Right Kind of Wrong
By: Delilah deSora

Chapter 10

Something tickled his chest, drawing him out of the empty place. He wanted to protest but he could not resist the inevitable so instead he braced himself to return to the excruciating pain, reminded that he couldn’t leave the child fighting for its young life within him. Instead of the sharp pain, though, he was awash in a body-numbing ache. The kind that took him when he’d used too much of his strength and taken too much damage in his pursuit of a breed.

The tickling came again and he opened his eyes, brushing whatever it was away from him. His hand touched soft flesh and an indignant cry answered the motion. He frowned, his muddled mind taking long minutes to make out the small form cradled in his arm. He gasped, nearly dropping the child as his body unconsciously jerked away from it in surprise. Green eyes stared up at him in annoyance. With shaking fingers he reached up, picking bits of his blood from the golden hair.

The child sniffed and resumed pawing at his chest, making a sharp cry of displeasure when his arm came between him and his goal. Shido laughed softly, wincing at the ache in his stomach and the familiar tightness of a wound threatening to split open.

“You’re going to have his demeanor aren’t you?” He whispered.

The child smiled and cooed, showing sharp baby fangs before nuzzling his chest and biting down. The pain of the bite was easy to ignore compared to the rest of his body and he found himself fascinated by the way the child fed. Gently he stroked his son’s back. The movement of his arm lifted the blanket covering them and he peered beyond the child in his arms to the now flat plane of his stomach. An ugly set of wounds paralleled a center slash where Alexandru had stroked to soothe the child. With a grimace Shido lowered the blanket. No wonder Cain had been so adamant against telling him how the child would be born. If he’d known it would have been torn from him he would have spent the last few months frantic to find another way.

He peered over his shoulder, wondering at the silence in the cell. He found Alexandru huddled on the other side, watching him tiredly. When he moved to sit up the other frowned, shaking his head urgently. With a frown of his own Shido lowered himself back to the floor, wondering at the other’s reaction. Alexandru returned his attention to the mirrored wall behind him and Shido winced, cursing his own stupidity.

The humans could see them through the glass and whatever part was still Alexandru in his fellow prisoner knew enough to not want them to know he’d already had the child.

Shido shivered, clutching his son tighter against his chest. Would they take him if they knew? Miron had talked to the human that had brought them so the humans must know what they were. They’d been fascinated by his condition, poking and prodding him. They’d brought him to machines that had allowed them to see into his body while they exclaimed over this and that. After the initial rounds they seemed to lose interest him. They no longer wanted him to study, he realized, they were waiting for the child to study.

He grit his teeth, loosening his hold when his son protested being clutched so tightly. How long? He wondered. How long until they noticed the blood on the floor? How long until they wondered what was taking so long for him to give birth? How long until one of their keepers wandered over to see why he was always lying in the same spot?

“Cain,” he whispered, tracing their son’s delicate features, “hurry.”

Alexandru solved the biggest of his problems shortly after he’d woken. When their captors brought the blood that they had been forced to subsist on Alexandru gathered the bags and hesitantly approached him. He saw a momentary flash of thought in the blank eyes before the older velassi suddenly lunged at him. Instinct overrode his confusion and he snarled, meeting the movement with an attack of his own. His nails sunk into the other’s skin and blood spilled from torn bags as Alexandru suddenly backpedaled, placing a few feet of distance between them.

The blankness returned to the burgundy eyes and Shido relaxed, gathering the blanket about himself and his child as he shrank back. He slipped in the wet blood and stared down at the new stain over the old stains of his own blood.

There was a hiss as the door to their cell opened and he snarled, pressing himself back into the corner as a trio of humans appeared. Alexandru slunk back to his usually place. Guns lowered and, assured that all was again well, their captors backed out.

Forced to rely on his sleep patterns to determine the day Shido figured it must have been a week before their next encounter with their captors occurred.

He’d learned that if he pulled his knees up he could cradle his son between his legs and use his knees to create tent of sorts with the blanket to obscure the movement in his lap. He’d taken to calling his son Cayle, a name that his still confused memories associated with warmth and security. He couldn’t remember who this Cayle from his past was but he knew that once the man had provided and must have cared for him.

Cayle pushed at his stomach with his small arms, trying to steady himself as he attempted to sit up. While still very young his son did not appear as human newborns did. He assumed that the longer gestation period allowed his son to be more physically developed before coming into the world. Cayle could not stand but already he was curious and had enough muscle tone to maintain a sitting position if his father put him down in such a way.

Even as his son demanded his attention he was always aware of Alexandru, though the other had made no move to approach him other than to bring him some of the blood left for them. There hadn’t been any new signs of lucidity on the other velassi’s part and Shido felt a sense of pity for him. Cain had thought his sire dead before the guilt that had begun to build in his mind at being a vampire and he’d sought to escape his mate. He could not conceive of being trapped in such a place for so long. That there was anything left of the velassi’s mind to help him amazed Shido. He prayed that there was enough left to heal him when they managed to escape.

Alexandru’s head suddenly snapped up, a frown pulling at his lips as he stared at the door. Clutching Cayle to him and drawing his legs closer to his chest Shido tensed. There was the hiss of trapped air escaping as the door slid open and a trio of guards stepped inside. Alexandru moved to stand; years of obeying having made him pliant to the human’s commands and the guards gestured for him to step forward.

At the sharpness of the human’s voice Cayle suddenly twisted and cried out.

Startled the guards turned to stare at him. Shido growled as one of them came towards him, his lips pulling back to bear his fangs. The guard paused, his gun coming up in response though Shido did not think he would risk hurting the child he’d just heard for no reason. The human never got the chance, however, for, with a snarl that made the hairs on the back of Shido’s neck stand on edge, Alexandru leapt forward.

The guard screamed as claws and fangs tore into skin. Surprised by the normally docile velassi’s actions it took his comrades a minute to realize what had happen and to draw their weapons in response. By then the man had stopped screaming and Alexandru was upon them.

Shido stayed crouched in his corner as Alexandru dragged down a second man, tearing the gun from the third’s hands and slashing at his face before someone appeared behind him and dragged him back through the door. Their cell snapped close and the golden haired velassi turned his attention to tearing at the man beneath him. When his limbs ceased twitching Alexandru slunk away from him. Shido watched with narrowed eyes as the sire crawled to him and placed himself between him and the door.

The snarl left his face as Alexandru settled back against him and they both sat in tense silence, waiting for their captors to respond to the sire’s aggression against their own.

Marcus Vinge cursed, pushing assistants and operators out of his way as he struggled to the front of the viewing area. His attention went immediately to the cell before him, taking in the two bodies that lay in the foreground before searching for the cell’s true occupants. The two were crouched together in the back corner as far from the door as they could get, the oldest of their specimens partially shielding their newest acquisition from view. There was blood on the oldest’s arms and chest but he could see no obvious wounds.

“Are they hurt?” He demanded, turning to the woman kneeling at his side, struggling with what was left of another guard. His face was severely disfigured and his throat worked furiously as he struggled against the blood that leaked into his lungs with every gurgling breath.

The woman glanced up at him and shook her head. “No.”

“What the hell happened?” He demanded, stepping aside as a fleet of technicians appeared with a stretcher.

Dr. Courtney stood, her small frame shaking with tremors as she absently wiped the dying man’s blood on her white coat. “I don’t know. He,” she tilted her chin towards the cell, “suddenly attacked them.”

Marcus shook his head, biting back the growl that threatened to escape him at his annoyance. “That’s ridiculous. He’s never been violent before. What did they do to provoke him? And what were they doing in there in the first place?” He snapped.

The movement of his associate’s hand suddenly became uneasy and his eyes narrowed as she reached up to straighten her glasses. “We decided to resume our testing of the older velassi while we waited on the other. No use letting the costs build up while we do nothing but wait, right?”

He nodded sharply. “Go on.”

“Everything was going fine until one of the guards,” Again she tilted her chin towards the cell and the bodies within, “walked over towards the other. That’s when the older one attacked him. After he took the first guard down he went after the other two.”

Marcus shook his head. “Why was he bothering the pregnant one in the first place? I told you all to leave him alone until he shows signs of giving birth!”

Dr. Courtney shrugged. “The only one who knows no longer has a means of telling us.”

He tapped his fingers on the desk, watching the two nonhumans with a practiced eye. He’d studied hundred of animals in his quest to understand behavior and he recognized the protective stance of the blond man. “Well, it seems some good has come of this disaster,” he murmured, earning a surprised glance from the doctor, “It appears he has taken it upon himself to protect the pregnant one. Perhaps we won’t have as much trouble bringing them together as we thought.”

The woman nodded, her face turning pensive. “Do you think they will raise the child together?”

Marcus frowned, considering her words. “I doubt it. He will know the child isn’t his. Besides, I don’t think I want to take that chance. He’s obviously made the decision to claim the pregnant one . . . I don’t want him to change his mind.”

He stopped his tapping and stood up straight, tugging at his coat. “Call our engineers. I want that cell redone as two. When the child is born we’ll remove it and start the violet haired one on the fertility drugs.”

“Is that wise? We don’t know what needs the child will have.” Courtney protested.

Marcus shrugged. “If it’s a problem we can always reunite father and son for a short time. I won’t sacrifice the chance of creating a family unit between those two because of the child. Besides, it’s probably safer for the child this way. Our older specimen might kill it. Many male animals will do that to force their new mates to focus only on their offspring.”

Reluctantly the doctor nodded. Tapping his knuckles twice against the desk Marcus turned. “No one disturbs them until its time for the child to be born.”

“What about the bodies?” A man he hadn’t seen standing by Dr. Courtney asked.

Marcus shrugged. “Leave them.”

A look of horror crossed the younger man’s face and Marcus sighed. “It’s too dangerous to retrieve them now, unless you would like to risk your neck to get them?”

The man glanced back and visibly shuddered.

With a grim smile Marcus touched the pad on the door and stepped out into chaos.

Marcus blinked stupidly at the bodies in the hallway. It struck him that they looked much the same as those in the cell before movement caught his eye. He shrank back as a man came towards him, his bloody smile just barely visible under the long black hair that hung in his face. A hand reached for him and he stumbled back, screaming. Time resumed its normal rate and the man was upon him. Pain dulled his senses as the creature rode him to the floor, claws tearing into his chest as they both fell back.

His back hit the ground hard enough to drive the air from his lungs and he heard screams echoing his. He caught a glimpse of fangs as the black haired vampire leapt forward. Marcus gasped for breath, the sound of gunshots and human voices echoing around him. He felt cold seeping through his veins and absently he realized he needed to stop the bleeding.

A shadow fell over him and he stared up in confusion, for a minute thinking that the older velassi had somehow been freed before his eyes traced out slight differences in their faces. Golden eyes, the same impossibly bright color as the long hair that framed the man’s face stared down at him.

“Help . . . me.” Marcus whispered, reaching up.

The man cocked his head. “Did you touch him?” He asked, his voice thick with an old world accent.

Marcus frowned, his hand faltering as his strength waned.

The golden haired man crouched over him. “My mate. Did you touch him?”

Marcus’s eyes widened in surprise, his mouth opening to exclaim but his words were stolen as the man tore out his throat.

Sneering Cain stood, turning his attention to the carnage his father was causing. His sneer turned to a smirk as he recalled the woman who had led them to this place’s plea that they simply retrieve his mate without unnecessary killing. His eyes focused on the cell before him, not truly seeing it as his mind turned feral and he felt the rage wash over him. Stupid human. They all had to die, everyone who was responsible for this. Both their kind’s edict that none know of them and his own anger demanded it.

Stepping over the body beneath him he stalked towards the cell. His attention was focused entirely on the door before him and he struck out at it. The bones in his arm cracked and he stumbled back, hissing in surprise as the glass stood firm under the impact. There was a whimper from behind him and he whirled, snatching the human from his hiding place and dragging him forward.

“You will open this, now!” He snarled.

The human trembled in his arms and he had a brief moment of recognition, as though he had seen him before. He frowned but could not recall when their paths had crossed before. A sharp scream followed by his father’s dark laughter brought him back to himself and he shook the human sharply, making his head snap back and forth.

“The door!” He shouted.

The human glanced at one of the consoles and he shoved him towards it, stalking after him to make sure he didn’t try to flee. Shaking fingers punched at the glowing buttons and behind him he heard a hiss. He whirled towards the open door and, silencing the sobbing creature behind him with his claws, moved up the stairs and into the cell.

“Shido?” He called, turning towards where he had seen the cell’s occupant.

Something slammed into him, driving him back against the glass. He snarled as claws racked at his chest and dipped his head, tearing into his opponent’s vulnerable shoulder. The other ignored the attack and he struggled, trying to force some distance between him and his attacker.

“Adrian!” He shouted, his cry for help turning into a snarl of pain as fangs pierced his arm.

He grunted as his attacker was driven had against him by some other force, losing his footing as the other was flung off of him. He held his side as he forced himself back onto his feet. There was a naked man between him and the other and it took him a moment to recognize the fall of violet hair. He snatched his mate’s arm, dragging him back behind him. Shido twisted, trying to free his arm but Cain ignored him, focusing his attention instead on the other who had managed to get his feet under him and was now crouched, ready to attack.

Golden eyes met burgundy and he reeled back in surprise.

“Alexandru?”

He blinked as Shido was forced against him. His father practically flew between them and flung himself at the other, catching his face between his hands.

“How . . ?” His question was cut off by an indignant howl from their left.

 Shido pulled himself free and retreated to the corner, lifting something out of the blankets. Cain watched in silence as his mate hushed the small child in his arms. A strange combination of emotions swirled through him and he caught his breath, creeping forward.

His mate looked up and smiled, clutching the child to his chest. The happiness in his eyes suddenly turned to horror and Cain whirled in time to catch the door that threatened to slide close on them. Gritting his teeth against the force the mechanics exerted he turned to his family.

“Go!” He snapped.

Adrian was the first to respond, catching his sire by the wrist and dragging the larger man behind him. Shido was close behind. With a growl of anger he released the door, wincing as it caught his hair. New screams informed him that whoever had escaped his father’s earlier carnage was now dead. His son started howling despite Shido’s efforts to quiet him.

Brushing past his mate Cain joined his father in the destruction of the equipment.

“I need to start the fire to make sure everything is destroyed.” Adrian growled at him.

Nodding his understanding he gestured to his mate to follow him. Shido turned, urging Alexandru to come as well and he frowned at the almost mechanical aspect of his sire’s movements. There was no time to wonder at it for Adrian was suddenly there, forcing him forward. Gathering mate and sire he lead them through the maze of rooms to the outside and together they watched as flames caught and began to spread through the building.

When Adrian finally emerged they turned their backs on the dying remains of the compound and slipped away in the darkness.