It truly was the “little death.”He felt like he was emptying his life force into Grayson. While Grayson sagged back on the pillows, hair clinging to his face because of sweat, eyes shut, skin glowing.He was so beautiful.He accepted Ryder’s offering and was completely at his mercy.
Grayson’s head was turned to the side and his neck was exposed.A vein pulsed there.He could smell Grayson’s blood.Sweet.Rich.Inviting.He was about to wrench himself away.He swore he was!When Grayson curled a hand around his head.
“It’s all right.You can feed,” Grayson offered.
“I–Ican’t, Ashyr,” he got out.
Grayson opened his eyes and looked up at him.“It will be all right.I want–”
“I don’t want to feed from you!”Ryder got out around his fangs.“I do, but I also… I also want to feed you in return.Do you understand, my love?Do you?”
At his words, he had expected Grayson’s eyes to widen, for him to push Ryder away, and tell him not to think of it!But instead, Grayson’s expression softened.
“You have no idea… no idea… how much I want that, too,” Grayson murmured.“So much.”
Ryder let out a choked laugh.“You–you do?I know you said–”
“I love you,” Grayson breathed.“I love you.”
Ryder leaned down and rested his forehead against Grayson’s.“And I love you.Which is why… why we won’t do this now.I know it would go against what you want to do for the students, for Daemon.”
Grayson’s hold tightened on him.“We just need to get through this and then we can… canmoveon and put most of the past behind us.”
Ryder kissed him tenderly.Again and again and again.
Memories
Grayson pulled down the hood of his jacket as he jogged up the dorm’s steps to his shared rooms.Ryder wasn’t with him.His beloved was patrolling the outside of the city, on high alert, in case any Sect members chose this night to infiltrate the city again.But Grayson felt sure that, if there was danger, it would come from within.
As more and more Vampires arrived in the city–drawn by Weryn and his own return–there were just too many to test in his weakened state.And he wasn’t altogether sure that every Sect member had a structure within them.Maybe only those who had come here before and been tested by Balthazar did.
But now there were more Vampires that Balthazar hadnottested then there seemed to be ones that he had.And now that they knew the structures were dangerous to Balthazar, they couldn’t risk him simply casting his mind out into the sea of other minds and reeling in the fish they were looking for.
Daemon does not want them turned away.All are welcome.But, surely, he guesses the danger of letting so many in?
But, then again, what would weakness look like for Daemon?It would look like Vampires being stopped and frisked.And he had a feeling that the Vampire King still had hope that even those who had turned against him had done so out of ignorance.Once exposed to him and the feeling of togetherness that they were creating here, Daemon clearly hoped they would change their minds.
Maybe some of them could.But could they in time?The ones that came after me seemed gleeful at the idea of torturing and killing an “innocent” human.War Children are supposed to be like that so can anything else really affect them?
It was impossible to say.Grayson just knew that he was uneasy and wanted to shut down all borders and bunker down.That’s partially what he had been doing at the Weryn Palace.That and recovering from using his power more in these few weeks than he had in years as Grayson Duke.
And then there were the emotional shocks.
There had been way too many of those.He used to pride himself on being as cold an observer as Kaly and as calculating as Eyros as he viewed everything from above like Wyvern.Maybe he was none of those things.Maybe it wasn’tGraysonwho was emotional–andweak–but him.He thought he remembered himself one way, but maybe he didn’t understand himself.Grayson wasn’t born in a vacuum.Grayson washim.Forged under different conditions, but, at the core, him.
What does that mean?
He had been asking himself that question for two weeks and he still had no answers.But, at least, he was calm when he asked it and not shaking.He composed himself and walked inside his rooms.
Already, the others–Mairead, Amana and Eiji–were there, but there was also an extra: Nero!Grayson’s eyebrows rose to see his Childe, sitting at the bar in the kitchen with a malt beer in one hand, watching as Eiji laid out paper blueprints of a building.His eyes met his Childe’s and Nero inclined his head slightly.It was to be the only sign that they were Master and Childe, of course.
Is he so jealous that he can’t bear to have Eiji be part of the Helm game?I know that all Masters are jealous, especially after they choose a Childe, but Nero was always easy-going.But that was before… before he’d lost so many fledglings to the War.
Grayson searched Nero’s face, but he was distracted by the Mairead express.
“Thank God, you’re here, Grayson!”Mairead cried and hustled over to him.She was pulling off his jacket and stuffing a beer in his hand–an ice cold lager for him–as she said, “We were worried Ryder wouldn’t let you leave the Weryn Palace!”
“You meanyouwere worried.”Amana shook her head then took a sip of white wine.“Grayson is spoken for.He does not need to play these games.”
