Heirot

"I never could resist a dare," Vlad breathed against her skin, slowly coming alert again to the resonating excitement between them.

It was a very, very long night. They would relax a little, start to calm down, and then one passing thought would send them off again. It was nearly dawn when Vlad finally gave in to the exhaustion they were both sharing, pulled her into his arms, and fell thoroughly asleep.

When Tenele managed to drag herself awake the next morning it was nearing noon. Her body was so luxuriously content with the heat of her body beneath the covers and the sun pouring in felt warm against her skin. She blinked her eyes open, admiring Vlad's sleeping form next to her. She could still feel the buzz of his mind in hers, and she knew he was fast asleep by how quiet it was.

Her stomach rumbled, a protest of how she had made Vlad her lunch and dinner. Which, while fun, had added little sustenance to her. She needed food to be stronger, anyway.

Tenele slipped from the bed quietly, not wanting to wake her husband. Her legs wobbled at first, her head felt a little light. She cupped her brow with a smile, and went to the bathroom to grab one of the robes off the wall.

Tenele grabbed the pack with the food and silently slipped from the room. She tripped over Stalker in the hall, managing to catch her balance.

"Hey," she whispered. "Stop sleeping in front of the door, silly. If I'm not tripping over you, then your jumping on me. He had a right to hog me, you know. I married him, not you." She reached down with her non-ringed finger and scratched the Hellhound lovingly behind the ears. "Come on... Breakfast time. I'll let you eat the scraps."

Tenele leaned against the railing, following the curved staircase down to the main floor. She wondered the downstairs floor until she came to the kitchen which was tucked off in the corner of the house behind two beautifully carved sliding doors.

The kitchen was large, with counters covered in chunks of polished blue granite. The walls were painted a pretty pale yellow, and the cabinets a warm oak. There was a pot rack hanging over a large island. There were a lot of windows, all of the curved towards the top like the front door. The brick on the floor made her feet cold, so she went about lazily stacking wood in the fireplace to warm the room.

"Hmm..." Tenele mused, digging through the bag while the fire crackled to life. "Sooo hungry."

It was already late morning when the light filtering into the window pulled Vlad's eyes open. His body felt buzzy and relaxed, still connected to Tenele's mortal energy. A lazy scan of the bed showed him that Tenele had already ventured out of the bedroom. He rolled onto his stomach and stretched luxuriously on the sheets.

*Not trying to escape me already, are you?* he reached out sleepily into her thoughts.

Tenele smiled. "Food," she thought simply, but wasn't sure how well it had gotten across. So she leaned forward over the pot she'd been stirring and inhaled the smell of what she was cooking.

She sighed, placing the food on the counter.

Stalker's ears perked up and his top lip curled. His head turned to the door, and Tenele watched curiously as he trotted out. She shrugged her shoulders and went to the cabinets, digging through until she'd found a bowl.

The sliding doors to the kitchen slammed shut with a loud whack. Tenele jumped, nearly losing the bowl in her hands in the process.

She crept to it, setting the bowl on the counter, and pulled the handles. She pushed to try to get it to open, and couldn't seem to make it budge.

There was the clatter of her spoon scraping against the pot. There stood Verin idly stirring her food. Tenele shook her head, trying to make sure she wasn't still half-awake.

He dropped the spoon in the pot and turned to her. She realized quickly that it wasn't a dream at all. Tenele turned quickly for the door, trying to pry the two panels apart.

"That's rude, not even going to say hello?" he asked from where he stood across the kitchen from her.

Tenele ignored him. She racked her mind for what to do, not sure if she should alert Vlad to him or not... Not sure of what the God wanted or if he would hurt Vlad. And then, she realized to her dismay that merely thinking about not alerting Vlad to Verin's arrival had in fact alerted Vlad.

"I came to congratulate you," he explained, taking a few step forward.

Tenele whirled to keep and eye on him, pressing her back against the door. She spotted an assortment of sharp objects and skidded passed the God to the meat cleaver, taking it up by the handle and holding it up by her head threateningly. "Go away," she told him firmly.

"You looked so much like your mother," he mused, leaning against the counter.

"Really," Tenele sighed. "This is getting old. You didn't know my mother. So shut up, and go away."

"I knew your mother," Verin laughed. "I knew her... very well. Intimately in fact."

Tenele's teeth set tightly. "That's it... I'm going to cleave you face off and feed it to my hellhound."

Vlad felt her fear first, and then heard the conversation that was going on downstairs. He threw himself sideways, rolling off the bed and scrambling to his feet before porting into the kitchen below.

"If I didn't know better, pops, I'd say you were hitting on my wife," he addressed the dark lord as he sauntered up besides Tenele in all his 'natural glory'.

"Excuse me," Tenele muttered. "I was just about to cut his face off." She choked up on the meat cleaver.

Verin chuckled. "I was simply offering my congratulations to the happy bride," he replied innocently. "She's as gutsy as ever, I see. I'm glad you both have moved on since your venture in my realm. Its touching that you reconciled after ripping out her heart."

Tenele through the meat cleaver at him, and with a Queen's Maiden's accuracy. Verin just barely dodged the blow to the head. He turned his eyes on her with fire.

She shrugged her shoulders. "It slipped..."

Verin glared at her, and then his expression softened to the point of terrifying. "You know, Tenele..." He shifted around the island closer to them. Tenele slid nearer Vlad. "One day very, very soon you'll be in my realm again. All alone. I've got a whole mental list of the things I plan to do with you." He smiled, a terrible maliciously happy grin.

Tenele's stomach did a flip and she felt a wave of fear run through her. She was careful not to show it on her face.

"Well, if you plan on tricking me into any magic circles you've lost your mind," she muttered.

"I don't have to trick you into anything," he explained. "I've got a whole army at my disposal dear. If I wanted you, I'd have you in a second. I can send an image of your face through the link I have with my children and you wouldn't be able to leave this house without being recognized by one. You're not playing with a mortal. Stop acting like it." He was offended, he seemed offended. Tenele thought merrily that she'd struck a nerve. That merry thought quickly turned sour once she realized she was playing with a bigger fire than she could handle. She clamped her mouth shut and reached down for Vlad's hand.

Vlad's smile was cold and smooth as he stared Verin down, but his emotions were a volatile mixture of fury and fear. The latter horrified him, but it was a reaction as physical as any reflex. Whether he liked it or not, he and Verin had a connection that could affect him at the most primitive level.

"I don't know, I think she plays with immortals just fine," he chided the god meaningfully. "Maybe you just aren't any fun."

Verin sighed. "Ah, that could be true Vladimir. That could be true." He leaned back against the counter. "How's that wall your Master put up for you? Hmm? Still feel a little itch? I think I could break it as easily as I did the first time. Maybe I'd be more fun to Tenele in your body? Hmm? We could test that theory." Verin's fingers flexed and he took a smooth step forward and Tenele slid between them.

"You're fun on your own," Tenele forced out, nearly choking on the words.

Tenele couldn't handle a version of Vlad as evil as Verin. More so one completely controlled by Verin.

Verin stopped just in front of her. He was massively tall, and it made Tenele feel small and inferior. "Maybe we can play later then," he told Vlad. He lifted a hand to Tenele's chin and she jerked away, stumbling back into her husband. Verin chuckled. "Soon," he reminded her. "Well, I think my congratulations are over. I'm sure you've got a lot more celebrating to do... I should have brought a gift."

"You want to give me a gift? Hold still," Vlad sneered. The claws extended from his right hand as he stepped around Tenele and threw a speared punch at the god's chest. He knew it wasn't likely to connect, but that certainly wasn't going to stop him from trying.

Tenele knew what he was going to do about the same time he did it. The link not slowed, but Vlad's thoughts and actions that fast. She felt his fury as vividly as all his other thoughts. "Vlad, no!" But, it was too late.

Verin's hand shot out, and caught Vlad's arm, seizing it in a vice like grip.

"Stop!" Tenele yelped. Suddenly, this was looking very familiar to Tenele.

Verin's other hand wrapped around Vlad's skull. "I guess we'll play the game anyway?" Verin's power poured into Vlad, seeking an opening for control.

Tenele panicked. "Verin, stop!"

"You dare strike at me child. Did our first round not teach you a lesson?" Verin growled at Vlad, his voice altering with demonic undertones. "Maybe this time you'll learn." His head cocked too quickly to Tenele. "I'll give you a head start."

Tenele shook her head. This wasn't happening. He wasn't doing this.

Vlad stiffened with adrenaline. Verin's will assaulted his nerves and threaded through the periphery of his mind. He grabbed the dark god's arm with his other hand and drop his claws as deeply as possible, though it was hard to put any force behind his movement with the distracting assault on his mind. Disgust bled through his mind into Tenele's, but he fought against the overwhelming need to conform to Verin's will.

He had one advantage that Verin wasn't expecting. His mind was not wholly vampire at the moment. If anything, it was a hybrid of his thoughts and Tenele's, two opposite natures mingled and strengthened like a hard amalgam. He sought out the part of him that was linked to Tenele, and held on for all he was worth.

Tenele's panic had kept her from understanding the prickle in her mind, but when she felt Vlad reach through the connection for a stronger hold, she also felt Verin grappling for more power. Vlad drew strength, but in exchange Tenele drew Verin. Vlad brought in good, and sent out bad.

The surprise of it sent Tenele to her knees, crumpling like a sack of potatoes.

The sudden movement distracted Verin for a moment. He looked from Tenele, who was sitting on the floor cradling her head, to Vlad. He peered into Vlad's thoughts, since he was already there... and he saw her. Felt her.

Verin shuddered with laughter. "Her mind is like sweet wine," he murmured, tugging on Vlad's head to draw him closer.

Tenele stumbled to her feet, fumbling around the fireplace where a rush of Verin's presence sent her to her knees again. Her mortal body and mind feeling like it was exploding from the inside out.

Tenele grabbed the axe that they broke wood up for the fireplace and stumbled to her feet again. She went to him, slinging the axe. He released Vlad's head quickly and caught the handle, turning his attention to Tenele.

"It seems I'd have to wear you both down to get in... maybe I'll just come back when his mind is all his own?" he asked. "Though being inside yours was bittersweet..."

Tenele let the axe handle go, stumbling away and sliding to the floor when her legs wouldn't focus.

Verin let Vlad's arm go and dropped the axe. "I think I would have liked to be in your body while you were connected to her," he mused. "I'd enjoy both your mental anguish. But, for now I'll let you go. I can come back later."

And then Verin was gone in the blink of an eye. The kitchen doors slid open.

Vlad fell to the floor the moment Verin's hand released him. His spinning thoughts quickly cleared, and he sprawled gracelessly to his feet in order to get to Tenele's side. "Tenele!" he took her shoulders in his hands gently. His soul searched hers to see if she'd escaped their shared experience unharmed.

Tenele blinked her eyes, shook her head, and reached up to cup Vlad's hands on her shoulders. "I'm fine," she reassured him in a breath. She wiped a spot of blood from the brim of her nose and smeared it on the white robe. "I just wasn't prepared for that. I'm fine." Tenele reached up, using the countertop to pull herself to her feet. She leaned on it until she was sure her brain could focus to walk. Her soul tuned into Vlad's fury at Verin, so that meant he could Feel the budding anger at her husband. "Why did you attack him?" she asked with a frown. "He was leaving and you attacked him. He could have ripped you into pieces Vlad. Pulled your legs off like a bug and made me a widow after being married a day. If we weren't linked together he might have taken you over..." a slew of bad thoughts ran through her. Enough to make her nauseated at the idea.

Vlad grimaced, taken off guard by her anger. "I will never bow to him. And I will not stand and watch him harass you at his leisure." Something flashed through his mind that was more than just competition. I'll never let him have you, the unspoken thought traveled unintentionally between them.