The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 54

Echo seemed to weigh nothing at all, as Grayson shifted her into my grasp. He appeared to be struggling with giving her up. I understood, she was his precious mate and had just marked him.

The reality of her marking Grayson set in. She was suffering severe blood loss. Nothing was seeming real to her. The craving for blood and their connection could have turned a feeding into a marking easily.

She would be upset when she woke up, no matter what. At least telling her that he fought to not mark her would help his case. Echo would probably be apologetic. At least, it would take the pressure off her. She wouldn't have to choose, her blood depleted brain had already done so.

Echo's arms came up and wrapped around my neck. I reveled in her touch. She was alive and would be for a long time. We turned toward the door. Grayson was leading the way.

"Victor." She murmured and started kissing my neck.

"Echo. Stop that." I told her, but she was beyond reason.

I felt her fangs slip into my skin. I froze. Vampires didn't feed on other vampires. I'd never experienced this feeling in my life. It was like a line of pure pleasure coursing throughout my whole body.

With a groan, I tried to pull her off, but Echo held tight, feeding on me. I could feel a bond with her forming. She was marking me as hers.

"Grayson, get Talia." I ordered.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"She marked me, too. We need someone she can't mark to carry her. Like you, I have the strong urge to mark her as well. This isn't the time."

"My Victor." Echo sighed as she cuddled back down into my arms.

The bond firmed and I tried to focus on anything but her sweet soft skin and swanlike neck. Her scent was entrancing. I wanted nothing more than to breathe it in as I punctured her neck with my own fangs and felt them sink into her, like I wanted to sink other parts of me into her.

"Victor. Why are you standing like that? Take her to Marius so he can get her home." Talia commanded.

"I can't. She marked me, Talia. I'm having a hard time controlling myself. She marked Grayson as well. Neither one of us can be close to her for much longer. We need to get ahold of ourselves." I explained.

"Give her to me. I'll take her to Marius. I'm already bonded to my Solus Amor and she can't bond with her own sire. We'll get her home. You boys take your time and cool off. Find out who's crying in the next cell." She said, taking Echo from me.

I suppressed the urge to hiss at my sire as she took Echo in her arms. Echo whimpered, but didn't make any other movements or sounds. It looked like she was pretty solidly asleep.

Grayson looked at my neck and his hand went up to his own mark. He appeared sad and a little disbelieving at the situation. I almost wished she had only marked him, but I couldn't feel like that long, the joy of Echo claiming me edged it out. "What does this mean? Wolves can't mark more than one person at a time. I didn't think vampires could either." He said.

"Vampires have several ways of marking people in certain ways. We mark our servants by creating a strong blood bond, in which we bite ourselves, then bite them. They drink our blood while we drink theirs. It needs to be renewed every few centuries or so. Then there is a marriage mark. Where one vampire bites the other. This lasts for one hundred years and is often used to broker deals that combine territories. Dhampyrs, at full strength, can enter into marriage bonds. They have longer lifespans than any other living creature and become full vampires when they die. An eternal bond is the final mark we give. Where the marriage mark is given, then reciprocated. Usually, this is only reserved for our Solus Amor. No other marriage mark can be given once we've created an eternal bond." I explained.

"Then, how were you going to make her your human servant?" Gray asked.

"I wasn't. In the beginning, I had intended to do the blood exchange with cuts instead of a bite. That changed as I got to know her. I wouldn't feed her my blood after I saw that she was blood adverse. I would have told her to stay on as my daylight servant and given her the reasons why. Her lifespan would be enough to not merit artificially elongating it." I told him.

"So she can mark both of us?"

"So it seems. Probably because of her bond with you and the fact that she is more vampire than human. I'll still be connected to my Solus Amor. If it turns out not to be Echo, then I will have to see out the marriage bond until its end, but I never have to act on it." I said as we headed down to the last door.

"Then, we're still fighting for the chance to be the one she lets bite her back." He chuckled.

"That seems to be the case. Let's finish this so we can get back to the house and see how she's doing. You're probably aching to see her again as much as I am."

"Yeah. I just want to make sure she's okay. Rex is calming down, though. I don't know how he's going to be when we see her again." Grayson admitted.

"You can get through this. I'll help as much as I can." I told him, unlocking the final door and opening it.

The room was set up like the other three. On a mattress in the corner, a sobbing woman was bundled in a thin blanket. It smelled like Verity.

"P-please. No more. Please. I'm sorry. No more." She begged.

I got close to her and put my hand on her shoulder, gently. She screamed and started crying harder. I could see she wasn't wearing anything under the blanket. There were scratches and bite marks on every bare inch of her that I could see. Stepping back, I took off my shirt. This distressed her even more, but it was necessary. I leaned down and handed it to her.

"Please take this and put it on, Ms. Verity. No one will hurt you anymore. We're here to take you away." I murmured to the frightened woman.

With a shaking hand, she reached out and accepted the shirt. She made a great effort to slip it on without showing her body. She was small enough that the shirt was like a short dress on her.

"Can you walk, or do you need me to carry you?" I asked.

"I... I think I can walk. Please, Mr. Nightshade. I'm sorry for what I did. Don't hurt me too. I was wrong to harm Echo. I shouldn't have let the vampires feed on her." She sobbed.

"I will forgive you. Her sire may not be as forgiving, but he won't let what happened to you here, happen again." I promised.

It was in that instant that I started making the connection. She wasn't Echo's true mother. For all that she was one quarter vampire, there was no shade of green in her eyes like the triplets had. They were actually such a dark brown that they looked nearly black. If I had to guess, I would think Marion Bane was actually her sire, he was the first with black eyes. Queen Bellamy informed me of his death. That was good. I didn't want such a repugnant man in my territory.

I helped Verity to stand and guided her up to the main floor. The corpses of the wolves were being carried out of the living room by the rogues. I didn't know what Queen Bellamy's plan was, but I knew I didn't want to be there anymore.

"Victor." Marius said, entering the room from the hall.

"I thought you were taking Echo home." I replied.

"I did. She's with the wolves now. They're playing nanny and nurse to her as if she were their own wounded pup. I took Darknight to my dungeon. Who is this?" He asked.

"This is Verity. She was acting as mother to the triplets for most of their lives." I answered.

"You're the one who sold the blood of my childe?" He growled.

She whimpered and hid behind me. I put my hand up and he snarled at me. He couldn't harm me without harming Echo now.

"Master Marius, Verity will give us all information we wanted about how the children came into her care and why she did what she did. She was already warned by the council. We have no grounds to punish her further. Look at her face. Darknight let those rogues do whatever they pleased to her. She's been punished enough." I said calmly.

He looked at her. There were claw marks on her face and a bite on her jaw that had yet to heal. From the marks I'd seen when the blanket dropped, she was covered in them. They tortured her in every way they could imagine.

"Fine. Let me take you to a safe home with one of our council members, Verity. Their servants will take care of you and you will answer all questions honestly. Do you understand?" Master Marius asked.

"I understand, sir. I promise I'll be good. I'll tell you everything, just don't let Master Darknight have me back." She pled.

"He's been sentenced to death by me. He will never breathe free air again. You needn't fear him. If I find that you've lied in any of this, you will have me to fear. I implore you to speak only the truth." He stated firmly. "Yes, sir." Verity replied in a small voice.

"I'm taking her to the Prince for care. If anyone can help this woman heal, it's Phoebe." Marius told me.

He held out his hand and she took it. They vanished almost immediately. I looked to Grayson.

"Are you ready to go home, or do you need more of a run than that to calm your wolf?" I asked.

"I think I'll be fine." He said.

We went outside and started running for home. I wondered how long it would take for Echo to come back to herself. We'd make sure she'd never have to worry again. She would be told how we weren't upset at being marked. I knew she'd feel badly about it. We would reassure her with our actions as well as our words. We were hers now, and we would work together to protect her forever.