Dusk has settled over the world, ushering in vampires from every house, and where the creatures of the dark roam, the mages of light rise to meet them. Some fight for their house, while others struggle with what lies inside of themselves, but all fi...
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Reaver stalked the halls in a funk. It took a lot to get through his thick skin, and losing Laurence was a blow that he'd feared for a while now. No words could have changed the man's mind nor did Reaver have any right to utter them. This was what Laurence had craved since the day Vincent's men had stolen him from his home. Freedom. Who was he to deny him that?
"Would you take me?"
Those words hurt Reaver more than any other.
Reaver would have taken Laurence, made him one of his own, and given him freedom here, had Laurence only stayed. With Vincent, that had not been a safe option, but with him dead, it was a possibility that Reaver had not had the time to share with Laurence. Ever since Vincent's fall, he'd been tied up with task after task, so he'd had no time to offer the life of a vampire to the man he loved. Damien had insisted upon giving Laurence the human option of freedom first, and Ares had agreed even if he and Damien did not care for each other. His sire, Ares', word was law, and now Reaver was alone.
Two heartbeats scathed his ears, and he inhaled the scent of a male he knew well.
Damien came around the corner with two slaves, ones who'd served the western half of the castle. Elias and Alyssa were both dark skinned with darker eyes, siblings who were the last of the slaves Vincent had taken. Elias took one look at him, squared his shoulders and strode up to stand firmly in his line of sight, albeit a few inches shorter. The scowl on his face, the shaking of his nose from his building rage, and the heat of hatred in his eyes couldn't cut near as deep as Laurence abandoning him.
"I hope you die a slow and agonizing death, Master." Elias spit on the floor at his feet and then skittered back to Damien's side where he trembled in fear of Reaver even after garnering the strength to do such.
Elias was the blood slave Reaver had fed from alternatively with Laurence. No human could fully serve a single vampire, and Reaver had struck a deal with the man for blood. In exchange for Elias lying tied in his arms for blood once a week, Reaver looked out for his younger sister Alyssa, making sure she only fed Ares' men and keeping her from defilement. Somehow that exchange was seen by Elias as Reaver threatening to rape his sister if he didn't give him blood, and nothing Reaver could say would convince him otherwise.
There was no point in retaliation, nor did Reaver much feel like it, so he continued on as he was before. As soon as Elias saw him walking away, he muttered a few more curses, but Damien ushered him on with his sister. They were heading home, as Laurence already had, and Reaver had one last thing to take care of for the day.
It was a daunting task, but one he'd put off since Vincent had fallen. Ares kept him so busy managing their people, that Reaver had managed to avoid meeting his new master, but putting it off this long made it appear as if he did not intend to follow him. With their family in a state of turmoil that was a death sentence if not rectified.
