The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 56

[Echo]

I was laying on something really warm and firm. It rumbled under me. It was like I couldn't control my body. Something in me told me to lick and I did.

A groan from under me made my body tighten. I felt the fangs in my mouth elongate and I bit into what I was laying on. There was a slight gasp and a moan.

I realized I was laying on a person. I was biting someone! No matter how much I tried to stop, I couldn't. I felt the fangs retract and my body swallowed the blood that gushed into my mouth. "Oh, goddess, yes." A whisper sounded in my ear.

That was a familiar voice, but I couldn't make the connection to who it was. Strong arms encircled my waist. It was comfortable and familiar.

"I love you, Echo. Eat as much as you need, sweetheart. Come back to us. We've been waiting for you all day." The voice murmured.

After a while, I got the urge to lick again. I was done. Part of me was relieved. I didn't want to drink blood, especially from someone else. I didn't fully remember why.

The burning in my stomach wasn't gone. I was still hungry, but I stopped. Maybe it meant I was controlling myself better.

"Let me take her. You go take care of yourself." A cool voice said.

"Thanks. It's easier not to try and bite back now. Rex is calming down a lot. Maybe it's the blood loss." The first voice chuckled.

I felt myself being picked up and cradled gently. There was some noise like someone getting off a bed and I felt a warm hand on my cheek. It was such a caring touch, I rubbed my face against it. "She moved for something other than feeding!" The first voice said excitedly.

"With luck, she's almost healed and will wake soon." The second replied.

The person holding me began to move. They sat down with me in their lap. I smelled something delicious and pulled myself up to start licking.

He chuckled as I prepared to bite. Whoever it was, they understood. He held me close, stabilizing me against him and giving me access to the place I would bite.

When my fangs slipped into him, he sighed happily. As I drew his blood into my mouth, my seat started becoming more uncomfortable. Something was poking me. I needed this blood too much to stop, though.

"My sweet princess. I miss your smile. Please wake up soon. I love you, Echo. Come back to me. Come back to your Victor." He whispered.

Victor? I remembered Victor. I started pulling my mind from the hole it was sunk in. My Victor. I wanted to wake up. I wanted to see him.

Suddenly, I remembered the other voice. It was Gray. They didn't seem as grumpy around each other as they normally were. There was no thinly veiled anger in their voices.

I licked the place I'd bitten. Now I knew exactly what was poking me. I blushed at the feeling of Victor's erection.

"Victor." I mumbled.

"Echo. Can you open your eyes, princess?" He asked.

I shook my head.

"Why not?"

"Because, well, because of what I'm sitting on. I don't want to." I answered quietly, with more blood rushing to my cheeks.

Victor chuckled. "Sweet girl. Don't be embarrassed. This is something that can happen during feedings. Especially with your mate. You're feeling something similar, but haven't quite put it together yet."

I didn't think so. I didn't know what to do. I knew that it couldn't be as obvious as it was for him, but how did I tell?

"I can smell your arousal, princess. I can smell it every time you feed. Grayson can smell it, too. That makes it even harder for us... literally."

"Done. I'll get her back to bed so you can take care of yourself." Gray said.

"She's awake, Grayson. Come take her off of me. I don't think she has full control of herself yet." Victor replied.

I felt myself being picked up and cradled in the warm arms again. I snuggled against him. It felt good to be cared for by these two men who loved me.

Why did they need to care for me, though? Why did I have fangs? Why was I so comfortable feeding off their blood?

"Good evening, Echo. Are you really back with us?" Gray asked.

I nodded.

"Why aren't you opening your eyes then?" He chuckled.

"I'm embarrassed." I whispered.

"Because you were feeding on us?"

"Because I can't remember what's going on. Why are you and Victor taking care of me like this? When did I get fangs?" I whimpered. "I'm scared, Gray."

He held me tightly and I felt his lips on my forehead. "Don't be afraid, Echo. Once Victor's done in the bathroom, we'll talk about it. Would you like something other than blood to eat? I can ask Bellamy to make you something." "Who's Bellamy?" I asked.

"She's the Queen of the Eaten Heart Collective. A rogue queen. She's here to train you how to fight, but has mostly been spending her time helping take care of everything and searching for you. She had a team of rogue wolves trying to track you down. Marius was even searching and Victor's sire Talia."

"I haven't gotten everything together for their visit. Oh, I'm sorry. I must have gotten sick." I said.

It was the only thing I could think of. What did he mean, there were rogue wolves trying to track me down? Wasn't I in my bedroom?

I opened my eyes to look around. It was my room. I looked back to Gray. There was something different about him. He was more handsome, somehow. I searched his face for some clue. My eyes were drawn to his lips.

The thought of what they might feel like pressed against my own made me blush. I'd never thought of Gray like that before. There was a feeling of longing deep inside me. Something in me wanted to taste those lips.

They curled up into a soft smile. I looked away. He caught me staring at his mouth. At least he couldn't hear what I was thinking.

"Oh, sweetheart. You have to get better control of your abilities." He sighed. "Don't worry. I won't hold it against you."

Before I could ask what he was talking about, the bathroom door opened and Victor entered the room. He looked a little more worn than normal. That didn't stop him from smiling warmly at me.

I couldn't help but remember the kiss we'd shared. I longed to be in his arms like that again. It was more powerful than the urge had been before.

Victor froze and stared at me. Then, he looked at Gray. I didn't understand what was going on at all.

"We'll have to work on that." Victor said quietly.

He was in only his pajama pants. I suddenly realized that Gray was also topless with pajama pants on. My hand rested on his bare chest and I blushed deeply.

Gray carried me to the bed and set me down. Victor walked over and they turned to each other. It looked like they were having some sort of silent communication. Then, they turned to me.

I had never seen them quite like this. Standing side by side, topless. I noted the richer color of Gray's skin, his muscles were thicker, more robust, than Victor's. Victor was more elegant in his build. He had muscles, but they were more compact and trim. They were the same height, but there were no other similarities.

There was heat flooding my body while I looked at them. How many days had I spent in bed with both of them? I don't know that I would have trusted any other men not to do something to me.

The trust I had in Gray was strange. I was pretty sure I wouldn't have trusted him earlier, but, now, it was like I knew for a fact he would never do something I didn't want.

"Echo. Do you remember what happened to you?" Victor asked softly.

I thought about it. I remembered being dropped off and checking the mail.... Mr. Martin punched me. My eyes widened, then squeezed shut as I remembered I was kidnapped, forced to drink blood and listen to the screams of my ex-mother. Images flashed in my mind of the things that wolf had done to me. The things Daniel said.

"Did you see that?" Gray whispered.

"If he weren't already dead I'd kill him." Victor growled.

"You're safe now. We took care of them all. They won't ever harm you again." Gray promised.

"I... I tried.... He said we were leaving in the morning. I tried to think of anything to get away, but it was the only thing I could think of." I told them as I started to cry.

Killing myself was the only way to save me from the future I didn't want. I couldn't imagine being forced to be Daniel's wife. That was what he told me. He would mark me as his bride and I would belong to him by law.

Telling him the truth about my heritage was the only thing I could think of to save me. He thought I was lying when I told him Marius was my sire. He slapped me for lying to him.

I raised my hand to my face, remembering the sting. He called me Emily the entire time. I told him over and over that I had always been Echo and I wanted to keep that name. He just kept saying it was stupid and calling me stupid for keeping it.

He wasn't a nice man. I knew that had been an act after the way he talked to my ex-mother. The entire time, I'd thought of how much better even Gray was. He may have kept insisting that I was his mate, but he wanted me safe. He may have felt like I was his, but not like a belonging. The way Daniel talked, I wasn't anything to him but a tool.

"Echo." Gray whispered.

Gray got close to me and dropped into a crouch in front of me. He wiped a tear that had started to fall from my eye. I searched his face for his intention. All I saw was caring.

"I love you, Echo. I'm sorry we couldn't save you before you had to go through all that. I'll never let anyone hurt you again." He promised.

His hand settled over mine on my face. The warmth of his touch was enhanced by the buzzing feeling. The mate bond. It seemed less frantic than it had before. My eyes landed on a puncture mark on the curve where his shoulder met his neck.

I freed my hand and reached out to touch it. Gray stayed still and closed his eyes as my fingers met the scarred mark. I traced the bite.

"Did I hurt you?" I asked.

"No, Echo. It didn't hurt at all. It never hurt." Gray replied.

His lashes fell delicately on his cheekbones. I smelled something amazing, and it seemed to be coming from him. It was a smell that made me think of being safe and warm. Hot chocolate and fresh linen warmed by the sun.

I leaned in and kissed his lips gently. I remembered biting him and calling him mine. He was mine and it felt right. Like nothing had ever felt before.

Suddenly, I remembered doing the same thing to Victor. I pulled back and looked up at him. There was no expression on his face. He was completely blank. I hated that look, and reached out to him.

Victor seemed to consider it before kneeling in front of me. I traced the mark on his neck too. There were no sparks, like with Gray. Instead, it was as if contentment washed over me in a wave. When I touched Victor, I felt truly and purely content. I caressed his face. He was my Victor. I wouldn't hurt him again.

"You didn't hurt me either, little one. Don't worry about us, we're fully grown supernaturals. You'll never have to worry about someone taking us from you. We just need to make sure no one tries to take you from us again." He murmured. I leaned in and kissed him the same way I'd kissed Gray. Victor responded tenderly, taking my hand in his while our lips met sweetly. I finally had them back.

Pulling away, I smiled softly. Something in me was nervous about this, but there was something stronger that kept saying it was where I belonged. There was nothing more right and natural than loving and being loved by both of them. Gray took my other hand and held it. "I can share, if it means you're happy, Echo. I didn't realize how you felt about him until now."

"Echo, it would be best if you mated with Grayson while living. I can wait for you." Victor said.

I looked at him, shocked. I could feel the pain in him that happened when he said that. He didn't want to be selfish. He wanted me to not feel pressured. It was strange to feel someone else's feelings in my heart, but I knew they weren't mine. "Please, Victor. Don't pull away from me. I love you."

"And you love Grayson. I have to give up. I'll command too much of your attention. It wouldn't be fair to the pup." He chuckled in a way I knew wasn't because he thought it was amusing.

"I can feel what you're feeling, Victor. Please. It hurts to feel you in pain." I murmured. "Don't do this."

"Victor, we can learn to get along. We're already doing better than we were at the beginning of all of this. We should be willing to try, for Echo." Gray pressed.

"If she decides she only wants one of us, then would you just walk away, Grayson? If she decided one day that she only wants me, could you walk away? I don't think I could if I got invested in the relationship. Right now, she's just woken. This isn't entirely Echo speaking, and... it is. This is the part of Echo that lives on instinct. The part that told her to feed on us when hungry." Victor said, standing.

"I love you, Victor. I told you that. I whispered it when I was locked in that room. I held it in my heart ever since we kissed." I told him.

"And Grayson. You love him as much as me?" He asked.

"I'm just learning to love Gray. I realized how much I missed him when I was locked away. I started realizing that I was beginning to love him too." I admitted.

"Did you say to yourself, if I'm saved, I'll have them both? Or did you realize you'd have to choose?" Victor questioned, turning his back on me.

What had happened when I realized I was falling in love with Gray? I realized my insistence that I was using him for healing was just the only way my mind could wrap around wanting to be with him.

"I never thought I would have to choose. It just felt like everything was right when I thought of loving you both." I said.

"Let Grayson mark you as his. Have him in life. I'll be here for you when you pass into your other life, Echo." He told me and left the room.