(49) Two vampires, a ghoul and a shifter.

Piers ignored the knock on his door, remaining at the window, staring out at the rising moon. He wished, as he had so often in the last weeks, that the revenant had done his worst to him before Roderick had slain it. It would have solved everything. Roderick would have seen to Linden's well-being and in time both of them would only remember him as a lost friend, nothing more. And for me, my misery would be over. Once again, his eyes welled with tears, and a mournful sob escaped him as he pressed his forehead to the chilled windowpane.

"Don't," Roderick said softly from behind him.

Piers spun around, hissing viciously. "What are you doing in here?"

"I—" He stopped as he looked at Piers. "It's true," he whispered, his voice filled with pain. Piers was pale, almost bloodless, his eyes were dull, his cheeks so cavernous the bones stood out in stark relief. He gripped Piers shoulders, feeling the sharp edges under the palms of his hands. "This has to stop!"

Piers tried unsuccessfully to twist out of Roderick's grasp. "Why?" he said, ceasing to struggle. "What does it matter to you what I do? At least I have to guts to do something."

"This is 'something'?" Roderick turned him abruptly to face the mirror. "Look at yourself. You're dying. You're killing yourself inch by inch. This must stop."

"Is that an order—Sire," Piers sneered in reply.

"No," Roderick replied gently, "it's a request from a man who loves you and can't bear to watch you destroy yourself."

Piers shook his head in denial. "You say the words, but from you they mean nothing. You're not allowed to love me, remember. You've told me that often enough. Sire and Child; that is all we can be."

"Look at me Piers." When Piers stared at him in the mirror Roderick turned him around. "No, look at me, not my reflection."

Stonily, Piers did, not letting a trace of emotion show on his face.

Roderick cupped Piers face in his hands. "I love you. And from this moment on I intend to show you in every way possible the truth of those three words."

"Even if the King—"

"Damn the King. This is our lives we're talking about, not his. I've been a coward in so many ways, afraid of what he would do." Roderick brushed his fingers over Piers lips "I was wrong, his worst punishment is nothing compared to what I've done by bowing to his edict and in doing so denying myself, and you, the one thing that makes life worth living. Love."