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  And Dreven began to hate himself after the first few visits he made to her chamber, and it only became worse after the first visit that Lord Vlad stopped compelling her.

  He would visit her twice a week, perform his task and leave, but on one of his scheduled nights he found her bathing instead of lying in bed waiting for him. She shrieked at him to get out of her chambers and he immediately knew something was wrong. His lord had not bothered to compel her to comply. Seeing her scared of him broke him to pieces after the moments he had shared with her before, even though she had been involved in those unknowingly.

  He had let himself fall for her. He had let himself live in a dream where this amazing woman loved him in return, even if it was for only a short time and she never remembered him afterward.

  Her rejection made him resolve to never return to her, but his loyalty to Lord Vlad put him back in her chambers again later that week.

  The Lord’s wife was abed, not yet asleep. She did not scream at him to leave this time, but she pulled the blankets up to her chin as he approached the bed. He sat down next to her and was quiet until she finally talked to him.

  Luminita had pieced together that Dreven had been visiting her at night. She did not remember anything, but she knew that when she woke the next morning that she had been used. But she knew it was not by Vlad for when Lord Vlad visited her she would remember it, and she would always be bruised and bloody when he left, unable to move or rise the next morning.

  She confided in Dreven that she feared Vlad had left her unable to bear children from the abuse he had visited upon her. But she hoped that maybe, even if no child were to result from it, maybe Dreven would show her what it was like to be loved. To be held and comforted.

  Dreven held her all through the night after she confided in him, and three nights later came to her again and did the same. After several weeks of shared nights and whispered conversations of dreams and fantasies that would never come to fruition, she surprised him by disrobing and asking him to make love to her.

  Their love affair lasted for two more months before Vlad began asking questions of Dreven. He wanted to know if there was to be a child soon and if Dreven still wanted to take his Lord's offer of eternity. He assured his Lord of both things; that a child was surely to become of his couplings with his Lord's wife and that as soon as he was sure of it would embrace the gift being offered to him.

  Even with Dreven’s assurances Vlad was upset by the time it was taking for his wife to become pregnant, so he went to his wife and questioned her. Luminita told him she was not sure if she was with child yet, to give her another couple of weeks to wait and see. He became angry that she had told him to wait so he then took her roughly as he had done before and when she cried out Dreven's name he told her that if she was not with child soon he would kill Dreven and send another to try to impregnate her in his place.

  The following week after her bruises had healed she announced to Vlad that she was indeed with child. Vlad was overjoyed and in celebration he drained Dreven of blood there in her chambers and fed him of his own blood to turn him into a vampire, fulfilling his promise to give Dreven eternal life.

  As Dreven lay on the floor, unconscious and in transition, Vlad called for the Bath maids to take his wife and inspect her for evidence of pregnancy. They hauled her away as she stared at Dreven, stricken that her husband had visited such evil upon this young man who had shown her such tenderness.

  The maids came back with Luminita in tow after a short time and announced to Lord Vlad that his wife had lied to him, that she was not with child. Dreven had begun to awaken just as the maids gave his Lord the terrible news and was unable to react. He was weak in his new form and had not yet fed to gain any strength.

  He was completely helpless as he watched Vlad grab a knife from his belt and cut Luminita open from sternum to pelvis, spilling her insides across the floor. Vlad screamed at the Bath maids to check again from the inside to be sure.

  Both the maids were hysterical at the sudden and bloody murder of their mistress right in front of them, and in fear fled the bedchamber. Dreven watched helplessly as Vlad pulled the rest of Luminita's organs from her body in a rage, looking for signs of life within her.

  Finding nothing that satisfied him, he ordered his guards to clean up the mess and then inter his wife's body in the tomb below the castle.

  Vlad’s anger at his wife's betrayals spilled over to Dreven when he found him awake and heartbroken. So as punishment for caring for his wife, Vlad ordered the newly made vampire to stand watch over his wife's tomb for the rest of time.

  Vlad Dracula, who was doggedly determined to soon be marching on Wallachia, piled his many treasures and valuables inside the tomb to be guarded along with his wife's body, and sealed Dreven inside. To sit eternally with the body of the woman he loved and lost in service to his Lord.

  Luminita, his little light, had gone out. And he was all alone in the dark.

  It was very difficult for Dreven to grasp that this time when his beloved's soul came back to him, that a living breathing person would accompany it. As soon as he looked at the stone and saw it glowing, he knew who it was. The connection he felt to Rodelle made sense now.

  But what on earth would she think if he were to tell her, if he were to tell Rodelle that she was his love returned to him. He would have no choice but to tell her the entire story. Even all the horrible things he had done in service to Vlad. And how he fought his dark nature every day.

  She did not deserve to be force fed his past. But there was no way he could keep away from her, not while they both resided in the House. Dreven knew that she felt the connection, and he could let her act of her own will and see where it would lead. But would she be angry if he were not up front with her before she developed feelings for him? If she developed feelings for him. She was alive, and so a different person than he knew before.

  He had not felt this tormented in his thoughts since his time in the tomb, waiting for her soul to visit him again and pass along spirit-whispered memories of each life she lived.

  Dreven decided that he would just wait and see how the next few weeks went around the House. They may all just be kept too busy for him to need to worry about it. They did have a pack of wolves to bring home, after all.

  Chapter 7

  Rodelle was awake when the sun came up. She had been awoken by a very vivid dream. One that she had often before, but never this real. The dream usually faded after lying awake a bit, but this time it held on.

  She rolled over and grabbed the small notebook on the table next to her bed and began scribbling details of her dream. She used to have a dream journal before coming to the Hartman House, but it had been left behind. Maybe she could find another witch here that could help her interpret this dream.

  After placing her journal back on the table, she rose to get dressed. It was just shortly after five am. But being this restless also made her extra sensitive to the currents in the air. At this time of morning when the night passed to day and the moon and stars lost their hold on the earth, there was usually a shimmer of energy to draw from. These shimmers tended to be fickle, however, and if she wanted to find one before she ran out of time she had to hurry.

  She threw on a pullover hoodie and some sweat pants, slipped into her old ratty sneakers and left the room.

  The halls were still quiet, so she snuck as quickly as she could down the hall, aided by the plush carpets that ran the entire length to the stairs.

  Coming to a stop at the top of the stairs she looked down and half-expected to see Dreven standing at the bottom. She was just a little disappointed when she saw that he wasn't. Scolding herself mentally she trotted down the stairs and out the back door to the gardens.

  The fresh air hit her like a slap and she missed being out in the forests with her friend. With Laren on her mind she reached out to trace a shimmer of morning energy.

  She felt a couple different currents like what she was looking for, but she also fe
lt something else. Much more powerful. This seemed to also be drawing power from the change of night to day. Rodelle reached out with her mind and followed the current to the far west edge of the property.

  There at the back corner of the House she felt the current attached to the ground. Looking around she noticed that the spot was conveniently hidden from the back gardens by a large section of rhododendrons of all colors. There was a view of the small grassy area on the west side of the House, up to the enormous bushes that lined the front property line.

  Feeling secure that no one would spy her from the back or from the windows of the House she settled down on top of the anchor of the energy and opened herself up to it.

  Immediately she felt the current run directly through her, from the ground to the corner of the roof of the old residence and then back down into the earth. Was this the nexus point of the Hartman House spell? It didn't feel quite strong enough to power the entire spell that lay over the house. She continued to concentrate until she felt the energy fall into a hum, the sun having fully risen and the night gone.

  Rodelle had accomplished gaining energy from the power node, but she remained where she was for a time to examine the energy a little longer. It was a bit of a puzzle, and she felt that she needed to put it together in her mind.

  She could feel the fresh feeling energy continue to hum, never faltering. The threads of the energy were a bit difficult to follow as they were quite interwoven. She didn't dare try to unweave them, afraid that she would damage the spell over the house. She had traced her way up the current about a quarter of the way to the roof when her stomach growled at her.

  Sighing, she realized that she wasn't going to get any further until after she ate. So, she rose from her hiding spot in the middle of the rhododendrons and walked briskly back to the rear entrance to the house. She had just managed to change her clothes and run back down the stairs in time to join the crowd of people pouring into the dining hall.

  She peeked around the hall trying to find an empty table, but in her search saw Mary Ellen waving at her to come over. Shar was sitting there with her, but Alayna was nowhere in sight.

  “Oh Rodelle! You look vibrant this morning! What is your secret? I just loathe mornings.” Mary Ellen was practically cradling her very large mug of coffee.

  “Oh, just some morning meditation,” Rodelle said as she took a seat at the table.

  “That's some pretty powerful meditation, then,” Mary Ellen mumbled as she took another sip.

  “Um, nothing big. Just drawing a little power from the dawn is all.”

  “I've heard of that,” Shar spoke up, wide eyed. “But no one here has ever done it. Or taught it. We are all taught to channel power through objects or each other, or from the Earth itself. How would you channel power from the dawn?” Shar sounded awed and skeptical at the same time.

  “Well maybe tomorrow morning if you are up early enough I will show you.” Rodelle felt excited yet apprehensive about connecting with another witch so soon after losing Laren. But her mother had told her that it was a good witch's duty to teach others. Knowledge should be shared, or it would be lost.

  “Ohhh here comes Alayna, with extra pep. I need more coffee for this,” Mary Ellen groaned.

  Rodelle looked up to see Alayna rushing through the large room straight for their table, narrowly missing the servers. She was wearing a huge grin and her eyes were wide as saucers. Turning back to the table she watched as Mary Ellen rolled her eyes dramatically.

  Alayna slid into the chair between Shar and Mary Ellen and took a deep breath. Mary Ellen waved her hand to cut her off.

  “Hold please, the servers are here, and I have to have more coffee before you pour gossip all over the table.”

  Alayna huffed and crossed her arms but waited silently until the servers finished piling the table with covered dishes and empty plates. And a pitcher of coffee, which immediately made its way into Mary Ellen's hands.

  “Ok, can I proceed now?” Alayna asked impatiently. Mary Ellen waved her hand at her friend as she took another sip, so Alayna continued. “There was a rescue last night!”

  “The werewolf village?” Shar asked as she piled eggs onto a plate.

  “No, they had to put that off for now. Dirk was pissed! Oh, and we'll have a witches’ meeting later about it. Just FYI.” Alayna started digging into the food in front of her.

  “What's new, Dirk is always pissed.” Mary Ellen rolled her eyes again.

  “Witches meeting?” Rodelle was already halfway through her plate of eggs, bacon and biscuits.

  “Yeah sometimes when a decision that affects the whole house comes up, they will call meetings for the different races.” Mary Ellen finally put her coffee mug down.

  “Wonder what this one is about,” Shar murmured.

  “Oh my gosh you guys! You've totally taken over my gossip session, which was NOT about this meeting. So, there was a rescue last night, two witches. I hear that one of them is a seer.” Alayna stared around the table after delivering her news.

  Shar's eyes got big again. “Wow. We've never had a seer here in the House before.”

  “That's because they are super rare. I also heard that she is really sick, like her power took her over or something. Probably lack of training or control. She lived alone with her sister.” Alayna paused for a bite of jelly toast. “Oh, and I guess it was Alarin and Dreven who did the rescue.”

  Rodelle felt Mary Ellen's eyes settle on her at her friends’ mention of the sexy vampire. “Oh yeah? Why is that important?” Rodelle asked.

  “Dreven is a scout, and he plays rescue sometimes with the vamps. But he's never pulled off a rescue with a witch. It's a good thing. He's showing positive progress,” Shar stated.

  Rodelle's curiosity was piqued now. “Positive progress?”

  “Well for all his smoldering sexiness, he's a pretty dark person. Never showed any hint of emotion or caring before. Well before yesterday that is.” Mary Ellen was grinning at Rodelle over her coffee cup.

  “What! What on earth did I miss?” Alayna stared down her friend.

  “Oh, Dreven seems to have a little crush on Rodelle, here. Even came to dinner with her last night.”

  “How come I didn't know! Why didn't you tell me? The ONE time I actually decide to study through dinner!”

  “Because you would tell everyone else, and vampire relationships are dangerous.” Shar stared intently at Alayna. Rodelle could tell that there was a further story there but didn't push.

  Alayna's eyes got a little less wide. “Ok yeah, agreed. And if that is the case Rodelle, be careful. Dreven is pretty dark. I don't know his story, only the masters do. But from what I gather he was quite the monster before he came here.”

  “You're the worst kind of gossip.” Mary Ellen stood up. “I'm going to see if they've posted anything by the elevators about this meeting.” She walked off gracefully, and out the dining hall door.

  “She's lucky I love her.” Alayna was concentrating on eating now that she was done talking and ate just as enthusiastically as she gossiped.

  Rodelle sipped her apple juice contemplatively as she watched the other girls eat. Sure, ok, Dreven was a vampire. Of course, he was going to have a dark past full of demons and horrible deeds. But she never felt any of that from him when she was near him. He was as comfortable to her as a second skin. She couldn't see anything bad about him, so she decided she would reserve all judgement on that point until something, if anything, happened to force her to do so.

  ----

  Dreven had risen early, still tired from the onslaught of memories that had come from seeing the soul stone aglow. But he no longer wished to lie in bed in the dark. So, he put the stone back in the box and after closing the lid he left his room and headed towards the west cellar door that would take him straight out to the yard.

  Stepping out into the early morning air, Dreven breathed deep enjoying the scents and smells and moisture of the early dawn.

  He also sm
elled Rodelle nearby. A quick scan of the yard caught a glimmer of sun reflecting from her rich brown hair. She was seated cross legged in the corner of the yard, looking to be deep in meditation. He could feel energy building up around her until it hummed, the air around her vibrating slightly. Those types with very sensitive senses would be able to see it; himself, possibly Alarin and Morgain.

  The rest of the folks of the Hartman House had no idea that Rodelle was as powerful as she is. He smiled to himself, loving that he shared a secret with her. One she might not even know fully. He figured that she was going to figure it out in a very short amount of time.

  Rodelle rose suddenly and stepped across the lawn lightly, heading away from him and towards the back door of the house.

  Seeing her had made him forget the previous nights troubled memories. She was here, with him, and he had every intention of being a part of this life of hers. He would not fail her this time.

  Chapter 8

  The witch's meeting had consisted of several topics for the agenda, the main discussion being how to house an entire village of werewolves. The suggestion that they build some new hut type buildings in the back yards gained the most support. The newcomers would probably feel more comfortable if they felt in control of their own surroundings, and the yards and gardens of the house were large enough to host a large portion of the village.

  Some of the teen and young adult wolves would be invited to share quarters inside the house proper, to be closer to others their age. They would keep them on the first floor, where it would be easy for them to slip out to the back yards to seek the company of the rest of their pack.

  These options greatly stretched the occupancy limits of the house, but they were still going to come up short on room. They talked of moving a couple of the 2nd floor classrooms down to the east wing of the basement to let the bigger families of wolves have the enormous rooms. They would just split up the classes to make up for the smaller room size. And there were currently no vampires in the east wing.