He shook his head. "No, doctor, but if you have some sports drink? I feel like my electrolytes are off."

The cook grabbed something from an upper cabinet as she said, "Phooey on those sports drinks. I'll make you some good Russian tea."

Eric didn't argue with her, the woman sounded like she knew what she was talking about. He watched as she juiced an orange and a lemon, and put cinnamon and cloves in the water to boil before pouring it over the tea bag to steep. She added honey, as well as the orange juice and a little of the lemon juice, and put the rest of the lemon juice in the refrigerator.

Turning, she asked him, "Do you want it hot or cold? I like it cold, personally, though the ice will weaken it some."

He smiled, "I'll take your word for it, and drink it cold, then, ma'am."

Eric moaned as he took his first sip, and she chuckled as she walked back to the stove. How she'd managed to keep the potatoes cooking, an eye on the steak, and make the tea, Eric didn't know, but she seemed to be quite proficient at her job.

"Okay, now shoo. Take the boy into the front parlor to talk and leave me to my kitchen. I'm cooking enough for all of you, and I'll let you know when it's ready."

As they entered what Eric a.s.sumed was the parlor, Sophia said, "We can talk about the furniture Jonathan's considering for the man-cave in his new house, or I can try to answer any questions you may have. No pressure."

Eric shook his head. "Did you get a chance to talk to Kendra last night? I was asleep when she arrived."

"I did. She checked on you, gave us all a ten minute rushed briefing, showered, and then climbed into bed with you. She didn't think you'd awaken, but wanted to be close, in case you did."

"Can you tell me about the briefing? Tell me why those people wanted me?"

"I'm limited in what I can say, but I can give you some information. Why don't you begin by telling me what you know, so I can gauge how much I can add to your knowledge?"

"There's a supernatural group who makes sure the real facts about ya'll don't get out. I asked Abbott if I could put some of what I knew in a video game, and when he went to the group for permission, they realized there was a huge hole in their scrutiny, as they'd never considered the storylines in video games. Apparently, I came to their attention, and because of some other politics going on that I'm not aware of..." he shook his head. "Based on what I heard from the a.s.sholes who took me, I'd say I was used as some sort of sick p.a.w.n."

"This is good, you know enough I can tell you just about everything. You put in the security system at the coterie house, and you've worked with Abbott, so you know how powerful he is?"

"I heard people calling him The Abbott, with reverence. I know he's Master Vampire of a large territory."

She nodded. "Most of the southeast, with the exception of South Carolina, which, due in large part to my family, Abbott's left alone, despite the fact it's full of really bad people." She shook her head. "Why he left it alone isn't important for this story, but now that my father's no longer in control of the Swans, and I am, Aaron and I are in a position to help Abbott clean up the state."

"Wait, so you're the Swan Queen?"

She rolled her eyes and shrugged. "I'm only royalty to other swans, though. Please don't treat me any differently than you have been, okay? I'm just Sophia, Aaron's wife, as far as you're concerned."

Eric tilted his head and reconsidered this tiny woman who was apparently so powerful politically, as he remembered her basically teleporting them from some faraway mountain to the bas.e.m.e.nt of her home in less than a minute.

"There's a Master Vampire of South Carolina," she continued, "and he's an evil man, with evil vampires who choose to follow him. His second in command is on the Media Council, with enough clout she's pretty much ran it the way she wanted. Once you were brought to her attention, she misused her authority as a Media Council member to take possession of you even though she knew you were under Abbott's protection. So, yeah, you were a p.a.w.n. Abbott and his people had a meeting with her last night, and no one expected her to make a move until after the meeting but Natalia jumped the gun by taking you. Kendra and Abbott filed legal doc.u.ments that kept you as safe as they could until they got to you - it's why you weren't seriously injured when they tortured you. They also sent Natalia to the coast, and had her arrive just before dawn, so she couldn't get to you, as she'd have bitten you and turned you into her slave, no matter the legal doc.u.ments. She's about to be at war with Abbott and his people, in her eyes, hurting a human they were attached to would give her leverage in the war, instead of a reason to fear them."

Sophia's phone buzzed and she glanced at it and looked back up with a grin. "I'm going to bring Ranger in real quick. He's on the other side of the world, but I have permission to bring him in the way I did you last night. Werewolves have to get special permission to enter that world, but I have it for him, and he's ready. I'll be back with him in a few minutes. He'll probably only have an hour before I have to take him back, but he wants to see you... talk to you. He needs a.s.surance you're okay."

When Ranger arrived, his concern was a palpable thing, and he made Eric stand up and move around, tried to make him take his shirt off, but Eric refused.

"I'm fine, Uncle Todd."

Eric hadn't used the t.i.tle he'd called his uncle as a child in years, and it made Ranger stop and look at him a few seconds, long enough Eric could talk.

"You don't make it as close to the summit of Everest as I did without going through some serious pain. Same with a lot of the other mountains I've climbed, as well as the ones I've skied or s...o...b..arded down. I can handle pain, and thanks to Kendra and Abbott doing what they could as soon as they found out who'd taken me, I wasn't permanently harmed."

Ranger shook his head. "Did you break up with her? Is that why she didn't heal the puncture wounds? You have to know I can smell them, and there are so f.u.c.king many."

Eric shook his head. "She asked me for permission to look through my memories of what happened, and sent me here with Sophia and Aaron so she could stay behind and... I don't know what she did to them. She said she needed to know who was responsible for the worst of it, so she could make what they'd done balance with what she did."

Ranger tilted his head, looked to Jonathan and Sophia. "From what I've learned of Kendra, I doubt it balanced."

"I can't say," Sophia said, almost as an apology.

"No, but I can," Jonathan said, almost as if he was asking permission of Sophia.

She breathed out, looked through the window, and said, "I need to go make a phone call. If you'll excuse me a moment?"

Eric and Ranger looked to Jonathan, who said, "I was present when Abbott told them what she'd done. Aaron told Sophia not to tell anyone, but he didn't tell me not to. Neither of you are a security risk, and you both have a right to know, so..." He shrugged and continued. "She ripped the arms and legs from every vampire she came across on her way to Eric. The vampires responsible for his worst treatment, Kendra reattached the arms long enough for the nerves to connect, and then she cut the fingers off and stuck them up the offender's a.s.s. She did the same with the legs so she could cut the toes off. She also removed eyelids, tongue, teeth, ears... all up his or her a.s.s. She ripped nipples off, c.o.c.ks, b.a.l.l.s, and then went back and cut the aureola. Instead of shaving them, she removed the entire scalp - that didn't go up their a.s.s. Too big. She skinned their torso, pulled the sternum apart with them still conscious, and reached in to squeeze their heart as she watched the life go out of their eyes. She removed the heart, turned it to pulp, and then did a few other things to make sure they'd never regenerate. Make sure they were true dead. Some, she also cut their stomach open, wrapped their intestines around their neck."

Jonathan gave them a few seconds to speak, and when they didn't, he continued. "The worst of the werewolves got similar treatment, but in a way she could keep them alive as long as possible, so their legs and arms weren't removed until close to the end. They still ended up with body parts up their a.s.s, and were killed by her hand reaching into their chest and squeezing their heart."

He shook his head, paused as if figuring out how to word it, and finally said, "For a certain segment of those involved in your torture, she ripped their c.o.c.k off, crammed it down their throat, and then ripped their heads off before doing the things necessary to be sure vampire and shapeshifter can't come back to life. The ones involved but who weren't cruel, she offered a quick and painless death if they'd answer her questions honestly. I'm told every person she gave this offer to answered every question she asked."

Jonathan glanced at Ranger, looked back to Eric. "I can smell your horror. You don't think they deserved what she did to them? I'm telling you that in our world, what she did was perfect. She did more to protect you last night than..." He shook his head, a pensive look on his face. "What she did last night was the equivalent of wiping out a branch of the U.S. Government. There's an interspecies supernatural council, with enough power to easily take out Master Vampires, even one as strong as The Abbott. The Media Council is a branch of them, and Kendra didn't have a legal leg to stand on for her actions, and yet she did it anyway, using a method so they'd know which body parts were cut off first, how long the process took, and how much pain the people felt in the hours before they died. Abbott gave her permission, which means he has a strategy to get her out of it, but I have a feeling she'd have done something similar even without his permission. People are afraid of The Abbott, in large part because Kendra has been responsible for making an example of his enemies."

Ranger sighed. "I was prepared to give her a piece of my mind for putting him in danger, but hearing what she did? Now I want to shake her hand."

Eric wanted to throw up. "Because now you're afraid of her, too? G.o.d, she's a f.u.c.king monster."

"No, Eric," Ranger said, his face serious. "Not because I'm afraid of her, but because I respect her, and I'm grateful she made an example of the people who hurt and humiliated you."

"How do you know they humiliated me?" Eric asked, his voice quiet, his words precise. He hadn't told anyone what happened, only Kendra had seen into his head, and he'd trusted her not to talk about it.

"Because it's pretty much a standard torture and training technique," Ranger told him.

"Yeah," Jonathan agreed. "I've had worse done to me, and I'm sure Kendra and Abbott have, probably many times. I've also been trained in how to do it to others, and have done it more times than I'd like to admit. I don't know exactly what they did, but I have a decent idea of why you have puncture marks and bruising. I'm just glad those present were too afraid of the consequences if they permanently altered you in any way. This means you'll heal physically. Whether you heal mentally? Up to you, but you're strong willed, so I have hopes you get past it."

Eric leaned forward his head in his hands. "Ranger, you were against me dating a vampire. I get it now - how dangerous your world is."

"Yeah, it is, but Aaron has now made it known you belong to him through me, and his involvement in last night's op speaks volumes to how far he'll go to see to your protection. There's no guarantee someone else won't use you as a p.a.w.n, but with what Kendra did last night, in spite of the danger she's put herself in with the Interspecies Council? I don't see anyone coming near you again, Eric."

"She's awake and in the shower," Jonathan told him. "She can't come up here until the sun goes down, you'll need to go to her, if you're ready to talk."

Eric leaned forward again, his face in his hands. Normally, his fingers would be threaded into his hair in this position, but now he only felt his scalp. How much of an idiot had he been, asking how they'd known the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds humiliated him last night. f.u.c.k, the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds had cut his hair and his eyebrows off.

He stood and walked to a window, realized they were on top of Lookout Mountain, and the view of the city was spectacular from here. He should get on his yacht and head... somewhere. Maybe downriver to the Mississippi, out into the Gulf of Mexico, perhaps do some deep sea diving for a while before putting his yacht in storage and finding a place to live near Yellowstone.

Or, he could take his yacht up the coast to New England, store it there, and hike the Appalachian Trail backwards.

"So, it's safe for me to go back to my yacht, now? She made me off limits, so I can go on with my life without worrying about anyone else taking me?"

After a few dozen heartbeats of silence, he turned and saw Jonathan trying to decide how best to answer. "Based on conversations I've heard, I believe it's possible Abbott and Kendra are going to jump ahead in their plans for war, and attack sooner rather than later. Kendra wants to take Natalia out in a very public fashion, and that'll mean attacking Mitroff's stronghold. While they're attacking, and probably during the first couple of weeks, at least, you'll need to be in a safe place."

Eric shook his head, walked into the kitchen, and made small talk with the cook as she finished their meal.

Ranger followed him in five minutes later and put his hand on Eric's shoulder as he said, "Sophia's going to take me back now, but I'll stop downstairs and talk to Kendra on the way out. I'll keep in touch when I can. I should be in town at least a week or two every couple of months now, instead of overseas almost constantly, and I talked to Jonathan about maybe renting a room from him. He just bought a big house not far from here. Hopefully, you and I can go have some fun, while I'm here." He gave Eric a careful sideways hug as he added, "Don't make any decisions today. You're already wrapped up with her, and now in a very public way. At this point, staying with her is safer than breaking up with her. But, if you can't... if you don't want to be with her anymore, don't care about her anymore, Aaron and I will keep you safe. Make your decision from your heart, not from a place of fear, Eric. I want you to be happy."

Eric ate dinner with Sophia and Jonathan, and this time they talked about the furniture Jonathan was looking at to furnish his man-cave. He pulled some of it up on his tablet to show them, and Sophia had definite opinions on what she thought would work best. Eric's contribution was to offer Jonathan the name of his interior designer.

"No thanks," Jonathan said with a laugh. "I intend to furnish my bedroom and den - the rest of the house can stay empty a while. It's a great old house with nice bones, is in a good neighborhood, and is close to Sophia. If another, smaller home, had fit the bill, I'd have bought it instead."

When Eric finally went downstairs, Kendra was getting off the phone, which meant she started saying goodbye as she heard him coming.

"Abbott lives next door," she said as she put her phone down. "We can walk over there through the cave if we want. I haven't gone yet because I wanted to be here when you were ready to talk to me."

"I'm not ready for any serious talks, but it was rude to stay upstairs when you were awake and stuck down here." He sighed. "I'm glad you weren't hurt while rescuing me. I understand you fixed it so they didn't injure me while they were hurting me, so thanks for that. Also, huge thanks for the rescue, but... s.h.i.t, Kendra. I don't even know how to process this. I mean, I'm okay now, but I could've easily not been okay, and it was worse than h.e.l.l, going through it. I told Ranger I'm used to pain, and I can handle it, but the pain I feel climbing mountains or crashing while s...o...b..arding... it's my decision to be there, to put myself through it. It's f.u.c.king different."

"I can never make it up to you, Eric. They took you because of your connection to Abbott and me. Natalia knew we were going to war, and didn't think things would be any worse for her, personally, if she took you. She will soon discover how wrong she was. They also didn't think we could find out the official location of the Media Council. Everyone is led to believe it's at their complex in Greenville, but Aaron happened to know where the actual fortress is. They didn't expect us to ama.s.s help as quickly as we did."

Eric remembered Jonathan's descriptions, tried to imagine the woman he loved cutting someone fingers off while they were alive, stuffing them into his a.s.s, then hacking up his face and doing the same. He took a few steps back, and Kendra sighed and sat on the bed. "I don't want you to be afraid of me, Eric. I won't hurt you."

"I know what you did to the people who hurt me." He shook his head. "Even after I lived through what they did to me, I couldn't have done... all of that."

"A thousand or two years from now, when you've seen what I've seen, lived through what I've been forced to survive... you could." Her voice was soft, light, but Eric could hear the pain in it. He also sensed she was working hard to not go all ice cold on him.

Taking a few steps away from her wouldn't save him, if she suddenly decided to start removing his body parts, so he forced his feet to take two steps into the room. "I'm not breaking up with you, but I'm also not telling you everything's okay. Sophia said I'm welcome to stay as long as necessary, and I'm going to take her up on another night. Now that I've eaten, I'd like to go back to sleep, I think."

She nodded and stood, stepping away from the bed. "Will you let me look you over, make sure nothing is getting infected? I'd like to heal the puncture wounds, if you'll let me. If you don't want me licking you, I can touch my finger to my tongue, do it that way."

The b.a.s.t.a.r.ds had started out with thin needles and worked up to larger diameter ones. There were some sizeable holes in his forearms, showing beyond the shirt sleeves, and he knew the puncture wounds over the rest of his body probably needed something on them, but he didn't want Kendra touching him right now.

No, that wasn't exactly true. He'd hugged her, been happy to see her when she rescued him. He took a breath and said, "I knew you'd come. I kept telling myself I only had to hold out until you arrived. I never doubted you'd show up. When the vampires left, I knew it was daylight, and when they returned, I told myself only a few hours, at most, and you'd be there to get me."

"It was a forty minute ride in Aaron's high-speed helicopter, and we got to you just a little over an hour past sunset. Natalia was on her way, and it's a shame we didn't get her, but I wasn't going to risk her getting there before us. Your safety came first, revenge and payback can come later."

"I need to hug you, kiss you," he told her. "Not the other way around. I know you're stronger than me, this isn't about that."

"It'll never be about that, Eric."

"Yeah, Kendra, it is. In your world, I'll never defend you. You'll always have to come to my rescue. Even in the human world, if I need to defend your honor, I'll do it knowing you could've done it better, easier."

"And yet, it's your blood in my veins that gives me strength, purpose, happiness. You are my strength, Eric. Not just your blood, but your energy, your soul, you."

Eric stepped to her, slid his hand through her long, silky hair, and grasped her nape. He tilted her head as he brought his lips to hers, her body soft and supple under his. She opened for him, let him control the kiss, and he took more. His other hand went to her jaw, and Kendra's arms went around his neck, holding on for dear life as Eric plundered her mouth.

His c.o.c.k hurt as it swelled, the holes and bruises strained as the skin stretched, and he backed up and ordered, "On your knees, Kendra. Take my c.o.c.k in your mouth, lips wrapped around your teeth so I don't feel them."

He leaned sideways and pushed the door closed as she went to her knees and almost reverently pulled his sweatpants down, as if he were bestowing a great privilege on her by allowing it.

She took his c.o.c.k into her mouth, and then licked it all over before taking it into her mouth and down her throat this time, holding. She didn't have to breathe, could stay like this forever, and he loved the way it felt.

"My b.a.l.l.s next, Kendra. Lick'em good." He gave a guttural groan as she did, and when she finished, he took his shirt off and walked to the bed.

"Strip, and take care of me from the toes up. When you finish, I intend to pound you into the mattress, and you aren't going to climb on top, today."

Their s.e.x over the past weeks had been mostly vanilla with just an edge of power exchange - the give and take of two people used to being in control. It was incredible, soul joining, mind melting s.e.x, but they'd both known they needed more, though neither had brought it up. Eric wasn't prepared to go into all-out-power exchange over Kendra yet, but he needed to be in control today, on top during s.e.x, without her taking control for a while and flipping him so she rode him.

She licked most of his body, caring for him, and making it as sensual as possible. Eric directed her, told her what to do, when to stay where she was, when to move on. He turned onto his stomach a few times, going back and forth so he didn't feel vulnerable for long.

They'd put needles through his eyelids, pulling them away from his eyes to keep from damaging his vision, and Kendra ma.s.saged his forehead with spit-damp fingers before lightly stroking his lids, making even this part of the ma.s.sage erotic. She didn't lick his face, she kissed and touched, and kept him hard as a rock throughout.

When she made it to the top of his head and every puncture wound and abrasion on his body was healed, and the surface bruises a little faded, he changed places with her, putting her on her back, kissing her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, suckling her nipples, and then keeping eye contact as he sank his c.o.c.k into her silky, tight, wet, heat. A vampire's body was cool, but somehow, her p.u.s.s.y was always warm when he sank into it.

He made love to her, slow and sensual, their gazes connected, and he no longer saw her as a monster. She'd never hurt him, never rip his body to pieces. She'd done it to avenge what'd been done to him, and while it was so far outside the realm of what he deemed acceptable, even for revenge, the other supernaturals seemed to think it an appropriate response, so either they were all psychotic, or she'd acted as expected in vampire/supernatural society.

"I need to f.u.c.k you now, Kendra. Want you to come undone under me, wanna feel you come around my c.o.c.k."

She nodded, and he leaned forward, put his right cheek to hers, and ordered, "Put your arms around me."

When she did, he pulled out, slammed home. Paused a brief second, did it again.

And then he stopped pausing and did as he'd promised, hammering her through the mattress, hard and fast, knowing she could take it from him and he didn't have to hold back.

He brought her to two o.r.g.a.s.ms before he let go, coming deep inside her, and she came again when he did.

Eric didn't know how he knew, but he was aware of Kendra's thirst for him, her desire to bite him, but he ignored it, and didn't tell her to.

And she didn't ask.

Chapter Eighteen.

Kendra stayed in bed with Eric until he fell asleep, and then went next door to Abbott's.

"Can I drink from one of your people, please?" She rarely asked him to feed her, but in times of war and fighting, the rules were a little different. Eric's capture and rescue were a result of their political problems with South Carolina, so she was in her right to make the request.

"Of course," said Abbott. "Take a look at the schedule and choose... Actually, no. I'm giving you Beverly and Dana. Beverly's chronic pain issues are causing her more problems this week, so take a few ounces from her and give her lots of pain killer. You need to heal someone now, make them feel better, and Beverly can give you that. Dana just returned from a trip to the Caribbean, and she should taste of sunshine and the ocean. She hasn't fed anyone in two weeks and has a buildup, so you can get away with taking twenty to twenty-five ounces from her."

As always, Abbott knew what she needed, and she felt much better after feeding from them. She heard Abbott laying into one of the other girls with what sounded like his belt before he f.u.c.ked and bit her, and smiled to herself as she climbed the steps to his living room. Abbott might not allow non-consensual slavery in his territory, but he had a whole stable of consensual slaves, here because they wanted to be, not because they were held captive.

Aaron, Nathan, Gavin, and Fawne were in the living room, discussing Mitroff's weaknesses and strengths.

"Do we have a plan, or are we still coming up with it?" she asked.

"We have the beginnings of a couple of plans, but nothing concrete," Nathan told her.

"I know where Abbott is with the Concilio, holding them over a barrel because they either didn't realize Natalia was using her spot on the Media Council as a political podium, or knew and didn't care - either way, someone's head will have to roll, and no one is interested in p.i.s.sing off The Abbott and making themselves a target."