The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 162

As we entered the house, Wendell met us in the entry. She smiled and went to Echo, relieving her of the cooler and the dishes that resided within.

"Everyone is either in bed or in the office. We should probably consider just taking the doors off the library." Wendell told us.

"Who was it this time?" Grayson snorted.

"Finn and Amelia. It seems that he finally got through to her. They knocked down some shelves. Lisa and I got them set to rights. Those two are in Amelia's room now." She answered with a giggle. "Who knew libraries were such aphrodisiacs?" I muttered.

"It's just silly that every couple ends up doing things in there." Echo smiled. "We should make 'no hanky-panky' signs for it. Though, I don't know that it would stop them."

"I'll take care of these dishes. Is there anything else you need?" Wendell asked.

"No, thank you." I responded and tugged Echo gently to the stairs.

We needed to get her marked so we could all be stronger. I could feel her excitement. Echo had been wanting us to mark her for nearly a month.

It was hard not giving in to her every time she asked for it. The way she pouted and pled was adorable. I was weakened whenever she turned her watery eyes on me. I have no idea how I was able to resist for so long.

Grayson followed us upstairs and into Echo's room. He locked the door behind us and joined us where I was dancing Echo around the room. I spun Echo around to turn to Grayson.

He took her in his arms and pulled her close to him. I pulled her hair back and began licking over the crook of her neck. I paid attention tonight and saw where most of the women were marked. "What are you doing?" Grayson asked as I switched sides.

"Making sure neither of our marks harms her. I know the pain of marking, for wolves, is turned to pleasure, but I don't know that she's wolf enough for that. I'm sure you wouldn't want it to hurt her."

"Good plan. The last thing I want is for her to be hurt or scared. See how our Victor thinks ahead, angel." He murmured.

"He's always taking care of me." Echo giggled.

"I take care of you, angel." Grayson pouted.

"We should mark her before the numbing wears off. She wasn't saying that you didn't take care of her, just that it's been my job since we first met." I replied.

Who would have thought that the frightened little girl I met nearly two months ago would become the most important person in my life? She was playful, hardworking, kind, and cool. Echo embodies some aspect of all the species that made her. My pride in her couldn't be any bigger. Echo was perfection. I couldn't wait to show her the whole world.

"Are you ready, princess?" I asked.

"I'm so ready, Victor. I've been ready for ages." She sighed.

"Lean your head back and lower your arms. Give us the room to claim you." I whispered.

"At the same time?" Echo asked.

"We don't want to risk one mark overpowering the other. We don't know what will happen if one of us marks you before the other. No one has ever had two mates at the same time, princess." I explained. "O-okay." She replied with a shiver and relaxed in our arms.

Echo leaned her head back onto my shoulder. Her arms dropped from Grayson's shoulders to his forearms. She trusted us so fully. I loved her even more than I thought I did before.

It had been so long since someone trusted me as fully as Echo did. I relished the feeling of her trusting love. Slowly, I lowered my lips to her neck.

Grayson mimicked my movement. We were in perfect sync as we both began kissing her sweet neck. I could smell her blood pumping below the skin.

Now that Echo was healthy, we knew she'd be a strong vampire when she turned. At least as strong as me. Though, Marius suspected she would be as strong as a vampire more than twice my age.

Since I'd started off with drinking her blood separate from her, Marius wasn't worried about me losing control and turning her. He had given his blessing for the marking a few days ago. I was elated.

I extended my fangs and reached over to Grayson's wrist. I gave him a squeeze and we struck at the same time. Echo's blood flowed over my tongue.

After drinking a little to seal the mark, I licked the puncture wounds and moved back. I wanted to see my mark on her beautiful skin. It took a moment for me to register what I was seeing.

My mark was gone. I could feel my connection to Echo strengthen as if it were there, but there was no puncture scar. It didn't make sense.

"Woah. That's weird." Grayson said. "Victor, look at this."

I let Echo go and went to stand in front of her. Where Grayson had bitten there was a symbol. It was almost like a tattoo, but dark red.

A crescent moon being pierced by a fang and surrounded by a solid circle, like a halo around the moon. I traced my fingers over it and Echo shivered again. I had never seen anything like it.

Looking over to Grayson, I saw the edges of a similar mark coming from his collar. I reached over and pulled his shirt aside. It was the exact same symbol.

"Grayson, do I have that mark as well?" I asked pulling my collar over.

"Yeah. I'm guessing I do, too." He responded.

"What does it mean?" Echo asked.

"I think we were actually all meant to be together, princess. This symbol was created for us. So our bond would be more apparent." I told her.

"Your scent has changed. You remember when we were pushing back the curse? It smells like that." Grayson said.

"I can smell it now. I was so shocked, I wasn't paying attention. A new mark, a new scent. Emmalyn said there were two powerful triads in the house. I wonder if this means something else." I pondered. "I'm going to get Preston. Maybe he'll know." I rushed out of the room and down the hall. I hoped he wasn't already sleeping. I needed answers.

Normally, marks were scarred bites. For wolves, it was the canine patterns of their teeth that marked their mate as theirs. For vampires, it was an indication of having given ourselves to our Solus Amor or our chosen spouse.

Quickly, I knocked on Preston's door. He called out for me to wait a moment. After a little while, he answered the door. He was dressed for bed.

"How can I help you, Victor?" Preston asked.

"We marked Echo tonight and something strange happened. Can you come look?" I requested.

"Is Echo okay?" He questioned in a worried tone.

"She was when I left her. We need you to come look at something." I urged.

He nodded and followed me down the hall. When we arrived at the room, Echo and Grayson turned to us. I noted, again, what a striking couple they were. "What's going on? What did you want me to look at?"

Echo moved to face him and the mark was clearly visible. He paused before getting closer and looking it over. Grayson pulled aside his collar to show his.

Preston turned to me and I tugged my collar so he could see my mark. He looked stunned. Preston turned to examine Grayson's mark more closely. After a thorough examination of all three of us, he shook his head.

"I've never seen a mark like that. The crescent moon has long been a symbol of werewolves. The fang looks like a vampire's. If I were to guess, the circle is a protection circle, the kind witches draw before doing spellwork." Preston murmured as he looked over Echo's mark once more.

"Is there anything you might know about it?" Grayson asked.

"Only that it's a blood mark. Something that hasn't been seen in witches in centuries. It was one of the ways hunters would identify us. We requested that the goddess remove them to keep us safe. Occasionally, children are born with one, but it fades as they grow older." He said. "This may not fade, though. I suppose this place is much safer than the rest of the country. What with Queen Bellamy's hunter squads."

"What did the blood marks do?" Echo asked.

"They would tell us what affinity children had. That's why yours is so strange. No one has an affinity for vampires and werewolves. I would almost call this a supernatural affinity. You would be the first witch ever to have one. Which would make Victor and Gray your familiars. Animal affinity witches often have one." Preston explained.

"Familiars, as in servants?" I asked.

"No, nothing like that. They're usually close friends with the witch, being able to understand him or her and enjoying spending time with the witch. They talk to the witch and share information. I think this is more like an expansion of a marriage mark, mixed with a blood mark. Nothing to worry about. You can probably play it off as a matching tattoo you got with Gray if anyone outside the house questions it, Echo." He said.

I nodded. That made sense. We were something the world had never seen. A Master vampire, an alpha blood wolf, and a blend of pretty much every supernatural in a mate bond.

"I'm heading back to bed, unless you need something else." Preston smiled.

"Thank you for coming. I appreciate your patience." I replied.

"No problem. See you all in the morning." He said and left the room.

I locked the door and crossed the room to Echo and Grayson. Echo had a big smile on her face. I remembered how excited she was to finally be marked.

Echo reached up to caress my face. Grayson kissed the fingertips of her other hand. I followed suit. She was my precious mate and he was my dear friend. We would be together now for all of eternity.

-

[Melissa]

-

I paced a little. Alex and Dad had left hours ago to go scout the place where Gray's truck was parked. I hoped they were alright.

On Thursday, we went to the restaurant where he worked with one objective in mind. Finding the wolf pack. I tried to get him to tell me where Echo lived so I could get her and Sean too.

My stomach twisted. I couldn't believe I came on to a f*****g witch. All these werewolves and witches needed to die for how they embarrassed me.

When Sean's father told me he was staying with his cousin, Echo, I realized what that meant. I bet they were laughing at me. It occurred to me that Rosario was a little too tall to not be something like a werewolf. I'd kill her too.

We'd wipe out the whole pack then go after the coven. After we got rid of them, we would start hunting the vampires. My dad said that there were two hunters in the area a couple months ago who were after vampires, but they disappeared.

They didn't have what we had, though. Aside from the four of us, Alex had contacted another fifteen or sixteen other hunters he knew. Mom and Dad contacted a few of their friends, too.

"Stop that, Melissa. You're making me nervous." Mom said as she finished sharpening a silver sword.

Mom was fond of swords when she ran out of bullets. Dad talked about how much he loved watching her work when they were younger. It was actually making them a little friskier around the house.

"I'm just worried. What if the wolves find them?" I asked.

"You saw the areal pictures of where that wolf parked his truck. There's no way that's the pack lands. He lives off the pack lands, which makes him an easier target. Once we get him, we can torture him until he reveals where the rest of the beasts are." Mom told me. "How does he afford to live in a place like that? I mean, it's obvious that he's not poor, but he never seemed to have the sort of money for a place like that, and there's no way that tips could pay for it." I sighed as I sat next to her.

"The only answer is that it belongs to someone else. The coven leader, the Master of the territory, another vampire. Maybe his mate is rich." She shrugged.

"I'm pretty sure that Echo is his mate. They were all over each other in school. Almost as bad as Harmony and Cam. I even saw Gray take Echo to the backstage area where some kids went to get it on at school." I said.

"Then she is probably the coven leader's daughter. They can be rich from having the other witches pay them a certain amount of their income. Don't worry. Your dad and Alex will come home soon and we'll have the layout figured." Mom smiled.

As if on cue, the front door opened. I jumped up and ran over, hugging my dad and brother when they came in. I was so happy they made it home safely.

Dad and Alex came into the living room. They looked pretty happy. I sat next to Mom again, as she put her sword on the coffee table.

"We were right, that wasn't the pack land. There are two werewolf guards walking the perimeter. Just after the sun went down, we saw the wolf and the witch get into a car with another man. I don't know what he is, but he moved too fluidly to be human. I think he's a vampire." Dad said.

"Do you think it's the Master?" I asked.

"Probably just a chauffeur. He held the door open for the girl. I think she's more important than just the servant of the Master. She sat in the back of the car while the men were both in the front." Alex told us.

"Melissa was just saying that the witch and the wolf act like mates. That doesn't make any sense. Do you know where they were taking her?" Mom asked.

"I think that may be a ruse. There's an old story around here about the first Master of the territory and a witch who was his mate. The coven leader put a stop to that. Can you imagine vampire/witch hybrids?" Dad sneered.

That was disgusting. It was bad enough that they were monsters, they should really keep it in their own species. It all made sense, though. Everyone acted like she was special. If she's the Master's whore, then that would make sense. "Then Gray's her bodyguard?"

"It seems that he has wolf servants all over. I think that it's safe to assume that he is assigned to watch over the witch in public. What better cover than pretending to be her boyfriend?"

"But no one was watching when they were in the workroom. I don't understand."

"She's cheating on the vampire with the werewolf. Everyone knows how witches can be. They're all sluts, dancing naked in the moonlight, always hugging and touching others." Alex replied with disgust. "What's the plan?" I asked.

"We get our forces together and keep an eye on the property. I want a good idea of how many people are in there and what species they are. It seems to be mostly vampires, werewolves, and witches, from what we could see. I want to know what the exact numbers are for each. We saw a big vampire with a female something. We could see his eyes glowing through the window." Dad reported.

We worked more on our plan and the information on the hunters who were coming to join us. Dad had me and Alex work on cleaning the cell in the basement for Gray, or whatever werewolf we got ahold of. Soon, we'd wipe out the monsters from our home.