Pussy Cat Pussy Cat - 16. Chapter 16

What am I so scared? Suddenly my heart it beating madly. He is infecting me with his wildness.

“What...?”

“Just come,” Rover roars and disappears. Sar is looking like I feel... shocked.

“We’d better go.” I leap out of bed and start for the door.

“I think we should put some clothes on.”

Sar is as cool as ever and he takes his time to put on his trousers and lace up his shoes. I don’t even bother with shoes. My fingers are shaking so much I can barely fasten my jeans.

“What do you think has happened?”

“We’ll find out when we get there but I don’t think it needs a lot of thought to work it out.”

“Felix.” Just saying his name is enough. We both have the same pictures in our heads.

Rover is pacing outside the door of his room. He looks as if he wants to tear something apart with his bear hands. “He won’t let me in.”

“Who won’t? What’s going on?”

“Felix is sick and Fougue won’t let me in. He says I’m making things worse but all I want is to know what’s going on; to be with him and know what’s happening.”

“I suppose that if Fougue knew he would tell you,” Sar says smoothly, “and if you get out of the way then I can find out why he wants me and hopefully get this sorted. I’ll send Glory out as soon as we know what’s happening.”

“Why does Glory get to go in?”

“Because Glory isn’t totally freaking out. Try to calm down.”

“Calm down? Would you be calm if it was Glory?”

I know that I would be frantic if it was Sar, I can’t even begin to imagine what I would feel; I don’t want to. From the look on Sar’s face I think he is thinking the same thing.

“Rover... What happened?”

“He... Glory, he just...”

“We don’t have time, Glory. You can talk to Rover later.”

Oh, the look on his face. I can’t take my eyes off his face. He’s in hell. What happened?”

It all looks normal enough to me. Felix is sitting up in bed and Fougue is fussing around; as he always does. He turns quickly when he hears the door.

“What’s that fool wolf gone and done now? There was no need to disturb you. This is why I told him to stay outside. He’s falling over his own feet and there really isn’t any need to be. If he would just calm down… he was getting Felix worked up and upset.”

Felix is sitting up... basically... but he’s not awake; at least his eyes are closed and he looks terrible. The slashes across his chest are covered with the smelly green ointment that Fougue likes and they’re not bleeding any more but they look puffy and sore.

“Felix?”

He looks as if he’s going to open his eyes but I don’t think he can. Hell, he really is sick. His face looks flushed and feels hot.

“He’s got a fever.”

“I had worked that out for myself, Glory.”

“I thought he was okay? You said to Rover that all he needs is sleep.”

“He lost a lot of blood, Glory. He’s strong and stubborn and no one realised how weak he was. I should have known when he passed out but I didn’t; I had other things to think about. By the time Rover came roaring into my room he’d gone down fast. Weres heal quickly but the blood loss made him too weak. His body couldn’t heal fast enough.”

“But he’s going to be alright?”

“I think so. I’ve given him a sedative to help him rest and give his body a chance to heal. He’s weak but he’s getting stronger. The fever’s a worry but on balance I think it would be better to let it run its course, it will help fight the infection.”

“But he’ll be alright.”

“Glory, I can’t tell you that: no one can tell you that. It will be as it will be. I’ve done what I can and the rest is up to him. He’s sick but not that sick; not at the moment. There’s no reason to believe that things will go down again although the fact that did once is of concern. At the moment that’s all I can say.”

It’s hard to look at him; hard not to bite off his head. Of course I don’t because there is that stupid little voice in the back of my head telling me that it would be totally unreasonable. Who gives a shit about reasonably when my friend is so sick… and Rover. Oh God, Rover.

“Are you finished?”

“For now.”

“Can I let Rover in now?”

Sometimes it seems as if the only facial expression Fougue possesses is a frown, but now he smiles and it changes his face.

“That impossible canine.” He shakes his head. “Go open the door for him.”

All I see is a blur of blue denim and suddenly I’m sitting on my arse on the floor. “Hey!”

Rover skids to a halt and looks over his shoulder. “Sorry, Glory,” he says looking sheepish. With a desperate glance at Felix, he turns and holds his hand out to me.

“Stupid canine,” I say with a smile as he yanks me to my feet. “Aww. You almost tore my arm off.”

“Sorry, Glory,” he says again and pats me, then he forgets me.

It feels kind of weird; as if we’re intruding. He’s lost in him. He’s so big and eager and sincere and Felix’s hand looks so small in his. What the hell am I thinking? Felix isn’t small. Nothing about Felix is small. He’s… well, he’s smaller than Rover, but then everyone is smaller than Rover.

“Why is he so still? Why…?”

“He’s asleep, Rover; that’s all. I’ve given him a potion so that he will sleep until tomorrow. I’ll tell you the same as I did before: he needs rest. Perhaps this time you will listen to me.”

“I…”

“I know, Rover.” Fougue puts his hand on Rover’s shoulder affectionately. Rover looks as shocked as I am. “Keep him warm and comfortable. Call me if the fever hasn’t broken by the morning. Try not to worry.”

“But…”

“It will be alright, Rover.” Rover nods and watches like a lost little boy as Fougue packs up his ever present bag. “I’m leaving you some of the potion. Give him a few drops if he gets restless or starts to wake before the fever breaks. Once he’s over the fever you can let him wake up and he’ll be fine.”

“And if the fever doesn’t break?”

“Then we’ll deal with that when it happens.”

“But…”

“Try not to worry,” Fougue repeats and squeezes Rover’s shoulder again.

It’s got very quiet since Fougue left. It’s only been a few minutes but already it’s stretching into hours, or at least that’s how it feels. Rover is sitting on the bed, stroking Felix, anywhere he can touch. I can’t watch them. I’m not envious anymore, not really. How can I be? But I do feel extremely uncomfortable.

“Maybe we should go.”

“No.” Rover scares the hell out of me. “Please… don’t go. I… If I was on my own and something went wrong I couldn’t… I wouldn’t know… Please stay with me.”

“Rover, nothing is going to go wrong. All you have to do is drug him if you need to and wait until morning.”

“Glory, your tact and eloquence never ceases to amaze me.” What is he talking about? Oh. Well…

“Yeah, you have a point. Sorry Rover; what I meant was…”

“I don’t need the fancy stuff, Glory. I live in the real world and like to get it straight.” That’s what I love about Rover, he’s so uncomplicated. “Please don’t leave me.”

Oh Gods; when he looks at me with those puppy dog eyes, what can I do? I look up at Sar and he smiles with a slight shrug. Great. Thanks Sar, it’s all up to me again.

“Right. Well, I’m not sitting in a chair all night. Go get one of the blow up beds and some pillows.”

“As you please, Master,” Sar teases with a bow, then disappears.

“Thank you, Glory. I know I’m being silly but… but when he… I just got scared. You know I’m not the brightest and I get flustered and keep putting my foot in things… but I love him. I haven’t got used to it yet: it was just so crazy. I don’t know what’s hit me.”

“I know that feeling, although with me it was me who hit him.”

Rover looks confused for a moment and then grins. “It’s a hell of a weird world.”

“Sure is.”

“He’s beautiful isn’t he.” He turns away from me and I’ve got this feeling that I have pretty much ceased to exist for him, at least for a while.

“Yeah… yeah he is. So are you. You’re a beautiful couple.”

Without taking his eyes off Felix, Rover smiles. “So are you and Sar.”

“Yeah. I know.” I think that if I smile any harder my face will break. “We’re all beautiful.”

***

It’s dark. I have no idea what time it is. I’m really tired because we’ve been up half the night. Felix has been really restless and every time he so much as moves Rover wakes me up in a panic… well that’s how it feels.

I don’t know what woke me this time. Everything sounds… Oh.

Felix’s anguished cry has me sitting bolt upright and the light comes on.

“Hello, Glory.”

“Valentine!”

Sar is on his feet but he doesn’t move because Felix cries out again as the vampire holding him pulls his head back further and presses the knife against his neck hard enough to draw blood. At the same time he rakes his nails slowly across his chest, tearing off the dressings and leaving a bloody train, cutting across the healing wounds.

Rover roars but he doesn’t have a chance because another vampire has him in a strangle hold. Weres are strong, especially Rover, especially when their bond mate is being threatened… but the vampire is stronger; a lot stronger I suspect.

“You’ve led us a merry dance, Glory. When you weren’t in your room we had to go looking for you and that is very unfortunate for some of the other members of your household.”

“What have you done?”

“Only what you made me do.”

“I didn’t make you do anything.”

“Oh yes you did, Glory. You forced me into a corner. Do have any idea what they did to me; what they took away from me… and all because of you,” he is snarling like an animal. His usual poise is gone and he looks dirty and wild. I’m scared shitless. He’s not going to hold anything back this time. When I look into his eyes I see death.

“It wasn’t because of Glory, Valentine: you’ve had more chances than you deserve and you are well aware of it.”

“Shut up,” Valentine spits at Sar. “You… you are just as bad. You lord it over everyone expecting them to grovel in the dust at your feet. You think you’re better than everyone just because you have the Council as your lapdogs. You’re a joke, a parody of a vampire. You have more power than anyone in our world and what do you do with it? You squander it in this place, on people like… this.” He flicks his head towards Rover and Felix and this time Felix screams.

“Leave him alone, you bastard. He hasn’t done anything to you.”

“Really?” Valentine pulls his shirt down off his shoulder. There is a livid scar slashing across his breastbone. “Your little tiger is going to get his claws cut. If I had anything to do with it I’d slit his throat here and now, but my friends see only the financial possibilities of having a tiger in our hands. I have to admit that he is very pretty and likely to put up a good show. I thought that maybe we could have some fun with him before we sell him on; to even up old scores, so to speak.”

“What… what do you mean?” I feel sick. I’m so scared I don’t know what do. I’m not scared for me anymore. I know that Sar will protect me. I’m scared for Felix.

Rover roars again, struggling against the rock hard arms. The vampire flashes me an evil look before he bends his head. Rover screams as the vampire bit into him and Sar moves faster than I have ever seen. There just seems to be a blur of movement and suddenly the vampire flies across the room and Rover slumps to the floor.

Before anything else can happy I am jerked backwards. I am totally disoriented and have no idea what happened. Everything is topsy turvy and it’s hard to breathe. What happened? Aah, something hurts, something. Shit.

“Let him go, Valentine.” Sar’s voice is absolutely calm. I have never heard it any different… except when I make him man or…

“Aaagh.” The vice is tightening on my throat and there are black spots dancing in front of my eyes. Hell; it’s Valentine; he’s choking me. There’s something sticking in my side too, something sharp and cold. Ah fuck; ah FUCK. He’s pushing the knife in. It’s really, really slow but ah God it hurts. Even without the arm across my throat I feel faint.

“Now why would I want to do that? You’ve demonstrated your skill, Sar and I am going to demonstrate mine. Do you really think that I would give you the slightest opportunity to do to me what you did to Marcus? You dare not lay a finger on me as long as I have a knife in your lover’s side. How much more do you think I can push it in before it hits something deadly.

“Aah.” I can’t help it. The pain is terrible. I have never felt anything like it before. Oh God it hurts, it hurts. But I mustn’t scream again: I mustn’t. It will distract Sar and he’s the only one who can save us now. Felix has gone silent and limp in the arms of his captor. He bleeding and clearly unconscious; not that he would have been able to help anyway, he’s too weak. Rover’s out of it too. I hope that Sar got to him in time. He must have. That vampire didn’t have time to do any real harm… did he? It’s just the venom that they use to subdue their victims while they feed… isn’t it?

“Let him go and I might let you live.”

Valentine’s laugh sounds desperate. “Live? Do you call this a life? I was in a dungeon, Sar. Oh, they called it ‘house arrest’ and it was comfortable and well furnished; I got fed and was even allowed to see my friends… but it was still a dungeon. They were going to send me away, did you know that? They were going to send me to Europe to ‘study’ with the Old Ones. Study! Everyone knows what that means. They were going to ‘teach’ me to be a good boy and we all know what their teaching methods are like. What kind of life would that have been?

“And when I got free… living on the run, sleeping in ditches, feeding on animals… what kind of life was THAT. I have no life out there: you saw to that. You took my life away and now I am going to take away yours. Oh, don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you. I’m not even going to kill your pretty toy… but I am going to take him away from you: the tiger too. I am going to take them away and I am going to abuse them in every way you can imagine. You will know that they suffering, every hour of the day and you will know that it was your fault.”

“Nothing that happened to you was my fault, Valentine. No one made you act as you did. Even after you hurt Glory I was still prepared to give you a chance but… what you did to them, to both of them when you sold them to the laboratory… that was unforgivable. What happened to you was not decided by me but by the Council and your own family.”

“Oh spare me. Who is going to say no to the great Sartorian Marchant? You own the Council; you own every vampire family in the confederation: and you think you own the world. They’re falling over themselves to be in favour with you and they would sell their own sons into slavery to keep in your good books… mine did.”

“It isn’t like that and you know it. The Council is owned by no one and what your family chose to do with you was up to them. I had no influence on that.”

“Oh right. Of course. You’re the nice one aren’t you; the good one who always trying to ‘help’. You spend your time doing charity work in places like this. You surround yourself with freaks and scum and pretend that you care about what happens to them. No vampire cares about a damphir. No one. You do it all for power. That’s all you care about. The Council is full of your bullshit. They’re all talking about what a wonderful person you are; what good works you do; how you are an example of everything a vampire should be. But you’re NOT.

“Vampires are killers; pure and simple. They are hunters and killers and you’ve put shackles on us all. You’ve domesticated us like your lap dog there, put collars around our throats and you think you hold all the leashes. Well, here’s some news for you… vampires can’t be tamed; at least not those with a shred of self-respect.”

“Vampires with any kind of self-respect,” Sar says, still in that calm voice, although now, I think there is something hard in it. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him quite so angry, so cold. I wouldn’t want to be Valentine right now. I think he truly believes that he is going to get out of this room alive. “Don’t deal with circuses. They don’t exploit the helpless and they don’t betray their own kind.”

“Betray my own kind? Who? Who did I betray? This… thing?”

“A…ah…” Fuck, Glory, you weren’t going to scream… frigging weakling. Okay, it’s wasn’t exactly a scream, just a little whimper really, but it might as well have been. Ah fuck the knife hurts. My whole side is burning like fire. I don’t think it’s gone in very far but if he keeps pushing. There’s something running down my leg… my blood. It feels…

“Let him go, Valentine, and I might allow you walk out of here alive.”

“Let him go? You might allow? You don’t understand do you? I am most certainly going to walk out of here alive and you are going to ‘allow’ me to do it because if you don’t you might get to me but not before this little freak falls at your feet and bleeds out all over the carpet. Isn’t he bleeding enough for you already? I can fix that.”

“Aaaaagh.” FUCK! No way of keeping that one in. Oh god I’m so weak. Stop it, Glory, stop letting those sounds out. Stop… Oh fuck, oh fuck. He twisted it. He twisted it and it hurt so much. I didn’t think anything could hurt that much. “Please…”

“Oh dear. I think the pretty little toy is getting broken. Are you hurting, Glory? Are you scared? You’re not going to escape this time: because this time I am not going to trust anyone else to take care of things… I’m going to do it myself: and I am going to enjoy every minute of it.”

Oh no, no… this isn’t right. This isn’t… No. He sucks my ear into his mouth and runs his tongue up and down it. I’m so fucking weak I can’t stop… I can’t… Oh please Cat, please go down, please don’t… Oh… oh… ah… R…right, if Cat won’t get out of the way I’m going to have to… have to…

I jerk my head away and bite his arm… hard. I don’t know what I was hoping for but it just seems the right thing to do. Valentine roars and I tense for the bite of the knife. It comes but now I’m flying. Am I dead? Has he killed me? I shouldn’t be flying. What’s that sound? It’s like a roar and a scream and… and…

Bang!!