The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 146

I appeared in an office that was very nicely decorated. There was a stately desk with two leather armchairs in front of it. Behind the leather office chair were some wood paneled filing cabinets.

The room was done in rich cherry tones with lighter pink and forest green accents. It felt very inviting. Silence was standing nearby, looking at me curiously.

She was regal in her nice suit. She looked like a very serious business woman, just a step down in elegance from what she looked like at the ball. Her hair was done up in a severe bun and she was wearing just a light amount of makeup. "Mistress Nightshade." She said with a slight bow.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Silence. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice."

"Please, have a seat. I'll have Drew bring some refreshments. Is there anything you'd like?" Silence asked.

"Blood tea, please." I smiled.

"I didn't realize you were drinking blood still. I thought you had gone back to human food." She replied.

"I have blood foods added to my menu. It helped me heal a lot and aided my recovery from malnourishment. Thank you, again for helping Victor save me."

"No problem at all. It made me realize how complacent I had become in my position. As a lieutenant for the territory, I am finding my stride with the added work and starting to realize there was just not enough to keep me occupied before." Silence said. She smiled tightly. I knew this had to be uncomfortable for her. Talking to humans about vampire business wasn't something vampires did.

"I didn't know if you were aware, but Talia named me Master of the territory recently. That's part of the reason I had Victor's work split between you and Talon. I'm not as adept at knowing what is right and healthy for vampires. I want to keep the territory in good shape for Victor's return." I told her.

"So he really has been taken by the curse?"

"Yes. But this should stay between us and Talon. I don't want any revolt from the other vampires if they found out a dhampyr was in charge of the territory." I replied.

The door to the office opened and Drew came in with a tea service. He settled it carefully and poured tea for both of us. I added sugar and cream to mine and sipped it. O positive.

I could see why Victor liked negative types better. They didn't have that thicker flavor. They were just smoother.

"Is there anything else I can get for you, Mistress?" Drew asked.

"No. Go work on cleaning up. We have guests coming this evening." She said, shooing him away.

We sipped our tea for a little longer. This room was more peaceful than my office. There was no cat in the corner being obnoxious. No shuffling of paper and sighing. No feeling of barely contained urgency. "How is the territory doing?" I asked.

"All vampires seem content. The daytime servant agency has a building not far from here. They're figuring out the best way to vet humans before sending them out to vampires in need." Silence answered. "Good. I'm glad it's coming together." I smiled.

"Why are you here, Mistress Nightshade? What can I do for you? I can't imagine you came here just to chat about the territory. You gave me and Talon the work of caring for the vampires because you knew you weren't fit for it. You can't be second guessing yourself." She sighed. "I could have told you all this over the phone."

"I'm not. I just wanted an update before I moved on to what I'm really here for. You do blood draws here, correct?" I asked.

"Yes." Silence said hesitantly.

"I want my blood drawn. I need to take the blood back for Victor. I figured this was the safest way to get him my blood." I told her.

"Oh. Yes, Drew can draw your blood and give you the bags. We will assist Master Nightshade in any way we can and would be more than happy to help in this manner. As much as I like you, and goodness knows Drew is half in love with you, I would rather have an elder vampire running this territory than a dhampyr who isn't even old enough to drink." She replied.

I understood that. Vampires respected age. There were no vampires my age and my lack of experience wouldn't lend to any sort of confidence.

"Frankly, I was thrilled when he announced that he had been named Master of the territory. His declaration of you as his Solus Amor at the ball turned heads. No one has found a Solus Amor here in a century. Everyone was hopeful this would ring in a new era for the place." Silence said.

"With luck, we'll have this curse broken sooner rather than later and people will find their mates. We've already broken a portion of it and we have an idea how to fix other parts. We're just waiting on everything we need for it." I confided.

"And we'll be able to leave this place? Not that I want to quit my position, I would just like to go visit my sire. I haven't seen him since fifty years before I moved here. I've warned him away from this territory, because I didn't know how quickly the curse would trap us. I tried to leave a decade after I moved here and I nearly drained Drew after we crossed the state lines into Nevada." She told me.

"I promise. I will break this curse and you will all be free to come and go as you please." I said.

"I'll hold you to that, Mistress. Drew is waiting for you in the hallway. He will take you to our blood drawing room. It takes about twenty to thirty minutes and he'll want you to have a snack and rest before you leave." Silence replied, standing behind her desk. I set the tea cup down and stood as well. She swept her arm toward the door and I went out into the hall. Drew was standing there, as she said he would be, and guided me to a room in the back with a small bed with an adjustable base.

He worked quietly and diligently. It was like an entirely different side of Drew. I liked it a lot more than I thought I should. Drew was fun, but I liked knowing he could get to business too.

Soon, I was sitting in the bed with a needle in my arm, watching my blood flow into the thick blood bag at the foot of the bed. I was relieved that it was so easy to care for Victor while he was safely tucked away. I knew he would be grateful. Once he realized I kept him safe, Victor would be so happy with me.

-

[Gray]

-

I turned in time to see Echo disappear. She didn't even hesitate. All she ever talked about anymore was the curse and Victor.

Normally, I didn't care. I was confident in our relationship and her dedication to me. But, when she didn't tell Fenton I was her mate it pissed me off. Echo hadn't denied our relationship since before she was taken.

After a week of feeling like she loved Victor more than me, I had realized that her love for each of us was equal, but different. It felt like I was a child in our relationship. I was a lot more impulsive than Victor.

He was trying to seduce her at the same time I was, but Val focused on me. Sean and Harmony had a quiet word with me as well. No one told Victor to back off.

I felt guilty about being mad at him when he was locked up in the cells, but last night, I kissed Echo when I woke up before she did and she called me Victor. He was always on her mind and she treated me like an idealistic boy. She didn't care about what I had to say. Everyone was against me because I didn't want them to t*****e the cat. I didn't care that he was actually an a*****e witch. No one deserved to be tortured, especially not someone so much weaker than everyone else.

I paused at the door to the office when I heard someone saying my name. Where they talking about me again? About how weak and whiney I was, obviously.

"I thought wolves were supposed to be tougher than that." Finn scoffed.

"He's a pack wolf. They have more conservative ideas than rogues do. Bellamy agrees with the torture. She says if the cat won't talk, we need to make him." Talia said. Fenton made some sounds.

"It's not getting him to talk. It's getting him to talk about the things we actually want to hear. Not his hierarchy of women in this house who look good enough to be in his bed, if he were human. Not his opinions on homosexuals, other supernaturals, and people of color. And certainly not his insistence that we will fail at our endeavor." Preston muttered.

There was some shuffling. I leaned against the wall. I wanted to hear what people were saying behind my back. It sounded a lot like the things they said to my face. I couldn't help it if I was more moral than everyone else here.

"He was just like this when we found out Lila's spell would require a sacrifice." Talia chuckled. "Just as against the whole situation, even if it meant losing Echo, he didn't want to sacrifice another living being."

That made my ears perk up. I didn't remember them saying anything about a sacrifice. Only that Lila could take care of getting the spell cast.

"What do you mean, even if it meant losing Echo?" Preston asked. "Sacrifice is never the only option, for dark witches it's just the easiest. What happened?"

"The vampire who killed your family kidnapped Echo. He had a dark witch make a spell to help hide him while he had Echo. He planned to get all of the triplets, but we were closing in and he decided to run. If we hadn't found her when we did, Echo would have been half way to the east coast before we realized where they were taking her. Once she was in Daniel's territory, it would have been a lot harder to claim her. He would have worked to impregnate her, even using fertility spells. If she was with his child, Victor's claim that she was stolen would have had less impact. Echo would never leave a child to be raised by vampires after what she went through, she would have stayed with Daniel." Talia explained.

My stomach clenched. She was right. Echo would never leave an innocent child to suffer what she did. She would've wanted to ensure the baby was okay.

"How do you know that was his plan?" Preston asked.

"He's proven quite talkative while in Marius' care. My broodmate finds the most effective ways to get what he wants to know. Daniel pleads for death daily. Marius has sentenced him to two thousand years of torture. No one has heard of him giving such a sentence before. Not even Daniel's sire can get him to lessen it." Talia chuckled.

"I disapprove of using death magic, but I would hate to know that Echo was suffering like that. I will make an offering to the goddess for the soul of the man sacrificed." Preston murmured.

"Don't bother. He was a very bad man. Marius doesn't often take prisoners who don't deserve it." Talia answered.

"I'll still do it. As a light witch, I can't just stand by and not do anything for a life taken for magic." He replied.

I opened the door and glared at Talia. She didn't seem bothered. Talia looked at me with a bored expression.

"Does Echo know someone died for her? Why don't I remember any of this?" I demanded.

"Echo doesn't know, but I'm sure she would prefer it to the fate she would have had. You don't remember because I erased it from your memory. I can do it again if you like? You never have to know." Talia offered.

"What the hell makes you think I don't want to remember something like that? I stood by like an idiot while you sentenced a man to die. It's as bad as torturing Fenton." I growled.

The cat made some noises like a growling hiss. I didn't know who he was talking to, and I didn't really care. Talia had just erased my memory like it didn't even matter.

I turned to him and Rex growled through me. I knew my eyes had changed to Rex's wolf eyes and that my teeth were more pointed than normal. I was pissed off, Rex was pissed off. Neither one of us like being manipulated. Fenton arched his back and looked like one of those black cat Halloween decorations. At least he was taking this seriously. Maybe I should just give him a good scare.

When I took a step toward the cage, Talia moved to block me and Finn's hand came down on my shoulder. I snarled at them, but they didn't react. No one took me seriously.

"He knows you won't hurt him, Gray. You've already shown that you won't accept torture or murder. Do you honestly think he'll take you seriously? You have no credible threat, Gray. He's just winding you up." Talia said coolly. "Then why are you stopping me?" I hissed.

"Because we don't want to risk your wolf doing something if you let him out much more. Your human side may be sympathetic, but your wolf is an animal. There's a threat to his mate, he wants to remove it. You will regret what your wolf does if you let him loose around that little kitty." Finn answered.

'Let me loose. He might say something before I eat him! Rex insisted.

'No. We need him alive. 'Might' isn't good enough. We need more!

'You keep saying Victor is your friend. We love Echo. This bastard is keeping a secret that endangers both of them. Echo is the Master of this territory. The curse is coming for her. Every minute that we spend pussyfooting around, is a minute closer to losing her the way she lost Victor.'

He had a point. I was torn. I wanted to save Echo, but I didn't want it like this. Not with torture. If he were something more imposing than a cat, I might have felt differently. They were right, his form was what was making me like this.

I pushed Finn's hand off my shoulder and let out a huff. I didn't need to be part of this. I'd find some other way to help Echo. I turned and stormed past Finn. He let me go.

Fenton chittered in his cage. Something in the tone of it sent Rex into fits. He insisted we turn around and bite Fenton's head off. I looked to Preston. He was glaring at the cage.

"What did he say?" I asked in a low rumble.

"You don't need to know that, Gray. Go for a run. Let your wolf out outside. Calm down and come back with a cooler head." Preston replied.

I left the room and ran outside, stripping off my clothes. I needed a run anyway. I needed to clear my head and figure out my priorities. I needed to figure out where I fit in this house, in this relationship.