuggles into my neck, biting playfully, "
Hmmm
me too."
"Seithe!"
Jowendrhan interrupts, "And what's with all of these chef's blowtorches? You have some explaining to do young lady."
Hotter than ever, I explain, "I realised it's what you used in Pravus to separate them." I say to Darise, "And they're so hot, I figured if there's one thing that will make a vampire back off, it's flame. I didn't know who to trust, who was lying or telling the truth, and I feared for my life."
Jowendrhan grins guiltily, "If you ever decide to tell a convincing lie. Make sure half of it is truth. It fools the gut every time!"
"Bugger!"
I pause with an afterthought, staring at Darise, "So why did Seithe explode when you were the one talking?"
"You have to have a witness. I heard you confirm to Jowendrhan that you got off on his hand." Darise's grin couldn't be naughtier, or more uncomfortable if he tried.
"Phoebe, having a witness meant my fucking brother had a legitimate claim on you."
Sighing heavily I face Seithe, "It is over? Really over?"
Jowendrhan dimples his mouth at me, stubble giving him a rebel vibe, "We've called a truce in front of everyone. The only person making decisions about this now, is you."
Smiling back at Darise over my coffee mug I interrogate, "So who are you when you aren't bar tending, Darise?"
He licks his luscious lips, glancing first at Seithe, then Jowendrhan, before enlightening me in a very deep baritone, "The oldest brother."
Chapter 42: Forgiven
"
Hmmm
, I missed this."
His hot tongue trails my nape while delicate fingers distract my nipples, splitting my mind in twain.
Lounging between long legs, I trace his inner thighs with softly scratching nails. There's a mild sting when he bites, before the heat of his mouth covers the mark, sucking erotically.
My eyes close of their own volition, indulging in his heat increasing by increments. His desire presses into the small of my back and I absently run my fingers over his neck, holding his head tightly into my neck, craving nerve annihilation with every cell in my body.
Twisting I cover his lips with my own. Drinking deeply, I can never get enough of these kisses, I'm hopelessly addicted. An intruding finger separates our connection, tracing my lips.
"Such submissive lips."