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CHAPTER 5
All talking ceased as Azrael led Selene back into his chamber. "Have the slaves been attended to?" He looked to Maria, who sat with a young man beside her.
"Yes, Master. I had them shower, as well, before I had them chained again." She looked over at the youth beside her. "This is Casey. He is the one that the other abused so." She made a motion towards Azrael. "Go on Casey, go kneel before your Master. Let him see what you look like."
The boy almost fell in his hurry to obey. Once was enough for him. He knew what they could do. He fell to his knees at Azrael's feet.
Azrael looked down at him. "Stand up boy, let me see the extent of your injuries." He reached out to steady the boy as he stood. Frowning as the youth flinched from his touch. "I am not going to harm you. I told you once already, you are safe from me as long as you obey." He took in the damage.
The boy was a mess. Both sides of his face were bruised; his back a rash of welts and scabbing where the blow had broke the skin. His scrotum was swollen, warning Azrael of internal damage. He would have to have a long talk with Lierin about his husbands' behavior. Or perhaps it might be best to have a word with Derrik himself. "Torin?" He looked up seeking his Healer Mage.
"Master?" Torin pulled himself from the chess game that he and Joseph were playing.
"The boy needs your attentions pet. Do you think you can help him?" Let him see if he could do it alone before Azrael made any further decisions.
Torin looked him over. The bruises and welts were no problem, but the swelling in his scrotum was another matter. "Master, I am going to have to touch him." He wanted his Master to be ready if the boy protested. "It's probably going to hurt."
"I'll hold him still." Joseph moved forward to help. "Relax kid, no one is going to hurt you more than can be helped. Tori is a Healer, he has to see how bad you're hurt." Arms wrapped around him, holding him in place.
"Please." His breath caught in his throat as Torin's fingers touched him. "I did like he said. I let him."
"It's nothing Azrael." Torin smiled at the boy. "Just some irritation, nothing else. This is a rather sensitive spot to be taking blows to. Do you want me to heal him?"
"Yes, he had obeyed the rules of his slavery, there is no reason he should suffer." He led Selene to his chair. "When you are finished with him bring him to me."
"Joey, if you would hold him for me, he might get a little weak kneed during this."
"Got him love, go on. I won't let him fall." He and Torin had over the last two years grown closer, as Kin should, in his eyes. His master would one day, real soon, be brother to this one.
The healing was simple. It's just some swelling due to irritation. But Torin swore to himself, if Derrik did this to one more person, that he'd ask Azrael's permission to beat the snot out of him. This was un-called for. "There you go, that should feel a whole lot better." His hands raised, cupping the frightened boy's face, power singing in his veins as he healed the bruises there before motioning for Joseph to turn him around. The boy was lucky the cracked rib he suffered could have broken and punctured a lung. But fate was kind.
Torin pulled back smiling. "Go on over to your Master, your healed now. There is no more pain."
The boy stumbled weak from loss of blood and abuse. What more could they want from him. He'd been given no choice, one moment he was breaking into a house, the next here. They never even asked him his name. It was Maria, who found him this morning curled up on his bed in so much pain, breathing even, hurt, that had finally asked him who he was. The floor came up fast and hard under him as he fell at the vampire's feet that owned him now.
Azrael looked at him silently. He really should be thankful that Maria had brought this to his attention as quickly as she did. "Maria, I commend you. Had you not told me, braved my anger to bring me this news, I would have never known that my word was being proven false." He graced her with one of his most brilliant smiles. "Now as to what to do with you. I am sorry that you have suffered. I promise it will not happen again. Now is there anything I might offer you to ease the pain that my careless Kin has caused you?"
The boy knelt there before him, arms wrapped around himself, trembling with effort not to fall flat on his face. He was so tired, and cold. All he wanted to do was sleep. "Water?" He looked up. Lips dry from loss of blood and the cold of the basement. "May I have a glass of water, please?"
Azrael turned his head at the sight. "Yes, of course." He looked to Morgan who sat in Mark's lap, a hurt and horrified expression on her face. "Pet, fetch the boy some water."
Selene watched her heart going out to the boy in the floor. She had been where he was just a short time ago. "Azrael?" She braved his name. Trusting in what they had shared to allow it. "Master?"
"Yes dear." He was grateful to be able to look at something besides this pitiful creature before him. But the pain in his newest Fledglings eyes was no reprieve. "What is it precious?"
She looked down. "You have given me so much tonight. I should cringe at the thought of asking for anything else." How could she ask him? This was his slave, a rightful one, and a lawbreaker. But she couldn't bear to look at him like this.
"Name it Selene, what do you want. Childe, I have not given you anything that you have not returned." He looked back down at Casey. "You want him do you not? It breaks your heart to see him like this. You who have known such similar pain." She nodded. "Very well, he is yours. It saves me the worry of what to do with him. He is your pet, if you will have him as such, your slave if not. His health and welfare are your responsibility."
She leaned over and kissed him. "Thank you."
"Do not thank me yet, dear. Wait; see if the boy is going to be trouble or not before you do. You might end up begging me to take him back just to get away from him. You have never owned a mortal before, have you?" He knew the answer long before she shook her head. "It is both a joy and a head ache at times. They are so fragile compared to us. Look at him. Did you see the damage he suffered? Derrik probably did not mean to harm him so badly, but what hurts them is nothing to us. Remember that, you can kill with little more than a touch."
Selene nodded, listening to the wisdom in his words. She would have to be very careful with him now, even more so, until he gained strength. "I understand, and still I thank you."
Morgan returned with a large glass of water. "Here." She held the glass for him as he drank. "Slow down, you'll make yourself sick."
Nothing had ever tasted so good in his life. He tried to slow down like she warned but it was so hard. He had been so thirsty, was still very much so. But the water went quite a ways to easing that thirst. "Thank you." His voice a whisper as he rocked forward, fighting to stay knelt where he was.
"Boy." Azrael had waited, until his first request had been granted, before drawing his attention again. "Look at me."
His head rose, and a pair of frightened brown eyes stared at him from behind stringy dirty brown hair. "Selene has asked for you. Offered to put you under her protection. Do you understand me?"
The head of dirty hair shook from side to side. No, of course, he didn't. How could he? "She will be the one who sees to your care now. You are no longer a slave to be fed from and ignored, but her own personal pet, like the ones you see in this room. She will see to it that you are cared for and protected. But be warned. If you give her trouble, I will be more than happy to return you to the state that you are now escaping. Now do you understand?"
His eyes shifted from Azrael's to Selene's. "What do you want?"
Selene looked to Azrael, who smiled. "Go on dear, let the boy have your bond. It will be a few days before you can drink from him, but your blood should help him to regain his strength. Then you might consider choosing one of my pets to feed from. After that, the boy needs a bath, and some food if you plan to keep him."
Selene moved slowly to drop to her knees beside Casey. The boy cried out, pulling away from her touch. Which only caused him to fall forward onto the floor. "Don't." She grabbed him as he tried to pull away. "I won't hurt you. I promise. Come here, I want to be your friend."
Azrael watched silently as Selene coaxed the boy into her arms. He wondered how Thorne's boy had fared all these years. The pain of his need still troubled him and watching his new charge, knowing what her life had been like, made him even more disturbed. He hoped that tonight, as he sent forth the call again, that the boy was brave enough to try to reach him again. Megel would be waiting this time, and he would find him.
He knew he should be prepared for the worst. The pain he had felt was so intense. The Childe could be in mortal danger, half-insane or worse be like Selene and enslaved somewhere. No, he didn't want to think about that. Didn't want to consider that one of his, blood, could be suffering such a brutal fate. Well, no matter he would find the boy, his Grand-Childe, and he would see that he was healed.
Michael moved slowly around Selene and her pet, not wanting to frighten either of them any more than they were already. "So, I see that the mouse is making an effort to join us at last." His legs folded under him and he sat on the floor beside his Sire. "Cain filled me in on what I missed while Vincent and I were helping Maria with the other seven. Do you plan to track down this Renegade and deal with him, or shall I."
"I am sorry my love, I know how you love a good battle, but that privilege is one I am going to enjoy. I will track him down eventually, and make him pay for what he has done. But for now, I have more important matters to attend to. Are you planning to join me later?"
"Yes, I have already informed Cain that he's sleeping alone tonight. He understands and hopes that we find the boy. I grow more pleased with my Childe every night. He is bending over backwards to go out of his way to be useful. It's quiet entertaining to watch Jay and he try to out do each other when it comes to pleasing me."
Azrael chuckled. "I have noticed. Is there any hurt feelings between them?"
"No, not at all, Jason was thrilled that I chose to make him my Childe, instead of my slave. They are becoming more and more like brothers every day. I am getting to the point that I feel Jason is ready for the Gift. The only thing that is holding me back is the fact that he's only been with me about two years. He learns so well, try's so hard. You missed it last night. Your Two were busy going over the laws with him. I am beginning to believe that they know those damned things backwards and forwards. It will be good having so many children learning together once they cross over."
"Yes, what with Morgan and Jason already Kin by birth, and my Tori trying so hard, to become a second brother to her. And his infatuation with Cain, I am certain that between the four we will have prodigy to be proud of. So what do you think of your new adopted sister?"
"I can't really say yet. She has gone out of her way to avoid dealing with anyone older than Lilith was. I don't feel your mark on her."
"I have only adopted her in the sense that I will train her and protect her. She is far too broken for me to remake her, though I might once I have helped her to build back up what that animal tore down. But alas, at the moment, her tie to the woman who sired her is all that is keeping her going."
"I will make time to get to know her. Perhaps she would like to join me one night in play." He turned and watched her as she quietly talked the boy beside her into drinking from her. "She is such a little thing."
"I noticed that myself." Azrael nodded at her smiling as she grinned at him, obviously pleased with her success. "Yes dear, I see that you have began to build the boy's trust. Now, remember, you need to feed again."
"Again?" Michael looked at her. "You have been feasting off of her?" He couldn't believe his Sire would take from anything so tiny. "Azrael, the Childe has barely enough blood in her veins for her own use."
"It helped during a particularly delicate moment, Megel. I will allow her to refresh herself from one of my own pets. I would never weaken her."
"Allow me." He moved to reach for her. "Selene, come here little sister."
Selene jumped at his touch. "Yes?" She was still so very guarded.
Michael pulled his hand away. "I'm sorry dear, I didn't mean to frighten you. I only wanted to offer to help with your feeding. We're family now, you and I, and what better way to set up blood ties."
Selene looked at him shyly. "You--you don't have to do that Megel. One of the others will be fine. I am not that hungry." She looked, pleadingly, at Azrael. "Master?"
"Go on girl. Megel is my First-Born. The two of you need to start building ties. If I am to raise you as one of my own, then it is only logical that you treat him as your brother. Did your Sire have any other Fledglings besides you?"
"No, I was her first. That is why she took the challenge, he wanted me for himself, and she wouldn't let him have me." There was such sadness in her eyes. "I wish she had, I would have rather suffered and she live."
"First-Born, and only Childe. Poor thing, well no matter as you can see here. You won't suffer that problem. I not only have Megel staying with me but two Chosen who will eventually join you in my Brood. Megel has Cain, and his Chosen Jason, over there. So you will have quiet a family to rely on as you recover. Now go on and take Megel's offer. It is getting late, and I know at your age, it's nearing resting time. Would you protest greatly if I ask Megel's boy Cain to rest with you tonight? He and I have some rather important work to take care of. Starting tomorrow, I will let you stay with me during the day."
"Can I bring Casey?" She looked back at her new pet that sat watching her with half fear, half hope in his eyes. "Derrik really frightened him, I promised I wouldn't leave him alone. He's afraid that he'll come back."
"Will it bother him, if he wakes during the day? They sometimes find being trapped with us during our slumber to be a little much. If you are worried about him, I will let him stay with Tori. Derrik is no match for my Chosen, and you can rest assured that no harm will befall the boy."
She considered this. "You're right, I remember the first time I slept the day with Mara. I woke up before she did, and watching her sleep was so much like death, no I don't think he's quite up to that. Would your Chosen mind?"
"Tori?" He smiled as his Chosen looked up from, yet another, chess game with Joseph. "Have you any set plans for bed later?"
"Not really, I was going to see if Maria or Valerie wanted a bed partner, why?"
"Selene is going to keep Cain company at dawn, and she has this new one here, who is terrified of Derrik. Would you mind, if I asked you to keep him for the day?"
Torin gave one of his famous shrugs. "Sure, one bedmate is as good as another if it's not you. Yeah, I'll keep him from worrying about the other." Then to Selene, "Mistress, should I just to put him to bed, or are we allowed to amuse ourselves?"
Selene looked at Casey biting her lip. On one hand, the boy was terrified of anything remotely male right now, and would probably be grateful beyond words if she spared him. But on the other, surely her new master's Chosen wouldn't hurt him, and it would do him some good to learn to be able to trust. "How far would you take it?"
Torin nodded, "well he's obviously not going to be up to anything hot and heavy. I won't hurt him Mistress, ask anyone here. I don't do that sort of thing. But I will show him that not every guy here wants to see how many ways they can wreck his world." He remembered his first few nights and how important the male bonding had been. To learn that it was all right to seek not only friendship, but also closeness and pleasure as well.
"Just don't hurt him. I don't know much about what two boys do together, but what ever you do, please don't hurt him. I know what he's been through, and I won't ever let anyone do that to him again."
Torin bowed his head in acknowledgment. "Yes Mistress."
Michael took her hand as she turned back to him. "Tori won't hurt him Selene, that boy hasn't got an evil bone in his body. He'll be your brother soon enough, would he do that to his sister's pet?" This one would take time. She had been beaten down so far. He wasn't sure that she would ever be able to stand-alone. Azrael might have to keep her with him for the rest of his life, and he afterwards, if she lived that long. "Drink, Selene. Take what you need from me. I have healthy pets to tend to my needs.
Her tiny body trembled as it rested against his and she pressed her mouth to his throat, fangs sinking deep into the jugular there. "Yes, little one, go on, how else will you build back your strength." Such a timid thing, so quiet, she weighed nothing in his arms, how could she have survived the horror that had been her life.
"Tori, precious?" Azrael reached for him. "When she goes to take this one here, and care for his needs, go with her. Make sure she makes it to Megel's resting-place afterwards. I am sure Cain will be able to handle it from there, he is such a darling boy."
"I'll take care of it Azrael, you just take care of what ever it is that has had you so disturbed all night. Cain will tuck her in and make sure she's not lonely. And I'll see what I can do about convincing her new one there that the rest of us won't do what Derrik did." Torin leaned over and kissed Azrael, wrapping his arms around him, squeezing. "What is it Master? You've had this lost hurt look in your eyes all night long. Morgan has noticed, Mark, and Maria especially. Valerie even asked me if I did something. Have I?"
No, of course not, come here." He let the young man crawl into his lap. "It is nothing precious, I will make sure I speak to each of them, and reassure them that I am fine. You should not have to concern yourself with this. It is a matter for Megel and I to handle." He had not realized that his hopes and his pains were so obvious to his family. "There is a Rogue out there, I felt him last night." He sighed. "I believe it is the Childe of one of my lost two. Thorne was my second Childe. He was killed, two centuries or so back. This lost Fledgling has his mark, my mark. But the tie broke before I could turn my full attention upon it. Megel is going to link with me tonight in hopes that the boy will reach out again, and we can find him." Azrael felt Torin's arms tighten around him. "If I can find him, help him, I will have back something of my lost one."
"You should have said something earlier Azrael. I wasted all my practice time on formulas and power summoning, when I could have been helping you. I am a Healer remember? Things like ties, and blood marks, are real easy for me now." Torin looked down at him with a hurt look in his eyes. "Why didn't you ask, I would have tried for you."
"Ssshh, no need for this. Your training time is yours. It is precious to you. I have so many other things to see to every night. It is the only time I can give you, at the moment, that is yours and yours alone. This was not an emergency. The boy has lived without my help for over two hundred years, one more night will not matter one way of the other." He brushed Torin's hair from his eyes. "I thank you for your selfless offer though. It warms my heart that you would be willing to give up what few spare moments of my time you have to yourself."
"I have from now, until when ever, to be with you. And I know you will always be there when I need you. So I can afford to be generous." He grinned. "Though I was wondering, when can I take a hour or so of your time and pin you to a bed? I know you've been busy, and I know that for the most part, Mo has been taking up a lot of your time, and that Mark is still having some problems with the living arrangements. I've been lucky, between Jenna and Joey. I don't sleep alone. But if it's all the same to you, I'd really like to take my next feeding to its proper conclusion."
Azrael laughed softly, reaching to pull his precious Chosen against him. "I have been ignoring your needs, have I? You are right; I do rely on your affections with Jenna and Megel's boy to keep you content. But I will see to it that I make certain that I make more time for you. My three girls are in the same boat. There is just not enough time in the day anymore. With three, new, pets a Covenstead, training, and now Selene. Gods but I am only one man. I am tempted to take a few more pets, and give them to my girls just so that I can stop feeling guilty."
"Jenna would be thrilled. She's gotten greedy with my time. Say's it's been so long since she's had a man at her complete disposal that she's making up for lost time. Maria and Val would probably be just as thrilled." He tangled his hands in Azrael's hair as he began to nibble and bite along the base of his throat. "I love you." It felt so good to be held here. His life, was, centered on this man, and all that he offered.
"Tomorrow night, I promise Sweet. You will fall asleep in my arms tomorrow night." And he held him, letting him draw comfort from the embrace, for now. Soon enough Selene would be ready to take care of her pet, but until then, he had been unforgivably negligent in his actions with those in his care. He would see that this ceased.
Selene rested against Michael his blood warming her. "Thank you."
"For what? The little amount of blood you took from me? Childe I loose more between my two over there nightly than you took. You're need is no hardship for anyone. Anytime you need, and that boy of yours can't give it to you, you come to me." He kissed her. "Remember that."
* * *
Casey watched from where he sat huddled on the floor. Things had changed; he wasn't going to be sent back downstairs. The other one, he wouldn't be able to hurt him again. But he wasn't sure he liked the trade. The girl, he had such a hard time believing that she was a vampire, she owned him now. Promised not to let anything, bad, happen again, and the first thing she does is give him to some guy for the night. And as he watched Torin with the one that used to own him, he knew what would happen. It would be like at home. Had he known that running away from home would end him up here, he would have dropped his pants and let his stepfather fuck him nightly and been quiet about it.
* * *
Torin sobbed against Azrael's lips, as his master's hands won free over the fastenings of his pants, and reached to capture the prize within. Homosexuality no longer bothered him, nothing that two people could do to each other to bring pleasure was considered wrong, or bad, or not for him anymore. His master had helped him past his old prejudices and taught him a new way of thinking. "Please." He was responsive, thrusting upward into the gentle hand that held him. "Master," he begged. "Azrael, please, I need this."
The rest could wait, the seven wouldn't expire if it took0 him another hour to get to them. Selene could begin to take care of her boy without Torin. Azrael could not stop now, could not force his Chosen to pull away hungry like this. "Ssshh, Tori, love. When have I ever began something and asked another to finish it." He moved slowly, holding Torin to him as he rose to stand. "Hold on precious, hold on for just a moment longer, and I promise you, I will see you cared for."
It always amazed Torin when Azrael did this, carried one of them. It didn't look weird when it was Michael or David, they were both relatively tall men, but his Master was not. And yet he could lift anyone of them with no obvious display of effort. And what is more, with grace and elegance that seemed impossible.
Azrael laughed softly, pushing Torin back down on to the bed. "Boy, let me undress. I swear, one would think you have been starved."
Torin reached up, pushing his hands away from the buttons on his trousers. "Starved no, just on a diet. Let me, I've been a good boy for so long, I want to splurge." His forehead pressed against Azrael's chest as his fingers finally won free with the fastenings and he was able to push the restraining garments down, freeing that which he was after. "Let me, Azrael, please."
He smiled into those beautiful pewter eyes. "Go on pretty boy, take what you want from me for now." He watched as the dark blond head moved, and lips found him. Sighing he relaxed under the pleasant grip of his pets aggressions. Yes, life had gotten hectic, and perhaps even at his age he still had things to learn. But with his First-Born home, two younglings to train, and two Chosen with one of those being a Mage no less. He could not ask for a better life. Strange, more chaotic and exasperating than it had been in centuries, but he went to his rest at each suns rising a happier man. "Pity there is never enough blood in my release to be considered a feeding. For I believe you would prefer it this way." He chuckled at the renewed effort on his member as he finished undressing. "Let me lay down precious, join you in this play."
Torin pulled away, yanking off his shirt and fighting with his pants, as Azrael kicked his own from him. "Relax pet. I haven't neglected you that much."
"No?" He grinned resuming his attack as his master laid back. "Every time you hold one of us, kiss us, tell us you love us, and don't take it to this end. We feel neglected." Again his mouth found Azrael's throat. "There is no way to tell you what you mean to all of us. You're so used to the feelings you have, and feeling them so intensely. But for us," he let his hands capture Azrael's hardness, stroking it with brutal passion. "Every time I feel like this, it's like the first time all over." Gray eyes looked down into brown. "Now, please. I want to feel you now."
Azrael turned, placing Torin under him. "Yes, precious, now." His mouth lowered, fangs piercing, feeling the mortal under him shudder in delight as he fed. Knowing that the boy was so caught up in the pleasure that he only added to his joy. But the knowledge that unlike any other pet in his lair, this one had come here completely of his own free will, never forced or coerced. Was what brought him the greatest satisfaction. And as he felt Torin's release against his leg and, the cry of joy from his own, sweet, pets' lips, he knew it was time. Perhaps not tonight, for the need to track Thorne's lost one was so great, but tomorrow he would give his Line this boy. He did not have to wait any longer.
"Torin." He raised his eyes, looking down into the drooping, heavy lidded, sultry gaze of his soon to be Childe. "Enjoy your last night as a mortal pet. Once you are through tucking that boy in come light, you might want to take the car and spend your last day in the sun. For I swear this. Come tomorrow night. I will make you mine."
Torin looked up at him, his languor gone. Did Azrael mean it, was he going to, so soon. He couldn't believe his good luck. Those first few days he had begged again and again for Azrael to take him, and finally had to be ordered not to mention it again, but now. "You're going to?"
"Yes precious, I will make you my Childe. Chosen no more, but; Kin in truth." He lowered himself, kissing the boy beneath him. "You understand the first year is hard. It is not always easy at the beginning. It will be a very painful during the first night, as your body completes the change, dying, to rise again the next setting of the sun. But I will be here, we all will. If you still wish this of me."
"Wish it?" How could he think anything else? He had wanted it since his first night when Azrael had moved him so. "With every thing I have."
"Then you shall be mine." He pulled away, reaching for Torin's leg. "But first, I want to finish what you have started. And as I love you, I want you etch every feeling in your mind, for this is the last time I will take you as my pet. The next time you lay like this under me, it will be as my Childe." He reached, gathering the traces of Torin's release, using it to ease entry. "I have loved you since the first time I looked into your eyes, and that love will grow thousand fold when I take your mortality. Now we burn." And with a fluid thrust, Azrael went to give his Chosen what he had begged for.
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