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

As soon as Linden and Helmut left, Roderick moved to make room and patted the bed, embracing Piers tightly when he climbed in beside him. "Do you like it here," he asked.

"I love being in your arms."

"That's not what I meant and you know it, although I'm glad that you do." Roderick kissed the nape of his neck.

"I knew that." Piers shivered at the touch of Roderick's lips, turning in his arms to look at him. "It's different, but I do like this place, and I'll love it I'm sure, now that you're here."

"Believe me, for the foreseeable future I'm not going anywhere else. There are rumblings from certain corners about overthrowing the King, but until that happens I'm staying here." He smiled wickedly. "Of course the fact that I prodded a lot of the regional kings into thinking along those lines had nothing to do with their accepting the idea that it might be possible."

Piers laughed. "You're an instigator."

"Moi?" Roderick grinned. "No. I just like dropping a word or two in the right ears. If it works, so much the better."

"Will there be a war?"

"I doubt it. Too many of them are tired of his despotic rule. I think they'll all pull together and figure out a way to either convince him to step down, or barring that he will be assassinated."

"Then we'll be free." Piers curled up tightly against Roderick. "Finally."

"We've always been free, love. It just took me a while to realize that."

"But you did." Piers looked up at him, giving him a heartfelt kiss. "That's what counts. And now, you need to sleep and finish healing because I have plans for you for tomorrow night, and you'll have to be in peak condition."

"Oh do you now?" Roderick hugged him tightly. "I think I'll be up for that."

"Several times I hope," Piers told him with a wide grin.

"Most definitely!"

The End

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

"I'm going to be alright, Piers, I promise," Roderick said, his voice weak but firm. "Helmut found me in time." He smiled slightly, adding, "Obviously."

"How could you have let them—I mean you're old, almost ancient, they shouldn't have been able to—"

"They were older, the King's elite guards, they got the drop on me."

"If Helmut hadn't gotten there in time—"

"Do you think you could finish at least one sentence, Piers," Linden said with a chuckle.

"This isn't funny, Linden," Piers hissed, never taking his eyes off Roderick, or releasing his hand. "He almost bled out."

"But I didn't, Piers. It takes more than a few cuts to kill me."

"A few hundred," Helmut muttered, remembering how he'd found Roderick. The vampire was hanging by ropes from the rafters in the bedroom. It looked as if claws and knives had pierced every inch of his body. Some of the wounds had closed but it was apparent that the weaker Roderick had gotten, the less his body was able to heal itself.

After cutting him down, Helmut had transported him, bloody and close to death, to the estate just long enough for the servants to feed him. While there, Helmut found out that the King's agents had indeed come to the house soon after he'd taken Piers and Linden away. They had searched every inch of it, and the surrounding buildings, threatening to kill the servants if they didn't reveal the location of the young men. Luckily, the servants were able to tell the agents they didn't know. Sensing that was the truth, the agents had left them alive.

"All right, a few hundred," Roderick admitted. "But what's past is past. I'm here; we're all here, and safe." He looked to Helmut for confirmation of the last.

"Safe as houses."

Roderick cocked an eyebrow. "Considering the last couple I've been in I'm not certain that's a recommendation, Helmut."

"In this case it is. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to leave Piers to play nursemaid and take my boy back to our house."

"For fun and games?" Linden asked with a grin.

"For housecleaning," Helmut growled, straight-faced. "And if it meets with my approval, then possibly a reward. So move it."

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

"Piers, asking every fifteen minutes is not going to get him here any faster. When I get the word that it's safe I'll go get him, and not before."

"I know, Helmut, but—" Piers wandered away, muttering "Sorry" under his breath.

"It's times like this I wish he could go out during the day," Linden said. "There's so much to do then."

Helmut nodded. "I was hoping that taking him to feed earlier would help alleviate some of his tension. I guess not."

"Nothing will until Roderick's here. If it were me I'd be feeling the same way."

"Seems to me you did at one point, and gave me a major heart attack as a result." Helmut hugged him, then said, "Go see if you can find something to keep him busy." When Linden grinned wickedly, Helmut smacked his ass. "Not that, boy."

"I know. Just teasing you." Linden kissed him quickly and went in search of Piers.

Piers wasn't the only one worried. Three days with no word from Roderick had Helmut doing his own pacing, just not when the young men were around. When he'd taken Piers to the town several hundred miles from where they were living to feed he'd also placed a call to emergency number Roderick had given him. There had been no answer, only the message that that number was no longer in service.

"If I have to go searching for you," he growled, afraid that his friend had either been caught, or had moved on to a new hiding place. If it was the former there was little Helmut could do and he knew it. If the latter, then he'd just have to wait until Roderick could get in touch with him. The only other option was to go to where he was supposed to have met Roderick to bring him back and hope the vampire had left him some kind of message.

"Guess if that's what I have to do—" Seconds later he was in a dark alley in a major Asian city. He checked to be certain no one was watching then moved swiftly to the street. He would have transported directly into the building Roderick was using but the vampire hadn't sent him a visual for it. He did however have the address.

Casually strolling down the still crowded thoroughfare, Helmut paused in front of a closed shop, using the darkened window to check the doorway of the building he needed. It was vacant and unlit, both pluses. He crossed the road, opened the door and stepped into a ill-lit hallway that reeked of cooked food. Taking the rickety stairs to the second floor two at a time, he stopped when he got there to decide which way he needed to go. The rooms he needed were at the far end of the hall. When he got to them he tried the door. It swung open at his touch. Carefully, every sense alert, he entered. The main room, simply but elegantly furnished, was empty. He passed through it to the far door. It, too, opened at his touch.

"Oh hell, Rod," he growled seconds later.

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

Linden stepped out of the house Helmut had transported them to and asked in astonishment, "Where in the world are we?"

"The place where I grew up," Helmut replied, coming up behind him, wrapping his arms around him.

"It's—breathtaking," Piers said softly.

"It is, isn't it? It's been a long time since I've been here. I forgot how beautiful it was, even at night."

"Is your family…?" Linden looked down the narrow dirt road that ran between the few buildings that comprised what he supposed had once been a tiny town.

"They're long gone, and before you start feeling sorry for me, I mean they no longer live here, or even want to. When it was safe, they returned home."

"Safe?" Piers asked.

"Remember what I told you about my connection with the revenant? My grandfather fled here after that war to escape the revenant's followers, bringing his wife and children with him. His son, my father, met and mated with a shifter who lived a few hundred miles from here. He remained there and, in time, my brother and I were born."

"So you have family still?" Linden looked up at him, seeing a flash of pain that came and went in an instant.

"Somewhere, yes," Helmut admitted. "I've been estranged from them for a long time. They don't quite approve of me, of what I am, because I won't be siring any children. Males are supposed to add to what I suppose you'd call the pack for lack of a better word."

"That's horrible," Piers exclaimed, echoing Linden's thoughts.

"It's life," Helmut told him with a slight shrug of a shoulder. "Come, let me show you the rest of your new home," he said, changing the subject.

"Our new home?"

"For the foreseeable future, yes. I hope you don't mind terribly that it doesn’t come up to the standards you're used to."

"No mod cons?" Linden asked, afraid the answer would be that there weren't. He was happily surprised when Helmut told him that indeed there were, up to a point.

"The last time I was here, I installed a couple of industrial grade generators, one for the house I always use, another for the one across the street. I will have to make a trip to town to get gasoline for them before the few appliances I have will work. I do have kerosene for the lamps that should still be good. And of course there are the fireplaces so we won't freeze. However," Helmut chuckled, "there's no television, not gaming systems, so you're going to have to rough it as far as that's concerned."

"Well, damn," Linden muttered, but he wasn't all that certain he minded, at least not for the moment. He had the feeling there would be more than enough to do to fill their time for now.

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

"Get your charges out of here now!"

Helmut spun around to see the vampire who had helped with the destruction of the revenant standing in the middle of the room. He immediately went on the defensive, growling, "Why should I do what one of the King's minions orders?"

"I am no more his minion than Roderick is, now. Fortunately, the King doesn't realize that yet. He does however know that your friend has switched allegiances. Roderick escaped by the skin of his teeth and is in hiding. It would behoove you to remove the young men to somewhere safe. The King's agents are on their way to kidnap them even as we speak. He plans hold them hostage to force Roderick to reappear."

"Damn. Thank you my friend, we owe you." Helmut clapped his hand on the vampire's shoulder and then vanished from sight.

Seconds later, he reappeared in Piers' bedroom where the two young men were in the middle of a hard-fought game of chess. Linden looked up, started to smile, and stopped when he saw the look on Helmut's face. "What's happened?" he asked fearfully.

"It's Roderick, isn't it," Piers cried out, springing to his feet.

"He's safe for now, but you two aren't." Without another word, Helmut gathered them to him.

"Damn," Linden said when he dared to open his eyes again. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere where no one will find us," Helmut told him.

"Even Roderick?" Piers asked fearfully.

"Even him, but don't worry, we have contingency plans. I'll get him, too, when the time is right."

Piers stared at him in disbelief. "Why not now? Why wait?"

"Piers, I swear he is in a safe place, but my going to get him at the moment would bring the King's agents down on him. Trust me; we know what we're doing."

"If Helmut says it's so, then it is," Linden said in stout defense of his lover. "You need to stop worrying, and the best thing for that is to explore this place and see what's what."

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

Two weeks later, Roderick knew he would soon get the answer to Helmut's question.

He understood and agreed with the vampire Pavoni's reasons for wanting to be able to run his region by his own laws. As he had said, "The King is too old; his laws are archaic, based on times so long past they are lost in the mists of antiquity. You and I may be old, Roderick, but I believe we have kept up with the times. My subjects, many of them, are young, relatively speaking. I cannot expect them to live by laws that I myself find too restrictive." He had outlined the ones he meant and Roderick had to agree he was correct in his assessment that they were outmoded in today's society.

Pavoni had suggested that Roderick talk to a few of the other regional kings, giving him the names of some who he knew agreed with him. Therefore, before returning to report in to the King, Roderick had taken a whirlwind tour of the world after sending Piers and the others back to the estate.

Because his own attitude had changed, Roderick now heard what he had loath to listen to on other visits with the vampires in question. They were all chomping at the bit, wanting to break free of the King's despotic rule but afraid of the consequences. The King might be a despot, but he was a powerful one with equally powerful subordinates unwilling to give up the benefits that came with standing with him as he ruled with an iron hand.

After his visits with the kings, Roderick returned to the estate. There were things he needed to do before reporting to the King. The most important one was ensuring the safety of everyone he cared about, from Piers on down to the least of the servants. To that end, he summarily dismissed the guardian vampires, replacing them with ones he trusted not to betray him to the King. Something he realized he should have done years ago.

Then, with Helmut's assistance, he came up with a safe place to send Piers and Linden if the shit hit the fan. Actually, it was Helmut's suggestion. As a shifter he had access to a few well-hidden areas that no one but another shifter could get to, and only if they knew of their existence. One of them was his secret, one he had never revealed to anyone.

With everything that he could think of in place, Roderick was ready to leave the estate.

"Keep them safe, my friend," he said to Helmut before gently kissing Piers yet again, whispering, "I love you. I'll be back soon, I promise."

"And I'll be here, waiting for you." Wrapping his arms around Roderick's neck, Piers kissed him, pouring all his love into it, knowing the kiss more than any words would tell him how he felt. Then he watched as Roderick walked swiftly from the room and out to the waiting limousine.

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

Helmut still found it hard to believe Linden had pulled it off. It was even harder for Helmut to believe that as a result he was now Piers bodyguard when the young vampire accompanied Roderick on his assignments for the King.

"Aren't you just throwing your relationship with Piers right in the King's face," he'd asked with some concern when Roderick had told him what he wanted.

"Not if we're both careful. He's come on trips with me before, both him and Linden. They usually stay at whatever house I've been given for the duration.

"Houses staffed by the King's people, I suspect. That's going to play hell with your love life."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, be ready to leave tomorrow evening."

"For where?"

"Napoli."  

"Where love is king," Helmut said with a bit of a smirk. "I'll have to dig out my old Dean Martin records."

"Only you." Roderick shook his head in amusement. "Seriously though, be prepared for anything. The regional king that I'll be dealing with wants to break all ties with the supreme King, which obviously doesn't sit well with him."

"So you're going to try to negotiate some sort of truce?"

"Hopefully. The King is willing to make some small concessions if absolutely necessary, but he'd much rather I put this one in his place before any of the others start getting ideas."

Helmut nodded. "What are your feelings about that?"

"That's a good question. Until a few days ago, I would have said I had no real doubts as to what the outcome should be. Now, I'm not quite so firm in my belief that what the King says must always be adhered to. Linden made a very persuasive argument against that, at least on some levels. So my dealings with Signore Pavoni may be more impartial, perhaps, than they would have been before. That will depend on his reasons for wanting to break away of course."

"What happens if you side with Pavoni?"

Roderick smiled tightly. "Only time will tell."

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

Linden smirked as he walked into the room. "Someone got a little last night."

"Someone got a lot," Piers replied with a grin. "I might not walk right for a month, not that I'm complaining."

"It's about time." He looked around the room. "Where is your lord and master?"

"Working." Piers rolled his eyes. "Always working."

"Ah, so his fucking you silly was just part of a job, huh?" Linden flopped down on the sofa, looking at his friend with amusement.

"Not even!" Piers sat down next to him. Biting his wrist, he offered it to Linden.

"Can you afford to--?"

Piers nodded. "Rod made certain I fed."

"So the healthy tinge to your skin isn't just you blushing, thinking about last night," Linden said with a laugh before pressing his mouth to Piers' wrist and drinking deeply.

"I never blush. Well, not since I turned fifteen anyway."

Wiping his mouth, Linden lifted an eyebrow in question.

"That's when I decided to find out if my inclinations were real. That poor man must have thought he'd gotten hold of a real babe in the woods but he was sweet about it. As I said, no blushing after that."

"Then tell me all about last night, in graphic detail."

"Hell no. I don't kiss and—"

"Tell." Linden laughed. "Or fuck and tell apparently. That's okay; I've got a great imagination."

"And the experience to back it up."

"These days, you bet." Leaning back, Linden looked at his friend. "So now what? Are you going with him on his business trips?"

"We haven't talked about that yet. I suspect not though, or at least no more than I ever did, and since you'll want to stay here I won't even have you as a cover if I needed one."

"If you want to, if he wants you with him, well I could come. I don't want the two of you in trouble because he finally listened to his heart."

"Let me talk to him first and then we'll decide."

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

"That was sort of my plan," Piers admitted when he was able to reply, "To make you so crazy with need that you'll never, ever think of leaving me alone again."

"Believe me, that is the last thing I will ever do." Running his hands down Piers' back, Roderick cupped his ass when he got too it, squeezing each cheek before drawing one finger up the crack to the tight, puckered hole.

Piers pressed against the questing finger with a moan, only to moan even harder when it was pulled away.

"Now who's needy?" Roderick asked, teasing the tight ring of muscle again.

"Me, and I freely admit it. I wasn't kidding, I want to have you in me, fucking my brains out, what brains I have left right now."

Roderick chuckled. "You're too eager, young one. Besides, what makes you think I don't want you inside of me instead?"

"Toss you for it?" Piers replied with a happy grin. "And there's always next time." He pulled Roderick's hand to his mouth, sucking on one finger.

"That there are. Many next times." Roderick withdrew his finger, well moistened with saliva now, and pushed it slowly into Piers' eagerly waiting hole.

The younger vampire hissed, pleasure over-riding the slight pain. When the invading finger found his gland and stroked it over and over, Piers writhed, begging him not to stop.

Roderick acceded to his wish for long moments until his own needs took over. With one quick movement, he withdrew his finger and lifted Piers to his knees over his rampant cock.

Without a word, Piers lowered himself onto Roderick, moaning as he pushed down until his tight hole completely encompassed Roderick's hard shaft. "Just—perfect," he whispered. "Just as I imagined in all my dreams."

"No more dreams, my sweet man, just reality." Roderick gripped Piers hips, holding him where he was as he savored the tight, heated channel surrounding him. Then he released his hold and Piers rode him with slow even strokes until the passion of their union took over. Seizing Piers' cock to pump it synch with Piers' movements, Roderick watched his face with smoldering eyes, the fevered desire he saw flowing across it raising his own to new heights.

"I don't ever want this to end," Piers whispered, trying to contain his impending release even as his balls tightened. Then, with an impassioned shout, he exploded, throwing his head back as his body shook with the strength of his orgasm. He knew at the same moment, with the awareness that only a connection such as theirs could bring, that Roderick had joined him, filling him not only with his seed, but with his love as well.

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

Piers searched Roderick's face and saw the truth of his words. "You do love me."

"I think you've known that for a long time, even though I never told you in so many words. And, God help me, I've done my best to keep us apart and in doing so I almost lost you. Please, Piers, don't turn me away because I've been a craven fool."

"I couldn't. I love you too much," Piers whispered.

"Yes!" Roderick picked him up, pressing kiss after kiss on his face, his throat, his lips, as he spun around, starting for the door.

"What are you doing?" Piers asked, gasping for breath after the last kiss.

"Taking you to bed so that I can show you how much I love you."

"Umm, Rod, there's a perfectly good one over there." Piers pointed to his bed,

"Oh, well—" Roderick spun around again, quickly depositing Piers in the center of it.

"You're crazy, you know that," Piers told him as he pulled him down beside him and started to unbutton his shirt. Frustrated when one of the buttons refused to come undone, he ripped the shirt open, saying, "I hope this wasn't a favorite of yours."

Roderick laughed joyfully. "It was, but right now I don't give a damn. All I want is both of us naked and making love...now."

"I'm trying to make that happen but your not helping."

Cocking an eyebrow, Roderick made swift work of stripping off the rest of his clothes, and then Piers'. He hesitated once Piers was laying wantonly nude beside him, taking in his fragile appearance. Frowning, he traced the sharp lines of his ribs. "I don't—"

"Do not even think it." Piers grasped Roderick's softening cock in one hand, pumping it fiercely until it began to harden again. "Do you know how long I've been waiting to have you with me, on me, in me?" He pushed Roderick onto his back and began laving his tongue over one nipple and then the other, sucking and nipping each one, reveling in the needy groans he was evoking from his lover.

"Are you planning on driving me insane?" Roderick hissed, lifting Piers onto him so that he could ravage his mouth with hungry kisses.

(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."

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

"What do you want," Roderick asked, looking up from what he was working on with a frown. "I'm rather busy right now, Linden."

"Yeah, well you can stop being 'busy' and talk to me." Without invitation, Linden sat down in the chair beside Roderick's desk to stare at him.

"Linden, I'm not in any mood for your games. Now, out."

"No." Linden crossed his arms over his chest.

With a sigh, Roderick asked, "Alright, what do you need to talk about?" Then a light dawned. "You and Helmut had a fight and you want me to intercede. Not happening. What goes on between the two of you, the two of you have to handle on your own."

Linden's eyebrows rose in derision. "The way you and Piers handle your problem?"

"We don't have a problem," Roderick hissed.

"So that's why he's fading away, barely feeding, spending most of his time sequestered in his room like a hermit? Because everything's hunky dory with him?"

"He's what?" Roderick looked at him in shock. "Why hasn’t anyone told me about this before now?"

"Why haven't you seen it for yourself? I'll tell you why, because you spend all your time these days trying to avoid him. God damn it, Roderick, when are you going to pull your head out of your ass and realize that loving him is no one's business but yours and his. No one, no one has the right to tell you how to live your life. And that, sir, includes the personage you call 'King'."

"I'm one of his subjects, damn it!"

"No, you're his slave, under his thumb," Linden countered, getting to his feet, leaning on the desk to glare at Roderick. "Hell, I have more freedom than you do. Does that tell you something?"

"Because Piers isn't a despot," Roderick spat out. Then he realized what he'd just said.

"Exactly." Linden looked at him with pity. "Think about that, and then make a decision on what's more important to you, the love you have for Piers, or some false notion that the King has a right to rule your life."

With that said Linden turned on his heel and left the room, leaving a very surprised and thoughtful man staring after him.

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

Week followed week until a month had passed since the revenant's destruction. Roderick left on another assignment for the King, returning once for a few tense days before leaving again.

As Linden and Helmut's relationship progressed, Piers watched, happy for his friends. He was miserable otherwise, however, each loving look or action between Linden and Helmut just reinforcing for him what he was missing and so desperately craved.

Linden was well aware of what was happening with Piers. There was no way he could have missed it. One taste of Piers' blood told him all, Piers was not feeding enough to keep even an elder vampire alive.

"Are you trying to starve yourself to death?" Linden had asked one evening, worried and angry. "Because you're coming close to doing so, which, as selfish as I might sound, would mean I'd need to find a new vampire to be bound to. And that could play hell with my life."

"Sorry," Piers had replied, meaning it. "I'm just—" he sighed deeply. "I just don't care anymore." He laid one hand on Linden's shoulder. "I mean I care about you. I'm not going to let you suffer, but to be quite honest you're the only reason I haven't walked into the sun. You're the only one who gives a damn about me, and don't—" he said, putting his hand over Linden's mouth, "try to tell me differently. You care as a friend; you would even if we weren't blood-bonded."

Linden would have debated that he wasn't the only one who cared, but he knew it wouldn't change how Piers felt.

Now, with Roderick due to return for a brief visit, Linden was tense with worry.

"We have to do something," he said, leaning on his elbow, looking at Helmut.

"I thought we just did," the shifter replied, yawning, "and rather well in my opinion."

"That's not what I mean and you know it." Linden swatted him somewhat harder than was necessary, wanting him to pay attention. "We need to talk to Roderick."

Helmut cocked an eyebrow. "Personally, been there, done that, and he won't listen."

"Well he's going to listen to me," Linden stated emphatically. "One way or another."

Helmut nodded, a small grin crossing his lips. "Somehow, if anyone can make him see reason I have the feeling it'll be you."

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

"Long story, short," Helmut said a couple of hours later as he and his friends sat in one of the parlors at the manor house, "I'm a descendant of one of the men responsible for the revenant's death."

Roderick cocked an eyebrow. "Just how long have you known this, and were you ever planning on telling me?"

"Forever, and not really," Helmut replied, shifting Linden in his lap when the boy insisted on wriggling around, muttering in his ear, "Stay still, damn it."

Linden smirked, but did as Helmut ordered, mostly.

"Can I presume that's the reason you took the job here?" Roderick asked.

"Yes. I had to be where I could deal with him, once I figured out how to get to him. Unfortunately, I didn't do very well at that. If it hadn't of been for two nosy brats—"

"If you had told me," Roderick said, a trace of anger in his voice, "then between us we might have been successful at that and saved some lives."

Helmut bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Those people will always be on my conscience, but I am what I am. I don't share secrets well, especially ones involving me personally."

"Believe me, my friend, I understand. We all have our secrets."

"And some of them can hurt the ones you love," Piers murmured so softly Roderick almost didn't hear him.

However, he did, and stood. "If you'll excuse me, I have things to do before dawn." Bending, he kissed Piers' forehead. "You, I'll see tomorrow evening. Go get some sleep."

"As if I had a choice," Piers grumbled, remaining where he was, watching disconsolately as Roderick left the room.

"Give him time, Piers," Helmut told him.

"One hundred years isn't time enough!" Piers bounced to his feet. "For him, for us, a thousand years won't be time enough," he said angrily as he fled the room.

Linden watched his friend leave, shaking his head sadly. "I wish—"

"There's nothing either of us can do, Lin. Roderick is the only one who can make the choice between love and obedience. And unfortunately, so far, he's chosen obedience."

"He needs a good, swift kick in the ass," Linden grumbled.

"Agreed." Helmut chuckled. "Are you going to do that?"

With a laugh, small as it might have been, Linden replied, "You never know, I might."

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

Searing flames engulfed the revenant just as he was about to thrust his sword through Linden, aiming for Helmut's heart. A fearsome scream rent the air as fire began to consume the revenant.

Helmut stepped back, grasping Linden tightly to him. "Just in the nick of time," he said, staring at someone over Linden's head.

"Sorry. Would have been here sooner," Roderick replied. "But no one bothered to inform me as to what was going on until I arrived at the estate."

"You—did that?" Linden stuttered out, turning in Helmut's arms to look at the pile of ashes rapidly dispersing on the floor in front of him.

"One of my abilities, the Fire Gift." Roderick moved to them, assessing those of Helmut's wounds that he could see. "You'll live," he told him with a slight smile.

"Thanks to you, my friend. As for you—" he glared at Linden.

"I know, I'm in so much trouble."

"That's putting in mildly, boy. Did I or did I not tell you to stay with the others?"

Linden dropped his eyes. "You did," he whispered. "But I had to know—"

"And almost died as a result," Helmut growled before wrapping his arms tightly around Linden. "Don't ever do that again; I think I aged thirty years when he grabbed you."

"That would be—" Linden calculated quickly, "four human years. No one would even notice."

Helmut put a finger under Linden's chin, lifting it to stare at him grimly. "Do you always have to make a joke out of things?"

With a nod, Linden replied, "Beats crying. Damn, I was so scared for you."

"I promised you I'd be alright," Helmut said softly. "I always keep my promises."

"Speaking of promises, I told Piers I'd be right back," Roderick told them. "I'll see the two of you when you return to the manor house. And then," he shot a stern look at Helmut, "you can explain why the revenant called you 'enemy mine'."

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

Another tunnel faced Linden, much shorter than the other ones and brighter. At the far end was an open door from which came the sounds of fighting, consisting mostly of growls and hisses, interspersed with the clang of steel on steel.

Moving fast but silently, Linden arrived at the door in time to hear Helmut swearing vehemently. Peering around the edge of the doorjamb, Linden saw the shifter down on one knee, a large sword in one hand, which he swung, aiming for the revenant's legs. The revenant danced backwards but not in time to completely avoid the sword slashing deeply into one calf.

To Linden's horror, the wound immediately began sealing up, the revenant giving a maniacal laugh as it did. Then it lunged forward, the sword it was battling with narrowly missing Helmut's neck, leaving a thick line of blood across his shoulder. Helmut rolled to the side and regained his feet, seemingly unaware or unconcerned about the new wound.

Helmut circled the revenant, looking for an opening. Then he shifted, the sword clattering to the flagstone floor as he leapt for the revenant's throat, jaws clamping down fiercely as his weight dragged the creature down.

The revenant appeared impervious to both the bite and the pain that would have debilitated anyone else. As it struggled to free itself, the revenant's glance landed momentarily on the open door and it hissed gleefully. It brought the hilt of its sword down with fearsome force across the wolf's back. The wolf howled, releasing its grip. The revenant, with one prodigious leap, landed beside Linden, wrapping a decayed arm around him, pulling him against his moldering chest.

"I will kill him," the revenant hissed, his eyes locked on the wolf while he dragged Linden into the center of the room.

The wolf shifted and Helmut stood in its place, blood oozing from several wounds. He bent with amazing speed to retrieve his fallen sword. "Let him go," he growled. "Your fight is with me, not him."

The revenant cackled gleefully. "He is important to you, therefore he dies."

Helmut shook his head. "He's but a toy, a momentary distraction in my day to day life. Kill him if you must." As he spoke, he moved closer, the sword hanging loosely in one hand at his side.

The revenant seemed to consider his words. After a moment he laughed, his fetid breath washing over Linden. "As you wish." The revenant gripped Linden's throat in one hand, his long nails deeply piercing the skin.

"No!" Helmut shouted, leaping forward, sword raised.

With one strong thrust the revenant propelled Linden forward, his body crashing into Helmut's. As Helmut's sword descended, the revenant grabbed the blade then spun it to grip the hilt. Pressing the tip of the blade to Linden's back, he screamed, "Now you and your pet die, enemy mine!"

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

Linden and the vampire followed Helmut. Several yards from a dimly lit arch at the end of the tunnel, Helmut held up a hand to stop them, and then signaled they were to wait where they were until he told them otherwise.

"How?" Linden asked in a barely audible voice, and then realized that the vampire would keep a mind link with Helmut. He wanted to scream to release some of his tension as he watched Helmut shift and then disappear into whatever was beyond the arch. Instead, he started pacing back and forth, his eyes never leaving the arch. After what seemed forever the vampire stepped in front of him, indicating it was time.

Linden followed close on his heels as the vampire entered the dungeon. Two flickering torches provided what little light there was in the cavernous room. Along one wall Linden could see a row of cells, three occupied by living beings, two more holding the desiccated corpses of past victims of the revenant.

Piers stood at the door to his cell, fear and relief on his face. In the one next to him, Dixon was slumped against one wall, deathly pale but definitely alive and somewhat aware if the movement of his eyes as he looked from Linden to the vampire and back was any indication. The unknown human in the third cell was very obviously not going to survive without immediate medical help Linden thought, as he crossed to look at him. He was skin and bones, as pale as death, with no discernible movement to his chest.

The sound of a muffled crack had Linden tensing, looking for the source. He sighed in relief when the door to Piers cell opened and the young vampire emerged. Twice more the old vampire snapped the locks on the cell doors and opened them.

::I will take this one,::  the vampire said, easily lifting the human into his arms. ::You and your friend help the other one.::

Piers had already entered Dixon's cell, lifting him to his feet. "Let's get out of here," he mouthed as he put an arm around Dixon's waist and urged him to move.

"Go," Linden whispered, watching the vampire leave the dungeon with his burden. "Follow him, he'll lead you out." When Piers started to reply, frowning deeply, Linden said urgently, "Just go. I have to—I can't leave without Helmut."

Piers' mouth tightened but he nodded once, quickly walking to the arch, half carrying Dixon.

Linden followed them as far as the arch and stood, watching until they were all out of sight. Then he turned back, crossing the dungeon to the only other exit, a huge iron door that stood partially ajar. Silently he slipped through the opening.