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“You do not fucking speak to her,” Vidar growled. Charlie had been so focused on Millard that when the shadow to his left moved, she almost let out a scream. Fortunately she was able to contain it. Smith had stepped forward and without hesitation he backhanded Millard with such a force that Millards head flew back.
“Fucking manners, scum,” Smith said in a dark voice. Now that Charlie was focused on him, she could see that Smith didn’t look human any longer. It was still Smith, she could recognise him. But his skin had turned a grey colour, speckled with darker and lighter flecks, like granite. He had two horns that curled from his forehead over his head. And he had a tail! She looked to the right of Millard and she could see another gargoyle standing there. She didn’t recognise him, but assumed he was another of Jones‘ brothers.
“Thank you, Smith. And thank you for keeping him alive,” Vidar said in a calm voice.
“The kill is not ours to claim, he had our brother killed, but he lay hands on the one bound to you.” It was the gargoyle to the right that spoke.
“I appreciate it, Bishop,” Vidar said. Jun opened the door to the cell, it had been unlocked. Caine walked in first and then Vidar followed with his arm around Charlie. Millard glared at them.
“Couldn’t think of a better plan than to run home to daddy?” Caine taunted Millard. He got the wanted response as Millard tried to get to his feet and rush Caine. Bishop hit him hard on the shoulder and he bounced down onto the hard floor again.
“No one said you could stand up,” Bishop said.
“Why the fuck did you bring these two beasts? Not vampire enough to take me on you own?” Millard said to Vidar. Vidar laughed.
“Please Millard, you are practically newborn. Even a newly turned vampire could take you on and win. I brought Smith and Bishop with me because I promised them they could be part of me capturing the one who killed their brother. That would be you. And unlike some, I keep the promises I make,” Vidar told him.
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“Oath breaker,” Jun spit out.
“Careful, you should take a look at your own house first,” Millard said. The smirk on his face told Charlie he didn’t think they knew about Min. Jun’s face grew darker.
“Min has been caught, interrogated and got her punishment,” he told Millard. Millard’s face fell.
“Did you think we didn’t know? Min was many things, but subtle was not one. Both Caine, Malcome and Che saw and heard her that day. She was dealt with before the day was
over,” Vidar said.
“Y–you are missing three of the clan members,” Millard informed them. Charlie saw it for what it was; he had played all the hands he thought he had and to his horror, none of them got him out of the situation or postponed what was about to happen. Now he was grasping at
straws.
“They are on their way, but we have decided that Vidar and Charlie has the right to the kill, not the clan,” Jun explained to Millard.
“How will you explain this to my father when he finds out what you will do to me?” Millard then tried. Charlie couldn’t help but to snort and then laugh.
“Last time I saw you, Millard, your father was pinning you to the floor,” she said.
“Mauritius and Britta are well aware of what we will be doing here. They may be heartbroken about it, but they accept it,” Vidar added.
“Charlie, my parents have been nothing but good to you. How can you do this to them?” Millard asked. Again, Smith backhanded him.
“Don’t fucking speak to her. This is the second time you have been told,” Smith growled,
“Don’t put this shit on Charlie. You broke you parents‘ hearts. You have been dishonest and betrayed your clan,” Caine told Millard. Millard looked at him with hatred.
“I don’t take advice from sullied,” he hissed. Before she knew it, Charlie was heading for him.
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She was no longer a frail human, she could finally slap him without breaking bones. Of course Vidar stop her with a firm grip around her waist.
“Let go of me,” she demanded.
“No, my little wild lynx. Remember what I told you about not knowing your strength? I’m not opposed to you testing it on Millard, but we will do it without rage,” he told her.
“I just want to hurt him a little,” she objected. Jun stepped up to Millard and backhanded him. It reminded Charlie how he had done the same thing the last time she had wanted to slap Millard senseless.
“Does that do the trick?” Jun asked Charlie.
“It will do for now,” she agreed and relaxed.
“Well, as fun as this has been I think it’s time we get down to business. There are things we
hurt you? Yes. But it will be less than if you fight us. So, are you cooperating?” Vidar asked as he took off his jacket and started rolling up his sleeves. Jun and Caine were doing the same.
need to know, Millard. It would be best for you to just tell us. Will we s
“Fuck
you,
Vidar. You have always thought you were better than I, you have a stick up your ass and you think you are untouchable. Well, you are wrong. So fuck you,” Millard said. Charlie sighed and collected the jackets from all three men.
“This is where you leave, baby, if you don’t want to see the uglier part. No one would blame you,” Vidar told her. She just raised an eyebrow and was met by the same from him.
“Oh great, they are even starting to act the same,” Jun muttered.
“Have fun having two of them at the table,” Caine joked. Jun made a face and then he got a sadistic smile on his face.
“At least I don’t have to work for the two of them,” he pointed out. Caine shrugged.
“That’s easy, I’ll just do what Charlie tells me to do, Vidar will end up doing what she tells him in the end,” Caine said.
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“Hey!” Vidar objected.
“Am I wrong?” Caine asked.
“No. But it would be nice if you din’t make me sound like a pushover,” Vidar grumbled. Charlie smiled at the three of them. Millard looked like he didn’t know what to make of the situation and the two gargoyles were just standing on each side of him, looking at him with hungry eyes. And so it began. Vidar or Jun would ask a question and Millard would stay silent. For the minor things, one of the gargoyles would punch or claw at Millard. If it didn’t get him to talk, one of the vampires took over. The damage they inflicted was horrific. They could swipe with their claws so quickly Charlie knew she would not have seen it if she still were human. Sometimes they took it so slow that time seemed frozen. Which ever way they did it, they caused deep, open wounds where blood flowed for minutes before they closed. Charlie understood that the quick healing, which she had always seen as an advantage, was equally a curse. If Millard had been human, he would have been dead several times over. But as it was, his body healed and he was left to endure more pain. Over and over again. Charlie had thought she would have stepped out long ago. She shouldn’t be able to watch this go on and don’t feel queasy or troubled by what she saw. But she kept watching and focused on holding the three jackets and Vidar’s phone. As the three men asked Millard questions, Charlie had wondered if they would remember all the answers. Maybe they needed to record them in case they needed to listen back to the answers, and so the three members of the clan that weren’t present could get to hear it. So she had grabbed Vidar’s phone, as she still hadn’t got hers back yet, and started an audio recording. It made her feel like she had a purpose in the room. The longer the interrogation went on, the louder Millard’s screams became. Somewhere just before the two–hour mark, he gave up on trying to resist and just started answering their questions. They would still deal out some pain here and there, mostly to keep him alert and avoid him slipping into unconsciousness. After three hours, they stopped and the three vampires turned around and walked towards where Charlie stood. All three of them had red
stains on their clothing and hands.
“Are you okay?” Vidar asked Charlie.
“I am,” she said, even to her she sounded tired and all three of them furrowed their eyebrows.
“I think we can stop here for today,” Vidar said. Caine grunted an agreement.
“You will keep him alive?” Jun asked.
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“For now. I have the feeling we are missing something. I don’t want to risk killing him just to realise we should have asked more questions.”
“I have the same feeling,” Caine admitted. “We should go through his answers and see why we have the feeling.”
“I recorded the whole thing,” Charlie told them and held up Vidar’s phone.
“Of course you did, because you are a genius,” Vidar told her and he sounded proud as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. He took care not to smear blood on her.
“What now?” Jun asked.
“We go upstairs, freshen up, get some food and then we relocate. I’m thinking to my property in the alps,” Vidar said. Jun nodded.
“The others can join us there,” Jun said.
“And we can train Charlie away from prying eyes,” Caine added. Both the other two nodded.
“And it would be easy to keep the traitor contained,” Vidar finally said.
“Agreed,” the other two said.
“Um, aren’t we forgetting something?” Charlie asked. Three sets of eyes looked at her.
“I don’t own a passport. I’m not even really sure where I am, but I know it’s not in the US and
I don’t have a clue how I get a passport or how I would explain to the authorities how I got here without one,” she told them. Vidar smiled.
“You have one, I made sure to have one issued for you a month ago, in case we felt like taking a trip,” he told her.
“You did? How? You know what? I don’t need to know,” she said. Vidar chuckled and kissed
her cheek.
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“When we found out where you were, we made sure your passport has all the correct stamps,” Caine added.
“And where is that?” Charlie asked.
“Finland,” Jun told her.
“Well, didn’t think Finland would be my first country to go to outside of the US. But I guess that is one box to check,” she said. Vidar kissed her other cheek. “So the alps next?” she asked.
“Yes, Switzerland to be more precise. It will take us about thirty minutes form here to the airport, the flight is about three hours and then it’s about two hours to my property,” Vidar told her as they guided her out of the cell and along the tunnel.
“Do you think we can take Loyd with us?” she asked. Vidar groaned and Caine chuckled.
“It’s not like taking home a stray cat, you know,” Vidar said.
“Of course it’s not. I need to ask him if he would like to come, and then we would need to ask
the DeVoens if they can do without him,” she said.
“You see, she’s the one in charge,” Caine happily told Jun. Jun laughed and Vidar pretended to sigh, but it didn’t escape Charlie how a happy smile played on his lips.
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Charlie felt nervous getting on the small plane. Rationally she knew she had been on a plane before, it’s how she ended up in Finland. But it felt like the first time. Vidar squeezed her hand as he felt her unease. He helped her strap in and gave her a kiss on her cheek. As he took his seat next to her, he took her hand in his.
“It will be a quick and easy trip,” he told her. Charlie took a deep breath and nodded. She grabbed a firm hold of his hand as the plane started to tax. When the pilot let them know they could unbuckle their seatbelt, Vidar helped her again and then cupped her cheek and turned her to face him. “Are you okay?” he asked. Charlie smiled at him.
“I’m fine. Just a little nervous, but it feels better already,” she told him.
“That’s my brave lynx,” he said. A couple of seats further back Caine was sitting with Loyd. Charlie could hear him talking quietly to the giant about what working for Vidar entailed. Loyd hummed and asked questions when he didn’t understand, which was often. Some of them made Charlie smile.
‘Eavesdropping?‘ Vidar’s voice sounded in her head.
‘Can’t help it. How long do you think it takes Loyd to break Caine’s patience?” she asked. Vidar chuckled.
‘I have never seen it happen. But this might be the time,‘ he told her. “why don’t you take a nap? We’ll be landing before you know it,” he said out loud.
“I’m not five, Vidar. I don’t need a nap,” Charlie objected.
“You are never too old for a nap,” Jun said. He was sitting in the seat opposite Charlie and was reading.
“You have been through a lot the last week, baby. Some sleep can do you good,” Vidar pointed
out.
“I’m not the only one that has had a stressful week,” she said,
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“You’re right. I’ll take a nap as well,” Vidar told her.
A castle, a freaking castle. Charlie didn’t know why she was surprised to find that Vidar’s Swiss property turned out to be a castle. Because why wouldn’t it be? It was nestled in a valley surrounded by the alps. There was a large mountain lake and protruding out into it the castle stood. It even had pinnacles and towers that rose above the bailey. It was something taken from a fairytale, and Charlie fully expected knights, horses, and castle folk as the car went over the drawbridge. She tried to take it all in as the car came to a stop. Vidar watched her.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
“Are you kidding me? Do I like the fairy–tale castle? I love it,” she told him. He laughed. together with Jun and Caine.
“I’m happy you like it. We don’t know how long we will stay,” he told her as they got out of the car. They walked into the grand entrance and Charlie was introduced to the cook, the housekeeper, and the groundskeeper. Vidar then gave her a tour of the part of the castle that were the living quarters. Parts of the castle were corded off and were shown to the public during parts of the year. “Jun,and the others, when they arrive, have their rooms in the east
wing. We have our rooms in the west wing, as does Caine. The men and the staff have their living areas in the main part,” Vidar explained.
“It’s amazing. I need to explore this place more thoroughly,” Charlie told him as she stopped for the umpteenth time to look at a painting.
“We’ll have time for that as well,” he promised.
“How long will we be here?” Charlie asked.
“I don’t know, lilla lo. It depends on how fast you adapt and what Millard tells us. We can be here for a couple of weeks or a couple of months. I’m sorry,” he said.
“What about your company?” she asked.
“I can work from here. There is no issue. I’m more worried about you. Have you thought about what to tell your brother and Lilly?” he told her.
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“I have been thinking about it. I think I will try to keep as close to the truth as possible. I’ll
just say you took me on a surprise trip. Maybe I’ll add it’s because I was stressed over the
trial and not having regular contact with Huxton and his family,” she said.
“Sounds like a good excuse,” Vidar agreed and kissed her temple. They walked into a large sitting room. The style reminded Charlie of the castle in Finland. It was a mix of antiques and
modern furniture. But the colours were different, more blue and brown. Charlie smiled. It
seemed Vidar had a style. It felt cosy and Charlie couldn’t wait to snuggle up on one of the couches and read. “Our bedroom is through that door. There is an office through there, we will have to share. Through that door is Caine’s bedroom and the last door leads to a spare
room,” Vidar told her.
“You do realise I won’t be able to find my way around here?” she said. Vidar smiled.
“It won’t take you long to memorise the most essential routes.”
“Fine, but what do I do if I get lost?”
“First, you won’t be going around exploring on your own, so no chance of that happening. Second, if by some strange reason you do find yourself alone and lost, you will call me or
Caine,” he said, holding out her cellphone.
“My phone!” she exclaimed.
“It was left in the car. I have been holding on to it for you. It’s updated with a SIM–card that works here, so you can call and text as usual.” Charlie jumped on him, wrapped her arms and legs tightly around Vidar and kissed him.
“Do I have time to call Tyson and Lilly?” she asked.
“Yes, dinner isn’t for another couple of hours. Unless you feel hungry, I’m sure the kitchen. can send up a snack,” he told her.
“Naps and snacks? You really do see me as a five–year–old,” she said.
“I most certainly do not,” he growled and kissed her. “But snacks are highly underestimated,”
he added. She smiled and placed a quick kiss on his lips.
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“Thank you for spoiling me,” she said.
“It’s easy. Do you feel okay to make your calls alone? You can sit here or in the bedroom, or anywhere really. This building is more secure than our apartment. Caine and I will be in the
office.”
“Go, work, be the sexy mafia boss and CEO. I will be fine,” she told him.
“Sexy?” he asked and raised his eyebrow.
“Oh no. That eyebrow doesn’t work on me any longer. No hanky panky before dinner,” she told him with a laugh. Vidar laughed as well and Caine grinned as they walked into the library. Charlie took a seat in one of the couches that let her look out of one of the narrow windows. She had a view over the lake and the village that was on the other side of the lake. She dialled her brother–in–law. It would be early morning back home.
“Charlie, you’re up with the rooster, Tyson answered.
“Hi, Tyson. I hope I didn’t wake you,” she said.
Are yo
1
you kidding me? We have been up for almost two hours as the dubious duo thinks that dawn is a good time to start the day,” he chuckled. “What’s up? Everything okay with you and Vidar?” he asked. Charlie wished she could tell him everything. But if she decided to tell
Tyson and her brother, it was a conversation to have in person.
“Everything is fine. Ask me where I am.”
“Why?”
“No, you need to ask me where, the why comes after,” she teased.
“Okey, I’ll bite. Where are you, little sister?” Tyson asked.
“Schweiz,” she said. There was a pause.
“What are you doing in Schweiz?”
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“Vidar thought I needed a vacation and he has a place here in the Alps,” she said.
“Oh honey, that is amazing. You and Vidar all snuggled up in an alp cottage.”
“Well, maybe not a cottage. I’ll take someres and send them when we go
yes, it’s amazing,” she agreed.
“Is it because of everything that is happening here at home?” he asked.
outside. But
“Partly,” she said, happy that Tyson had brought it up. “Vidar felt I needed some time away and since I have never been more than a couple of miles from home, it was a good time to take care of both things.”
“I wholeheartedly agree. It’s about time you get spoiled rotten by someone. Vidar is starting
to grow on me even more,” he told her.
“Is that Charlie? Why are you waving like a madman?” Charlie could hear Huxton ask in the background.
“I’m putting you on speaker,” Tyson told her.
“Charlie? Tyson is trying to say something using some sort of sign language and I’m guessing it’s about you,” her brother said.
“Hi, big brother. I was just telling your amazing husband that I’m on a vacation,” she told
him.
“You don’t take vacations,” he pointed out..
“Hux, I think she does when her totally hot boyfriend sweeps her away to Schweiz,” Tyson
told him.
“You’re in Europe?”
“I am, it’s everything I ever thought it would be,” she said.
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“How long are you staying over there?” Huxton asked.
“We don’t know. It depends on a couple of things. Vidar can work from here. I can as well,
די
and school doesn’t start for a couple of month.
“Vidar wanted her to be able to relax with the thing happening,” Tyson told his husband,
emphasising ‘the thing‘.
“The thing? Oh, the thing,” her brother said.
“I am starting to like this boyfriend of yours. I don’t know if I like the feeling,” Huxton said.
“Oh boy,” Tyson said and Charlie could swear she heard him roll his eyes. She giggled.
“I love you too, Huxton. And don’t be too upset about liking Vidar. He is a good man and he does love me and takes care of me. To the point of making me take naps and offer me snacks, like I’m one of the twins.” Both men laughed and they switched subjects to the twins. Half an hour later, Charlie hung up and sighed. It didn’t feel good to lie, or withhold the truth, from Huxton and Tyson. But she needed time to decide what to do. It was too early to call Lilly. Lilly would kill her if she called before nine AM. Instead, she walked to the window and watched a bird dive into the lake to catch his prey.
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After dinner everyone relaxed in a drawing room. Charlie felt like she should have dressed up in evening wear as both the dining room and the drawing room reminded her of something out of a time period movie. Of course the issue with that was that Charlie only had the clothes she was standing in. She was going to ask Vidar when they got back to their room if the village she could see on the other side of the lake had any clothing stores and if they could go there the next day.
“How do you like the stay so far?” Jun asked Charlie.
“It’s an amazing place,” she told him. Vidar was sitting next to her on a love seat and he kissed her temple. “When does the other arrive?” she asked.
“They should be here before lunch tomorrow,” Caine said. He was sitting in a chair, looking as relaxed as Charlie had ever seen him.
“I’m thinking we can spend the morning training you, baby. Then we will spend the afternoon getting the others up to speed, listen through the recording and make a game plan,” Vidar
said. The rest of them nodded.
“Will you need me for the training?” Jun asked.
“No, we can make due without you,” Vidar said. “Got plans?” he asked his friend, and Charlie
saw an amused look on his face.
“I need to make some calls,” Jun said. Vidar chuckled and nodded.
‘What are you teasing him about?‘ Charlie asked Vidar in their minds.
‘Schweiz is seven hours before Hongkong, if you want to call someone there, the morning is the best time to do it,” he told her.
‘And who is in Hong Kong?”
‘His wife.‘ Charlie had to force herself not to giggle and hid her smirk behind a yawn.
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Wittle,” she admitted.
Tet’s putthis dinyament will seeyouimttimoming Steppwell, Charlie. Tum said.
“Youttun,Jun.” The memmuideditchfier. Mitinamicie wilket with Charlie in between them. Charlie eninvertithe peacceanilimwnttoxetisiettett. Hertime intthe cellltelt like that dream. They got to their privateelivingroomantianessait goodnight andligated antoliis room. Mida took Charlie intothiein.
“Yes,” he saiti.
Can we change the plans antigosiuminggitorettotinssiinstead tomorrow morning?” she
asked.
Of course, is there something speciallyouneed?“Haskell.
“No, just regular clothessscolldinittedtroweartthessametthing over and over..” He lookerbat her confuser.
“Why would younweathieesamsettingover and over?” he askerlassies started to undresss.
Tony have these cloatiesssiffldtonttuynewoones, kind of have to.”
“Come here,” he tollifieradlietothisHand.Shewalked up to him and placedlerhandli his. He took thermoventadoratioppenelift.They steppet into a walk.imclosettfullloit woment cities. Charlitewassificorell.
“Are they allformed? siteasserthassthellookedcoverthe formal gowns, the jeans, hamis. shues, everyttingstiewonitosvermeed.
wematiesture you have.clothin
“Ofcourse, in ouriiome, hectolier
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“Tired?” Vidar asked.
“A little,” she admitted.
“Let’s put this day to an end. I will see you in the morning. Sleep well, Charlie,” Jun said.
“You too, Jun.” The men nodded to each other. Vida and Caine walked with Charlie in between them. Charlie enjoyed the peace and how relaxed she felt. Her time in the cell felt like a bad dream. They got to their private living room and Caine said goodnight and headed. into his room. Vidar took Charlie into their.
“Vidar?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Can we change the plans and go shopping for clothes instead tomorrow morning?” she
asked.
“Of course, is there something special you need?” he asked.
“No, just regular clothes so I don’t need to wear the same thing over and over.” He looked at
her confused.
“Why would you wear the same thing over and over?” he asked as he started to undress.
“I only have these clothes so if I don’t buy new ones, I kind of have to.”
“Come here,” he told her and held out his hand. She walked up to him and placed her hand in
his. He took her over to a door and opened it. They stepped into a walk–in closet full of
women’s clothes. Charlie was floored.
“Are they all for me?” she asked as she looked over the formal gowns, the jeans, handbags, shoes, everything she would ever need.
“Of course, I told you I have made sure you have clothes in our home,” he told her.
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“In our apartment, yes. Wait, does this mean you got clothes for me in all the places you
own?” she asked.
“Of course. Why would I just have them in our apartment? What if we wanted to go someplace else? I have told you. Charlie. You are a part of my life, every aspect of it,” he told her. Charli looked at him. How was it that he still caught her by surprise when he did things like this? He had a habit of showing her how much she meant to him, and he did it like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“I love you so much.” she told him and kissed him. His arms wrapped around her and drew her closer. Charlie raked her fingers through his hair and pulled him closer. Vidars hands caressed her back as the kiss deepened and landed on her ass and he pulled her Blush to him. He placed kisses along her jaw and neck, then he groaned.
“You need your rest,” he whispered against her skin, causing goosebumps to erupt.
“I don’t. I had a nap earlier,” she said with a smile. He chuckled in a deep voice and placed a kiss at the base of her throat ending with him scraping his teeth over her sensitive skin. “Vidar,” she sighed.
“What do you need?” he asked and continued to kiss the other side of her neck.
“I need you.” she told him, tugging on his hair for him to kiss her mouth. They both moaned and Vidar’s hands on her ass lifted her. Charlie wrapped her legs around him and clung to him. With hurried steps Vidar carried her into the bedroom, never breaking the kiss. He lowered her onto the gigantic canopy bed and bent down over her. Charlie felt his weight comfortably pressing her down as he leaned on his arms. His arms sank into the mattress on either side of her head and Charlie felt enveloped in Vidar. His scent was all around her, her
w improved senses made everything more intense. As Vidar rocked against her she moaned again, trying to draw him down further. He took one of her hands and entwined her fingers with his and put them down next to her head. He broke their kiss and worked his way to her
ear.
“Look at you hand, Charlie,” he whispered and gently tugged on her earlobe. Charlie did as he
told her and turned her head so her cheek lay against the bed and she could see their joint
hands. She became unfocused for a moment as Vidar continued to rock against her body. rubbing against all the right places. “Focus, baby. Focus on your nails, feel them extend, grow
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sharper,” he whispered and licked the shell of her ear. It was hard to concentrate on anything but she did her best and to her surprise, her nails grew into sharp claws. Vidar hummed and kissed down her neck. “Such a quick study,” he praised her. He raised his upper body up off her and she let out a sound of objection. Vidar smiled at her. He brought their joint hand up and placed her hand on his chest. “Slice the shift of me,” he said. Charlie hesitated. Vidar had ripped through more of her clothes than she could count. But he always had control, she was
afraid to hurt him.
“I–I don’t know Vidar, what if I cut you?” she asked. The smile he gave her was full of lust and pride.
“I won’t mind a knick or two,” he told her and drew her hand up and down his chest. “Do it,”
he said. Charlie took a breath and curled her fingers and carefully drew her claws over his shirt. The sound of ripping fabric reached her.
“Oh,” she said.
“Did you like that?” Vidar asked and looked down on the three inches long rips in his shirt.
Charlie could just nod. “Take my shirt off,” he told her. This time Charlie didn’t hesitate, she shredded the shirt of him. “Fuck,” was all Vidar said. He looked down on her with burning eyes. Then he was covering her again, kissing her senseless as the two of them helped each other out of their clothes. Vidar’s hand was rubbing up and down Charlie’s torso, avoiding the places she needed him to pay attention to.
“Vidar,” she objected.
‘Use your hearing,‘ he sent to her and scraped his teeth over her neck. Charlie let out a
stuttered breath and then tried to focus on her hearing. At first, all she could hear was the
sound of her and Vidar, the bed under them. Then she heard breathing that came from someone that was not them. She froze. ‘Relax, Charlie, listen, you know who it is,” Vidar told
her. She focused on the way his hand was caressing her ribs just below her breast, his thumb dragging up, almost reaching her nipple. She relaxed and listened to the third set of breathing. It was Caine. Her breath caught in her lungs for a moment. He wasn’t in his room, the sound came from the living room. ‘Listen to his breathing, he knows what we are doing.” Vidar’s soft voice filled her mind as she listened to the ragged breathing of Caine. It sounded like he was… No, it couldn’t be. Vidar drew her nipple into his mouth and wrapped his tongue around it. It was sudden and felt so amazing Charlie let out a moan. She heard Caine’s breathing stop and then a soft groan. Her arousal spiked. Vidar continued to suckle on her
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nipple as his hand found its way down her body and his fingers slipped into her folds. He growled against her skin.
“You are drenched, baby,” he told her in a low, dark voice. Charlie knew Caine could hear him.
“I need you Vidar, I need your cock inside me,” she told him and moved her hips against his fingers, willing them to find the spot she wanted them in.
“I was going to tease you, draw this out. But I just can’t. I need to be inside you,” he told her. Then his mouth was ravishing hers and Charlie’s heels pressed on Vidar’s ass to get him in position. In the back of her mind she heard Caine’s ragged breath, how it picked up at the same pace as hers and Vidar’s. Her hand let go of Vidars shoulder and gripped his cock. He grunted as she gave it a couple of firm strokes. She had a fleeting thought of how Caine’s cock felt. Charlie guided Vidar inside of her. They both groaned as he filled her.
“Fuck, Charlie,” he grunted as he began to move. “I can’t get enough of you.” Charlie kissed. his neck, let her tongue drag along his collarbone and enjoyed the salty flavour that mixed with his scent. Vidar’s pace increased, his one hand grabbed her ass, keeping her in place as he leaned on the other. Charlie’s arms and legs were wrapped around him, making sure his moving body dragged along her with each movement. Their naked skin created friction. “Claws out,” he growled. Charlie didn’t need to think about it this time, she felt her nails. extend and she dragged them down his back, hoping she used the right amount of pressure not to hurt him, the sounds he was making let her know he enjoyed the feeling. Caine’s breathing had picked up and was accompanied by a new sound. There was no denying it, het was pleasuring himself to the sound of her and Vidar. Charlie loved the image it created in her mind. She continued kissing up Vidar’s neck. Her lips could feel his rabbit puls under his skin and she felt the sensation of her new teeth extend for the first time. With a smile she raked them across Vidar’s heated skin. “Fuck yes!” he exclaimed. His strokes in and out of her became more forceful, he adjusted his grip on his as and the new angel made his cock hit the place inside her that always drove her wild.
“Vidar, I’m going to come,” she moaned.
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“Come with me,” he told her and kissed her. Two more powerful trusts from him and Charlie’s world fractured as the orgasm rolled through her body. She broke their kiss to shout her pleasure. She heard Vidar calling her name as he joined her bliss and she heard Caine’s held back moan as he also finished.
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Vidar’s weight over her felt safe and comfortable as Charlie came back down. She ran her hands up and down his back, no claws, and snuggled in to his neck to scent him. He kissed her shoulder tenderly and once their breathing had returned to normal, he held her legs in place and stood up. She felt like a koala clinging to him.
“Time for a shower and then bed,” he said as he walked towards the bath room.
“I would like that.”
“You okay? It’s the first time we have had sex since you turned,” he asked as he turned on the shower and Charlie tried the power of her own legs.
“Yes, it was a lot more intense, but in a good way,” she told him and kissed him.
“No boundaries crossed?” he asked. She shook her head. He smiled at her and picked up a washcloth and helped her clean herself, she returned the favour. When they were back in bed, under the cover, and she had found her perfect spot in his arms she felt like a warm
marshmallow.
“I love you, Vidar,” she said and kissed his chest over his heart.
“I love you too, Charlie. Now and forever,” he told her. That phrase had a different meaning now, Charlie thought. Forever could be a reality.
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In the morning Vidar and Caine took Charlie out to a field next to the castle. It was surrounded by lush forest on two sides, the castle walls on the third and the lake on the fourth. They started with letting her hit different object. Wood planks, bricks, drywall, tree trunks. To Charlie’s surprise, her hand easily destroyed everything they put in front of her. The tree trunk gave her a couple of splinters, but after Vidar carefully removed them from her hand, it healed as she watched.
“Impressive, you are taking to this as if you were born to it,” Caine told her.
“Thank you,” she said. They were taking a break and talking about how Charlie needed to adjust her strength in everyday life.
“I was thinking we would try something,” Vidar sent a message to her.
“Intriguing, what sort of an experiment?” she asked.
‘Do you trust Caine?”
‘I do,‘ she told him.
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“Then try and sent a thought to him. I would like to keep your new power a secret, but it would be good for us to know how it works,‘ he told her. It made sense to her, it would be good to know if it was just Vidar she could reach out to like this.
‘Caine, can you hear me?‘ Charlie sent the thought in Caine’s direction. He froze and looked at her. It answered the question.
“Charlie, what did you just do?” he asked.
“I sent a thought to you,” she said. Caine looked to Vidar who nodded.
“Try and send one back to her,” Vidar said.
“Is this how it works?‘ Caine’s uncertain voice sounded in her mind.
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“It is.” Charlie said out loud to let Vidar know it had worked. They all ended up sitting in the middle of the field facing each other and testing how Charlie’s new abilities worked. They found that Vidar and Caine could not communicate with each other, but they could easily communicate with Charlie. Charlie could only send her thought to one at the time. She couldn’t read any thought that the men didn’t actively send to her. Next they combined teaching her about her new speed and testing how her ability worked over distance. Charlie discovered she was really fast, and that her ability worked best if she could see her target. it was harder to hold the focus on the person she wanted to send her thoughts to. Both Vidar and Caine had the same issues. As they got closer to lunch, they left the forest where they had been training and strolled over to the castle. It all seemed surreal to Charlie. “Do we tell the others?” she asked. The two men exchanged a look. they could say what they wanted, Charlie was convinced the two of them has some sort of mind link between them.
“I think we should hold off on it,” Vidar said.
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“But they are family,” Charly objected.
“Let’s just wait until the dust settles over the current situation,” Caine told her.
“Okay, I trust the two of you know what you are doing,” she told them. It earned her a kiss.
from Vidar and a smile from Caine.
“They should be here any time now. I got a text from Adisa when they landed,” Vidar informed them. They walked into the castle and into the sitting room. Caine headed for the kitchen to bring them some water and Jun walked in, wearing a smile he tried to hide.
“The calls went okay?” Charlie asked him. He blushed and just muttered something about them being promising. Vidar and Charlie exchanged a look and smiled. Caine came back with a pitcher of water and glasses. They all relaxed and kept the conversation light. Charlie was sitting on Vidar’s lap and she saw the happy glances from the other two men.
“What’s that sound?” Charlie asked. Vidar smiled as the three men also listened.
“It’s the sounds of car tires on gravel, our friends are coming,” he told her.
“Isn’t it irritating to have these noises around you all the time?” she asked.
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D77% 11:12
“You can tune them out. Train your brain not to take notice of them. The brain is a marvellous thing, you can even train it to hear certain sounds and ignore others,” Jun told her. Charlie looked over her shoulder at Vidar. He nodded.
“That is for a future training session,” Caine said.
“What are we training?” Adisa asked as he walked into the room, followed by Henry and Nasir.
“Charlie’s vampire trainings.“Jun said as they all stood up to greet the newcomers.
“Charlie, I can’t tell you how happy we are to see you. And see you looking as amazing as ever,” Nasir said and held his arms out. Charlie smiled at him and didn’t hesitate to give him a hug, she hugged the other to men as well.
“Thank you. And thank you for helping to look for me,” she told them.
“There was no question about it,” Henry told her. They all ate lunch, trying to stay away from the topics they all knew they wanted to talk about.
“Let’s go to the war room,” Vidar said as they all finished eating.
“You have a war room?” Charlie asked.
“We have a war room,” he told her.
“And how often do we have use for this war room?” she asked and the others laughed.
“Nowadays it’s more of a meeting room,” he confessed.
“But it is reinforced and soundproofed, even against vampire hearing,” Caine added.
“Ah,” she said. That made sense. They needed a place to talk in private. Vidar and Caine lead the way down into the basement.
“Are yo
you okay?‘ Vidar asked her in her mind.
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‘I’m okay, I don’t have any real aversions to basements that I didn’t have before this all
happened,‘ she replied. They ended up in a small room with one other door. The door looked to be the same age as the castle. The number pad next to it, looked modern. Caine walked
up to the pad and entered a code, making sure it wasn’t visible.
“We wan
add your code later,‘ Vidar told her. Charlie was about to object, but changed her mind. She had tried before, but he was a stubborn one. The door clicked and Caine pushed it. open. The all walked into a circular room. the walls were of the same limed finish as the rest of the castle. But that was the only trace of anything historic. Half of the walls were covered in monitors and desks that looked to have been specifically made to match the curve of the room. Computers and keyboards were covering the desks. In the middle of the room there was a circular table that looked to be made out of glass with a wide wooden brim. Around the desk there were chairs placed. As they were sitting down around the table, Caine walked around, switching the equipment on. Soon Charlie could see surveillance feeds on some of the monitors from all around the castle and it’s surroundings. When he was done, Caine took a seat on a desk chair directly behind her.
“He’s not dead?” Adisa asked. They all knew he was talking about Millard.
“No. We all had a feeling something was off,” Jun said.
arlie was smart enough to record our sessions with him. We think the best way forward is to listen to it and see if we can figure out, now that we have a clearer mind, what we missed,” Vidar told them.. They all nodded.
“Are you okay with hearing it again?” Nasir asked Charlie.
“I am more than okay with it. I’m just as invested as the rest of you,” she told him, He smiled
at her and nodded.
”
“Of course, Charvi,” he said. Charlie looked at him for a second before she understood. Then
she laughed.
“No, not even close,” she told him.
“I thought I had you that time,” he said. Their little joke lightened the mood in the room. Then it was time to get serious again as Caine loaded the sound file. The table in front of
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Charlie lit up an she realised it was one big screen. Once the recording started, Charlie found she could focus more on the questions and answers this time around. It helped that it was just audio. They all sat in silence and listened to it.
“Can we pause?” Adisa asked and Caine stopped the recording. “Did he just say it was his coffered right to claim the maiden?”
“Yes, that was an odd way of saying it,” Henry agreed. Charlie saw the looks exchanged. between Adisa, Nasir and Vidar.
“What is it?” she asked.
“It sounds like him,” Nasir said. He was speaking to Vidar and Adisa.
Do you guys know what they are talking about?” Charlie asked Henry, Jun and Caine. The men shook their heads.
“A long time ago, It must be closer to eight hundred years or so ago, we ran into to a vampire called Amulius. He had a strong view of vampires being the strongest of the magical creatures and humans. He therefore thought we should rise up and take control. This was before we had the supplements and he more or less suggested humans become cattle and the other magical creatures slaves,” Nasir explained.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Charlie said.
“It wasn’t. When we came in contact with him, he was creating his own army with turned vampires,” Vidar told her.
“What happened?”
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“We called in reinforcements. We called in all vampires we had a connection to that we knew we could trust. We even banded together with other magical creatures. It all culminated in a battle. We won, but in the chaos Amulius vanished,” Adisa said.
“Some thought him dead. But we knew he was too stubborn to die so easily. For years we followed every rumour of teachings like his. Until one day, Nasir found him,” Vidar told them.
“I did. And I didn’t hesitate to kill him before he knew I was on to him and could vanish again,” Nasir confirmed with a grim face.
“So why do you think this is connected to him?” Jun asked.
“The phrases Millard uses are almost word by word the phrases Amulius used. the years he spent on the run, he used to spread his teachings, writing texts and talking to like–minded,” Vidar said. 1
“You think Millard is a disciple of his? Do you think the same goes for his family?” Henry asked. Charlie couldn’t imagine Millard’s parents having such views.
“The one who created me, you said he had corrupted views,” Caine said to Vidar. Vidar nodded.
“Yes, the one who turned you was a follower of Amulius,” he confirmed. The clenched jaw and rigid stands told Charlie that Caine didn’t want to keep talking about it. She wasn’t the only one who got the message, the subject was dropped and they moved on.
“That is why it felt off,” Vidar said.
“You don’t think Millard is trying to pick up where Amulius left off?” Nasir asked.
“Not even Millard could be so cocky and naïve that he would plan an all out war with both humans and other magical creatures?” Henry said. No one said it, but it was on the tip on everyone’s tongue; Yes he was.
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“The big question is if he is working alone or if he is part of something bigger?” Vidar asked.
“Right, if it’s just Millard, it will be annoying, but we can handle it. If he is just a cog in a bigger machine, then we have a real issue,” Adisa agreed.
“We need to talk to him again,” Jun said.
“This time we will all be there,” Henry added.
“You don’t have to come, I can walk you up to our rooms,” Vidar told Charlie, the rest of the men smiled at her and nodded.
“And quit when we are getting to the exciting part? I don’t think so,” Charlie told them.
“Well then, no point to put it off. We may not have time to spare,” Nasir said. All of them stood
up and walked out of the room. Vidar had his arm around Charlie and she could feel the tension. The same kind of tension came from Caine that walked on her other side.
‘Are you okay?‘ Charlie sent a mind link to him, she had a feeling the connection to how he had been turned was affecting him more than he wanted to admit.
‘I’m okay,‘ he replied.
“If you need to talk, I’m here and so is Vidar if you feel more comfortable talking to him,‘ she reminded him.
‘Thank you.‘ They were back on ground level and Vidar took them out of the main building. and towards a building that looked to been a stable once. It had been converted to a garage and in the far end of it was a door that lead to the basement. The basement looked like a storage room for auto parts, oil containers and so on. Vidar walked over to a light switch and pushed it to the right, revealing a keypad. The keypad opened a hidden door, leading down to what looked very much like the dungeon Charlie had been kept in.
‘Are you okay?‘ Caine asked Charlie.
“I’m okay, not good, but okay,‘ she answered. Only one cell held a guest. Millard looked worse. than when Charlie had seen him just the day before. Some of the wounds he had got during
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the last session had still not healed. The two gargoyles were standing on either side of him.
“Smith, Bishop, would you give us the room?” Vidar asked. They both nodded and headed out
of the cell.
“Made sure to head to the kitchen and get something to et and make sure to rest some,” Charlie told them as they passed her.
“Thank you, miss,” Bishop said and gave her a half smile. All six of them listened to the foot fall of the gargoyles to make sure no one was around to overhear what would happen next.
“So, everyone is here now. Is this where you kill me?” Millard asked.
“You would be so lucky,” Henry told him.
“We need to have a talk,” Adisa said.
“Shouldn’t you make her leave?” Millard asked and looked at Charlie.
“It’s to late to act like you have manners,” Charlie told him.
“She has as much right to be here as any of us,” Adisa said.
“Do you include him in that statement?” Millard asked, looking at Caine.
“I would take a turned vampire like Caine, over a born one like you,” Charlie told him. Vidar
chuckled.
“I don’t think you realise how much trouble you are in,” he told Millard.
“You will torture me some more. Not my favourite way to pass the time, but it will all end
soon.”
“You forget how old we are, young one,” Adisa told him. Millard looked at him as if he had no idea where Adisa were going.
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“We remember things, people. You can’t even imagine how much we have seen,” Nasir said.
“Okay.” Millard looked even more confused.
“Sometimes, especially when it’s really shitty persons, it takes us a moment to remember them,” Vidar explained. “That was the case with Amulius, he really was the shittiest of the shitty.” Charlie had turned on the voice recording on her phone. It was her task it seemed. She could see Millard pale even further as Vidar mentioned Amulius. “You see, I knew there was something that was nagging my mind during out first little talk. Now I know why and I’m so happy that we kept you alive. Henry?”
“Oh, I’m happy as well. But mostly because I would have hated to miss what we are going to do to you. I have detested your privileged and snotty attitude since you came to us,” Henry said. He pulled out a velvet bag and Charlie wondered what was in it. “You got everything served on a silver platter because we all respected your father. And you don’t even have the fucking sense to be grateful.” Charlie saw Henry put on gloves and pull a silver object out of the bag. Millard’s eyes grew bigger and for the first time he tried to stand up. Caine and Jun place a hand each on his shoulders and he couldn’t move. Henry gave him a cold smile as he walked up to Millard. Millard’s eyes never left the object in Henry’s hands, not even when it got so close to his face it made him cross–eyed. Henry pressed the silver object to Millards forehead, just above the bridge of his nose. Charlie herd the sizzling noise and smelt burning flesh. Millard screamed. When Henry finally moved away, there was a V with a T over it, branded into his skin.
“The mark of a traitor to vampires,” Vidar said. Charlie knew he did it for her sake, so she would understand. Millards screams had died down to sobs and he now hung forward in Caine’s and Jun’s grip. The two looked at each other and took their hands away, making Millard face plant in the hard stone floor.
“There is no use pretending, Millard. We know you have been reading Amulius‘ texts and have fooled yourself into thinking the mad man was right.” Adisa said.
“Who is working with you?” Vidar asked. Millard was trying to get his arms to support him as he tried to sit up.
“I–I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said. Caine moved at the speed of light, Charlies new senses made it possible for her to see him move up to Millard and plunge a
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small knife into his shoulder. Millard called out in agony and tried to swipe with his claws at Caine. But Caine was already back to his place. “What the fuck!” Millar screamed.
“Do you think you are the only one that can work with
…Caine asked.
“We found our own, one more powerful than your. She helped us lift the spell to hide you, provided us with protection against any attempt made to release us of our magic, and she even threw in some nice enchantments on a couple of our weapons,” Henry informed him.
“A couple of thousands,” Nasir corrected him with a chuckle.
“Who is working with you?” Vidar asked.
“No one. It’s just me,” Millard explained. The men laughed.
“We’re not buying that, traitor. You aren’t smart enough to pull off a disappearance like the one you pulled on us,” Jun said. The questioning continued. Charlie was surprised Millard held out as long as he did. He had been sliced, punched, burned and a range of other things. “Time to motivate him properly,” Jun finally said. He left the cell and returned a couple of minutes later with a bag. He placed it on the floor and opened it. He took out a syringe filled with what looked to be clear liquid. “Colloidal Silver,” Jun said, holding the syringe up for Millard to look at. “Some human thinks it cures most diseases. What it really is, is fine silver particles put into water. Doesn’t really do much to humans. Vampires, on the other hand, react to the silver. When it’s injected into a vein, it will literally burn you from the inside. out.” Millard looked at the syringe.
“No, please, don’t,” he whispered.
“Names,” Nasir said.
“It’s just me,” Millard whispered.
“Silver it is. I have actually never used it on a vampire before, this will be interesting,” Jun said.
“No, please. I’m your clan brother,” Millard pleaded.
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“So now he remembers the bond,” Henry scoffed. Jun didn’t hesitate to take a hold of Millards arm and stick the syringe in a vain. Charlie flinched and braced for what was about to happen. Vidar walked over to her and pulled her into his arms.
“No, no, please dont. Please don’t do this. I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you everything!” Millard screamed and tried to pull out from Jun’s grip. He didn’t manage and Jun looked like he didn’t care. They all watched as Jun’s finger slowly pushed the end of the syringe. “Okay, okey! Michael Popov, Janis Drakos and Kieko Sato!” With a final push the liquid left the syringe. The scream coming from Millard were inhumane.
“Whops, I forgot I was supposed to stop,” Jun said and let go of Millard
“Accidents do happen. Don’t be too upset,” Adisa told him. Millard was twisting on the floor, clutching his arm to his chest, screaming and whimpering.
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For a while the cell was silent except for Millard’s cries. He had grown hoarse and was now clutching his chest.
“How long will he be like this?” Charlie asked.
“Until the silver clears his system. It takes about a weak and it will be the most painful dump he has ever taken, if he lives that long. Sorry for the crude language,” Jun said. Charlie shook her head. She couldn’t say she was unaffected by the situation. But she knew that if she hadn’t escaped her cell, Millard would have been successful in keeping the others away. He would have put her through hell. She was having a hard time feeling sympathy for the man flopping around on the floor like a fish out of water.
“I think we have what we need for now. Let’s leave him to his own torment,” Vidar said. They all nodded and Charlie turned of the recording as they all left the cell and headed back. When they were crossing the courtyard she took the opportunity to fill her lungs with fresh air. “How are you holding up?” Vidar asked her.
“I’m fine. I could use a long shower to clean up, but otherwise, I’m good.”
“I think we all could use an hour to rest and get our heads back in the game,” Henry agreed.
“Good call. Let’s meet back in the war room in an hour. Your room has been prepared to host
you, my house is yours for your stay,” Vidar said. Charlie, Vidar and Caine split up from the rest and headed to their private rooms. Charlie headed straight for the shower and came out. twenty minutes later feeling much better. As she walked into the sitting room, Vidar walked up to her and gave her a kiss. “I need to make a call to Millard’s father,” he said.
“Go ahead. I’ll be here. And give my best to Mauritius,” she told him. He smiled and walked off to his office. Caine was standing in front of the window, looking out over the lake. Charlie hesitated, she didn’t know if he would prefer to be alone. But then she decided she could at least ask. She walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. “Am I intruding?” she asked. He looked at her over his shoulder and the smile she gave her was genuine, but tired.
“No, not at all,” he said. She nodded and stood by his side, looking out the window as well.
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After a minute or two, Caine sighed. “I didn’t want to get tunned” he told ther Chame wandered what she should say, was there a night way to respond to someone who had been fronted untio am entennal life?
“Tim war. What was you life like before?” she asked.
“I want anything special, really. I was the oldest som of a Eumer. We weren’t rich, but we always had food am the table and our land gave us good crops and fed our sheep. It was a simple life, but I was mostly content.
“Did you have a family?” She asked before she could stop hemel. Chanbe knew what a personal question it was, and how painful such memonies could be.
“I had a wiffe, but she had passed away a couple of years before I was tumed. She died giving Birth to our daughter, neither of them survived,” Caine sand. Charlie felt ber beat ache at Game’s life situation.
“Tim so soury, Caine,” she told him.
“Thank you, but it was a long time ago. Back whem I was immed. I hadn’t got over it yet and had refused to emmary, even though my mother and stated telling me it was time. I had my parents, they were getting older. Thes I had my two brothers, the youngest helped us on the farm. But our middle brother had moved to his further in–laxes‘ fam. His wife’s family didn’t have any suns. My two sisters had manied and mower to the husband. Part of my duties as the oldest son was to go into the city and sell the produce we could spare. The last time I went, I did good. I had got a good sum of money and I was celebrating in a tavern. I was going out to relive myself and the next thing I know, I was waking up with this intense hunger. Every fibre of my body craved blood, my mind was filled of violent thoughts and it drowned out everything else. I did things, things I would have thought I were incapable of doing.” Caine stopped talking, as if the memonies had become too powerful. Chantie reached out her hand and took his. “I was lucky Wider was travelling on the road that led by the city and he could smell me. He saved the city for me, and saved my soul all at one swoop He kept me locked up until I came back to mynell. Once the bloodlust wore off, I remembered
what I had done. Vidar told me what I want, how things would be from now on. He stated
training me like we are training you. All I wanted was to catch the one that had turned me, to
punish them, and then return home.” Again he fell silent. Vidar took me to our tam once he
knew I was under control. He made me watch my family from afar. They were mouming my death. Then he asked if I wanted to go there and explain to them what I was? Did I want t
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change the image they had of me? I didn’t. Things were different back then. Today, I think I would have gone to them, explained things. But back then. They would have shunned me away. I would just have caused more pain. Vidar took me on a hunt. We tracked down my maker and I made him pay for what he took from me. After that, I knew my life could never go back to the same simple life I once had. Looking back, I don’t know if it’s something I
regret or I would do different. I like the life I have.” Charlie hummed.
“But sometimes, something or someone reminds you of the carefree, simple life you could
have had,” she said.
“Yes.”
“I get it,” she said, and then they stood like that for a while longer. “I don’t know if I’m going to tell my brother and his family,” Charlie said. Her situation was nothing like Caine’s, but he was the closest thing to someone with the same experience as she had.
1
“I think you should. Thin
are different now. Huxton and Tyson love you. They will understand and they will love you no matter what,” he told her and squeezed her hand.
“Can you be there?”
“If you want me to, I will. You know Vidar and I will be there for you. You will never have to
be alone again,” he told her.
“I know, thank you.” The silence between them returned. It was a nice kind of silence. The
kind that comes from being able to relax in each other’s company enough not to have to fill
the silence. Vidar came back after a while. He walked and stood on Charlie’s other side and put his arm around her. She leaned her head against his shoulder.
“What did his
father say?” Caine asked.
“He was horrified. It feels like each time I call him, I’m taking away another part of his son
from him.” Vidar sighed.
“You know it’s not your fault,” Charlie pointed out.
“I know. But it feels like it is. Mauritius and Britta are good vampires. They don’t deserve any
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of this.”
“They don’t.” Caine agreed.
“What is the next step?” Charlie asked. She was afraid of the answer, but she wanted to be prepared. Nothing good ever came from sticking your head in the sand. If nothing else, it made the risk to be shot in the ass much higher.
“We will need to call in other clans, and reach out to the other communities,” Vidar said.
“It will lead to outright war. Can we keep that from the humans?” Caine asked. He still hadn’t let go of Charlie’s hand and she felt safe between the two men.
“I don’t know, I doubt it,” Vidar said.
“Does that mean what I think it means?” she asked.
“Regardless of what we do or the outcome, our time in the shadows may be over,” Vidar
confirmed.
“They will come for us,” Caine said.
“That may well be,” Vidar agreed.
“What do we do?” Charlie asked.
“We protect ourselves and keep the ones we love safe. It will eventually die out and we will move on from this as well. If history teaches us something it is that even the bloodiest wars
have an end and people move on from them.” To Charlie it was a depressing thought, that no matter what they did, they would leave themselves vulnerable. She had just found this new world, found a new family, her love. She wasn’t ready for everything to change. “Ready to go down?” Vidar asked. Charlie lifted her head from his shoulder and squared her own.
“Yeah,” she said.
“That’s my brave lynx,” he told her and kissed her. He exchanged a look with Caine and then they left the window to go down to the war room. It might end up making use of its name.
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They all gathered in the war room and Caine sat down at a computer as the rest sat down. around the table. After a minute or two, three pictures appeared on the embedded screen in
the table. Two men and a woman.
“These are the vampires implicated by Millard,” Vidar said.
“Do you know them?” Charlie asked.
“I think we all have heard of them. It’s hard being a vampire and not at least hearing rumours.
about everyone else,” Adisa said.
“I had some business dealings with Sato’s father a couple of hundred years back,” Jun said. “We both came to the conclusion it wasn’t a good partnership. Nothing against him, he is just too set on traditions and not flexible enough.” Charlie did her best not to smile. If Jun, of all people, thought someone was too traditional, it had to be bad.
“Janis and I have some mutual contacts, we run into each other every now and then. I don’t know him well enough to give an opinion if he would be up for something like this,” Adisa
said.
“Popov is a dick, sorry Charlie, I have no issues seeing him involved in something like this. All he really cares about is power,” Henry said. Vidar, Adisa and Jun all nodded.
“We don’t know how far this is spread. We should begin with mapping out Popov’s, Janis‘ and
Sato’s closest connections. We need to call in reinforcements, but until we have solid information on who is loyal to their cause or not, let’s leave their closest friends off the call list,” Vidar said. They got to work, pulling on their joint knowledge of who was who in the vampire world. Charlie couldn’t really contribute, she walked over to Caine to look at how he was working the system. He was pulling up the names and pictures of the individuals the clan was talking about. Creating connections to the three main targets. It was a fairly simple
program
and after watching him for a while she taped his shoulder.
“Let me take over this and you go and join the discussion, it’s hard for you to give your input when you need to run this,” she told him. He looked surprised and then hesitant.
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“I’m not part of the clan council,” he said.
“So what? I am, and I can’t contribute to the discussion they are having. The vampires I know. are all closely associated with us. I appoint you as my stand in,” she told him.
“Caine, get you ass over here,” Adisn called. Caine looked at Charlie and she smiled and nodded. He stood up and moved to the table and Charlie took his place. Soon he was as engaged in the conversation around the table as the rest of them. Charlie was happy with handling the computers, it was what she was good at and it made her feel useful. By the time they were finished, they had a complicated map over their understanding of the network surrounding the three suspects. It was Inte in the evening and they had worked without breaks. They were all in need of some rest and food.
“Let’s say we are done for the day,” Vidar suggested.
“Sounds good. I think we should all spend some time calling contacts we know are clean. Start arranging a meeting of the clans,” Nasir said. They all nodded. Vidar put his arm around Charlie as they were walking to the dining room. They all ate in comfortable silence, none of them could muster up the energy to have a cheerful conversation, so they chose to remain. silent instead.
“How bad is it?” Charlie asked Vidar as the got into bed. He kissed her and pulled her into his
arms.
“It’s bad. But don’t worry, you are safe,” he told her.
“I’m not worried about myself. I have you, I have Caine and I have the rest of the clan. I’m fine. It’s everyone else I’m worried about.”
“Maybe we are lucky and we found out before they had time to get organised,” he said..
“It would make sense. Everyone says Millard had planned his escape in advance. Let’s say it’s true and let’s say that this group has been helping him plan it as a part of their evil master. plan,” she thought out loud.
“Sounds like reasonable assumptions.”
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“Then we can assume they aren’t ready to start the practical part of their master plan,” Charlie concluded.
“How’s so?”
“If they were, then Millard would have put his plan in motion. I think we all agreed that he used it out of desperation and not because it was time to do so,” she continued.
“You’re right, that does sound plausible,” Vidar agreed.
“So, the master plan isn’t ready to be executed and we might have time to stop it before things get out of hand,” she said, feeling hopeful.
“That might be the case. If we assume they haven’t pushed their time plan forward as a result of Millard’s panic,” Vidar pointed out.
“Oh, I didn’t consider that. That is a possibility. Especially if they know Millard well enough to know he would mess up and get caught.”
“Yes, then they will assume that we know everything he knows and our element of surprise will be gone.”
“That would be bad.”
“It would,” he agreed. “But it’s a worst case scenario. Let’s not dwell on it. Let’s get some sleep and deal with facts in the morning. I love you, Charlie.”
“I love you too Vidar.”
The following morning they all got back to work. The men were busy making calls all over the world. Charlie was simultaneous getting information from them when they ended their calls on the outcome and she was putting together a presentation with the evidence they had so far. She was also thinking of an idea she had got. It was too early to talk to the other about it, she needed to shape in on her own first. When the took a break to have lunch, they had managed to talk to thirty five different clans, thirty had said they would be willing to take part in a joint meeting, five asked for a couple of hours to talk about it internally before deciding.
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“The big question is where do we hold it?” Adisa asked.
“It needs to be somewhere secure but also somewhere where the meeting doesn’t seem suspicious,” Caine said.
“There aren’t many places that fits both of those,” Henry added. “But I’m happy to offer up the Galaxy for the occasion.” Everyone around the table smiled, except for Charlie, who had no idea what the Galaxy was.
“That is brilliant,” Vidar said. “Only in Vegas would a hotel full of powerful and wealthy people e go unnoticed.” Charlie put the pieces of the puzzle together and nodded.
“I’ll have my people
people clear the resort out. We will use magical creatures from our organisation as staff and the rooms will all be reserved for our guests. Let’s make the human involvement minimal,” Henry suggested.
“I like the idea,” Adisa told them. They all did. The afternoon was spent arranging everything. Even if they were in a time crunch, things needed to be done the right way. In the end, they sent out invitations for the following weekend. It would give them nine days to put everything together.
“I would have liked for us to stay longer here. To give you more time to get used to your new powers,” Vidar said to Charlie as they were taking an evening stroll by the lake.
“I understand why we can’t. And I’m a fast learner and I promise to be careful,” she told him.
“I know you will. I’m sorry I dragged you into all of this. If I had know this was in the
makings, I would never have introduced you into this world.”
Up
“Don’t even say that. Sure, things are a little scary and hectic. But I wouldn’t trade my life with you for anything,” she said. Vidar stopped walking and looked down on her. She smiled
at him to let him know she meant it. The night was clear and the stars and moon were out, reflected by the lake. Despite everything that was happening around them, Charlie was grateful they could have moments like this when they seemed to be all alone in the world. Vidar returned her smile and placed his hand on her neck to draw her into a kiss. It was a
perfect moment. Vidar took a step back and got down on one knee. From nowhere he produced a small box.
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“Charlie, from the moment you walked into my life, there has only been you. I am so grateful that you have accepted to be part of my life and I can’t imagine how I ever lived without you, and I hope I never will have to. I love you more than I have words to describe. If you give me the honour of becoming my wife, I promise I will spend the rest of our days showing you how much I love you. Will you marry me?” he asked. Charlie looked down at him as he opened the the centre
box to show a beautiful ring. An upside down teardrop–shaped green diamond was the
of attention. Around it white diamonds in different sizes were scattered, forming a wave pattern. It was amazing but not too flashy. She could see herself wearing it everyday while living her life.
“Yes, of course I will marry you, Vidar. I love you more than anything,” she told him as she fought back tears. He placed the ring on her finger and then she was in his arms again. He was kissing her and she responded in full force.
“Together forever,” he promised her.
“Forever and always,” she agreed.
Blood red love
99
Chapter 99.
Vidar watched as Charlie walked up the steps to their private jet, Caine was keeping close to her while Vidar talked to the pilot. They had decided to go back home and stay a couple of days before heading to Vegas. Charlie wanted to talk to her brother and Tyson. Not only did she want to let then know she was engaged, she wanted to tell them about her new nature. There was something else going on in that head of hers, but she hadn’t confided in him yet. Vidar wasn’t worried, she didn’t seem upset or worried more than was expected. Truth be told, he was surprised at how well she was handling everything. If it had been anyone other than Charlie, he would have said they hadn’t understood the severity of what was facing them. But he knew Charlie was more than aware of it.
“Ready for your second flight?” he asked her as he joined her and Caine.
“Ready,” she said with a smile. The three of them would be going home by themselves. The other members would go directly to Vegas with the exception for Jun. Jun was heading for Hongkong and his wife. Apparently the ordeal with Min and Charlie’s insistence that Jun would reach out had worked wonders and Jun had been invited to his wife’s home for the first
time in forty years. He would fill her in on what was happening and join the rest in Vegas, hopefully with his wife by his side.
“Looking forward to going home?” Caine asked.
“Yes, I miss Shadow,” she told them. Vidar chuckled and to his surprise, he found that he also missed the little cat. Other than that, he was a little nervous about telling Huxton and Tyson he had proposed to Charlie without asking them first. He had the ring made their first week together. And after almost loosing her and Charlie making her decision, it just didn’t seem to be anything else standing in his way. He loved Charlie, she loved him, it was the natural step to take. The first couple of hours the three spent discussing what they would do the two days. they had at home before leaving again. After five hours in the air, Vidar suggested that Charlie take a nap in the bedroom of the plane. It would help with the jetlag and pass some
of the seven hours remaining.
“I don’t know. I think I’m good where I am,” she told him.
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“Is there something wrong?” Vidar asked, Charlie looked uncomfortable.
“No, not really,” she said. Vidar exchanged a look with Caine and could tell his friend had picked up on Charlies odd behaviour as well.
“So why don’t you want to lay down?” Vidar pushed. To his horror a single tear ran down Charlies face. She quickly wiped it away, but it was too late. Something was seriously wrong. “Charlie,” Vidar tried to make his voice soft but firm.
“When Millard took me. The first time I woke up was in a cabin on an aeroplane. He talked to me and then he drugged me again. I felt so helpless and exposed. I just don’t think I want to go into a room like that again. At least not now,” she told them. Vidar had her out of her seat and into his lap in seconds.
“I’m sorry, baby. I shouldn’t have forced you to tell me, and you don’t have to go anywhere. near the cabin. You can stay right here and sleep,” he said. He was gently rubbing her back.
“Thank you,” she said in a small voice. She had handled everything so well. Vidar almost forgot that the ordeal must have left scars. His soul wanted to go into the luggage department and kill Millard. But it would mean leaving Charlie, and at the moment, she needed him. Caine stood up and got a blanket he put over her. Then he sat down in the seat. next to Vidar and pulled her feet into his lap. Charlie relaxed and snuggled closer to Vidar.
“Go to sleep, lilla lo. We will watch over you,” he told her and kissed her head. She nodded
and he could feel her drift off. He and Caine remained as they were, before Charlie had turned, they could have had a whispered conversation making it low enough not to disturb her. But now, they didn’t dare to risk it. After a couple of hours, Charlie moved in Vidar’s lap. He looked down and saw her opening her eyes. “Morning,” he said and kissed her.
“Morning,” she answered. “Have I been asleep for long?”
“Four hours,” Caine said.
“We still have about three to go. Are you hungry?“She seemed to consider the question.
“I could eat,” she told him.
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“I will get something.” Caine offered and gently put her feet down. Vidar didn’t want to let her go from his arms, but he knew she would be more comfortable eating in her own seat. So
he lifted her into the seat Caine just left. Caine came back with a tray of cheese, fruit and bread. As they ate, Charlie looked like she had something she wanted to say, but stopped
herself.
“What is it you need to tell us?” Vidar finally asked her.
“I have an idea,” she said. Both Caine and Vidar nodded. “I think I know a way to track Popov,
Drakos and Sato.”
“That is amazing news. Why would you hesitate to tell us this?” Vidar asked.
“It
may not be strictly legal,” she confessed. “Or, it defiantly isn’t, not even a little,” she added. Vidar looked at her and Caine laughed.
“You do know what we do, right?” Caine asked.
“Yeah, but sometimes Vidar has a strange hangup when it comes to me.” she said. Vidar
smiled.
“I do have strange hangups when it comes to you. But this time I’m all ears.” he told her.
“We have gathered a lot of information on the three of them, including alias and things lik that,” she told them. “I can create a program that uses that information to track them. It would search for credit cards with the known names being used, tickets being booked. library cards being used and so on. Almost everything today leaves a digital fingerprint. If we collect those fingerprints and run them through a pattern recognition software and we can create a model of their movements in correlation to each other and their most trusted people,” she
told them.
“That would give us possible meeting locations and joint warehouses,” Caine said.
“Yes, it could,” Charlie agreed.
“That is brilliant. But how would you access all that information?” Vidar asked
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“Well, that is kind of the illegal part of the thing. I would need to hack into places like banks, railway operations, authorities and so on.”
“Isn’t that risky. Things like that tend to have high security,” Caine asked.
“It can be. But I think I can modify the technology in the bug James used to make our intrusion almost undetectable.”
“And you are sure it won’t be traced back to you if they find it?” Vidar asked.
“I can make it more or less untraceable, nothing is ever perfect. But we can get close to it. It would go faster and probably work better if I could use Lucas. That would of course mean…”
“That we need to tell him everything,” Vidar ended her sentence.
“Right,” she agreed. Vidar looked at Caine. They trusted Lucas and had talked before about letting him know about the other world. They just hadn’t seen a reason for it.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Vidar said.
“I agree,” Caine chimed in.
“Should we talk to him all three?” Charlie asked.
“No, let me handle that, lilla lo. I will let you know the outcome and when you can s working with him.”
“Okay,” she agreed.
“Any other brilliant ideas?” Vidar asked.
“No, not at the moment.”
start
“That’s okay, you have to leave some of the problem solving to the rest of us,” he told her. The rest of the flight was spent putting together a plan for how to and when to go through. their ‘to do list‘ in the the two days they had to complete before heading for Vegas. Luckily
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there were three of them and they could divide the tasks between them, there were some they all needed to be present for but most only required one or two of them.
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Charlie was sitting on the couch and waiting for Huxton and his family
to arrive. She was nervous, it was al big thing she needed to tell them. Shadow had taken up a spot in her lap and was purring. Vidar was in the kitchen, preparing snacks, she could feel he was almost as nervous as she was, but for different reasons. He was afraid her brother and Tyson would disprove of her and Vidar’s engagement. Caine was leaning against the wall, looking at his phone, Charlie had no clue if he was nervous or not. She had got better at reading him, but he was still a mystery most of the time. Charlie’s phone buzzed. It was Smith letting her know their visitors were on their way.
“They’re in the elevator,” she told the other two. Vidar walked out of the kitchen, stood behind her and gave her a kiss on top of her head.
“You okay?” he asked.
“As good as I can be, how about you?”
“I’ll be fine once this is over,” he told her.
“You are a vampire that has lived over a millennia, why are you scared of my brother and his husband?” she asked. She heard Caine snickering and Vidar did as well as he sent his friend a
look.
“Because they are important to you, as are their opinion. I don’t want to be the cause of creating a rift between you and your family,” Vidar said.
“If there will be a rift, I don’t think it will be because you asked me to marry you,” Charlie told him.
“It will be okay,” he promised her just as they heard the faint sound of the elevator arriving.. Charlie let Shadow down from her lap to open the door and he ran straight to Caine and climbed him to perch on his shoulder.
“Charlie, vacations are agreeing with you, you look amazing,” Tyson told her as she opened the door. She smiled at him and gave him and her brother a hug and said hello to the twins.
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“Huxton, Tyson, come and meet Caine. He’s a good friend of Vidar and me,” she said and introduced Caine to her family. “Let’s go upstairs, we can sit and talk while the boys have the room to roam around.” As Caine walked first and Vidar followed, talking to Huxton, Tyson
walked a little further back with Charlie.
“How is it that you seem to pull sexy looking men out of your sleeve these days. Don’t tell me you are trading Vidar in?” he asked her in a teasing voice.
“Of course not. We are just friends. He is one of Vidars oldest friends,” she managed to say without blushing. She didn’t know if the three of them were friends, or if something else was building. But either way, Vidar was hers and she would never give him. up.
“Good, don’t think I haven’t seen that mountain of a rock on your finger. Your brother may be
oblivious to it, but I’m not,” Tyson pointed out. Charlie smiled.
“I know we are moving quick, but I think you will understand why,” she said.
“Are you happy?” he asked as they started to move up the stairs.
“More than I thought was possible.” He smiled at her and nodded.
“What are you two gossiping about now?” Huxton called them.
“Nothing that concerns you,” Tyson answered. They situated the boys on a blanket with toys and Caine placed one of the armchairs in front of the stairs so they wouldn’t be able to tumble straight down. Shadow remained on his shoulder as he assessed the newcomers.
“I didn’t know you had a cat,” Huxton said as they all sat down on the couches while the twins played.
“We got him just before we left,” Charlie told him. “How have you been? It feels like forever since we could sit down and talk. What’s new?” Huxton looked at Tyson and Tyson nodded.
“James finally accepted a plea deal,” her brother told her.
“I’m happy to hear it,” Charlie said. Vidar had put his arm around her shoulders and Caine took Shadow off his shoulder and plopped him into Charlies lap. “What was the deal?”
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“Two years probation, one year of restricted access to technology wearing a ankle monitor. and a hefty monitory compensation to be payed out to Grim INC. He will lose his job, of course. But our main goal was to keep him out of prison,” Huxton told them. All three nodded.
“Police men don’t do well in prison,” Vidar said.
“No they don’t,” Huxton agreed. “Will you object to the deal? As the victim it’s your right.”
“No. My company has nothing to fear from him and neither has your sister. I don’t want to see him hurt. That was why I chose to do this the official way to begin with,” Vidar said.
“Thank you,” Charlie told him and kissed his cheek.
“We have talked to him and he know he is to stay away from you unless you seek him out,” Tyson said to Charlie.
“That’s sweet of you,” she said.
“So what about you? How was the holiday?” Tyson asked. He looked at her knowingly.
“It was amazing,” Charlie started.
“I saw the pictures you sent. Here I was thinking of a cute alp cottage, and there you were living the high life in a castle,” Tyson teased her. Charlie laughed and Vidar joined in.
“I was just as surprised as you when Vidar took me there. But there was some things that happened while we were away that we need to talk about.” she told them. Charlie was nervous. This could all go terribly wrong.
“Sounds ominous,” her brother said.
“Well, let’s start with the small news. Vidar proposed and I accepted,” she told them and held out her hand with the engagement ring.
“Congratulations!” Tyson said and got up from the couch. He hugged Charlie and shook hands with Vidar. Huxton followed him, he hadn’t said anything yet. He stepped up to his
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sister and Charlie met his gaze.
“This is what you want? It makes you happy?” he asked.
“This is more than I ever wanted,” she told him. He smiled a bright smile and pulled her into a hug.
“Congratulations, little sister. You deserve to be truly happy,” he told her.
“Thank you, big brother,” she said. Huxton turned to Vidar, his smile wasn’t as bright, but it didn’t disappear.
“Welcome to the family, Vidar. We are happy to have you. You have put a smile on my sister’s face that is brighter than any I have seen before,” Huxton said and instead of shaking Vidars hand, he pulled him into a hug. The shock on Vidar’s face made Charlie giggle.
“Thank you, Huxton. It’s an honour to be part of your family. I will do everything in my power to keep that smile on her face,” Vidar said as he recovered and reciprocated the hug.
“You better, or I will send Tyson after you,” Huxton chuckled. Before her brother could step. away, Charlie kissed him on his cheek.
“Thank you,” she said. He just smiled and nodded. He joined his husband and sat down on the opposite couch again.
“Have you set a date, or are you thinking of a long engagement?” Tyson asked. Vidar exchanged a look with Charlie. It was time.
“To answer that, we need to talk about a couple of other things,” she told them.
“Trouble? Anything we can help you with?” her brother asked and Charlie loved the way he just wanted to help.
“I don’t think so. But it may affect you, so I. No, we need to tell you,” she began.
“I know that what Charlie is about to tell you will be hard to grasp at first, but let her tell you. everything before you react,” Caine told Huxton and Tyson.
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“Okay,” they both said, sounding worried and unsure.
“For this to make a little more sense, let’s start at the basics,” Charlie said. Vidar had placed
his arm around her and Caine took her hand in his to let her know he was there. With her
free hand, Charlie caressed Shadow’s silk fur. “There is a world that not many people know of,
it exist along side the regular world,” she started.
You mean the criminal one,” her brother said and Caine and Vidar both shot him an irritated
look.
“No, not the criminal one,” Charlie told him. “There is a magical world, full of creatures that most of us only think exists in myths, fairy tales and movies.” Both Tyson and Huxton shot. her a look that said they both thought she had lost all her marbles. At least they didn’t interrupt her. “I was as clueless about this world as you just a couple of months ago. Then I walked into a room full of the sweetest vampires I can think of and my view of what is real and not, changed.” Vidar smiled at her and kissed her cheek.
.