Strange Love

"Yes, like that." Ry reassuring voice boomed from deep inside the kitchen as Jos and Arei walked through the main doors of the room. The giant man was bent tentatively over the shoulder of one of the palace cooks. The young girl seemed to be enthralled in whatever it was he was teaching.

Arei chuckled as he and Jos entered the room. "Does this mean we're in time for some fresh breakfast?" He asked as he pulled out a stool from the bar for Jos.

Ry only grunted as he ȧssisted the girl with the large pan.

"Where's Russ?" Jos asked.

"Still upstairs... Hasn't left the remaining girls' sides since the accident." He didn't take his focus away from the girl. "Easy does it." He murmured soothingly.

Arei let out a sigh as he took a seat beside Jos. "Look... we need to talk." His eyes moved meaningfully to the girl when Ry turned to meet his gaze.

Ry nodded as he turned and patted the girl's head lightly. "You did well. I'll call for you when it's ready to come out." The girl didn't need any further directions, she gave him a slight bow before turning and making her way from the room. His curious eyes followed her until she was out of sight before moving to Arei and Jos. He gave Jos a faint smile. "How are you feeling this morning?"

She could feel a hot blush creep up her neck. "Good, thank you." She glanced away in embarrassment.

He arched a brow with a slight uptilt to his lips. "No need to be shy about it now, you sure weren't yesterday when you were beating our ȧsses." He sent her a playful wink.

"This is serious, Ry. Our father is up to something... He pulled Jos to the side earlier this morning for a private conversation and then disappeared before I could even question him." Arei said.

Ry crossed his arms over his ċhėst as he leaned against the counter. "So? He's not the same as he once was. He's changed a lot in the past couple hundred years. Don't you think it's time you give him another chance?"

Arei arched a brow. "Oh really?" He gently lifted Jos's arm. "He took the watch off and got rid of it. What do you think that's about?"

Ry quickly recovered his surprise and shrugged. "I don't know. What did he say when he did it?"

Jos tried her best to retail the earlier conversation. She wrung her hands nervously. "Even as I repeat it a second time, nothing he said makes sense." Her eyes moved back and forth between the brothers. Ry what is it exactly you guys do for your father?"

Arei and Ry's eyes met, exchanging silent words. Arei finally nodded and Ry let out a heavy sigh. Ry ran his fingers through his short hair. "After seeing you best the both of us for a second time while in complete control, it's not hard to figure out where his mind is with this. After all, your mother's father is one of the few people Zeus fears..."

Arei nodded as he pulled Jos closer to him. "And if our suspicions are correct about the dreams, the son of the second has already been lending a hand."

Jos tilted her head up at Arei in question. "I'm lost. Who exactly are you talking about, and what do my mother and her father have to do with this?"

Arei cupped her chin and studied her. "You recall, I told you your mother's father is the titan Atlas, right?"

She nodded. "Yes... and?"

His brows furrowed. "Have you not researched anything on your family in all this time?"

She shook her head, still in his grip. "No... They abandoned me... I didn't feel I owed them any consideration..."

Arei's eyes moved to Ry, silently begging for ȧssistance. Ry let out a frustrated sigh. "You and that damn kid both... It's no damn wonder he's so clueless..." Ry filled his cheeks with air and blew it out in a huff. "Atlas led the rebellion against Zeus and the other Olympians in the Titanomachy... and they nearly won." He ran his hand over his short hair. "And if we're right the key player in the near success of the last coup against Zeus has been coming to you in your dreams and trying to help." He glared at her in bȧrėly masked irritation. "Tell me you at least know who Morpheus is... who his mother is?"

Jos nodded, her gaze becoming focused. The mention of his name seemed to unlock something inside her mind, Images began flashing through her mind, giving her an instant headache. "Ugh..."

Arei steadied her on the stool. "What is it, kitten?"

She rubbed her throbbing temples. "It's almost as bad as when my memories started to return..." She muttered. Looking up at him with one eye squeezed tightly shut, she whispered. "I think I know what he is trying to tell me..."

Before anything else could be said, a light knock sounded against the already open kitchen doors. "I hope I'm not interrupting... I was hoping to have a word with Joslyn..." Drake said leaning his head against the doorframe. There were bruises peeking out from the collar of the buŧŧon-up shirt he wore along with a bandage on one side of his neck.

"Well, you look worse for wear... Aren't vampires supposed to have speedy recoveries?" Ry asked.

Drake shrugged. "They do if they consume enough blood..."

Ry arched a brow. "And let me guess, you're one of those more holier than thou vampires who only drink enough to survive?"

Drake smiled weakly. "Yeah, I am... got a problem with it?"

Ry shrugged. "Nah... but you seem to..."

He pushed away from the door frame. "I'll live..." His gaze moved back to Jos. "What do you say? Can I have a word with you..." His gaze moved pointedly back and forth between the giant twins. "Alone?"

Jos sent Arei a questioning glance. He shrugged. "Only if you feel comfortable doing so." He chuckled. "We already know you're more than capable of taking care of yourself."

Jos nodded and pushed up from the stool. "Aright."

Jos walked around the abandoned music room, running her fingers over the frames of each picture as she did so. "You're not afraid to be alone with me?" She asked not taking her attention away from the art.

Drake shook his head as he wiped the dust from the piano bench and sat down. "No..." He said distractedly as he lifted the lid and ran his fingers experimentally over the ivory keys.

"I agreed to this because I also have some questions for you... will that be agreeable?" She watched his reflection from the corner of her eyes as she continued walking around the room.

"That's fine..." He began playing an unfamiliar, sad song. "You know, you didn't have to use your siren powers on me. I would have been more than willing to take you to my mother... I still am for that matter."

She frowned as he circled back around to the piano. "Because of the pull? The attraction?"

He shook his head as his fingers moved skillfully across the keys. "No, because I despise her, and she deserves death..."

Jos's frown deepened as she traced her fingers through the dust on the old piano. "That's harsh to say about your mother. Surely you don't mean it."

His eyes met hers. "But I do. Death is the only sure way from stopping her from hurting others."

Jos's expression became shadowed. "I've hurt people as well... do you think I deserve death?"

"No... I'm sure you had your reasons. You don't seem like someone who kills for the fun or pŀėȧsurė of it..."

Her brows furrowed. Rounding the piano, she said. "The first night I met your father... I had all intentions of killing him that very night..." Her eyes held his as she set down beside him on the bench and began moving her fingers over the keys closest to her. "I had no other reason other than the murder moments before he dove into the water with me hadn't been satisfying enough..."

His fingers stumbled over the keys with surprise at her admittance. He cleared his throat and began playing again. "Then why didn't you? What stopped you from doing so?"

She shrugged. "There was something in his eyes..." She turned to meet his seeking gaze. "Your eyes are just as beautiful... but they don't have the same pull."

Drake laughed in equal parts rejection and amusement. "You wound me. For the first time in my life, I regret not being born with his powers." He let out a long sigh, his laughter fading away. "He saw it as a curse too... He hated the sway it had over people's emotions." His eyes held hers. "He really wasn't a bad man... unlike his brother and my mother..."

Jos nodded moving her focus back to the keys. "I know... I have many regrets about that first night where your father was concerned... I've thought it over and over again, had I gone home with him that night instead of back to the apartment..." Silent tears began running down her cheeks. "So much would have been different... None of the pain and torment of the past year would have happened." The corner of her lip turned upward. "Your father may have still been alive now had I just stuck with my convictions..."

Drake's cheeks reddened as he forced himself to forge a teasing expression. "I'm guessing you're not referring to killing him now."

She shook her head, her own cheeks reddening. "No... there was an honest attraction between us in the beginning..."

"You're a beautiful woman, I suspect there was an attraction until the very end... at least on his part..." Drake whispered, risking a shy glance at her.

Sadness overtook her expression. "No... Not for long... It didn't take long for the curse to take hold. It had been so faint at first I'd thought him unaffected... had prayed he would be... but very shortly after began spending time together, it became obvious he was affected... Toward the end, he'd gone mad with dėsɨrė..."

He silently studied her profile for several long seconds before settling his hand over hers. "I'm sorry to hear that... But I'm not my father. I'll not be driven mad by your presence, and nothing you say will change my stance against my mother. One way or the other she needs to be brought down."

Jos tugged her hand free of his and tangled her fingers together in her ŀȧp. She nodded. "I agree with you, but now that I'm more clear-minded, I believe Ry and Arei were right. We need to find a way to do it within the law."

He snorted in irritation. "Going through who? The council are the only ones with that kind of power; and currently, they are nearly as corrupt as she is."

"There are still some good ones... We have to try." Her eyes dropped to her hands. "And then if that doesn't work... I'll kill her myself..."

He gently cupped her face and turned it to face him. He bent to stare into her troubled aqua eyes. "I'll hold you to that."

She nodded as she let out a sigh. "Then it's settled?"

"Yes." He held out his hand to her. "Partners?"

The gesture brought a smile to her lips. With a giggle, she replied. "Yes, partners."

As they made their way back downstairs to find the others, her steps slowed. Pausing halfway down the grand staircase, she asked. "I only have one other question..."

He turned to face her from two steps below. "Ask away. If I have the answers, I'll give them. I have nothing to hide."

Her grip on the railing tightened as she thought back to that day sixteen years ago now. "What was your grandfather's reasons for attacking the wolves originally? I understand this most recent from your mother was to cover up any involvement with the human trafficking and drugs that took place... but what was his?"

"The promise of money and power... and the head of a beast he'd been hunting for an incredibly long time..." Drake answered without a second's thought. "The fallen wolf prince happened upon my grandfather in a bar one night, and the two of them got to talking... that had been several years before the actual attack, however."

"I don't see how the two events relate." She interrupted.

He smiled sadly up at her. "My grandfather was lousy at holding his liquor and even worse at avoiding the poker tables once sloshed. He'd fallen into debt, apparently, a sea creature had sunk several of his cargo ships and looking for a way to make fast money... as was Fern. Once they began working together, Fern had convinced him that if they somehow overthrew the current king then all the property and prosperity the current king had could be split between them evenly."

Jos's brows furrowed. "So, it was never about genocide?"

He shook his head. "No, the attacks to the wolf clans of other lands were all part of Fern's plans. By weakening the allies, he knew it would make taking his brother's thrown easier. He was blinded by the promise of power and grandeur. He thought he'd finally found a way to rise above and beyond the means he would ever be able to accomplish on his own and a chance to avenge his sunk ships. Grandfather considered it a partnership... but really he was nothing more than a well-paid hired hand." He shrugged as he looked away in embarrassment. "We vampires really are the weaker of the species only slightly better off than humans..."

Jos nodded. "A lot of what Xavier told me makes more sense now... Thank you for telling me."

He smiled up at her. "No problem." He shrugged. "I only hope our partnership ends better." He turned, but she stopped him once again.

"Wait... what do you mean by that... and by 'avenge his sunk ships'?"

"He was promised your head... Fern had told him that the monster he sot was nothing more than a mere child on land. He'd given him a photo of you with the king and queen, looking every bit of twelve years old."

Jos frowned. "So, Fern set him up... He knew I'd most likely kill Drako..."

Drake nodded. "Hum..." He chuckled. "You know, normal circumstances, I'd probably be upset with the person who has single-handedly killed most of my direct relatives." He shrugged with even more laugher. "I suppose that would only be true if my family wasn't a bunch of pompous pricks."

She frowned as she reached out for his stubbled cheek. "I really do regret having to kill your father. I wish things had been different."

Drake cupped his hand over hers and leaned into her touch. "I don't hold that against you. He'd always known protecting Dante would lead to trouble and possible death... But he could never see past the tortured young boy Drako sculpted in his image with brute force." One of his tears slid over Jos's palm that was still pressed against his cheek. "I've only said what I've said about my father in the hopes that you are able to see not all vampires are bad... that he wasn't inherently bad... not to cause you any kind of pain and regret." He gently tugged her hand to his lips and placed a light kiss to her palm. "I do have to admit, I envy him the pŀėȧsurė of being with you no matter how short-lived it was..."

Jos pulled her hand away. "I realize it's hard with the curse, but please try to restrain any attraction you feel. It will cause you to eventually go insane if you do not."

He smiled up at her. "Understood, partner."

"Partner? Have I been replaced so soon?" Arei chuckled from the bottom of the stairs.