9
Antoine
In my experience, in the presence of the council it was best to listen and wait for the right moment to come before taking advantage of the situation. If the council liked you then they would make you jump hoops just to save face but no real punishment would be doled out.
My eyes dropped to Morpheus’s prone form. Or what was left of him. Morpheus had gone about the whole thing wrong. Pleading and begging had never swayed the council. Accusations and finger pointing would get you an even swiffer death. Playing along with their little games as Piper had done was the only way to leave this place alive.
While the council may not be as old as my master Boris, they grew bored of immortality like the rest of us and have to find their entertainment in some way.
Enter us.
I had anticipated something like this would happen. Not this exact scenario. I never expected them to be so curious about our relationship. It wasn’t abnormal for the humans serving the vampires to be shared between the family. Perhaps not in the capacity Piper did. They certainly didn’t love their blood whores. And Piper would have my balls if I ever referred to her as such.
“I’ll do it.”
My head jerked to my human servant, Piper, the love of my life. I know I had encouraged her to do as they wanted but I never expected her to do it so easily. I at least thought she would put up more of a fight. Whine a little bit or something. Perhaps she too saw the direness of our situation.
Caleb reached out his hand to touch her. I grasped his wrist before he could so much as place a finger on her.
“Hold on, if you please,” I immediately replied to Caleb’s questioning look.
“Do you have an objection?” Caleb’s bored tone would have me believe that he could care less about the whole thing. The tension in his arm where I held him said differently.
“If this is a test to see if Piper will fall for all of us again, then it would be disproportionate in the fact that she is my human servant. She will be automatically drawn to me more than the others.”
“Ah,” Tuma mused from his place on the couch. “I could see how that would be unfair. It would probably behoove you to repress her bond to Antoine as well as her enhanced senses.” He grinned so that one fang flashed as he chuckled. “It would be quite a surprise to wake up tomorrow with superhuman powers, wouldn’t it Miss Piper?”
Piper smiled weakly. “It would be preferable not to have a panic attack because I accidentally broke something.”
“Wouldn’t be her first time,” Drake muttered, earning him a glare from Piper.
Odette giggled at our exchange, kicking her feet happily. “I can’t wait to see how it all turns out.” She cocked her head to the side and grinned maliciously. “If you fail, maybe Tuma will let me keep you after all.”
Knee quaking fear shot into me from Piper. She really did not like Odette. Not that I blamed her. Making child vampires was forbidden. Particularly because of the one before us. They did not develop the way they should and so their needs do not gear toward the normal. One does not want to be at the mercy of one of the children of the undying.
I cleared my throat, turning everyone’s attention back to the task at hand. “Well, then, shall we proceed?”
Piper’s relief poured into me. Curious how she would prefer her mind meddled with than play with Odette.
“May I?” Caleb cleared his throat and I realized I was still holding his wrist.
I released him and inclined my head, stepping back from him.
Caleb placed a hand on the side of Piper’s forehead and murmured, “Just relax. This shouldn’t hurt.”
“Shouldn’t?” Piper squeaked, her suspicion flittered into me and I had to agree.
I kept my eyes on Piper as I watched Caleb work, focused on Piper’s emotions the entire time. Her fear stayed steady for a few moments then slowly as if falling asleep her emotions calmed and then there was nothing. I didn’t feel her at all.
Rayne was there first to catch her before Piper collapsed onto the floor.
“Why did she pass out?” Rayne demanded, holding her close and checking her breathing. “What did you do to her?”
“Nothing that I didn’t say I was going to do.” Caleb stated matter-of-factly, dropping his hand to his side. “Her mind needs time to reorganize. It’s best done while unconscious.”
“And the bond between us?” I asked, apprehension filling me with more dread than I was willing to admit. For the first time in I couldn’t even remember how long now - it was as if Piper had always been there in the back of my heart beating a tune just for me - now the place she sat was empty leaving Darren’s constant worry behind.
“It is merely suppressed just as her memories,” Caleb continued to explain. “Deleting memories is easy, restoring them is near impossible. It is much more convenient to lock them away.”