The word was stripped of all emotions, as unfeeling as Erik's hand as he drew the sheet up to her chest, and Gabrielle resented him for being able to put away everything they had been and treat her as though she were no more than a hurt stranger in his care. She wanted to deny the hunger, especially since she could guess what blood she would be given again, but she simply couldn't. She was indeed hungry, she craved blood, his blood, and she couldn't refuse. Swallowing hard, she nodded, and soon he was offering his wrist to her. Again, she warred with herself, wanting nothing more than to taste him again, and hating the way he had been ignoring her need and his own. Giving in yet again, she took hold of his wrist and bit in hard, feeling a twinge of satisfaction at his hiss of pain. She only took a few mouthfuls, letting go of him before she was sated simply because she didn't want to show him exactly how hungry she was.

He didn't comment on it, nor did he answer her thanks as he moved around the bed and to the entranceof the room. There, he seemed to hesitate and turned back to look at her.

"Can you stand?" he asked blankly, and watched without moving when Gabrielle tried, and succeeded.

"Good. I've got places to be. Can't stay here when you can take care of yourself."

A long, blank stare seemed to dare Gabrielle to say otherwise, and when she didn't Erik nodded.

"Right then. I'd better be going."

And like that, without further goodbyes, he turned around and walked out of the bedroom. Gabrielle blinked, unsure what had just happened. Was he leaving for good? His tone implied as much, but why ...

he couldn't ... not after so long, not when Gabrielle needed him so much, not again...

Stumbling, she followed after, stopping to lean again the wall when her ribs and leg protested at the movement. Erik was just reaching the door when Gabrielle called his name, and she was relieved when long, elegant fingers hesitated on the door handle.

"Please, don't," she murmured. "I can't live like this anymore. Can't live alone. Can't go on night after night knowing that you're somewhere out there as lonely as me. Knowing I left you to fight alone when we could have fought together, side by side again."

Hand still on the door, his back still turned to Gabrielle, Erik did not answer.

"Please," Gabrielle repeated, her voice breaking. "Stay with me."

Erik shook his head, took a sharp breath, and walked out.

Chapter 4.

It was the scent of blood that drew him. It was always the scent of blood. Towns and villages were different, he had even crossed seas in his travels, but everywhere it was the same, everywhere people bled because of humans and demons alike, everywhere the blood smelled the same. Except that this time, the blood smelled different. This time, it was familiar. It smelled like family, like home. It wasn't a complete stranger Erik had found bleeding tonight, and even as he slid off his horse and walked forward, he wasn't sure how he felt about that.

He had spent years hunting and running away from demons, literally and figuratively, always fearing and wishing in the same instant that he would find Gabrielle again, always hoping that he would find a clan, a place in the world instead of roaming without ever stopping. No, not years. Decades. Centuries. Erik was tired, so very tired, and yet he kept going, night after night. He owed it to those who had died when he had lived. He owed it to the humans he had sworn to protect the night he had risen as a vampire and accepted his first offering of blood. He owed it to himself, because he had been one of them, so long ago that he could barely remember it. He owed it to his clan, to his Sire, even if she had all but disowned him.

It was a different world he now lived in, so different that the members of his clan wouldn't have recognized it. They had lost their wager to stop all demons with one battle, one bit of magic, but the consequences had been greater than they had imagined. The rest of the world had changed from it. The Primal Forces Gabrielle had planned to enroll to fight the demons had been unleashed, and they had swept over the world, slaughtering vampires and humans instead of helping them before fading awayagain. There were whole areas, now, in several territories, where humans and vampires had completely disappeared and demons roamed freely. Worse though were those enclaves, steadily growing in number and size, in which humans were something between slaves and cattle, and demons their owners.

For a long time after the battle, the humans had continued to turn toward vampires for protection, had continued to offer their blood and to hope they would be safe again. But eventually, they had realized that things had changed, that the demons were spreading, that there weren't enough vampires to contain them, let alone stop them completely. It used to be that a Master and a few Childer could keep a dozen villages safe with little trouble. But when the Primal Forces had swept over the world, they had killed too many vampires and humans, and the balance had been upset. The already increased demon activity had only grown more steadily after that, and whatever vampires had been left had been simply overwhelmed. It had taken the humans some time to realize that, but they had eventually started to fight back for themselves. There were too few of them to make much of a difference, though.

At first, Erik had watched them from afar, hating that they were saying, in actions if not in words, that they didn't need him and his race anymore. In time, he had taken pity on them and taught those who would listen how to fight. Without training, they often didn't live long, and few of them refused his help once they understood his purpose. It was always hard to communicate at first until they realized what was going on with him, but he had worked up a way to teach by showing to the humans how to fight rather than by giving them instructions, and he had gotten fairly good at it. He rarely stayed long in any one village, though. The reproach in the eyes of the same men he trained was too much to bear for long.

They couldn't know how right they were, of course, but he did; his guilt, the guilt of his clan, was deeper than most vampires'. Because all of this had happened when Gabrielle had been too proud, too sure of herself, and had refused to hear warnings, including his. Erik had thought it had been a bad idea from the start, but he had never imagined it would all go so terribly wrong.

Just like he had never imagined he would ever see his Sire lying on the ground, bloodied and totally unresponsive as a group of humans argued over her.

He advanced toward them, growling and showing his fangs without a second thought. It proclaimed to the world what he was and how to kill him, true, but it also always sparked that fear carried throughout generations that gave him an added advantage in a fight. Even if they had stopped respecting vampires, even if so many Pacts were broken, humans were still scared, and always would be until the very last vampire was killed-or until the human race disappeared.

Erik used to feel sorry when he fought humans. It was in part his fault that their universe had been shattered, and he understood all too well how lost they felt. But he had learned not to care. And so he fought hard and fast, breaking a few bones, making enough damage that they quickly gave up and ran away. He didn't plan on waiting long enough to know if they had gone for good or if they would return with reinforcements. In any case, the sun was going to rise soon, and he needed to get to safety. To get himself and Gabrielle to safety. As much as he blamed Gabrielle for what she had unwittingly caused, as much as she had pushed him away both before and after the battle, she was still Erik's Sire, and that blood link came before everything else.

He approached and for a few seconds merely watched her, still sprawled on the ground, eyes closed.

Gabrielle looked dead, lying there in her own blood, and suddenly Erik was flashed back to the aftermath of another battle, when he had gone from one body to the next, searching in vain for someone who would wake until Gabrielle had found him instead. It wasn't lost on him that the situation was now reversed, that Gabrielle was waiting for the sun as Erik had been back then, that he was going to bring her to safety as Gabrielle had done so long ago for him. The parallel would stop there, he promised himself. Gabrielle's eyes opened, closed, opened again. Erik did his best to glare at her. He had no sympathy for anyone who stopped fighting. That was something she had taught him herself.

"Have you lost the last sane bits of your brain?" he said, and it felt strange to talk after so long. "What the h.e.l.l is wrong with you? Trying to get yourself dusted?"

Gabrielle didn't reply, merely closed her eyes again, dismissing him. It irritated Erik beyond words. He was there, whether Gabrielle was happy to see him or not, and he wasn't going to leave like that. At least, not yet. He owed a life to his elder, and he would pay his debt.

Gabrielle's pain was obvious when Erik grabbed her and pulled her into his arms, and he tried despite himself to be gentler, mentally berating himself for it. Gabrielle had put herself in this situation, she deserved the pain.

Even so, it was a relief when his Sire stopped struggling and became limp in his arms, blessedly pa.s.sed out. Climbing onto the horse while carrying her was an accomplishment in itself; it would have been easier to throw her across the saddle before jumping on, but he was afraid to hurt her more than she already was, and so he kept her in his arms, and held her closer and more carefully than he would have dared to if she had been awake.

Chapter 5.

+ Three centuries earlier "Did I ever tell you how pretty you are when you pout, my Childe?"

Indignation battling with shame, Erik tried to discipline his features even as his Sire continued to laugh.

"I am not pouting," he claimed, teeth clenching despite himself. "I am no child."

Gabrielle was still laughing lightly; Erik looked at her, his eyes throwing daggers. His horse snorted and took an unsteady step, and he realized he had been twisting the reins. Trying to control his temper and relax, he remained silent, staring straight ahead into the night.

"You are no child," Gabrielle conceded when her laughter had faded. "But you are jealous as one."

"I am not..."

The high pitched, angry tone of his voice was making it all too clear that he was, indeed, jealous, and Erik forced himself to be quiet.

"I wasn't my Sire's first Childe," Gabrielle continued as though he hadn't spoken. "Nor was I ever his favored Childe. So I never had much of a reason to be jealous of Childer he made after me. But I saw how his favorite acted, whenever he went to seal a new Pact. And you, my dear, are acting exactly the same way. As a spoiled Childe who is afraid he will lose his Sire's attentions."

Erik had nothing to answer to that, simply because it was true that he was worried-not afraid, simply worried. He had been standing by Gabrielle's side for seven years, now, her first and only Childe, her partner when she fought demons, the lover in whose arms she spent her days. And as much as he hated to admit it, he was worried of losing his place in her life. A village had been founded, a few weeks back, on the edge of the territory that Gabrielle protected. Its council had soon started approaching Gabrielle about sealing a Pact with her, and she had accepted. Erik had been rather excited at first. A larger territory meant more work for them, but also more artisans at their service, and a new supply of fresh blood. It still felt strange to him, sometimes, to accept blood from people he had grown up with, and the new village would send someone new to the lair each day to offer blood to them in tribute.

What Erik hadn't realized until this night however was that Gabrielle would choose someone from the new village to make her Childe, just like she had chosen him, seven years earlier. Standing a few steps to her side while she had talked to her potential Childer after the shared blood ceremony, he had had a perfect view of her reactions to the candidates, and of what said candidates had looked like. It was all too easy to imagine she would grow fond of one of them enough to give him Erik's place in her bed and heart. After all, it had only taken her a few hours to decide to turn him and make him her lover.

He was still thinking of these young men and women and wondering which of them he would need to deal with when they reached their lair. Gabrielle startled him when, having slid of her horse, she tossed the reins at him.

"Enough with the dark mood," she said, the laughter from earlier completely gone from her eyes. "Take care of the mounts, and try to clear your head of this jealousy of yours before you join me."

Although he bowed his head in submission, Erik had no intention to stop worrying, certain that if he did, he would without a doubt lose his place. He would need to be stealthier about it, though, he reflected.

Maybe try to influence Gabrielle into choosing a woman, or an older man she would show no interest in bedding. And once she did choose a new Childe, he would need to make clear that he was Gabrielle's favorite, and that he would let no one take his place. She had to have more Childer, not only was it the custom to seal the Pacts, but it was also necessary to have enough fighters to protect a given territory.

But nothing said she had to treat each of them as she had treated him since the night he had risen.

It was with a newfound determination that he finally joined her inside the lair, having secured the horses in the stable and quickly brushed them down. A village worker would come in the morning to take care of them.

Striding inside the lair, he closed the heavy wooden door behind him and followed the scent of his Sire to the bedroom they shared. The lair had two more, currently unoccupied, and Gabrielle had drawn plans to have more rooms added in time, but until now they had only used the bedroom and the feeding room, where they received each day their blood offerings.

He paused by the bedroom entrance as he took in the sight of his Sire. Vampires didn't feel the cold, but he had long ago discovered that Gabrielle loved anything that could warm her skin; she was now standing by the fireplace, in front of a roaring fire, completely nude. The demon part inside of him flinched at that, warning him of the danger of flames, but Gabrielle seemed to have no such instincts.

"The night I first came to your village," she said coolly, her back still turned to him, "I was determined not to choose a Childe right away. I wanted to take my time, and pick someone who would make the best possible companion for me, be it man or woman. I wasn't looking for a lover. All I wanted was a Childe."

Erik had started walking toward her as she talked, but he paused, confused. "I thought ... I thought all Sires bedded their Childer."

She finally turned toward him, and for a moment he was too captivated to listen to her words. She usually kept her long hair in a braid that fell to the small of her back, but she had undone it tonight, and the soft auburn waves framed the deceptively delicate curves of her body beautifully. He belatedly caught on to what she had said and frowned in incomprehension.

"But you took me as your lover," he started, and she interrupted him with a shake of her head.

"Did you listen to me? I didn't want to choose anyone the night I chose you. But you ... you stood above the rest. You caught my eyes, and my curiosity, and before I even bit you that night I knew you'd eventually get my heart, too. And I was right. You did."

In seven years, it was the first time she had ever came close to admitting she had more affection for him than what their blood bond provided, but he saw through her words, right to what she wasn't saying. One of the first things she had ever taught him was that vampires didn't use the word 'love'; they were reputed not to be able to experience the feeling. But Erik had realized that it wasn't true, because he had fallen in love with his Sire, and loved her more than, as a human, he had ever loved anyone.

Something in him demanded that he reciprocate the declaration, but he knew that Gabrielle would not appreciate hearing the actual words. At a loss as to what to say, he simply walked to her and put one knee to the ground in front of her. He had been in front of her like this when she had first talked to him; he remembered, too, what he had felt when her gaze had fallen upon him.

"Still worried, my Childe?" she asked with a slight smile as she caressed his cheek with the tips of her fingers.

He thought about it for a second or two before giving her a truly honest answer.

"No, Sire."

"Then come to bed."

Her hands were immediately on him as he stood, removing his cloak with a twist of her wrist, tugging his tunic free of his breeches and pulling it up over his head before dropping it to the floor. She stopped helping undressing him at that point and went to sit on the bed, but he could feel her eyes on him, caressing as he fumbled with his boots before getting rid of his pants. Had he been human, his cheeks would have been ablaze by the time he finally turned toward her, his c.o.c.k jutting proudly from his body; she was smiling when she extended her hand to him, and he joined in her bed without waiting any longer.

He had by no means been an innocent when she had made him her Childe, but their first night together after his rebirth had left him in awe. She was an intensely sensual woman, and vampire stamina made her very nearly insatiable. This night, though, when she had revealed to him just how deeply her feelings for him ran, had to be special. If he couldn't tell her in words, he had to do it with his hands, his mouth, his c.o.c.k, and leave no doubt in her mind. She had to know, when she chose that other Childe, that Erik would always be hers.

She quickly thwarted his plans to worship her, however. As they lay down together and started kissing, small, chaste kisses meant more to tease than arouse, her hands were already on him, her fingers barely touching his skin yet leaving a trail of fire in their wake on his back, his sides, his thighs, his chest, never coming to his c.o.c.k that craved her touch more than anything. Deepening the kiss and taking possessionof her mouth, he tried to return each touch, each caress, and to make her forget about pleasuring him to let him pleasure her instead. But she matched him stroke for stroke, cradling his c.o.c.k in her palm when he cupped her breast, giving him a few moments to kiss and lick along her shoulder before reversing their positions and doing the same to him, and making him feel like she was worshipping him as much as he did her.

Before long, he was panting, his breath ragged as she took him closer and closer without letting him come; but for once, she didn't grin and point out to him that he didn't need to breathe. This time, she was breathing just as hard as he was. Finally sliding inside her was like coming home and they both stilled at the sensation, watching each other as they lay side by side, her leg thrown over his hip to give him access to her core and hold him closer.

"You're beautiful, Erik," she murmured with a slight smile. "I couldn't have dreamed of a more wonderful Childe."

Answering, after that, that he couldn't have dreamed himself of a more wonderful Sire felt too weak of a declaration, and instead of talking, he covered her lips with his, and started thrusting inside her, shallow movements that progressively became stronger as she accompanied him and amplified his motions. After the way they had teased each other, this couldn't last long, and too soon Erik was trembling in the coc.o.o.n of her arms and body, trying to fight off his release until she reached her own.

"Bite me," he pleaded, his voice hoa.r.s.e with pleasure. "Take my blood, Sire. Please..."

"I shall. And you shall do the same."

Surprise at her words made Erik cease to move, and Gabrielle took the opportunity to roll their bodies so that she was lying on top of him. The tilt of her head, offering her neck to his mouth, was too enticing to resist despite the shock of it; Erik had been offered blood from her wrist many times, but never, never from her neck, never like this...

His fangs sank into her flesh only a second before she bit him, and pleasure tore through him, making him arch one last time into her, at the instant her blood touched his tongue.

Chapter 6.

It wasn't so hard to follow Gabrielle's scent back to her lair. Good thing, that. Erik didn't know what he would have done if he had been stuck outside during the day with his wounded Sire. He had become adept at finding hiding places for himself, but she was too hurt for any of his tricks.

Still, if Gabrielle's scent hadn't been so clear all around the house and inside it, Erik might have found it difficult to believe she lived there. The small habitation entirely made out of wood and barely furnished was a far cry from the lair they had once shared, with its cut-stone walls, large rooms and heavy furniture.

Then again, it was better than what he could call his lair on most days.

He quickly found the bedroom, stripped Gabrielle, tended to her wounds and broken bones, cleaned her, all the while trying not to look at her. It had been a long time since he had seen a woman like this; even longer since he had touched one; and it had been centuries since it had been Gabrielle beneath his eyes and hands. The memory had faded with time, or so he had thought, but to breathe in her scent again, to caress her skin was bringing all of it back, and making his body yearn for hers. He managed not to take advantage of the situation, but couldn't have explained how he did. When he was done, his hands were covered in blood. He stared at them for a long time before finally giving in and slowly licking them clean. The taste was glorious, as glorious as he remembered, and it was a struggle not to bend to that tempting neck and take more. Instead, he tore his own wrist and pushed it against Gabrielle's mouth. His Sire was still unconscious, but instinct took over and she suckled on the blood offered to her until Erik pulled away.

Mind blank, c.o.c.k achingly hard, Erik tucked the sheet tight under Gabrielle's body so she wouldn't move and hurt herself while sleeping, and left the room. He had to go out and take care of his horse before the sun rose, but he could barely walk in his state, and couldn't think or focus, his mind still in that room, still in front of his naked Sire whom he couldn't, wouldn't touch.

Unfastening the laces of his breeches, he leaned back against the bedroom wall and pulled out his c.o.c.k.

Gabrielle's scent was all around him, even stronger for her blood on his clothes, and all he had to do was close his eyes to see in his mind Gabrielle and himself, hunting and feeding together before f.u.c.king, still covered in demon blood. His c.o.c.k hardened even more at the memory and he shut his eyes tighter, trying to summon not only the sight, but the sounds, harsh pants and frantic pleas, the smell, blood and l.u.s.t and come and want, the taste, sweet blood, strong blood from his Sire and lover, the feel of her hands on him, of his c.o.c.k entering her...

He came with images of Gabrielle dancing in his mind, and a curse on his lips.

For long, very long minutes, he remained there, staring at nothing, wondering what he would do. He was tired, so tired of being alone ... it would have been so easy to stay, take care of Gabrielle, find a place in her life again. So easy. Too easy.

Shaking the fantasy away, he tucked himself in and fastened his clothes again before pushing away from the wall and striding out, quickly a.s.sessing how much time he had left before the sun became a problem.

With the cover of the trees, he would have enough time to take care of his horse and clean up, he estimated. A double snap of his fingers brought the well-trained stallion running back to him, and he stroked its side as he led the animal to the small barn. With the quickness and efficiency of habit, he cleaned, fed and watered the horse before locking the door behind him and returning to the well.

Shedding his tunic, he washed as well as he could the blood and come off it in a bucket before quickly washing himself. Then, his step heavy with incert.i.tude and confusion, he entered the house again.

Gabrielle was still asleep in the only bed, and although it was large enough for two, he didn't even consider joining her in it. Instead, he took a seat at the table in the common room, and, resting his head on his crossed arms, tried to fall asleep. But despite his fatigue, despite being safer in this heavily curtained house than he had been in many of his temporary lairs, he couldn't manage to find sleep, his mind haunted by too many memories. To have Gabrielle's scent so strongly around him was not helping anything.

It was this same scent, and particularly that of her blood, that made him jump to his feet after a few hours when it suddenly became sharper, fresher. He found Gabrielle almost by the bedroom's entrance, lying on the floor, some of her wounds reopened if he was to believe the smell.

"What are you trying to do? Paint the floor with your blood?"

He tried not to be too harsh as he helped her back into bed, even if he was angry at her stupidity. Why had she tried to move when she was so hurt? The answer was obvious, and Erik cursed himself for not thinking about it sooner.

"Hungry?" he asked.

Gabrielle merely nodded, a clear enough answer. But Erik needed to know something first.

"Going to get yourself dusted as soon as you're good enough to walk out of here? 'Cause if you're going to, there's no sense in wasting good blood on you."

He hoped his fear wasn't too present in his voice, but there wasn't much he could do about that.

Gabrielle answered, and for an instant Erik was confused. Had she said 'I won't', or 'I want'? And want what? Reading lips was a bore, even after so much time.