Author's Note: I just wanted to say, in case it comes up, I know that some pictures of the characters I put up aren't actually the actors that I listed as casted to those characters. Usually it's just because I can't find the name of the model who is in the picture- so I looked up someone better known who I think would portray what I view the characters to be like. Not that I expect you as readers to think of the characters the same way (you can imagine them however you like)! Anyway, on to the story...

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“Can we keep her as a pet, Xander?” Aveline asked, pouting at Xander in an almost childlike manner. The way they molded against each other sitting on the bed while she pleaded into his eyes appeared automatic, and for some reason it looked as natural as being born that way. The sight seemed very intimate to me, which didn’t help my red cheeks that refused to let up since the proposition of a threesome had come up, but at the same time I was pretty much enthralled by the sudden passion I could see between the two of them.

On the other hand, I wasn’t thrilled at being referred to as a pet.

“Temporarily,” Xander responded, running his fingers through the strands of her sable brown hair, “But try not to get too attached, precious. Her fate isn’t set as of yet and I wasn’t given a timeline.” The response appeared to be enough because Aveline smiled and leaned into him, delivering a very sweet kiss that held an amazing amount of passion at the same time. She then clapped her hands together and focused on me.

“It’s like having a baby tiger that could end up potentially ripping everyone’s throat out, I’m so excited,” Aveline exclaimed happily. I really wouldn’t describe myself as a tiger… a baby gopher maybe, but a tiger not so much. “Are you hungry, Elysia? You’ll need some clothes. Oh, what am I thinking? Look at you. Let’s take a bath.”

I glanced down at my body to see dried blood along my legs and arms. I wondered at my wrists which were coated in a layer of dried blood, but again I noticed that there was no pain to be felt beyond the irritation of needing to use the bathroom. I wondered if under the dried blood there were bruises and wounds that were numb due to the blood I drank from Xander. Actually, I wondered a lot of things, such as where I was… what exactly these creatures were… why I was here… It was pointless to even think over the questions buzzing through my mind because I knew I was too scared to ask any of them.

“Come along, little tiger,” Aveline held out her hand reproachfully. I looked from her to Xander. Again I had to tell myself that I needed people on my side at this point, but I wasn’t sure if it was worth it considering I was being referred to as a pet that they wouldn’t get too attached to. I kicked myself mentally and reached out to grab her hand timidly.

The bedroom was connected to an inside hallway which held a closet full of bathrobes and towels, and the hallway was connected to the bathroom. It was a rather large bathroom, with a theme of white and black marble. The bathtub was like a hot tub, with a large showerhead that I imagined would feel like standing under a waterfall. Aveline began drawing a bath herself before turning to tug on my clothes. I jerked back and blushed deeply.

“Come now, we ladies have seen it all,” She winked charmingly. I hesitated, not really excited to be naked in front of a stranger willingly. But there was something warm and relaxing about Aveline. I guess I could feel grateful that Xander didn’t come to help me undress as well.

I lifted my arms so that she could lift Xander’s shirt from off of me and then crossed my arms over my breasts by reflex. Then I let her lower the pair of comfortable shorts I had been wearing just before I’d been abducted. I don’t know why I thought that would be the end of my mortification, but I was proved wrong when she began to remove her own clothing. I felt at this point my entire body was red from dried blood and blushing.

When she was fully naked, I couldn’t help but to look at her gorgeous body which made me look pitiful in comparison. I was not wrong when I thought she’d be gracefully tall with a model body while standing. And she obviously wasn’t as self-conscious of her body as me because she walked about as though she were fully clothed.

“Into the water you go, you’re a mess,” Aveline ordered, shooing me into the tub teasingly. I stepped into the water, which was pleasantly hot against my skin, and lowered myself until I sighed with relief. Not surprisingly, Aveline moved into the bath behind me, bringing with her a large sponge and a brush. “Lean back.” I held my breath and trusted her, allowing her to start washing out my hair.

It was a quiet bath at first, the only sound being water moving about to rinse the soap and blood from my body. I kept expecting to feel pain any moment, but after a while I only began to feel relaxed. Having someone do the bathing for you was actually quite pleasant. I noticed Aveline spent a lot of time running the soapy sponge and water over the mark across my back more than where I knew the wounds to be. I really didn’t understand what their obsession was with it.

“Tell me about yourself, little tiger,” Aveline said quietly as she bathed me, “What were you doing before you were brought here?” Something about the way she asked the question seemed more serious than curious. Regardless, I felt more relaxed than ever since being abducted so I felt I could talk to this one person at least.

“I was a waitress at a small diner,” I responded in a small voice. There was a feeling inside me that feared she wouldn’t believe me. Nobody here believed me. “Well… not anymore. I was fired today. Or… yesterday. I don’t know how long I’ve been here…”

But Aveline giggled pleasantly. “Fired! What did you do? Did you spit in someone’s food?”

“No!” I was appalled by the idea, though it had occurred to me to do before. But never would I actually do that. “That’s disgusting.” I gave a small laugh at the thought. “I was late. I… sleepwalk… or well… it’s basically sleepwalking.” Aveline was now brushing out my hair gently with amazing skill. With the amount of people tugging, twisting, and matting my hair I was surprised she was making progress at all.

“Go on,” She said, only now she did sound curious rather than serious.

I hesitated. “It’s nothing, I just wake up in strange places and end up late to work. My boss fired me finally and before that it was the same thing. Waitress, cashier, call center telemarketer… I really can’t keep a job.” I gave a weak laugh. I felt like she wanted a different answer to her question that mine didn’t satisfy. “I live with a roommate. My mother-“

Aveline suddenly stopped what she was doing and tightened her grip on my hair almost by reflex. “I don’t want to know about your family,” She stated stiffly, “As far as you’re concerned, I’m the only family you’ve ever had, Elysia. Do you understand?”

My heart was throbbing in my chest rapidly. “Yes,” I answered quietly. It was enough for her. She went back to brushing through my hair as though nothing had happened. It was a strong reminder, though, that she was one of them and that I was not safe no matter how safe they appeared to be. The bath continued in silence for a while longer.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” Aveline said to me, brushing her fingers through my now untangled hair carefully. “The Monet family has done a lot to our kind and more specifically to our coterie. Being a Monet is unforgiveable.”

I had a sick feeling in my chest that had nothing to do with nausea but more to do with anxiety. I tensed as Aveline moved her arms around my shoulders to cross in front of me in a hug. Her lips moved just over my ear and she whispered, “But you, little tiger, you I could forgive.”

When the bath ended, Aveline thoroughly dried me off as though I were a hopeless child unable to do so myself. Then she disappeared for a moment and when she returned she was fully clothed holding a measuring tape. She raised my arms up and began to run the tape along my body, measuring for what I assumed was going to be my future clothes. I couldn’t complain too much, being that future clothes meant I actually had a future. But at the same time I really didn’t want to get comfortable here.

“What’s a coterie?” I bravely asked Aveline as she focused on the measurements.

“Oh, it’s just a fancy word for pack, kind of like a gang or a clique. We all are connected on a spiritual level, like through a bond. Most of us are made from the same bloodline, whether from the Master of the coterie himself or from those they’ve made and so on,” Aveline explained with a sense of chirpiness. I felt like the idea of her coterie made her feel happy and proud, and so I thought perhaps it was really a fancy word for family. “There are several coteries about the country, all with their own territory. The larger and wealthier the coterie, the more territory you’re allowed. It’s all so we don’t spend so much time fighting between our kind.”

“What keeps you from fighting anyway? The Masters?” I asked curiously.

“The Royals, actually,” She responded easily, but there was a sudden sadness in her tone, “The Royals are bloodlines of our kind that can reproduce their own line without turning others. It’s the purest form of our blood. There’s only a handful left now, but before there were several hundreds. Our ruling bloodline was that of Raene, who were the oldest and most loved.”

“What happened to them?” I whispered. Aveline appeared in front of me, narrowing her eyes and reaching out to lightly touch my chin.

“The same thing that happened to all the others. They were destroyed,” She told me, “Now the royals include the ruling bloodline Roslind, and the follow-up royals Vassily and Thron. None of which even compared to the Raene, but we must do what we must do.” She sighed dramatically. Then she pulled a bathrobe over me and led me back into the bedroom where Xander was waiting. He automatically brightened at the sight of Aveline. Really, it was as if she were his sun; very cliché. But she smiled and went to him for another one of their very intimate kisses.

I rolled my eyes and looked into a full body mirror that was to the side of the room. It was then that I noticed that my wrists, now clear of all blood, were completely healed. My cheek had not a scratch on it. I quickly turned, lowering my bathrobe and pulling my hair aside to look at my back. The only thing there was the pale lines of my birth mark and nothing else. I was completely floored. It wasn’t numb after all, my wounds were just no longer there.

I pulled my robe back up and turned to Xander and Aveline. They were discussing having someone get me clothes with the measurements Aveline had gathered. Normally, I’d been too afraid to confront them on what exactly they were in nature, what ‘kind’ it is that they kept referring to. But the demonic eyes, fangs, incredible strength and speed, and the obvious healing factor of their blood didn’t give me too much leeway on guessing what they were. Anyone who’d ever watched horror movies could guess they were vampire. But I needed to hear it for myself.

“What are you?” I asked before losing my courage and shifting my eyes to the ground. “I thought you were demons at first… the black eyes and sharp teeth. It’s… it was scary and I-I thought maybe you’d come from Hell, but… demons can’t h-heal people, can they?” They both looked at me with mixed expressions, Xander’s holding what looked like a small frown and Aveline’s holding both wonder and amusement. I didn’t think this whole situation was amusing. It was confusing. And terrifying. It was like the universe was growing bigger and bigger while I wasn’t growing at all, and in comparison I was deflating from a skyscraper to a pea-sized ant. And the whole time it felt like the only outcome had to probably be my death. How does this even happen to someone like me?

“She really is a babe,” Aveline said to Xander in a hushed voice, “A harmless Monet… it’s really the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. Does Jacobi know this?”

“I think he suspects,” Xander replied, appearing to be a bit uneasy. “But I don’t think it’ll change things. If anything, it probably makes things easier… less dangerous.”

“Yes, he won’t forgive what happened to Adelaide,” Aveline clicked her tongue in disappointment.

“What things will be easier?” I asked, feeling tears begin to threaten my eyes. “I don’t want to die. I-I didn’t do anything, please. I don’t know who Adelaide is and… and I didn’t kill that girl’s mate, I swear it. I-“

Aveline was suddenly in front of me, pushing her fingers over my lips lightly. “Shhhh, little tiger, there’s no point worrying yourself about things that can’t be helped,” she cooed, “No more questions, my darling, understand?”

I choked down the tears, some slipping through my lids but not wanting to anger them and bring about my death faster than it was already coming. I nodded slowly for Aveline and she released her fingers from my lips before smiling charmingly.

“Are you hungry? I bet you haven’t eaten a bite since you’ve been here,” She asked brightly.

“Oh, that won’t do, not when we have a collection of the best cooks in our kitchen,” Xander backed her up, obviously trying to just cheer me up. I only nodded again, afraid if I said anything I’d burst into tears and fall to the floor and throw the biggest fit in the world.

“Come, then, we’ll get you some food and by the time we’re back the help will have fetched you some clothes. You’ll feel right at home,” Aveline exclaimed, pulling me towards the door of the bedroom. I was highly doubtful of that last statement, but behind my anxiety, depression, and fear I did feel the rumblings of hunger. So I let her lead me away.