The Vampire Legacy III; Familiar Souls (27 page)

"Michael." Sage whispered, drawing
Michael's attention back to her and away from Cristian, who would
be in a lot of trouble if he didn't close his mouth. "Michael,
listen to me, please. It wasn't David, I mean, it was his body, but
he wasn't there. His eyes were so hollow, like he was empty, and, I
don't know, there was something strange about the way he
felt."

"Do you think someone was controlling
him?" Julian asked. Sage nodded and looked up at Justin, whose eyes
stared back at hers, and a wave of acknowledgement washed over him.
Justin kissed her on the forehead, then quickly stood up and walked
over to Quinn and Julian, who stood only a few feet
apart.

"Where is he?" Justin asked.

"In the basement, in the catacombs."
Julian replied.

"You're not seriously thinking of
letting him go, are you?" Quinn asked. Julian looked at his
brother, then back at Justin.

"If you believe in what you think you
know, there is no other choice." Julian said, folding a key into
Justin's hand.

David sat in the corner of the dark
cell looking up at the ceiling. He had been given clothes to wear,
but still felt uncomfortable, as he pulled his knees to his chest
and sighed, loudly. The door opened, slowly, and David blocked the
light that streamed in.

"David?" Justin asked, stepping into
the room.

"What?" He asked; his voice a bit
harsh. He tried not to look up at Justin, afraid that his close
friend would see the hurt in his eyes, but instead found himself
staring into Justin's hard brown eyes, even though it was obvious
that Justin couldn't see him. "I told you what I remembered, what
more could you want?"

"She's awake." Justin replied. David
looked up at him, and then slowly, stood. Justin caught this
movement and looked at him in the corner. "Sage is asking for
you."

"Asking for me?" David sighed then
shook his head. "After what I did to her, you would think she'd
want me to rot in here."

"But she doesn't, so drop the attitude
and come see her." Justin ordered. David walked up to him, stared
him in the eyes and sighed, then stepped passed him and the two men
walked up the stairs to Sage's second floor bedroom.

* * * * *

My eyes opened quickly as the door
squeaked on its hinges and I watched David walk in, followed
closely by Justin, whose eyes alone seemed to send the message to
every other man in the room, that he was protecting David and would
with his life. Slowly, David made his way over to the bed, glancing
once at Julian, and then making a long eye contact with Michael,
before stopping at the end of my own bed. I watched his lips
tighten and he swallowed hard before he placed a hand on the
bedpost beside him.

"Come closer." I whispered as I turned
on my side and held a hand out for him. David, reluctantly, shook
his head. "They won't hurt you."

How do you know?
His mental voice asked me.

I smiled at him, then gestured my head
towards the man standing behind him. David turned and looked at
Justin, who stood no more than a foot and a half away, between
David and the others in the room. Justin's eyes were set, as hard
as nails, as an impenetrable deadly wall between the two of us and
the rest of the occupants. David turned back to me and stepped
forward, kneeling down on the floor as he got closer, then, with a
childish wonder, I watched him break down and bury his head in the
comforters next to my chest.

"It wasn't your fault." I whispered to
him as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders the best I could and
held him gently. He looked up at me and shook his head, then took
my hands and kissed them both.

"How can you say that? I remember
everything." He whispered.

"You were being controlled, didn't you
feel it?" I questioned.

"He didn't feel anything because he was
doing it himself." Quinn snarled behind him. Justin threw him a
warning, using his bright red eyes to do so.

"Maybe, we should clear the room."
Julian suggested, then began to usher people out of the room.
Justin stopped at the doorway and Julian looked to him. "Are you
staying?"

"I trust him." Justin replied, loud
enough so that David and I could hear him. "There's no need to stay
in here. This is between them."

He turned and looked at me, then winked
and walked out. David and I were alone.

"I watched the whole thing as if I were
some patron in a movie theater, captured but unable to do anything
to stop it until it was too late." David whispered, sitting back on
the floor. I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed,
then looked at him. "I tried to stop him, but couldn't. I'm sorry;
there was nothing I could do."

"I forgive you." I replied and got down
on the floor in front of him. He looked at me, oddly, as he checked
out the light nightgown that I was wearing. "Are you
uncomfortable?"

"Just...worried." He
replied.

"About what?" I asked as I grabbed the
light throw cover from the bed and put it over my legs. David
turned away then closed his eyes.

"He used how I feel about you against
me." David whispered.

I laughed at him, which made him look
over. "You want to sink your teeth into my neck?"

"No!' He said, giving me as look as if
I was insane, but then the look in his eyes turned to shame. "The
shower, when you were naked and I kissed you, that was what he used
against me."

"You want to kiss me?" I laughed, again
I watched him turn his head and close his eyes, but this time he
nodded. I smiled at him as his face began to grow flush, then I
slowly reached out and took his hand. "It's nothing to be ashamed
of, Dave. It's natural."

"I don't want to feel this way, Sage."
He snapped, then looked at me and sighed. "I don't want to feel
this overwhelming need to protect you, from everything, sometimes
even from Justin."

"That's how friends feel." I replied.
David shook his head then stood up quickly.

"I tried to distance myself from you,
to save you from getting hurt, but you and Justin, both of you
pulled me back in." He walked over to the window and looked out at
the backyard.

"Michael was the last one to accept me
for me, and even then I was still feeling the darkness, but now,
that darkness is gone and all I see is you."

"David, what's wrong?" I asked,
standing up to face him. David turned to me and walked over,
clutching my upper arms gently with his hands.

"I need you, I want you, more than you
could ever imagine, but I know I can't have you and that's killing
me." He whispered, looking deep into my eyes, and then he released
me and walked to the door. I turned quickly and looked at
him.

"David." I watched him stop at the
sound of his name, and then he turned and looked at me. "I need
you, too." Quickly, he walked slowly out the door. Justin walked in
a short while after and looked at me as I stared out the window.
"He's hurting."

"I know." Justin said softly and walked
over to the bed, where he sat and looked at me. "I felt it when he
walked by."

"He said that he needed me." I
whispered, trying not to show him how much it affected
me.

"You need him, too." Justin replied. I
turned towards him and then leaned forward, looking him in the
eyes, then I watched him smile. "Don't look at me like that, Sage,
I'm not being controlled. I just know how you feel."

"Should I feel like this?" I asked,
stupidly. "Can I love you and want him at the same
time?"

"We're connected, sweetheart, there's
nothing that you or I can do about it." Justin replied, leaning
towards me. "Actually, there is one thing."

"Which is?" I smiled.

"Go to him." This made me sit
back.

"Okay, I know you're kinky, but what
are you trying to pull here?" I questioned.

"It's simple really." Justin smiled and
took my hand. "Usually once you start, you'll realize how wrong it
is."

"And, what if I don't?" I questioned.
"What happens if it goes too far?"

"You'll be fine, we will be fine." He
laughed. Shaking my head, I stood and walked to the
door.

"I think you're nuts." I told him.
Justin walked over to me, quickly wrapped his arms around my waist
and kissed me, wholeheartedly on the lips, then he let me go,
smiling.

"Just as long as you know that, you'll
be okay." He winked and walked back to the door, gesturing me out
with his hand.

* * * * *

David lay back on the bed and closed
his eyes. Slowly, he drew in a deep breath and, just as slowly, let
it out. Sage was going through his mind, the way she looked, the
power she gave off, but the connection with him and Justin also
seemed to be there and he couldn't shake the strange image of him
taking blood from Justin from his head.

David rubbed his bare stomach;
something he did out of habit each night, feeling the invisible
scar that once was there from a stake that had missed its target.
Tonight, as he withdrew his hand from the cool skin, hot wet lips
replaced it and this made David open his eyes and looked down
quickly at the pair of blue ones that were coming closer to
him.

David sat up quickly, grabbing Sage by
the lower arms as she straddled him, giving him a look of
tenderness.

"What are you doing?" He asked as he
licked his lips, trying to regain control of his body. "Justin's
going to kill you if he finds you here. Hell, he'll kill me three
times over for just thinking about you like this."

"He told me to come." She whispered to
him. David let her go and leaned back on his elbows as she moved
closer to him.

"He told you to come to my room?" She
nodded. "And, he told you to do this?"

"David, please, don't make this any
more awkward than it is." Sage whispered and sat up. David breathed
in quickly as she touched his skin and began to caress him. "It was
Justin that told me to come here, he wasn't being
controlled."

"Oh, God." David whispered softly,
trying hard to keep the control that was slipping away from him.
His body was already responding to her, growing ready for whatever
might happen next. "I don't want to hurt you." He swallowed hard,
then reached out and touched her cheek with one hand as he sat up,
and ran his other through her hair. "I don't want to hurt Justin.
It's just so...hard to resist."

"Don't." She answered as he brought her
to him and kissed her wantonly on the lips. This set off the sparks
that ignited the fire that burned, quite hot between
them.

David gave into whatever she did to
him, as he laid there on the bed, and it felt like an eternity of
her fiery kisses before he suddenly felt the bed move with extra
weight. David opened his eyes and looked over Sage's shoulder as
Justin moved into view. His hazel eyes widened at the young man,
who was obviously naked, as Justin leaned down towards the back of
Sage's neck.

Justin made eye contact with him, and
kept it as he pushed the hair away from Sage's neck. Sage stopped,
glanced up at David, who looked down at her, then up at Justin, who
had closed his eyes and was now caressing every part of his
girlfriend's body. David was frozen, unable to move, to respond,
and suddenly, that cold feeling that had run through his body was
replaced, only at his wrist, but Justin's large fingers as they
wrapped around his flesh.

David, unsure of how to react to the
other man's grip, relaxed his arm and let Justin guide his hand to
warmth between Sage's bare thighs. David closed his eyes, feeling
the heat of her sex near his fingers, and took Justin's invitation
to heart as he penetrated her gently. Sage let out a loud moan then
bit David, viscously, through the skin nearest to his heart. The
rest of the night seemed to fade into an endless stream of want and
lust, where blood was exchanged between the three of them more than
once.

It was hard to adjust to the light that
seemed to stream into his window, and the events of the night
before were just a blur, until, of course, David looked down at the
arm draped across his chest and the fact that he was totally
naked.

David followed the arm up to the person
it was attached to, and looked at Sage's sleeping face. David slide
out from underneath her, trying to comprehend what had gone on and
why Sage was naked and sleeping in his bed, but it all came back to
him when he looked beyond her at Justin's sleeping form, also
naked, who lay on the other side of the bed.

David sat down in the chair across from
the sleeping pair and shook his head, which made him aware of the
pain in his neck. He walked over to the oval mirror that sat on the
dresser, and looked at the two large black and blue spots on his
neck that hadn't faded in the least. The one on his right side had
been made by Sage earlier in the evening, in the midst of their
foreplay, but the pair on his left was from closer toward morning
when Justin had snuck up behind him, as he made love to Sage and
bitten into his flesh.