Chapter 24

Selene stayed in the kitchen for several minutes after Sam stormed off, waiting for her heart to steady. Part of her hoped he might come back, but that didn't seem likely. Once her nerves had settled, she crept back to her room. The cold floor on her bare feet was shocking, but each step grounded her. It was clearing the fog in her head, and pulling her down to reality.

Sam's red eyes burned in her mind when she climbed back under the covers. His words had stung, but maybe he was right. Maybe it shouldn't happen again. Who was she fooling? Mindlessly kissing and rubbing up against someone like that. Fantasizing about having a fling, taking a lover. Letting that lover do whatever he had wanted to her right there in the kitchen. On the counter. With their hosts sleeping in the next room.

Good grief. That wasn't like her at all.

Or was it? Damn it; she had been enjoying that kiss. And not opposed to what would happen next. For a moment, she thought about bursting into the attic to finish what they had started. Take him by the horns, so to speak, and scratch this itch so she could stop obsessing about it. But she put the idea aside.

Selene stared up at the ceiling, marveling at how much could change in just a moment. Now that their attraction to each other was out in the open, what would happen next?

When Selene came downstairs the next morning, Brunie had another full spread on the table. Instead of a roast, a tower of fried meat dominated the table. Softball-sized muffins replaced the bread rolls, with sides that looked like Aurelian versions of fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, and toast. Selene's mouth watered.

"There she is, our lovely Selene. Good morning!" Eldridge gestured for her to pull up a chair. Sam was nowhere in sight. "Would you like some tea?"

Selene heard the sharp click of Brunie's talons behind her and sat down. A platter of sausages was placed near her elbow, followed by a massive fruit salad.

"Eat up, dear," Brunie said, patting Selene's shoulder. Selene began to fill her plate and smiled. Although she had only known them for a day, Brunie and Eldridge made her feel like family. It was easy being with them. She could relax instead of being hyper-vigilant to avoid a fight or shrink in her chair so she wouldn't be criticized.

"So… where's Sam?" Selene asked, trying to sound casual. She tapped her fork against her plate. "He's missing out."

"He's outside, building me a new workbench. Go call him in, Brunie," Eldridge said.

Brunie pulled open the side door to yell, "Samael! Breakfast!" When she got no reply, she marched outside. Soon the sound of raised voices drifted in. Although the words were muffled, it was clear that Sam was refusing to come in. Brunie did not accept that answer. They argued back and forth until Brunie sailed back in the house triumphantly, with Sam glowering behind her.

"Good morning, Samael," Eldridge chirped. Sam mumbled a greeting and slumped into his chair, glancing over at Selene before plowing a hand through his hair. Brunie began to fill his plate with eggs. His sullen attitude made Selene feel like she needed to fill the silence with something pleasant.

"Brunie, I meant to ask last night, how did you all meet? Have you both spent time at Queen Thema's castle?"

Brunie's eyes lit up. "Samael didn't tell you?"

"No," Selene said. "But I'd love to hear about it."

Brunie leaned back as though she were about launch into a sweeping epic, but the sound of a growl made them all turn.

"No," Sam said. "We don't need to discuss that."

"Pardon?" Brunie said.

"We're not discussing it."

"Why?" Brunie asked.

"Because I forbid it," Sam replied.

"Ha! You think you can tell me what I can and can't say in my own home?" Brunie said.

Eldridge cut in, "Eh… Selene, we know Samael from long ago—a time that's not worth mentioning. Isn't that right, Brunie? Not worth mentioning."

Brunie's tail-feathers pulsed. She and Sam glared at each other until he said, "Selene, I appreciate your interest, but I don't wish to reminisce today."

Selene bit her lip. "I'm sorry, I was only curious about how everyone knew each other."

Brunie leaned forward to meet Selene"s eye. Then a string of words tumbled out of her mouth in one continuous sentence, "We were all held prisoner by vampires who did terrible things until Samael killed them all and burned everything!" When she finished, she sat back in her chair with a satisfied smile.

Sam's eyes turned from soft brown to a cold red. Then he stood up so fast his chair fell to the ground with a bang that made everyone jump and stormed out of the house.

Eldridge sighed. "Brunie, my love… "

"What? Selene asked me a question, and you know I can't keep a secret."

"I think he wanted to tell her in his own time."

"It's my story too!" Brunie said.

Selene wished there was a nearby hole she could crawl into. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

Eldridge's eyes were gentle. "You didn't. Samael is just a bit… sensitive about his past. I'm sure he wanted to tell you, but… " He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Now that's it's out in the open, I suppose it would be better that you hear it from us. He would only give you half the story."

"That's right," Brunie said. She ran her knuckles over the scarred side of her face. "It was the greatest day of my life when I received these scars, but you'd think it was the worst to hear it from him. Would you like a muffin?"

Selene shook her head, her appetite suddenly gone.

Eldridge crossed his arms. "Brunie and I met Samael when he was a boy. You know he was kidnapped from the Underworld and brought here, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Right. Well, he was left in the care of a cruel, terrible vampire named Julian. There are a few things you need to know about Julian. First is, he enjoyed gambling, he did. And gold. But many of the queens don't approve of gambling and have banned it from their lands."

"Queen Aello of the Harpies is one of them," Brunie said with pride. "As is Queen Keebee, Queen Yerena, Queen Cebna—"

"Many of the queens," Eldridge interrupted. "The second thing you need to know about Julian is that he had some… odd notions."

"About blood," Brunie said.

"Yes. And the superiority of different races, but mainly about blood. Julian believed Aurelian blood was inferior, but could be made more potent, more nourishing if the heart beat faster before drinking. If the victim was quite frightened."

"Or tortured. Or in pain," Brunie added.

The eggs and toast in Selene's stomach turned sour.

Eldridge continued, "Julian was a charming sort and convinced a lot of vampires to believe in the power of tormented blood, just as he did. So he found a way to combine all the things he loved—gambling, gold, and torture—and called it sport.

Selene listened as Eldridge explained how Julian held fighting matches where the losers would be drained to death by the highest vampire bidder. He traveled by wagon so he could sleep during the day, and added more wagons to his operation as he recruited young males to fight.

"You look a bit pale, dear. Do you want us to stop telling this story?" Brunie asked.

"I'm all right," Selene lied. Mounting dread as to how the three of them fit into all of this was making her nauseated. "Please continue."

Eldridge's ears twitched. "Julian had a team of fighters that were making him a lot of money and a lot of tormented blood. But they were frequently injured, and it was expensive to keep buying meals from taverns. So he went in search of staff."

"He found me first," Brunie said as she stood to take Selene's plate. "I was cooking at an inn called The Whiskered Fish until he came along. People used to come from all over for my pies," Her voice trailed off and pain clouded her features. "Snatched me up while I was taking out the rubbish bin. Clipped my wings, and that was that. They're fine now, but it was very painful."

Eldridge reached out to take her hand, but Brunie waved him away to go into the kitchen. His eyes were sad as he looked at Selene. "Then he found me living in a town called Redfalls. I used to handle transactions for the local merchants until Julian walked in one day and plucked me from my desk. He tossed me into a wagon and told me I would be managing his gold."

Brunie came back into the room. "It was just a few weeks before little Samael arrived."

"But by that time, Julian had gotten himself into trouble with debts. He couldn't afford to buy another wagon, so he put Samael in my cell with me," Eldridge said.

Brunie put her hand over her heart. "The only bit of good fortune the boy had at the time."

"He was so frightened," Eldridge said. "Didn't understand what had happened to him and cried for his mother for months, he did. I did my best to comfort him, as did Brunie. None of us knew much about demons, but we noticed the lad had a temper. He would get very angry, very fast if someone did something he didn't like. Vengeance, he used to say over and over. Vengeance. And he had a preoccupation with rules. Always wanting to know what was allowed, what was forbidden. Each night, we talked about what was right and wrong in Aurelia. Then Julian found a use for his demon prisoner."

"How?" Selene asked.

"Tormented blood. He began using the boy to get it. It started with Julian making Samael growl and intimidate his fighters to get their fear flowing. Even as a young demon, he could be very frightening. Then when Julian grew bored of that, he began to place petty criminals before Samael and encouraged him to respond with violence."

"Which he did. To the delight of the crowds," Brunie added. "Soon, Samael's part of the show began to eclipse the fights themselves."

"Oh God," Selene murmured.

"As he grew, he became quite gifted at combat. He had to learn quickly, as many of Julian's victims fought hard for their own survival. Julian didn't like for Samael to kill within the tent—it was tormented, living blood he was after. But sometimes… " Eldridge paused. "Sometimes, the lad didn't always know how to temper his strength. When the rage would overtake him, his body became even more demonlike. In those moments, he possessed the least amount of control and would often do the most damage."

Selene remembered how haunted Sam's face had looked when she asked if he had ever killed anyone. "I see," she murmured.

"He cried for weeks every time he took a life," Eldridge said. "We thought it was strange at first, a demon with remorse? But we bought a book on demons from a traveling merchant and learned it was forbidden for his kind to kill. It interfered with the order of things, you see. Demons have a strong belief in fate and don't like to see souls come to the Underworld by the hand of their own. And we knew how fixated with rules Samael was. So, we tried to teach him how to control his rage and focus his mind. The calmer Samael was, the less Julian used him."

The room was quiet until Eldridge exhaled. "Samael and I continued to share a cell, even when he grew very large. I taught him how to read, and every day we worked on the difference between right and wrong. He learned how to control his instincts, and Brunie and I fell in love, despite the terrible circumstances. We did our best to protect Samael, and he protected us. We protected each other from the misery that was our life."

"We survived," Brunie said.

The atmosphere was heavy until Selene asked, "How did you escape?"

Her question seemed to drop the veil of sadness from Brunie's face, replacing it with a ruthless grin. "With fire. And vengeance!"

Eldridge chuckled. "Yes, that's a good way to describe it. I believe it started with Julian beating his woman in the Padu. Is that right, dear?"

"Yes, he was abusing Margery. She had failed to lure enough bettors to the tent that night. We had been traveling with the Padu market at that time."

Selene's pulse picked up at the familiar name.

"Normally, Julian kept Samael in shackles until just before a show and then cuffed him immediately after. But that night the crowds were sparse and Julian was angry. After he had unshackled Samael, he turned to pull Margery by the hair. The crowd began to cheer—they were a cruel, savage group—so Julian continued to abuse her."

"That's awful," Selene said. Her thoughts went back to the gruesome scars she had seen around Sam's wrists and the leather bracers he wore to hide them.

"I don't know if it was too much for Samael to bear or if he knew there wouldn't be another opportunity without the chains, but he took his chance. We all watched as he reached out and grasped Julian's head—"

"Twisted it right off his body," Brunie exclaimed.

"Clean off," Eldridge said. "I've never seen anything like it. The audience started screaming. I watched as Samael gave fully into his demonic instincts. He began plucking the heads from any vampire he could reach. And when they started to flee the tent?"

"Fire!" Brunie cried. "The fire he set grew until vampires came running out screaming—it was a glorious sight! But I was locked in my wagon, you see, and eventually, the flames spread."

"Once Samael realized, he ran to pull the doors off each wagon. But for some, it was too late," Eldridge said sadly. "He got to Brunie's tent a bit later than he would have liked."

Brunie gestured to the burned side of her face. "I welcomed the pain. I would have endured burns throughout my entire body to see Julian die!"

Eldridge shrugged. "And die, he did. Without a head, well, there's no coming back from that. And as for the rest of the vampires that were burned but not beheaded? The morning sun took care of them."

"He spared Margery, though. And anyone else who was innocent or had been kind to him. He freed us all," Brunie said, her eyes misting with tears.

"A true hero," Eldridge said.

Selene felt spellbound. She was in awe of everything Sam had been through as well as the resilience of Brunie and Eldridge. How did they have the fortitude to survive such an ordeal, let alone take a little demon under their wing?

"After that we came here." Eldridge gestured around the room. "Built this house. Tried to forget."

"We had begged Samael to come with us, but he refused," Brunie said. "He wanted to live alone, he had said, and fled into the forest. Of course, we were sick with worry for him."

Selene nodded, remembering Queen Thema's story of how Sam rescued her in the forest.

Eldridge smiled. "But then one day, years later, we received a letter from Samael telling us how he was working as a guard at Queen Thema's castle. A few months later, he came to visit. It was a glorious day. He built much of our furniture, and continues to visit us every so often. We've asked him to stay on many times, but he's always refused."

"What's so wonderful about the Malkina that keeps him there?" Brunie grumbled. "They're haughty and vain. Terrible cooks too, from what I hear."

"Dearest, I think he believes himself to be bad luck for us."

"Rubbish."

"It's his choice, Brunie. I've always said he"s as clever as a Goblyn. Seems he's stubborn as a Harpy too."

Brunie swatted him on the arm and got up to go back in the kitchen, leaving Selene alone with Eldridge. The strain of reliving such painful memories was evident in his face. Leaning toward her, the Goblyn met her eyes.

"Selene, you must understand that although many terrible things have happened to Samael, he's never given into true evil. He tries very hard to do his best and control his instincts. He believes in justice and is driven to uphold it."

"I understand."

"Sometimes, he just needs a bit of patience. And permission. His experience with females is… limited. He doesn't always understand the unspoken, and he fears making a mistake. Fears losing control. If someone were to want something from Samael, well… "

He paused and gave her a meaningful look. "She should be bold in asking for it."