Right Kind of Wrong
By: Delilah deSora

Chapter 8

Adrian walked quietly through the castle grounds. His senses were full of laughter and the scent of blood coming from the castle as its inhabitants celebrated with their carefully captured victims. He could make out at least five different languages raised in horror as the humans realized why they had been taken from their quiet lives and brought to the ends of civilization. He had fed and left, letting the vampires and breed revel in their games. His thoughts this night were turned elsewhere.

It would be soon, he knew. He had heard nothing from his son for nearly half a year and he was grateful to know that Shido did not share his troubles with carrying a child. He would hear nothing of the child or its parents for many years to come but he did not mind. They had eternity to become acquainted.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel the weight of his years when he thought of it. Time had moved on without him, leaving him frozen and useless to his own people. Cain’s child would grow and they would have another. He stood outside of that circle now and it hurt to acknowledge that.

He smiled sadly. He had once been determined to refuse the destiny he had been born to. He had hidden on the small island where he had been born, turning away all those his sire had tried to push onto him but in the end he had not been able to refuse the desire to follow Alexandru out into the lands beyond. It had been a heady world he had been snatched up into and it made the resentment he felt for being left behind worse.

He missed those early years when there had been no care except for the desire to see Alexandru’s sly eyes sparkle. His mate had the devil’s own smile and he had happily followed him into the dark world of pleasure and indulgence. There had been no unstable courts to fear, no world politics that might wipe out an entire country, no isolation among the courts, no pressure to produce a child, and no Miron.

Adrian sighed and shook his head. Alexandru had been so happy for his parents when they had turned their court over to him to watch while they were in solitude. It had been unusual for a couple to have a child so soon after they had fledged their first. Neither of them had met his mate’s sibling until Miron had grown into a man’s body but Alexandru had treated him as though they had been close all their lives from their first meeting. Miron had even come at Alexandru’s request to stay at their court for a few years.

It had been then that Adrian had realized his true nature. He did not know what had caused Miron’s selfishness for neither of Alexandru’s parents were ones to suffer such a defect in their sons but he had the burning desire to claim everything for himself. Miron had begun to study the old ways that their people had turned from and sought to revive them.

The young velassi made him nervous and at his insistence Alexandru had sent him home. Later they learned that Miron had left home to start his own court but that venture had turned disastrous when the court turned on him and he was forced to run home with his tail between his legs. There was no more word of him for many years before they went through their first failure at having a child without anyone’s knowledge and returned home to yet another tragedy. They received word that a rival court had killed Alexandru’s parents. In his pain at the loss of both parents and child in such a short time Alexandru found nothing suspicious in Miron’s survival, nor in the fact that he took control of the court and that the rival court never attacked it again.

He had seen it and he suspected what Alexandru would never accept. When Miron again lost his court to others he had fled to their court and begged sanctuary. To his displeasure Alexandru had accepted him with open arms and, though Miron played the mourning little brother who had lost everything, Adrian saw the creature that lurked underneath. He had begged and pleaded with his mate to send the young sire away but Alexandru would hear none of it. Adrian knew Miron whispered lies into his mate’s ears for never before had Alexandru raised his voice in such anger at him as he did when he tried to make him see the truth about his brother.

It had been a great relief when he had found himself with child again for only that would tear Alexandru from his brother’s side. He knew that Miron wished to come with them to the sanctuary their parents had given them in secret but Alexandru refused. In the long years they spent there Adrian often wondered if they would have a court to return to. Cain grew and the time for them to leave approached. For the first time he did not bend in the face of Alexandru’s anger, refusing to allow their child in his uncle’s presence. For three years he remained adamant, keeping his family in Germany though their son had stopped physically aging and knew enough to pass off as a vampire.

Finally Alexandru had given in, promising to send Miron way on their return. Adrian knew that his mate worried over it and tried to soothe him as best he could without wavering in his conviction that Miron be exiled from their home. Luck favored him, however, for they returned to complaints of Miron’s behavior and enraged stories of his botched attempt to take the court for himself. For all his love for those that shared his blood, Alexandru was still a predator and he did not allow others make him look weak lest the other predators in his court challenge him. His anger at his brother’s betrayal had been great and Adrian had taken great pleasure in seeing Miron chased away in shame. Miron had been wise enough to stay away from his brother and that had been the last time Adrian had seen him until Alexandru’s death.

Adrian growled and lashed out at the air in frustration. He knew Miron had caused all three deaths but with no absolute proof the elders of their kind would not allow him revenge. There were too few velassi to allow such a thing to happen. They would not even allow him the order that Miron keep his distance from both him and his child. It infuriated him. He had considered returning to Nocturne, the solitary island he had been born on, where he knew they would be safe from Miron’s meddling. Even the elders would hesitate to punish his sire for protecting his island from an outsider. Nocturne was too important a retreat for their kind to risk destroying it. Should his sire, Renzo, die his father would avenge him with his dying breath and Nocturne would fall into chaos.

In the end he had been unable to bring himself to retreat to Nocturne. Alexandru had invested too much in his court and Adrian could not let it be destroyed from poor leadership. He had also come to realize that Cain would not be happy in Nocturne’s seclusion nor would he leave the broken velassi he had claimed as his own. So Adrian had stayed and kept the court together by fighting tooth and nail for his son’s leadership. He taught Cain the strength he would need and had been proud at the respect his son achieved through his ruthlessness.

With a sigh he forced his mind back to the present and turned his wandering feet back towards the castle. He wondered if Alexandru approved of the future he had built for their son. He knew that his mate had not liked the thought of their son mating with Shido and he had shared that reservation but Cain had fought for him and Adrian could not bring himself to deny their son something he so passionately desired. What had happened to him had not been his fault and it would not pass to a child born to them. He had no basis for denying the couple and Cain would broke no argument from him.

And perhaps, Adrian mused, it would help Shido find himself so that he was no longer ashamed of what he was.

Adrian’s head shot up at the familiar scent the wind carried. He straightened and glared at the vampire watching him.

Miron smiled and stepped closer, unheeding of his warning growl.

“What is it now?” Adrian snapped.

Miron spread his hands in a gesture of peace. “There’s something we need to discuss.”

Adrian frowned, not trusting the self-satisfied gleam in the younger velassi’s eyes.

Andrew watched the vampire struggle weakly against the chains that bound him. He found it odd that the creature panted for breath though he had no need for the oxygen. He shivered as golden eyes fixed on him for a moment before the thrashing resumed. Running his hands through his short hair to try to still their trembling he tried not to look at the sharp white teeth that snapped angrily at the air.

He’d been close to vampires before, had even dared to catch their attention as they pretended at being human, but those had always been all polite smiles and soft voices. He had known what those smiles hid and the bestial nature that the politeness cloaked but he’d never seen it displayed before.

Tearing his eyes away he turned his attention to the creature’s swollen stomach. He frowned at it for it seemed wrong to see an obviously male body in such a state. Reaching out he placed his hand over the bulge. The skin was stretched tight over the bulge and the vampire’s stomach was strangely firm. The vampire snarled, the sound making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and went wild. He snatched back his hand, staring in surprise as the chains screamed in protest at the stress being placed upon the thick links.

A laugh from behind didn’t help his shaken nerves and he turned to glance at the vampire behind him.

Miron bared fangs as he smiled. “I would suggest waiting until he is in your people’s care before starting your,” he paused as though searching for the correct word, “experiment?” He nodded, seeming satisfied with his choice. “Like the mothers of your kind the plight of his child will lend him strength he otherwise wouldn’t be able to exhibit.”

Andrew nodded, turning slightly to keep the other vampire in his sight. He didn’t trust this one. “When can we have him?” He snapped.

Displeasure showed in the vampire’s blue eyes at the demand. “When I have what is mine.” He growled.

Pursing his lips Andrew glanced at the panting vampire on the bed. “We had a deal! I led you to him so that you could use him to lure the other vampire and in exchange you give him to us. You already have the one you want. I don’t understand why you stall this. He is getting weaker. He’ll need to feed soon and, despite your claims, we aren’t sure if we’ll be able to feed him back at the lab. We may need time to come up with an alternate source!”

Miron waved his fears away with a bored hand. “Your transfusions have worked, you see?  He is still alive is he not?”

Andrew grit his teeth in annoyance. “It’s keeping him alive but we don’t know how it is effecting his child. Aren’t you worried that the child might be killed?”

The vampire sniffed. “What do I care about such a thing? I would see all of my brother’s progeny destroyed if I could. I am the one who will be the future of our family, not he.”

Shaking his head at the callous words he glared at the vampire. “He is of no use if the child dies. Do what you brought him here to do and be done with it!”

Miron rose. “In time. My mate is not yet desperate enough to do his duty. He still bears hope for his son to come.” The vampire barked a humorless laugh. “It will be soon though. Then you can have your prize and return to your little pack as a hero. As for the child, I wouldn’t worry. If it dies I am sure your other . . . acquisition can be coerced into getting him with another. Perhaps not in your lifetime since such things take time but that is not my concern.”

Andrew sat as the vampire left, wincing at the fear he heard in the bound vampire’s angry cries.

Adrian grit his teeth and tried to pull away as Miron roughly fondled him. “Get off me!”

He was unprepared for the slap he received and in his weakened state it left him stunned. “You will deny me nothing!” Miron growled, biting into the soft flesh above his collarbone.

Adrian cried out as the pressure Miron’s jaws exerted as they closed cracked the bone. The blond vampire laughed, pulling back to stare down at him in satisfaction. It took all of his will not to tear the blue eyes from the sallow face and feed them to the ravens that croaked so gratingly on the roof above.

“Go to hell.” He snarled but forced himself to lie still as hands roamed over his body.

“Not without you.” Miron replied, biting absently at bared neck.

Adrian pushed weakly at his shoulders. “Enough!” He gasped, “I can’t . . . lose anymore blood without feeding!”

He didn’t miss the sly smile that pulled Miron’s thin lips into a fine line. “Ah. Then you should feed.”

Adrian pushed himself up, frowning as Miron caught his arm and lead him from the room. “I can hunt for myself.” He growled as he was propelled forward.

“It is for me to provide for my mate, and provide I shall.”

Adrian’s retort died in his throat as he was shoved passed a heavy doorway and into another room. That he had not heard the other’s enraged cries in the hall told him how thick the walls must of have been. He felt rage well up within him at the sight of his child’s mate still captive.

“You promised!” He hissed, whirling upon Miron.

His fingers hooked into claws but Miron shoved him harshly and he stumbled backwards as he fell. “And you forget our promise. You promised to be my mate in exchange for his return. You won’t really be my mate until you are with my child and to facilitate that you will take his blood.”

Adrian’s eyes narrowed. “You’re insane. I will do no such thing!”

Miron frowned. “In the past . . .”

“They were fools to believe that!” Adrian snapped, “There is no proof that taking the blood of one with child will make another velassi more receptive to having their own and every bit of proof that it is too stressful to be healthy for the one who is with child! It is why no one believes in it anymore!”

Miron waved his hand absently. “I do not care. Take his blood and I will send him home.”

“I will not do such a thing to him!”

The blond vampire shrugged. “Then he stays here longer. My friend here insists that if he stays any longer he might lose the child but what care I for such a thing?”

For the first time Adrian noticed the human in the corner. He hissed in surprise. “You would discuss this with a human present? You truly are mad!”

Miron shrugged. “These humans have known of our kind for a long time, though they understand us no better now than they did when they first discovered the velassi. It is no matter. Now drink from him or you both will continue to starve!” He snapped, his impatience showing through.

Adrian met Shido’s eyes and caught the vague shake of his head. He rose up onto his knees and bent over the younger velassi, brushing the tangled violet hair from Shido’s face. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I truly thought he had taken you back when I agreed to come with him.”

Again Shido shook his head. “Don’t,” he hissed.

Adrian sighed and brushed his lips over Shido’s neck. “I have to. I can already sense the distress your child is in. You have to go back to Cain, Shido. I am truly sorry.”

Before the violet haired man could voice his next words Adrian bit, keeping his jaws tight so that only a small bit of blood could escape past his fangs. He pretended to drink heavily, knowing that Miron would demand he take much of Shido’s blood. Even with just a small bit of blood their minds connected and Adrian sensed one particular memory being forced at him. Gently he reached out, nudging it to the fore.

With a cry he jerked away, whirling on the vampire by the doorway in anger at the new knowledge that Miron was going to betray their agreement. However Miron was no longer at the door and Adrian was not fast enough to escape his grasp. With a primal shriek he fought against the hold on his arms but he could not free himself, nor could he free himself from the heavy weight on his consciousness as Miron worked his power on him. Alexandru had taught him how to fight against the power that his family possessed but the lack of blood made him too weak.

He heard Miron speaking and the human replying. As the darkness clouded his mind he heard Shido’s enraged cries before everything was silence.