Henri
Your blood craving returned, and you reveled in the sensual pleasures my islands had to offer—basking nude on my beaches, wading through the cool shallow waters, stretching toward the sun like a flower… The fresh air and exercise rejuvenated you, and you even attempted scaling the limestone cliffs. Harnessed, as I’d insisted. Your body was growing stronger every day, and your spirit becoming more buoyant as well.
I admired you in my element and took joy in your discoveries. We were taking our time becoming reacquainted. I wanted you to know your desires before I influenced you with my own. There was little reward in forcing a flower to bloom.
And at the most unexpected times, you revealed to me your mistreatment while in Azrael’s captivity.
“All I had to eat was this gray mush,” you said unhappily as you poked a pile of mashed potatoes with your fork. “It tasted like nothing, except for when it was drugged. Then there was this sweet, chalky aftertaste.”
You pushed your plate away, and I made a mental note not to serve you that dish again. For several minutes you simply gazed out the window, getting lost in the shadows of your mind until at last, you said, “That was how I knew I’d have to kill someone soon.” You looked at me imploringly. All of my sentiments seemed trite, and I didn’t wish to exacerbate your self-loathing.
“When a bloodborn is starved, especially at your age, there’s very little we can do to stave off a feeding frenzy.”
“He made me choose my victim,” you said softly. “And if I didn’t kill them, Cyclops would. And he was… cruel.”
If I ever got my hands on that half-breed brute… I took you in my arms and held you until you’d mostly recovered, and we continued on with our day.
That night you woke up screaming from a nightmare. On those occasions, you didn’t want to be touched, wouldn’t even pet your cat. You’d haunt the halls of my villa or if it was daytime, go for a long walk. I left you to your solitude, though I sometimes followed at a distance. There were several places where a slip or fall could spell disaster. And it had always calmed me to have you in my sights.
It had been a difficult morning. You’d told me about a few of your victims—what they looked like and their last moments before they’d died. How they pleaded with you for their lives. For you, these thoughts were obsessive, and I didn’t know how to offer you relief. I couldn’t even use sex or blood as distractions. So, I simply listened, absorbing every detail, storing it away as dry powder for when my vengeance could be unleashed.
You then told me you were going down to visit with the sirens. I’d suggested it as a place to seek comfort, or at the very least, exorcise your self-destructive thoughts. It had been a couple of hours already, so I took the trail down to find you. You weren’t in the caves, nor on the beach. I called for you a few times, but you didn’t answer. That was when I noticed the boat was missing, and there was a note attached to a wood piling, or rather a leaf with scratch marks and a message.
Gone to see Lucian. Be back before dark.
Nightfall was several hours away. Should I simply wait for your return? That idea didn’t sit well with me, not after the morning we’d had, so I stripped to my underwear and dove into the water to swim it.
The boat was tied up when I reached the mainland, which meant you’d gotten that far at least. I climbed the hill to Lena’s compound and scouted the courtyard for any sign of you or Lucian, but the area was deserted—not even a gardener or housekeeper in sight. I mounted the steps to Lucian’s manor, considered knocking, then decided against it. The front hall was empty as were the anterior rooms. I didn’t want to disturb the two of you, only check in and make sure you were safe.
That was when I heard the steady thwack of leather hitting skin.
I bounded up the stairs and searched you out. Stefan was leaned against the wall outside Lucian’s bedroom, one hip jutted with brazen attitude.
“What’s going on here?” I asked in a low rumble. Blood surged through me, collected in my extremities, and imbued me with phenomenal strength.
“I’m the lookout,” he said insolently and stepped aside so that I had unfettered access to the door. I paused there, listening. The strikes had halted, and I heard you speaking lowly in what sounded like a negotiation.
I opened the door silently and took in the scene. You stood at the foot of Lucian’s bed with your wrists tethered by ropes to the sturdy wooden bed posts. Your back was cross hatched with red welts, a few of them bleeding. Lucian was shirtless with sweat rolling down his near-hairless torso and back, the blond hair of his head dampened to a light brown. His face was red with exertion, and his mouth was drawn in a tight grimace as he concentrated on what you’d been saying. I knew at once it was consensual, that you’d asked for this treatment because you wanted to be punished, and you knew it was something I was unable to provide. It went against my basic instincts to harm you in any way.
“Are you quite finished?” I asked, interrupting the exchange.
Lucian went wide-eyed and held up both hands in acquiescence, the belt still clasped in one hand. You twisted in your bindings to gaze at me over your shoulder. Your vacant expression told me your mind was elsewhere. Meanwhile, Lucian’s pet had snuck in to watch this exchange play out.
“Not yet,” you said.
“How many more?” There were already too many to count.
“Twenty.”
“Vincent,” Lucian said with unease. I didn’t know if it was my presence that had rattled him or because he felt you’d had enough.
“You agreed to it already,” you said and turned away to await the next blow.
“Henri?” Lucian appealed to me. I didn’t know if he was asking my permission or hoping I’d interfere.
“Give him what he wants.”
Lucian scrutinized me, but there was no duplicity in my request. Seeing that I wasn’t going to inflict any violence on his person, he once again took up a dominant stance, pacing in front of your torn back like a matador. His nostrils flared with the scent of fresh blood as did my own. Stefan had faded into the background, leaned against the wall to watch without being seen. Lucian took up the belt and ran his hand along its biting edge like a lover’s caress, then licked his palm where your blood had collected. For you this was penance, but for Lucian…
