Magestorm: The Embracing (8 page)

24

Dhane carefully climbed the staircase with Amelia hanging onto him tightly.  There was no chance of him falling with the iron grip she had.  They reached the top and continued down the hallway to her room.  Inside, she helped him lay down on the bed.

“You let your hair grow,” he noticed.   Other than that, she looked exactly the same: beautiful.  Curvy and voluptuous, he wondered how he left in the first place.

“As did you.
  Do you like mine this long?”

“Yeah, I think it looks good.”

“Thank you.  You need a haircut though.”

She smiled as she walked from the room, and he laughed as he laid back and relaxed.  The sheets and pillows smelled wonderfully of her as he inhaled deeply.  After ten minutes, she returned with a pitcher of water and a sandwich for him and an apple for herself.

“Drink some.”

He obliged and drank half a glass of water.  It wasn’t his favorite thing to drink, but it would do.  The sandwich looked good, but he didn’t have much of an appetite.  All that ran through his mind was the assault at the vampire’s building, the basement with Veronica, and being left in the woods to die.  He was lucky to be alive.

“Were you afraid?”

That was actually an excellent question.  He wasn’t sure he had the energy to be afraid at any point during the whole ordeal.  When he wasn’t unconscious, weakness from being drained left him light-headed or dizzy.

“Not that I can recall.”

“I was.”

Her eyes were sad when he looked into them, as she sat on the bed next to him and polished the apple.  There was nothing more said out loud, there didn’t have to be.  The moment they shared as they looked at each other said more than any words could.

With a smile, she turned her head and bit into the juicy apple.  It left a shine on her lips and suddenly he did have an appetite, but not for the sandwich, or even the apple.

“Let me get that for you.”

He sat up and put a hand to the side of her neck.  Pulling her close, he kissed her, tasting the sweet apple juices as he licked them from her lips.  There was almost a purr coming from her as she began to breath heavy.

“Hold this.”

With a toss of the apple, she stood and pulled her shirt over her head while he was catching the fruit.  Before he could turn back, her bra was off and she reached to take back the apple as she climbed back onto the bed.  Soon she was sitting next to him and biting into the apple again.

“Let me give you the sustenance you need.”

After the bite, she moved the apple to her breast and let the juices spill onto her, covering her nipple.  Without hesitation he was on it, thoroughly removing any semblance of the fruit.  A moan of approval led him to lay her back as she did the same move with the other breast.  He followed suit as he climbed on top of her.  The apple dropped to the floor.

They kissed deeply as they held each other tight.  This opportunity nearly escaped them, and neither was willing to let it go again.  After a short time, she pulled on his shirt and he obliged in removing it.  Her hands ran all over his chest and pinched at his
pecs
before tugging at his pants.

Within a minute, they were off, and hers were too.  She pulled at him, wanting him inside her, but he teased her first.  Bodies rubbing against each other, he refused to let himself inside.  She tried to do it herself, but he pushed her hands away and finally pinned them above her head.

Using his shirt, he tied them above her head, the shirt wrapped around posts on the headboard.  Her breathing was erratic and eager, and she pulled at him with her legs, almost begging him to enter her.

Instead, he slid down and tasted her excitement, tongue tracing her and massaging her until she started to moan.  She squirmed and bit her lip as he pleasured her until he could tell she was ready to burst.

“Please, I need it.”

He decided to give in to her plea and kissed his way up her stomach and chest and finally to her lips.  With a thrust of his hips he was in and she pulled tightly on the restraints above.  Verbal agreements told him she wouldn’t last very long, and he wasn’t going to bother going slow.  He needed it.  She needed it.  Now they were both going to get it.

Every ounce of strength he could muster was directed to one thing: making her
scream
.  Cries filled the air as he thrust himself into her, grabbing the headboard for leverage and not stopping until they were covered in sweat and both of them were satisfied.

They finished together, her legs clutched around him and trembling.  He lay down on top of her and kissed her, not really wanting to stop.  Once he freed her hands, they latched onto him and held him tight.  For that instant, only the two of them existed.  Then there was a knock at the door to bring them back to reality.

“Just a minute.”

Dhane let Amelia up and she put on a robe while he got under the covers.  She opened the door to reveal Xander standing there.

“Amelia, I’d like you to go to the Grand for the council meeting.  The vote is happening tonight.”

“Say what?”

Dhane exclaimed as he sat up.  Xander cocked his head and glanced around Amelia.  A smile crept across his face.

“Good, you’re back.  I knew you didn’t leave again.”

“What’s this about the vote?”

“It’s going down tonight, because the vampire royalty is all here.”

Without hesitating, Dhane got up out of bed and began to dress.  Amelia looked back and followed his lead, dropping her robe and throwing on clothing.  Xander turned and leaned against the doorway, not watching, but needing to talk further with the mage.

“What happened to you, kid?”

“Vampires happened.  I was trying to figure out what they are up to when I got jumped. 
Was left for dead in the woods, but a guy out hunting found me.
  Then Amelia came and retrieved me from there.”

The smile was gone from Xander’s face as he realized what this meant.  War was almost inevitable with the vampires now.  At least they still had a chance to vote down the addition of them to the council.  Amelia stopped and looked at him, reading his face.

“Xander?
  Does this mean what I think it does?”

“Yeah, I think so.  I’m going to call an emergency meeting of our people to let them know about the vote likely keeping the vampires out, and prepare them for what may come.  I’m not going to tell them about the attack though.  Take Dhane back to his place and stay there.  Between you and Amber, he’ll be well guarded until the meeting.  I can’t wait to see the look on Charles’ face when Dhane walks into that room.”

25

The council meeting started with Dhane noticeably missing.  Cassandra pushed on and tried not to think about him.  His empty chair made that difficult.

Each side had five representatives.  On the werewolf side, Xander stood with Amber, Amelia, Terrance, and Tyson.  For the vampires, Charles stood with Victor, Maria, a sick looking Tamara, and the king, Vladimir.

“Tonight’s order of business will go this way.  First we will have a private vote on whether to open the council at all.  Based on a preliminary vote, that motion will be approved and we will then ask the participants in to state their case.  Xander will speak for the werewolves, and Charles will speak for the vampires.  Does everyone understand?”

All was understood and the vampires and werewolves exited the room.  The vote went quickly and passed without incident.  Next, the werewolves returned and Xander said his peace.  Once he finished, they departed again and the vote was opened.  Nicole wasn’t allowed to vote, and Cassandra could only hope it wouldn’t be close enough to require her to vote either.

The werewolves entered the room and waited for the verdict.  Xander was confident that the recent interactions had all but sealed the deal.  He was right.

“We welcome you and yours to the group, Xander.  However, it was decided that you should be excluded from the vampire vote, just as they would not have a vote in your fate.”

“Understandable.  All I ask is that I can make a statement before the vote happens for the vampires.”

She looked at him curiously, but he didn’t expand.  Instead he took Dhane’s seat at the table and waited as the vampire representatives entered to state their case.

Charles spoke eloquently, but was clearly pushing his arguments as both a benefit, and potentially an insult if they were denied entry.  A clear point was made that they had as much right as the already approved werewolves.  Once he finished, Xander looked to Cassandra, who was looking his way nervously already.  He smiled as he stood.

“I have some facts that need to be considered before casting the next vote.  I don’t disagree that the vampires should have as much right to be elected to this council as the werewolves, but I do believe you should consider each person individually.  For instance, just because you believe you’re royalty in your world.”

“What exactly are you implying?”

The vampire prince was clearly quite agitated.  He glared at Xander, who returned the favor.  Caught in the middle of the angry silence, Cassandra started to sweat.

“Are you going somewhere with this, Xander?”

“Absolutely.
  The vampires made their intentions known when they attacked one of the members of this council.  Isn’t that right, Charles?”

Whispers suddenly filled the room and the vampires and werewolves seemed moments from a full on brawl.  Cassandra tried to regain control and calm things, all the while wondering what was leading Xander to this conclusion.

“I’m assuming you have some evidence, Xander?  Otherwise, I’m going to have to ask you to leave these proceedings.  I can’t have you stirring things up for no reason.”

“Oh, I’ve got the best reason of all.  Their attempt to kill the mage failed, isn’t that right Dhane?”

When Dhane stepped into the room, the room went deadly quiet.  Amelia moved to his side, ready to protect him if needed, especially in this room where all magic was rendered useless.  One wrong move by one of the fanged royalty was all she needed to unleash her fury as she thought about what her man must’ve gone through in their clutches.

With a wink and a smile, Dhane took notice of a sickly looking woman and knew she must have been one of his attackers in the woods.  She clearly wasn’t doing well, and he just wished he knew what spell he had used on her.  It could be useful in the future.

He took his seat as Xander stepped back, never taking his glare off of Charles.  The vampires did good job hiding their disappointment in Dhane’s arrival.  However, by not reacting in any way, told volumes as well.  Cassandra was nearly speechless for several minutes.  Finally she found her voice and tried to delicately work through what happened.

“Dhane, we had wondered where you went to.”

“I had some things to figure out, like what exactly Charles and the vampires are up to here.  I went to their building but was directed to another apartment.  It was there that I was attacked and taken.”

“This is absurd,” Charles said angrily.  “I had nothing to do with that.  As you said, you didn’t even make it to my penthouse.  How can you claim I was involved?”

“Technically, I can’t.  However, the royal family was definitely involved, wasn’t it young lady?”

The sick woman didn’t respond as she stared at him.  A couple of coughs were the only sounds she made.  She turned to excuse herself, but the king held up his hand to stop her.

“You will stay and see this out, as will we all.  What
proof have
you that my niece was one who attacked you?”

“Her illness is my proof.  I cast a spell that sickened her, as well as the other one who was feeding off me at that moment.  Where is she at?  Not well enough to join us?”

“She is merely suffering from food poisoning.”

“Then she won’t be coming to see me to ask for the cure, I guess.”

Of course, he had no idea what the cure was.  The room was quiet again as everyone processed the accusations and evidence.  It was clear that the vampires were trying to pull something, and really, that was enough for most of them.  The result looked inevitable, but the head of the council had to go through the formality.

“Shall we proceed with the vote then?”

“May I begin?”

She was surprised that Dhane wanted to start, but given what had apparently happened, and the result was already looking to go against the vampires, could his starting the vote make things worse?  With a nod from the head, he stood and thought carefully about his words for a few moments.  His heart was racing and he took a deep breath before he began.

“Despite the actions by a few, I believe the evolution of our secret society must include all those involved.  Therefore, I vote that the vampires do have a place within the council.  However, I also believe they should be judged on a case by case basis for entrance, as should the werewolves, and really, any potential witches or mages that may come in the future.  My vote is yes.”

Stunned silence filled the room.  He sat back down and stared at his hands in his lap while he waited for the vote to continue, or be delayed, or whatever was going to happen.  At least his part was through.

After several minutes of silence, the vote finally continued.  By a narrow margin, the vote agreed to allow vampires into the society.  They immediately followed with another vote which easily passed.  They would vote in members on individual basis from each group, and those votes would come at a special council meeting held once a month.

The vampires stormed out, knowing there was nothing they could do further tonight.  Xander, meanwhile, made his intention formally known, that he would be applying for entry.  The others refrained from applying, feeling it more suitable that he be first.  He stopped to speak to Dhane before leaving.

“Very good speech, mage.
  You’ll make a good head to this council one day.”

Dhane looked at him confused, but Xander just smiled as he continued.

“Trust
me;
I see it happening one day.  In the meantime, I would like to suggest that Amelia stays with you while we continue sorting out the vampires plans.  They may try to take revenge on you for tonight’s actions.”

“I’m not worried, but she is more than welcome to stay.”

With a shake, Xander left and others filed out behind him.  Eventually, there were only three people left.  Dhane kissed Amelia and handed
her the
key to his room.

“I’ll be up in a minute.  I need to talk to Cassandra.”