The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 143

We had few breaks and worked late into the night. Rosario and Sean had gone to Sean's parents' home for his game night. Echo had insisted that it would be best, because we would need Sean's father and they had just lost a family member. Echo made sure everyone ate and wandered off without having more than a couple bites of her dinner. I went to search for her. I found her in the basement sitting near the door to the little feeding hole. She had the door open and was listening to Victor raging about people stealing his territory and his mate. Echo wasn't crying, like I expected her to be. Instead, she looked dazed.

"Echo. Are you alright?" I asked.

"ECHO! WHERE'S MY ECHO!" Victor roared.

"I'm right here, my love. Remember? You put me in here so I would be safe while you work. That's just the companion you put in with me. Remember, Victor? You didn't want me to be lonely, so you got me a friend." Echo said softly. "The babies are safe. You are safe. I need papers. I need to control my territory. I need to make my territory safe so you can come be with me. You are mine." He started mumbling.

"Talia, would you get Victor some papers? He needs to run his territory." She asked in a choked voice.

I nodded and went to his office. There was a file of useless information. Profiles of vampires who were no longer in the territory. It would be enough to occupy him. Quickly, I rushed back to the basement and handed the file to Echo. She slipped it in the feeding hole. Victor grabbed her hand. I could hear him kissing her hand. My body tensed. I didn't want him to hurt her, but there was nothing I could do. I just had to trust that Victor wouldn't hurt her.

"Have you eaten, Amor? Are the babies making you sick?" He asked.

He thought she was pregnant. I remembered her saying that last night. My poor Victor. This curse was making him an idiot and now it had found his true heart's desire.

As much as he loved power, he wanted people to care for and he wanted a family. That was why Echo was such a perfect match for him as his Solus Amor. She would be able to give him that.

"I ate as much as I could, Victor. I'm not sick. I want you to focus on your papers and get your territory in order for me and the babies, okay? I'm going to go rest. Work hard for me. I love you." Echo whispered and pulled her hand back.

I saw Victor's hand pick up the file and Echo closed the little door. There was a hollow look in her eyes as she walked past me. She seemed so strong earlier, now she was showing just how affected she was.

"I hate lying to him." She whispered on the stairs. "I'm glad he's safe. The curse can't take him from me if he's locked up. He's safe."

Following her, I nodded. I knew she couldn't see me, but speaking seemed like I would be violating her privacy somehow.

By the time we reached the top of the stairs, Echo had rebuilt herself. She turned at smiled. I closed the door behind me and smiled back.

"Let's get back to work. We need to figure out what kind of spell Fenton could have cast on Grigori and how to break it. Everything will be fine. Don't worry about Victor. He's safe." Echo said and turned back to the office.

We worked for a few more hours, before Echo ordered some blood tea. I realized that she had only eaten the blood food earlier. It was like she was becoming more vampiristic.

We were reading through magic books while Marius was on the computer. Echo would have to go help him from time to time. He was searching through as much information as he could online about domestic cats.

Valor started drifting around one in the morning and Echo sent him to bed, along with Preston. Echo drank most of the tea and didn't seem to be feeling tired, as she went to make more once we ran out. While she was gone, I looked up at Marius. "Are you worried about Echo?"

"No. She's doing just fine. We'll get the answers we need before the curse starts affecting her. I'm proud of her. This is the woman I knew was under that soft exterior." He grinned.

"You don't mind how she's changed? Did you know I saw her in the basement listening to Victor raging? She wasn't crying, she was just staring into space. By the time she made it back upstairs, she was like a completely different person." I told him. "Talia, there is no reason to worry about Echo. She has been the Master of the territory for only a day. The curse won't turn on her for at least a few weeks. Right now, we need to focus on Victor." Marius said.

The cat sat on his cushion and chattered. I wished we had someone who understood him in the room. He looked happy with himself as he turned in a few circles and curled in a ball to sleep.

A few more hours passed, when Echo's alarm went off. She sighed and stretched. I looked at the clock. It was five in the morning.

"You aren't considering training after not sleeping all night." I said.

"Of course. I'll take a nap after training. There are a lot more books to go over. I'll only have afternoons next week, since I need to get my testing done. I have time to sleep in on Monday because I don't have a first period class. Gray can drive me to school. That means I can go to bed after training and sleep for about four hours. That's all I need." Echo explained.

"Go dress for training, Echo. I'll meet you out there." Marius told her and shooed her away.

"Marius. She's going overboard. It's one thing for a vampire to stay up this long, she's still human."

"She's just serious about saving your childe, Talia. I'm going to go train with her. It will give me a chance to see how much work she needs." He smiled as he headed out the door.

Echo may have been taking healing Victor more seriously, but it didn't stop me from worrying. She needed to stay healthy in order for her to remain useful in this endeavor. I would talk to her about it later.

Finn and I worked on the books until Lisa came to get us for breakfast. She put some fish into the cage for the cat. He meowed at her and ate.

In the dining room, Marius was seated next to Echo on one side and Gray was on her other. It made sense. Her sire should be seated in a place of honor. I sat beside him.

Rosario came in, rubbing his eyes and alone. I knew Sean was going to be staying with his parents, but it was strange to see them apart. They were like Dillon and Jean-Claude. Always together.

Soon, the table was surrounded. The wolves brought out our meal and retreated to the kitchen to have their own. Echo ate a lot more than she had at dinner. I was relieved to see her having a full meal. "Did you make much progress last night?" Preston asked.

"I finished one of the books, but there are a few more. Marius, make sure to thank Lila for me. All these books came from her, right?" Echo smiled.

"Of course. She is only too happy to help resolve this. I will give her an update later and pass on your thanks." Marius responded.

"Echo, did you stay up all night?" Harmony asked.

"Yes, but I'm going to take a nap after breakfast. Don't worry. I'm used to getting by on very little sleep. I'll be fine." Echo told her. "I need to get this curse taken care of so everyone will be safe." "We can work on reading some while you're napping. We can work on it all day. I want you to go to bed at a decent hour tonight. You know Victor wants you to pass your tests." Harmony requested.

"I will. Gray, I'd like you to sleep with me tonight. If you're done being mad at me, that is." Echo said, looking at him from the corner of her eye.

"I'm not mad at you, Echo. I'm mad at your behavior. It's not right. This isn't you." He insisted.

"I'm sorry, Gray. This really is me. I need to keep everyone safe. I need to save Victor. If I could do that by being nice, I would. Fenton told us that he would never reveal what he did. He's already been expecting t*****e. He knows he could just tell us everything and we would be more than happy to care for him and treat him nicely. He gains nothing by being this stubborn. He just wants people to suffer." Echo explained.

"Then, I can't sleep with you. Not unless you promise not to hurt him." Gray said.

Gray had been like this about sacrificing someone to find Echo as well. He was really a moral person with hard lines of ethics. Not something I was used to. Vampires tend to have more flexible moral standards. Echo was thinking like a vampire. She wasn't doing anything unexpected, just abnormal.

Echo just nodded and returned to her meal. I could imagine that hurt her, but Echo acted as if she was fully expecting it. Marius, on the other hand, scowled at Gray.

When the meal was over, Echo went upstairs to shower and sleep. She promised everyone she would be down by noon. I decided I would stay up as long as Marius was there. I didn't want him hurting Gray over this rejection.

Everyone, with the exception of Jean-Claude and Samuel, went to the office after the meal. Some sat on chairs, others on the couch, some on the floor or perched on the arms of the couch. I handed out magic books and everyone started reading, except Marius, who was on the computer and occasionally looked up to glare at Gray.

The cat chattered, chirruped, meowed, and hissed, but no one acknowledged it. I wondered what he was saying. It was probably not anything good. I could imagine he was taunting the people who could understand him.

To their credit, no one said anything or gave any outward appearance of being upset. I could see Harmony taking soothing breaths from time to time, but, otherwise, she just kept on reading. I certainly wasn't prepared for the person breaking to be Marius. "Why are you being so unreasonable with my daughter, wolf?" He snarled.

Cam looked startled. Harmony patted his hand.

"Not you, honey. Read your book."

Fenton meowed and hissed. Marius glared at him and hissed back. His fangs were fully extended, he was angry.

"I'm not being unreasonable. I told her what I wanted. She refused. She told me what she wanted and I refused. There's no middle ground here. Echo will hate herself at the end of this if she lets him get tortured. She's not thinking straight because Victor is in danger." Gray insisted.

"She's thinking more clearly than anyone I've ever known. My daughter doesn't balk at torture of bad people. Where, precisely, do you think Daniel Darknight is? He's in my dungeons being tortured. At any point, Echo could have asked me to stop torturing him. She gets updates from me on if he's said anything useful, but doesn't care that he's being tortured. You didn't seem to be too upset about him."

"What vampires do to other vampires is none of my business. That cat isn't a vampire! He hasn't caused the same destruction Daniel did!" Gray exclaimed.

"By the very nature of what he did, that creature did more harm than Daniel did. Consider, what would have happened if Fenton hadn't forced Grace to go East to marry? She would have mated with Grigori. She probably would have given birth to dhampyrs of her own. Daniel would have been on the other side of the country and would never have claimed the children for his own. They would have been protected by their sire and their grandsire. I can tell you, no vampire wants to engage the High Council. The Prince would have been their grandsire. This triad wouldn't have existed, but another would have likely occurred much sooner. That witch is the cause of all the death and destruction wreaked here and in the state where my children were born. And they are my children, cat. I may not understand your language, but I understood your tone." Marius growled.

The cat growled back and hissed.

"He is our father. You were a sperm donating kidnapper, Fenton. I agree with Echo. T*****e him, kill him, rid the world of his evil." Harmony huffed.

"Sorry, Gray. You're on the losing side of this fight. I'm with my sisters. You may think that's a cute little kitty, but he's a vile and evil creature. You can't understand the shit he's saying. Echo will never forgive herself if she lets him win. She will totally forgive herself if she lets him get tortured. She was tortured for years and never did anything wrong. That was also his fault. If Daniel hadn't taken us, then the Gales would have never stolen us from him. Echo would never have been tortured like she was. This is really nothing to us." Valor told him.

"Really? All of you are okay with this? Preston? Dillon? Rosario? What about you, Cam, you can't be okay with this." Gray argued.

"My entire family was wiped out by Daniel Darknight. That cat forced my grandmother to leave her home and a man who could protect her. Sure, I may not exist if that hadn't happened, but she deserved happiness and she deserved safety. Most of all, she deserved to die from something other than a selfish vampire's attack." Preston scowled.

Fenton chattered. He moved close to the bars of the cage and chirruped. I was starting to understand his tones. He was asking questions. He was trying to get their attention. I turned to him.

"The entire coven was wiped out. That means your daughter and both of your other sons were killed along with any other descendants who were living in the coven at the time. This was your fault. You sent them somewhere unsafe and without protection. Tell us how to end this curse and you can be cared for by these children rather than hated by them." I said.

He looked away, then turned back to his bed and curled up again. At least he was quiet now.

"It's not my circus and not my monkeys." Dillon snorted. "I'm just here to train Echo."

"My people were left unprotected because of him. I won't shed a tear. Maybe when they're done, they can go collect my father for a little medicine of his own." Rosario scoffed.

I planned to. Once this was over, I was going to end the life of that fae. He betrayed his people, he harmed his child, and he was a selfish ruler.

"Cam? Come on. You can't agree with this." Gray pled.

"Sorry, bro. He's a bad kitty. Harmony told me some of the shit he was talking. I'm not on board with that little f**k getting away with anything. You've always been softer than me that way. You've always been the softest one in the group, man." Cam shrugged. Gray closed his book, set it on the coffee table, and left the room. I felt for the boy. It can be hard being the most moral person in a room. This was going to be a very difficult time for him. I hoped he could learn to deal with what was to come.