MASTER SEBASTIAN

Chapter 9

I always believed change was a gradual process. Take for instance the budding of a flower. It took hours, months, for it to open up, for it to grow.

It took exactly one hour for my life as I knew it to veer out of the the course of normality, perishing the idea I had of change. My whole life was changing and I could do nothing about it. And that terrified me.

A lot of things terrified me, but none was greater than the fear of losing control. Of my world going Off. Kilter.

For someone who had a really... unstable life, I idolized control, predictability, and I could already feel myself grasping to retain the reins of my life. I struggled to find my voice. "I can't... I... What if he doesn't want to see me, not that I want to see him, I mean-- not right away. And my mother, I can't leave her here alon--"

The deepening scent of leather told me he'd drawn nearer. "Believe me," he said, "she has people watching over her. But you're not safe in this world anymore. I fear Robert is, at present, causing a nuisance."

"What do you mean?"

All he said was, "He's meeting up the rulers of other immortal factions."

I discerned what it was he hadn't said. There was trouble brewing. Robert was enlisting forces for whatever warped plan he had.

My fingers fumbled with my beads at increasing speed. Off kilter. Off. Kilter. I sucked in a breath. "My mother, she needs to know."

"I think it's wise you do not disclose a--"

"No, no. You don't understand. I have to tell her." Because deep down some part of me was relying on her to tell me I was crazy and that this was all a lie. I wasn't half-human, my father wasn't some distant king and I wasn't destined to rule a kingdom habited by creatures I've never met. "She has to know," I said, "I... I owe it to her."

Staying unmoving, his penetrating eyes took in my face for a fraction of time and I had a nervous suspicion he was aware of my thoughts. Even though vampires couldn't read minds.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding when he withdrew a card. "Take this. For when you make up your mind."

I took it, thankful. Then I watched him go. He came to a stop in front of my door and half turned to me. "You should know that time is not on our side, Eleanor."

Then he was gone.

__

SEBASTIAN

Quietly I traced away from the mortal's house, ghosting down the windy street.

Just as a trio of vampires traced to appear near an open driveway, I changed my course of direction.

Once one of them saw me approaching, his eyes widened. Before he could breathe, I had my fist around his neck, squeezing while he desperately gasped for breath. The rest bowed low, their hearts beating too loudly for my ears.

"She was almost killed," I said quietly.

"S-s-sire, I can ex--"

At the use of the title, I tightened my grip, bursting a blood vessel.

He adjusted accordingly, "L-lord Sebastian," he wheezed. "We were held at V-vane by the council's request."

Mulling his words over, I threw him aside. To the rest, I ordered, "Keep watch."

I turned away and continued down the deserted street.

Something wasn't right.

It could be coincidence that two rogues went after the mortal the same time my men were held back at Vane, the seat of the council.

Only, in my world: coincidences never happened.

What did were carefully orchestrated plots. My fangs throbbed dangerously. I really hoped that was a careless calculation on their part, because If the council was going to stand in my way of protecting the mortal, then they know I'd be ruthless.

Droplets of rain iced down my skin and I traced to Tower II, a thriving immortal bar. Loud music and uproarious laughter throbbed my ears. A brief flash of memory arose from when I was young, of me learning to mute down voices to my sensitive vampire ears.

The cold Russian mornings... Dame's silver teacup clinking against the saucer as she raptly surveyed my trainings...

The memories dissipated once I walked through the entrance. Lanterns floated at every corner of the large space. At least that was what they looked like from afar. On closer inspection, they were tightly coiled electric serpents.

Sirens wriggled against tall poles, their iridescent scales catching the warm glow. Scattered around were various immortal creatures, having a grand time. Sex tinged the air, groans and moans sounding from darkened corners.

Settling into a bar stool, I took out my pistol and placed it on the table. A useless contraption.

Almost immediately, a mountain troll grunted to where I was. "What would ye' be needing, my Lord?"

"The usual."

With that he left, returning with a tankard of blood. Placing a glass beside it, he left, going to take the order of a demon.

Sat there, I felt eyes on me. Paying the stares no mind, I drank from my glass. Gossip went around. About me, about what I've done. I skinned my enemies alive, I impaled them on the very wooden stakes they thought to use against me, watching blandly as the wood pierced through their throats to rip their jaws apart... They thought I was cruel and sadistic and unforgiving.

And they were right.

Downing my glass, I slowly set it down. So what was I doing with a girl like Eleanor?

When I got the proposition from a druid king to protect his daughter until she was of age to return to his kingdom, I'd reasoned the prospect of babysitting was as appealing to me as letting a prisoner go unscathed. But then I'd taken one look at her.

Eleanor with her crystal beads and wide blue eyes, her unruly red hair and delicate structure.

I wanted her.

But she was of a different species and worse, from royalty. The right thing to do would have been to decline the proposal.

I hadn't.

I told myself I could rely on my rigid control to contain my need for her. But I was only fooling myself.

In a matter of months, I was in her dreams, touching her, tasting her. Each visit only stoked my desire to a feverish pitch until I thought I would tear the world apart if I didn't get to hold her one more time.

What was it about her that called to me?

That was a question that would plague me forever.

A question I would never know the answer to, because, as returning her to her father was inevitable, I was putting an end to my misguided desire for her. Standing, I paid the bartender and pocketed my handgun.

Author's Note

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