Everything was spinning, still.  Mara had her arms around him, but she felt cold to him.  And Thierry was no where, he was gone.  Thierry had done it then, that was the only way it could have happened. And his disappearence was evidence to that.  Trip looked up at Merideth.  He had loved her, thought her wonderful, and she had kept his son, his son that was also his nephew, locked up for eight years!

     "Verdammte Scheiße!" Trip swore under his breath.  "Why?  Why the Hell did ya do it?"

     Meri shook her head.  "I thought that you had done it?"

     "What? And never came to me?  Meri I didn't know!"

     "I can see that!"

     Now Trip was shaking his head.  So Meri had been the only one who understood.  When Salome had died it had not been by chance, the baby had not been premature, it had been a vampire.  And Meri hadn't wanted Trip blamed for Salome's death, and she hadn't wanted Alaric to find out what had been done to the girl he had wanted to marry...

     "Oh, fuck," Trip said, "Fuck is this all messed up!"

     "Trip.  When we went back to the ranch that one time, it was right before we came here.  Thierry must have planned it all.  First with you and I...and then he does the same thing to your half-sister."

     "Fuck!  Mara, my sister!"

     Elzbieta was there, her daughter under her arm.  "Meri, Astoric bit Claudia...and then Sadi took him somewhere."

     Merideth held up her hand to quiet Elzbieta.

     "He bit Claudia!"

     "All right," Meri said, "Let us deal with this.  Go look after her cut."

     Elzbieta's skirts brushed Trip's face as they passed.  He closed his eyes.  Sadian had him.  He felt sick.  Mara would know for sure, he hoped Mara knew, but also hoped for her sake she didn't really, but Thierry had always had a thing for his own half-sister. This was something to do with old Egyptians or Sumerians, or something, they'd marry their father's daughters, purposefully inbreeding the line to strengthen rights to inherietance and various physical traits.  But they avoided marrying their mother's daughters, because important things were passed down the maternal line, mitochondria for example, and they were wary of messing with such things by inbreeding. 

And, when his half-sister was gone, Thierry just went and cloned her!

     "Mara?"  She glanced at him, next to him, looking off into darkness.  She knew. 

     "Do you think she knows?" Trip asked.

     Mara nodded, "She's been hiding it, but Sadian knew all along Astoric wasn't just her cousin.  She must have known what Thierry was up to."

     "Known. Mara, they're both my children.  It's been his plan all along, we should have seen it.  The traits might actually die out breeding with humans, in time we might be only as strange as the part angels, but if they are actually able to have a child, then the traits are only reinforced.  The whole master race scheme, That's what Thierry's been telling us all along!"

     Mara turned so that they faced each other.  She kissed Trip once, quickly, on the brow.  "What do we do?" she whispered.

     Trip shook his head.  "Mara, they're my children.  I can't hurt them."

     "Hurt them?" she asked, "Did you actually imagine that as an option?"

     "Oh, I can imagine a lot of horrors," Trip said, "you see a lot of bad movies growing up with Vampyres." 

     Mara drew him close to her, held him.  "We do nothing.  We take Astoric with us, take them both and leave.  And we do nothing, don't encourage them.  And love them of course."

     "Oh, Lord," Trip cried as he fell the remaining space between them, "How do we keep them safe now?"

†  †  †

Midnight, beautiful.  They got off the small plane and stepped onto the private airfield.  There was a car waiting, long, gleaming, and white, a single figure standing in front of it.  Father pulled gently at Astoric's arm, "Hurry," he said.  And Astoric ran. 

     It was all so disorienting to him, the new names, but they just came to him without speech, and the constant presence of two bodies that were like his and were not sick.  Orchid was the one near the car. He opened the door with only a glance as they approached.  Astoric felt Sadian push him inside.  He had never been in a vehicle like this.  But he had only been in one vehicle, the black wagon that had taken them from the castle just as it grew dark to the plane. 

     They were all inside.  Orchid smiled as the car began to roll along the road.  He was able to communicate silently with the driver.  "I did everything as you said," and it was confusing because he looked at Astoric, and Astoric had never told him anything.  Orchid smiled differently and looked at Father.

     "Astoric," said Father, in a tone that was meant to introduce his son. 

     "No one I can ask has seen Thierry." He tossed his head to gesture toward the front of the car.  "David can't tell where he is.  Thierry has always been good at hiding."

     "I know how to find him," Mara said. It was something like creepy the way she said that.  We have ways...  

     Orchid nodded.  "I took his things out of the house.  I looked it over myself, everything seems secure.  Now, Quick has claimed in the past to be able to get secure lines for the phone or computer, but I'm not sure if it's something she can do just anywhere, or still."

     "I already talked to her, it doesn't matter with she and I, we can say things in different words.  I'm not too concerned about that.  Only if Astoric is to finish school..."

     "It's easy to get him on, it's only a problem if he needs to prove that was him later, and he won't for a while, not if you mean to keep him out of sight."

     "I don't want the globe aware that there are two yet," Father said. 

     "Yes, that would really scare them."

     Father said nothing but pet the back of Astoric's neck.  It felt nice and Astoric let himself fall to lean against Father's side.  He'd been scared at first, but Sadian had taken him outside and shown him the sky, and the fangs, given him a little blood.    And then Father had come with Mara and  explained who Astoric was, and that they would take him away to live with them.  And Father would do his best to keep them safe, but they must help him.

     On the plane Astoric had fallen asleep on a bench with Father, and it had felt better than anything having a parent.  His mother was dead, he knew that, and he had done it with his birth.  Astoric was not very sad.  He had Sadian, she was like them.  He did miss Claudia a little.  She had just been so very pretty. 

     The long white car stopped.  Father said it was time to get out, they were home.   Mara got out of the car first.  Then Astoric, and everyone else.  It was warm here and  everything was vastly different from the castle, dark narrow streets with sand strewn across the pavement, low rectangular buildings, glimmering glass windows, bright awnings.  The trees he saw were tropical, he'd seen pictures.  And the air!  "What is that smell?"

     "The sea," Sadian said, "We'll go later."

     They took him into the house.  Father showed Astoric one of the bedrooms and said it would be for Astoric.  It was smaller than the room at the castle, it frightened Astoric a bit.  Father rubbed his arm.  "It will be all right."

     They showed all the rest of the house to him, helped bring in his luggage, advised on putting it away in his room.  Father sat on the bed explaining some things as Sadian and Astoric sat on the floor folding his clothes.  They were now in a place known as The Village.  It was property of a Haven, and Havens were special places, and like Embassies they had rights and rules that might be separate from those of the land around them.  There were seven Havens around the world, a network left over from the time before the Union, when Darkling had not been granted  the same rights as other people. 

     Astoric knew a little about Darkling.  He knew that it was a lie they all had the same rights as humans.  On paper, in the files, yes, but really they didn't.

     Starting the very next morning Astoric would go to the Villa, which was the Haven's main building, and be schooled, Sadian would show him there, and if asked by anyone he did not know he would say he was Trepidation's Nephew, and that was it.  Sadian, Father and Mara would introduce him to people, and they would let him know if he might trust the people completely, or only to a length. 

     It was important that Astoric understand he was different than humans, but that he was just like Father and Sadian, and they would help him. 

     It was still dark when they went out.  Mara was with them also.  Father loved her, and she was Sadian's mother.  Astoric supposed Mara was nice too, she was family.  They pointed out the shops, the club beside the road at the edge of town, and the coffee house where you could get coffee, good drinks and snacks any time of day and play games.  They pointed out the Villa as they approached it.  It was strange, like pictures of that famous building, the Taj Mahal, it didn't have that thing on the top, but it had an arch that looked like the arches it had. 

     They came to the beach then.  Orchid was there with an angel, they were sitting on the sand, pointing out at the sea.  Astoric ran out to the edge of the water.  There were dolphins there, a whole pod of them.  Astoric liked animals somewhat, had read about lots of them.  "Dolphins!"

     "Be careful," Orchid said, "I've never know them to get a good picture at night from as far out as they have to stay, but you never know, if it gets very light or if they come closer to the shore illegally they may snap a photo of you.  They're trying to get ones of me all the time."

     "Who?" Astoric asked.

     "The paparazzi.  They can get lots of money for a good picture of me.  I'm sure they'd like one of you, or Trip."

     Astoric looked back at Father.  "Can't I look at the dolphins?"

     "Sure, you just have to be careful.  Wear a hat when you come out here, something."

     Astoric smiled.  He waded into the water and smacked its surface.  He waited and in a few minutes two dolphin swam close to shore.  The water alone was lovely, he'd never been to a beach before, never done much of anything.  Astoric waded out until his toes barely touched the sandy floor of the sea, but the dolphins were close to him.  He reached out to pet them, giggled  as they blew water at him.  He liked it here much better than the castle. 

†  †  † 

"Look after him for me, promise me you'll take care of him, as one takes care of a child," Father had said, and Sadian had promised.  They had both known what it was all about, and maybe both understood that Sadian had time.  Every day but on weekends and various celebration days, of which there were many in the Village, Sadian walked her younger brother to school.  She gave occasional glances to see if he was doing well.  At lunch they sat together.  She let him know that Orchid and Morpheus were to be trusted, these two Astoric might say anything to, as long as they were alone.  She told him not to trust the apprentices at all.  Eleni who was the Matriarch of the Wolfbreed could be trusted, but did not need to know everything, her Daughter Benazir and husband Ibrahaim who both worked in the coffee house could be trusted in the same way. 

     They went through this often, whenever Astoric met someone new. 

     One thing Sadian had not counted on was the fear.  Father had it, but Sadian had never felt it herself.  Astoric seemed to have a touch of the fear, and this was bad, because there was no way to hide this from strangers, and it made making friends difficult.  Animals though, they didn't feel the fear.  Astoric loved the horses, Orchid's beautiful stable of expensive and painstakingly bred horses.  And the local flocks of sheep kept by various villagers for wool or meat or blood.  And the many albino rabbits Orchid kept in a hutch aside the stables, and bled.  Of course he liked the dolphins.  And the unicorn, Chastity, who sometimes appeared on the beach or amid the trees beside the house, and more rarely was seen in Orchid's house, the unicorn actually liked Astoric. 

     But then, local legend was that this unicorn was insane.  It liked Orchid, and Unicorns supposedly were infamous Vampyre hunters, never their friends. 

     It was becoming maddening going to the beach with Astoric, because he was now so much more healthy, well fed on food Sadian and Father had already discovered to do them wonders, and plenty of blood, and exercised by walking to school and running around after animals, and swimming.  Astoric was still real young, but he was pretty cute.  He had  great way of shivering when he ran out into the water and then would come up, some Astoric water-pleasure that Sadian didn't quite understand.  She surmised that being locked up all his life had made Astoric sensitive to all manner of sensations that other people were numb to.  He did great shivers. 

     They'd been in the Village a long time, but he still moaned about Claudia every once in a while, as if she had actually been anything to him but a dream.  It rather irked Sadian.  Astoric was supposed to belong to her.  He was made for her.  Of course he was much too young yet, not aware of being sexual, not at all.  But still, she could get jealous. 

     There was the promise to father as well.  As Sadian saw it this promise would be voided the moment Astoric ceased being a child.  She was trying to decide what would mark that moment.  Sometimes she'd be thinking about the moment while laying in the living room listening to music, and Father, or Mother would glare at her, and Sadian would fear they knew.

     They seemed to cast the blame on Thierry.  He was in Africa.  Sadian knew the same way Mother did, she had called Daniel and asked him.  Sadian couldn't be sure if Mother knew Sadian was able to call Daniel.  He was useful though.  There were certain people in the world that Daniel was constantly aware of, those he watched.  These were the children of Amadeo, and their children's children, and so on.  Right now Daniel was able to find Mother and Thierry, David, Sadian, Stephan, Caroline, Tris, Mitchell and Emilia, and Teena Marie.  They were of course all Jewels. 

     Sadain liked Teena Marie, it would be wonderful if Teena and Astoric one day had a child, perfect.  It would be a Jewel, related to two important families of Goth, able to see Daniel, and have the traits all Shi Vampires had.  And of course Sadian and Astoric would have a child.  And those two children would have a child.  Well, at least it would be a nice future. 

†  †  †  

It was the sound that woke Astoric, the strange crinkling like sound of things burning away.  He tossed in bed, not knowing what it really was, then he saw the lightness under the door, the flickering.  The sound was actually loud. 

     He panicked only a second.  It was fire, he knew that.  But there were other ways out.  Astoric shoved a blanket under the crack of the door then went to the window and shoved it open.  He climbed out, aware that his panic had woken the others.  He was glad they would already be awake  before he could reach them.  They could get out of their rooms and join him. 

     It was just after dawn.  Mara and Father came out of their window, and then a little while later Sadian came out the same window.  "I ran across the hall," she said, "all the rooms near the door are burning!"

     "Mara, run to the phone at the service station and call the Villa," Father said.  He looked at both his children, touched Astoric's arm.  "Stay close to me," he said. 

     They walked around to the front of the house.  The fire was contained inside, feeding on flammable materials in the kitchen and living room.  The houses here were made of brick or concrete, and didn't burn down.  Still, all their pretty furniture was turning to ash, Father's music collection, O, he loved all those old discs.  And his guitar. 

     Some flying water-things flew into the house and turned to smoke.  A wind came out.  "They're Djinn," Sadian said.  The things came back made of water again, smoked in the flame.  One of them drew sand from all along the street, it was amazing, the sand being sucked along the road, like marching ants, they were thrown on the fire. 

     Some other villagers shouted and Father told Astoric and Sadian to stay where they were.  He left and when he came back he and some others had a long wide hose with them, attached to some source of water behind them.  They extinguished the fire with the water hose.  Some lights flashed.  Sadian pulled Astoric to her chest. 

     David came, and Father shouted to them, said they should go away with David.  He was one of the ones they could trust completely.  He took them over to Main street and into a house.  There were two women inside,  Vampyres.  Astoric knew they were Miko and Laila, and they were all right, like David and Orchid were. 

     The sun was rising in the sky then.  Laila asked if they were sleepy.  "I only just got to sleep when I heard the fire," Astoric said. 

     "You'll be safe here," Miko said then, "David and I will stay awake." 

     Laila put Sadian and Astoric in the bed that was hers and Miko's and Astoric saw Laila go into the closet to sleep.  "They're of the Asian Asbeelian bloodline," Sadian whispered, "They sleep in hiding places like closets with burial type shrouds covering them."

     Astoric saw Miko turn her head sharply to look at them.  He couldn't see her eyes, she wore dark glasses.  She was standing up, pacing.  David was sitting in a chair, very quiet, listening. 

     Later voices talking woke Astoric.  He didn't get up, just opened his eyes.  He saw Father and Mara were there, and Orchid, and also Monique, whom the family trusted.  They were saying things were bad.  Orchid said he had seen that reporters from Karachi had gotten a picture of the scene, all of them in it.  Father was saying that the fire trucks from the rural station were supposed to rush out to fires reported in the Village, and the truck had gotten there an hour after the fire had been put out. 

     "Hate crimes are pretty severely punished now, the thing is we know they'll never find out who did it," Orchid said.  "I feel bad, I should not have let myself but so much faith in their system, the village should have it's own guard, we should really have perimeter security."

     "None of us expected it to happen," Mara said.

     Hate crimes...that meant someone had started the fire because they wanted to hurt the family.    

     "Well, by tomorrow they will have figured it out, Astoric is here and he's your son," Orchid said. 

     "Seems to me they already know," Father said.

     "Well, tomorrow it'll be all over the net."

     Astoric turned over and looked for Sadian, she was right next to him, and she was awake too.  "Is it really bad they know about me?"

     "Uh huh?"

     "Why?"

     Sadian looked at him so strangely, it was frightening.  "Two is worse than one, hmmn?"

     Astoric shrugged.  "I don't see why adding me to the family is so terrible."

     She turned from him, raising her eyebrows. It was an irksome expression.  Astoric wanted to know what she knew.  Sadian wouldn't tell him. 

†  †  †

The metal arch over the road and the matching fence that faded into dunes of sand were new, and the fact that they were artful didn't hide the fact that they were most probably loaded with all manner of cameras and sensors.  Sweet supposed it was understandable, the village had been the focus of the latest rash of hate crimes.  He slowed the rented car as the street narrowed about them.  There were pedestrians out on the streets, everyone looking a bit guarded.  "It's such a shame," Quick said, "This was the nicest Haven."

     "Always arguable," Sweet said, not really meaning he didn't like it, but that he knew people who always argued the point.  He drove straight through the Village, recalling past visits.  He supposed he liked this haven most because it was Orchid's, and when Velvet had done something quite cruel to him Orchid had been there to make everything better, to make life bearable again. 

     Sweet parked the car near the garage and opened the doors with the silent flick of a switch.  Quick came first to the door and knocked.  Sweet didn't recognized the woman who opened the door, though she was 'Breed.  "Quickening and Sweet," Quick said.

     "Benazir Lightfoot, come in," she said to them.  "Are you here for Orchid?"

     "More or less," Quick said. 

     "I think you know the way," Benazir said.

     It was Quick who answered with a nod.  Sweet was used to having women lead him about and speak for him.  Quick had been doing it quite a long while.  They went to the stairs, came to the second floor.  There were children still at school.  Sweet paused at the door to the third floor, it was beside the door that led to the confessional, and he'd had such a religious experience in there.

     They came upstairs, expected, as it was a Vampyre they were visiting who kept an all seeing (or so it seemed) angel as his lover.  Orchid  was standing near the doors that led to the pool, the curtains closed over them to diffuse the sunlight, smoking as always. And the others were sitting about.  Trip looked up from his chair.  David looked only at Quick.  Miko, her child.  Mara.  Morpheus. 

     Trip got up.  He was smoking as well.  He crossed the room in several strides and embraced Quick before Sweet.  The boy's lips just barely pressed Sweet's neck.  "I missed you some," he said quickly.

     "We missed you of course," Quick said, strange that she seldom mentioned this to Sweet.   She was like one of those aliens on those old science fiction television shows, those ones with the slanted eyebrows that were completely dispassionate.  Orchid would know what they were called.

     "Vulcans," he laughed, took another drag off his cigarette. 

     "It's been pretty bad lately," Trip sighed. 

     "What are you planning on doing?" Quick asked and then her voice shifted in tone, "You could come back to Poland with us, it's remote you know, the villagers are used to us."

     "But not to us," Trip said.

     Quick shook her head.   

     Sweet took the cigarette from his son's hand and brought it to his lips.  Its taste reminded him of this place he now stood.  He could stay here, if only David were not there, he could stay. 

     Mara got up then.  "I'll go get the kids," she said.  She smiled at Sweet and Quick both as she passed.  Sweet could not remember the last time he might have stood next to her.  She was tall, as tall as Quick anyway. 

     "Just don't all stand there," Orchid said. 

     They were searching for seats when Mara led Trips' two children in.  Sweet froze when his eyes fell on the boy.  Astoric, yes, they'd told him the story, but he'd never really seen him in person.  He looked just like Sweet.  The boy looked up at Sweet.

     "I'm your grandfather, twice," Sweet said.

     The boy smiled.

     Sweet embraced him, thought he had that odd fear in him that Trip did.  And Sadian, he looked at her, she was beautiful.   No, she was hot. 

     Sweet moved away from them.  He took one of the chairs in the living room and stretched out his legs.  He licked at his lips, smiled to himself thinking it was that taste of cloves on his lips that had really clinched his name, locked in a room with Daerick, Angelo and Estasi licking his skin, teasing him by calling him the name Velvet called him, and then tasting him and marvelling.  But it was Orchid sitting in the confessional that had made Sweet want to smoke them. 

     Orchid was looking toward the bedroom, where Murph lurked at its border.  Then he looked at Sweet, torn completely and not surprisingly.  Murph understood about David, but would either understand about Sweet.  Yes, Sweet knew this look he was getting, he did posses gut wrenching beauty.  And then he thought, Astoric probably looked enough like him to make peoples' stomachs knot with lust at the sight of him. 

     Trip had been different, that sort of beauty that was comprised of many striking features and was just too frightening, because it was something complicated and not simple.  Sweet sucked on his cigarette and thought with Orchid it was something classic, plain perfection, a state of gorgeousness that was rare, but accepted by all.  Yes, Orchid had the fortune to look like statues that people had been told were beautiful for years and years before he was even born. 

     Shame they didn't conduct themselves here as they did in Castle Fortnight.  Orchid wouldn't have to decide, they'd just all curl up in front of the fire together. 

     Trip was saying that he liked this haven.  He just wasn't sure what was best for the kids.

     "It's not definite that this all has anything to do with you," Orchid said, "We've had riots in this area before."

     "Years ago," Miko said.

     "But we had them here," Orchid said firmly. 

     Trip looked about the room.  He glanced at Quick, and then Sweet.  "I wanted you to come here.  If it comes down to it, to running, then I want you to have been here now.  Because if we do go into hiding we're going to have to do our best not to be found by anyone."

     Astoric looked horrified.

     "But I'm not sure it will ever come to that...but then I'm not sure of much now."

     "We've had to move twice just within the village, because our house was damaged," Mara said, "And we have got calls. They want us, not just anyone in the Village."

     Orchid closed his eyes.  His haven, and it was being torn apart.  "I don't know what else to do, they're determined."

     "It's not your fault," Mara said.

     "Gawd!  I should be able to handle this."

     David moved suddenly, he had been incredibly still before.  He shook his head so that Orchid saw it.  And then Orchid  went into the bedroom. 

     Miko got up then, helped Laila  from her chair.  "Excuse us," she said, "nice to see you, Quick, Sweet," she said then bowed slightly. 

     "Yes, nice to see you," Quick said.

     Miko turned to look over her shoulder as they moved though the room, two very beautiful women, one Japanese, one Indian.  Sweet gathered it was David Miko was communicating with.  "See you," she said aloud.

     Sweet smiled to himself.  David had taken up with these two since moving to Karachi.  He hadn't left Quick solely to be with his maker.

     "Trip," Quick said, and there was almost an emotion.  He was looking at his mother.  "Whatever you have to do, we'll go with you."

     Sweet went stiff, his eyes shot to Quick.  And very slowly she turned to look down at him. 

     "We're your parents.  And whatever you do it will most likely be useful to have two of us with you.  Don't argue.  Trust me, if I see you need to leave, or I can help you another way, I'll just go."

     "I appreciate it, Mom."

     Sweet sank dejectedly into his chair. 

     "If you are seriously thinking of running at some point, you should consider arranging for false ID, disguises.  And  you'll definitely need safehouses."

     "I know."

     "We're on your side, Trip, just remember, before the Union all Darkling needed these things.  Certain of us still keep up on these things."

     Trip nodded.  No one needed to tell Trip his mother was weird.  She'd been thirteen and living in Paris hacking into government systems and making false IDs for Darkling while her adopted father provided them transportation across various borders, and safehouses.  Sweet had been with her a few years later in the Paris riots and seen how the fighting effected her.

     "Promise you won't run away from me," she said.

     "I won't run away again, Mom," Trip said.

†  †  †      

Strange the way Quick and Sweet behaved, not quite lovers, and yet not mother and child.  She had gone down to the Village with Trip, Mara and the kids, and left Sweet behind saying one of them should stay up at the house.  Then David had left, but he hadn't gone to see her.  Orchid had ways of knowing where his vampires were, and he could feel David and Miko close to each other.  Miko had enough of David's blood and his that she could stand the sunlight, but it also let them listen to her easily. 

     Sweet and Quick Orchid could find because they were David's child and grandchild.  But of course Orchid could see Sweet was in the room.  And Murph could see too and he was fidgeting in the dressing room.  And he went on fidgeting and talking to mirrors until he said, "I'm leaving."  But it wasn't with the familiar sound of wings, Murph didn't even disappear.  He walked out through the doors to the pool with his pet lizard on his shoulder. 

     And then Sweet was laughing.  They had done it, all of them.  Orchid wished Murph had stayed so he could say, "He's just so beautiful, Murph, the boy gives me fever, it won't hurt to just kiss him, just have a tiny taste of him?"  And then Morpheus was supposed to be there to say, "Aww, don't I get you hot, Orchid?" and step close and gaze at him with those endless black eyes.  It was his job!  It was Morpheus' purpose in life to keep Orchid from destroying himself!  And he'd left. This was worse than just shady! 

     Whatever happened to thou shalt not test the lord thy god? 

     Orchid glanced at the sys, thought about disc thirty playing.  All the old Depeche Mode singles were in the machine around the thirties.  Too bad if Sweet didn't care for it, though, Sweet had seemed the type to enjoy electronic music so long as it had lots of atmosphere, and the Mode could do atmosphere.  Sweet was sitting in one of the chairs, long legs stretched before him. 

     "You're fuckin' gorgeous," Orchid said.

     "Yeah.  Helen o' Troy launched a thousand ships, right, but I inspired the children of Europe to follow me across battlefields and through snow to form a new nation.  Daerick calls me The Boy Saint, but all the children in that crusade died, mine didn't."

     Orchid cocked his head to one side and smiled wide, "Ah, and he knows it!" he said, mockingly of course.  Sweet didn't look hurt, only amused.  If he had been lying at all he might have become defensive.  "I suppose you'd make a wonderful saint, you even wore a crown of thorns."

     "Well, there weren't any thorns on the inside," Sweet said.

     Orchid paused momentarily.  He sighed then, "It is a face that can convert, imagine so many statues of you, crown of thorns, sleeve torn...could almost bring me back to the faith."

     Sweet laughed.  "Doesn't matter now.  I don't think Vampyres can be saints."

     "Well, you'd have to die I suppose, or be lifted up to heaven."

     "Saint of what?"

     "Saint of children with smudgy eyeliner," Orchid said cutely. 

     "I don't actually wear eyeliner anymore, I only did that when I was with Velvet."

     "Yeah, but I used to know all sorts of boys and girls with eyes lined ornately in black, and they would have eaten you up."

     "Velvet actually did."  And then he started singing along with the song, "Dangerous..."

     Orchid moved closer to his chair.  Sweet stood with a laugh, ended up not very far at all from Orchid.  There was like this melting down in the pit of Orchid's stomach. 

     "Hey! Want to see my tattoo?" Sweet asked.  Before Orchid might have answered he was turning and slipping his shirt down off his left shoulder.  "It didn't bleed or anything when Quick turned me...they all love it back at the castle, makes me wish I had another, only this one wouldn't be so special then..."

     Orchid looked at the small butterfly poised  behind Sweet's shoulder with wings near fully extended.  And then as his eyes raised to attend the speaker they caught in a glimpse Sweet's twisted neck as he was speaking.  Orchid closed his eyes, told himself Murph wasn't there to keep him on the straight and narrow. 

     Murph had done the tattoo, not surprising Sweet should want to show it to him.  Especially since the image of the butterfly had come to them as Sweet and Orchid had spoke in his confessional.  At the time it had symbolised the transformation of the soul, Sweet's willingness to change from the boy who had let Velvet control and hurt him to something new.  And had he changed!

     But now Orchid looked at it again, and Sweet's skin was even more pale.  It seemed to symbolize his soul perfectly, the butterfly poised on his shoulder that would never take flight. 

     "Huh?  Still look good?"

     "Oh, yes, quite," Orchid said.  He wanted Sweet so badly he could hear his blood, he hadn't even meant to focus on the sound.  He touched his left hand to Sweet's shoulder.  The right rose to his neck.  Sweet turned his head forward, so that Orchid saw the nape of his neck. Sweet then froze still as Orchid pressed both hands against his skin. 

     "How do you do that?" Sweet asked in whisper. 

     Orchid didn't actually know how he did it, sometime it just turned out right, Velvet could do it at will though.  Orchid didn't know how she did it either.  But all this didn't really surprise him, he had been accidentally putting people in thrall since he'd been turned, only by glancing at them, and he'd found moving objects by will very easy, and the fires of course, he'd done that the first time without knowing how. He knew enough to recognize when he'd done it, paralysed someone with a touch, it had just worked on Sweet. 

     "It's a secret," Orchid said, barely.  He bowed forward and cut Sweet's neck.   Orchid shivered just as he got the taste of it. He'd never been allowed Sweet's blood, it had a good taste, perhaps it was iron poor. 

     Jou Jou.

     Orchid turned Sweet toward him quickly in a mad desperate move to shield himself with another body.  His sister was standing just inside the door.  She never came here! She had never been here!  She always reminded him of life, and remembering that was never quite a good thing.

     "Do you always take them from behind?" she asked, flippantly.

     Orchid sneered at her, lifted a hand to Sweet's hair and drew the saintly thing toward his throat.  "Yes," he answered, though he was sure he did not always do so.  There was a second of actual pain as Sweet drew his fangs out of Orchid's neck, but then he sucked slowly and dreamily at the blood, and Orchid just went on talking.  "You are mad, what are you doing here?"

     "I wanted to feel needed," she said plainly, "and there is needing here, it's my sort of thing you know."

     "How did you know?" Orchid asked cautiously.

     "Oh, don't worry, your security's pretty good, though of course it was nothing for me."  She looked at the back of Sweet's head and his shoulder, perhaps his tattoo.  "I knew Quick and Sweet were coming here, and I'd been reading the news of course.  Ah, it was Daerick, he's one of my children, one of the early ones actually, it's never hard for me to listen in on him, and he saw them off on their trip here."

     Sweet made a soft moan and sank.  And then it hit Orchid suddenly, he knew why Murph had left him, he understood there was a good reason. He must do for Sweet what Morpheus had long ago done for him, before they were ever lovers.  "No, you must drink more," he said as he lifted Sweet.  Angel was smiling slightly as she watched them, she understood. 

     Sweet wasn't a strong Vampyre, he was sixth generation, if Trip found real trouble he would need strong protectors, and Orchid's place was with his Haven, he could not go himself, so he must send Sweet and send him strengthened by older blood.