“And how did you hear who my husband was?” Claire made herself ask Lucian with a healthy dose of suspicion in her tone.

“I didn’t realize it was a secret” Lucian returned as he glanced back at where Eliot still looked a bit stunned by the information himself.

“Everything about our kind is a secret, isn’t it?” she mumbled as she began moving away from the train in annoyance.

That was when Eliot, as well as Lucian, hurried to follow her departing footsteps. Though it was Eliot who spoke up first, “I knew you were married, but...” his voice trailed off, his mind flying back to their first meeting on that train, “you said you weren’t nobility.”

Claire paused only momentarily to look up at him, “it doesn’t work like that for us, Eliot. My husband may be a Prince, but it’s a very different thing than the sort of nobility your family comes from.”

“You’re a nobleman?” Lucian interrupted with his own surprise then as his eyes moved over Eliot once more.

“Depends on who you ask” Eliot mumbled, more concerned with hearing Claire’s explanations rather than making his own right then.

“Odd, I think I would have known that” Lucian went on as they continued following after Claire as she started moving once more. “What was your surname again?”

Eliot scoffed as he took a large stride to catch up with Claire, “but being the Prince’s wife? Why didn’t you mention that?”

“Like I said, it’s not the same as the nobility you’re used to” she mumbled as she stepped out of the train station, both men hurrying to follow her. Not wanting to go into all those explanations right then, Claire led them farther from the more mortal variety of the other departing passengers. Once convinced no one was near enough to overhear their conversation, she turned her eyes back to Lucian, “and what clan did you say you were from?”

“Clan?” he stated as he raised a brow.

“Yes, there are several” she told him with a bit of sarcasm, “which of them were you and your sire from?” she stated slowly, more than a bit of impatience in her tone.

Lucian paused only a moment before responding, “You mean I failed to mention that?” Lucian returned with feigned innocence.

Claire huffed again, “you might want to let me in on that bit of information if you honestly expect me to say anything at all to Sean on your behalf.”

“He doesn’t remember all that much about the one who made him” Eliot was the one who surprisingly answered, causing a startled look from Claire and a slightly darker one from Lucian.

“And you apparently remember more than I thought you did from your drunken visit with me last week” Lucian stated, though quietly.

“Mind letting me in on this conversation?” Claire interrupted as she looked up at the two men who each towered nearly a foot over her own tiny stature.

“Funny story” Lucian began, though grudgingly, as he would rather put his own spin on his origin story than whatever one Eliot would.

“I’m howling” Claire mumbled with further impatience.

Lucian graced her with another slightly insincere smile at her obvious sarcasm, “I seem to have a bit of a blank spot when it comes to various facts about my sire. Which is the reason I hadn’t shared that information with you. There is a decided lack of it, unfortunately.”

“You’re telling me you don’t remember who embraced you?” Claire returned skeptically.

“I believe I just said that” he made himself admit.

“And you have no idea what clan you’re even from either?” Claire reiterated.

Lucian sighed as Eliot watched him carefully then as well, still keeping most of that conversation of theirs close to his chest, for the moment. Lucian shook his head as he looked between their two sets of waiting eyes, “I believe the word Toreador was mentioned. But that entire week is rather cloudy.”

“Toreador” she returned with further disbelief.

“Not a fan?” Lucian asked worriedly.

Claire just sighed again, “just in awe of my luck” she mumbled with the same sarcasm as she began moving toward the carriages waiting near the station to take newly arrived passengers to their various destinations in the city.

“Your luck?” he asked with another raise of his brow as he and Eliot moved to quickly follow after her once more.

“Never mind” was her only response before sighing as the three reached the carriage that would take them to the next stage of their very strange journey.

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Upon their arrival at the huge estate that Claire had called home for well over a century now, she urged the two of them to wait outside for at least a little while as she reunited with her husband for the first time in nearly a year. Neither of them really wanting to stir up any trouble on their first night, they agreed to her request. Though with a decided lack of enthusiasm about it.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Eliot and Lucian each let out a heavy sigh from time to time, while silently watching an occasional servant give them a curious look as they came or went through the gate or front door. Though most of their time was spent staring out toward the ocean, neither wanting to initiate a conversation between the two of them first.

“I wonder if seeing her husband again distracted her so much, she forgot that I-- we were even out here,” Eliot finally spoke up as he allowed a wistful glance in the direction of the front door.

“That’s really your predominant thought right now?” Lucian scoffed, looking over at the younger man as they each stood leaning against the outer wall of the huge manor.

“Me? You’re the one who followed her across an entire ocean as well as a whole country just because someone you can't even remember told you to,” Eliot returned cattily.

Lucian gave the slightest glare in return before quickly hiding it, “and if you remember so much, then you remember exactly why I did do all that. And the stakes involved” he stated more seriously.

“Which is the only reason I haven’t mentioned your ulterior motives to Claire just yet. I’m still trying to decide my own opinion on them.”

“Ulterior motives?”

“You know, getting close to Claire, gaining her trust, or some such thing? Seems you still have a bit of work to do on that front,” Eliot mumbled.

The glare was more pronounced then, “and if you had a child whose very life was in danger, and you were told that all you had to do to hopefully save that child was to gain the confidence of a beautiful woman, what would you do?" Lucian paused only a moment, before moving on. "The point is, this is hardly a laughing matter,” he added coolly, suddenly regretting his recent attempt to try to get closer to Claire by at least gaining Eliot as an ally in some small way, hoping the other man would step aside to at least some degree.

“Who’s laughing?” Eliot mumbled.

“Your empathy is moving” Lucian returned with a sharp sarcasm as he averted his eyes.

Eliot scoffed, “perhaps if you were willing to admit to what the ultimate plan actually was for Claire...”

“It’s not my plan” Lucian returned with annoyance, “I only know the part I’m expected to play in it. And you’re continued presence is making it rather difficult to achieve.”

“Yes, I’m sure if I got back on that train tonight, Claire would surely fall straight into your arms” Eliot retorted with continued sarcasm. That response only received another glare from Lucian. But before he could offer a further response of his own, Eliot continued, “how do you honestly expect me to take your side in this when the person who sent you here is obviously not trustworthy, and you won’t even admit to what your end goal actually is?”

“As I just said...” Lucian began.

Eliot interrupted with another scoff, “you must admit it’s a pretty questionable plan. Why exactly would you need to gain her trust, if it wasn’t just to set her up for some sort of betrayal? What kind of plan even is that?”

“I probably should have bound you” Lucian mumbled with further annoyance.

“Not helping yourself” Eliot returned with a slight glare of his own then.

“You have a valid point” Lucian made himself admit, “but again, I don’t know what my bloody sire’s whole plan even is. I just know that I have to do as they say, or else...” his voice dropped again as he turned his face away once more. Though both men seemed to not have much else to say to one another at that point.

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Meanwhile inside, Claire had just barely passed through the massive front doors and into the huge entry hall before Sean immediately emerged from his office. He rushed toward her, gathering her into his arms as he blessed her with a kiss filled with nearly three centuries of passion.

The two did finally force themselves to end the kiss, while still remaining in one another’s arms, looking into each other’s smiling eyes. Through another small laugh, Claire finally found her voice, “not that I’m not eager to hear about all the life or death drama I’ve been missing out on here, but I should probably let you in on some things first.”

“Do tell” Sean replied curiously.

“I’ve acquired a couple of companions that seem to have followed me home. They’re waiting outside” she told him warily.

“Is that meant to come as a surprise to me? You do tend to acquire others quite easily” he teased.

She just wrinkled her nose up at his appraisal, but soon reverted to a more serious expression, “one of them is another Kindred. He seems to have had his memory tampered with by his own sire for some reason. But he thinks he recalls hearing our clan name, which probably means he’s one of us” she began.

“Interesting, but not too dire sounding” Sean replied, waiting for her next piece of information.

“I also can’t read his aura, so there’s that” she made herself add.

“Ok, more concerning, but if you brought him with you, and he’s one of us, I’m guessing he hasn’t raised too many warning flags just yet?”

“Only one, early on, but I think that was more of a misunderstanding than anything deliberately malevolent” Claire made herself admit.

Sean narrowed his eyes a bit at that, but decided to trust her judgment for the moment. After all, the real test would be once Sean met him. If Sean couldn’t read him either, then they may have a problem on their hands, but he would wait to make that call for now. “And the other?” he asked.

Claire sighed, “he’s that mortal I told you about when you contacted me in England.”

“Your pretty pet project?” Sean teased. He then added, “so he did manage to survive the ship ride from hell?”

“Just barely” she returned softly, then made herself continue, “something you should know about him though.”

“Yes?” Sean returned warily.

“The reason I decided to leave Hollister’s haven when I did, it was because of a misunderstanding about Eliot.”

“Another misunderstanding?” Sean returned with a skeptical look.

“It’s because I hadn’t given Eliot my blood” Claire made herself admit, searching his expression for signs of his own disapproval.

“I’m assuming you have since” Sean replied cautiously. Though the way Claire looked down told him that answer. “An unbound mortal, Claire?”

“I’ve already had this conversation with Hollister” she stated, though with a massive drop in volume.

“And yet” Sean returned pointedly. Though she offered no further response, “I assume you’ve at least compelled him?”

“Sort of” she stated in a tone that sounded much like that of a child being scolded, which was actually accurate, in an eerie sort of way.

Sean just shook his head with another sigh, “you made this entire trip home without..." He just shook his head before adding, "I guess I’ll have to be the one to determine whether either of them are actually a threat, as usual” he couldn’t help adding more quietly as he turned away to move back toward his office with no further discussion on the matter just then.