Eris lay in bed, thinking. She grinned. Apparently, that's all they were going to let her do anyway, right now until she could walk without sore muscles again. The replay of Arion's troubled eyes kept circling in her mind. That kind of hurt only came from someone using you. That was something that she was quite familiar with. Her eyes hardened as she contemplated the options.

Eris was betting it was another woman that had done it. Romanus seemed too jumpy about taking a mistress for it to be anything but that. The only way they were going to trust her is if she had the opportunity to prove that she wouldn't hurt them like that. She reached for the goblet and sipped absently.

"You're thinking awfully deep for someone who is supposed to be resting," Romanus commented as he walked in to sit on the bed. She smiled and pet down the side of his face. Seeing his eyes that clear made her heart soar. She had done that. His eyes warmed and he leaned down to press a tender kiss to her mouth. He pulled back. "Yes, you did that. At great personal cost, so would you please rest?"

She sighed and leaned back against the pillows as he set a tray in front of her.

"I'm not as fragile as you guys are making me out to be, you know? It has been two days. I'm fine."

"Then we can talk about a few things while you eat." If Arion would ever get his ass in here, that is, Romanus thought irritably.

"I'm coming, Roman. Lighten up." Arion called with equal irritation. He came into the room with an annoyed sigh. "People are so damn frustrating. They aren't going to let her do that over the phone."

"Seriously? You explained the situation?" Romanus asked as Eris looked at them both with narrowed eyes. "Why?"

"They say they have to ensure that she isn't being coerced. For fuck's sake, when have we ever had to force a woman to want to stay with us?"

"Guys, what are you talking about?" Eris broke in. Arion tossed the phone down onto the bed and sank down onto it.

"It is what we wanted to talk to you about. There are a few things that you'll need to consider if you want to make this mistress thing solid."

"Such as?" she questioned before taking a bite of food.

"We'll be expected to take care of you. In all ways." 

She paused. "There's more?" she questioned with a slightly incredulous look on her face. Arion burst out laughing and Romanus grinned. She threw the piece of fruit in her hand at Arion. "What? How am I supposed to know?"

"We referring to outside the bedroom, gorgeous," Romanus informed her. Arion subsided as she glared at him.

"For example," he began, laughter still coloring his voice, "You live somewhere else and in a bad neighborhood, I might add."

"So what does that mean? Do I need to move? And for the record, the people there are cool. It isn't a bad neighborhood."

"We were thinking you could either live here or we could find you a place of your own," Romanus answered. She shrugged.

"Sure." She glanced over at the phone. "Is that what you guys were doing? You were seriously..."
"I told you, you should have waited." Romanus thought wryly. Arion sat up.

"I was just trying to save you some trouble." he began.

"You said this was going to be about us going over a few things, right?" she asked looking at Romanus, who nodded. "Ok, one of my rules here is that I don't get overlooked even.." she silenced Arion's protest with a look. "Even if you think it is for my own good or saving me the trouble. At least talk to me about it before you start calling people."

"Fair enough." Romanus agreed.

"I wasn't overlooking you." Arion put in. He shrugged. "I'm just excited about the idea of living with you."

She smiled, the sheepish look in Arion's eyes working. "Ok, I'll let you get away with that." She said with a laugh. "What else needs to happen?"

"Eventually, a turning. There are things we can do to minimize the risk involved though and that is what we need to focus on first." Romanus said. Arion nodded. "Eris? What do you think?"

Eris thought of all the dangers and pitfalls. Her life would change forever.  She smiled. "Eventually." she agreed. Arion smiled back relieved. Romanus just nodded, his eyes still serious. "What is it, Roman?" she asked, trying out the nickname. He brushed her hair back, caressing her face as his hand withdrew.

"Nothing."

"He's a worry-wort," Arion supplied helpfully, falling back on the bed. Romanus glared at him.

"Turning is dangerous for a human. Me worrying about whether or not it will kill her is not me being a worry-wort. It is me being appropriately cautious."

"You said there are things we can do to minimize the risk, remember?" Eris pointed out. "I can drink the wine regularly and start a workout thing so my body gets used to the stress. There's no rush."

"Yeah, Roman. No rush. She's not going anywhere." Arion nuzzled her neck and she giggled. The sound soothed Romanus' heart and he finally smiled.

"Then we should work on getting you moved in then," he said rising.

"You guys also need to go to work." she pointed out. "I'll be ok here. Look. I can even walk." she slid off the bed and laughed as they both moved to catch her if she fell. "See? I'm good." Her lips pursed briefly as she looked around. "Although I do seem to be missing my clothes."

Arion slid to the side of the bed and nuzzled her back. "I like it like this. Ow!"

Romanus straightened from where he'd smacked the back of Arion's head. "The human world closes up shop in a few hours. If she's going to get that done today then she needs to get dressed."

Arion sighed heavily. "I still think it's ridiculous that they won't let her do it on the phone," he muttered. She ran her hand over his head as she went towards the bathroom.

"Deal," she suggested. Romanus grinned.

"Why don't you call in and let them know we'll be in later?" he said. Arion stood.

"What are you going to do?" he called as Romanus walked into the bathroom after her, stripping off his shirt.

"Make sure she doesn't slip." he returned. Arion laughed as he picked the phone up. 

Romanus slid into the shower and ran his hands up her sides. Eris smiled and leaned back into him.

"You are a miracle," he whispered against her ear. She shook her head and looked up at him.

"No. You are. I was just marking time before. Going to work, coming home, dancing. Then waking up to repeat it. Now I'm wanted to a degree I never thought I would be. Could be."

"Not just wanted." Romanus breathed against her neck. "Desired. Craved. Hungered for.."
"Not that you two aren't adorable right now, but there was something about a time frame that was mentioned?" Arion said from the doorway.

"Go away," Romanus called out. Eris laughed and shook her head.

"Or join us." she countered.

Arion groaned, tossing the clothes he'd gotten for Eris onto the counter. "That's just mean. Roman, help me out here."

Eris turned in his arms and nuzzled his chest with a wicked smile. His hands slid down her back with a long caress.

"As I said, go away. I'm holding a wet, naked work of art. Reason has no place here."

"Ok. You two forced my hand." Arion sighed. A few minutes later, they heard the toilet flush. With lightning reflexes, Romanus slapped the water off before it could scald them. Arion laughed at the curses coming from Romanus' mouth and the helpless laughter that was coming from Eris.

"I'll see you guys out there," he said cheerfully and went out.

"We're so getting him back later," Eris said, laughter subsiding.

Romanus nodded. "You're damn right we are." He kissed her lightly. "I'll meet you out there."

He went out and she went back to showering, humming under her breath.

After they were all dressed and ready to go out the door, Eris decided that it was time to tell them what she had decided in the shower. They weren't going to like it.

"Hey guys. I thought since you're going to be busy doing the club stuff, I could go ahead and get the moving in stuff out of the way."

Both men paused and looked at each other.

"Alone?" Romanus questioned slowly glancing at Arion.

"Yeah." she said brightly as Arion helped her with her coat. "Hey, where did these clothes come from anyway?"

"Our butler picked them up for you." Arion answered. "Are you sure you want to do that alone?"

"Lucille isn't going to forgive the insult you gave her last time. Being out on your own isn't a good idea." Romanus warned.

"Will she attack me on the open street?" Eris asked. They stopped and considered, looking at each other.

"Not unless she wants to start a war." Arion allowed. "And attacking our mistress would bring that about."
"My brother and I... Romulus," Romanus clarified. "We always join together when it comes to the defense of the other's family. To start a war with us is to start a war with him and they will hesitate before they do that."

"You would defend his lover?" Eris asked. "I thought you hated the guy."
"I do. But my brother loves him. Until Romulus makes the decision to walk away like he should then the man is family. Truth be told, their fear of him is a big reason they give my brother as much distance as they do."

Arion looked at him then at Eris. He put a hand to Romanus' forehead. "You feeling alright, man? I could've sworn I just heard you say something nice about the faery."

Romanus shoved his hand away. "Ha, ha. He's bad for my brother. That doesn't mean he is completely useless."

Eris laughed. "Ok so back to the point. Then it should be safe to go get the legalities taken care of? Alone." The dual sighs of resignation had her grinning. They were adorable.

"It should be."
"Awesome. You guys have fun then. I'm going to walk..."

"Walk? Why?"

"Because I can. Bye, guys." she said firmly and went out the door. Romanus looked at Arion.

"She's trying to give us a heart attack."

"She should be alright. Come on." They went to the club and were soon swamped with the things that had been piling up in their absence.

***

Eris was humming as she left the office of her now former employer. That had felt good. That woman had been making her working life miserable for months now. She called out her final farewells to her former co-workers and practically skipped out the door.

She slowed her pace as she noticed several younger looking men hanging out around the street. They were not so subtly watching her and she knew enough to know the feeling of being hunted. She knew better than to look for help from anyone. Not in this neighborhood. Something she would never hear the end of from Arion, she thought wryly. Eris kept walking, but kept watching them.

When they pounced, the first one to grab her ended up with a broken nose that just seemed to infuriate them as they began dragging her down the street and down a less traveled side street.

"Let go of me, you dull fanged tick!" Eris snarled. She gritted her teeth against the pain and managed to stay on her feet as she came face to face with Lucille.

"I told you we were going to talk, human. I gave you time." the vampire snapped. Eris snorted derisively.

"Fuck off, Lucille. I told you..." her head snapped to the side as she was slapped. She spat out the blood and sneered at the vampire in front of her. "My boys are going to eat you alive for this."

Eris saw the gleam in Lucille's eyes and realized that they had underestimated the depth of her fury. Her next actions confirmed that.

"You're assuming you make it back to them." Lucille raked her fingers slowly across Eris' stomach. The pain forced a sound out of Eris but she refused to fall. She had to make it back to them. Romanus' face flashed in her mind as well as the desperation in Arion's tone asking her not to leave.

"I'm going to ensure that she does," A rich melodic male voice called out. Hearing the hiss of frustration from Lucille, Eris assumed this person was an ally and turned her head to look. Was his black hair actually sparkling? And what was up with the light shifting underneath his dark skin? She decided to worry about that later as he fearlessly walked through the group until he stood next to her. "Need some assistance?" he murmured. She smiled past the pain at the polite question.

"I wouldn't mind a gentleman walking me home. My name's Eris." she managed, her hands holding her stomach to slow the bleeding.

"I'll save my introduction for later." He made eye contact with Lucille and smiled with sharp teeth. "Lucille, isn't it? Do I need an introduction?"

"No." she spat. "You are the one that one of our own keeps as a shield against the wrath of the mistress council." A shield? Maybe her luck was holding, Eris thought.

The man's laughter tugged at her as he responded. ""A shield? You think he requires a shield? Honey, my beautiful warrior requires only his hands to rip apart those that seek to bind him. And that is something that will never happen."

"Not to interrupt, but I think I should be going." Eris managed, swaying. Her head was swimming and she was getting cold. She knew that meant she was losing blood way too fast. The man put an arm around her, steadying her some before she sagged completely. She slid to the ground gently at her rescuer's feet and was vaguely aware of a change in the tone of the situation. Out of nowhere, the very air seemed to sizzle with sex. She shivered, thinking of Romanus and Arion. Then she felt her rescuer's (she really had to remember to get his name) body come down over hers' and the vague sound of impacts. The ground rumbled with the sound of an approaching car and the last thing she heard was the soothing voice of the man above her as he spoke.