Reckless Abandon Ch. 04

"We can't let him go around like this anymore."

A hooded man looked up and fought the urge to rub his eyes of sleep. He had been at this boring ass job of advising for the higher ups for almost a century now and every time, the subject of one noble or another would come up and how horrible it was that they didn't have any heirs, they were single, they were making bad choices in their too long lives- blah blah blah.

Deimon was getting tired of it all and was starting to crave more than just standing in a circle all day in an itchy hooded cape and talking about other people's problems. The last time he checked, they were fully capable of managing their own lives. But, he couldn't very well actually suggest that maybe everyone should find something better to do with their time than gossip like clucking old hens. They might actually die on the spot, some were so married to the job.

So, once again, Deimon was going to have to listen to yet another noble not marrying soon enough for the clucking hens' liking.

"Indeed. He has not given an heir and it has gone on long enough."

Deimon fought the urge to snort. Larry always was one for the dramatics and had leaped gleefully into this new job, which screamed dramatic and important.

"Yes, we must find him a mate." One agreed.

"Or at the very least, a suitable breeder." The guy on his right suggested with what could be described as the undertones of an evil snicker. Bastard probably fucked... never mind.

He narrowed his eyes. Deimon may have been born a vampire, but he sure as hell didn't see humans like cows, meant to be eaten and done with however he wished. Maybe the occasional lay, the quick bite, but humans were hardly some toy to be used a whim. They did have lives of their own after all.

Some more productive than these guys.

"Well, then gentlemen," the elder began.

Deimon stiffened into a suitable pose of dramatic tension.

"It seems we must find then a mother for-"

"How 'bout Heather?" Deimon suggested cheerfully.

The room was silent. Of course, the room was always silent, since it was nothing more than a stone dungeon built in a circle with torches dripping hot wax on yet, more stone floors. Within the center in a complicated pattern were the thirteen men (no women wanted to apply for such a boring job and Deimon had a healthy respect for the intelligence of women after noticing that they thought standing in a circle all day in itchy robes was not for them) and yet, more candles - because electricity certainly was beyond their reach.

The whole room screamed of Charmed and Buffy.

One robe coughed.

Deimon smirked to himself, knowing that the amount of respect the current occupants had for him was close to nil, not only for daring to be young and caught up in modern times, but actually having the audacity not to bow and scrape at the elders' feet.

"Heather would not be suitable, not only for her -- ahem, current mated state, but we have cause to believe that," he paused delicately.

"That?" he drawled. Here it comes.

"...she would not be true to him." he coughed.

Deimon snorted. "You said you wanted a breeder, not a marriage contract full of love and fidelity."

"True, but if she isn't true to him, then how will we know the child is his?" Another robe reasoned.

"When he starts chomping down on the nurse, of course."

"Deimon," warned the eldest.

He glared at the room. "Honestly, do none of you keep tabs on the guy? He just boned a girl silly and is wandering around the place mopey as all hell since she dumped his ass. Find that one and dump her in his bed - I'm sure she'll be fine with it eventually."

"He did what?"

Deimon ripped off his hood and glared at everyone through bright blue eyes.

"If you're going to worry about his single status, try to keep tabs on him next time. Find the girl and dump some other breeder in there. We'll see who he chooses. But for now - I'm going to go actually do something worthwhile rather than sit around here."

* * *

Alice regarded the fan overhead and contemplated cleaning the dust off the edges, which were obviously building up enough to spill over any time and make confetti jealous with their zealousness. She gave a wry sigh and turned over on the bed, stretching with a groan and relaxing again, scratching at her arm. What was wrong with her? She clenched and unclenched a fist, staring at it. She had made her decision, that she just needed a one night stand with a crazy man to make her reconsider breeding and that had done just the job. The future to her now looked quite grim and thankfully, baby-less. Unfortunately, the future also didn't have any bright green eyes or husky chuckles in-between bouts of intense lovemaking or warm olive skin glistening with sweat as it slipped against her cooling skin and-

"Damnit!" she swore, sitting up suddenly, tossing a pillow across the room with frustration. It had been two days! Two whole days and she was stuck in a rut she had no idea how to crawl out of. She sighed and dragged a hand through her hair before crawling out of the unmade bed, making her glance back at the sheets dispassionately.

Normally, she would make her bed first thing in the morning before going for her morning run around the lake, then work, but what was the point now? It was only going to get messed up again. She turned away and walked across the bedroom to collect the abused pillow and tossed it back on the bed, watching in teeter totter precariously at the edge before gleefully landing on the floor with a flop. With a sigh of disgust, she ignored it and went to the bathroom. A quick trip to the toilet and a thorough washing of her hands later, she paused and wryly glanced up into the mirror, not at all liking what she was seeing.

Somehow, her hair had lost its shine and her skin wasn't glowing. In fact, it looked rather sallow and contrasted quite nicely with the dark circles under her bloodshot eyes. She leaned closer, having not bothered with glasses or contacts and examined herself closer. Yep, the toll of no sleep was being unusually harsh on her if a new patch of zits on her chin had anything to say. She dropped her head and looked up, hoping to see something better. No dice. She lowered an eyelid and noticed the bloodshot look carried all the way around her eye. With another sigh of disgust, she quickly washed her face for the first time in two days and patted dry with a towel before drawing back sharply with a gag. Definitely had to do laundry if her towel had anything to say about the matter with a funk like that.

She took a delicate sniff of the towel and proceeded to sniff her shirt before wrinkling her nose. Had to do laundry now. Then take a shower. Grabbing every last piece of fabric and tossing it into the basket that was now towering with smelly, dirty clothes, she quickly stormed into the laundry room, tossed everything in (of course after separating the darks, whites and colors) of upmost importance and started the washer before rushing into the shower.

Alice stared at the shower head blankly and looked down at her body before slowly and cautiously cupping her belly. She often found herself doing this before bed and when waking up, almost like the newly formed habit was a talisman and a means of relieving stress. Curse that handsome man for hitting that one button that would turn off the alarm on her biological alarm clock! While she had been thinking of it for the past couple months (okay, years), he seemed to make it that much more real for her.

Her eyes began to water. His children would be so beautiful with eyes like that. Why did he have to be crazy and do magic tricks just to get out of a stick situation like the morning after? She would have left without a fuss, but it hurt a lot when a guy would resort to such trickery just to get her out of his apartment. She hadn't felt so humiliated since when her prom date didn't show up and left on her family's voice mail his so called excuse (read: Tammy Schnider with the bigger cans who put out) why he couldn't go with her. Feeling her eyes itch and the water start to run cool, she quickly washed off and turned off the shower, stepping out and pausing at the door. No towels. Duh.

Grabbing a robe, and hoping that she wouldn't catch a cold, she sullenly dragged her feet back up the stairs to her bedroom and halted at the door.

A very handsome man, dressed all in black, from his leather boots to his faded denim jeans to his long sleeved graphic tee, sat at the edge of her bed, jingling his leg restlessly until she stepped in. His eyes were a bright blue, almost blindingly bright while his hair was jet black and short but for wisps and layers that fell around his eyes and pointed ears.

Wait, pointed ears-

"Who-"

The man suddenly stood up to a very tall height and swept a graceful bow, making her note that he was wearing a cloak. How --

odd.

"Greetings milady. I would be the vampire Deimon, advisor and all around snoop to the great and mighty Douglass Conan. You know, the guy you schtupped two days ago?"

He gave her a quick leer.

"How do you- Wait. What's schtupped?"

He grinned and she noted he had strange, simple marks underneath his eyes at the top of his cheeks, dark red and somehow, it suited him.

"Boffed, boned, screwed, shagged, beat, tupped, boinked, knocked shoes with, and my old favorite, fuc-"

"Okay, okay, I get it! What are you doing here and how do you know this?"

He shrugged and began to roam around her bedroom, picking up trinkets and picture frames of family and friends. She waited and he picked up another trinket, examining it thoroughly. Opening her mouth, she closed it when he put it down and picked up her brush, an heirloom from her grandmother almost instantaneously. He plucked a hair from the brush, examined it with a careful scrutiny that was at odds with his gothic, ill-kept appearance and shrugged before answering.

"We've been keeping tabs on Douglas for awhile. At least, I have. My coworkers," he snorted. "Claim to know every last thing he does or has, right down to the number of nose hairs he has. By the way, the right one has 1,982 while the left has 1,863."

She stared and he sighed dramatically before picking up a snow globe from Heather's last trip to Hawaii. He shook it and watched the flakes fall around the snow man (or sand man in this case) with interest.

"What I'm trying to say, through my clumsy eccentrics, is that Douglas has always been easy to track because he hardly does anything. He sits around, solves problems for people, sends them on their way and has a meal or two in-between before going to bed. Wash and repeat. The man has eternal youth and immortality and what does he do? Acts like a predictable, tired old man. He's had quite a run, but the guy -- ah, well," he gave an apologetic smile, setting the globe down precisely back where he found it before sitting in a tiny old chair that had been rescued from a charity resale shop a couple years ago. He spread out his hands and rested his chin in them, leaning forward with a curious frown. "Douglas is tired. Too tired for his own good and that worries me. I've known the guy for the past four centuries and the point he has reached makes me and my coworkers wonder if the guy is ready to check out for good. So to speak."

Alice gripped her robe tight together at the neck, wondering where this was leading. Unfortunately, she had a clue and it seemed like the joke wasn't over yet or it just may be the real thing. She didn't know which one she dreaded more.

Deimon lifted his gaze to her, piercing and serious for the first time since he appeared.

"You, my dear girl, seem to be a wild card I can't figure out. You somehow broke the cycle and I can't figure out how or why it was you, a mortal of all things," his gaze studied her intently, slowly taking her in from head to toe, pausing at her belly before continuing his search. He leaned back in his chair, suddenly relaxed and sighed wryly, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Did you know that vampire women are becoming more and more infertile these days?"he drawled.

"What?" she choked out. He was in this too! It had to be a joke. It had to be to bring up that one sore subject.

"Yeah, it's great for one night stands when you don't want a call nine months later, but lately, it's been a drag for the population count overall. Doesn't help there's less and less vampire women in the first place and the men, well, they're searching elsewhere and so far, it's been no dice. Even the weres are starting to have problems."

Alice stared.

"Weres?"

He cracked open an eye and cast an annoyed glance.

"Weres. You know the humans that turn into animals, slaves to the moon? Yatta yatta? Sheesh, don't they teach you mortals anything in those schools of yours?"

"I know what weres are," she replied hotly. "It's just that we're told after what they are that they don't exist."

"And you believed them? Mortals could never be creative enough to imagine the Otherworld creatures we've got!"

She glared. "Are you done insulting me yet? Because so far, all I've seen is a prank that is getting old fast. I get it that he doesn't want to see me anymore and I'm getting over it. Having you here however-"

"Doesn't want to see you? Dear God, are you mad?"

She paused. "What?"

He gave a bewildered look. "The guy would give up the sweetest, more delectable blood in order to have you again. Believe me, once you have virgin A negative, you don't go back."

She nervously rubbed at her stomach and his eyes instantly caught it.

"Ah ha. You're worried that's all he's interested in you for, eh?"

"Your statement about infertile women doesn't help his cause any," she snapped.

He smiled. "No, probably not. I won't retract it though, because at the end of the day, I don't know what's going on in Douglas's mind anymore since you arrived in his life. The guy is acting differently, sometimes for the better and most of the time for the worst and frankly, none of us can take his mood swings anymore."

"While this sob story is all fine and dandy, I'm afraid I can't help you."

Deimon smiled cheerily. "Ah, my dear milady. I didn't ask for your permission."

She frowned and clenched her fists.

"Whatever you're thinking, I'm not going to help. It's over the moment he started going on about impregnating me and keeping me around like a broad mare. I am not going to submit to some crazy man, or group," she corrected, eyeing him. "and their antics. Go elsewhere if you want someone to play along with your scheme but I have work tomorrow and laundry to finish up."

He tilted his head to the side and smiled again.

"At the risk of repeating myself, I didn't give you a choice. But excellent speech. I'll be sure to tell the feminist groups or whatever you fought the good fight, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter whether you're fighting a male or female crazy. You're coming with me because I can't stand one more mood swing, I want to confirm your pregnancy and frankly," he gave an envious smile that appeared almost broken and sad. "I want to see at least one person experience true love."

She frowned and suddenly, there was only darkness.

***

Alice slowly blinked open her eyes, staring at the wall. The wall reminded her of the walls she saw on those Law and Order shows where they would hold the suspect. It was an ugly green paint, peeling off the plaster walls designed to look like brick. There weren't any windows, only two lamps overhead with only one of them working, the other flickering on and off. There wasn't the mirror that the main characters could hide behind and strategize about how to bring down the bad guy in this room. It was simply a damp, dark room that had one other occupant besides herself.

She automatically hated her on sight.

The women who sat on the opposite side of the room was everything Alice wished she was, yet couldn't, wouldn't change into. Her light brown hair was expertly streaked with champagne highlights, her skin was tan and glowing with health and expensive bronzers and her eyes were too blue to be real. In other words, this woman, who gladly displayed her oversized breasts in a tiny corset, was everything Alice could have done to become a wild sex kitten.

God, suddenly she glad she didn't take that route.

The sex kitten looked up from her compact after applying a surprisingly tasteful pink nude to her lips and made a noise of surprise.

"Ah, you woke up? So sad, you woke up after me. He certainly won't like that."

Alice groaned and dragged a hand through her hair, not at all caring if the filth of the room combined with her sweaty hands messed up her hair. It didn't matter anyway - every time she took a shower without drying her hair with a hair dryer, it ended up twisted in all sorts of angles. Judging by the pitying look on the sex kitten's face, her hair had managed to revolt quite nicely today.

"He?"

She smiled, her lips sparkling with her lipstick. Once you got used to the outrageous color of her eyes, it was a lot easier to get used to her face. "Yes. He. He's currently seeking a mate I suppose," she shrugged. "and a couple of his advisors were sent off looking for possible mates. One of 'em chose you for some reason or other. There were two other girls in here that left while you were passed out," she glanced back at the door casually. "But they came back, collected their things and left, looking all huffy and mad. Quite the dishonor, but I suppose a lot of women have been getting that today and for a good while, so it's not that unusual."

What the hell had this girl been smoking and where could she get some? Alice stared at her blankly and the sex kitten looked back at her with a cool smile.

"I'm Brandy."

"Alice. Where's Whiskey?"

Her smile disappeared. "Cute."

She continued to stare. "You never answered my question."

Brandy opened her compact and checked her teeth, licking them and smearing a finger across the top. "I didn't?"

"No. You didn't."

"Oh. Well, what was it again?"

Had all the silicone leaked into her head, Alice wondered.

"Who's he?"

"The king."

"King? There's no monarchy in America."

Brandy laughed. "Of course not. Not in the normal world. But when you're raised in the Otherworld like I was, you know all the royalty of the Others, especially the single ones," she emphasized with an arch of her brow and a wicked smile that looked altogether too predatory for Alice's tastes. "The werewolf kings, the ghoul masters, vampire kings," she listed them off on a polished finger after another, looking up as she recited off each one before smiling slowly. "However, this particular vampire king is in need a mate, quite soon in fact, and my family was graciously asked for the opportunity to offer myself to him to be his queen."

Alice frowned, holding her aching forehead. The headache didn't even need to be oncoming, just a couple words from this sex kitten and bam - it was there. Werewolf kings? Mates? Was she always in this perpetual state of insanity and drugs? Deimon had mentioned Weres, but at the time, she didn't think he was serious. This whole thing was suddenly becoming a lot more complicated and real.

She began to sit up, hoping to find somewhere to piss when the door slammed open and a robed man can storming in, grabbing her by the forearm and dragging her through.

"Good luck! Well, not really, but you know what I mean!" Brandy shouted after her with a wave.

"Bitch," Alice spat. She could have sworn she heard the robed man chuckle ahead of her as he continued to move faster than she could keep up.

"All of them are like that. One whisper of royalty and immortality and they're all bitches in heat." Seems her kidnapper was here to rescue her now, at least from acrylic claws and cheap perfume.