The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 66

After I cleaned up, I dressed for the evening. When I came back into the bedroom, Echo had made my bed and was waiting for me in the little sitting area by the bookshelves. She was picking at her fingers.

"What's wrong, princess?" I asked picking her up and sitting with her in my lap.

"I made Gray a little mad at me today. I started talking about rejecting him. I know he worries that I'm going to pick you over him, but I wanted him to be happy. I just don't know if I'm enough to make both of you happy." She sighed, leaning her head on my shoulder.

"Echo. You're ours. We'll figure this out. I don't want you to worry about this. If we're feeling neglected, we'll tell you. There is no reason for you to pick one or the other." I assured her. "What did he do?"

"He kissed me and told me to never say that again." Echo blushed.

"Then he handled it a lot better than he used to. Shall we go downstairs?" I suggested.

She nodded and got up. I briefly mourned the loss of her in my lap, but I had work to do. This curse business needed to be dealt with.

When we got to the bottom of the stairs, Drew was coming out of the kitchen. He smiled brightly at Echo. I knew he had been worried about her while she was gone. When vampires worked closely, their servants tended to become closer. I let her go and she ran over to hug him.

Drew swung her in a circle and held her tight. Grayson came out of the kitchen and growled a little. I understood. It was hard watching another man hug my mate. At least, another man who wasn't related to her or connected to her in some other way. "I'm glad you're safe again, princess." Drew said.

"Only Victor is allowed to call me that." Echo growled.

It was as if my heart swelled at that. He looked up at me in surprise. I smiled and nodded to him.

"Oh, well then. Looks like you figured out if he'd want that extra service I provide Silence." He chuckled.

She hit his shoulder with her hand and blushed. Not all vampires had intimate relationships with their servants, but some indulged. It was hard not to get close to someone who took care of you for centuries. In fact, it was almost natural to fall into that habit. Drew left soon after and Bellamy called us into the kitchen for dinner. The table was beautifully made up with bowls of food set out nicely. It smelled fantastic.

"I made a mousse, soup, and some blood wine for all of you. Well, all of you except Echo. I made her some blood chocolate milk. Gray and I were the donors for the meal. We're all eating outside, since the table will only seat four. You four can have your meal in here. I'm sure Echo is eager to show you what she's been working on all day." Bellamy told us with a warm smile.

I pulled out Echo's chair and got her seated. She was looking over everything with interest. I had already talked to Bellamy about giving us some of her recipes before she left. I was growing more and more fond of blood foods and it would enable me to have meal times with Echo.

The food was marvelous. Echo ate happily. I was glad that she was having something other than blood. It meant good things for her progress in getting back to solid foods. That little bit of normalcy would go a long way toward her recovery. "What have you been working on all day, Echo?" Marius asked in a sweet tone that didn't really suit him.

She grinned widely and launched into the details of her day, including the trip to the garden center and her search for the perfect flowers to plant. Watching her talking so animatedly gave me great hope for the future. It was almost as if she had never been taken. While she was talking, Echo was calling Marius 'papa'. It seemed that she had accepted him as her father. It was good considering the only father she had ever known was gone.

He was taking to the role well. All of his focus was on her and her story. He asked questions and seemed genuinely interested in her responses. Talia had an expression of disbelief as she watched him interact with Echo. "That sounds like a lot of work. Are you tired, dear?" He asked.

"I took a nap with Victor before he woke up. I'll be fine until my usual bedtime." She replied.

His gaze turned on me. I met his eye with a great deal of nervousness. Marius nodded to me slightly and returned to his meal.

I was relieved, to say the least, that he hadn't found her napping with me to be a trespass. Echo was blissfully unaware of the tension between her sire and me. For that I was grateful. I didn't want to worry her unnecessarily.

When we were finished with the meal, I helped Echo clear the table and get the dishes washed. Marius and Talia sat at the table quietly talking about the witch who had helped us find Echo. Talia wanted to talk to her about the curse, but Marius was insisting that he take care of it.

Echo didn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation, or her hearing was still not as good as ours. Talia was teasing Marius about wanting to see the witch again. I didn't dare laugh, but the look on his face told me he had never stopped seeing her. After the dishes were in the dishwasher, Echo pulled me out of the house, through the back doors. The air was cool, but fragrant. The scent of freshly turned earth and flowers mingled with the scent of the wolves. For the first time, their scent didn't make my stomach turn.

Grayson sat in a chair at the new patio set. I nodded to him and he nodded back in greeting. Echo led me, Marius, and Talia over to the garden. We walked the paths as she explained each group of flowers in her moon garden to us.

"And this area is all night blooming nightshade flowers." She said indicating the area in front of us.

I stepped behind her and pulled her to me, crossing my arms over her waist and kissing her cheek. Echo leaned back against me. I was proud of her hard work and thoughtfulness. She thought of me again while making our home nicer. This time, out of love and not just being a dedicated servant.

"I love you, Echo." I murmured.

"I love you, too, Victor." Echo replied.

"Time to go, Victor. We have a lot of work to do. Echo can have more of your time later on tonight. We need to get things sorted as soon as possible." Talia said softly from behind me.

I longed for more time to just be with Echo. There was still so much of our relationship to work out. So many things I wanted to experience with her.

Grayson came up beside us and held his hand out. I sighed and released Echo to him. She needed attention and rest. He looked pretty exhausted. I was betting they would go to bed earlier than they normally did.

Talia was right. I needed to get this curse business dealt with. I didn't want to risk dying after I'd found so much to live for. Echo was my eternity.

-

Once in my office, Talia and Marius seated themselves in the chairs across the desk from me. Talia told Marius everything she knew about the curse. All the things she'd told me. I shared what Raven had told me about the previous Master and all the ones who had tried to take over since. His jaw set angrily.

"You need to step down as Master of this territory. Echo needs you. This means I can't take her somewhere safe. The next best option is you giving up the territory and moving to the edge of it." Marius said.

"Master Marius, I know that we can get this resolved. Raven said it usually takes a few months. I'm not giving up on this territory. I intend to talk with Queen Bellamy about accepting a partnership with me. I've spent a lot of nights dealing with vampires who were using the people here in any way they wished. It has already taken a great deal of work. I will not give up because of this curse. We just need to figure out how to break it." I told him.

"And if you don't? What will happen to Echo? She'll still have the wolf, but she'll go through eternity knowing that her Solus Amor is gone. You're dooming my child to an eternity of sadness." He growled.

"I would give everything up for Echo, but I want to show her the whole world. I want to give her everything there is to give. I want her to experience everything life has to offer. I can't do that if she's trapped here. This territory is ours. Hers and mine. If she knew about this, Echo would agree that the curse needs to be broken." I insisted.

"That may be, but it doesn't mean you need to be risking your life for it."

"As long as I can keep this territory heading in the right direction, I'll be here. If I feel the curse taking over, I'll give up the territory. Until then, I will keep working."

"Why are you being stubborn about this? We can break the curse without you leading. I could force you to give it up." Marius warned.

"If you do anything to my childe, Marius, I'm going to kick your uptight ass. I permitted him to be punished for hurting your daughter and I permitted him to enter into an agreement with you, but I will not permit you to force a good man from his position of power. I will stay with him. I will help break this curse. The only thing we can do is resolve this or the territory here will never be fully functioning." Talia said. "We need the help of that witch, but, otherwise, I would prefer if you keep working on your family. There is a lot that needs to be figured out about your children and their history."

He huffed and nodded. I understood where he was coming from, but this territory needed me. There had already been a lot of positive changes in the vampires in town. Just knowing there was a Master taking care of them, was making them follow the laws and rules. Vampires tended to go a little mad without some guidance.

"I will question Lila on the curse." Marius said.

"No. I want her here. You may forget things or overlook things. There is a purpose to having more than one person questioning. We think differently than you do. Would you contact her and get her to come tonight?" Talia asked.

"She can't come tonight. It's a full moon. There are spells that can only be done tonight." He told her, with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Talia chuckled. "I didn't know you knew so much about witchcraft, Marius. When did this happen? No lies, broodmate."

"This doesn't leave this room." He growled.

We nodded emphatically.

"Last night she told me she wouldn't be available because of the full moon. Lila has a lot of spellwork to do that can only be done tonight." Marius stated coolly.

"So you have taken up with the witch!" Talia laughed. "I thought you would never loosen up!"

"This isn't funny. Lila isn't like most living beings. She's as cold and deadly as I am. She focuses so intently on her spells and magic, that it's like nothing else in the world exists. Aside from being very attractive, she's creative... and flexible." He said with that same heated look he had last night.

"Is that the thing that came up last night?" Talia pressed.

She was loving this. I just sat quietly. Vampires often indulged in gossip. I rarely did, myself, but being involved in this intimate talk between two of the most powerful vampires alive was a rare treat.

"Lila wanted to see me since she couldn't see me tonight. I was resisting until she started sending the pictures." Marius pulled out his phone and showed them to Talia.

He didn't offer it to me, it was a confidence between broodmates. I would accept it because adding pressure to a more powerful vampire was never a wise idea. I didn't get to my age by being foolish.

"Fine, contact Lila tomorrow about coming over tomorrow evening. Invite her for dinner. I'm sure a dark witch wouldn't mind eating whatever the werewolves are having. I'll let my pheata know to prepare enough for one extra human." Talia winked. "Have either of you heard anything from The Prince about Verity?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Yes. She is giving every bit of information she can think of. We've already found two uncles who weren't in Darknight's territory when he slaughtered the coven and the wolf pack. One witch and one werewolf. They're coming here to see the children." Marius said. "They will stay at the pack house. Both said they wanted to meet all three children, but wanted to be involved in the training in the ones who were most like them. They said they would trust us to train Echo properly."

That made me a little angry. They didn't even know her and they were already setting her aside for her sister and brother, like she didn't matter.

"Victor. Calm yourself." Talia said gently. "They meant no insult by it. Echo is mostly vampire. They just don't know how to relate to that. Once they meet her, they will love her just like everyone else does."

"Unlike her sister, Echo doesn't use mind control to make people like her. It's just something about her. Even I couldn't resist it." Marius chuckled slightly.

"Has Darknight or Verity revealed what his plan was for the children yet?" I asked.

"Nothing yet. His sire is trying to get him released. He said that he didn't have any reason to think the sire of the children still existed. He was diligently insisting that Darknight thought it was my sire, like you and Rosalynn. I was fined by the rest of the high council, but I get to keep him until he talks or dies."

"Why did they fine you?" Talia asked.

"I revealed that I used my abilities to make Victor and Rosalynn misremember who the sire of the children was. I explained my reasoning, but kept Echo's involvement out of it."

"What do you mean, 'Echo's involvement'?" I questioned.

I knew the answer, but I couldn't let him know that I knew she was the reason he didn't just kill everyone involved. I was still grateful to her for saving all of our lives. She thought fast and saved everyone.

Marius explained what happened on the first day he'd met Echo. My nails dug into the chair arms as he talked casually about trying to influence Echo, to make her kneel down, make her offer her neck, make her fear him. He sighed at the end.

"She was so funny. Every time I tried using my mind control, she would briefly look annoyed, then slip back into her 'good servant' face. Then I just started trying to see how annoyed I could make her, but it was like I stopped existing if she wasn't interacting with me. She's going to be an amazing woman one day." Marius said proudly.

"She already is an amazing woman, Master Marius." I replied softly.

"It sounds like you both love her very much. I can't wait to see how this all plays out. Anyone who can make you two smile as much as I've seen you smile in the last couple days, has to be amazing already. You're both far too serious and strict. She's softened you both up nicely." Talia giggled.

I didn't know how to answer that, so I just nodded, texted my supports, and organized my desk. Talon and Silence would come to be updated on our hunt for answers about this curse. I needed to get it resolved before it had a chance to harm my Echo.