5
Prodigal Son
Lorien was still waitingwhen Maddox returned. Mad was glad he did not have to sleep, for there would have been little time to do so in between all the many responsibilities and troubles which inevitably found their way to his doorstep. This one was six feet two of some of the worst kinds of trouble all combined together in an elegantly twisted package.
“You put that one to bed. Adorable,” Lorien grinned. Was that a glimmer of jealousy in those cold blue eyes? More importantly, what was causing that raspiness in his voice?
“What’s going on now, Lorien?”
“The usual vamp drama,” Lorien waved a hand airily. The more casual Lorien insisted on being, the more certain Maddox was that something serious had happened. The last time the young vampire had been in his presence, it had not ended well. In fact, declarations had been made as to never being in one another’s company ever again. Maddox was not the kind to rub a puppy’s nose in its mess, and he could certainly smell a mess.
“What kind of drama?” It was distasteful phrase, but he used it for convenience’s sake.
Lorien was like a son to Maddox, or more accurately, a troubled nephew. It was not a small matter to create one of their kind. It came with a great deal of responsibility. A fledgling had to be raised. In Lorien’s case, his maker had lost interest within weeks of turning him. Maddox had stepped in to fill the void, but he had never been able to truly give the younger vampire what he needed. The bond between a maker and fledgling was irreplaceable, and in Lorien’s case, impossible.
“Bertram and Ernest want me dead.” Lorien put his hand to his throat. Maddox pretended not to notice that his hand came away black with blood. He was wounded. Probably badly. He didn’t want to admit it, of course. Lorien never admitted when he was hurt.
“Because?”
“Because they think they own Brooklyn, that’s why.”
Territory was getting tight. There were too many vampires in New York. The time for a thinning of the ranks had come and gone and now tensions were spilling over into violence. Lorien was considered by some to be an easy target because he made himself one, and because he did not have his maker’s favor. But those who had any sense knew that he was under Maddox’s protection, which made what Mad suspected must have happened all the more untenable.
“Stand up,” Maddox said.
A slow smile played over Lorien’s lips. “I’d rather not.”
“You're wounded, aren’t you.”
“Nothing I won’t recover from in due course.”
Maddox sighed. “Can you not stay out of trouble?” He did not know why he was bothering to ask the question. When still human, Lorien had been a gadfly and a cad. A rake and a gambler. As a vampire he was still all those things.
“It would seem not,” Lorien gave a slight shrug. He would never have admitted it, of course, but he was here seeking asylum. Begging for help silently with those wicked green eyes which charmed his human pets, intimidated his enemies, and could never hide anything from Maddox.
“You’ll stay here. Under my protection. And you’ll help teach Will to hunt. Do not tell him anything he is not ready to hear, understand? I do mean anything.”
There was a very brief moment in which Lorien didn’t fully understand what Maddox was saying. Then his expression cleared.
“Oh, he doesn't know!” Lorien laughed. “That’s classic.”
“It is not classic. He’s vulnerable. If you do or say anything to harm the process, I’m…”
“Don’t worry, Maddox. I won’t say a word,” Lorien said. “Ernest almost ensured that I couldn’t say one anyway.”
He unbuttoned the top of his coat, revealing a nasty wound on his throat. It had already begun to heal, but Maddox had the strong impression that it would have incapacitated the younger vampire when it was first inflicted.
“Tell me what happened,” he said, keeping his tone controlled.
“I was jumped at the Library,” Lorien explained.
‘The Library’ was not a library at all. It was a club where vampires socialized, which was about the most stupid thing Maddox had ever heard of. They were solitary predators by nature. Giving into the human habit of hanging about in groups was always going to end badly.
“And?” Mad prompted.
“I don’t have more details than that. I barely made it out of there alive. Crawled under a dumpster and laid low for a few days until the bleeding stopped, then I came here.”
“That would explain the state of you,” Maddox sighed. This was not good timing. He needed to have all his attention focused on Will right now. Things were sensitive and delicate. Things could go wrong if he took his eye off the pup for more than a moment.
“So,” Lorien said, his cold lips twisting in a charming little smile. “What are you going to do with me?”
Indeed, that was the question. It was a question that could only have one answer, however.
“While you are under my roof, you will avoid all social contact with others of our kind, do you understand?”
“I remember,” Lorien said. “I’m not feeling particularly sociable at the moment. Don’t worry. It won’t be like last time. I’ve learned a few lessons since then.”
Maddox had a fairly reasonable idea that it would be exactly the same way it had been last time. Lorien was too young a vampire to act with appropriate foresight. His instincts and impulses would always win out. That was why fledglings needed their makers.
“Come here,” Maddox beckoned.
Lorien took an obedient step toward him, a sliver of uncertainty dancing in his eyes.
Maddox wrapped his arms briefly around Lorien’s shoulders. “Welcome home.”
FLOMP!
“ARRRRRGGGHHH!”
There was a sound outside, a thud followed by a very high-pitched scream. Both Maddox and Lorien turned curious gazes toward the source of the sound. There was no further thudding, but there was quite a lot of grunting and moaning.
“What was that?”
“That, if I had to hazard a guess, was my pet attempting to escape.”
“Poor thing. He sounds hurt.”
“FUUUUUCCCKK!”
“He’ll go into shock presently, I imagine,” Maddox said with a soft sigh indicating the end of his patience.
“CHRIST!”
“Or not,” Lorien smiled. “Shall we put him out of his misery?”
Lying on the freezing ground below the back window he’d crawled out of instead of taking a shower, Will wasn’t in shock. He fucking wished he was in shock. Instead he was in agony. Fucking absolute agony. The bone had snapped and pushed up through his shin in a way that made him want to be sick.
He heard footsteps approaching. Maddox. Of course it was Maddox. He was everywhere, an omnipresent menacing embodiment of every daddy issue on the planet combined. Will tried to get up, in spite of his injuries. He wanted to scuttle away and hide in a corner somewhere until the inevitable overtook him. He rolled over onto his hands and knees and pushed up on his good leg.
Hopping over the icy ground, he scrambled for the wall for another support. He could sense Maddox’s approach as inevitable as the coming of the dawn. It was not so much that he was trying to flee; more that he was trying to not be caught in one of the most embarrassing positions he’d been in a really long time. The only thing worse than being caught in an escape by someone charged with the task of catching you was fucking it up yourself to the point you couldn’t help but be caught.
“William. Stop.”
His name sounded strangely compelling coming from Maddox’s lips. So much so that he stopped, panting, his breath making dragon-puffs in the night air as he attempted to regain control of himself.
“Let me go,” he choked out, grasping at the wall.
“Don’t be silly.”
Maddox was beside him suddenly, taking his arms and moving him gently so he could lean against his captor, and not the other cold, hard, overwhelmingly massive obstacle preventing his freedom.
Will tried to resist. His hands loosened and he let himself fall to the ground rather than grip onto Maddox. He slumped down. Maddox let him go. He could have caught him, but he let him fall. Will learned a lesson in that moment, a painful and brutal lesson. Maddox had come to his aid, but if he refused, he would be allowed to suffer.
“Look at me,” Maddox said, crouching down next to him, extending a finger in front of his eyes and drawing it back to his own nose. “Look into my eyes.”
A dark passenger rode in those eyes. Will saw a flash of secrets and horrors in that moment of unprecedented connection. It was more intimate than the sex he’d had with Maddox when he was crushed roughly against the floor and drunk from. That had been nothing but domination and conquest. This was something else, a flirtation with some mutual vulnerability for just a second, which made the pain seep away as Will lost himself in that dark gaze.
“You’ve broken your leg, pup. Now why would you do something as silly as that?”
“I wanted… I had to… I can’t…” Will stumbled over his words, fumbling with the very ideas he was trying to express. How to say that he was terrified of Maddox — and not because the man had turned out to be a vampire. That barely registered. Will was accustomed to living in a world of monsters. For someone to be a true monster was not unusual. What was unusual for him was the fear and horror of disappointing the man he had already come to depend upon.
“Shhh, shhh,” Maddox interjected smoothly. “You’re okay.”
Will was not okay. Will was severely injured.