That was her reality now. Except she wasn’t digging with her hands, she was digging with her mind and the slow, slow work that she had set upon herself to do. She wanted to know what Kenneth had meant by ‘students’ all those many days ago when she had almost broken free of his trap. She hadn’t counted on that woman showing up.
It was of little consequence now though. Kenneth had stopped tormenting her and she was free to her work, ‘Apathy becomes our ally’ as one such romantic prisoner had intoned to his cell mate as they dug, so too was she allowed to keep to her work in peace.
Something was troubling Kenneth. There was absolutely no reason for him to be troubled though. Brian had come back and reported their victory over the Werewolves. Their wolf pets had performed admirably and attacked on command and had returned when ordered. The werewolves had gotten away but that was a small thing. They did recognize one of the werewolves from the rooftop where he had captured his prize so long ago. That was not altogether unexpected but rather a small bonus to the spoils, had they succeeded in taking him or killing him. The use of weapons was nothing new, new for William though. He had no memory of William ever using weapons before but then with so many of his establishments getting raided it was impossible for him to keep all the reports straight from one to the next without his notes.
The plan was proceeding along just fine. His ability to dominate wolves had grown since that first one he broke not so long ago. But that first one, what did Tony call him? Ditch? Lunch? Scrunch? Something. That one he had not been able to dominate. Every time he had tried, he was met with a mental blast not unlike that first time with images of places from the long past that this wolf couldn’t have possibly seen and yet every time he tried to dominate him the typhoon of images and emotions always forced him back. He had tried to figure out how that wolf was doing it but so far, he had no idea and no real leads on the why of it.
And yet he was still uneasy. Where ever the werewolves hid was still hidden to him. And he seemed to be losing ground to these animals that he had thought were all but wiped out. He would have to have Brian and his group start training others on how to fight. He had figured that it wasn’t worth it. After all it was them that had captured Ansuya, very easily as it turned out. But with the raids increasing and the werewolves growing in number it was time to start training competent fighters. He would also need to work on adding quality additions to his House, above the sheer numbers that he was so hungry for only a few years ago.
It had been sometime since Alessandro had called him in for a meeting in his glass tower. This also was not unexpected. The vast network of people that he had emplaced throughout his House was very good at protecting him. So, the illustrious Head of House had no reason to worry about him. Soon he would have no reason to worry about Alessandro either.
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Was that it? He hadn’t heard anything from Advanced Cell technologies and everything hinged on that one thing. He was far from ready though. There were too many pieces not in place and he must wait for them all to be ready before he moved that piece into position. Time was not on his side. He could live forever, but so could Alessandro. Even with his network, the Head of House was still powerful and it was only a matter of time before he did call Kenneth to the tower for answers on what he had been doing.
He felt an itch, something like an itch, just below the surface of his skin right between his shoulder blades, an itch he couldn’t scratch. It was time. Time was always against him. It seemed such a short time ago where he had all the advantages. Now things were speeding up. He had to be ready and spring his plan before the pendulum of fate swung the other way.
Alessandro may be placated for now, but the Head of House wasn’t stupid. The machinations of Kenneth would soon be discovered, it was only a matter of time. He had to be ready before that happened.
He pushed himself back from his desk and stared up at his smooth ceiling. He couldn’t place why he was disturbed but it had been a slowly growing thing for what seemed like a while now. Some things were proceeding as planned, others needed his immediate attention. But this unrest that he felt, even here in his own house, was something that wrapped itself around him like a shroud.
He closed his eyes and let himself simply hang in space for a time.
“My mate?” came a soft cooing from the door.
Kenneth opened one radiant green eye that stared at the black-haired woman with a soft intensity.
“Are…are you…alright? Do you need me to get you anything?” The younger vampire stammered in uncertainty.
“No, Natalia,” he said as he rocked forward and looked at her with both piercing blue eyes. “I am just thinking about what Brian told me and…other things.”
The woman stepped gingerly into the room. “I don’t mean to upset you, Kenneth but you have almost everything that you wanted at one time. You have power in your house and the respect of the others inside our House, even if Alessandro won’t acknowledge it. What troubles you?” She took another step into the room. “Perhaps I can...distract you.” She said this with a mischievous smile and slowly moved her seductive hands down toward her hips and waist line, gently caressing herself, promising those things which made him want her so badly when they met in Naples all those years ago.
The movement was so simple but it elicited in him such a response that he was grabbing her and ripping at her clothes in seconds. Whatever was troubling him was suddenly forgotten as his mind gave into the passion of his body and the closeness of his mate. He silently thanked her for not making him destroy her with more lessons, like the one he had to administer to her not so very long ago. She was strong and she knew just what he needed and when he needed it. He had chosen his mate well.