(Note: This is part of a series, read The Full Moon first!)

Chapter One (Luka)

Power is beautiful.

It's like gold. Sparkling and attractive, wanted by all and comes with a cost. Once you have a bit of power, you want more. You won't settle for nuggets, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. Oh no, it simply is not enough.

Gold is too beautiful. Too precious.

And so was power.

However, for once in my life, I had come across something far more powerful than myself. More powerful than he who defeated me. More powerful than anything in the world and that power was sitting across the table from my vampiric master, Prince Gavin Peril. That power was named Kasper.

Now Kasper Peril.

He was a beautiful raven. Hair the color of his ebony feathers, hugging the nape of his neck and bangs brushed across his face and those big, expressionable blue eyes that reminded me of sparkling sapphires. His skin reminded me of a China doll's. So smooth, flawless, with just a bit of pink in his cheeks

He was perfect.

He was beautiful.

He belonged to Gavin Peril, the man who saved me without even quite knowing it. Kasper was also very powerful, even though he didn't know it.

He could do anything he wanted, but he didn't. He was too sweet, too loving, too caring to anything with that power...

Or....

He had so much power that he didn't even know it was effecting me.

I suppressed a yawn, walking over to refill Kasper's tea cup with his favorite plumberry tea mixture that his silly human friend, Victor, had bought for him on a trip to Europe a while back. Kasper looked up at me with a cute smile.

"Thank you." He said, nodding his head. I said nothing, just smiled back as I stepped back, balancing the tea pot on my fingertips and ignoring the searing heat that emitting from my fingertips to the tea, keeping it at boiling point. Gavin glanced up at me, his head cocking in a gesture for dismissal. I took it without a word, placing the tea pot on the nearby cart before I departed for the kitchen.

I opened the fridge, revealing rows of blood bags hanging from the hooks. My eyes scanned the blood bags, then sailed down to the slabs of freshly cut meat that still oozed blood into their packages. It wasn't the fake red ooze that humans put into their food. It was real blood.

From real flesh.

I stooped into, taking out a blood bag and ripping it open with my teeth before pouring it steadily into a new tea pot, watching the dark red liquid fill it halfway. I squeezed the last of the blood out and tossed the package into the hazardous waste basket below the sink. I frowned at the bright red droplets on the tips of my white gloves.

I leaned in, gently touching my tongue to it before frowning, pulling back.

Disgusting.

It tasted as if I were sucking on a metal spoon. I shuddered at the thought, then whipped my glove off, waving it off over the sink and closing my eyes as I held my free hand out over my glove, murmuring something in Latin under my breath.

The glove fluttered before falling limp in my hand. I flicked it again, scanning the clean white material before slipping the glove back on. I placed the tea pot over my hand, staring down at the tea pot in concentration before I heard the bubbling from inside. The intense heat made my hand feel like it was burning, but I swiftly ignored it as I picked up a tea cup and headed up the stairs.

I didn't just take care of Gavin and Kasper.

I wasn't their servant alone.

I was also servant to the beast that hid in his room upstairs, consumed by such guilt and agony over having killed his own wife and forcing his own son to watch the horror ensue. The beast who very well deserved to die, but Gavin wasn't like his father.

Gavin was kind.

Gavin didn't want him to die.

And I hated him for that.

I approached the tall black doors and stared at them, emitting a knocking sound without even touching it. The knocking played a short melody before fading as the locks in the door clicked and fell open at my gaze. Magic laced its tender grasp through the doors, pulling them open for me to reveal a dark, dreary room fit for a prisoner.

Although it was decorated in beautiful white and black linen and a black wood desk with windows draped in black curtains to hide the bright sunlight outside. There was a lump sitting in a chair in front of a computer screen. A lump that hadn't aged since the day we met.

The lump known as King Kornelius Von Peril III.

"Master, I've brought your afternoon tea per request." I announced, approaching the back of the leather chair, unable to see the unaged man slumped low, staring at a screen that sported pictures of expensive beach houses. I noticed another tab on the monitor was rather dirty and inappropriate. I was tempted to make a snide remark, but unlike Gavin, Kornelius had no sense of humor.

How could he?

He killed his wife, tortured his son, destroyed his power, and locked himself away.

That was one of the pitiful things in our existence. Once your mate died, living was so difficult. And to have killed your own mate, well... Pity.

"I've asked that you stop bringing me that garbage." Kornelius grunted, his voice deep and gruff as he refused to turn. Lack of sleep and the heat of the tea pot boiling my skin through my glove was driving me to impatience, but I managed to bite my tongue and cock my head slightly.

"Prince Gavin asked that I do this every afternoon. Please, Master, drink your tea. If the flavor bothers you, I will add whatever you wish." I answered calmly. Kornelius turned slowly in his seat, revealing the stubble coating his strong, square jaw. His dark blue eyes looked almost black, engulfing his pupils in a stormy sea. His black hair was long and wiry, unbrushed and unwashed.

He looked like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, but I still said nothing as he stared at me with dark, foreboding eyes.

"Add your blood." He stated. I kept my face expressionless as I held the tea cup in one hand, the pot ready to be poured in the other.

"I'm afraid I cannot submit to your request, Master." I responded calmly, then started to pour the warm blood into the tea cup, but Kornelius swung his hand out like lightening, slapping the tea pot out of my head so it flew against the wall nearby, shattering and splattering blood across the white wall as well as splatter blood across my uniform. I cocked a brow at the mess before looking up, lowering my arms at my sides.

Kornelius glared at me, daring me.

And I took his dare.

I didn't even have to break eye contact, just lift a finger as the shatter remains of the tea pot sucked itself together, doing a little twirl before it remade itself. The blood soaked off the walls, floor, and my uniform before slipping through the top of the tea pot. It closed and lifted itself from the floor, floating back into my hand before I held out the tea cup to him.

"Your tea, Master." I said. Kornelius glared at me hatefully, snatching the tea cup from me before splashing it in my face. I was used to this sort of retaliation. He did it every time I came with his meals, came with news, came at all. His treatment was child's play, however.

I opened my eyes, peering past the blood that dripped off the ends of my lashes.

"That is not how you're to drink your tea, Master." I stated. Kornelius' eyes sharpened, hardly looking amused at my humor as he stepped up to me. He was one of few that towered over me, his blue eyes glinting as he leaned down, cupping my chin in his hand, his tapered fingers pressing into my jaw as he tilted my head up to look at him.

I refused to break eyes contact with him as he leaned down, his eyes still locked with mine as he brushed his nose against mine. He parted his lips as he trailed his nose along the bridge of mine to my forehead. His mouth opened wide, revealing the sleek, saliva dripped fangs inside and his hot, rotting breath fell against my nose. His tongue trailed across my skin, picking up the left over blood slowly, tantalizingly.

"Haah..." His breath trailed to my throat. I felt his fangs brush my skin, preparing to sink in before I decided enough was enough and I let my eyes flicker and glow like flashlights in the darkness. Kornelius flew back and to the side, slamming across his bed. I turned to face him slowly, waving my hand over my face and feeling the blood soak out of my skin, splashing into the tea pot in my hand that I now placed on the stand with the computer.

I turned back as Kornelius heaved himself up on his hands and knees, growling low in his throat like an angry cat as he snapped his head to glare at me. I stood there calmly, staring back at him expressionless.

"Enjoy your afternoon tea, Master. I shall take my leave." I bowed lowly before heading for the door.

"May you suffer eternity, lich!" Kornelius spat at me, but I just smiled, pausing in the doorway as I took the doors in my hands.

"Of course, Master." I promised, then stepped out, shutting the doors behind me before I sighed, raching up to brush my hair out of my face. I glanced to the side out the window at the end of the hallway where sunlight spread across the sparkling marble floors, making the glass glitter like crystals.

It was so sunny today... Yet so cold.

Excellent.

Gavin would be stuck inside all day with me while Kasper went off to work, busy with the holidays quickly approaching. I smirked, then turned down the hallway, making my way down the stairs and into the kitchen where Kasper was taking out the lunch I'd made him for work.

A perfect little fruit salad topped with a sauce made of tomatoes, carrots, and berries. I even threw in a little tart that I knew he'd enjoy. He smiled down at the meal before looking up at me, closing the fridge.

"Ah, thanks for the lunch again, Luka. You won't need to make one tomorrow, though." He said, placing the lunch in his work bag. I raised an eyebrow curiously as Kasper made his way to the door, tugging his new wool winter jacket around him tightly.

"And, why is that?" I asked. Kasper smiled back at me as he opened the door, ready to catch a ride with his sister to work.

"We're getting ready for vacation. I'll pack my own things when I get back." He added, then shut the door, leaving to stand there, feeling slightly irritated.

Vacation? Vacation to where? The Bahamas? Right. A vampire taking a vacation to the Caribbean.

I wonder how those Caribbean folks would enjoy roasted vampire. A dash of garlic salt, maybe some Italian baked bread on the side.

Is it wrong that this is making me hungry?

I drifted into the kitchen to clear away the lunch the two had left behind. I could easily just look at all the dishes and make them put themselves away, but where was the fun in that? I took my time, piling the dishes and steadily streaming them like something out of Matilda into the sink in the kitchen. I conjured up a cleaning cloth, then wet it before scrubbing down the table gently so as not to ruin the wood.

I even took the chance to clean the floor, mopping them with one of those strange wood Swiffer things that Gavin had bought me.

Oh, how kind of you, Gavin. I've always wanted something that made me feel like more of a woman.

I cooked, I cleaned, I ran errands.

Some mornings, I just had to pull my pants open and peer down there just to make sure I was still a male. I was relieved to find that my friend was always there, waiting to be used, only to be disappointed as I took a nice cold shower.

I mopped into the kitchen and started to scrub the stairs, one by one and taking my sweet, jolly time before peering up at the feel of a presence behind me. I glanced toward the entrance door, just seconds before it opened to reveal Gavin, who shivered as his black wraparound shades fogged up from the cold outside and the warmth inside. I raised an eyebrow as he stomped snow and dirt all over the floors that I had just so nicely cleaned for him.

I wasn't about to clean them the way I did before, so I just stared at the dirt and snow, watching it disintegrate before I glanced at Gavin, who opened the fridge, reaching in and taking out a blood bag. He popped it open with his fangs and sucked it dry before tossing it out.

"It's so lovely to see you home, sweetie. How was work?" I asked flatly. Gavin jumped, then whipped around to scowl at me as I sat back on my knees, folding my arms over my chest.

"Goddess! Don't scare me like that, Luka."

"Who else would I bloody be? Amelia Bedelia?"

"No." Gavin answered dryly, then went into the fridge for another blood bag, making me frown as I rose to my feet, flicking my finger so the cleaning rag started cleaning the stairs by itself, scrubbing hard along the steps into every nook and cranky. Meanwhile, I came up to Gavin, but not too close as he fed.

"You know, those are for Amaterasu's genderbender upstairs. Your blood bag just left for work an hour or so ago." I muttered flatly, watching Gavin suck the bag dry before tossing it out. He leaned on the counter, shaking his head.

"Just nervous." He grunted. I frowned, leaning against the fridge as I cocked my head.

"Ooo, this ought to be good. What's eatin' ya?" I asked. Gavin gave me a sour look before averting his eyes, leaning his back on the counter now as he ran his fingers through his hair, shaking out his dark chocolate locks in a way that made him look childish and I resisted the urge to smirk.

"I didn't mention it to you because I didn't think Kasper was serious, but he is, so I don't want to, like, crush him or anything, but he wants to visit his friends in Alabama. The werewolves I mentioned." He added, glancing at me. I looked at him in distaste.

"Oh joy. Werewolves and ravens and vampires! Oh my!" I mocked. Gavin glared at me and I just shrugged as he groaned, tilting his head back, pressing the heels of his palms to his eyes.

"It's not that I don't want to, exactly... I just wanted Kasper all to myself this holiday. How am I supposed to ravish him with werewolves lurking around every corner? They have hormones like--"

"Like the kids in The First Turn-On." I mused. Gavin scowled at me and I held my hands in defense before he went on.

"I wanted to spend the whole holiday break with him, nothing, but... Well, anyway, now I have to share him with his friends." He huffed. I shrugged before folding my arms over my chest, glancing at the rag that had made it up to the top of the stairs before I made it sweep down the railing, then move onto the grandfather clock sitting near the hallway by the living room.

"His werewolves can have him by day, but by night, you'll have him all to yourself." I offered, making Gavin pause to shrug his shoulders as if to say "so-so". I sighed and pushed off the fridge, gesturing for the mop that was busy cleaning the other side of the kitchen to clean near the door where Gavin had made his mess. I gave my finger a little turn and the cupboards all flew open, one almost hitting Gavin in the head before he ducked and flashed me a glare. I shrugged as I held up two fingers and pointed away from the cupboards.

"Speaking of your fancy abilities," Gavin drawled as the expired food flew from the cupboards and floated in the air above our heads, "Once we arrive in Alabama, try not to use them as much as possible. Your kind isn't exactly a favorite amongst our community. You're no Original." I paused, studying the cans and boxes floating over our heads.

Gavin was right.

Originals were basically creatures created by the Goddess, empowered by Her Followers. Of course, magic and spell casting was also part of Her Followers' rituals. In fact, that's how I gained my abilities. I worked harder and harder, enough so that I remember passing out several times in one day, to get where I was today.

It didn't help that I was eventually killed and now spent half my energy on retaining my attractive form.

Otherwise, I was a walking corpse.

Funny how power can become so delicious, so beautiful and suddenly lead to something so...

"Luka!" Gavin barked, snapping me out of my daze in time for the things above our heads to come crashing to the floor, breaking open and spilling old rotted foods and spoiled fruits across the floor that I had just finished cleaning. I frowned, glancing around me.

"Bloody Hell." I stated, flicking my fingers as the mop and rag rushed to clean up the mess. Gavin rolled his eyes, glancing at me suspiciously.

"You weren't going into dream mode, were you?" He asked. I really wished he'd stopped talking about that. There was a reason I kept it to myself and now that it was open to Gavin, he took every chance to worry about me and it was driving me insane.

I wanted the old uncaring Gavin back.

I also wanted the ignorant one back. Gavin had been worried about me ever since we arrived back from New York City.

Wait, let me rephrase that.

He's been worried that I'd tell his lovely little sweetheart that, in exchange for allowing him to live for eternity, I was forced to endure every single memory and nightmare from the cute parakeet's miserable, pathetic past. Oh no, don't get me wrong. I didn't hate Kasper. He made Gavin happy and I had seen Gavin miserable long enough. And I knew what was coming, which is why I had to make sure Kasper loved Gavin before I gave him the gift of immortality.

I just wasn't fond of the price I fished out of the deal, but far be it from me to ruin such a loving meeting of mates. Apparently, helping Gavin find his mate and helping them live happily ever after wasn't going to lift the punishment the Fates bestowed upon me.

So be it.

"No, I was going into Super Saiyan Mode." I responded as I watched the mop and rag clean up the mess I had made due to negligance. Gavin threw his hands up in frustration, scowling.

"Ugh! Luka, really, this isn't a joke. This can't possibly last much longer." He insisted, throwing his hands down at his sides to glare at me. I raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry it's such an inconvenience to you." I drawled. Gavin winced as I conjured up another rag, moving onto the counters while the mop and other rag did their jobs with the floor.

"That's not what I meant." He said at last, sounding guilty. I frowned, rolling my eyes up toward the ceiling in disgust. What happened to my sarcastic mean vampire? Why am I stuck with a guilty sap? Kasper, you're great, but why'd you have to make him so nice? He's so not fun anymore.

"I was teasing you," I snorted, not looking at him as I reached up to scrub the cupboards, "Anyway, I'll start packing your things for you once I finish in the kitchen. On our way out, we also need to fetch some more coffee. Preferably Starbucks." Gavin studied me suspiciously, arms folded over his chest.

"When's the last time you slept?" He asked. I stared into one of the dark cupboards, ignoring the face of Aunt Jemima as she stared back at me.

The last time I slept?

When was the last time I slept?

Well, hell if I know. Sometime before we left New York City, probably. However, I didn't say that. Instead, I just smiled and went on cleaning as I changed the subject.

"We also need to grab some bubble wrap to put on all the sharp objects in the house." I said smoothly as I leapt off the counter, landing on the mop that squealed and wiggled out from under my shoe, shooting across the kitchen floor and into a wall where the magic exploded off it in sparkling dust as the mop flopped to the floor. I frowned before looking at Gavin, who stared at me.

"I hate it when those things do that. Makes me feel like I just kicked a puppy."

"What'd you mean bubble wrap?"

"Hm? Oh. Dracula's gone suicidal again. He tried to bite me earlier. And even though stabbing himself will only do the same amount of damage as a paper cut, it's still not safe to leave him alone in the house with things he could-- Oh, I dunno, say, decapitate himself with?" I offered, glancing at the knives. One of them slid from its place and did a little twirl before slamming down into the countertop with so much force that it stuck straight up. I looked back at Gavin, who frowned.

"He can't kill himself."

"That's not very nice."

"He's not very nice. Can't you put a spell on the house to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid?"

"I suppose I could cook up a little something, but it involves charm bags, so I won't place it until you're out of the house." I replied calmly, shrugging it off. Gavin sighed in relief, breathing a thank you before he departed for the shower upstairs. I watched him leave, then turned back to see that the knife was sawing itself into the countertop.

"Oi! Stop that! You're ruining the bloody counters!" I barked, then watched the knife quiver and slide out of the hole it's already made in the countertop. It settled itself into the knife holder and the magic burst into dust around it before vanishing. I sighed and went up to the countertop, placing my hand over the hole before lifting it to reveal it nice and sparkling clean.

I lifted my eyes, then turned my head to stare across the kitchen, through the dining room, and outside into the winter wonderland that lay outside. Hills of pure white ran amongst the great evergreens that protected the other trees that were merely naked to the nip of the winter wind.

I sighed again.

Just what I need. A vacation.

Tch. Right...