I came to myself on the floor close to a couch.  Where was I?  How 
had I gotten here?

Memory came flooding back in a rush and my hand flew to my throat.  
Jean-Claude had taken me!  But my hand came away clean, no blood, and 
I didn't feel lightheaded or drained.  I sat up and spotted Kimmy 
lying in a heap a few feet away.  Oh God!  No!!

I crawled over to her and checked her pulse.  It was strong and 
steady.  Her clothes were intact and I couldn't find any fresh bite 
marks on her.  But I couldn't wake her from the deep sleep she was in.

Belatedly, I scanned the room for Jean-Claude.  He was nowhere to be 
seen.  Tim sat in partial bear form, shaking off the effects of being 
rolled by Willie.  Willie was over against the other wall kneeling 
beside Damien.  The stone wall above Damien's head bore a small 
impact crater, similar to one you'd see in a window that'd been hit 
by a BB.  There was a smear of blood and hair from it down to his 
head.  What the hell hit *him*?  He looked to be conscious but 
groggy.  Willie helped him stand and led him out of the room, 
looking fearfully towards the hallway behind me.

I turned in that direction, wondering what had him so spooked that he 
would abandon the charge his master had given him.  I didn't know why 
the thrashing and moaning screams hadn't already drawn my 
attention...shell shock I guessed.

Ms. Everett was flailing about wildly on her back, her body bucking 
in a violent rhythm that almost put me in mind of an epileptic 
seizure.  The truly frightening thing was that she seemed to be being 
dragged into the hallway by an invisible hand.   Ramses moved swiftly 
to hold her down, trying to still the spasms that shook her frame.

"What's wrong with her?  What's happening?" I asked him, my voice 
strident with worry, trying to be heard above her now constant 
screams.  He didn't answer me.  Ms. Everett's hands flew to her ears, 
squeezing like a vice.  "Please GOD!!  Make it stop!" she pled.  
Ramses' face became determinedly set.  I could sense a great amount 
of power flowing out of him and around his servant.  Slowly, her 
statement began to clear.  The pain-etched lines smoothed from her 
face.  Whatever was attacking her, was focused on Ramses 
now.  I saw his eyes bleed over to black as he exerted his will to 
hold off the unseen assailant.  It looked like it was a hellacious 
battle.  His body shook like he was exerting tremendous effort.

Kylie opened her eyes and looked over at Ramses with 
concern.  "What's happening?" I asked her as I offered her a hand to 
pull herself up.  "Asher is fucking Jean-Claude.  And he's taking us 
along for the ride," she answered grimly.  Man, she looked 
pissed!  "Damn!" I muttered.

I reached out along the marks to my master and found the way 
blocked...seemed like he did that any time he messed with her...like 
he didn't want to get caught.  How DARE he!  He could blast past my 
shields any time he pleased, but I had to stay out of his thoughts 
unless summoned?  I didn't THINK so!  Exerting a burst of my own 
will, I shoved against the blockade he had constructed.  I was 
surprised at how easily  it crumbled.  He must not have expected me 
to *try* to get past it.

'ASHER!' I yelled at him.  'What the hell do you think you're 
doing?!'  He was surprised at my interruption, but didn't answer me.  
I forced my presence into his and immediately wished I hadn't.  I saw 
and *felt* what he was engaged in doing.  The lust, rage and raw 
power flowing through him was almost overwhelming.  Below us I saw 
Jean-Claude's face and felt his body.  His eyes were nearly closed, 
his head thrown back, growling grunts escaped his lips with every 
thrust of Asher's hips.  I felt the exquisitely delicious 
pain as his nails sliced into our back, drawing blood seconds before 
the wounds sealed over and vanished.

I sensed another presence with us, this one ancient and 
magnificent...Ramses.  I felt his struggle against the hold Asher had 
on him through Kylie.  He was being forced to feel everything that 
Asher did...and I realized that he was also feeling what Jean-Claude 
was experiencing as well.  Apparently there was still some link 
between the Master of the City and Kylie.  The experience was 
about to tear him apart, and still he fought.  Thinking to help, I 
thought at him, 'Relax and let it flow over you instead of fighting 
it...it will lessen the pain and you'll be more likely to survive.'  
Amazingly, he heard me.  'I *cannot* give in to the ardeur,' he 
snarled.  'I WILL not!'

'Asher let him go!' I demanded.  'You're killing him!'  'Non!' he 
growled at me.  'Dammit, Asher, he's saved my life more than once 
since we arrived here,' I argued.  'You OWE him!  If this is how you 
show gratitude, I hope I never earn yours...I doubt I would survive 
it!'

'I will *not* release him!' Asher avowed with savage glee.  'I feel 
his resistance weakening.  He has denied himself the power and glory 
the arduer has to offer for too long.  I want him to taste what he 
has been missing all that time!'  He meant to break the older vampire.

Jean-Claude met our gaze fully, his eyes a solid drowning blue.  I 
knew Asher's eyes looked like orbs of ice at that moment.  Our 
lover's gaze drew us down into bliss even as his hands tangled in our 
hair pulling us into a vicious kiss.  Our lips, tongues and fangs 
locked together in mortal combat.  The pressure built in us as we 
neared release.

In anger and disgust, I spat at Asher, 'Fine...if *you* break his 
control against the arduer, then it's only fitting that *I* be the 
one to help him sate his lust.'  'NO!' I heard Ramses cry out even as 
Asher released his hold on the other vampire.  'I forbid it,' Asher's 
tone was almost offhand.  A second later, we screamed in climax, 
stiffening inside Jean-Claude's body, even as he, trapped against our 
torso, shot a scalding sticky stream across our stomach.  Shuddering, 
I withdrew my mind from his and back into myself.  I wasn't sure 
whether I felt sickened or marvelously satisfied by the experience.  
Or both.

I became aware of my physical surroundings once again.  Kylie crawled 
over to her master and asked him, "Are you all right?" he nodded, but 
I had serious doubts about the truth of it.  Kylie's face grew 
angry.  Then I heard an echo of Asher's chuckle.  He was *so* full of 
himself.  He didn't try to block me this time as he flashed images of 
his plans for the evening at her.  It didn't really phase me, but 
Kylie began to dry-heave.  Ramses moved to support her.

'You just don't know when to quit do you?' I shot at Asher.

Suddenly, Kylie's body gave one final spasm as her Other preempted 
control.  A wave of power, ancient and as cold as deep space, swept 
past me.  Jules disentangled their body from Ramses' arms and stood, 
no longer a helpless victim of Asher's malice, but an avenging 
goddess.

I couldn't hear what she said to him, but I felt Asher recoil in 
terror.  'Julianna,' his mental voice whispered in fear and awe.  I 
sensed his fear turn to desperate panic as he flew towards us.  'No, 
please.  Don't abandon me, Julianna.  I did not mean them harm.  I 
only needed to draw strength to help Jean-Claude,' he 
begged.  'Liar,' I retorted.  'If strength was what you 
needed, you could have drawn it from *me*.  You dragged them along 
out of malice and cruelty, and I don't understand *why*.'  I didn't 
think he even heard me.  As he entered the room, all his attention 
was for the young woman standing before him thrumming with power and 
a cold rage.  Even with Jean-Claude's seed still glistening on his 
abdomen, he was breathtakingly beautiful.

He fell to his knees in front of her...a supplicant come to beg mercy 
from his goddess.  But there was none in her.  He prostrated himself, 
pleading, "Please.  I will not be so reckless again.  Please 
don't...."  He reached towards her in appeal.

Jules' voice, there was no way that could have been coming from 
Kylie, rang with power as she pronounced judgment on the prone 
vampire before her.  It was like the Voice of Doom.  "From this time 
forward, Asher, master of Orlando, you are cut off from me.  I 
release you back into the hands of your Dark Mistress.  I disavow you 
and cast you off."

"NO!" came his anguished scream.  Mind-numbing pain like a dagger of 
ice plunged into our heart.  my first instinct was to try and block 
off the marks to keep him from dragging me down with him into the 
abyss.  But I knew if I did that, he would truly die, and so would I 
most likely.  So, I took the advice I had tried to give Ramses 
earlier.  I opened to the pain and *embraced* it.  It poured over and 
through me...almost more than I could bear.

Then as quickly as it began, it was over.  Nothing had held it back 
or fought against it, so it passed.

Somehow I'd ended up cradling Asher in my lap.  He lay prone, his 
face pressed against my stomach and arms clinging to me with bruising 
strength.  He was wracked with violent sobs and screams, for all the 
world like a terrified abandoned child.

Kylie lay cradled in Ramses' embrace, sobbing as well.  As much as I 
knew it had hurt Asher, what must it have cost her to inflict that on 
*herself*?

Without a word, Ramses scooped her up and headed for her rooms.  He 
didn't so much as acknowledge our presence as he passed.

'I've lost her!' Asher wailed in my mind even as his sobs grew in 
intensity.  'Mon Dieu!  To have found her after all this time only to 
lose her *again*.  And not to Death but by *driving* her away from 
me!  How could I be so *stupid*?!  Julianna!  Julianna!  Sil vous 
plait!  Come back!  Come back! Julianna....'

She did not answer, and my heart broke for him.  He was being 
swallowed by despair.  I couldn't rock him in the position he was in, 
so I settled for gently stroking his sweat soaked hair and bare back.

Gradually he became aware of my presence.  His arms tightened 
painfully and I gasped.  "Oh, ma rose d'acier," he sobbed.  "What 
have I done?  How long before I drive you away, too?"  "Never, mon 
bel Ange," I assured him.  "I'm not that easy to get rid of."

"Non, you will leave me too someday," he protested, his face still 
buried in my lap.  "I am too horrible to hope that you would always 
want me."  It pained me to hear the self-loathing in his voice.  The 
words from one of my favorite songs came to me then.  They seemed to 
fit perfectly what I wanted to tell him at that moment.  I lifted his 
blood streaked face to look at me.  "Asher, for better or worse I 
love you.  I will *never* leave you...NEVER," I swore vehemently.

He sat up and I pulled him into an embrace.  As he curled around my 
body I resumed stroking his hair and began rocking him back and 
forth.  Softly, I sang the lullaby that I'd remembered.

"Goodnight my angel, time to close your eyes/ and save these 
questions for another day./ I think I know what you've been asking 
me./ I think you know what I've been trying to say./ I promised I 
would never leave you/ and you should always know/ wherever you may 
go/ no matter where you are/ I never 
will be far away./ 

Goodnight my angel, now it's time to sleep./ And still so 
many things I want to say./ Remember all the songs you sang for me/ 
when we went sailing on an emerald bay./ And like a boat out on the 
ocean/ I'm rocking you to sleep./ The water's dark, and deep/ inside 
this ancient heart/ you'll always be a part of me./ 

Goodnight my angel, now it's time to dream/ and dream how wonderful 
your life will be./ Someday your child may cry/ and if you sing this 
lullaby/ then in your heart/ there will always be a part of 
me./ Someday we'll all be gone,/ but lullabies go on and on./ They 
never die./ That's how you and I will be."

My own voice was a broken whisper by the end of the song.  My face 
was wet with tears of my own, but Asher seemed to have spent the 
worst of his grief for the moment.  He pulled back and kissed my 
tears away gently, then nuzzled my hair.  "Merci beaucoup, ma rose 
d'acier," he murmured.  "Je t'aime."  "Je t'aime aussi, mon bel Ange 
de Morte," I whispered back.

I glanced over towards Kimmy and saw something that wrung a sobbing 
laugh from me.  Tim, *still* in partial bear form, sat cradling the 
unconscious woman in his paws gently, tears glistening in his fur.  
The emotions and power *had* been pretty loud, I thought.  It was 
almost nauseatingly *cute* to see a pink teddy bear holding a "child" 
for comfort instead of vice versa. 
Blech!

Movement in the hallway drew my attention.  Nathaniel crept into the 
room on all fours, but still human.  "Where'd you come from, kitten?" 
I asked softly.  "I was in Anita's room," he answered.  "I came to 
see what had happened."  Cautiously he eased over and sniffed at 
Asher.  When Asher turned to look at him, he flinched like he was 
expecting a kick to the head or something.  Asher made no move 
against him.  Nathaniel, like the cat he was, stretched his head up 
and licked Asher's cheek, cleaning away some of the bloody tears 
in the process.  I guessed it was his way of showing comfort.  Asher 
smiled sadly and stroked Nathaniel's hair.  The wereleopard leaned 
into the caress, aching his back and purred as Asher's hand moved the 
entire length of auburn hair.

"Mon ami?"  I stiffened at the sound of that silky voice.  Jean-
Claude stood in the doorway clad in a black, fur-trimmed robe.  His 
hair was mussed and his statement half sated half haggard.  As he 
approached where we sat, every nerve ending screamed at me to run 
away NOW.  I held my position, however.  I would not abandon Asher.  
I felt the ardeur flare briefly at the sight of my master naked in my 
arms.  A testament to at least some success on Asher's part tonight, 
Jean-Claude quickly brought the drive under control.

"My apologies, Madame," he stated.  "I did not mean to frighten you.  
I have been less than a gracious host I fear."  I trembled as he 
stopped beside us and reached down to smooth his fingers along 
Asher's cheek.  "What happened mon ami?  Why the tears?" he asked.  
Asher released his death grip on me and clung desperately to Jean-
Claude's knees.

"She's gone, Jean-Claude...she's gone for good," he sobbed.  "*Who*is 
gone for good?" Jean-Claude asked.  I answered for him.  "Jules cut 
him off from her.  It was pretty rough."

"Mon Dieu!" our host exclaimed and launched into a long soft string 
of French that I couldn't follow at all.  He clutched Asher to him, 
drops of blood starting to trail down his cheeks as well.

"Asher," I said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder.  "Go back 
with Jean-Claude.  He still needs you (I could see his erection 
growing and felt the ardeur building even as I spoke), and you may 
find some comfort in his arms."  He just nodded mutely.  "Nathaniel," 
the Master of the City summoned.  "Show Timothy the way to the guest 
rooms then return to my chambers...Asher will need to feed soon."  
The boy did as he was told and led Timmy and Kimmy from the room.

Jean-Claude lifted Asher to his feet.  "You are welcome to join us 
Madame, if you like," he offered.  I shook my head.  "No offense, but 
no thanks," I replied.  "I am NOT comfortable around you."  He nodded 
his understanding.  "I only hope that you will not always fear me, 
cherie."  He turned, guiding Asher back to his room.  I waited until 
they were out of site before following, going to Asher's rooms.  I 
needed to clean up.

Once there, I put the stopper in the sink, filled it up with cold 
water, and began tossing my bloodied clothes in to soak.  I had a 
quick shower then headed off for a serious discussion.