The 13th Witch
by Beyond Blonde
She had always been bound to him by a thread of love that would not be broken. When he had ripped her heart out in that other time and place he had consumed nearly all of it. As she laying sleeping now in his cold embrace she dreamed of that other time and place. She saw one small piece of her heart fall from his lips. She saw him consuming the rest. Watched in her dream as he tore off her head then strode from the altar her body lay upon and tossed the head into the ocean. She saw him leaving. Another had also witnessed his bloody act of murder though. A young woman with a sickly baby cradled in her arms. For three nights the woman had dreamed of coming to this altar. She had seen the murder of the High Priestess each time. And in her dream she had seen herself going to the altar and picking up the small piece of the High Priestess' heart and then feeding it to her child. So the woman had followed her dream. And as Kassie watched now in her dream, she saw the woman placing that small piece of her heart into the mouth of the child. The baby's heart had stopped beating for a moment when her soul had mingled with the child's. When that heart had started beating once more, a new creature had been reborn. That creature would continue to be reborn again and again throughout many reincarnations. It would suffer agony and betrayal in many forms throughout its numerous lifetimes. And would forever dream of and love the one who had first betrayed her.
She stirred slightly in Drake's arms, then as she felt him wrap his cold embrace around her more tightly, and heard his soft seductive voice soothing her, she relaxed and slumbered more peacefully. The vampyre whose arms she lay nestled in knew that his love came to him with many nightmares and inner demons. Though she had suffered much at the hands of others in her many lifetimes, he knew he was the one ultimately responsible for those nightmares and inner demons. Kassie had argued that point many times with him. She held herself at least half to blame for all that happened because she had broken the laws of Magick and bestowed the gift of immortality upon him when he had not been worthy of gift of love she had given him. He considered the punishment dished out to her for that act of love excessive.
When she awoke a couple of hours later Drake was stroking her hair gently and smiling down at her as he told her he loved her. She smiled back as she reached up and softly touched his cheek. He reached over and placed his hand on hers, turned his head and kissed her palm, then leaned over and softly kissed her lips, caressing the side of her face while they kissed. As they kissed the soft seductive voice in her mind whispered tender words of love. As had become their habit, they did not rise immediately, but spent some time talking and cuddling with each other first. Because neither of them needed a lot of sleep they usually woke a few hours before sunset. Once they were up Kassie would dress and head to the barn for an afternoon ride. While she rode, Drake would be on the computer or the phone taking care of business matters. When she came back from riding she would spend some time working on her writing and answering email. They often sat together on the couch in the library, each one busily keyboarding away on their laptops. Kassie lost in her world of words and Drake lost in whatever computer program he was currently working on. He had numerous computers and laptops here at the castle he now called home. He worked on both Apple and Windows run computers. Kassie had discovered he had developed programs for both under various alias. A few had been done under company names and had considerably increased his already vast fortune. Others were cracks to major programs, including some of his own, that he happily distrubuted for free via the warez sites.
Shortly before the evening tour group was due to arrive, they would make mad passionate love. Later, while Drake greeted then dined on the tour group, Kassie would bath then eat her dinner. Occasionally she would go with Drake to greet the tour group, and after he had dined on them she would eat her dinner with them. The Lord of the Manor also sat and talked with his guests on these nights. Though as his guests often remarked, he never ate with them. He would however offer a toast before dinner and sometimes sip from a golden goblet as he chatted with his dinner guests. Kassie and Drake were an articulate host and hostess who often spellbound their dinner guests with amazing anecdotes and entertaining stories. She was discovering that some of the tour groups contained at least one avid reader of hers. Drake had even joked with her about now being an added attraction to his tourist attraction. After the first time she had been recognized she discussed using her new shapeshifting abilities to alter her appearance when dinning with the dinner guests. Drake had quickly dismissed that idea and told her as long as she remained mostly mortal and basically herself to the human world, then her bunch may as well get used to her being with him, just as his bunch was going to have to get used him being with her. Kassie had realized from the look on his handsome face the tone of his voice he was not going to tolerate any arguments concerning this matter. Wise woman that she was, she understood why he felt as he did concerning that matter.
Though they were supposedly keeping a low profile, the truth was both their worlds were buzzing with the news of each other. They had gone to several corners of Drake's vast kingdom in the past three weeks and the news of her had spread rapidly throughout that dark kingdom. Drake had made no bones concerning his feelings towards her when they had made those appearances. When she had commented on his openess concerning those feelings he had simply smiled that cold elegantly evil smile of his and said, "What are my bloodthirtsty children going to do, tell me I'm senile and call me a pussy for saying I love you? " The grin turned even more cold and hard as he said, "They know better than to even think that in my presence darling." Because Kassie had seen and sensed the fear he could provoke in his bloodthirsty children should any of them raise his ire, she had simply grinned wryly and replied, "Point taken."
As they lay cuddling in bed Kassie thought about the book signing gig they had attended the night before. It had been their first public appearance together in her world. The news she was playing hostess and apparently now living with the mysterious owner of a certain castle that was also a popular tourist attraction for vampyre lovers, goth people and even historians had spread rapidly along the world wide web that many of her fans surfed and played on. She had signed books for a couple of the fans who had recently dined with them at the castle.
When they had first discussed this book signing gig she told Drake that he would be as much a focus of the cameras that would be there as she would be. Drake had merely grinned down at her, kissed her the tip of her nose and said, "Yes I know my dear. But I'm not afraid of the cameras stealing my soul." Most of the pictures taken of Drake had turned out slightly blurry. But a couple of shots taken at that book signing were in perfect in focus. One was a shot of Drake standing behind Kassie as she sat at the table signing one her books. Drake's handsome head was bent slightly. One pale hand was softly cupping and caressing her shoulder. The look on his face as he gazed down at her clearly showed his love for her. Another shot taken a few seconds later showed Drake looking at the camera lense. The hand that had been softly caressing her shoulder now held it in a gentle, but very proprietary manner. The eyes that had seemed warmed by a touch of love seconds ago, were now as cold and hard as the iceberg that sank the Titanic. Though he had retracted his fangs, the smile on his face was still the one that sent chills down Beezie's spine. When Kassie's publicity agent saw the pictures she would nearly cream in her panties.
Though she fed nightly from her immortal lover now, Kassie had developed no aversion to the sun. She in fact still enjoyed spending an hour or so in the morning or afternoon in one of the lounge chairs on the balconies outside their rooms. When she had found herself still wanting to sit outside in the sun and realized her skin was still tanning normally she had expressed her surprise at this turn of events to Drake. He had merely smiled softly and said, "You were once the daughter of a great Sun God my beloved. I doubt you will ever be a completely nocturnal creature." In a simple white sleeveless sheath dress belted at the waist with a golden chord she had looked more like a Sun Goddess than the Dark Queen that she would soon become. But there was no doubt the pale man dressed in black pants and red silk shirt standing behind her was a Dark Prince indeed. Though Drake had been very charming to her fans at the book signing, one fan had summed them up best when he had remarked see them together was like seeing Cinderella hook up with the Prince of Darkness instead of Prince Charming.
Kassie snuggled deeper into the cold embrace of her immortal lover as he wrapped his arms more tightly around her and covered her face in kisses, softly murmuring words of love as he did. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of his cool kisses upon her face. And tried to quieten the snide sceptical little voice in her head that sometimes replied to his words of love. She knew Drake could hear that snide sceptical little voice as well. She had even found herself softly laughing at times as he replied to that snide little voice. Though you would never make a saint of him, Drake showed the patience of one when it came to that snide little voice in her head that so often replied to his declarations of adoration. When she remarked on how good he was at putting up with a lover who had such a snide sceptical little voice in her head, he simply smiled one of those cold smiles of his then kissed the tip her nose and said, "That snide sceptical little voice is actually a refreshing change of pace from some of the voices I've listened to in the heads of others my dear. It just has doubts of my love for you. At least it isn't encouraging you to serve my head and heart on a silver platter to your current lover." As she looked back into the cobalt blue eyes of the Dark God who held her so tenderly she was filled with many emotions. She knew he more than sensed and deeply understood the emotions in her. She more than felt and deeply understood his emotions for her. A part of her knew he truly loved her. He had shown her that love in a thousand ways both big and small. He had opened himself up to her completely. He put his complete trust in her, and allowed her full access to his heart, mind and soul. But still that cynical little voice in her head continued to remind her of what always happened when she placed her trust in love.
Her recluctance now to join him on the darker side immortality did not just stem from a lack of faith in love though. She knew that she had certain things she must do while she was still mostly mortal. Tasks that she must complete in this lifetime as a mostly mortal witch. When these tasks were completed then she could join him on that darker side immortality. The truth of his love for her lay in the fact that he was willing to allow her whatever time it took to complete these tasks. Her coronation as Queen of the vampyres that would soon take place was his way of telling her and others that her importance to him did not depend upon her joining him on that darker side of immortality. He was allowing her to finish out as much of this lifetime as she chose to. Even permitting her to continue to shine in the small spotlight of notoriety she had created for herself as a writer. She was beginning to realize that the Royal Guard he had assembled for her would help make that possible. She knew that Drake had passed on his ability to withstand daylight to Thaddeus and Shaka so that they could perform their duties as Royal Guardsmen in daylight. She had seen certain members of her Royal Guard mingling with the crowd at the book signing. Beezie had even strolled up to the table with a wide grin on his handsome face and asked her to sign a copy of the book he had just purchased. Thaddeus and Shaka had also come to her table with wide wicked sans fang grins on their faces. As did the one true bitch member of her Royal Guard, Silvana.
Suddenly Drake rolled away from her and said with a grin, "Okay my beloved it is time for your afternoon ride."
Kassie had laughed, rolled on top of him and said, "Not until one last kiss before I go."
Drake had kissed her until until she was breathless then swatted her ass and said, "Now off with you to spend some time Wind Dancer and Precious."
Kassie had smiled as she had gotten up and dressed for her ride. She was glad Drake encouraged, even insisted upon the daily rides. She needed the time spent with Wind Dancer and Precious as much as they needed the time spent with her. Though the four horsemen who accompanied her on her ride that afternoon were a constant reminder of how much her life had changed, and the danger she perpetually lived in now, the rides did give her a way to relieve some of the stress this new life brought with it. Intrigue, jealousy, and deceit were rampant in Drake's dark kingdom. Drake himself could be not be harmed by anything in or out of his dark kingdom. But Kassie could. She had come to realize that if Drake could be said to fear anything, losing her was it. That fear manifested itself in a deadly determination to see to it that no harm came to her. There was no other creature be it mortal or not that was as well protected as she was. Though she could spend solitary time in their rooms upstairs, the moment she descended those stairs without Drake beside her the protective net he had cast around her tightened. There were moments when her free spirited soul rebelled and strained against that net. But she had learned rebellions would be ruthlessly put down by her otherwise adoring and tender immortal lover.
That otherwise adoring and tender immortal lover could also be ruthless when it came to seeing to it she mastered and honed all the powers she could that he passing onto her as quickly as possible. She had now mastered the ability to shape shift into a bat and many other creatures in an instant. She could also heal herself of very life threatening wounds in an instant now as well. Her physical strength had increased greatly as well and Drake insisted that she learn to use that new strength. Though he fiercely protected her, he wanted her a force to be reckoned with. They had spent many hours mastering and honing a variety of the powers he was passing onto her. She knew they would spend many more hours doing that as well. She did her best though to quell her exhausted anger during the more gruelling sessions because she knew it was Drake's desire to see to it she could protect herself that drove him so relentlessly at times.
Kassie understood that she would now be dealing with incredibly powerful forces who meant her nothing but harm. But as a member of The Team she had already dealt with some pretty powerful forces who had meant her harm. And she sometimes resented the overprotective streak that her immortal showed towards her. She kept the anger and resentment she sometimes felt under control though by reminding herself that Drake's sometimes overprotective streak stemmed from his deep rooted fear of losing her. Having finally found her, and discovered in her someone who loved him just for himself and not for the dark gift of immortality and power he could give her, Drake wasn't about to let go of her or allow anything to happen to her. She understood he valued the gift of unconditional love she brought to him far more than any mortal man ever would. That he did value that gift as much as he did was one of the many things that made her love him all the more. She had given the gift of unconditional love to many throughout her various lifetimes. Had even once given it and the dark gift of immortality to him as a High Priestess. In that lifetime he had put more value upon the dark gift of immortality than he had upon the gift of unconditional love she had given him.
The High Priestess who had given him the dark gift of immortality had been destined to be the one to lead a coven of 12 other hybrid offspring of the Gods and Goddesses who still walked the earth occasionally in those ancient times. Drake had caused that plan to go tragically awry though. But the ancient Gods and Goddesses did not take kindly to having anyone throw a monkey wrench in their best laid plans and both of them had been ruthlessly punished for what they had done. They were now being a given a chance to set that plan back in motion. Somewhere on this earth walked the offspring of those original 12 hybrid children of Gods and Goddesses. It was Kassie's destiny to find and bring together the descendents of those ancient Gods and Goddesses.
Drake, who was now an Omnipotent himself, considered it his job to make sure Kassie fulfilled her destiny. In his infinite wisdom Drake had decided the best way to help Kassie fulfill that destiny was to have her take her rightful place as Queen of the vampyres as quickly as possible. Though it was a large leap to Kassie, to Drake it was merely one small skip on a long and rocky road. Along with bringing together the descendents of those ancient Gods and Goddess, it was also Kassie's destiny to become an Omnipotent. Drake was going to make sure she would be his Dark Goddess when she became an immortal Omnipotent. Kassie knew and understood this. She knew her world would never again be the same so she may as well let Drake plunge her into what would now be her new world and get used to it.
As it always did, her late afternoon ride had allowed her to relax and relieve some of the stress dealing with her new world caused. She often marveled at the understanding Drake, who never seemed the least bit stressed over anything, showed her. Besides insisting upon the late afternoon rides, he also provided other ways for her to have as many stress free and fun moments as she could. Even taking her to one his amusement parks one night. Kassie was a sucker for amusement parks and he knew it. He had indulged her love of amusement parks to the fullest that night. Taking her on every ride in the park at least once. Grinning with glee as they necked like teenagers on many of those rides, and then he had won her the largest stuffed animal there. What had amazed her at times that night had been Drake's enjoyment. She watched in amused awe as he had gotten into the spirit of her love for amusement parks and wound up having as much fun as she did. He had taken her to several interesting and romantic places. And had promised to take her to many more. He enjoyed getting her relaxed and happy, then shamelessly wooing her. He did everything his vast calculating mind could think of to win her heart. When he was at his most romantic and charming, even Kassie found it impossible to resist being swept off her feet by him.
Which was really just as well, because there were times when he was not at his most romantic and charming she had found herself hard pressed to resist kicking him in his Omnipotent shins at the very least. He could be so awesomely arrogant at times she wanted to swat him. But then he would simply look at her, grin that cool elegantly evil grin of his and say, "Remember my beloved, it ain't bragging if you can do it." When she thought about all that he could do, she realized that he was actually being modest at his most arrogant moments. She had seen the pale cold faces of old and powerful members of his own species blanch with fear when Drake turned that cold hard warning smile of his upon them.
Drake ruled his dark kingdom with what could best be described as a velvet covered mace approach. His bloodsucking children knew how painful even being lightly tapped with that velvet covered mace could be. When Kassie had once commented on how ruthlessly he ruled his dark kingdom at times Drake had merely grinned that wide wicked grin of his, winked at her and said, "It keeps the level of intrigue, deception and drama down to a minimum dear." Kassie couldn't help but think that if the level of intrigue, deception and drama was at a minimum, she would hate to see it maxed out. Literally putting a dozen knives in his back wouldn't have done Drake the slightest bit of harm. But many of his bloodthirsty children wanted to drive a stake through his heart in order to try and gain his powers. Because he was passing all the powers he could onto her through his blood, some of his bloodthirsty children now saw her as a dangerous object of desire. Kassie didn't need to use her new ability to read minds to be aware of the jealously a few of his damned eternal brides felt for her. Their best efforts of seduction had failed to gain them the powers Drake was so freely passing onto her.
She was also very aware that many of his bloodthirsty children considered her upcoming coronation blasphemy. Drake had made it clear to her and to others though that he considered her coronation a clear cut case of cosmic justice. When one of his bloodthirsty children had asked him how he could even dare consider crowning a mortal woman Queen of the vampyres Drake had simply looked at him in a way that had nearly flash frozen the already cold blood of his bloodthirsty child and said coldly, "Because she has more right to that title as she is right now, than you will ever have. In another time and place she gave me the dark gift of immortality that I in turn passed on to others. Ultimately resulting in the creation of your ungrateful bloodsucking ass. You will either show her the respect she deserves as your rightful Queen, or I will personally pop your head on the end of a pole so that your eyes and ears can help guard and keep her safe for all eternity." Drake's penchant for popping the heads of those who unduly irritated him onto the tops of poles was well known among his kind. Besides using the poles at the castle he now called home base, he had included some in the decor of a couple of his goth clubs, and some of the "fake" heads in his amusement park haunted houses and houses of horror were frighteningly realistic for a very good reason. Knowing his words were no idle threat did wonders to keep most of his bloodthirsty children reasonably in line.
Kassie didn't need a crystal ball though to tell her that nothing was going to keep some of his bloodthirsty children in line forever. She also knew she would be the catalyst that would drive some of them to step over the line. Some of them wanted to bury their fangs in her still mortal throat and take what powers they could as they sucked her dry. Others wanted to seduce her into betraying Drake so they could wind up with both their powers. Those were biding their time until Drake turned her completely because they knew that her powers would increase even more once that happened. She had wryly remarked to Drake just the other night that when she really thought about it that she felt like a cosmic top shelf Kewpie doll, and the duck you had to shoot to get the top shelf prize. Drake had laughed that cold dark laugh of his and told her that was probably the most apt description of what she was that he would ever hear. Then he had smiled that devastating smile of his, kissed the tip of her nose, and called her his beloved Mistress of word play. She had melted considerably when he had done that. But even so, that hardcore cynical little voice in her head remarked that it was certain sure when he kissed the Blarney Stone it French kissed him back and sucked his tongue. She had tried to muffle that cynical little voice but Drake had heard it in her mind. He had merely grinned at her though, then leaned over and after licking and blowing in her ear whispered, "Only when I whisper sweet nothings to it first my dear."
When she returned from her afternoon ride he looked up from his laptop and smiled at her as she walked into the library. The smile that she put upon his handsome face had been noticed and talked about by several who knew him well. It gave mute testimony to the happiness she brought to him. Even with his fangs showing it was still as close to a human smile of simple happiness as anyone had ever seen upon his face. Kassie returned that simple smile of happiness as she crossed the room. Drake placed his laptop on the coffee table and rose to his feet as Kassie walked up to him. The moment she was within reach he grabbed her and gently pulled her to him. Holding her tightly as he kissed her and whispered, "I missed you."
Kassie returned his embrace and his kiss and replied, "I was only gone a couple of hours."
Drake held her even tighter and as he nibbled her earlobe whispered, "Yes my love, but every second away from you is an eternity for me."
Kassie squirmed as he nibbled her ear and whispered in it. She dug nails into his back in a way that made him moan softly and press against her. Then she nipped his shoulder lightly and replied, "No wonder the Blarney Stone French kisses you back and sucks your tongue when you whisper sweet nothings to it."
Drake chuckled into her ear, nipped the lobe again lightly then said, "Yes, but I mean them when I am whispering them in your ear my beloved."
Kassie took half a step backwards, looked up at him and said with a smile that contained more than a dash of cynicism, "Yeah of course you do. Your dick is hard right now. You guys always mean those sweet nothings when your dicks are hard."
Drake merely chuckled as he looked down into her eyes and said, "First of all, I'm not one of those guys. Secondly, I keep a perpertual hard on around you so no matter what you think, I always mean them." Then he pulled her close to him again as leaned his handsome head down and kissed her until she was breathless.
Kassie's head spun and her heart raced faster as he moved his mouth and began molesting her ear. His hands were roaming up and down her back, sometimes drifting to her buttocks and softly caressing them as he molested her ear and whispered more sweet nothings in it. As his tongue licked her ear and his hands caressed her, she heard the sweet nothings and actually felt her knees go weak for a moment. As she clung to him to stay upright she panted and said, "Oh you are such a wicked evil bastard. You love making my knees go weak so I have to cling to you."
Drake chuckled into her ear and replied, "Well that too. On the other hand, I'm easy to please, and won't be upset if your knees become so weak you fall before me on them."
Kassie giggled and squirmed as he held her tightly and flicked his tongue into her ear then she replied, "Fat chance!"
Drake chuckled in her ear again and replied, "Hope springs eternal for me my love."
Kassie laughed and replied, "Everything springs eternal for you."
Drake ran one hand up the middle of her back then her neck. He gave a dark chuckle as he ran his fingers into her hair and tilted her head back. As he looked down into her eyes he said, "That's because I am the reigning fucking Dark God of immortality my love." Then the Dark God of immortality bent his handsome head and kissed her until she was breathless. As Kassie wrapped her arms around him and clung to her immortal lover she felt a desire for him that nearly overwhelmed her. She had loved him for so very long. He had haunted her dreams throughout her many lifetimes. Held a piece of her heart that she could give to no one else. In each and every lifetime she had fought what she felt for him and refused to call him back into her circle of life. But in this lifetime she had finally grown terminally tired of never finding the love she sought and knew that the only way she would ever be free was call him into her circle of life and see if he could love her the way she had once loved him. She would like to believe that all the wonderful words of love he had spoken to her were true. But she also knew that even if he meant those words when he said them, things changed. She had fallen hard for some in this and other lifetimes who had professed their undying love to her. Only to have them suddenly decide they were confused or wrong about what they claimed to have once felt for her. Kassie had long since lost patience with those who were perpetually confused or wrong about their feelings for her.
Kassie knew love when she felt it. Had any of the others been less confused or more lasting in their love for her they could have broken the ties that had kept her bound to the creature who now held her in his cold embrace. But their words had not proven to be golden. Only time would tell if the words of eternal love the creature who now held her in his cold embrace had spoken to her were golden. Because she had fallen so deeply in love with him in the short time they had been together she prayed to all the Gods and Goddesses she believed in that his words would prove golden. But even as she prayed to them she wept at times because of how futile she felt those prayers were. A part of her had been so damaged by all the false words of love she had heard that she honestly doubted now if she would ever again have the ability to completely trust in love again. So she had taken one last chance on this thing called love and called him back into her circle of life in the hopes that his love for her would be strong and true. If so, then she could heal from the damage that had been done to her. If not, then she knew that she would be forever free of love. If he broke her heart again it would be so completely shattered that it would never love again. And a small dark part of her that was tired of the pain love had already caused her welcomed the thought of that. Kassie had tried so many times to harden her heart completely and become as cold and cruel as those who had played games of the heart with her. But because she had once broken the laws of Magick due to love, she had been cursed to feel the utmost passion and love herself, but never have it returned in full. She would inspire passion, lust, and what some even claimed was love in others. But she could never quite manage to inspire that illusive thing called true love in anyone that she felt it for. She had decided that if she could not come full circle and inspire true love in the creature who had been the cause of her curse, then she would be only too glad if she were to never feel that emotion again. Loving too much had been her downfall once before. She did not intend to be guilty of that again. And falling too hard for Drake would be so easy to do. He was everything she had ever dreamed of, and so much more.