Sean was just exiting his office as Lucian entered the main hall, carrying Emma's still impaled body as he did. Seeing Sean’s expression, Lucian swallowed hard and took a few slow steps toward him, gently laying her upon the cool marble as he kept his eyes on Sean.
“All right, nephew,” Sean stated the word with an obvious coolness to his tone, “care to explain?”
“She attacked Eliot,” were the first words that came to Lucian in the face of Sean’s disapproval.
“More explaining please,” Sean replied curtly.
Lucian swallowed nervously again, “It seemed like she was in frenzy.”
“Frenzy?” Sean’s brow creased, “I suppose it was bound to happen since she has to be tricked into even drinking blood” he shook his head as he knelt down to brush a dark hair off her pale face.
Lucian’s relief was minimal as he had avoided any blame in for her current state, but there was still another matter he needed to discuss. And he doubted that would go pleasantly either. “She bit him,” Lucian began.
“I could have guessed that when you mentioned frenzy” Sean retorted, the sarcasm a by-product of how little trust he still had for Awsha’s childe even after nearly a decade in the much younger Kindred’s presence. “Is he still alive?” Sean added as more of an afterthought.
“Yes, I saved him” Lucian admitted, still not able to meet Sean’s light blue eyes as the elder vampire stood upright once more.
“Are you looking for a reward or something?” Sean returned with a slight scowl, “good job. There, feel better?”
Lucian bit back a scoff, “there’s more.”
“Of course there is” Sean replied tiresomely, his entire demeanor much cooler in this man’s presence than it ever was in the presence of those he truly cared for.
“After I pulled her off Eliot, she attacked me.”
“Imagine that” Sean stated, impatiently waiting for the rest of the story.
Lucian shook his head again, “and then Eliot saved me” he forced himself to admit.
“I believe that’s the most shocking thing I’ve heard tonight” Sean replied with a skeptical look.
Lucian couldn’t bite back the scoff then, “do you seriously trust him?”
“More than I trust some” Sean returned as he pointedly moved his eyes over the other man.
“Since when do we trust any unbound mortals? Especially...” he began, then just looked away again.
“I don’t have to like having an unbound mortal around. But he’s been compelled not to hurt us while we sleep. He’s hardly a threat.”
“You believe that? How about when we’re awake?”
Sean couldn’t help a wry laugh at the latter of his questions before continuing, “if you have some point, now would be a good time to make it” Sean returned.
“Have you even seen him since he got back?”
“We don’t really socialize” Sean replied smartly.
Lucian scoffed again, “he’s been away from us, away from our blood, for three years, and he still looks just the same. And that’s just the first thing that’s beyond strange about him” Lucian complained.
“There are Kindred to drink from on the other side of the world. You’re from there yourself. Perhaps you should go back for a reminder” Sean told him coolly.
Lucian shook his head again, “did I mention that Eliot’s actually the one who staked Emma?”
Sean blinked slightly at that fact, briefly glancing down at the girl before turning his eyes back to Lucian, “so I guess you were an adequate distraction.”
Lucian gave him another look of disbelief, “compelled not to hurt us? Are you still so sure on that?”
“While we sleep” Sean reminded, then added, “and he hurt one of us to save one of us. Things do tend to get a little cloudy in that situation, even with compulsion.”
“Would you like to hear how he got the better of her? Because that’s the most interesting part of this story, followed closely by how insane his aura looks and the way his blood tastes!”
“I thought Emma was the one who bit him” Sean narrowed his eyes.
“Did you even hear the rest of what I said?”
Sean sighed heavily as he moved to lean against the wall, “fine tell me your little story about how the big bad mortal took down the little Kindred waif.”
“You know what? Just forget it” Lucian returned angrily, “you’re obviously never going to trust me, and never going to believe anything I say, no matter how important. So you can deal with whatever the hell Eliot even is yourself! I think I will go back home after all. I would say it’s been a pleasure living under your reign. But that would really only be true about one particular night. So tell Claire I thank her for that night, and that I said goodbye” and with that, Lucian stormed back out through the doors.
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Upon first waking naked and alone in Eliot’s bed that evening, Claire looked around the room curiously. The only other person present was the servant who had arrived in the room that morning to see the very strange sight of Claire actually being conscious past sunrise for the first time since her embrace. And then going on to witness the equally strange way in which Eliot had seemingly placed her back into that deep slumber with a simple touch.
“Miss Claire?” the girl, whose name was Autumn, greeted Claire warily as her eyes opened and she pushed herself up to her elbows.
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“Have you seen Eliot?” Claire asked, trying to ignore the million or so questions on Autumn’s face.
“He woke up late this afternoon and left shortly thereafter. I haven’t seen him since.”
Claire sighed softly as she pushed herself upwards to a seat against the headboard, looking around the room once more. As Claire was still in her previous state of undress, Autumn moved to dutifully retrieve a robe and offer it to her a moment later. “Thank you” Claire stated absently as she moved to slowly stand as the girl helped her into it.
As Claire tied the robe around her waist, the nearness of the young woman easily reminded her of exactly how much blood she had burnt through the previous evening during nearly four hours of intimacy altogether, though with two different lovers. On that thought she glanced back at Autumn with a nod toward the young lady’s neck, the request clear.
“Oh, of course” Autumn stated as she took a step closer to allow Claire to replace what she had lost the previous night.
Shortly after Claire took her fill of Autumn’s blood, the young woman gave her one more questioning look. Though when it seemed Claire was too distracted to offer any of the answers she had patiently waited on all day, she solemnly left the room at last.
Over an hour had passed since sunset, and Claire was still waiting for Eliot to return to his room. She had been under the impression that he would be eager to finish the conversation about that terrible prophecy which they’d begun discussing that very morning. However, it seemed that something had kept him from returning home as of yet, and that only made Claire worry further.
Claire sighed as the clock struck ten. She pushed away the book that she had only been going through the motions of reading as she waited there upon Eliot’s bed, still. That was when her eyes turned toward the door to the privy a moment before Sean appeared there from their master suite.
She gave him a curious look, but still managed a smile nonetheless, which was almost impossible for her not to do each time she saw him. “You look as though you were expecting someone else” he greeted her in an unreadable tone.
“Well, you’re usually busy most nights. And this is Eliot’s room, and he did just come back last night. I figured he’d be here this evening too. But I guess not” she added more quietly as she cast a glance toward the patio doors, remembering the way that elusive sun had peeked through at her just that same morning.
Sean pushed down a slight sigh as he too glanced around the room before stepping closer, “I imagine he got held up by something” he told her knowingly, considering the conversation he had just had, which ended with Lucian storming out of the manor.
Claire sighed as well before forcing the smile back to her lips and turning her eyes back his way, “so how did you manage to get a moment away from your Princely duties tonight?”
“I’m actually following up on them right now” he stated as he watched her closely.
“You are?” she asked curiously as she finally pushed herself up from the mattress and moved across the room to stand near him.
“Eliot may have returned, but it seems Lucian is apparently planning to leave” he began.
“He is?” Claire asked, her shock raising her volume, especially after the two of them had just made love for the first time, just last night, and eight long years after having originally met, at that.
“He told me to tell you thank you... and goodbye” he stated as he continued watching her expression.
“Pardon?” she asked as she looked up at him, “thank you for what?” she had to ask.
“Apparently for his one good night that he had while in America” Sean answered, which caused her too quickly avert her eyes. He then added, “at least you seem quite over your fear of being intimate with other Kindred. Even if they happen to be Awsha’s childe” he had to add pointedly.
“Sean” she told him with a deep, sad sigh.
“Never mind” Sean stated as he cleared his throat and moved on, “anyway, it seems that Eliot’s return and Lucian’s departure may be linked.”
“What?” she asked, thrown by that.
“Lucian came to me tonight, seeming quite distressed over your current pet.”
Claire sighed as she gave him a cool look, “since when do we call them pets, Sean?” she then moved on, “and distressed how? Lucian has known Eliot almost as long as I have.”
“Something allegedly occurred tonight that made Lucian quite agitated about your... Eliot” he corrected himself mid-sentence.
“Like what?” she asked. If anything, she was sure it would be Eliot unhappy about something Lucian had done, something very specific as a matter of fact; not the other way around.
“There supposedly was some sort of confrontation with Emma. She frenzied and attacked Eliot.”
“Oh my god!” Claire exclaimed, the panic in her eyes obvious and immediate. “Is he all right?”
“Emma was staked before she could kill him” Sean informed her, making some attempt to calm her panic, despite the curiosity he still had about Lucian’s insinuations.
Claire was only slightly calmed though, needing to know more, “ok, but who staked her? And what does any of this have to do with Lucian?”
“Apparently Lucian came upon them right as Emma attacked Eliot. Lucian stopped her from killing him.”
“He did?” she stated with surprise as well as relief, “so, Lucian was the one who staked her? And how does any of this even lead to Lucian being upset with Eliot? I’m very confused, Sean” she stated as she shook her head up at him.
“Probably because neither of you were there” Eliot interrupted, his voice shaky as he had now appeared at the main door of the room, more than a little intimidated by not only finding Sean there, but finding them discussing his rather traumatic evening at that.
“Eliot!” she exclaimed as she rushed toward him, wrapping him tightly in her arms with visible relief.
“Lucian is leaving?” Eliot asked after returning her hug, only to catch Sean’s eyes on the two of them and release Claire from the embrace, taking a slight step back. It was one thing to make love to her when Sean was nowhere in sight, but showing her any affection right in front of her husband? That he would still need time to get his head around.
Sean squinted slightly as he took a long look at Eliot, now nearly blinded by that sparkling aura all around the young man. His mind immediately recalled Lucian’s words about Eliot’s very strange aura now that he was seeing it firsthand.
Though, more importantly, there had only been the tiniest sparkle there when he had first met Eliot, nearly a decade earlier. And that was concerning as well. That tiny sparkle had been so minor then, that Sean had barely noticed it at the time. Especially after he had read the boy’s thoughts that first night and found nothing to take specific note of inside his head either.
Having to readjust his vision again, due to the very intense brightness now present in Eliot’s aura, Sean took a moment to remember that a question had been asked, “yes, Lucian said he’s planning on going back to England.”
Eliot narrowed his eyes warily at that, “did he say why?” he had to ask, though he was honestly afraid of the answer.
“The gist was that he was unhappy with my not believing certain... claims... he had made” Sean stated, watching Eliot closely still.
“About Awsha, and all of that?” Claire offered a guess, “it’s been years though” she then shook her head and turned back to Eliot, “and I’m still very confused on this whole Emma thing. Why did she attack you? Was it Lucian that staked her? Or was someone else involved too?” she asked her many questions in rapid succession.
“Yes, I’m curious about all of that as well” Sean added, both of them looking to Eliot for answers now.
Eliot took a deep breath as he looked between their two sets of questioning eyes. A moment later, he turned to Sean, “can’t you just rip all your answers out of my head though, Sean?”
Claire looked down quickly as Sean narrowed his eyes at the young man’s boldness, “is that you giving me permission to do so?”
“Sean!” Claire immediately looked back up at him.
“Didn’t know you needed permission” Eliot replied, forcing braveness into his voice.
“Oh, I don’t. I was just being polite, since my wife seems to have such a soft spot in her heart for you and all” Sean told him evenly as Claire just shook her head with an unhappy sigh.
Finally, Claire was the one who spoke up, and loudly, “why the hell is every man in my life suddenly acting like this? It’s ridiculous, all things considered” she added pointedly, her frustration obvious as she looked between the two of them who both averted their eyes. She then added, “you know what? You should all just go fuck each other and get it over with. Then maybe you’ll all stop being assholes to each other once and for all!” and with that she pushed past Eliot and out of the room, slamming the door behind her.