When morning breaks, I'm still held tight by Virgil. I struggle a bit, but he just holds on tighter. I turn over-
And come face to face with a pure black panther. My heart lances for a few seconds before I recognize the golden eyes. "Lucien?" I ask hesitantly. Why is he shapeshifting now, of all times?
The panther huffs out a sigh and turns back into the white-haired vampire. "I was hoping for more fear, but I suppose I shouldn't expect less from a fidelis sanguine. Anyway." He stands and I realize he's completely naked, and I hurriedly turn away before he comes to his full height, with his...uhhh, right at eye level.
"Didn't you bring any clothes?" I ask, and Virgil finally opens his eyes. Which immediately go wide seeing how Lucien is dressed - or rather, not dressed. He immediately sits up and tosses a pillow at Lucien.
"Can't you be decent, for once?" cries Virgil.
Lucien just shrugs. "It's plenty decent when I'm shapeshifted. Why not now?"
"Whatever, just take her and get out of my room," Virgil says, shoving me towards him. I stand up in a hurry to avoid running into him.
Now that I'm awake, I have a better handle on myself. It's not like this is the first time I've seen someone naked. In fact, the thrall baths were co-ed, so it was almost a daily occurrence. Ohhh, it's been ages since I had a nice hot bath…
"What are you thinking about?" asks Lucien, and I finally realize he's been watching me.
"Uhhh...well, I really need a bath," I admit.
"Perfect," he grins, and takes my hand. "Let's go." All I can do is hope that we don't pass anyone on the way.
But of course, I'm never so lucky. Adrian walks out of the bath, barely dressed, and eyes the two of us up and down. "Whoa, little bird, you sure are quick on the uptake."
"I am not," I say sourly. "Lucien's up to something. I just want a bath in peace," I grumble.
Adrian just laughs. "Good luck getting that in this place," he says, but as he passes me, he whispers, "I've been waiting a loong time for tomorrow, little bird."
Now I've got a whole new thing to worry about, but I almost forget when I see the bath. It's a massive room, laid all in gleaming white marble. The bath itself is huge, plenty large enough to fit all five - I quickly shake that thought from my head.
Luckily for me, I spot a bathing dress hanging on the wall and quickly snatch it up. "You go ahead and start your soak," I call to Lucien while I find a corner to change in. Luckily, the room is completely steamed up from Adrian's bath moments ago.
I hear him chuckle, and the quiet ripple as he slips into the water, but only silence after that. I try to ignore my nagging worries and wash out my hair at the water spout.
After I finish, I wait for him for w little while before I give in. "Lucien?" I call. "I'm ready to leave when you are."
I hear him chuckle from the depths of the bath. I'm not doing this. I walk to the door and turn the knob - but it won't open. Lucien must hear me rattle the knob, because he just laughs again.
I turn around, irritated. "Why the hell does this bath have a keyed lock anyway?"
"Don't you want to take a soak?" Lucien asks, but I still can't tell where his voice is coming from.
Honestly, yes. But not with him in it! "No way," I answer. "I don't know what you're up to."
I can hear ripples in the water, and I edge a little closer trying to see him. How hard can it be to find a dark-skinned man in a room of white marble and steam?
"Fine, I'll tell you," he says. "The reason is that I like my blood hot."
"My blood is plenty hot," I retort back.
"Hotter," he replies. "Don't worry, I won't drink you dry like Virgil. You're shivering anyway."
He's right, but I'm stubborn too. I go back to the spout, but it just sprays me with cold water instead. I scramble away from it in surprise - right into Lucien, waiting in the water behind me. I tense for the bite, but it doesn't come.
"Relax," he murmurs into my ear. "Enjoy the bath." But his grip is as strong as iron. I really want to avoid touching him too much, so I stay still. In the quiet, the bath is quite nice. Hotter than I can stand for very long, though. I try to rise out of the water, but he pulls me back down.
"Seems like you're about ready," he says, and in the next moment, sinks his fangs into my skin.
Somehow, he keeps me conscious the whole time. He drinks slowly, holding me up so that I don't fall into the water. He slows down every time I start feeling woozy, but never completely stops.
Until finally, I can't stay conscious any longer. I can just barely feel him lifting me out of the water before I finally fall into blackness.
This time, a bowl of hot soup is waiting for me when I wake up. It's nice that it's hot this time, but I'm getting sick of eating the same soup for almost every meal. I'm not feeling quite as faint as I expected, but it's still a struggle to pick it up.
I look around and find Lucien sitting at a desk, thankfully clothed.
"Lucien?" I ask. "Can you unlock my hand so I can eat?"
He doesn't even turn around. "You've been eating just fine without it."
"Barely," I answer. "I've only got one change of clothes, so-" At that thought, I look down at myself. I'm wearing my dress, but I can feel the bathing dress underneath. Thank god he didn't do anything while I was out.
"You want it so you can write, don't you?" Lucien asks, finally turning around.
"Well, yes, but what's wrong with that?" I say defensively.
He leans his chin on his hands as he watches me. "Writing is a good way to vent. It helps you sort your feelings and organize your thoughts. I have a feeling it keeps you sane as a thrall, does it not?"
"...You say that like it's a bad thing."
He chuckles. "Well, it's more exciting to watch what people do when they're all pent up. Their true feelings come out when they're stressed."
"That may be so for the people you know," I answer curtly, "but I've never been one to hide my true feelings. Or my true intentions."
He tilts his head thoughtfully.
"Like, what Dante told you yesterday?"
"Hmmm? Oh yes, that you're a-"
"Yes, that," I interrupt. "He offered me a deal to keep it secret, and I didn't take it."
Lucien shrugs in response. "So you didn't want him to have an advantage. You were obviously unhappy that it got out."
"That's true," I admit. "But." I lean forward, and he leans forward as well. "If you want to know these things, why don't you just ask? I promise I'll answer just about anything."
"I can tell easily if you lie," he says, grabbing my chin.
"I won't lie," I reply evenly. "But I will tell you if it's something I'm not willing to answer."
He searches my eyes for a moment, then leans back with a laugh. "Alright, little bird. I'll free your hand."
I happily hold it out to him and he releases the chain with a satisfying click. I curl and stretch my fingers slowly. After days of being held in place like that, my hand is unbelievably sore. It quivers a little as I try to massage it back to normal.
"Here, let me," says Lucien, taking my hand. Surprisingly, his cool fingers feel nice on my sore muscles. I sigh and let him massage the life back into my hand.
"Just one left, hmm?" he says.
"One what?"
"Lock," he answers, holding up my hands. My wrists are still held together by the last ribbon.
"Ahh, right." I sigh. "You seem to think it'll be hard."
"To convince Adrian?" He raises an eyebrow. "It depends on what you offer in return."
"Not what he wants, probably," I grumble. "But I really need my life back."
"What makes you think you're getting a life back?" Lucien asks.
"Oh, it's not about 'getting'," I answer decisively. "I'm going to make it happen."
Lucien chuckles. "I see. Good luck with that." He pats my head. "I'd love to watch you try."
Watch me fail, he means. But I push my annoyance away and realize I've finally got most of the day ahead of me. "Hey, I want to explore this place," I say. "I've basically only seen the inside of people's rooms at this point."
"Good idea," Lucien says, standing and stretching. "I'm sure the rest wouldn't mind coming along either. Let's see if they're in the main room?"
He doesn't mind? Not that I mind, of course.
Lucien somehow answers my unasked question. "I'm not the possessive type. Besides, I get you for the night regardless."
"Stop reading my mind," I grumble, and we head towards the main room.