Disclaimer:
Canon characters belong to LKH and Berkley Publishing and are
used
without permission, but with good intent. Ramses belongs to Gigs.
Vlad,
unfortunately belongs to me.
Rating: PG-13
Translation
of Asher's French ranting (roughly): "My God, man! How could you
let
them out of your sight? I trusted you with the safety of my servant, and
you
could not even keep her with you!"
Can You Hear Me?
I was
only vaguely aware when Asher rose for the day...I got the distinct
impression
that HE wasn't aware of my mental voice. I was still droning out
his
name as a distress beacon, but I could feel his anxiety from being cut
off
from me the previous night. My own "voice" wasn't strong enough for
me
to
mentally shout for his attention.
Even
with the marks completely open, he was too agitated to sense me.
Before
long,
I "heard" a three-way argument going on. Seems my master was ranting
at
both Jean-Claude and Ramses. Listening in through him was sort of
like
listening
to a radio drama.
"How
could you just let her disappear like that?!" Asher practically shouted.
I
assumed that was directed at the magi. "Mon Dieu, homme! Comment
a osé
vous
laissez-les hors de votre vue? Je vous ai fait confiance avec la sûreté
de
mon domestique, et vous ne vous êtes pas même assurés
qu'elle est restée
avec
vous!" Uh oh...he was lapsing into French again...not a good sign.
I could
almost "see" Ramses snarl at Asher. What had happened to make him
lose
his calmness? Had something gone wrong with the dragon hunt?
Had they
caught
the dragon? If I could only get Asher's attention, perhaps I could
get
some answers.
I gasped
as I felt a hard hand slap us...us? I must have immersed myself
into
my master's psyche. I was feeling stronger for the link, and I could
sense
his own agitation begin to calm, even though he didn't recognize my
touch
yet.
We
looked over to see Jean-Claude, his face a perfect mask. Our knowledge
of
his
body language told us that he was desperately holding onto his control,
however.
He was not too far away from the near-madness that had possessed
him
when he was finally released from his boxing...long ago when he'd
sacrificed
his freedom to have us healed. A tear slid down our face as we
remembered
how we had hated him for that. Why couldn't he have let us die
then?
Now...now that he was going through a similar pain, not knowing if his
beloved
servant would survive or not...we regretted our callousness.
Especially
since we seemed to be in the same boat, so to speak...our new
servant
ripped from us...still alive, but unable to be reached....
I summoned
as much strength as I could and threw it into my distress
call....Asher
Asher Asher Asher ASHER!!!!!
My master paused in mid-thought. "Ma rose?"
Relief flooded me. He'd heard my call finally. "Asher......"
"Tamara,
where ARE you? Are you all right? What happened?" the questions
came
rapidly.
"C-c-cold,"
I stammered, once again becoming aware of my own body. It was
freezing
in the room I was imprisoned in. And I was still very much naked.
Even
if I'd stripped the corpse of the hooker for his clothes, what he was
wearing
wouldn't have been any protection from the frigid air. My body
fairly
ached with stiffness and healing bruises. I was beginning to lose
my
concentration.
I felt
Asher turn at the scent of warm flesh. I saw Nathaniel enter where
he
was,
through his eyes. He quickly captured the young cat's mind and was
about
to strike. Jean-Claude's hands on his arms stopped him. "Mon
ami, I
MUST
feed," Asher pled, trying to convince the Master of the City that he had
not
gone feral. "I can sense ma rose d'acier again. Whatever was
blocking
the
marks is gone...but she is weak, her body "feels" stiff and frozen, and
her
life-force has greatly faded, as if something had drained it. I will
not
harm
the chaton, but I must feed to give Tamara strength until we can recover
her."
Jean
nodded at him and released his grasp. Asher turned to his pomme de
sang
and
fed. Even as the hot sweet blood gushed into his mouth, I felt warmth
and
strength return to my body. I nearly cried when Asher released
Nathaniel.
Asher chuckled in my mind, "And you accuse moi of being greedy."
"But it's FREEZING!" I whined at him.
"It
cannot be too bad if you are strong enough to complain about it, cherie,"
he
told me. "Now, can you tell where you are? What happened last
night?
Why
were we cut off from each other?"
Trying
to ignore the cold, I concentrated on answering my master's questions.
"I'm
not sure where I am. It looks like some sort of flophouse or cheap
hotel.
The place stinks of mold and blood. There's no heat either.
What
happened
last night was that Vladimir injected me with something and I woke
up
here chained to the bed. I found some kind of spell or amulet tied
around
my
ankle under the manacle. Once I managed to get it off and away from
me I
could
sense you again."
Asher's
anger at the insult from the lesser vampire flowed over me in a
scalding
wave. Disregarding the pain, I pulled as much of that heat into
myself
as I could. That had the result of allowing my master a little bit
better
sense of my actual physical condition than I would have liked. His
outrage
simmered just below the surface, even as his voice took on a
deceptive
deadly calm. "Ma rose, where are your clothes?"
"Hell
if I know," I grumped irritably. "Apparently Vlad thought I looked
better
in something else, then changed his mind again and decided he
preferred
me naked."
"He raped you," Asher stated more than asked.
"More
like he fed his ardeur from me...for several hours it felt like," my
reply
was quiet. Even though I knew I wasn't the target, Asher's rage was
scaring
me. "He claims that he has an ardeur to rival Belle Morte's...it
was
definitely
stronger than Jean-Claude's. Asher, I tried to resist him, really
I
did...but when he touched me...when he...." Sobs prevented me from
continuing.
My
master wrapped his presence around mind like an insulating blanket,
comforting
me as if I were a small child afraid of the dark. "There is no
shame
in your surrender, Tamara. I admit I had heard rumors at court that
Vladimir
did indeed have such an ardeur, but I dismissed them out of hand.
It
seemed incomprehensible that a vampire that would never be a master could
possibly
exhibit the control it would take to endure such a curse. Even Jean
was
nearly driven mad when the ardeur would take him, before he came to us
and
Belle taught him to control it. But we could sense even then, when
he
was
only five years dead, that he would be a master vampire. If I had
known
that
the rumors were true, I would have warned you...and I would not have
permitted
you to accompany the bastard. Council representative or no, he
WILL
pay for this insult."
Giving
it some thought, I finally responded, "I don't believe he really is
representing
your Council Mistress, Asher. Before he...before...I asked him
why
he was doing this. He told me it was for power. He thinks I
am the
Absorber
reborn, because I am your servant. He lied and implied that you
were
bound prisoner somewhere, then tried to break my will to his using his
ardeur.
Don't worry, I didn't give Kylie away. Vlad still thinks I'm the
one...but
you might want to warn her and her master."
"I
will...merci ma rose for not betraying her," Asher replied, gratitude and
triumph
coloring his voice. "At least now I understand why your life force
was
so weak. I have located your presence, cherie. You are in an
area
called
the Tenderloin. It is St. Louis' analog of Orlando's South Orange
Blossom
Trail."
"Well
that explains where Vlad picked up his dinner," I sighed. "Perhaps
it's
a good thing that it IS cold...otherwise the body would be stinking by
now.
Asher, you have to get me out of here. I don't think I could survive
another
session like last night's, even with the marks wide open."
His
mental tone reflected resignation and frustration. "Ma rose, I cannot
come
for you yet. It is still a couple of hours until full dark, and there
is
no safe underground passage to your location from the Circus."
Panic
crept into my reply, "I can't let him touch me again! Asher PLEASE!
There
has to be some way...send one of the wolves or leopards...anything!
Master
please don't let me suffer that monster's touch again....please...."
"Ma
rose be still!" Asher commanded, forcefully taking temporary control of
my
body. Once I was immobile, he continued in a soothing tone, "If we
are
lucky,
he will not touch you again, cherie. He is still not a master, and
even
among ancient vampires, only masters can move about before full dark.
Now
that I know where you are, we will fly to your rescue as soon as it is
safe
to emerge from below ground. Tamara, I know you are frightened, but
we
need
for Vladimir to be with you when we come. It will save having to
hunt
him
down. When he returns for you tonight, I want you to pretend that
you
are
still weak and blocked from me. Try to get him to gloat over
you...perhaps
he will reveal what his true motives are in his arrogance."
"I
will stay in contact with you, ma rose d'acier. I will help you endure,"
he
comforted. "Now I must go with Jean and the magi...it has been decided
that
another attempt to revive Anita will be made before dark." He released
his
psychic hold on me, allowing me to slump limply to the mattress.
"Good luck," I whispered. "I hope it works this time."
"So do I, ma rose. So do I."