BloodBorne Ch. 08

"I'll take you," Andrae said. He took hold of their hands and teleported them to the manor before wordlessly teleporting out.

Xan brought Xion to the kitchen and nearly jumped out of her skin at seeing Alauria cooking dinner. "I forgot you were here."

"That tends to happen," Alauria replied. "Are you ladies hungry?"

"I could eat a little something," Xan replied. She sat down at the island with her sister, shaken by what almost happened. She was nearly kidnapped by Sherliane. Again. What the hell was she still doing with the brothers if they weren't going to do anything to keep things like this from happening? She was no longer sure if it was a great idea to pursue her relationship with Liam; her feelings seemed to keep her from thinking clearly.

"Are you all right?"

Xan looked over at Alexis who'd taken a seat at the island next to Xion. So involved in her thoughts had she been, that she did not realize the brothers had returned. "I'm fine. What the hell happened back there?" She stopped when she was pulled into Liam's arms. There wasn't a moment to ask what the hell he was doing as he mechanically ran his hands over her body, checking for wounds of any kind. "I'm fine!" she shouted when his hands moved too close to the cleft of her thighs. There was only so much she would allow in front of his family and Xion.

"I thought he would have had some sort of attack planed," Andrae murmured thoughtfully as he leaned against the refrigerator. "Attempted kidnapping is sort of bland considering his style of attack."

"You mean to tell me that you knew he would try again?" Xan asked.

"I told you not to go," Liam said in response. He glared at Andrae as he'd learned that his brother knew that Sherlaine was in the shopping center. He'd kept them all distracted while Xan was left to fend for herself. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yea, I'll live."

"Dinner's ready," Alauria announced. She placed a small plate of baked chicken and rice in front of Xion and waited for the twins to take their share before she served everyone else. Andrae declined, as did Liam, but Lindsay and Alexis accepted the meal.

Xan remained quiet as she ate, but kept an eye on her sister. Xion didn't seem traumatized. If anything, she looked rather bored. "You ok, kid?" Her sister only nodded solemnly, a clear indication that she was, in fact, not all right. "You're sad that we didn't get to go to Play Palace."

Xion nodded as she picked at her plate of food. "Stupid demons."

"Here, here!" Lindsay proclaimed.

Xan had to smile at the gesture and felt a great deal of affection for the twins when they told Xion that they would take her to the game room once she finished her dinner. This prompted her sister to nearly inhale her food.

"What's wrong with your hand?" Alexis asked.

Xan realized that he spoke to her and glanced at her hand. It looked fine to her. "Nothing. Why?"

"You've been scratching it for the past five minutes."

"No I haven't."

"You've been scratching it since you got back," Alauria countered.

Xan frowned at the news and glanced at her hand again, only to see that she was indeed using her nails to scratch her palm while her other hand was occupied holding her fork. "It's probably nothing." She continued to eat her dinner, unaware that everyone stared at her. The remainder of the meal was passed silently, primarily because everyone was too preoccupied watching Xion stuff her tiny mouth with food. Once she finished her meal, the twins kept their promise and took her upstairs to the game room. Afterward, Alexis retreated to the solarium, informing Lindsay that he was to do the dishes. Lindsay had no problem with this; he simply threw every dirty dish in the trash and said that he would order a new set over the internet the next morning. Xan laughed at Alauria's reaction, especially when she incredulously asked if that was why they continually had new dishes at their house. She watched them argue until they left the kitchen, wondering why it was married couples bickered over the weirdest things.

"Are you ready to go upstairs?"

She looked over at Liam and felt her heart swell at knowing that he waited for her to finish her dinner. "Don't you think I should check on Xion first?"

"She's got the twins, she'll be fine." Liam took hold of her hand and led her toward his room. He was still angry at what happened at the shopping center, but conceded the fact that things could have gone a lot worse. They'd thwarted Sherlaine before it was too late and they now knew that they could not let Xan out of the house again. Well, he'd already known that, but hopefully his shit-for-brains brothers finally got the message.

Once they entered his room, the both took their shoes off and climbed onto his bed. Xan tried to lie on her back, but he wouldn't have it; he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. He couldn't shake the terror that tore through him when he realized she broke away from the group. Andrae, traitorous brother that he was, made sure to keep him distracted the second he realized Sherlaine was in the mall. He still needed to kill the half breed for that. Liam made a vow to keep an eye on Xan from now on; his brothers thought that putting her life in danger would have shown them a weakness to use against Sherlaine. Instead, it only seemed to make him smarter and more daring; there was no one else he knew of who would have tried to kidnap Xan in public during daylight hours.

Xan must have been exhausted; within minutes, he heard the deep even breathing that came with sleep. He'd come to treasure these moments; though they hadn't been intimate in what he considered forever, he enjoyed their moments of closeness. They were a beautiful reminder that he wasn't as alone as he though he was. Xan cared about him and he was quickly coming to realize that he would walk through the fires of hell for her. Who'd have thought that this impossible woman would have become his world?

Liam shook his head in amusement as he remembered the night they met. How stupid was he to think that she was a boy? Staring at her now, there wasn't anything physically male about her. She had a strong jaw, but it was softly rounded, and the delicate slope of her nose was anything but masculine. Her body was toned but curvy; she fit perfectly against him. This woman had become his every thought, even when she decided to play the irritating lunatic. She was everything he could ever desire in a woman. He would never let Sherlaine get his hands on her.

There was no way in hell he was going to let her die on him.

* * * * *

A burning, throbbing sensation concentrated at the base of her neck forced Xan out of the sleep-induced haze she'd long ago fallen into. It was dark and she was slightly disoriented; had it not been for Liam's deep, grumbling snore, she would not have known where she was. As she disentangled herself from his arms, she stumbled out of bed. She was thirsty and every passing second only seemed to increase the burning in her throat. She didn't bother to search for shoes; the intense need to get downstairs overshadowed any other thought. Even the fact that her vision was still hazed from exhaustion didn't stop her from walking out of the room. Her stride was purposeful and there was only one moment of hesitation as her mind wandered to concern for her sister. Xan wanted to check on her because she'd never allowed her sister to go to bed without her there, but the burning in her throat only focused her mind on quenching her thirst. She was quick to descend the stairs and quietly walked into the kitchen, ignoring Lindsay and Andrae as they sat at the island.

"You all right there, cousin?" Andrae asked blandly. While he was curious about her reasons for being out of bed in the middle of the night, he was concerned with how long her particular task would take. He'd been absorbed in an intense conversation with his brother, one he would have rather kept between the two of them. He watched as Xan greedily consumed two glasses of tap water before clumsily dropping the cup in the sink. She simply stood there for a minute afterward, staring off into space and slowly blinking as if about to fall asleep on her feet. "Xan?"

Lindsay raised both brows speculatively when Xan only turned to look at them before shuffling out of the room. "I'd say she was sleepwalking, but Liam would have mentioned that." He kept his eyes on her as she walked toward the exit and frowned when she turned right out of the kitchen. "Where the hell is she going?" The staircase leading back to Liam's room was on the left. "The solarium?" He stood and followed Andrae out of the kitchen, intent on finding the reason behind her odd behavior. When Xan walked passed the solarium, however, the hairs on the back of his head stood on end. "Xan? This is not good."

Andrae nodded in agreement as he watched Xan walk toward the hidden front door he was sure Liam never revealed. He grabbed her shoulders to keep her from grabbing the door and attempting to step outside and found himself blocking a right hook instead. He stepped back in shock, but quickly shifted to defense as she continued her attack. As much as Andrae would have loved to fight back and show her exactly who she was trying to take down, he remembered Liam and his attachment to the suddenly crazy human. He blocked every single one of her attacks, but as he looked at her face, he realized that she still wore the dazed expression. "Want to give me a hand, Lindsay?"

"You seem like you're doing fine on your own." Lindsay shrugged innocently when his brother shot him a murderous look. "Well grab onto her or hold her down."

"Easy to say when you aren't the one she is trying to kill," Andrae shot back. He caught hold of her wrist and spun her into him so that he could restrain her hands in front of her. She said nothing during this ordeal, but she did fight like a wild animal. While she struggled in his hold, he pulled her back toward the kitchen. He glanced at Lindsay, who found it oddly prudent to send a text message. "What the hell are you doing?"

"It's not like we have some kind of bat signal, D. I'm sending the guys a text message so that we don't wake Alauria or the kid." He shifted his attention from his cell phone to a struggling Xan and Andrae held her down. "Maybe I should have told them to bring some rope."

"I seriously hate you right now," Andrae growled when Xan delivered a kick that nearly made him a eunuch.

"I can shock her."

"You can get the fuck out of my way."

The brothers turned as Liam stormed into the room. The murderous look in the redhead's eyes had them on the defensive, ready to fight him if it meant keeping Xan under control. "Before you start bitching, you should know that she went after us first." Andrae growled again when she managed to bite his forearm.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Liam asked. He pushed Andrae aside and quickly took over the task of holding Xan down when she made another move to attack his brother. "Xan stop it." He heard the twins walk in with Alexis but ignored them as he held her down. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"The stench of the Belial demon offends me."

The room fell silent at Xan's words. Her head was bowed and she spoke in a low menacing tone, but it was obvious to all in the room that the person speaking to them was not Xan. "Ah fuck," Liam mumbled. He glanced back at Roman and waited until he received his brother's nod before quickly stepping back. As he'd suspected, Xan lunged forward to escape but was stopped when she slammed into an invisible wall.

"She's boxed in." Roman assured.

The men stepped back to look at the woman as she smiled evilly at them. There was a glint in her eye and she continued to kick at the invisible wall. "You will not be able to keep her much longer," she said.

"I'm going to skin you alive," Liam growled at Andrae. As much as he wanted to tear his risk taking brother apart, he had to think about Xan and the ordeal she was going through. "Xan? Xan, you have to fight this."

"I'm sorry, Xan isn't in right now. Please leave a brief message and she will get back to you once I am done with her."

"You son of a bitch!" Liam roared. Had it not been Xan's body he was dealing with, he would have easily choked some answers out of the body. He turned to look at Alexis, who seemed too busy sending a text message to bother with the situation. "Are you fucking happy?"

"Based on the excitement on his face when he realized I was here, I'd say he was thrilled."

"Shut the fuck up."

"And then you're going to choke answers out of me if I stay quiet."

Liam glanced at his brothers as they continued to stare at Xan. This was nice; Xan was possessed and their mortal enemy could read their thoughts.

"No, just yours. And she's not possessed; I'm simply borrowing her body for a while. I thought you'd be up for a little chat."

"What is she talking about?" Roman asked

Liam's blood boiled at the sly grin he was given. "The next time I kill you, I'll make sure you stay dead, Sherliane." Xan's body shifted into a relaxed, friendly position and her head tilted in mocking thought. Liam realized that he needed to contain his thoughts and feelings; there was no telling what the bastard would do to her when he realized his innermost thoughts.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there, Liam."

The way his name came off her lips, with such amused derision, set his blood on fire. Liam had to remind himself that though he spoke to Sherlaine, he was looking at Xan.

"You're girlfriend certainly is the potty mouth. She's screaming things I've never even heard before, and, well, beings as old as us have heard just about everything." The silence seemed to amuse Sherliane as he stared out at the men in the room. As much as he hated being in a woman's body this particular way, he was enjoying himself. "Tell me; were you the one to teach her such low behavior? You can't honestly expect a woman of her caliber to get any respect when she speaks like a low class whore."

"What do you want, Sherliane?" Alexis asked. He didn't bother to look up from his task of typing furiously into his cell phone.

"I've often dreamed of killing every single one of you and trust me when I say that I'm the kind of man who makes his dreams come true. To get to the point, I want her."

"That's never going to fucking happen," Liam said through clenched teeth.

"If you say so. But tell me this; you and I are both connected to this woman in very different ways. How well are you going to sleep at night when I can simply... take over whenever I please? What will you do when you are making love to her body and in reality, and quite literally, I am the one fucking with you?"

Had it not been for the invisible cage Roman had up around Xan's body, Liam would have forgotten himself and done something unforgivable. Lindsay and Draco pulled him back, a difficult task considering the power of his rage.

"It is quite simple; give me the woman and I'll let you return to your pathetic, inconsequential lives. Otherwise, prepare yourself for my impatience."

Andrae took a warning step forward, almost daring Sherlaine to take his threats to the next level. The look he was given make him narrow his eyes.

"It really is a shame I never got to kill you. What was the Daemis' name? Natalie? Namibia? No, that's a country."

"Stand down, Andrae," Alexis warned when his brother moved to rush Xan's body.

"She looked quite delicious. Pity she was drained before I could get to her."

"Drae, no!" Liam shouted as his brother shifted to his demonic form. Andrae was incredibly volatile when in his natural state; Liam feared that he was wild enough to break through Roman's barrier and kill Xan. Since he was still held back by Draco and Lindsay, he had no choice but to shout at Andrae to stand down. "Will one of you fucking do something?!?" He shouted at Roman and Alexis.

"I'm a bit busy keeping this shield up right now," Roman replied.

Alexis only watched curiously.

"What's all the yelling - holy crap a demon!"

"Alauria, it's not a demon, its D. Now go upstairs and lock the door," Lindsay ordered.

She didn't listen and walked into the kitchen to stand next to Alexis. She said nothing when he shifted to stand half in front of her. "What is going on? What's wrong with Xan and why is your brother trying to kill her?"

"Another one? This house is a regular harem."

"Alauria..." Lindsay warned.

"I like this one... She smells..." Xan's body sniffed the air greedily for a moment. "Utterly appetizing. I want her blood all over me."

"I swear to God Alauria if you do not go upstairs right now..."

"I really am enjoying myself. I think I'll stay a while."

"Help is on the way, but won't be here for a few hours. Can you keep that shield up?" Alexis directed to Roman.

"I'm good."

Alexis took a seat at the island and stared at the smiling face of Sherliane. He could not call it Xan; she was trapped somewhere in the recesses of her mind. As soon as she was freed, he'd regard her differently. "So we wait. You three think you can keep it cool?" The answer he received was Liam's huff of breath before taking a seat next to him. Andrae slowly shifted to human, but remained hear Xan's body. Once everyone was settled, they kept their focus on Xan's body. It tried to speak again but Draco used his ability of lentation to slow the movements of its mouth down. They only had to deal with a series of drawn out notes before it stopped speaking. There was only silence as the weight of what they were dealing with sunk in. No one spoke; they didn't want to encourage it to speak again. So they waited, each man lost in thought as they regarded the figure trapped in front of them.

Hours blended into each other until finally, the garage door flung open to reveal the aid Alexis called for. The blonde with short, almost spiked hair was frantic, his misty green eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets as they took in the situation in front him. He closed his eyes for a moment as he took in the information he was passed, piecing everything he'd missed together. "So that's Sherlaine in there."

"If he decided to stick around after Drake essentially glued his mouth shut," Andrae said.

"D. I 'm sorry about-"

"Now isn't the time, Caleb," Andrae ground out. He pointed his chin towards Xan's body as he said, "We're not sure how deep the link goes."

"Whose bright idea was it to get her close enough to be linked in the first place?"

"That would be brother number demon," Draco answered. He watched as Caleb walked around the invisible shield Roman still kept up, searching for a point of entry. "Rome, I see where I can get in, but I'm going to need you to take the shield down."

"We should tie her up first," Lindsay commented. When everyone turned to look at him incredulously, he shrugged and said, "I wouldn't want her to attack him while he's trying to fix her." He knew everyone saw the validity of his point once Alexis nodded. "Roman, can you concentrate a band around her and the chair?"

"I can do one better and simply tighten the force field around her to keep her locked to the chair. The only part of her exposed will be her head."

"Do it," Alexis ordered.

The brothers watched as Xan's body squirmed against the tightening of its invisible restraint. Once her head was accessible, Caleb held his hands on either side of her head. The room was silent, save for Xan's occasional grunt. She eventually quieted, and it was apparent that Caleb was able to use his powers of telepathy to enter her mind. Both figures remained still for countless minutes, falling into a co-conscious trance. In a few minutes, Caleb's lips moved in a silent chat that caused Xan's body to jerk in reaction. Liam stepped forward to interfere, but stopped when Lindsay held him back