The Vampire Legacy III; Familiar Souls (15 page)

“
I can’t help but ask,
Justin.” I sighed and looked at him.

“
Tell me the real reason,
Sage?” He questioned. “The real reason you want me
there.”

“
I feel like you won’t
come if I ask you to come for me.”

“
Come for you?” He sat
down on the chair and looked at the ceiling. “If it were only that
easy?”

“
It can be.” I
whispered.

“
Yeah, right.” He looked
back at me sadly. “My brothers, my brothers, both of them, are
there. They think I’m evil, Sage, that I’m the devil. I can’t be
there with them, while they think that, and still be so close to
you. Think about yourself, about how this would affect you if we
were to argue. Do you want to see the three of us at each other’s
throats?”

“
I’m going to tell him
where you are.” I whispered at him. Justin shook his
head.

“
That wouldn’t be a wise
decision.” He replied. I smiled.

“
Coming here wasn’t one of
my most wise ones either.” I replied and shook my head. “I still
don’t have you.”

I turned and walked out of the room,
into the crowd of people and just as I got to the stairs to leave,
I turned and looked at Justin, who stood on the edge of the crowd
looking at me.

“
No matter what your mind
tells you, about your brothers about me, your heart is what you
follow.” I whispered towards him, knowing full well that he could
hear me. “When you want me, come and find me.”

I ran up the stairs quickly and out of
the club. When I was away from the lights and the music stopped and
I leaned against a brick wall. The tears that I tried to control
seemed to come fast as I stood there, leaned my head back against
the wall and breathed in deeply, then I moved away and walked
towards my car.

The lights were all on when I arrived
at the house. After parking the car, I slowly made my way to the
front door, knowing that Michael would be waiting when I stepped
inside. I looked at him, the way he sat, slouched down in a large
chair, illuminated by a small table lamp. His eyes looked over me
as I stood in the doorway of the sitting room, then he sat forward
and rested his lower arms on his knees.

“
They wouldn’t tell me
where you went.” Michael sighed. He looked at his fingers then up
at me.

“
They really didn’t know.”
I whispered to him and leaned against the wall. “Even if they did
know, it wouldn’t have mattered. I wasn’t going anywhere
dangerous.”

“
Where did you go?” He
asked.

“
The Ravenloft.” I replied
and walked over to the chair next to him. “I went to see a friend.
I thought that I could convince him to go home.”

“
Did you convince
him?”

“
No.” I replied and shook
my head. Michael watched me look down at the floor, sniffle, and
then look back at him with watery eyes. “He doesn’t believe that
he’s wanted there.”

“
Is he?”

“
More than he knows.” I
replied and rubbed my forehead. “Did Cristian talk to you about
Justin, yet?”

“
No, why do you
ask?”

“
I think I might know
where he is.” I said softly. Michael stood and walked over to me;
he knelt down on the floor in front of me and took my
hand.

“
Can you tell
me?”

“
He’s afraid.”

“
Of?”

“
You.” I whispered. “He
thinks that you don’t want him, he believes that you think he’s
evil.”

“
How do you know all
this?” Michael questioned. He looked into my blue eyes and sat back
a bit. “Your friend, the one you saw tonight, was it
Justin?”

“
I need him, Mike.” I said
in a voice almost nonexistent, and leaned down close to him,
licking my lips. “I feel him in me, like that uncontrollable force,
and it binds me to him.”

“
He’s the man that you
were talking about; the one Cristian was trying to protect you
from?” Michael stood suddenly and backed away.

“
Please, listen to me
before you say anything.” I begged. Michael put his hand over his
mouth and looked out the window. “He’s never hurt me, and I don’t
think he ever could. Michael, they never told me that he was
coming.”

“
He’s been with you, with
Cristian, and you decide that now you’re going to tell me?” Michael
asked and looked at me.

“
It wasn’t time.” I
whispered and looked at my hands. “There was so much more to say, I
just thought it would be easier.”

Michael sighed and looked over at me
quickly. “Where is the Ravenloft?”

“
I don’t think he’s there
anymore.”

“
Then where is he?” I
could hear the anger in Michael’s voice suddenly and I shook my
head.

“
I left him there, but he
doesn’t stay.” I whispered. “I could find him though, if you help
me.”

“
Why isn’t he with
you?”

“
He thinks that you two
would argue and I would be caught in the middle.”

“
Does he love
you?”

“
Does it matter?” I asked
him. Michael shrugged. “Whether he loves me or not, Mike, he won’t
come because he doesn’t want to.”

“
Can you take me to him?”
Michael asked.

“
That won’t be necessary.”
A voice interrupted both Michael and I looked up at the man
standing in the doorway. He was dressed in a pair of dark blue
Dockers, and a tan dress shirt, unbuttoned around the collar. He
stood, with his hands in his pockets, looking at the two of
us.

“
Justin!” I smiled and
stood up. He winked at me, caringly. I didn’t know what to do, run
and hold him, or just stay there. I decided to avoid the awkward
situation and not jump into his arms, after looking at the shock on
Michael’s face.

`“Hello, Michael.” Justin said,
lowly.

“
Justin?” He whispered, as
the shock slowly disappeared and he smiled. “It’s been a long
time.”

“
Yes, it has.” Justin
replied. I felt the oddness between the two of them, and I walked
over to Justin and took his hand. He looked down at me and sighed.
I could see all the different things that he was feeling when I
looked into his eyes. I knew he wanted to say something, as he
squeezed my hand, but he just held it and looked back at Michael.
“Sage asked me to come and see you. She has been very persistent
about it. I decided that she was right and I had to grow up and get
over my avoidance.”

“
It has been two hundred
years, Justin.” Michael said and smiled. “I’m just glad you
came.”

“
I hear that you’re having
a problem.” Justin said softly. “Do you know who it is?”

“
No, my contacts haven’t
figured out exactly who it is, but they have told me that whoever
it is wants to destroy everyone tied to me. When they told me this,
my thoughts were only of you three. Ashley is here with me. I knew
where Cristian was and that Sage was with her cousin, but I didn’t
know where you were.”

“
I’ve been close by for
almost two years.” Justin sighed. He looked down at me, quickly,
and then leaned down close to my ear. “Are you all
right?”

“
I’m just tired.” I smiled
and looked at the two of them. “If you both promise to behave, I’ll
go to bed.”

“
We’ll be fine.” Michael
whispered. He kissed me on the forehead and stepped back. I looked
at Justin and smiled.

Come see me later.” I whispered to him.
He nodded and watched me walk away. I smiled at the fact that the
two of them were talking, and, as I made my way upstairs, I
wondered about the people threatening them and exactly who they
were.

I’m sure I fell asleep as soon as I hit
the bed, but it wasn’t an easy sleep. The voices whispered to me,
telling me things, most of it seemed like one giant jumble of
words, but there was one word that seemed to stick out at
me.

Prophecy.

* * * * *

Michael looked at Justin and sat down
in the chair, he gestured to the chair across from him and Justin
sat down. The two of them looked at each other, then, finally,
Justin broke the silence.

“
Why did you leave?” He
asked. Michael shook his head. “Charles nearly died when he found
you were missing.”

“
I did it for
you.”

“
For me? What did I do to
deserve such loyalty?” Justin questioned.

“
I knew that something
happened during the transformation. After what happened with
Jescinda, I decided to leave rather than bring out that rage again.
It was best that way.” Michael sighed.

“
You never confronted me.”
Justin told him. “If you had just come to me, Michael, none of this
would have happened.”

“
What happened to
Cristian?”

“
He left to find
you.”

“
Why?”

“
He saw the change in me
too. Even though I tried to stop it, it didn’t work. Even Charles
couldn’t help me.” Justin sighed, “After his death, it got worse. I
couldn’t help but kill, and I was so angry that I couldn’t control
it, that Cristian ended up seeing it when I killed. I was connected
to him. He was closer to my location or I’m sure you would have
seen it too.”

“
It must be why Cristian
thinks you’re so dangerous.”

“
I don’t think he is; I
know he is.” Cristian interrupted. Justin and Michael stood up and
looked at Cristian, who walked into the room. He looked at the two
brothers and crossed his arms. “And if you were smart, Michael,
you’d put an end to whatever relationship there is between Justin
and your daughter.”

“
I’m getting sick of your
interference in my life, Cristian!” Justin snarled. Cristian walked
in and stood only about a foot away from Justin. “You need to start
thinking about yourself and leave Sage and I alone.”

“
He’s dangerous, Michael,
and Sage is just someone he’s using.” Cristian insisted.

“
You don’t know how I feel
about her, Cristian!” Justin said getting angry. “I won’t hurt her,
she’s in no danger.”

“
Stop it, both of you!”
Michael said and stepped between them, pushing them away from each
other. “How long has this been going on, Justin, between you and
Sage?”

“
Since January.” Justin
replied. He looked at Cristian. “And, he’s done everything in his
power to try and keep us apart.”

“
You’ve never hurt her?”
Michael asked. Justin looked at Cristian, then at Michael, and
walked over to the window. He stood looking out at the yard.
“Justin?”

“
You see, he must have
harmed her.” Cristian said sternly. “Or he would have answered
you.”

“
Justin?” Michael asked
looking from Cristian to him. “Answer the question.”

“
There was only one time
that I hurt her.” Justin said softly. Michael face was blank as
Justin turned and looked at him sternly. His face had drained of
color, and Justin looked quickly at Cristian then back at him. “I
hurt her by thinking that I could live without her.”

“
That’s it?” Michael
asked, breathing in deeply. Justin nodded and looked away. The
color slowly returned to Michael’s face and he sighed. “You haven’t
harmed her any other way?”

“
I told her I wouldn’t. I
made a promise to her not too, but I did, not physically, but for
nine months I tried to deny the feelings in my veins that raced
through me when she touched me.” Justin sighed. He looked at
Cristian. “For your sake, brother, I tried my hardest not to let
the love that I felt for her show. I denied her that closeness
because it was easier for her to deal with you and her friends if
you thought we were apart.”

“
I was trying to protect
her.” Cristian argued. “I was doing my best to keep her
safe.”

“
Enough!” Michael yelled.
The two of them looked at him quickly. Michael sighed and shook his
head. “What’s done is done.”

“
Michael, you’re not going
to let this continue, are you?” Cristian asked. Justin looked at
his blood brother in disbelief.

“
He hasn’t harmed her,
Cristian, and she’s told me, herself, how she feels about him.”
Michael replied. Michael looked at Justin and crossed his arms. “I
will allow this to continue.” He replied. Justin smiled, slightly,
and looked at Cristian in triumph. “On one condition,” Justin
looked at him quickly. Michael looked at him seriously and sighed.
“There is to be no blood exchange, ever.”

“
I wouldn’t do that,
Michael.” Justin said softly. He looked at Cristian, who shook his
head. “Despite what some people think, I’m not that much of a
monster.”

Michael looked at Justin, as he smiled
to himself, while he turned his head away from the other two. He
saw that the years must not have been good to Justin, but if it
were true, what Sage had told him about the darkness fading, then
it was because of some special magic between them.

Michael watched Justin, who stood,
smiling, as he looked out the window. He stepped up behind Justin
and put a hand on his shoulder. Justin jumped at his
touch.