The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 92

I let my mind wander as Echo slept. I thought about all the things I wanted to introduce her to. I thought about the curse and what may have started it. Could it actually have been about a woman?

If Grace Aimes was Grigori's Solus Amor, then it almost made sense. Her father arranged a marriage with a powerful witch family. He spent a lot on the dowry to make her more appealing. Losing his chance for the combining of the two families would have ruined him. Modern day Americans didn't like the idea, but most of them wouldn't exist without an arranged marriage or two in their family history. My parents had arranged my marriage to Emma. They wanted to combine our family with the neighboring family.

They were friends since childhood and their farms were right near each other. We'd lived with her family until her parents passed, one cold hard winter. Even though we'd never been romantically interested in each other, our love had grown and I began loving her as if she'd been in my heart the whole time.

I would never have to grow to love Echo. I may have understood the reasoning Fenton Aimes had for pushing his daughter into the arranged marriage, but from Grigori's perspective, I would have died. Just knowing that my Echo was out there with someone else, would have killed me.

Was it enough to curse a whole city? What could have been the turning point? Did Grigori mark Grace? Was he showing that he intended to keep her no matter what her father said?

There was a lot to figure out still. Lila said Fenton started doing things that made his coven think he was turning dark. I needed to know more. He was probably starting to mentally warp already from dabbling in darkness.

Echo whimpered in her sleep. It reminded me of the nightmare she had last night. I stroked her hair and tried to soothe her. This time, it seemed to work. I was relieved. I hated when she suffered anything.

Her head turned a little and her neck was bared to me. I licked my lips, remembering the taste of her blood this morning. Echo was always amazing. I was happily surprised that she was willing to let me have some of her blood.

I shook my head to rid myself of the thought of biting her. It had come upon me suddenly and was hard to fight. I needed to go get some blood. I didn't want to risk whatever my urges were trying to get me to do with her.

Carefully, I climbed out of bed and headed downstairs. I knew Grayson was already in bed. He called it his 'time skip'. He would go to sleep and the things he wanted would suddenly be closer. I thought it was a charming way of looking at sleep.

In the kitchen, I poured some blood into a glass and looked at the time. It was about four in the morning. Still another three hours until Echo would wake for the day.

The front door opened and closed. I turned to see Finn coming in. I was hopeful for an update. He'd told me last time that he was looking into a few things and would let me know if anything came up.

"Oh, hey, Vic. Didn't expect to see you here." He chuckled.

"I was just getting a drink. I heard you apologized to Echo. I appreciate that." I said.

"I was in the wrong. It took a while before I could figure out a time. It looked like she needed a distraction yesterday morning."

"She had a nightmare. She was pretty shaken by it." I told him.

"She left here in a much better mood." Finn smiled.

"I noticed. Thank you for helping get her back to normal."

"No problem."

He poured some blood into a mug and heated it in the microwave. I didn't like how that tasted, so I hadn't done it after the first time. Bellamy had warmed some blood in the slow cooker, it was much better, but really made for more than one vampire. "Do you have an update for me yet?" I asked.

"Something tells me that someone in the family of Fenton Aimes can tell us what we need to know. I was tracking down his living descendants. His daughter's children have scattered, there were three of them and they all moved to other states after their mom passed. His son had two kids. The oldest, Fenton Aimes III, is in a nursing home. He never had kids. The youngest, a daughter, married and stayed in town. She passed a few years ago, cancer. She had a son and three daughters though. It seems the magic in the bloodline is fading. Only two of her daughters are witches. They moved away to marry into witching families, believing that their mother marrying a human was the reason their magic faded." Finn explained.

"I see. And why do you think these descendants might have the knowledge we seek?"

"I can't really explain it, Vic. It's an urge that comes with my ability. Like going with my gut, but to a stronger degree. I just read through what you have written about the man and the curse, and my gut twinged at the name of the son. I had to go with it." He shrugged. "So you're tracking down the families of the two remaining children. How's that going?" I asked.

"The son was pretty easy. He married his high school sweetheart and had a couple kids. One of them is in college, the other is still in high school. The daughter is a little trickier. She married a few times and I'm still tracking her from the last time she disappeared with a new husband."

I nodded. There was hope for the answer. Patience would be needed. I didn't know how long I had before the curse progressed again. I didn't know what it would do to me when it did.

"Your work is appreciated. I think I'll be better once I know this isn't some false lead." I told him.

"Understandable. It can be hard to see it when all the pieces are still floating around. I'm trying to figure out how to get in to the nursing home to see Aimes. The visiting hours are during daytime and they only permit family. We need to get either Master Marius or your girl in there, then they can pop back at any time." Finn said.

"I don't want Echo too involved with this. If we fail.... She shouldn't have to deal with the guilt." I replied softly.

"She's gonna feel worse if you don't let her help and we fail. She'll always think she should have done more to save you. You're not thinking clearly. I think you need to give up leadership of the curse team. Let me or Talia take over. You focus on your territory and staying out of the sun." He insisted.

"Maybe you're right. I want to be a bigger part of this, but that may not be what's best right now. You'll let me know when I'm needed and let me help as much as I can, right?" I asked.

"Of course, big brother. Talia would never forgive me if I let anything happen to you and she knows how much you want to save yourself. I may not be trustworthy in a lot of things, but I'm not gonna let you die." Finn said.

For a moment, I could see the solemn warrior and man he used to be. He was truly serious about saving me. This wasn't just an amusement for him. It was a relief.

I rinsed my cup and gave Finn a handshake. He pulled me into a hug and I permitted it. I left him there and went up to be with my Echo.

She was curled innocently in my bed. I crawled in and slid my arms around her. She sighed and snuggled into my arms. Everything would work out. It had to.

-

[Gray]

-

It was only a couple hours before I was set to take Echo home to meet my family. Just a few more than that and I would be with her for the first time. I was happy Victor hadn't had a problem with it being me.

I saw him this morning for breakfast. He informed the group that Finn would be taking over as the head of the curse breaking team. Victor said he felt he wasn't in the proper mindset to be in charge of it anymore. That was worrying. I looked over at Echo. She seemed upset. Everyone else took it in stride, with some looks cast about, but otherwise pretty calm.

"Are you feeling the curse more?" I asked.

"I think so. There has been a shift in my personality that others have noted. I would rather not risk it causing a hindrance to our endeavor." Victor said curtly.

Echo reached out and took his hand. I saw him squeeze it. Suddenly, I was angry at the witch who had cast the spell. He was hurting my mate. He was hurting my friend. I wished he was still alive so I could kick his a*s. "Everything will be alright, princess." He murmured to Echo in a reassuring tone.

"Promise?" She whispered back.

"Absolutely. Finnick will take over and he'll be in charge of telling everyone where to go and what to do in order to get this curse resolved." Victor smiled slightly. "Now, eat your breakfast, you have a big day ahead of you." When he'd gone to his room to sleep, Echo pulled me into his office and clung to me. I knew she was worried, I was too, but I didn't tell her. She needed us to be strong for her. She needed to know we had this handled.

Now, I was in my room working on a bag to go with me while I stayed in Echo's room for the night. I was nervous. Even though a lot of wolves indulged in s****l relationships before finding their mates, I had only ever dated. The most I'd done with any girl, besides Echo, was making out.

It wasn't that I didn't have offers, I just wanted to wait for my mate. I was glad that I did. This would be something we would experience for the first time, together.

Yesterday, I went to buy condoms. I didn't know what kind to get, so I grabbed a small pack of each kind. The cashier at the pharmacy looked at me weird. I was embarrassed as heck.

I looked at all the little boxes lined up on my bed. They all had something special about them. I thought about asking Echo, but she would know even less than I do.

Cam was my only other option, I took a picture of them and sent it to him asking which one to use. He was no help. He just responded with a string of laughing emojis. I didn't want my other friends to know, and I didn't want to ask Val. I could only imagine his response.

So I stood there and waffled over several different types of protection. I looked it up on my phone, but I couldn't find a lot that was definite. Every list seemed to have a different opinion on what the best option for your first time was.

There was a knock at my door, which was a bit of a relief. It took me away from the problem at hand, at least. I crossed the room and opened the door a little bit.

Alpha Lucien was standing outside my door. I squeezed out the door into the hall. His hand shot out and stopped the door from closing.

"I need to talk to you, privately." He said.

"We can go down to Victor's office." I offered.

"We're right by your room. What are you hiding?" Alpha Lucien asked and started pushing my door open.

"Please, don't, Alpha." I pled.

"Call me Lucien. I told you that. It's not Echo, because I left her will Talia and Bellamy." He tried looking around the door.

I saw Dillon and Jean-Claude coming down the hall. I swear I had more privacy in the pack house. With a sigh, I let him into my room.

Lucien walked in and immediately saw the lined up boxes of condoms. He looked at me, then back at the bed. I closed the door behind me.

"It's your first time too, isn't it, Gray?"

"Yeah. I was just.... I'm freaking out a little. I have to pick the right condom or I could ruin everything. I have no idea what I'm doing. I've watched... you know... 'educational' videos. But I don't feel confident." I admitted. "You didn't talk to Victor about this?" He asked.

"No.... I didn't want him to take it from me because I didn't know what I was doing." I replied with a blush.

He sighed and looked at the boxes before picking one up. He read the box and nodded. Lucien turned and handed me the box.

"Ultra-thin. That way you feel more. You don't need the ribbed or anything for the first time. It's going to hurt for her to start. You have to be gentle and listen to her, not just her words. Listen to the sounds she makes. Don't use anything you saw when you were watching p**n. At least... that's what I assume you meant by 'educational' videos." Lucien scoffed.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Those are male fantasies, rarely female ones. You know Echo, it's not like you're doing it with a total stranger. Just make sure she's ready and do what your body wants to do. It's completely natural, you'll know what to do when the time comes." He explained. "Thanks. I didn't know who to talk to about this." I said softly.

"No problem. I expect I'll have this talk with my own son one day. I wanted to talk to you about this dinner you're taking Echo to."

I cleared the boxes off the bed and waved for him to sit. I took a seat near him. Over the last week, I'd come to admire him even more. He was a strong warrior and a solid man. I changed my earlier opinion about Bellamy picking him and him not having a chance. It was clear that they were really in love.

"As you may have guessed, when I brought Bellamy home, it seemed that anyone who knew she was a rogue wasn't as welcoming about our relationship. There were a few who supported us, but that just made the ones who didn't hurt worse. I lost several good friends. They left the pack because of me taking Bellamy as my mate." Lucien said.

"People have been telling me to leave Echo since practically the first moment I saw her, when Echo practically rejected me herself." I chuckled. "I'm used to it by now."

"I heard about what happened at the bowling alley yesterday. Echo told Bellamy. You may be used to it, but she's not. Bellamy would have kicked my ass if I tried to protect her from the people who opposed us. Echo isn't like Bellamy. She is going to need you to step in a lot sooner and more strongly than you did last night." He warned.

"That's not a worry. Last night, I needed to see how she would handle things like that, but I found it was hard to watch. I never want Echo to feel hurt or unprotected. I'll take her out of there if I have to. The rest of my family, the ones who are eager to meet her, will make sure anyone who upsets her is dealt with." I assured him.

"I'm not going to sit here and tell you how to do things. I am going to tell you that you need to make it clear as soon as possible that you will not stand for them insulting your mate. I know it's harder for you, because you have a bunch of ex-Alphas to deal with. You have to do this for her."

"I will. Thank you, Lucien." I said.

"Good. I only want good things for you kids. This alliance is good for my mate. When you and Echo are happy, Victor is happy. It makes agreements easier to come to." He admitted.

Lucien stood and crossed to the door. He turned back to me.

"Good luck tonight. And congrats on becoming a man." He winked.

He left my room chuckling. I felt like he was talking down to me a little, but in a friendly way. Could I be friends with one of the most powerful Alphas in the region? The thought was exciting.