CHAPTER 15 - THE FRUITS OF HIS LABOUR
BRIGHTMORE CASTLE - NEXT AFTERNOON
TURRET ROOF
BRIAN
“He really does have good coffee.” I muse as I walk around the turret, taking in the vista of this place, relishing being a Pure, and all that that affords me. Like sight, Joe and his herd are about 10 miles away, and frolicking in a waterfall. “Definitely going there.” I decide, breathing in the rich aroma. I hear a low growl and look down the road. He’s driving back in his vintage US army jeep, and I do believe singing. Dixon really did keep him contained. He’s someone that, even though I asked ‘what good would it do’, needs to be presented to the council. If he’s done that to who was supposed to be his son, who, and more importantly, what else has he done?
“You have a good voice!” I yell as he pulls up.
“Thanks! Come! Come see what I have!” He shouts back. As I jump down to help him, I am assailed by a scent, a sweet, familiar succulent scent. “Now just be patient, I have to do it properly!”
“Justin!”
“Properly!” He grins, and keeps that bag to himself.
KITCHEN - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER
JUSTIN
“Okay, so it is a bit messy, but here…” I put it down in front of him.
“Not in the season then?” He smiles as he peruses the fruit platter.
“Season? Oh no, they had sold out by the time I got there. So which is first?” I sit opposite him, having been told that we have a sweet tooth, but only for natural sugars, I read him as he rested, finding out his favourite sweets; things like dark chocolate and fruits, which are blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, mangos, guava, lychees, breadfruit and ortaniques.
“The mango.” He replies, picking up a slice. I am taken aback when he holds it to my mouth. “Open up.” I take it in, the taste is undescribable. “Now try the ortanique, which is a cross between two oranges.” I say nothing but do take the remaining pieces of ortanique off the platter. He grins. “Yes, I too think freshly squeezed ortanique juice tomorrow morning is a good idea!”
“Need to freeze some for when we are back in the Pitts, since we can’t get this there. I am not dealing with them without that!” I declare as a gentle buzz radiates around my body. It feels like post honey cake but better. “Is that…”
“Normal? Yes, it is. Remember this is pure, it's the fruit, the whole fruit, and nothing but the fruit.” We stare at each other for a few seconds. “Couldn't resist it, I am not sorry.” I flick his knee. “So, milk or dark?”
Now this I have been looking forward to! “Which is sweeter?”
“Milk, and considering you have just had mango, let’s go to the dark side.” He breaks a piece off. “Now, let it melt on your tongue. Harness your purity, savour the notes, then swallow. Will you do that?” I nod and he places a square in my mouth.
“Mmmm!” I moan minutes later whilst trying to get every trace of it. “That is...I want to try the milk! Please, Brian, please.” I open my mouth. He picks up another square and drops it in, then it gets weird. “Ouch!” I cry, clapping my hand over my suddenly twitching right eye and my head is pounding. “What is…”
“Overload.” Brian hands me a glass of water. “You need to cancel it out, and although it is horrid, this is the only way.” A minute later the pain has stopped, but I am drinking from the tap. Once the saltiness has gone, I look at him. “Let’s have a seat.” We sit back down and I wait. “As I said, we have a sweet tooth, but we, as in Pures, also have limits. You reached yours, so to bring the overload down, have salty water.” He rubs the back of my head. “Click your tongue.” I click and immediately my eye stops twitching. “Don’t know why, but it does.”
“Thought you knew everything about being a Vamp.” I tease.
“Shush.” He smiles before covering the platter and putting it in the fridge. “I take it you want the other thing now?” I nod. “Good. This is one thing we don’t have a limit for!” He beams and runs upstairs. He is back in seconds with a bottle of brandy. “Get the glasses then, this is not to be necked from the bottle.” I put down two tumblers and he frowns at me. “Seriously, that man needs to be found! Not these, those round bottomed crystal ones. Back to the sofa so we can strategise.”
I copy his swirling action with the glass, then take a sip. “Be right back.” I tell him, and he tilts his glass.
BRIAN
True to his word, he isn’t long. As he settles at the other end of the sofa with his iPad, I war with myself over planting the idea, but eventually retreat. “So, I tried sunshine, fruits, chocolate, brandy, horse riding and shopping in the daytime. That’s quite a list, and…”
“Head fucking, you must not forget that.” I point out.
“I hadn’t. It is going on a different list.” He returns. “How long till we replenish?”
“With what we’ve had, we can last till dawn. Ever seen the sunrise?”
“No. Have you never ever done something?” He pulls me towards him. I lay on his chest and think for a while. “Surely, you haven't done everything you ever wanted to?”
“Don’t call me Shirley.” I jibe before thinking some more, then it hits me, hits us, because he’s not done it either! “Want to?” I look up and he smiles. “We end with the sunset?”
“Perfect!” He grins before leaning down to kiss me. Twenty minutes later, we are getting ready for our first date.
ELDER STATESMAN RODNEY'S RESIDENCE - SAME TIME
CATACOMBS
RODNEY
Stunned, that is the only word to describe the situation we now find ourselves in, as we watch the bloodlines flow for the twentieth time we have to admit defeat.
“So now you know what we know.” Earl sighs. “They can't rule. I really hoped.”
“What do you mean they can’t rule?” Angelina looks confused. “They are our kings, no matter how we shift them they rejoin, so what’s with the siren call?”
I gape at her. She has governed the Highest Counsel for years, she and her husband, Maurice.
“How didn’t we see it?” Bernardus grumbles.
“Why would we be looking for it?” I ask gently. He is the romantic of the group.
“They look so happy.” Bernardus whispers. “It is so unfair!” He declares as Justin holds the taxi door for Brian. We are silent as Brian, yes Brian, rests on Justin. I feel for them as they chat and laugh their way back to the castle. And when they are eating the rest of the platter as the sun rises I throw my hands up!
“How can you say we have found our kings?!” I exclaim. She purses her lips, but to hell with decorum! “Brian is part Warlock, and if he pure blisses with Justin, it will be too much and Brian will feel compelled to kill him, like...like a praying mantis!”
“Oh that, is that what this was about? Brian knows he’s part Warlock, which is why he has never pure blissed.”
“He does?” Bernardus stops pacing, and, like the rest of us, is incredulous. “How did he keep that from us...you mean that’s not a myth?”
“That a Warlock can block a read or present what they want to be seen? No, it is not.” Angelina smiles. “But Justin will see through it, he gets that from his human side. Besides, Brian is too honest not to tell him first. As for the compulsion, that urge is cured by....oh my, look! Like I said, he’s too honest!”
TURRET ROOF - A MINUTE LATER
JUSTIN
“So post pure bliss, a Pure but part Warlock Vamp needs dry scrambled egg with honeyed hot sauce on generously buttered toast.” I watch him carefully. He hasn’t moved away since he confirmed my suspicions, which is good, but the silence is stretching. “It does seem to be a perfect combo of protein, dairy, sweet and capsaicin?” Still he says nothing. “So will we be buying eggs soon?”
He feeds me some blueberries before smiling and nodding. “Seriously, you are okay with this? And when did you realise I am different?”
“There was a bit of pushback when I first read you and I couldn't understand, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought that’s got to be it.”
“I see.” Brian puts his head in my lap before looking skywards. “And with the greatest respect to the all those watching, can we please have some fucking privacy?!”
ELDER STATESMAN RODNEY'S RESIDENCE - TWO MINUTES LATER
CATACOMBS
ANGELINA
“See? Nothing to worry about.” I wave the image away, then beam at my relieved friends. “But some things Justin mentioned have puzzled me. Why would Dixon ‘suppress’ him like that?”
“I will speak to Brandon, he can find and fetch Dixon. I think Mel and he will make a good partnership there.” Earl declares. “Actually, come to think of it, what is Dixon’s bloodline?”
“No idea. Let’s check whilst we think about it.” I decide. Ten minutes later, things have become a little clearer. “Well, that explains the arrogance. And, come to think of it, he was a very poor student, but Dixon being Michael’s father? That I did not expect.”