Mature: Desert Moon

[Emora Deen]

Horror took hold of Atul when he saw the hurt in the man's eyes. He should have known it was wrong. No... He had known, deep down. He was just a tag along in their relationship. He had no real place with them. Tenele belonged to Vlad.

"I..." Atul felt his heart break. He was just a third wheel. He should have reminded himself of that. He blinked, swallowing the knot in his throat. He betrayed the man he loved by being with the woman he loved. "Don't be angry with her, please. I will take all your blame and anger. I deserve it. She was lonely, and she missed you, and I tied to console her. I tried to..." Atul slipped away from his embrace, feeling unworthy of such a loving hold. "I tried to let her pretend I was you."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad swallowed hard. He wasn't angry. He was...If he'd told them before he left... if he hadn't hesitated... could he have avoided feeling this way now? He couldn't even believe what he was thinking, but the thought was there all at once. "Does she still want me?" he asked, terribly quiet. Had four months been too long? She'd left when she walked in on them... was she unsure how to be with him after letting Atul take his place?

[Emora Deen]

"Of course she still wants you," Atul replied quickly. "Vlad, nothing could ever change that. Nothing I do could ever make her not want you anymore. If you found her right now, I'm sure you'd learn just how much. I didn't sleep with her to take her from you, I swear it."

This was going horribly, horribly wrong. Why had he mentioned anything at all? He should have just kept his mouth quiet. But, there were numerous ways Vlad could find out, and he had assumed it would be better to hear it from him.

Now, he wasn't so sure.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad paused a second, judging the man's words. "I believe you," he said. His gaze drifted away from the eye contact as he stroked the man's shoulder lightly. While he'd been lying on that slab, suffering and bound for death, they'd changed the rules without including him? Was he fickle to be hurt by such a thing? Hadn't he already decided? And he'd been as good as gone. If he'd died, wouldn't he want them to be together? "Everything will be fine." But his voice wasn't quite the same. There was still love, but not the same trust. It was not the voice of the Vlad that had cried on Atul's shoulder and clung to him for comfort. The next time he was put on his back, he would probably think twice, and hate himself for it.

"I will go let her know I'm awake," he said, getting up.

[Emora Deen]

Atul nodded, allowing Vlad the space he needed. Atul slipped to the end of the bed. He'd been so caught up in Vlad that he never really removed his pants completely, so he simply hauled them up and buttoned the trousers. His stomach felt sick. He picked up on the difference in Vlad's voice... It was unmistakable. Atul hated it. He hated himself.

He slumped out of bed and went back to the chair he'd been sitting in before Vlad woke, poking the fire with a stick. He folded his arm over the mantle and rested his head on the skin, staring down at the flames.

He waited for Vlad to dress and leave, wanting him gone. Go find your wife, he thought sourly. I'm not meant for you... or her. Go away. Atul poked the fire harder, tears stinging his eyes. What he did was a mistake... But, now his heart hurt too much. He couldn't be considered one of them in their relationship. There were walls he wasn't allowed to cross. Boundaries he'd broken. It was good that he realized this now, he was only surprised it had taken him so long to finally admit it to himself. Maybe it was time for this to end?

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad stood up and dressed in a bit of a daze. He looked to Atul, but his back was turned. The vampire went slowly to the door and looked back again. "Atul... I'd have said yes," he said quietly. "It must have hurt. I didn't know, when I set those rules..."

[Emora Deen]

Atul blinked the moisture from his eyes and swallowed hard before he lifted his head. He didn't turn to look at Vlad. He sighed. "We didn't realize what we agreed to when this started or what it would turn into. You had your rules for your reasons and I betrayed them. Go find your wife, Vladimir." Atul finally looked at Vlad. "She's missed you."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad took a step back, stung by his sudden coolness. He wanted to say something, do anything to stop from leaving the man this way. "I'll be back shortly," he said, leaving the door ajar behind him.

He started to explore the compound, noticing parts of it he'd never seen before, looking for Tenele. Instead, he ended up at Talon's door. He gave two firm knocks and waited, unsure if the bloodling was even in there.

[Emora Deen]

Talon opened up the door, smirking when he saw Vlad. "So you decided to wake up!" he laughed. "I was staring to think that wasn't going to happen." He opened the door further for Vlad to enter. The young vampire's room was strewn with books, some opened, some stacked on top of others, and a pile lay on the edge of his bed.

He stepped over them and shoved a few from a chair in the corner. "Sorry for the mess."

* * *

Atul covered his face with his hands when the vampire left. Why couldn't the man have hit him? He deserved to be hit. He shouldn't have done it. He shouldn't have betrayed Vlad's trust like that.

He felt ashamed, angry with himself, and horrified by the truth in the matter. It didn't matter now that Vlad said he would have agreed to it. It was too late.

The King paced back and forth, feeling like he'd explode. He couldn't do this anymore. He couldn't live this life, waiting for a miracle that would never come. He shouldn't have let himself get so deep. He shouldn't have fallen for them. He should have left the deal at that, one night with them, and that was it.

The tears ran in river's down the king's cheeks as he paced. Why did he have to love them? Why did this have to hurt so much? He wanted Vlad's anger and his violence. He wanted some sort of punishment for abusing his trust... and he got nothing. Just soft words.

* * *

Tenele huffed out a sigh, folding her arms. Her breath fogged in front of her face as she lay on top of the metal table. She wondered if they were done yet... She smiled as he thought of the two cuddling each other, whispering sensual sweet nothings into their ear. She was enjoying the peace of the outside... but why did it have to be so cold? She promised herself she'd give them another few minutes before heading back inside.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad entered the room and sized up the things Talon was working on before accepting the chair that was offered. "If I weren't going to wake up, you would be the first to know," Vlad said with a grin, tapping his head suggestively. The grin felt fake, but he wore it as a shield as he sat down. "Thanks for protecting me. You nearly got yourself killed." He looked the man up and down to be sure he was in a solid piece. Everything was fairly blurry after the fight in the snow.

[Emora Deen]

Talon shrugged. "You are my master," he justified, and then pressed his lips together. "And Tenele would have been devastated. Especially when she was so close to saving you. I don't think she would have recovered very well." He went to the window and stared out at the snow. "Does she know your up?" he asked as he watched his sister lie on the table. "She's got to be cold. Wonder what she's thinking about out there." He turned away from the window and went back to his books.

"So, I think I've gathered enough information to build a rudimentary portal that would send two trips. One to the Outerlands, and one to Lowight," Talon sighed, looking at the diagrams. "Problem is I can't test it... so if it doesn't work we could end up with no arms or heads or hair..."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad moved over to the window as Talon was talking and didn't hear anything the man said after he spotted Tenele lying on the table.

He was out the door in an instant, with just a small wave at his bloodling. Vlad jogged and then sprinted down the hall he'd tread every morning on his way to the table, and burst out the front door. "Tenele!" he called, running outside. He jogged to a halt several yards from the table, horrified. "Get off there!" he ordered, waving his arm in a fierce motion.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele sat up slowly, not sure what he was so upset about. He seemed angry. Was the table dangerous and she didn't know? It had held him, it was where he'd been hurt. Maybe there was something she overlooked. She scooted to the edge and slid off into snow, backing away from it like the table itself would suddenly manifest into a living creature bent on devouring them.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad strode past her, raising a hand in front of him. The table tore from the iron girding below it and flew hard into the ice wall at the edge of the courtyard. It made a terrible noise and clattered to the snow, bent out of shape. Vlad pursued it like a lion finishing off prey, clutching his chest as the magic use caught up with him. He grabbed the edge of the heavy table and hauled it up. With a vicious roar, he heaved it again against the impenetrable ice. The metal shrieked as it scraped the hard surface. Vlad wasn't satisfied. He swung it into the wall four more times, grunting with the effort, until the metal was grotesquely distorted and it hardly looked like a table at all.

Vlad dropped the object to the snow like a piece of garbage and trembled as he caught his breath.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele clutched her coat to her chest, completely unable to make sense of what just happened. Such rage... But, she could understand that rage. She knew he hated what that table represented... She knew he probably wished it was Maxwell, but she'd stolen that glory from him.

His wife walked up to him cautiously, as if she feared in his rage he might forget who she was, or that it was her he was with. She reached out and placed a hand on his arm gently.

"Its okay," she whispered. "You're fine. I'm fine."