The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 70

[Bellamy]

After Echo's haircut, I wanted to get the required shopping finished as soon as possible. Victor wanted to make sure both girls had the nicest dresses at the dance. My senior prom was only a year ago and I remembered how much all the girls had watched the others and admired their dresses.

What he hadn't thought of was the fact that there would need to be a party to formally introduce him to the vampires of his territory and that he would have business to attend to with Echo in tow. She needed more than one dress and several suits. With the list of things Dilly and Harmony were talking about while we'd waited, this was going to be a very long shopping day.

I led them to a store I was familiar with. We had one back home. It was welcoming to anyone who had the money to shop there. I'd bought quite a few outfits for my more formal occasions. Because of Lucien's impatience and affinity for tearing clothes, I'd become quite the regular customer. He loved me in business attire, until it got in his way.

When we got to the shop, Harmony froze. I turned to look at her. She seemed a little nervous.

"We can't shop at Southland Song. I can't even afford socks from here." She said in a hushed voice.

"Victor's footing the bill for the shopping today. He wants you both to get dresses for the prom and anything else you want. This isn't the only store we're going to, just the first." I told her.

"I already have a dress." Harmony said.

"Yes. We know. Victor was insistent. You have to have a dress as nice as Echo's. Come on. Time to learn what it's like to be rich." I laughed and headed into the store.

Two sales clerks were tidying up. I saw one of them look up and sigh. I can imagine seeing four young adults coming in was probably not on her list of happy work days. Normally, they would just be browsing, but I knew she would change her tune once she knew we were buying.

She walked up to our group. Her nametag claimed she was 'Anya' and she was dressed in an outfit she had obviously bought here with her discount. The clerks all worked on commission along with hourly. They could make quite a lot of money, especially today. "Welcome to Southland Song. I'm Anya. Is there anything I can help you find?" She asked in a hospitable tone, with the look of someone who just ate a bug in polite company.

"Hello, Anya. I'm Bellamy. Today we're shopping for these young ladies. They both need a formal dress. This is Echo, she is our priority today. She will need four dresses, including a nice little black dress, and four suits for business situations. Both girls will need shoes for their dresses, but Echo will need several different sets of heels in varying heights and some comfortable flats. We will also need purses for the girls to carry." I told her.

"That's quite a list. Are you sure this is where you want to shop for it? Our prices can be quite... high. It doesn't look like you normally shop in establishments like ours." Anya smiled a little as she scanned us derisively.

"This is where the Master vampire of the territory wants these items purchased. He's sent us with his card to pay for everything. If you aren't wanting the commission, then please get your associate. I have very little patience for this female backbiting and blatant classism." I replied in a cold, steady tone.

Her eyes widened. "Yes, ma'am. Sorry. Being located in a mall means we often have people in here who aren't able to afford it and they generally prefer if we tell them ahead of time."

"Don't lie. It's unbecoming." Dilly smirked.

"Let's get this thing going, I don't want to be here any longer than I have to." I sighed.

Anya whisked the girls away and pulled her colleague in to help get together dress and clothing options. Dilly and I sat in the chairs outside the dressing rooms. These women were experts in style and fashion. We entrusted our girls to them. "So. How are you sleeping?" Dilly asked.

"Terribly. This is the first time I've been away from Lucien since we married. The first time I've ever been away from the pups. I'm so f*****g homesick, Dilly." I whispered.

"You call him three times a day and were spending all afternoon on speaker phone with him, just to hear him breathing while he worked. You sleep with your phone plugged in and on the line with him, just so you can be there for their bedtime and hear if they wake up in the night." He groaned.

"Maybe I should see if he can some up for the next week. I'm sure my uncles would be fine with watching the babies. It was hard enough hearing you and Claude every day. Now I have to hear Echo, Victor, and Gray every night." I shook my head. "Lucky girl, though. They're both hot as hell." Dilly chuckled.

"I'm partial to my Lucien, but, yeah, I'm not blind. What on Earth was the moon goddess thinking, though? Could you imagine having to share Claude with another man? I couldn't share Lucien with another woman. I'd kill her." I said with a slight snarl. Just the idea of having to share my mate made my blood boil. I absolutely had no idea how Gray was able to handle having to share his mate. He would always change the subject when I asked him. I knew Dilly was far better at getting information than I was. "Apparently, Echo kept trying to reject Gray. He said that she said she 'didn't need a puppy' or something. That boy is almost as stubborn as you. He wouldn't give up. This is just part of him not giving up. She's never going to be entirely his, he just wants to own a part of her. That's kind of sad. He should have let her reject him. Then he would have had a mate that was entirely his." He replied.

"Not every wolf has a second chance, Dilly. He wasn't staying with her in case he didn't. Gray started falling for her from the moment he saw her. Just like Victor probably did. Honestly, I think she needs them both. She never got much love as a child, she should get double the love as an adult. You were lucky. You had people who cared for you. Can you imagine being forced to work like she did for as long as she did, and only being able to have tiny flashes of love and caring? I'm surprised she's not a monster or a frightened little mouse. She's somehow human after all of that." I told him.

"You just know you couldn't go through it yourself."

"Neither could you. You get all growly even now. If my cousin didn't find it so adorable, he'd probably be pretty upset by it." I chuckled.

"Here they come." Dilly said, shushing me.

Echo and Harmony came out from the fitting room in long dresses that were cut up the side. They had a sweetheart neckline that dipped a respectable amount, but not so much that they were showing off a lot, and a fitted bodice. In these dresses, you could see the difference in Echo and Harmony even more.

Harmony's dress was a crimson that reminded me of home. Echo's dress was a deep sapphire blue. Echo was slimmer than Harmony, she wouldn't plump as quickly as a werewolf. I figured it would take a long time before she was looking fully healthy. "Those are perfect." I smiled. "What do you think, Dilly?"

"Very sexy. I think those boys won't know what hit them." He winked.

"It's so expensive." Harmony whispered.

"I think you should ask your sister what she thinks, Harmony." I said, nodding to Echo, who had caught sight of herself in the mirrors.

The shop didn't have mirrors in the dressing rooms. It was part of their strategy. The best lighting was around the mirrors outside and the associates could help guide the shoppers with honest critiques and praise.

She was staring like she didn't recognize herself. Her brow wrinkled as her fingers trailed over the lines of the dress. Echo looked like she was trying to memorize every inch.

"Oh, Echo, you look beautiful." Harmony said softly.

Echo turned around and smiled brightly at her sister. She walked over to her and took her hands.

"You look beautiful, too. I hope you'll let me buy you that dress. Cam will love it." Echo told her.

"Only if you buy that one. I think Gray will love it, too." Harmony replied.

"We have more dresses for you, miss. If you're ready." Anya said.

Echo turned and nodded. She let herself be led off to the back again. Harmony watched her go and sighed.

"What's wrong, Harmony?" I asked.

"We should have had more time. More of this. It was what I always wanted. Now, knowing everything I know, I wish our parents hadn't died. That the people we saw as our parents had learned to love Echo, too. Maybe then.... I don't know. She deserves so much We didn't do enough for her, we never reported them." She sniffled.

"I heard that they said if you reported them, then the three of you would be split up. This isn't your fault. You just wanted to be with your sister." I told her.

"I should have done more, but they punished her when we said anything about how they treated her. We learned quickly that the best way to save Echo from pain was to stay quiet." Harmony said.

"Go get changed, you can buy all your accessories here, too. Victor knows the two of you haven't had time to get to know each other, and he wants to make sure you understand what kind of a man he is. He's hoping that this will make you a little more willing to actually talk to him, learn about him. He's a really good guy. He really cares about her." I smiled, hoping that she would relax a little more.

"He's taken care of my sister. I appreciate what he's done, but I think Gray is better for her and she should choose him." She said firmly.

"There is no choosing, Harmony. She wants them both and they both want her. It's as simple as that. You need to back off your sister's love life. This isn't something anyone but them can control. It's not your place to even try." I explained.

"I just can't believe that. No one is meant to have two mates. I don't even know how that would work." Harmony sighed.

She turned back to the changing rooms, shaking her head. I got where she was coming from. This was a strange situation. Even Aurora was having trouble with understanding, and she was one of the freest thinkers I knew.

I crossed my legs and looked at Dilly. He looked thoughtful. His lips quirked up into a smile.

"Figured out how it would work?" I chuckled.

"Bems, I've been thinking about it ever since that girl woke up. The way she is with Gray. I would say he was definitely her only mate, but in the garden last night.... That was true love. It was radiating from Victor and Echo." Dilly said.

Echo came out again in another dress. This one had a little volume to the skirt with a wide, V-shaped, neckline and sleeves that went off the shoulder. This dress was a deep forest green that brought out the green in her eyes. She looked like a princess. I couldn't help but smile.

Victor would love that dress. I could tell that Echo liked it. She was looking at herself in the mirror and swishing the skirt around.

"You look great, Echo. Do you like that one?" I asked.

"I love everything I've seen. Are you sure I need so much?"

"Absolutely." I replied.

The rest of the time, she blushed at compliments and tried on everything the women gave her. I realized that she had so little positive attention, that it was making her nervous. I couldn't imagine having lived like that. She had very little knowledge of just how pretty she was.

We got her new clothes from the skin out and new shoes, along with some accessories in that store. The total would have made Lucien cry. I could imagine that Victor wouldn't even flinch.

After we were done there, we went to more trendy shops. Echo offered to buy things for her sister, and Harmony started agreeing. Once they'd spent that terrifying amount at the one store, it seemed like she didn't have any qualms about prices anymore. We had a pleasant lunch at a restaurant in the mall before we completed our shopping for the day. Echo was able to eat some solid foods, but I put blood into her drink after her fangs started peeking out.

Dilly was pleased with the makeover. Harmony and Echo looked really happy. I was glad to see Echo so relaxed, especially after the issues last night. It meant that I could focus on my work instead of their relationship. Echo would finally be able to focus on what I was teaching.

Now, all that was left was to negotiate the alliance with Hallowed Moon and see if I could get Victor to ally with me. Having the Master of the territory on my side would help my collective and my pack exponentially. Luckily, helping him with his mate would get me in just the right position to approach the union as one between friends.