Chapter 51
"So, it's finally my turn." Cristus sauntered up and sat across from Lauren. "What do you want to know?"
"I guess anything you want to tell me." Lauren replied. She was a little strained by his closeness. Antonus noticed and raised his power out put.
"Are you ok?" Gerald asked Lauren through their mind link.
"Yes. I am meeting people that are a bit powerful and struggling with this one." Gerald sent his protection to her and told Tom and Cartrell to send theirs also.
"You have to remember to use the supports that you have. We are here for you. Do I have to monitor everything that you do so you can be safe?" Gerald was angry. Lauren felt the pain he was feeling. "Lauren, I have given you enough time to get it. So please, don't make me punish you."
Lauren waited to hear her other men counter his statement of punishing her, but they didn't. "I I'm sorry. I just want to be better."
"Fine. I accept your apology but this is the last time you get off without punishment." Gerald states.
"Agreed." All the rest say.
"Really?" Lauren states out loud because she is in shock.
"Excuse me dear, are you talking to me?" Cristus asks.
"Oh no, sorry. I don't mean to be rude, but my mates and I are communicating. They felt my need for help and are fussing with me for not asking them." Lauren explained
"Yes, well I would have to agree with them. You should always rely on those that love you. Maybe you need someone in your life that will constantly remind you or bring you to a point that you always have the protection link open even if you don't ask. I can see that you are brimming with power and that you are well loved. You just need a blood bond."
"Is that a vampire you are talking to?" Gerald asked. Before Lauren could answer, Gerald appeared in the room.
"Ah, dragon king." Cristus said as he bowed to Gerald. "So, you are her first husband? It is nice to make your acquaintance."
"Is it?" Gerald asks as he moves closer. "What are you doing? Are you proposing that Lauren bond with you?"
"Well, as a matter of fact, yes. It will help her to handle the powers of most other vampires and I would not ask too much from her. Being tapped into this wonderful power she has flowing will make it so I won't need blood and I can live my life like a normal person that still have all of the attributes of a vampire. It will also make it so I can be a day walker. She will gain another form of power and an open link of protection."
"What are you thinking?" Gerald asks Lauren and the guys in their link.
"I don't know because I haven't had a chance to talk to him or anything." Lauren replied. She was a bit upset because the guys were not letting her do her. "If you guys would back off and let me see if I am even interested in entertaining any part of what he is offering, then we can discuss it. Gerald, I thank you for your concern and presence but I need to do this. This whole night was for me to see if I can handle the power from these dark magic users and to get information from them. I am not here alone."
The guys backed off but left the connection open so they could hear everything. Gerald went to the back of the room where Hoseph was sitting.
"You do know it is good to have men that care for you as much as your men do. One of the reasons vampires are not guardians any more is because they would use their positions to do harm. I swear to the one true God that I mean you no harm and I mean no harm to any realm. I haven't done harm to humans since blood banks were created. I want to be rid of the craving and see daylight. I want to be a help to you."
Lauren studied the vampire. She could feel his sincerity. Then she thought 'Clarify'. Lauren went back in time to the 1920s. She saw a young man step out of his Victorian home to go out with some friends. They entered a club to listen to Fred Elizalde play jazz. He stepped away from his friends after a great night out and was attacked by a male vampire as he entered his home. The vampire fed off him and lived in his house for six months before he decided that his pray deserved to become his spawn. The vampire drained his pray until he almost had nothing left and then forced fed him his blood, "From now on, your name will be Cristus. You are now my child and my heir." Years past by and Cristus learned how to be a vampire from his sire. He hunted with him and fed with him. He learned all of his powers. He hated it. When his sire wasn't around, he would cry because of the lives he had taken. Cristus went to college and received a doctorate in medicine. He discovered blood banks and from then on would get his blood supplied through them. His sire found out and confronted him. They fought and Cristus killed his sire. He was told that if he killed his sire he would be free from the vampire curse, instead, he inherited everything that belonged to his sire. That included his thralls and mansion. It took him several years to free the thralls, some of them died in the process because they had been thralls too long to be freed. and since he was not using them as blood sources, some of them went crazy and killed themselves. Lauren saw the pain Cristus suffered and was ready to let him bond with her. The guys also saw the life of Cristus and soften their stance.
After several minutes of conversation in her mind, Lauren won the guys over. She turned to Cristus and said. "We have agreed to let you bond with me. It will be a bond not a joining or marriage. An exchange of power and support. Do you agree?"
"As long as I am not treated rudely but as a friend and am allowed to stay here with the family, that is fine."
"Agreed. What do we have to do to bond?" Lauren asked.
"Exchange arterial blood. It must have oxygen in it and be filled with life. As a doctor, I can take a sample from our wrists and inject it as well. No drinking or biting."
Lauren agreed and Cristus took out two thin needles. he drew the blood and then injected it into his artery then her artery. Lauren felt it as it flowed into her arm. Gerald, Antonus, Carlton, Cartrell, Tom, and Cristus monitored her as the blood joined with her blood. It drew the attention of Hoseph and his friends. They all came over and waited for the end result.
"So. I assume Cristus told you all that he is one of the strongest vampires alive. She couldn't have chosen a better bond. Those other vampires won't know what hit them." The lycan king remarked.
Lauren finally opened her eyes and they were blood red. "Good, Cristus said. "That means the bond is complete. Your eyes should be back normal after you get a good night sleep.
"I think it would be good if our keeper formed a bond with all of us." Shantel suggested. "I know I would be a great support system for you. I can get a sister from each realm to join with you as well. You would have a great network."
"Bonding with me could beneficial as well." Each of the other creatures told Lauren why they would be helpful bonds.
"Thank you. I will bond with the Dryad right now but I don't know if I can take any more today. I will discuss the rest with my mates and we can meet up again another day. I hope that is okay with you all." They agreed.
Lauren then bonded with the dryad by swallowing a seed. A few minutes later, a fruit formed in her mouth. She gave the fruit to the dryad, who ate it. Lauren felt life fill her and she felt connected to the entire planet. "I am the tree of life in the realm of imagination. All trees are connected to me. I hope you enjoy the feelings of nature." The dryad said.
Laura just smiled. The euphoria she was feeling rocked her deep in her soul. Antonus and Carlton carried her home because she was too high on the power of nature to walk.