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Finding Meridian Ch. 02

By: Meridian13



What does Meridian do at Night?

While at dinner with Logan and Drake, Marcus could not get his mind off of her singing that song in his ear. Logan and Drake were saying something about enjoying taking over the London office. That damn song! He had to know the rest of it. Damn she was so hot. 

"Marcus we were ordering drinks. What did you want?" Logan said.

"Sorry I just can't get a song out of my head but can't remember who sang it or the name. I'll have a Guinness." He told the waitress.

"I'm really good with at least modern songs do you remember any of the words? I know I hate not being able to remember a band or a song name."

"Something about ties me down with daisy chains.." The waitress cut him off and immediately started singing "M'aidez this is my m'aidez, open charms are lost on velvet M'aidez this my m'aidez, m'aidez. M'aidez." "The song is by the Sneaker Pimps. M apostrophy aidez is how it's spelled for the song title. The name is French for Help Me. It was on the Bloodsport album in 2002. I'll be right back with drinks." The waitress left singing "Painless chinese burns, ties me down with daisy chains, diamonds on her tongue and pleasure cuts and teasing." They all stared at her dumbfounded as she left.

"Ok Marcus what was that all about? When have you ever listened to a band called Sneaker Pimps?" Logan started laughing. Logan and Drake could see the scene in Marcus's head where Meridian was singing it in his ear.

"Ahh got it." Logan said. "Sexy song the way she sings it." Drake said. Marcus gave him a dirty look and started to growl. "Let's just order dinner" he said as drinks arrived. 

~~~~~~~

As Meridian exited the subway she kept wondering what the hell she was thinking. She wasn't. She was going on impulse and basically attacked her boss. She didn't want to stop but knew she had to. She walked into her flat on the top floor of the building and grabbed a glass of wine. Focus on the band tonight. 

Just then Ken walked in and gave her a nasty look. "So now you're going to become an alcoholic to annoy me before the marriage?"

"A girl's got to have a hobby and your ill attempts at sex and lack of enthusiasm to fix the situation aren't doing it for me" Meridian said viciously. Why is it he can bring out the worst in me?

"Do you have to work your 2nd job tonight?"

"Yes, I'll be heading out at 7:30, what are you up to tonight?" Bitch is working at that stupid Goth clothing store again. Damn excuses of needing extra money for the wedding and honeymoon. She's probably fucking some guy at work.

"I'm going out with the guys. You wanna have a quickie before you leave?" He started to grab her waist.

"Calling me an alcoholic turned me off, go use your hand asshole" she said with more venom. Damn, he can really bring out the worst in me. Next I'll end up getting drunk on tequila and waking up in Mexico if this shit keeps up. I need to get out of here before I turn into a complete nightmare and shove him off the balcony.

She quickly grabbed her prepacked bag and headed out the door early.

~~~~~~~

"Hey G, you're in early doll face." Jason had been her agent for 3 years now. The current gig was at a new venue in Chicago. Not as large as the auditoriums but still for a new venue she was game. Jason was a 6 foot 5 gorgeous black guy who looked like he came off the cover of GQ. Meridian was Genevieve (pronounced Jen-a-vive) of Genevieve's Revenge. Ken never knew this side of her.

"I couldn't take being in the flat anymore, can we head to the venue and go over everything before the show?" As one of the top alternative lead singers she never had the nerve to tell Ken. He can't even handle who I work for. I could see him handling me being a multimillion dollar rock star as well. 

"G, I know the venue is a bit smaller than anticipated but I think you'll love it." Jason opened the limo door for her and she slid in. "Jason, I'd honestly anything to get on stage today."

"Ahh, G is jonesing for a fix" he giggled.

"You know me so well." 

When they arrived she finished reviewing all the details and proceeded to go talk to the band. "Hey guys, have ya missed me?"

"Ah G, we were going through withdraw. It may be a smaller venue but getting onstage and rocking sounds awesome to me" David said. 

David was the drummer of Genevieve's Revenge. David was 6 foot 2, 26 years old with sandy blonde shoulder length hair, he wore red contacts and was very pail always wearing Goth clothing. 

The bassist was Billie was Hispanic at 6 foot 1 with jet black hair to his chin with curls and bright blue eyes. He was the youngest at 24. He dressed in jeans only leaving his perfect chest with a six pack for the ladies to look at. 

The guitarist was Alex a 28 year old and 6 foot 5. He had shoulder length dark brown hair with a slight wave to it and green eyes. He always dressed in leather pants and a vintage t-shirt with the sleeves cut off showing off his many sexy tattoos. Most did not know that Alex was gay. Who was she to judge? She didn't care what they wore or their religion much less sexual orientation. The band was a family; they accepted each other as is. 

"So G, you still going to marry the Ken, shouldn't he be marrying Barbie and they could drive off in her pink corvette to her townhouse?" David asked sarcastically. Everyone started laughing.

"I'm seriously rethinking this whole thing, he doesn't even know about the band and he can't handle my job. "Ok it's really my boss he has a problem with. If he can't handle my boss how is it going to go with the "Honey, I'm a rock star" speech?" "Honestly guys, all we do is fight. I'm to the point of bashing his manhood. Then something kinda happened with my new boss today" she said biting her lip and making a face.

"Ok, spill it doll, we all want to know. Explain, kinda happened?" Alex said looking at her with a devilish grin. He didn't like Ken from day one. The band was introduced as friends. Ken hated alternative and couldn't tell the difference between a CD and vinyl. Plus he hated gays. The man was truly an ass.

"He kissed me and I attacked him like he was chocolate cake and I had been on Atkins for 2 years. We didn't sleep together but when he moaned my name I ran out of the building like it was on fire. His office looked like it'd been trashed. My first and probably last paycheck will all probably go to office damages!"

All the guys started laughing. "G, I've seen a picture of him, he's fucking hot. Who could blame you when you aren't getting anything out of your relationship with Ken" Alex explained.

"Guys, I'm not like that. I'm in for the long haul and I am thinking if I am this distraught before marriage, I need to exit stage left from Ken before we get married."

Billie finally spoke up "Doll, toss Ken out on his ass. This isn't working with him. None of us need you getting cold feet and running away from the world for a month. I swear the next time we have to track your ass down because you are avoiding confrontation I'm going to stick one of those lost pet chips in you when you pass out from drinking." Everyone started laughing. 

"I'll make a decision this weekend. Time to get ready and hit the stage guys. Thanks, I love you of course."

At 9 pm the band was on stage. The performance was outstanding. The entire crowd was screaming. Her singing was even louder than usual with an amazing range and melodic wailing. Tonight she was wearing leather pants, fuck me boots and a corset in red. She even pulled a guy up from the audience and had him sing a duet with her. Then things went horridly wrong.

Someone threw something at the guy singing a duet with her. They missed him and she was hit with something hard against her right cheek and forehead. She was hit hard enough she passed out. She started to fall forward into the crowd the guy who had been singing with her grabbed her by her upper arms. He picked her up and with the rest of the band surrounding them started to head off stage. 

She came to hearing Jason yelling at the club manager regarding lack of club security. 

"G, you're back, thank god! You look like a horror film victim with all the blood from the head wound bleeding down your face" Alex yelled. David couldn't handle blood and was in the corner of the room.

Everyone crowded around her while a doctor put a butterfly over the soon to be black and blue cheek and put 2 stitches in the head wound luckily under the edge of her hair. He gave her an ice pack to keep the swelling down on her cheek. 

She looked up at the guy who had carried her off stage and said "thanks for catching me and getting me off the stage, make sure you give Jason your information so we can do it again but without violence". Then they both laughed.

"Guys, I'm fine, I've got to get home. Damn, why are all the cops here and all the ambulences? Isn't this overkill for me getting hit in the head with something?"

"G, a fight started in the crowd after you were knocked out. The club has done a piss poor job at security!" Jason said vehemently at the manager of the club.

"G, it might take a while for all of us to get out of here." Billie said while grabbing some glasses for all of them to do a shot.

It took forever to get home after having security rush her to the limo. She put up the window and changed as they pulled up a block from her flat. She rolled the dividing window down and said "Thanks Frank". 

Ken was fast asleep, she changed and showered getting all the blood off her body then headed to bed.

~~~~~~~

Marcus, Logan and Drake were all stuck in their limo trying to get back to the hotel but traffic was a standstill.

"What is going on? Has this area been changed into a parking lot instead of a road?" Drake asked with annoyance.

The limo driver responded "Sirs, there was a new venue with a top band playing and I guess the lead singer got hurt then a fight broke out in the crowd. I'm trying to get you to your hotel as fast as possible."

Finding Meridian Ch. 03



The Beginning of a Bad Day in the Office

Meridian Hayden was sure today was going to be a bad day. Friday's were supposed to be good. First of all looking in the mirror first thing I the morning she looked like she'd been hit in the face, oh yeah she had been. It wasn't too swollen but she wasn't sure she'd be able to hide the black and blue with makeup. Hand prints were on arms where the guy had caught her. She decided to call her old friend Connor. He had moved here recently. Very few people knew her past. She was having a foreboding feeling of something bad happening. Damn I hate this. 

"Hey Connor, it's M. I wanted to say hi and I'm having the wonky something bad is coming feeling. I feel it's for me but if you're out and about watch your back; you're the first person that came to mind. Now erase my message and call me silly, miss ya!"

Damn she thought as she was running late to work. Another fight with Ken before work. He believed her when she said she slipped on the stairs. He actually looked like he was going to hit her this morning before throwing a cup of coffee at her during their fight. Her throwing one back was surely going to cause a fight again tonight.

Yeah this marriage is going to work out well; I'll probably hold the pillow over his face with my knees while he is sleeping waiting for his death on our honeymoon. If this is love I need to start eating glass with a shot of drain cleaner afterwards. 

The jerking of the hot and smelly subway car brought her back to reality. The man behind her practically ran her over while she was trying to exit. She flew out of the subway car. "Damn it, watch were you are going!" she screamed as she fell on the platform and now her heal was broken. 

At least she kept an extra set in her backpack along with a Berretta 92FS fitted with a custom silencer and 3 extra clips were hidden in her purse in the backpack. She had a purse with a fake side shielded from security x-ray machines. It was still a habit to carry it. If her fiancé knew all the guns she had hidden around their flat he would certainly freak out. They needed to talk this weekend.

Am I GI Jane marrying a Ken doll? Great, she thought, just 2 weeks as a new daytime executive assistant to a top Chicago Billionaire and she's late to the office in Chicago. All I want is for him to take me on his desk. Damn it M, get a grip he's your boss and you just need a good lay. Oh shit, I'm not even married and in a relationship not getting laid.

"Whew", she said as she arrived in her office and quickly changed shoes. Everything was set for the new CEO of London, Mr. Logan Tiernay, and new President of London office, Mr. Drake Gaudet, of Benedict Imports. They were expected at 9:30 am. It was 8:40, enough time to check with Mr. Benedict and prepare for the meeting. She walked to Mr. Benedict's office to check on any last minute details.

"Good Morning Marcus, everything is set up in your conference room for the meeting at 9:30. Lunch reservations are confirmed. Both of their flights were on time and they arrived at their hotel without any problem. Is there anything you need assistance with?" she said.

"Good Morning Meridian, sounds like everything is wonderful. I just finished the final details. Can you step in and close the door. I wanted to talk to you for a minute about yesterday" he said.

Shit, this is going to be a bad day, I'm gonna lose my job after yesterday's lust session.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about getting carried away yesterday. It was entirely inappropriate for me to do that especially with you getting married. I was a cad. I hope you can forgive me and will still stay working for me. I promise to behave myself." There he said it. 

He then took a good look at her and realized the bruised cheek that looked like she had been hit. He also thought he saw hand prints on her arms she tried to hide with makeup.

"Yes, you should feel extremely bad about it. (He started to frown) It's not like I launched myself at you and attacked you like a 15 year old. I will accept your apology and add in my own" she grinned and giggled. He started to smile and laughed. He then stepped up to her putting his hand under her chin and turning her face so he could see the bruising on her cheek.

"Ok, I have to ask. You look like you got hit. Makeup is not doing a good job hiding it or the hand print. Please tell me Ken didn't hit you last night."

"Honestly, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me" he said while trying to control his anger. If Ken had hit her he would make sure the guy disappeared and died a violent death. 

"Well last night was girls' night out and I was in charge of planning the evening. We went to a bar I picked out and there was a band. Everything was going great when I decided to enter the mosh pit." Marcus raised an eyebrow. She wasn't lying, it had happened before.

"Anyways, things started getting rough and before I was able to get out I got hit in the face. The hand prints were from the lovely guy who dragged me to safety."

Marcus didn't look convinced. "You need to find less dangerous hobbies." Finally releasing her chin and going to sit behind his desk.

"Oh trust me sometimes I can make walking dangerous to me and those around me."

"Your marriage is in 4 weeks correct? Are you excited? Where are you planning your honeymoon?" Marcus asked her.

She crinkled her face like she had eaten something bad. "Yes, the wedding is in 4 weeks. Excited like waiting for a root canal, I'm hoping for glassware since I seem to be chucking most of what we have at him when he opens his mouth. I'm considering a restraining order along with the marriage license. I'm going to make him read it for as his vows. For the honeymoon I am working on rearranging it to a location with a lot of jagged cliffs with sharp rocks below" she said.

Shit, I said that out loud. 

Marcus laughed and said "Ahh, marriage and romance. There has to be something worth marrying him for or you wouldn't be, correct?"

Meridian scrunched her face again and thought "Umm, I'm drawing a blank. I will refrain from making any other commends and plead the fifth. I'd prefer to keep you off of the prosecutions witness list in the event of Ken Doll's violent and suspicious demise shortly after marriage. There really isn't enough time to schedule that into your calendar" she laughed. 

Damn she is witty as hell. No matter how stressed I am she can make me laugh. She is such a doll with an attitude; I can't even get mad at her when she's late. She's not even pissed or weird after yesterday.

Marcus raised an eyebrow at her and said "Please tell me you really don't call him Ken Doll as in Barbie". 

"Only while fighting, which is why I was running late this morning, sorry. Dodging flying coffee mugs makes my escape from the flat aka pit o' hell more complex. Speaking of that would you like some coffee this morning or tea? I seem to have better aim and he's wearing mine. To be honest, I nailed him so hard in the chest with the mug from across the room that he fell off the balcony down into the dumpster below. Luckily for him tomorrow is garbage day to cushion his fall but I don't think Saturday is "turn in your half assed fiancé dumpster day". I had to hurry and get out before he came running after me. " she asked. 

Laughing Marcus responded "coffee would be great". 

~~~~~~~

Marcus watched her leave thinking "damn if only she were single. Maybe she wouldn't be freaked about me being a vampire, what the hell am I thinking she's engaged". 

After she left his coffee, she went back to her desk to finish up work. 

Marcus grabbed the phone. "Damon, I need you to do a complete check on Kendall Emerson."

"Yes, sir. Is there anything specific you would like me to look for?"

"Any battery, abuse or the like but include the rest of his background."

~~~~~~~

Both Mr. Logan Tiernay and Mr. Drake Gaudet arrived. She thought she recognized them from the elevator yesterday. She really hoped she didn't. She walked them to Marcus's office.

"Did anyone need anything?" She said looking at them at the conference table.

"We are all set Meridian. Thank you. We'll call you if we need anything." Marcus said to her. She left the office closing the door behind her.

They waited until they could sense she had left the door.

Logan looked at Marcus asking him, "Who the hell hit her?" 

"She said she was at a concert that went bad. It could have been the one we were stuck in traffic with. I'm having Damon check out her fiancé." Marcus said hoping they didn't pay any attention to the fiancé part. They just nodded their heads at him agreeing with checking out the fiancé. They both knew better than say something about her having a fiancé. They both knew if her fiancé had touched her it wouldn't take Marcus long to have the guy killed. 

~~~~~~~

When it hit 11:30 she went to Marcus's office, knocked and reminded Marcus "Sir your lunch is confirmed for noon and the car will be downstairs in 10 minutes to take you". She helped clean up the table and put away the meeting materials while leaning over the table. Both Logan and Drake gave big grins watching her skirt creep up. 

"Thank you, Meridian" Marcus responded.

Marcus started their telepathic conversation "Keep your eyes off my assistant's ass!"

Both Logan and Drake could read Marcus's errand thoughts about having kissed her yesterday. 

Logan telepathically said "I only looked at her ass; I wasn't the one groping it yesterday". 

Drake said "She is a hotty. If you decide you don't want her, transfer her on over my way". 

Marcus growled and said "Back off she's getting married and if that falls through, I'll be the one waiting".

Logan said "Damn, Marcus waiting for woman, she's what 20. You need help planning his demise?" as he chuckled.

"If he hit her there won't be much planning. If he didn't honestly, he might not make it through the honeymoon" he then let them see the conversation this morning regarding the dumpster and vacationing near cliffs with jagged rocks. 

"I didn't know they made a Dumpster Ken Doll" Drake said telepathically while laughing.

They all started laughing with both Drake and Logan saying "we really like her". 

When he came out and she was finishing a phone call with "Connor" he felt jealousy hitting him especially when she said, Love ya Connor. 

"We're headed to lunch, don't stay too late!" Marcus said. Still feeling jealous for her talking to some guy named Connor. 

It was Friday so the office closed at Noon. She was only going to stay till 1 pm to catch up on work. Unfortunately the fighting with Ken had been distracting her. Ok the kiss between her and Marcus was still making her head swim. She kept telling herself it was just lust. She remembered that she forgot to tell Ken that the company closed at noon on Friday's during the summer. Damn why was she still lusting after Marcus, he doesn't even know her second life at night.



Finding Meridian Ch. 04



A Bad Day in the Office: All Hell Rains Down

Since she was alone at her desk at noon she started singing and finishing work. Before she knew it 1 pm had approached. She started to close down her computer when she heard noise near the front of the office. 

It must just be security; everyone else is gone right now except for the security in the office. Then she saw him, an armed gunman.

"And I was thinking this was going to be a boring job, I get a hot piece of ass along with a payday" as the armed gunman approached her.

Instincts kicked in as she ran to the door to her office to lock it. Meridian was thrown back and slammed into the back wall of her office.

Damn this guy must be on PCP she thought as she hit the floor. There's only one, I have a chance. 

Before she knew it he was on top of her. He ripped her blouse and skirt off leaving her only in her lace bra, thong and garter with stockings. "Damn you are one hot piece of ass, you are going to be sweet to fuck raw until I'm ready to kill you, and you won't need these." He ripped her bra and thong off of her.

"Oh hell, nipple and clit piercings, we are defiantly going to have some fun." She kicked and fought until she realized this guy was like pushing against a solid rock. He grabbed her pierced breasts and bit them while squeezing them hard enough to leave hand prints. He gripped her hips so tightly she was sure he was going to rape her right then. He roughly shoved a finger in her and she was ready to scream in pain. 

Oh God, he's gonna rape and kill me. Panic set in, and then her training set in from her early days. Make him think you'll do anything, play the innocent frail female. You only need to get your gun. She saw her purse on the floor next to her under the desk. I just need to get it out.

"Stop please, I'll do whatever you want just don't kill me. I promise. I don't want to die. You can do anything to me you want me, just tell me. I just want to live. I can make it more fun for you if you let me pleasure you" she said while batting her eyelashes and biting her lower lip.

"Now that is more like it, I bet you can suck some mean cock, don't you dare bite me bitch" he said while moving to stand up with the gun in his hand by his side. He smelled of cheap cigars and cheap whiskey. 

She started to crawl up from the floor while sliding her left hand under the desk to grab her gun from her purse all the while running her right hand up his leg to keep him distracted and using for balance. Keeping her head back and the gun hidden behind her back. 

She kept thinking she didn't need to disarm him just distract. He unzipped his pants and pulled out his cock while she ran her right hand over his cock. "Oh yeah baby, is that what I do to you? Is that big cock for me" she said. He didn't notice the touch of evil in her eyes or that they had changed to a dark gray color that of bad thunderstorms. 

NOW. Do it now. She kicked out her left leg kicking his hand with the gun. She aimed her left hand while falling backwards shooting him in the head. She saw him fall on her knocking her head into the floor. Everything went black.

~~~~~~~

Drifting towards consciousness she realized someone was on her, flashes of this morning and the coffee cup ran through her head. Just then she remembered the gunman, he was collapsed on her.

Fuck, oh fuck. She finally was able to push him off her. What the fuck do I do now? Oh Fuck! Sure a normal woman should be screaming and crying and I'm here analyzing technicalities….just chill out. She always had a tendency to use the F word too much when stressed and pissed. 

Yep and I'm completely nude except the damn garter and stockings. Shit. Screw it, pull yourself together damn it. Suck it up she told herself. Grabbing the flask from her backpack she took out her cell and took a few drinks. OK think damn it. She could just run away, oh yeah that'll fucking work. Damn it. First check the dead guy's pockets. She found a usb drive and a written note. She used a tissue to wrap both in. She hid them in her secret purse compartment.

Connor, Connor O'Brien is on the police force here and I can have him help me. He'll help, we used to work together. She hit speed Dial. 

"Hey M babe, how are you? I've been meaning to meet you for lunch and we could talk about your new job, how's the big guy at work? How's Ken?" as Connor rambled.

"Fuck Connor, shut up. I need help! I need to call in a favor big time! This is bad." she screamed softly.

"M what the hell is wrong, breath, what happened? Whatever it is I'll be there for you just say the word. It can't be that bad, oh shit, you are freaking out, it has to be that bad, tell me" he finally stopped talking.

It all came rambling out of her mouth fragmented pieces gunman, going to rape her, her clothes all ripped off, her shooting him, losing her job and the need to relocate.

"Ok calm down M, are you at your new job in the new building, 27th floor right?" he asked in a worried tone of voice.

"Yes, but if you just come crime scene it I'll lose my job have to change names and relocate all over. SHIT! " she screamed softly.

"M, take a xanax, stay exactly where you are. We'll handle this together. Doll face, it'll be fine. We'll work it out so your life doesn't fall apart" Connor soothed her.

"OK, hurry please" she pleaded.

~~~~~~~

Connor arrived 10 minutes later. Fuck this has got to be bad if she's freaking. At the front desk of the building he showed his badge and they let him up to the 27th floor. He walked into the office.

"M, where are you doll?" Connor's voice tensed as he spoke.

"In here, the office to the left, the door is open" her voice seemed steady.

She was sitting in her chair, drinking from the flask, legs crossed and basically nude other than the garter and stockings. The dead guy and her bruised appearance killed his hard on. 

"Didn't happen to bring me anything to wear did you?" she asked.

"Here you go doll, it's just a blanket but we gotta do this right. M, you OK?" he said.

"I'll be fine what do we need to do, let's get to it. What needs to be done to do this right?" she said sternly.

Connor thought to himself while looking at her "damn, when she locks down like this I know we're in trouble. I'm used to dealing with females crying and sobbing but this ice princess shit scares the hell out of me after what she's gone through". She's not even fazed by the dead guy on the floor other than complications on her personal life.

"M, we have to get others I work with in here. The whole 9 yards doll face, don't worry. I'll take care of ballistics and the gun. No worries doll. My men will be here anytime now. Now, hit me here and remember you hit the gun from him but don't remember anything after being knocked out until you woke up. I shot him is what you assume, got it. I was coming to take you to lunch to discuss your worries about your upcoming marriage. Don't worry doll with the government record you have they won't want you having anything to do with a shooting, any discrepancy will be erased" Connor said easily. She slugged him.

"Ok, fuck, you're sending me to the hospital with this whole 9 yards shit right? Damn I hate the hospital. Call the band and tell them I'm so sorry but I'm sick" she said.

"Damn woman, you don't hit like a girl, give me your gun and anything else I need to hide" he said while rubbing his jaw.

"You said hit you damn it, you want convincing don't you" she once again bitched.

"They're here, here we go doll" Connor said as convincingly as he could. 

~~~~~~~

Across town Marcus had finished lunch and they headed back to the hotel to rest and then go to dinner. He had known Logan and Drake so long this was just formality really. Straighten out a few contracts and such. 

Cool, I've got time for a nap. Nights are so much easier but this was all for the sake of impressions to others. I'm gonna really miss all the time I've had to spend with Meridian if only she were here with me. 

He woke to Drake almost beating his door down. 

"Damn it Drake, I was sleeping, what is so damn urgent" an irritated Marcus spat out while getting to the door.

"Turn on the damn news. We've got a huge problem. Your office was broke into. Logan is on his way up" Drake said irritated.

Logan walked in and right then all their cell phones went off. 

"Security breach, 1 dead, 1 injured, 1 male, 1 female" was said to all 3 over their cell phones.

"We'll be right there" each managed to say at the same time.

As they arrived at the building it was surrounded by barricades and police. Damon Bryant from the security office walked up to them.

"Damon, what the hell is going on? I want up to the floor now, it's our building, our office damn it" Marcus said angrily. 

"Sirs, we are not allowed to enter until the crime unit is finished. I've done all I can and they won't let us in yet. Someone broke in around 1 pm; it was right at shift change for security. No one noticed. I'm having video pulled and all info we can from our people in the police station. Data was stolen off the server; it looks like a list of all employees of the company, just the ones with seniority sirs. So far I know we had one employee on site when the person broke in. I don't know if it is our employee who is dead or just injured" Damon was hoping that Marcus didn't ask who. He had seen the way Marcus stared at Meridian. Damn it, please don't let him ask. 

"Do we know who the employee is?" Marcus looked at Damon knowing he was hiding something from him. 

"Sir umm it was Ms. Hayden" stepping back as he said it. Just then Damon's phone rang. "Excuse me for a minute….Yes, 2 hours and we will have access? Anymore details? Ms. Hayden? No, I understand get it done as fast as possible" Damon said swiftly.

"Sirs, we will be able to enter in 2 hours. No more details are known. In the meantime I have a mobile control center for us to go to." Damon said to the group of very angry looking men. Marcus looked like he was going to break through the barrier. He started to follow Damon.

"Marcus calm down, we don't know if she was hurt bad or killed yet, calm down" Logan said to him telepathically. 

"Damn it, I left her there, she's human. What are the chances they sent a human to steal from us? Even at that she probably weighs a whole 110 lbs completely wet. Damn it. If she by some miracle made it, what is the chance the bastard didn't hurt her badly?" Marcus growled telepathically back at Logan. 

Drake knew better than to say anything until they had more news. This was bad and he had never seen Marcus so angry in a good century. Damn he must have it bad for the human girl. She's just human damn it. Marcus just growled at him. Ok an amazing human.



Finding Meridian Ch. 05



Returning Home

"M are you sure you don't want me to call Ken? This could take a bit longer? We'll finish up some more tomorrow since you're looking tired but we still have a while here at the hospital" Connor was concerned that she acted completely cold about the whole thing. He had worked with her in the government and seen the cold spells during times but it still freaked him out. Her reaction to sitting in a room with a dead body was as if she had a house plant sitting in the corner. It was clearly disturbing. He wanted someone to make sure she didn't break at some point. Not even a tear from her yet.

"Ken will freak damn it. I'll have to slap him to get him to stop freaking out and screaming. I'm fine Connor; I've been through a hell of a lot worse and not a fragile vase. You called the band right?"

"Oh shit, sorry M, let me go do it now. You gonna be ok while I also grab us coffee?" Connor asked in a worried tone of voice.

"Unless you want to jump up on this table and throw your feet in stirrups then I really don't think you can help that much right now" she said sarcastically.

"Ugghh, I love you but I'll pass. You sure you're ok me running out?"

"Yes, Connor, get me 3 shots of espresso with heavy cream please. Oh and thank you Connor for everything."

"Of course doll face, just no stir ups for me, ask your fiancé ha ha."

She stuck her tongue out at him. He gave her a hug and ran out to call and get them coffee.

Once Connor left she layed there during the whole exam and pictures and such. Never once saying a word to anyone. 

Maybe Ken will be home or come home from guys' night out when I call him once I get home. I might as well find a new day job. I don't have the energy for a bunch of people on pins and needles around me all for nothing. It's nothing. Worse has happened, much worse. This is why I have a cold side so this stuff doesn't affect me. Damn premonitions, I still feel something bad is going to happen again. Damn it! How much more could happen to rip my life apart but at least I still have Ken and the band. It'll all be OK. I won't be surrounded with people acting like I'm about to break.

"Ms. Hayden we are all done and I'm going to release you. You do have a concussion, a couple of vaginal tears, numerous bruises, a three broken ribs and expect to need the painkillers tomorrow. You should have someone wake you ever 2 hours and keep an eye on you especially with your current medical condition. You have an injection kit at home correct?"

"Yes, can I leave now?"

"Just sign here and here is a painkiller prescription for you. No driving or operating machinery for 3 days but according to how you feel after that. I need to see you back in 3 days to confirm everything is fine. Call with any questions no matter how small you think they are, OK?"

"Of course, thank you, doctor." Just then Connor walked in.

"Connor, will you drop me off at the flat?" Meridian asked. He could feel her cold front coming back in. Here comes the ice queen he thought.

"Of course doll, I caught the observation part, is Ken going to come home from work to watch you?"As Connor asked he was watching to see if she lied to him.

"Yes, I'll call him. I'm sure he will Connor"

"Well, I'll be calling you 2 hours after I drop you off to check on you just in case, no arguments doll face. I've got your bag and stuff in the car, I know it's not supposed to go back to you but I pulled some strings."

"Connor, thank you." They proceeded to get in his police SUV and drive to her place.

~~~~~~~

"Sirs, we just got some news. We will be able to re-enter the offices in 15 minutes. As far as who was shot and the injured they said the Chief of Police will be here in 20 minutes to talk to you personally" Damon stated coolly. 

"I just want to know if she is ok, damn it can't anyone just tell me!" Marcus screamed in the Mobile Operations Center. 

"Marcus, we will know soon, Drake help me out here" Logan said telepathically. 

"I'm not getting into this until we know everything" Drake said telepathically.

~~~~~~~

"Connor, I'm fine. I'm just going up an elevator. " 

"What are you gonna tell Ken? You've got some nasty hand prints all over you. Mr. Benedict is going to want to know medically what happened, can I tell him?"

"Ugghh, thanks Connor thanks for reminding me I need a cover story. It'll take him a good hour to get home so I'll figure something out. Yes, you can tell Marcus but no medical reports or pics. Sorry about your bruise too."

"Call me if you need anything M. I'm calling you in 2 hours and if you don't answer I'm breaking down your door."

"Yes, Officer" Meridian teased. "You do look good in uniform, always have."

"Please exit the vehicle Ms. Hayden before I steal you away from your fiancé and have to take you in for lewd comments that completely stroking my ego."

"I'd say something else but it's just gonna get worse, talk to you soon Connor."

Connor proceeded to drive off as Meridian entered the building. Connor called his office to check in. "This is Chief O'Brien, please notify Mr. Benedict that I am on my way over to talk to them and escort them back to their offices and will arrive in 10 minutes. Also, make sure you keep an unmarked car outside of Ms. Hayden's resident. I want a call if anything unusual happens."

"Mr. Benedict, Chief O'Brien is on his way and will be here in 10 minutes to talk to you and also escort us back into the building" Damon said quickly.

"It's about damn time" Marcus screamed as he ran his hand over his face.

~~~~~~~~~

As Meridian exited the elevator she heard music coming from the flat. He must have gotten out of work early. It will be so nice to crawl in bed. 

She opened the door to see clothes thrown from the living room trailing into the bedroom.

"And I had to ask if anything else could go wrong, shit" Meridian said while pulling out the gun. "Thanks Connor for giving it back."

As she walked into the bedroom she heard it "Fuck me Ken, fuck my slutty pussy…oh Ken…oh yes." "Take it you whore…oh take my cum you whore…take it all." Meridian flipped on the lights and said "Ken take your whore and get the hell out." He started to scramble to get his clothes when he noticed she had a gun. "No Ken." 

Her eyes had changed from blue to a dark gray to match a bad thunderstorm. "Mer, sweetie, it wasn't what it looked like. It was an accident. I love you. We can make this work." 

She made a face of disgust and said "Ken Doll, get the fuck out. There is no WE. You have 2 options: A. Get the fuck out now before I shoot your ass and yes you will be leaving without clothes, the girl I'll let get dressed then leave. You will be leaving nude. I will tell your friends we had differences we couldn't work out. I'll even let you mail me your new address and I'll ship your shit to you. B. I shoot you, tell everyone you know that you're a cheating bastard and I rain down hell on you. I will trash and destroy your entire life. I've had a very fucking bad day so it might be to your benefit to pick option A. B would be highly painful and drawn out." 

"Mer, honey, rethink this, I could call the police for you aiming a gun at me."

"Ken Doll, honey, I could call all your gambling debts and offer your ass up as a big nude fest to help pay for your debts. Didn't think I knew about that did you?"

"Ken, you told me you were separated, you fucking bastard! Lying bastard" the female screamed.

"The only separation was me going to work. Ken, for once in your life be a gentleman and give this girl cab fare so she can get home. You unfortunately, will have to retrieve your wallet from the dumpster located under our balcony. Now give me your answer A or B"? Meridian look annoyed and pissed but not hurt just pissy about the whole situation.

"Damn it, A" he grunted as she tossed the cash to the girl who ran out. Then she made him walk into the other room and leave without any clothes. Kicking him out and padlocking the door behind her, not letting him have his keys until he retrieved them from the dumpster without the house key on it, each key individually thrown in the dumpster. She took his wallet removed all the cash. 

She laughed watching him run around the front of the building nude. She threw his empty wallet in the dumpster. Grabbing an old kitchen pan she sautéed his credit cards and tossed them in the dumpster from the balcony. Ken proceeded to jump in the dumpster…time for a picture as she grabbed her digital camera. Talk about dumpster diving. Time for a shower and new sheets…eww. 

~~~~~~~~~

Connor arrived at the reception area of the office building of Benedict Imports.

"Mr. Benedict?"

"Yes, what happened?"

"Let's go up to your offices so we can talk in private."

As they walked into the office Marcus noticed all the blood in Meridian's office. 

"We don't know anything yet Marcus, calm down" Logan told him telepathically.

They all sat in Marcus's office and he waited for Chief O'Brien to break the bad news.

"Mr. Benedict, at approximately 1:00 pm this afternoon someone broke into your offices. The individual had a key card and was obviously very familiar with your office procedures plus security. They stole data from your server as far as I understand and proceeded to attack Ms. Hayden. Ms. Hayden and I are old friends and I was meeting her for lunch. When I arrived a man had beaten her and was attempting to rape her. I came in with my gun drawn. He hit me when I was attempting to pull him off Ms. Hayden and threw her against the wall and I proceeded to grab my gun and shoot him. He did not survive. We are still in the middle of an investigation. What questions do you have for me? I will answer what I can."

"Chief O'Brien, how is she? Was she raped? Is she in the hospital? I want to see her. Feel free to call me Marcus, you've worked with my security before and always helped us immensely. I assume you are working with Mr. Damon Bryant on how the individual got in and such."

"Please Marcus feel free to call me Connor, normally I couldn't disclose anything but I'm allowed to tell you some since she gave me permission. I dropped her at home and Ken was supposed to be coming home from work to keep an eye on her. She has a concussion, 3 broken ribs, and numerous bruises and will probably hurt like hell tomorrow but she'll be fine. The concussion is not severe. I can give you her number so she can tell you when she feels up to visitors. Our office is working with Mr. Damon Bryant to make sure we get you all information in regards to the case. I cannot disclose the pictures and medical documents regarding Ms. Hayden. She's sensitive about it. Now just between us, avoid her today like the plague. I've known her for years. She's tough but later today will be her pissed off uncaring evil best. She'll be a nightmare to be around. Ken has one rough night ahead of him. As far as the rape, in all honesty, he did some damage with his fingers and that is rape but he did not have a chance to penetrate her with his penis. She's tough she'll recover."

Just then Connor's phone was ringing. "Can you hold on one minute while I take this?" 

Marcus replied with "Yes" and Connor walked into the other room.

"He fucking hurt her, FUCK, if he wasn't dead I'd hunt him down and kill him" Marcus said telepathically to Drake and Logan.

"Marcus, she's alive. She'll make it through. We'll check on her. She doesn't have to know we're there if you want to keep it low key." Logan said in response.

Connor re-entered the office chuckling and Marcus looked at with an evil frown. "Sorry for the interruption. I have an officer watching Ms. Hayden's place." 

"Connor, did something happen? Is she ok?" Marcus asked anxiously. Damn I sound like a little kid only worried about the girl and not why someone is stealing from me and had my assistant attacked.

"Well from the way things look Ken is going to take the brunt of her being pissed off. Marcus we've worked together a couple times so just don't tell her I told you. She caught Ken with another woman" and before he was able to finish he heard Marcus say "Shit, she doesn't need that right now." 

"I apologize if I'm laughing but she tossed him out nude, dropped his empty wallet in the dumpster with no cash, sautéed his credit cards and dumped them with his car keys. He's trapped in a dumpster and one of the officers is taking him in to book him for indecent exposure." 

"Should she be alone?" Marcus asked while slightly laughing.

"Don't worry Marcus, I'll be calling her shortly and make sure someone stays with her, there is no way we'll leave her alone during this."

"Connor, thank you for all your help and we'll get this all straightened up. Shit, she'll probably never want to see me or come near this place ever again." Marcus was running his hand over his face.

"Marcus between us, the worst thing you can do is to treat her like a victim. If you go see her tonight do not, I repeat do not expect her to fall apart. Don't tell her it's ok to fall apart. She'll slam the door in your face. You can be supportive, strong but do not expect her to fall apart. It's not her nature. She'll be cold and will resent anyone who treats her like she's going to fall to pieces." 

Marcus's phone rang right then and Damon came on "Marcus the camera in Ms. Hayden's office was able to catch most of the incident. I just received the report and it is not the same as the video." Right then Marcus heard Connor say "Damn it."



Finding Meridian Ch. 06



Consequences and Flames

"Connor, do you want to explain, the video is being sent up to me now" Marcus said in an angry voice. Drake and Logan just looked at each other like they were watching a movie. 

Drake said to Logan telepathically "This is like watching a movie".

Logan's sarcastic response back was "But who gets the girl?"

Oddly, Connor and Marcus both said at the same time "We can hear your thoughts you know".

Connor telepathically told them all "Before anyone speaks let me turn on the jammer in case someone is listening or there are bugs". He turned it on and sat it on the table. 

"Marcus, the cover up was necessary. As much as I would rather you not see what happened to Meridian, watch the video and I'll fill in the gaps" and Connor sighed. Both Logan and Drake moved to each side of Marcus to watch the video on Marcus's laptop. He had no idea what he would see. All of them looked highly confused once they had finished watching the video. 

Logan spoke first "Marcus please replay it and stop when I say stop....stop". "Connor am I seeing this correctly? " Logan asked with a raised eyebrow.

Marcus was trying to cool his emotions. He went to disgust, anger and hatred. That bastard had touched her. He had to calm himself and refocus. 

Then Marcus caught on to what Logan had noticed and proceeded to start asking Connor questions. "Ok Connor, first of all how does an assistant have the skills to kill a vampire and shoot him in the head, much less be carrying a Beretta with a custom silencer? As far as I knew it wasn't a normal gift as an engagement present. Was she sent here to take me out? I have more questions but we'll start with those". God, what if everything was just some plot and she didn't give a shit about him?

"Marcus, honestly she wasn't carrying a gun to make an attempt to infiltrate and assassinate you. She's still a creature of habit and she used to work for the government". Connor thought he should just slam his head on the desk right now to finish the migraine he would have later if they didn't kill him first.

"Look Marcus, shit it looks like some of this is going to have to come out. It has to be need to know and never written anywhere or typed anywhere. The girl made some enemies during government work and she's guarded when it comes to her personal safety. She's guarded for a reason. If she was going to screw you over she wouldn't have given me the usb drive and the note the guy was carrying to give you. Oh fuck, I left it in her bag. She knew I'd never screw her over and didn't know I knew you. You don't know I used to work with her". 

"Connor, you're telling me she was an agent working for the government? You honestly expect me to believe that a 110 lb little 20 year old, not even legal to drink used to work for the government". 

Connor just started to laugh. "Now I remember another reason they chose her. Marcus, she's not 20. She's in her 30's." Connor sighed and then began again.

"She has top sniper ratings, she shoots with both hands, she's sweet and nice but when things get dicey she flips her personality and turns into the ice queen with a gun and other weapons. She can make a guy feel like he's being seduced and give him frost bite at the same time, she has an odd lack of guilt if someone is to be eliminated, odd ethics and refuses eliminating children. She's a very unique creature she stashes weapons like a squirrel stashes acorns. I've never seen her regard a dead guy on the floor as anything more than a house plant in the way."

"On a personal note Marcus, if she was here to take you out it would be over and she would never, I mean never had become your assistant. It's too close and too high profile".

"Ok Connor, let's say I believe this then why is she "retired".

"She got sick, became a liability. A rare genetic disease is a liability for the government, it's not predictable".

"We have more questions for you Connor".

"Ask away".

"Logan pointed it out to me, her eyes changed from blue to dark storm cloud grey as soon as she planned to get the gun. That's not normal for a human, she is human right?"

"As far as I know she is. No one knows why. Things that aren't supposed to happen tend to around her. No one has figured it out. She goes on instinct. We were partners at times and she has premonitions. If she tells you something, you best pay attention. And for your information she is officially "retired" no freelance. She called this morning saying she felt it was going to be a very bad day". 

"I'll need some more convincing and the USB drive and piece of paper would go a long way. I'm going to still want to talk to her and make sure things sound right. I know you are vampire like me. Each of us has our own talent. Drake can see completely into someone's head; their entire life like a movie. I have to have him read hers to confirm this all. It can be quite invasive though if she resists. She will stay with me until this is all settled."

"Marcus I have no problem with her staying with you. Keep in mind despite her acting all strong and tough she's still a human and she's been hurt. As far as reading her" Connor took a deep breath.

"Meridian was not working for the government voluntarily. She was forced into it. I don't know all the details only that somehow she was brought in for a top agent vampire to read her thoughts. She naturally blocks but something happened and she forced something into his head. He upset her and her response caused him to go insane. He was a top official vampire in the government and at least a century old. She was given the option to work for them or be dissected. My only suggestion is you have someone who is disposable trying it but don't expect them to come out of it alive."

"What is her real name?"

"Honestly, I have no clue. She was known as the Ice Queen. I don't recommend doing any searches or backgrounds on the code name. The government will swoop in and we'll all disappear. Marcus I wouldn't lie to you. I know what happens to people who get on your bad side."

~~~~~~~

The first shift of security left Benedict Imports. One of the individuals called Cyrus Astor. "Sir, we've had some complications". 

"What the fuck happened to my man? You're telling me a mere human killed him? That is not successful, it's a failure...I don't tolerate failure". The line went dead as the security agent who worked for Benedict Importing heard the sound of a click before the gun to his head's trigger was pulled.

Jamison picked up the phone hitting redial. "Jamison, I assume you will be completing the mission?"

"Yes Sir, no problem".

"Go get back that drive for me, have fun with the girl while you're at it. I don't like witnesses."

"I won't fail you".

~~~~~~~

Jamison did a quick search on Meridian Hayden. That bitch! The Ice Queen still lives but not for long. Jamison took the stairs up to Meridian's home. This time he would not be screwed by that bitch. He placed picked the lock to the door entering the condo. He put the bomb under the counter. As he searched around he noticed she wasn't there.  Where the fuck is that bitch? As he touched the scar on the side of his face he, she did this to him, fuck! He'd find that bitch and kill her. 

He started searching the place. He went over to the bookcase. Grabbing the false book he opened it. Dumb bitch was still hiding shit in the same place.  He grabbed the usb drive and put it in his pocket. He ran down the stairs and out the back after arming the bomb for 10 minutes.

After the bomb blast, Jamison called Cyrus "The job is complete".

"I'll meet you tomorrow at 2 pm at Navy Pier Beer Garden and don't be late" Cyrus smirked.

"Wouldn't think of it Sir" as Jamison smirked and thought to himself. Screw Cyrus this goes to the highest bidder and auction off Cyrus after he had upped the price to both him and other clients. 

~~~~~~~

Driving up to the gorgeous rehabbed condos Connor, Marcus, Drake and Logan were getting ready to walk to the building when Marcus's phone rang.

"Mr. Benedict a first shift employee was shot in the head. We dumped his cell phone line and found the last call to Cyrus Astor." Marcus stood there for a second and started cussing. "Ok dump his home phone and get all the info on him you can, we are about to retrieve Ms. Hayd...What the hell?!" He shouted as the entire top floor exploded. "Oh shit, the entire top floor of exploded, please tell me she doesn't live on the top floor" and the line was silent. "Damon, tell me what fucking floor she lives on!" Marcus screamed. "Top floor Sir, I'm sorry Sir" and Damon stayed silent. "Damon, get a crew together to work with Connor's as soon as you can. Get in to confirm if she's really dead." 

Connor just stared in shock with all of them and 2 seconds later started yelling "Get in the car we have to get out of here." Maybe she made it out. Things are going to hell fast.

~~~~~~~

4 hours later Damon's crew assembled with Connor's and entered the remains of the top floor penthouse.

Drake and Logan were working at Marcus's estate with international contacts to work on piecing together the puzzle. Marcus's and Connor's angry attitude was wearing on both their nerves.

Marcus and Connor headed to the charred remains of Meridian's residence. The whole building was blocked by Security to ensure safety. Both Marcus and Connor felt their heart sink when arriving at the top floor. No one could live through this. The whole place was completely destroyed. 

"Damon what do we have so far?" Marcus asked as Damon fidgeted. 

"Sir, the bomb was bad enough that I don't know if we'll even be able to find much less identify a body if there was one. The only reason we were able to view the remnants of the blast was a special shell has been built throughout the condo and hallway. We checked with the builder and it seems they had no idea about the special installation. All the other floors are normal. If it wasn't for the blast enforced walls then all of the floors would have exploded. The condo below hers was empty. All residents have been evacuated with only minor injuries" and Damon stepped back. 

Connor went to check with his team just dumbfounded at the destruction and was informed the only reason the whole building didn't go was because she had blast reinforced her floor. 

They just stared at the utter destruction. It was basically a box on top of a building. Damn, such destruction. Marcus kept thinking how all he wanted to do was get there, take her to his home and clear this all up. He wanted to hold her till she was well and then she would be his. His alone. Now it was all gone. He was so jealous before of Connor but now they were both suffering. 

"I think we both need a drink." Connor said.

Walking to the car Connor was sitting remembering her laugh. Their missions together. The time they discussed being a couple. Up until now he had thought he messed up saying the missions came first but he realized she was just like his sister. He had to help protect and save her so many times and now when it really counted, he failed. Failed miserably. 

He looked up and saw Kendall. As Kendall approached him he got ready to give him the news then Kendall opened his mouth.

"What did the fucking bitch blow my stuff up because I fucked some skank? It was her fault. Having to work fucking jobs" then he turned to Marcus "For you, you were fucking her weren't you? Is that why she threw me out and blew the fucking place up?" 

Suddenly Marcus was overcome by rage and anger and hit Kendall throwing him backwards into the crowd. He couldn't kill him right here so he had to keep some degree of control. The crowd all separated letting him fall onto the side walk. Connor grabbed Marcus's arms to pull him towards the car. Before they were at the car they heard the crowd started to scream and go after Kendall.

Connor grabbed his radio and instructed his officers to extract Kendall from the crowd and take him to the station for the time being. 

Marcus looked at Connor and asked "Was the crowd really going to tear him to pieces?" Connor answered him by saying "Meridian did a lot for this community, she may be able to turn into the Ice Queen but she helped so many families here. I always suspected it was because hers was horrid but she didn't say much."

"Marcus, shit, the city is going to get a dicey if she's dead. I don't know how to tell you about the other half of her life. I should have told you earlier" Connor said while thinking about how to say it.

"I knew she was getting married to Ken, what else is there?" he said as his mind raced.

"Have you ever heard of the band Genevieve's Revenge?" 

"With the female lead singer, millionaire and philanthropist Genevieve Austin? I know of her but haven't met her. Is she a friend of Meridian's?" Marcus asked quite confused.

"You've met her, she is Meridian" Connor announced.

Marcus stared at Connor dumbfounded. No, why the hell would someone who makes so much money come and work for him as an assistant? Working 2 jobs like she was saving money and not a millionaire. 

"I don't understand."

"She felt that the constant band, stage, rock star was starting to jade her. She had said she needed to "reground" herself as she put it. She was losing sight of why she was doing it. The meaning behind her love of the music. And it was working. She had never told Ken about her rock life. He just got more and more jealous and she tends to just cut herself off if someone is obsessively jealous." 

"Ken was freaking when he found out who she was working for and to her it was a "litmus" test. She was having doubts. Also, she's stubborn as hell so telling her she can't do something doesn't work. If he couldn't handle her working for a successful high profile individual and trust her how the hell could he handle the rock star in her? She'd never cheat on any committed relationship." Connor said.

"I told her before this started. I know her, have for really long. There would be no "litmus" test if it were right. She was over justifying ending it with Ken. She's not the kind of woman who is into a high maintenance relationship. She can't handle the fighting. I can tell you like her; I see it in your eyes. And so we are clear, a long time ago she had talked to me about us having a relationship and I declined. It wasn't until now that I realized I felt like a protective big brother. Still do. If none of this had happened, there would have been a day when Ken came home and she'd be gone. She's in a relationship for the long haul. If there's screaming, fighting, suffocating and huge drama or telling her how to be then eventually she grabs her running shoes and is gone without an explanation" Connor explained. 

"Damn Connor, now I miss her even more, we're there. If she is declared dead then what about a huge memorial service to avoid any riots?" Even while suggesting it Marcus's stomach was turning. 

"The problem with it looking like she was murdered is keeping the city from burning down around us. It's not as simple as having a huge city memorial service. She was kind of like a diplomat amongst the different styles of music, cultures, races, religions. If she was killed, you have no idea how many different people will be hunting down whoever did it. We're talking some not so legit groups, normal citizens, communities and the city could easily turn into a war zone of killing anyone suspected." Connor took a deep breath trying to relax.

"We're talking about planes of people from all over coming here for retribution over her death. As an example in Nevada she was able to unite and help form a treaty between a coven of witches and were's pack. They had been fighting and killing each other off for 100s of years. She doesn't care about the little things. To her the little things are things such as race, color, or religion. She never understood how much of a leader she was. Let's just go drink and if we can't be optimistic let's get so drunk we can't see straight" Connor said. 

~~~~~~~

Once walking in and seeing Drake and Logan they both looked up at Marcus and asked..."How much worse could this get? You look like a meteor is going to hit the planet". 

Marcus let them read his conversation with Connor in his mind.

Drake was the first to speak "Oh shit, do you have any idea of the following in London she has? The charities, the groups she has united? I agree, we drink and when we get the call tomorrow we figure out a game plan to stop World War 3 from breaking out".

Marcus picked up his cell and called Damon. "Damon, I need you to pull all the information on Genevieve Austin. I especially need everything she's done with every charity and diplomatic work with anyone. I'm talking even the off the radar groups. Vampires, were's, witches, covens and anyone else." Marcus closed his phone. Connor started handing out drinks. 

Not only was he mourning but now he was worried. 

~~~~~~~

The phone rang at 10 am the next morning. Saturday, damn it. Connor answered "Chief O'Brien here, tell me is she dead?"



Finding Meridian Ch. 07



Decoding the Past Changes the Future

Saturday, Morning

"Chief O'Brien, there is not enough debris to even tell if there was a body."

~~~~~~~

What happened to Meridian?

On Friday night, after eating a bit Meridian felt off. She turned up the stereo. Fuck, how much worse could one day get?! Something is wrong. Screw it, I'm packing a bag and I'm out of here. I'll buy a disposable cell and call Connor when I'm away from here. I'm not playing victim. 

Remembering the old dumbwaiter, she grabbed a bag and quickly packed. She heard a knock at the door. She climbed in the dumbwaiter with her bags, hurried and slammed the door closed. The dumbwaiter flew way too fast down the chute. She hit bottom hard enough to make her lose her breath. No time to lick her wounds. She had to go. She slipped out the back of the garage and down the alley. 

Then she saw the blast.

Luckily, she had reinforced her walls to ensure only her floor would be destroyed if something happened. Who was the person at the door? Was it someone to kill her or worse someone she knew? What if it was Connor or Marcus? Watching the concussion of the blast hit her top floor she almost cried. She didn't have time to cry.

Meridian rented a cheap hotel room on Friday night with one of other fake identities. The visions came all night long in her sleep. 

~~~~~~~

Meridian was having the same dream she'd had since she was a child. The flashes of images were incoherent. A man and woman so happily married. The woman and the man looked familiar but she didn't know from where. The next image was the same woman but pregnant with the man. She had always told herself they were the images of what she had hoped to have but there was more to it than that. The images were the reason she pushed so hard to stay with Ken until he cheated.

Then the bad images filtered through… three visions of death…three funerals…three little girls holding each other crying. She couldn't make out the faces of the girls since they were huddled together. 

This time the vision was longer and different. A vision of her staring at an image of herself then the image changed, it was the same face and eyes but with hair the color of cinnamon. She put her hand out to hold hands with the image. They grabbed hands like children; two women holding hands. The image with the cinnamon hair smiled and turned away from her to look at another image. Once again, it was the same face and eyes but with fiery crimson hair. They grabbed each others' hands and smiled; three women with the same face and eyes holding hands like children playing a game of red rover. The three images made a circle holding hands each staring at each other and smiling. Were these images different facets of her personality; the compartmentalized views of her life?

The 2nd woman looked at the 3rd woman and said, "My name is Alexandria." The 3rd woman looked at the first one and said, "My name is Trinity." The 2nd and 3rd women looked back at her saying in unison, "Your name is Meridian." The 2nd woman said, "Come to Seattle and find me. You cannot go forward without knowing the past." She then saw a vision of a mansion and an address.

~~~~~~~

When Meridian woke the next morning, she went over what she remembered of her childhood in her head. The first image she had was running and crying. There were blurred memories of living with nuns after that. They had called her Jane Smith. She saw herself in the mirror as a child. She remembered being punished continually by the nuns. She had overheard the conversation the night before she was taken to the orphanage. "The child is possessed an abomination and we cannot keep her here." Another woman spoke and said, "Take her to the orphanage tomorrow." 

The time at the orphanage was horrible with the numerous foster parents they tried to place her with. The foster parents always returned her since they were scared of her visions. She suffered years of abuse at numerous homes. She finally ran away at the age of 16 and worked to support herself. 

At the age of 22, she was working as a waitress when she saw a vision of the man she was waiting on being killed. She told the man and he laughed at her. Later he had laughed and joked with his superiors about the "vision" the mere waitress had told him about.

He was killed two weeks later. His supervisor tracked her down with the thought she had set up his friend. She woke up in a freezing room with no windows. The days seemed to lose meaning during the interrogation. Minutes merged into hours. The small room smelled of the room was of blood which reminded her of rust and iron. She was chained to a steel chair that was bolted to the floor; surrounded by bright lights. The man was not like other men, she sensed it immediately. He seemed older and smelled different than most men though he did not look a day over 30. Once again, she felt as if she was being persecuted for her visions. 

On the second day of the interrogation, she felt the officer was doing something that was pushing into her mind. It made her head hurt. He hit her continually; after the nuns, she had learned to block the pain of abuse. He kept telling her to let him see into her head but she did not know how. She couldn't understand what he wanted. 

Her fear transmuted into anger and hate. On the fourth day, something had snapped in her brain like a rubber band snapping. In a fit of rage, she screamed in his face. Her blue eyes turned to a dangerous color of gray reminiscent of devastating hurricane. She glared at him like a wild animal focused on its prey; hands clenched into fists so tight crimson blood dripped from her hands. He fell to his knees grasping his head. He flew across the floor and into the wall without anyone touching him. He was dragged out of the room screaming. Blood was dripping through his hands that were tightly clutching his ears and crimson blood flowed from his eyes.

Her fate was discussed among the superiors; unknown to her, their hope was to scare her into working for them. She was given the option to work with the government or be dissected. Like that was a choice! She chose to work for them and was known as the Ice Queen. That's when she had met Connor. He was different like the original officer, but she felt he was safe. Connor had always protected her.

Meridian stashed her extra baggage in a storage facility. She then went to the airport and took the first plane to Seattle. 

~~~~~~~

Connor looked at everyone on Saturday morning and broke the news about not having a confirmation. "Marcus, can we talk privately in your office?"

Marcus led Connor into his office and closed the door. Something was nagging Marcus, a feeling Connor was holding something back. "You have something to tell me. Don't forget my position and where your loyalty belongs."

"Marcus, I want you to understand I would never betray Meridian's trust. I have loyalty to both of you. Please don't misconstrue my lack of sharing everything to this point as a form of disrespect or lack of loyalty. I realize that my actions could be construed as withholding information, among other things, but it has never been my intent. I would never betray you."

"I've been a bit torn about sharing everything I know. After working for you, many years back, I'm sure I can trust you and highly respect you."

"Connor, stop kissing my ass and get around to telling me what you've been withholding."

"Her past, Meridian was originally Jane Smith. The government only knew that she was given to an orphanage after a nun found her as a child. She was in and out of foster homes but continually was returned to the orphanage. She ran away from an orphanage at 16. She supported herself after that. From what I remember hearing, she had a premonition of a customer being killed and she told him. He was a government agent. He told his superior and coworkers laughing about it. He died two weeks later. The superior officer had thought she had set his friend up. He interrogated her for days until she snapped and something happened to him. Rumors went around as to what happened in the room. They would never let me see the tape. I know they are only rumors but what I heard was of her eyes changing colors, her screaming, and him being thrown against a wall with bleeding ears and eyes. The rumors were that he went insane." 

"The government gave her the option of being trained as an agent or dissected. So she was trained and became my partner. She never shared anything else with me. I don't think she knows."

Marcus said, "Understand, under any other circumstance I would have you killed. If it were anyone else I would. Don't ever withhold information from me again. Don't mistake understand and compassion for weakness."

"I never would." They went back into the other room to check with Logan and Drake. "Does anyone have any new information?"

Drake was the first one to speak. "I've been able to find some information on Cyrus. I thought I recognized the name. He was dragged in front of the International Vampire Counsel with charges of killing vampires to gain their powers not too long ago. His technique was not perfected and the vampires he attacked just died but they couldn't link the murders to him." 

Marcus thought for a minute. "I remember now. I urged we keep him under surveillance and I was outvoted. That would explain the list but has he perfected it is the question."

Logan was recalling the details of the trial. "I remember that he was pretty damn close. The vote to ignore it was idiotic. Now we have to deal with him." 

"Did the list that was stolen have special talents of the senior staff listed?" Drake asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We don't know since we don't have the usb drive to confirm everything that was stolen. I think it's our best theory at the moment. He went off the grid after the trial; tracking him is our first order of business." Marcus said.

"I'm running by my place then checking in at the station. I'll check in after that." Connor left in his SUV to head home. 

~~~~~~~

Meridian arrived at the Seattle airport at noon on Saturday. She rented a car with GPS and headed to the location in her dreams. She had no idea what she would find. Her past had haunted her for so long. She had to find out what this meant. 

She still was unsure of what to say when she arrived at the gate of the address. 

"Ms. Henderson, love the new hair! It's good to see you again. Let me open the gate."

Meridian parked in front of the mansion and walked in not knowing what to expect. She entered the main area of the house. 

A young dark haired woman walked out. "Alex, you've changed your hair. I didn't realize you went out this morning." Just then another woman was standing at the top of the stairs. It was the cinnamon haired woman from her vision.

"Meridian, I've been looking for so long. I'm glad you made it and in record time."

"I'm assuming you are Alexandria?"

"Yes, and you are Meridian." Just then another woman stepped into the room with her. She turned around and looked. It was the woman with fiery crimson hair from the vision. 

"Ah, I see Trinity has also made it in record time."

Just then the young woman spoke up, "Did someone slip me drugs because I see three of you. Not that I'm against drugs but a warning would be nice." 

Alex spoke to all of them, "Everyone this is Tarrin, my assistant. Tarrin these are my sisters, Meridian and Trinity."

"Trinity, meet our sister Meridian. We finally found her. The three of us are together again."

Alex descended the stairs and took the other two women into her study. "Meridian, you are our missing triplet sister. I know this is a lot to understand but we've been searching so long. What do you know of our family?" Alex pulled out the birth and family documentation. Meridian reviewed all the documentation. Memories of years ago came back to her. 

Finally, Meridian started talking. "Sorry, this is a bit overwhelming. I would normally think this was a set up but I'm remembering things now." Meridian went over what she remembered from her childhood.

"Trinity and I were put in an orphanage as a small child and adopted shortly afterwards. I feel we need to go over the past to understand the whole story. Let me tell you of our family."

Over the next hour, Alexandria and Trinity revealed the past to Meridian. 

~~~~~~~

The story of Julia and Mike Henderson; parents of the triplets.

When Julia and Mike Henderson had triplets they were overjoyed. Mike had joined the military and was ready to head overseas. He was glowing when he saw the three little girls run up to him. They had been told they were never going to be able to have children. Having the three was a blessing. The children had just turned four and were considered highly advanced and intelligent for their age. Their names were Meridian, Alexandria and Trinity. 

"Daddy, why do you have to go? Please don't go daddy." The triplets continually talked at the same time. It never bothered Julia and Mike Henderson. 

"Daddy's never coming back. He's leaving us forever." Meridian said while sobbing.

"Sweeties, don't worry. I will come back. I'll be back before you know it. I love each of you never forget that." Mike kissed each child on the head and gave his wife a hug and kiss before he left. "I love you so much Julia. You could never make me a happier man."

"I love you Mike. Be safe and come back to us soon." Julia cried for weeks when he left. 

Weeks later, Julia received a call from Mike. "Hi Honey, I miss you and the girls so much. I don't know how long my assignment here will be. I can't wait to come home."

"I miss you so much honey. If it weren't for the children, I don't know what I would do. I feel so lost without you here; the bed is so empty without you."

"I feel the same my sweet Julia. I will be home as soon as I can. I love you and the girls so much."

Julia put each girl on the phone to talk with Mike. Julia was crying when she got back on the phone. "Mike I miss you so much. It's so difficult here without you and I'm so exhausted."

"Why don't you go stay with your father until I return? I can't stand to hear you crying like this and so exhausted. I don't like my girls being all alone."

"I love you Mike. I'll think about staying with my dad for a while. If I do, I'll leave the number and a message with your commander. I love you and will talk to you soon." 

In the following weeks, Julia became ill and decided to stay with her father until she recuperated. Taking care of three children alone was taking its toll on her. She packed up the three girls; they went to live with her father Dan. 

"Why are we going to live with grandpa?" All three chimed in at the same time. 

"Mommy misses daddy and grandpa will help mommy out until daddy returns."

"Daddy's never returning. Mommy, can't you call daddy and make him come home?" Meridian said. Trinity started to fight with her sister, "Daddy will come home. He'd never leave us." Alexandria started to sob, "Why would daddy not come home? He loves us, he said so."

"Stop it children. Daddy will come home. Mommy just needs some help from grandpa until he does. Now go and pack up some toys to take with you to Grandpa's." Julia left a forwarding number and message with Mike's commander. 

The following morning Julia left with the car packed to visit her father in Seattle. Her father was the owner of a local funeral home. Being around her father helped ease her pain and helped with taking care of the three little girls.

Four weeks later Julia was playing with the three children when the doorbell rang. Her father had answered it. Julia went into the family room when her father called her in.

Julia started feeling sick as soon as she walked into the room and saw the two Army officers. "Mrs. Henderson…." Julia fainted. She knew that Mike had been killed. 

"I told you daddy was never coming back!" Meridian was holding her two sisters while crying. 

Her father Dan arranged for Mike's body to be delivered to his funeral home and all of the funeral arrangements. 

On the day of the funeral the three children were all dressed in black. Julia was sinking deeper and deeper into depression. The doctor had given her quite a bit of medication to cope with the loss. During the viewing at the funeral home Julia was completely out of it. Dan tried his best to keep track of the children but didn't notice when Meridian slipped away. 

It was about 10 minutes later that he noticed Meridian was missing, he went with others to search for her. She was found a short time later in the room where all the bodies were stored and embalmed. 

"Honey, we were so scared. Don't you ever run off again, do you hear me? You should never be in here." Dan scooped the little girl up into his arms.

"Daddy's gone just like I said. Why can't I be in this room? They are all dead just like daddy is! Mommy is going to die and so are you! You'll both be here and we'll be all alone!"

Dan enraged by her comments shook her. "Don't you ever talk like that again! Do you hear me?!" Meridian was quiet and returned to the viewing before they went for the burial.

Julia never quite snapped out of the depression from losing Mike. Months later Julia took too many sleeping pills and never woke up. Dan went in to check on his daughter the next morning and found she had passed away during the night. Meridian never said anything during the funeral.

Dan was doing his best to take care of the three children but at the age of 65, he found it increasingly difficult. In the months after Julia passed away, Dan had a stroke in the office of the funeral home and passed away just months later. 

During the viewing at the funeral home, Meridian ran away. There was no other known family and despite the police report for the missing child she was not found by the police. 

Meridian told her story of being found by nuns and growing up in an orphanage. Running away at 16 and then working for the government. Then she told of starting the band to her sisters.

~~~~~~~

Trinity then told the story of what had happened to them after the funeral. 

"After the funeral, we didn't have any family to take us in. They searched for you but never found you. Alexandria and I were taken to the local orphanage and were adopted shortly afterwards. Our adoptive parents were great and insisted we keep the last name of Henderson. You received premonitions before us; we all have additional gifts too. We'll discuss that later."

Alex then chimed in, "We both went to college and started businesses. Trinity owns and runs a major jewelry store chain and her own island. I own and run a chain of luxury car dealerships. We had been searching for you but neither of us listened to alternative music. Last night we felt something was wrong, so we tried something new. We worked to link with you during sleep last night. Luckily, it worked." 

Meridian started to feel an ultimatum in her soul surfacing. She takes all the documentation as truth. She has belief in her family or she walks away. If she walks away, she never returns. All the clues added up. The flashes of memories added up. Would she push others away to risk losing her heart again? Meridian never gave her heart completely to anyone. Her motto always was, "Guard your heart so you have something left when they leave or die." 

Do I pack up and run? Run again? It's all I do. I get more butterflies when giving my heart to someone, yet I hold back significantly. I don't get butterflies when I shoot people. I'm broken. But after all of this, it's starting to all make sense. 

Something snapped within Meridian. All the years of feeling lost, alone and unloved burst from her; she started to sob. 




Finding Meridian Ch. 07



Her sisters hugged her while saying, "Sweetie, we've found you everything is going to be fine!" Meridian recomposed herself and dried her eyes.

"I just tend to lock myself off to avoid any loss. It's hard for me not to run away much less trust others." She wiped her tears away. "Are either of you married? Any children?" Meridian asked.

"Neither of us our married or have children. We both felt the need to build a business first. Business and finding you seemed to take most of our time."

"Speak for yourself Alex. I've been looking for a guy, one I can't break for a while now. Alex, do I need to remind you of your ex? One word: extradition!" They all snickered.

Then Meridian's face turned cold. "I'm not sure how safe it is for me to be here. Even with security being around me is dangerous. Someone blew up my home and right now people think I am dead. I don't know if I can risk your lives with mine."

"We're sisters. We accept the danger. There is no way we are giving you up now, no matter how much danger is involved. I'll have security tripled." Alex said while opening the door for her staff to bring in champagne for them. She notified them of tripling security. 

"Screw danger! We didn't go through all this to give up on you now. We're family!" Trinity was standing with her hands on her hips while tossing her hair back. They were definitely family.

"Well said Trinity, I believe we need to celebrate." Alex started to open the champagne.

"Before we celebrate, I have to let you both know a few things. I made some enemies while working with the government. Separate from that I was attacked at the office on Friday. I went home Friday night after getting out of the hospital and found my fiancé with another woman…This is so complex. I was also going by another name and worked as an executive assistant at an import company. That is where I was attacked. My boss he doesn't know who I am...right now I'm sure he thinks I am dead. My former partner, Connor was helping me and he thinks I'm dead too. So much is screwed up right now. There is so much to tell. I can't really tell you about the government work. "

Both sisters started to laugh. "I see you didn't lose the ability to be more than one person. I still remember us playing as children; you always had to be several people." Alex mimicked a child's voice, "I want to be the spy and the firefighter!" 

Trinity chimed in, "Oh, so what does the boss look like? Sexy?" 

"Trinity, I get the feeling she likes her boss. What is it with you asking how luscious every guy is? " Alex said while grinning.

"A girl has to have a hobby," all of them chimed in together.

They all started to laugh. "This is all just so amazing. Well, we have to talk about everything that's going on and make a game plan. Before I can consider anything in regards to Marcus, my former boss, it might help if we figured a way to let him and Connor know I'm not dead. Then stop the people who are trying to kill me, stop the groups who will start killing people because they think I've been killed and let the world know I'm alive at the end. We'd have to do all this soon to stop the destruction of alliances I've helped create between a diverse group of unique people."

Trinity and Alex started laughing so hard they spit out their champagne.

"I think you forgot to add world peace to the list. Oh, are his friends sexy?" Trinity said while snickering. Meridian went over the details of her life with her sisters. Alex was just shaking her head when she heard everything that had happened on Friday.

"Damn, Meridian you've been busy. We'll figure this out. We have some time to go over everything."

"Oh and I may have forgotten to mention some of the people are vampires, were's, witches and other things? Plus, I hate to be paranoid but since we all look alike, can't people just go to look you guys up and see what looks like me?" Meridian was starting to get nervous.

Alexandria and Trinity almost spit their champagne out, again. Alex proceeded to talk. "All that stuff does exist then, eh? I'm cool with it. Trinity will have to let you know her view. As far as discretion, our adoptive parents were attorneys' they taught us how to keep our identities in the companies we hold hidden. It was for safety reasons. It seems we all have the same genetic trait."

Trinity then spoke. "Vampires, were's, witches, lions, tigers and bears, Oh my! I'm cool with it. Are any of them sexy and single?" She chuckled then her face lit up. "I've got an idea!" They went over her plan and mapped it all out. 

"I am impressed. This is perfect!" Meridian said while finishing off her champagne. "Ok for step one, let's at least get Connor here. He'll help us."

"Ok, here's what we do." Trinity went over the details.

"Don't forget that Meridian needs to rest. Darling, you do look like shit. Let's take a small break and then complete step one." Trinity said with a concerned tone.

"Here are their hand scans for the first step," Meridian told them.

"I'd ask how you have hand scans, but I don't think I want to know." Alex said while buzzing Tarrin.

~~~~~~~

Cyrus stared at the woman chained and gagged to his study wall. She was covered in bruises and cuts; blood was dripping down her arms from the shackles. He went to his table of "toys" to pick one out for her.

"So my pet, what would you like to start off with? Ah, good choice, first let's make sure to brand you. I see my assistants did a good job of shaving you." He rubbed roughly between her legs. Cyrus grabbed the small branding iron out of the fireplace. The short dark haired girl bucked and pulled against the chains. 

"Vritra help me hold her still." The dark haired girl stared into Vritra's eyes; her sterling gray eyes were piercing. He felt as if he might catch fire. He had to divert his eyes. The gag muffled her screams as Cyrus branded her with C at the lower V of her body on the right side near where her legs connected to her sex. She finally passed out from the pain.

"Vritra would you like a sample of her?"

"I prefer mine conscious, but thanks for the offer." 

Cyrus unzipped his pants. "Fuck, she is tight!" Cyrus moaned and proceeded to violently slam into the unconscious girl. He grabbed her hair and sunk his fangs into her neck as he emptied inside her. Finally, he licked her neck wound shut and pulled out. Leaving her hanging unconscious from the wall with his seed sliding down the inside of her thighs; he zipped his pants. "Now we were talking about setting the bombs?" 

"Sir, are you sure this is a good idea? I don't believe we have any indication they will return to what is left of her home." 

"Set the bombs, I don't care if it only kills Connor's and Marcus's staff. It's still a body count."

"No problem sir, I will handle it myself. Love a good explosion."

~~~~~~~

Connor went to the station and did press conferences with the news stations and papers. He announced that the explosion was at Genevieve Austin's place and was being investigated but it had not been determined if she was in her home during the explosion. Afterwards he headed to his place to clean up. 

He grabbed his mail on the way into the house, tossing it on the table. 

His mind was in turmoil. He felt these two days alone had aged him a good 100 years. He still had a nagging feeling he was missing something. While showering he couldn't get the look of M's place out of his head. 

He started thinking of the missions they had worked on together. All of a sudden his mind kept returning to a mission where she had crawled through an air vent to eliminate her target. He remembers how they had fought over her going through a vent without him. 

"Screw you! It's a great way to get into his room and eliminate him." Meridian was in his face acting like she was an angry 300 lb bouncer able to throw him across the room. He still remembers laughing and telling her if she was an animal she'd be growling and snarling at him. 

"I cannot crawl through that small ass vent and you are NOT going on your own!" Connor was irate with her.

"I can't help it that you're not small enough to fit through. Now just let me do the job and we can be out of this pit."

"I'm sorry my Queen, I don't have the body of a 12 year old. Normal adults can't fit through vents like that damn it." That is when she had hit him so hard that he was knocked out. He never expected that out of her. She shook him awake afterwards telling him the job was done and run.

It was their next mission that everything went to hell. The mark was killed but she had been hit. He had noticed she was getting skinnier and skinnier, sleeping less and less. When the doctor came out with the diagnosis he felt like a complete ass. He stayed at her bedside nagging her until she came to stay with him.

They fought continually over him wanting her to stay with him through the surgery and short round of chemo. It took him a week to convince her. 

She can't be dead!

He dried off and got dressed. Then it hit him. He hurried and called Marcus.

"Can everyone meet me at her place? I have a hunch." He drove the SUV like a mad man to M's place.

~~~~~~~

When everyone arrived, they ran after Connor who was taking the stairs two at a time. He saw the scorched remnants of a dumbwaiter chute and looked inside.

"Connor what the hell is going on?" Marcus said in a demanding tone. 

"I felt I was missing something and then a mission we went on in the past got stuck in my head. She had climbed through an air vent. No one expected it but she's so tiny. Damon, where does this lead?"

"To the basement."

They all ran to the basement to see if Connor's hunch was correct. After searching the basement Connor found the dumbwaiter exit. He opened it and noticed blood was seen on the right side panel inside the dumbwaiter. Marcus's people hurried and took a sample to check to see if it was her DNA. 

~~~~~~~

They all returned upstairs to the condo to see if anything else had been missed. That's when they heard it.

Alarms started going off and everyone started screaming to evacuate the building. It was a madhouse. Then a large explosion went off and the whole building imploded and crashed to the ground.

Across the street stood Marcus, Connor and Logan stood there watching the cloud of rubble and dust. "Where is Drake? Damn it where is Drake?!"



Finding Meridian Ch. 08



Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the support. I know this one is longer than usual but I couldn't seem to find the right cut off point. Hopefully you won't be discouraged since there is no cliffhanger in this one.

Meridian

Reunion

"Where the fuck is Drake?!" Marcus was starting to pace across the street from the cloud of debris that was keeping anyone from seeing the rubble. 

Just then Drake was seen coming out of the cloud of dirt and debris. He was carrying a small dark haired female unconscious in his arms. 

"Figures you'd pick up a girl instead of just leaving the building," Marcus said sarcastically but with a smile. 

"Our people should be trained better than just to trample over each other leaving people collapsed. Lucky I got to her when I did. If anyone blows up anything else I'm going to start killing people!!" Drake was speaking in a highly agitated voice and called for Damon. Damon immediately came over taking the female to an ambulance that had just arrived.

"You know, I'm feeling really left out here. Marcus makes out with a hot blonde. Drake gets to carry out a cute redhead, looking like a hero and I get absolutely nothing. Nada." Logan teased.

Marcus, Drake and Connor just turned and gave him a perplexed look.

Just then a dark haired female walked up to Logan with an attitude and complete confidence. She reached up placing her hands on his shoulders and jumped up wrapping her legs around his waist. At the same time she grabbed the back of head pulling him forward to French kiss him with all she had. She then unhooked her legs and lowered herself. "There! Are you going to stop bitching now?" She said as she walked off. Connor started laughing with everyone else.

"Now that is a feisty one. Connor, is she single?"

"Yes, she's a hellion. If I were you I'd be careful. She could be the death of you. Her name is Ivy Diego. The guys at the station have nicknamed her Poison Ivy." 

"I'll buy calamine lotion." Logan said with a wicked smile on his face.

~~~~~~~

It was 2:45 pm at Navy Pier and Cyrus was getting nervous. "Fuck!" He said with agitation as he left. 

All he received was Jamison's voicemail. "I'll kill him. I'll kill the bastard!"

Jamison was sitting in a hotel room with a drink laughing. "Bastard actually thought I would just hand it over." Jamison plugged in the usb drive to find it was empty. Just then a skull came up on his laptop laughing at him. With a demented eerie voice it announced, "Self destruction has been activated." A timer came up on the screen showing 15 seconds and started counting down. He heard a loud pop and after 2 minutes reentered the room. His laptop was on fire. 

"I'll kill that bitch!"

~~~~~~~

"Connor, can you work remotely with us? With the bombs, I'm not sure the police station or your place is safe." Drake asked while brushing off his clothing.

"You're probably right. We should probably head out. Let me grab my stuff and have someone take my SUV to the station to be safe."

Connor grabbed his bag from his SUV. He headed to the limo and they all headed back to Marcus's place. Security had been tripled outside of Marcus's estate.

~~~~~~~

Cyrus yelled continually at his security officer. "I want Jamison found and found now!" "I want his head on a stick and the usb drive damn it!"

"Sir, we are searching now for him."

"Find him by nightfall or I will have you killed and replaced."

~~~~~~~

After a brief rest Meridian, Alex and Trinity met in the office. 

"Ok, it's time start step one. Who wants to do the honors?" Alex waived the cell phone at her sisters.

"It's my mess, I'll do the honors." Meridian grabbed the cell phone and sent the message.

"Do you think you could have today NOT resemble a season of 24?" Trinity teased with an evil grin.

"No guarantees. No guarantees," Meridian in a teasing tone.

~~~~~~~

Connor's phone buzzed and he read the text message, "Confirm the following code." "Which came first the chicken or the egg?"

Connor sent a text back, "who cares, make scrambled eggs and fried chicken!" 

Marcus's phone buzzed with the following text, "What's the name of the song?"

Marcus sent back, "M'Aidez". He received back, "Hey shugga, follow Connor."

Connor received a text, "Limo 1 hour…pack for trip…all must attend…Gelo."

"Marcus, I'm drawing a blank on my foreign languages here. Can you refresh my memory on what the following word means?" Connor asked while trying to figure out its meaning. 

"Ice in Portuguese," Marcus said.

"Guys, we're taking a trip." Marcus told everyone to pack and get ready to leave. Marcus called Damon to come to the location with a security crew and back up security crew.

An hour later a limo arrived. After being checked by security four females exited the car. 

"Sirs, each of you will be introduced to your escorts shortly. I will get you checked in and then your personal escorts will ensure your safety to your destination. I am Mrs. Montgomery feel free to call me Mrs. M. I must request the first person I meet with is Mr. O'Brien." Mrs. M was dressed in a spotless expensive suit. Her accent had a commanding British tone to it. They each gave off an air of danger to them. Her three female associates stood behind her dressed the same in a military stance with their hands behind their back. 

"I'm Mr. O'Brien," he said. 

"Sir, can you please place your hand on the scanner," she said to him. "You are confirmed. Is there a Mr. Benedict here?" 

"I am Marcus Benedict." 

"Ah, Mr. Benedict, please place your hand on the scanner." The machine confirmed his hand scan. "Is there a Mr. Tiernay and a Mr. Gaudet available?"

Marcus telepathically told them, "Be ready just in case something happens."

Marcus nodded and Logan and Drake had their hand scanned. 

"Thank you for the confirmation. Mr. O'Brien, I was sent with a package for you. Don't worry it was scanned by your security already."

Mrs. Montgomery handed Connor the package with a note attached to the top labeled "Read Me First". Inside was a simple piece of paper with the words "Square Dance Before You Begin" typed on it. "Mrs. Montgomery, we will need to go into Mr. Benedict office to open this in private."

Marcus then said, "My security will also rescan the car while we look at the package."

"Of course Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Benedict, we would expect nothing less. When you return, I will introduce you to each of your personal escorts." 

Marcus motioned to Connor, Logan and Drake to return to the house. Marcus secured the doors behind them. 

"Are we sure this is safe and not a set up? I'm a bit worried this is a set up." Logan's face was one of concern.

"The contents of the box will confirm it. Right now I have no doubts. Everything is way too odd to not be her. Portuguese give me a break! She knows my Portuguese is horrid, that alone is her teasing me." Marcus read the note in the envelope Connor handed him. 

"I don't know what that means Connor."

"Here, watch just in case she would use this in the future."

Connor placed the box on its side. He then placed his thumb on each square securing the tape to the package. "Always remember to use your thumb from your primary hand." The paper released from the package and he opened the box. He handed Marcus a usb drive and note in a baggy. 

Marcus looked at the usb drive and the note in a baggy. Marcus's face relaxed as he said, "It's her." Drake took the note in the baggy to security and Logan handed him the usb drive. 

Drake hooked in the usb to confirm contents. "Marcus the contents are confirmed. Just what we thought." 

Connor started laughing. "Oh, it's her all right," he said as he removed the last item from the box. "How the hell does a woman get a cracker jack box with a decoder ring inside in this day and age?"

Drake started laughing and said, "You know as old as that stuff is it could easily take out an eye if you throw it!"

"Death by petrified cracker jacks. Please…don't give her any ideas. I can easy say it has to be her." Connor said while putting the cracker jacks in his bag.

Logan gave him an odd look and said, "Connor, why are you taking it with you?"

"I might get hungry or need it for self defense." 

"You could be known as the only vampire in existence to need dentures. I could see you now with those plastic fake vampire teeth they sell at Halloween!" Marcus started laughing at Logan's comment.

They all left the office and headed back to the limo.

"Let me introduce you to your escorts. Mr. Benedict your escort is Ms. J. Mr. Tiernay your escort is Ms. K. Mr. Gaudet your escort is Mrs. L. I am of course Mr. O'Brien's escort."

They confirmed their security staff and left in the limo. 

Upon arrival at the airport Mrs. Montgomery, rolled down the window. She pulled out a package. She then spoke directly to the head security officer. "You will note each individual is confirmed with diplomatic immunity and we are going straight to the plane."

The head security officer replied to her. "Thank you Mrs. Montgomery. You are confirmed and the extra security was dispatched as requested. Please have the car follow the armed escorts to the plane." Armed escorts surrounded the car and escorted it to the plane.

She then handed each individual their packets of papers for diplomatic immunity. "Please keep the paperwork with you. We will be accompanying you on your flight and to your location. We will be departing after you arrive safely and all is safe at your new location."

Marcus spoke up and said, "Thank you Mrs. Montgomery. Can you tell us our destination?"

"Mr. Benedict, I am not at liberty to disclose that information until after our flight has taken off. Due to the dire situation, possibility of double agents, I was advised by my employer the package would confirm the identity of who you we're going to see. The individual was highly concerned with your security and safety."

One of their security officers spoke telepathically to Marcus, Connor, Logan and Drake telepathically.

"Sirs, I have scanned each of their thoughts extensively before we left. They are not deceiving us."

All four just nodded at him. They boarded the plane and got ready for takeoff.

~~~~~~~

"Meridian, my private doctor is on his way over," Alex said with a concerned voice. "I want him to just make sure you're OK. There's nothing we can do until they arrive. You should change. There are clothes in the closet."

"I'm fine. I don't need another doctor."

"You will see him or I cancel everything!"

"FINE!"

Meridian showered and changed into a deep emerald green empire waist gown with loose flowing sleeves. Antique looking but she liked it. 

The doctor arrived with his nurse later and examined Meridian. Her sisters entered after the doctor had finished.

"I want you on an IV for the next 24 hours at least, you've broke another rib and you're dehydrated. I suspect the rib was fractured before and cracked the rest of the way with exertion. I want you to rest after that. I'm sure you'll complain though." The doctor sent his nurse to the car to pull up all the needed items.

"I'm fine, no IV. Stop treating me like I'm hurt!"

The bickering started between the sisters, "You are hurt! Yes! IV!" Her sisters chimed in at the same time.

"NO! I don't need an IV! I'm fine."

Alex glared at her, "Fine then, I won't let anyone see you when they arrive."

"Fine, give me the damn IV."

The doctor finished the IV. He set his nurse up in the spare room. "I'll check on her tomorrow and we should be good to remove the IV. You must rest."

Alex looked at Meridian, "Don't bitch. I'll wake you as soon as their plane lands. Get some rest while we wait." Alex had agreed with doctor to inject her with painkiller without telling Meridian so she would sleep.

~~~~~~~

Once the plane took off Mrs. Montgomery slipped a sealed note to Connor, Marcus, Logan and Drake. Destination: Seattle. Need to know only! 

"When you finish reading your note, please place it back in the envelope and into this bowl so I can burn it." Mrs. M said to them. She proceeded to light them on fire. 

They landed hours later. Each escort escorted them to the limo and they took off for the mansion.

Once they arrived at the gate, Mrs. M scanned her hand and confirmed her identity.

"Miss Montgomery, I assume the trip was successful?"

"It's Mrs. and yes it was. Thank you for asking. Please alert them we have arrived."

The limo stopped in front of the mansion and Mrs. M escorted everyone inside. 

Tarrin Miller came up to greet them. "Hello, I am Tarrin Miller, Ms. Alexandria Henderson's assistant. Should you need anything while you are here then call me directly. Feel free to just call me Tarrin." She handed out his card to each of them. They were standing in the entry way with the double staircase on the right and left with the top landing overlooking them.

"Is Ms. Henderson coming down? Are we supposed to meet them somewhere?" Mrs. Montgomery asked Tarrin. 

Just then Alexandria walked to the landing on the top of the staircase to stare down at them. 

Marcus was the first to speak. "Meridian?"

She descended the staircase and approached Marcus. Marcus noticed that she smelled differently. "You're not Meridian are you?"

"No, I am her sister Alexandria."

Just then Trinity walked out onto the staircase landing. "And I am her other sister Trinity." The four men stared at the other two women in awe.

"Please just call me Alex. Welcome to my home. Meridian is resting after my private doctor checked her out. I'm sure you have many questions you would like answered but I feel our order of business is to let you see Meridian. She may be asleep though. Please follow me."

Alex spoke up, "We're sisters in response to your confused looks; triplets to be exact."

"We didn't have the heart to wake her. From the brief information she's told us we wanted her to rest." Trinity led them up the stairs and down the hall. They entered into a bedroom; she moved to the left side of the room.

Marcus then entered the room. He saw Meridian sleeping in the bed. Her hair was in long blonde ringlets down to her waist over the burgundy comforter. She was unconscious hooked up to an IV but looked like a pale angel.

Marcus and Connor had worried looks on their face. Marcus was the first to speak, "What's wrong with her? More than what was wrong yesterday?"

Alex stepped over to speak with them placing a hand on each of their arms. "She's fine. I had my doctor look her over. She cracked another rib. The doctor wanted her hooked up to an IV and extra medication to heal. The painkiller knocked her out. Honestly, we didn't have the heart to wake her up. Her nurse is in the next room."

"She looks so tired and frail. We left her to rest." Trinity said while smiling at the four men.

"How did you get her to agree to the IV? Or painkillers? She's so stubborn." Connor asked while walking close to the bed next to Marcus. Marcus took her left hand to hold it, not wanting to disturb her IV.

"Blackmail of course!" Trinity and Alex chimed in at the same time. The joint response snapped Connor and Marcus out of their trance. 

"Please, don't become uncomfortable when we speak in unison. It is a trait we have had since childhood. Don't be surprised if Meridian starts speaking the same thing as we do at the same time. It seems to be a psychic link. We blackmailed her into the IV and I didn't tell her about the painkiller but authorized it with the doctor." Alex told Marcus directly. 

"I should make introductions. We've been searching for our sister for a long time. I am Alexandria Henderson and this is our sister Trinity Henderson. You've already met our sister, Meridian and yes her last name should be Henderson, not whatever she's been going by." 

Marcus introduced the rest of them and shook hands. He returned to the bed to hold Meridian's hand.

"Would everyone like to join us in the library for a drink? We could let her sleep until dinner. It'll be in about an hour."

Marcus looked torn standing there staring down at Meridian.

Alex walked over to Marcus to talk to him. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "We are just going to get to know each other a bit. Security has been tripled but I could put a guard outside the door if you like. We'll go over strategy tomorrow. I can have a drink brought in for you if you'd like to stay with her until dinner."

Logan walked over and talked to Marcus telepathically.

"Marcus, I can easily scope out the situation and fill you in afterwards. There would be no harm with you staying with her. If there would be any trouble, I'll telepathically tell you." "Don't worry Marcus, I was able to scan both of them and it's true. They're on our side. I'll fill you in later with details."

"Thanks Logan, I'm going to sit with her until dinner."

Marcus pulled a chair over to the bed and sat down. "Thank you Alex. Logan, could you pick me out a scotch for someone to bring into me?"

"Of course, you are needed here. I'm sure we can keep Alex and Trinity entertained." Logan put his arm out to escort Alex out of the room.

Everyone exited except for Marcus who ran his fingers over Meridian's cheek. Tarrin returned a few minutes later with a brandy for Marcus. "Call me if you need anything. My extension is programmed into the phone."

After taking a drink, Marcus placed his glass on the side table. He ran his fingers through a lock of her hair. There was makeup covering the bruising but it was still visible. He couldn't help but stare at her. Seeing her so frail and tiny made him feel possessive remembering everything that had happened. He slightly growl with possessiveness. Seeing the video of her being hurt and wondering if she was dead had tore at his soul. If she wouldn't have killed the vampire who attacked her he would have torn him limb from limb. He stared at this tough little creature wanting her to never leave his side. Seeing her like this reminded him she was human despite her strength.

~~~~~~~

At dinner time Logan walked into Meridian's room, Marcus was staring down at her with worry etched on his face.

"Marcus, she'll be fine. We're having dinner in the dining room. We can wake her up and all go downstairs."

"No, I'll come down for dinner. Don't wake her." He kissed her on the forehead and pulled the cover up to tuck her in.

Logan telepathically filled Marcus in on the conversation they had with Alex and Trinity on the way to the dining room.

The dining room was a huge round antique cherry room with an oval dining table that seated at least 40 people. It was reminiscent of the 1930's and delicately carved cherry woodwork was everywhere. Everyone had just sat down when Meridian walked in.

"If you pulled out your IV we are going to kick your ass!" Alex and Trinity said while standing up. Everyone stood up when Meridian entered 15 minutes later.

"The nurse just unhooked it. I'm fine and decided to come for dinner." Everyone shifted so she could sit between Connor and Marcus. Marcus stood up to pull her chair out and kissed her on the top of her head once she was seated before he sat down.

"Oh, where are my manners. Meridian mentioned you were vampires and we are unaware of what you eat and such." Alex said with a flustered look on her face.

"Just don't eat us or the staff. Now the neighbors…are horrid so you are welcome to snack away on them. They are the neighbors on the east side of the house. Stuck up cads if I may say so myself. I do have to ask, how do you get your hair so perfect if you have no reflection?" Trinity said snickering. Alex and Meridian almost spit their wine out.

Marcus, Connor, Logan and Drake started laughing.




Finding Meridian Ch. 08



"Damn Trinity! I apologize for what she just said." Alex said while shaking her head in horror.

"It was a joke, I'm sure with the way things are nowadays everything is available by delivery. I'm still interested in the hair thing though." Trinity and Meridian were laughing now.

"Damn it Trinity! Don't make me get up from this table and lock you in a room!" Alex was getting ready to stand up.

Logan started to laugh, "The no reflection thing is just folklore made up by Hollywood. I'll let Marcus briefly explain the rest."

"Thank you. I'm just joking about the neighbors. Can't anyone take a joke? I'm supposed to be the naïve one you know. I'm just lightening the mood here." Trinity was still laughing after she said it.

"Don't make me share the virgin sacrifice story! I'll tell them how naïve you are." Alex threatened Trinity. 

Meridian just laughed and said, "OK, I have to hear this." Marcus just stared at Meridian until she looked and him and spoke again. "Well obviously it didn't work out because she's here now!"

It took Trinity a minute to get her breath back. "I was dating this guy in High School. He invited us to a virgin sacrifice thing."

"She's leaving out the fact that her boyfriend was in a lame satanic cult and invited me to go with her. She just accepted without even talking to me. If I remember right, I was told it's a theme party!" Alex scowled at Trinity.

"Ok so I misunderstood, it was actually some half assed satanic ritual. Here I'm thinking we were invited to view it. So we're watching them doing this ritual thinking what the hell?" Trinity was trying her best not to laugh while telling the story. "Alex was more concerned than I was. I thought we were invited to just watch. Halfway through it my boyfriend comes over to ask the two of us to enter the pentagram as the sacrifice. Announcing something like 'Will the virgin sacrifices enter the circle' and I didn't know what to say."

"If I remember correctly your eyes got all wide, you scrunched your face and shook your head no." Alex said then started to laugh. "Her boyfriend marches over, trying to act all high and mighty mentioning how she agreed to this."

"I looked at him and said there must be some misunderstanding. I thought we were just guests. He then says well we agreed. I said…umm wee bit of a technicality but you want actual virgins right?" Trinity started to laugh again. "He tells me of course. I have to break it to him that we're not virgins. He becomes dumbfounded and how could we not be virgins. I believe I started to explain how sex works to him when his friend in the satanic circle winks and waves at me. I make the mistake of smiling and waving back."

"Then he looks at me and I told him too bad so sad no virgin here." Alex said and started to laugh again. "It's not like we were 12 for Christ's sake. We were 18."

"Please stop the laughing is killing my broken ribs." Meridian said trying to not fall out of her chair.

Marcus stopped laughing finally and answered Alex. "Yes, we do eat regular food. We brought blood but can have it delivered in 2 hours in almost any city. Sorry Trinity, we won't be snacking away on the neighbors. We appreciate the demented yet sweet offer."

"As for the details, I can give a brief description. We are very ancient so sunlight doesn't hurt us. We do prefer to sleep during the day but either works. We are like extra strong people that self heal. We can be killed with a gunshot to the head or heart or of course dismemberment. We are extra strong and fast. Most of us have special abilities. Some vampires take 200 years for their extra abilities to come out. We need to feed basically every other day but we drink and don't kill people. It's way too much blood at one time. If we do feed from a human we can usually hypnotize the person so it doesn't hurt. Though the bad things you have heard about that tend to be from new vampires that don't know how to do that. Some don't know how to close the wound and some don't care to learn either. Those individuals don't tend to live long."

Alex spoke, "Thank you Marcus. It is very interesting and it is all new to us."

Marcus looked over at Meridian and whispered in her ear. "Are you ok? You're looking pale."

"Please excuse me for a minute," Meridian said standing up from the table. When she stood the room started to spin and her vision became blurred. She tried to grab the edge of the table but her hands missed. Marcus turned to see her starting to fall backwards and he jumped up and caught her. Marcus pulled her up into his arms as he cradled her unconscious limp body as if he were caring a china doll.

"The nurse is upstairs in the room to the right of Meridian's! I'll get her while you take her into her room." Alex said while running up the stairs after Marcus. 

The nurse checked out Meridian in her room. "It's not uncommon for her to pass out. Her lungs sound clear. She could have stood up too fast. Let's just wait for a few minutes until she wakes up."

Meridian's eyes fluttered open and it took her a minute to figure out where she was at. "Sorry, I just got a bit dizzy. I'm fine just let me get up."

"No, you're staying in bed," Marcus told her as he looked down at her. 

The nurse chimed in, "It looks like just overexertion. You'll stay in bed."

Her sisters chimed in, "You're hurt. You will stay in bed!"

"Alex, could you arrange for me to eat up here with Meridian? I'll stay with you." Marcus asked while running his hand across Meridian's cheek.

"I'm fine really."

"No you're not. You will stay in bed or I'll lock you in! Marcus, not a problem to have dinner sent up. I'll have it sent up right away. Meridian, are you ok with us going and having dinner?" 

Meridian stared up at Marcus as she spoke. "Alex, that's fine. Marcus, I'll be fine by myself." 

"I don't care if you'll be fine alone. I'm staying." Marcus grabbed the chair and pulled it over to the bed.

"Just call if you need anything. Food will be up in just a few minutes." Alex then ushered everyone else out of the room.

When everyone else returned to the dining room Trinity was the first to speak. "He seems really protective and sweet. Is it because he cheated on her?"

"Jesus Trinity, do you ever think before you open your mouth? Were you not paying attention?" Alex was still reeling that Trinity never thinks before talking.

Logan started to laugh. "Marcus was or is her boss, not her ex-fiancé."

"I'm sorry everyone, I thought he was her fiancé, or ex- fiancé. I got a bit confused. As her sisters, no matter what each of you are to her we appreciate you being here. We've only lightly went over what she's gone through and it's been a hell of a lot rougher than we ever had it. It's a lot of information for one day." Trinity said and smiled at everyone as the food started to be served.

Alex looked at everyone when she stood up, "I will be right back, I'm going to run food up and make sure everything is fine." Tarrin followed her up with the 2nd tray.

When Alex arrived upstairs she sat Meridian's tray of food on the table at the side of the room.

"Marcus, can I talk to my sister alone for a minute?"

"Of course, I'll be back in a couple of minutes. I need to grab a drink anyways." Marcus exited the room.

"Hey sweetie, Trinity got a bit confused and thought Marcus was your fiancé or ex one that is. It was cleared up downstairs. I'm sorry about that. I've given Marcus the room to the left of you. If both of you decide you want him to stay in here tonight, I won't be upset about it. No matter what he is to you he seems like a good guy who cares. And it looks like he'll help keep your stubborn ass in bed." Alex gave her a light hug.

"I don't know how to thank you for everything." Meridian started to cry. "In never cry, I hate this."

"You don't need to thank me. You're our sister. Just don't cry. Call me if you need anything. I'm just happy to have my Meridian back in our family." Alex left the room.

She met up with Marcus getting a drink in the dining room. "Connor, can you come over for a minute so I can talk to you and Marcus?" Connor stepped over to the bar. "I need to ask you a question. I'm not sure of her normal disposition but she's been a bit emotional since she's been here. I know it's probably normal after everything but I wanted to check. I was given the impression she's not emotional."

Marcus face started creasing with worry. Connor answered her question, "If she's being emotional then she's in pain. Sure, I expect more from her after everything that's happened but I think the injuries have made her in pain and not take meds."

"Ok, I'll call up to the nurse and have her give a shot for pain."

"Well, I'm heading back up to eat with her. If anyone needs me, I'll be upstairs."

Marcus headed back up the stairs and into Meridian's room. Marcus went over to the bed and helped Meridian sit back against the headboard. "I hate needing help," Meridian grumbled.

"You've gone through so much and saved so many lives with that attitude alone. You can let me dote on you." He put the tray over her lap. He then ran his fingers over her cheek. "Do you need anything else?" Marcus kept staring at her lips. After wondering if she was hurt or dead to see her staring at him with those pouty lips just made him want to devour them. 

"I'm fine. You can go eat and hang out with everyone. You don't have to babysit me. Not that I don't mind you being here or want to seem ungrateful."

"I'm staying. I thought you were dead then hurt then dead. I'll be here all night keeping an eye on you. I'm not walking away from you now." Marcus leaned down and lightly kissed her with his hands cradling her face.

"Ok, just don't tell me you're planning on sleeping in the chair. You'll sleep next to me in the bed. I'm sure you can behave yourself." Meridian gave him a devious smile.

"I'll be a gentleman, beside you need rest." 

Shortly after eating, Marcus was laying back and pulled her over to rest on him. "I can take care of myself; it is ok for you to go hang out with everyone." 

"I never suggested you couldn't. Is it so wrong for me to want you right here?" 

"No." The nurse knocked on the door and entered her room. Medication was injected into her IV and the nurse left.

Marcus ran his hand down her hair. Despite the television being on, all he could focus on was this tiny strong girl next to him. Only two weeks and he wanted nothing more than to keep her safe and at his side. He couldn't understand how someone of his age would be so taken by her. It's only been two weeks there was no way he could be falling for her. Or was he?

Marcus stared down at her porcelain face accented by her dark eyelashes, lying against his chest. He'd give anything for her to not be hurt; to be able to kiss her deeply all night long. Looking down at her pouty pink lips he couldn't resist. He ran his thumb over her plump bottom lip and then the top lip. She was gorgeous. Her lips parted slightly and he couldn't resist. He ran his thumb on the inside of her bottom lip and leaned down and kissed her. She moaned slightly and curled up against him. He ran his hand over her hair while she fell into deep slumber.

~~~~~~~

Meridian was standing at a funeral dressed in black. She had been here before. This was her grandfather's funeral home. NO! NO! Not Again! I won't let it happen again! She felt like she was standing back screaming to herself. 

She saw her sisters and went to talk with them. They ignored her. Marcus he would talk to her! It was as if everyone was ignoring her. Oh God NO! NO! NO! Meridian walked to the casket to see she was inside.

Marcus was finishing a glass of blood in the kitchen at 2 am. He was wondering how he could feel so deeply for this extraordinary human. Then he heard the noise that could peel paint. 

Blood curdling screams came out of Meridian's mouth. She was screaming, "NO! NO! NO!" 

Marcus ran up the stairs as fast as he could. When he saw she was alone he grabbed her up into his arms, careful not to pull out her IV. "Meridian, wake up little one, it was just a dream. Little one, please wake up," he pleaded with her.

When her eyes opened she started to sob. Her sisters entered the room with looks of fear on their face. Marcus refused to let her go. The nurse came in right afterwards.

"It was just a nightmare," the nurse tried soothing her. "I'm just giving you something to help you sleep, it was just a nightmare."

Meridian stared up at them with fogged eyes and heavy lids. She repeated, "It was just a nightmare. It was just a nightmare."

Her eyelids started to become extremely heavy and she fell into deep slumber.

Marcus tucked her into the bed and noticed Connor, Logan and Drake standing in the hallway. 

"What the hell was that?" Drake asked.

The sisters looked at each other and Alex spoke up. "Let's go to the library so we can explain."

Alex handed out drinks then began to talk, "It has to be a premonition she won't tell us about."

Trinity drank her brandy in one gulp and poured another one. "Meridian has had premonitions since she was at least 4 years old. The large ones were of our dad's death, then mom's and then Grandpa's."

"She had a premonition in her dream tonight. We didn't see it, she blocked us out. We can link in premonitions now, but somehow she has learned to walk up and slam a door at us so we can't see." Alex was trying to steady her nerves after she said it. Worried lines were marring her forehead.

Trinity's eyes lit up and she became animated as she spoke, "Let's look at this way. The most common assumption is our plan is wrong so let's change it. Different terrain. We'll try to pay attention to her screaming at night. As it goes on, if we get no screaming then the new plan is a go. Otherwise, we just have to wing it. Add hidden elements of defense. " Trinity started staring at each of them with an angry look on her face. "Stop staring at me like I just grew an arm out of my head. Doesn't anyone have anything to say?"

Connor was the first one to speak, "I think it sounds brilliant. At least the best we have to go on for now."

Alex looked at Trinity, "I'm sorry Trin; sometimes we are just astounded by the brilliance that comes out of your mouth."

"Apology accepted."

"Because most of the time it's fluffy flaky dribble."

"Hey! That is not fair. Just because I use that "fluffy flaky dribble" to get great business deals does not mean I'm stupid! How much fluffy flaky dribble would you listen to until you give up and signed a deal just to escape? Huh?"

Everyone started to laugh. "Well, hopefully we will only have one screaming nightmare tonight." Alex said while putting filling her empty glass on the bar. "Feel free to go back to bed everyone. We'll figure out a new plan tomorrow."

Logan looked at Alex and said, "I'll have another drink with you." Everyone else exited to their rooms.

While exiting the room Drake made a comment to Trinity in the hallway. "You really do come off as completely ditzy."

"It's inconsiderate to insult the family of the hostess! Mr. Needs Anger Management!"

"I do not need anger management! I'm a vampire damn it!" The furious way Drake said it made Trinity start to laugh.

"When you come to your senses you can apologize or snack away on the annoying neighbors to make it up to me."

Drake proceeded to start growling at her. Trinity's face started to change from laughing to serious.

Trinity looked Drake in the eyes and spoke in a high melodic hypnotizing tone. "Drake, listen to me carefully. But first stop trying to read my mind, you can only read when I allow you. I am much more complex than most can comprehend. We are each dangerous in our own right. Now hear this and make sure you tell Marcus, Meridian is scared of letting anyone get too close to her and dying. Even you anger boy. It has to do with our family dying when we were little. She'll try to ditch us if she can. She'd throw her life on the line before she even tried to let us join the fight. She's scared of the depth of caring she has for Marcus. Let him know if she tries to push him away, don't let her. And you remember to treat me with more respect. We wouldn't want you underestimating who I am, would we? We are on the same side."

Alex walked out and looked at Trinity. "Trinity, STOP doing that to Drake." Logan only heard Alex chastising Trinity.

"Alex, I was just telling Drake I wanted to prove to him how brilliant I am." Trinity turned to Drake. Drake was calmer and feeling a bit fuzzy but his head was clearing. "Now, would you like me to prove to you how brilliant I truly am? Do you have your stock portfolio on you?"

They proceeded to walk to Drake's room. He handed her a paper with just the stocks and without the shares on them. She grabbed a red pen from the desk and within 5 minutes the entire sheet was covered in red ink. 

She wrote descriptions on the top and explained it to him. "Ok, anything with an X through it is crap. O's are the money makers. If the O has an S next to it that means big money in a short time but don't keep over 6 months. If it has an L next to it that means it will produce money for at least 5 years."

"You actually think I'm going to take advice from you?"

"I'll make you a wager to prove it. First off, only these three stocks for the first round. You invest by 10 am Monday morning then sell by close on Wednesday. If the stocks don't triple; I'll pay you the value of the stocks at the original price but tripled. Now if I win, you get to announce at dinner that night that I am the most wonderful, smart, intelligent, sexy and amazing woman you have ever met human or vampire or otherwise. Then you must treat me nice for an entire week." 

"OK, I'll take the bet and add more to it. You will stand in the center of the dining room table during dinner and announce to all. Drake is the most handsome, sexiest, smartest vampire you have ever met. For an entire week, you will address me as Oh Brilliant One!"

"Don't be late in buying the stocks! I'm going to bed, Oh Cranky One!"

"Not a problem. I will thoroughly enjoy your loss! Better practice calling me Oh Brilliant One!"

~~~~~~

Logan and Alex were in the library after Trinity came in and told them about the bet. She left and went to bed. 

"Alex, how the hell am I going to live with his ego? It's bad enough, but him being called Oh Brilliant One!"

"Don't worry. We each have premonitions and have ways to make them work for us. Trinity rocks in the stock market. I'm not interested in it. Meridian's tend to be for bad things happening."

"If you don't mind me asking what does yours pertain to? And can you explain why you were chastising Trinity about not doing something to Drake?"

"In general we are all oracles in our own fashion. We tend to focus on different areas. Think mergers, takeovers and acquisitions for me. I can come up with a basic business idea and tell if it will succeed or fail before putting any money in it. I will be instrumental in the upcoming plan. I can sense problems and fix them before they come to pass. It can be hard to explain. Easiest way to think of it would be you invented a product and plan. I can tell you it will sell or it won't and where the kinks are. After that I can tell you the major downfalls to avoid, making sure you keep making money. I'm like a goal oriented GPS with future connections."

"Now me chastising Trinity is something we'll all have to talk to each other about. Vampires have special abilities and we have to make sure that if we each know our abilities that we're OK with it. Trinity and I have to work with Meridian on hers. There are some legends and such we all need to sit down and discuss. I think sharing makes sense and can say it would add to our ability to make this successful but I need everyone's view on it. I don't want to make assumptions."




Finding Meridian Ch. 08



"I completely understand. I think it makes sense for all of us to share but everyone needs to agree. So tell me more about how your ability to sense say a merger or acquisition works?"

Logan and Alex stayed up chatting about business for quite a while then finally retiring to bed.

~~~~~~

Meridian stirred at around 5 am. She got up and freshened up in the bathroom. When she came out Marcus was looking at her.

"Are you ok little one?"

"Fine, just freshening up."

"Come back to bed. I'm enjoying you next to me." Marcus pulled her next to him as she slid back into the bed. Meridian turned over and ran her hand over his silk pj shirt. 

"Marcus, I hate asking for help but can you help me change into something more comfortable to sleep in?"

"Of course," Marcus pulled a short night shirt out of the dresser. 

"Did you want to find something smaller?" Meridian said sarcastically.

"Well there is this," he said while dangling a see through thong at her. 

"I'll take the other one." She unhooked the IV. He helped her get the dress over her head. Seeing her in just a corset and thong was more than tempting. He started undoing the corset. "Leave it. It helps with the broken ribs. I just can't wear it all day round."

"Then we take it off now." He unlaced the corset and paused as he saw the bruises and hand marks on her. 

"This is from Friday?" He turned on the other lamp to see all the bruises. They were very dark and purple.

"Yes, I broke another rib in the dumbwaiter but it was already fractured. It's not a big deal Marcus. I'll be fine."

"It shouldn't have happened. No one will ever hurt you again little one." He helped her get in the short night shirt. He arranged the pillows behind her to make her more comfortable and laid her back. He leaned over her running his hand over the side of her face and couldn't resist kissing her. Her lips parted as he softly kissed her. She started to whine as he kissed her. His kisses became more urgent and their tongues thrust into each other's mouths.

She whimpered as he kissed down her neck and unbuttoned the top buttons of night shirt. He pulled it down enough so he could lightly kiss the bruises on her arms. "I promise I won't hurt you." He lowered the night shirt just enough to show her breasts. "You're so beautiful." He placed small kisses around each breast. She whimpered again as he took her entire nipple in his mouth with her piercing. He lightly tugged on her nipple with the ring. He then moved to the other breast and sucked on the nipple pulling her piercing in his mouth once again lightly tugging. He flicked his tongue over it as she whimpered more.

He undid the rest of the buttons and opened the nightshirt. He placed butterfly kisses down her ribs, so light to not hurt her. He kissed his way down her flat stomach. He ran his hand down her shaved mound over her thong.

"Marcus, I don't think I can handle ..." he placed his finger over her lips. "Shoo, I just want to touch you and make you feel good." He ran his finger under the side of her thong touching her slit. She started to lift her hips. "No, I'm taking care of you." He ran his finger back up and down her slit. He pulled her thong down with his thumbs as she slightly lifted her hips. 

"Are you OK little one?" He ran his index finger over her folds.

"Just getting better," she said.

"This will be easier if I place a pillow under your hips. Just tell me if it hurts." He used one hand to lift her hips and slid a pillow under her pelvis. "Is that ok?"

"Much better." He ran a finger down her lips and slid it in between the delicate folds. "If you get uncomfortable at all you tell me."

He slid one finger up into her. She whimpered as he bent it and stroked her g-spot. He moved so his head was between her legs. "You're going to come for me. You're not going to move or arch. I'll do all the work." He placed his mouth over her clit and ran his tongue around it while stroking her g-spot. Meridian started to whimper. "That's my girl. You are so tight little one" He slid another finger into her. He slowly stroked in and out. She whimpered again.

He put his mouth over her clit and alternated flicking it with his tongue and sucking. "Open your legs wider for me. You're so tight. I want you to watch me work another finger into you. Relax little one, I need you to relax to slide in easier. I won't hurt you." She watched as he slowly stretched her out until he had three fingers in her. He slowly stroked in and out. "Are you watching little one? Can you see how tight you are around my fingers?" He brushed his thumb over her clit and she whimpered even louder.

She kept moaning and whimpering as he continued. "I'm going to suck on that little clit of yours again little one. You need to be still and let me do the work." Marcus started thrusting his fingers faster in and out of her. He sucked on her clit and flicked it with his tongue. Her moaning and whimpers became louder. Her muscles inside started to clench his fingers and spasm. He removed his mouth and started rubbing her clit with his thumb pressing her ring down as he rubbed. "Come for me little one. Come for me."

"Marcus…Marcus…I'm coming…Oh God, uh, uh, uh."

"That's my little one. Keep coming for me. I want to feel you spasm around my fingers." He started sucking her clit again.

"Marcus…I'm coming again...uh, uh, uh." 

She finally drifted back to consciousness. "You are so sweet. You come so hard." He licked her and she whined. "You have to get some sleep little one."

"Uh huh." He ran two fingers down her slit pressing her piercing into her clit and then rubbed it back and forth a couple times until he heard her scream. 

"I like making you scream. I'd better go make sure no one comes to check on you." He pulled the cover over her and walked over to the door. 

Logan walked to the door when Marcus put his head out. "Marcus, just checking that she's…"

Marcus telepathically told him, "She's more than fine. If you see anyone else tell them to go back to bed." 

"Ah, got it." Logan said telepathically and smiled while heading back to bed. 

He saw Drake and Alex come out. "She's fine go back to bed. Alex, can you tell Trinity, if she gets up?"

"Not a problem." Alex knocked and walked into Trinity's room and she was missing. "Oh shit! Drake and Logan can you help me find her? She probably took a sleeping pill and forgot when she had a drink earlier. Shit!" Alex handed each of them a robe. "Marcus, go ahead and take care of Meridian. We'll find Trinity shortly."

"Ok, let me explain. If she drinks with the sleeping pill she looks and acts like she's awake but she may do some odd things."

Drake was the first one to ask, "What kind of odd things?"

"Things like not wearing clothes, cooking and god knows what else. Let's check the kitchen first."

Drake asked, "Why did she drink after the first screaming incident if she'd taken meds?"

"She doesn't remember taking it. She's usually settled in bed and fine. Now we get to go find out what kind of odd ass thing she's doing. If we're lucky she's got clothes on."

"I'd say it's the other way around." Drake said under his breath. 

"What?"

"I said let's find her soon." Logan just shook his head at Drake and laughed.

As they walked into the kitchen it was a sight to see. Trinity was nude except for the cooking apron and was singing songs from Mary Poppins.

"Trinity honey, it's time for bed."

"But I'm baking cookies for all of the little children in the living room. I must finish the cookies."

Drake couldn't resist, he went into the living room. Logan and Alex heard laughing. "Oh my, Alex, I really don't think there are words to describe this!"

Trinity had taken call the decorations for holidays and pulled out all of it out including animated characters. The living room was as if all of the holidays for the entire year had thrown up. She had animated Easter bunnies, Santas, elfs, lights and a snow machine going. 

Drake couldn't stop laughing. Telepathically Drake told Marcus, "If you're not asleep come look over the railing."

Alex walked in with Logan. "Oh my god, what the hell is this? It's as if all the holidays of the year have puked up in the living room! Oh my god, what is she having the reindeer doing to the elfs and santas?"

Logan started laughing, "Something extremely dirty and not very Mary Poppins like."

"Drake can you grab my camera off the dresser in my room and take a few pictures?"

"I'd be happy to!"

Marcus looked over the landing on the staircase and just started laughing. Drake finally telepathically explained it to him. Meridian walked out and saw Trinity coming out of the kitchen only wearing a cooking apron with a tray of cookies. "Jesus, what kind of bad drugs has she taken?"

"Cookies are done children!"

Alex went and got Trinity to put down the cookie tray. She wrapped her in a bathrobe and got Trinity into bed. 

She came downstairs and Drake was trying to eat a cookie. "NO! Drake don't eat the cookies!"

"These are just wrong. What did she make?" He hacked and coughed as he spit the cookie out into the garbage.

Alex inspected the cookies. "Ah, oatmeal, saffron, beef jerky, chocolate chips, chicken nuggets, mustard, sauerkraut, hash browns?" Logan walked up and just started laughing. 

"Just help me wrap up the cookies to save for her and turn off the snow blower. I'll get maids in to help clean up the snow but I want her to see this in the morning. She loves cookies so put them in the fridge so she doesn't get food poisoning. I'll make sure they are out for breakfast." Alex made a country voice, "I think there's meat in them there cookies."

They all started laughing. "She really needs to see her decorating in the morning too."

They finished and headed back to bed. Just before going in their rooms Alex said, "Makes you reconsider the warning about not drinking alcohol with a medication?"

Drake and Logan were shaking their heads laughing.



Finding Meridian Ch. 09



Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the delay. I ran into technical difficulties. I wanted to thank DDSmith81 for editing and review! Much appreciated. 

Meridian

Revelations

Trinity awoke wondering why she was sleeping in an apron and housecoat. Flashes of last night were going through her head but it did not add up. She looked over to see a bottle of sleeping pills on the nightstand. She saw the empty liquor glass. Shit! Shit! Shit!

Trinity quickly dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen. Everyone except Meridian was eating breakfast. Drake was the first to speak, "Good morning! Would you like a cookie sunshine?" He dangled it in front of her until she took it. "As for your other creations, I took the liberty of making a fake website to advertise your display in the living room."

Everyone started laughing as Trinity muttered obscenities under her breath and walked into the other room. "What the hell is this? Please tell me I didn't do this."

"You sure as hell did sunshine. Now do you want the good and bad news?" Drake was thoroughly enjoying taunting Trinity. "It turns out the website I made with your obscenely creative decorations has been receiving an amazing amount of traffic. You have hit a rare fetish market. You can thank me for not putting the site or anything in your name. I made you an alias for the website." Drake started to chuckle before telling her what it was, "It seems the owner and designer of the site, Cookie Sunshine, yes that would be you, has been offered jobs to do numerous porn holiday sets." 

Trinity started staring at the holiday decorations and the obscene arrangements when she started to laugh. "I'm never going to live this one down will I? Thanks for not putting the website in my name. Was that the good or bad news?"

Alex chuckled at her, "You are correct my sweetly obscene sister. Eat your Cookie Sunshine and we'll give you the bad news."

Trinity was not paying attention as she bit into it. She rushed to the trashcan to spit it out. "Who the hell made this? What the hell is in this? My tongue needs a shave!"

Drake started laughing, "That's the bad news sunshine. You will not be the next Mrs. Fields. If I were not already dead that gross thing you called a cookie would have killed me last night. I do not see much of a profit in selling your crack cookies. But smile, your holiday porn website looks like it will be a major moneymaker. Did I mention we have pictures from last night?"

Trinity growled at him. Alex began to speak, "Back in your corners children. Next we get to go over plans for training Meridian."

"Trinity, I figured we would work with Meridian on her talents today." Alex was finishing eating toast between talking. "We need to discuss if we share 100 percent of our talents with each other or if we need to keep some stuff hidden for the upcoming plan. Marcus, how is Meridian doing?"

"She's sleeping, I left her in bed. I have no problem with us sharing 100 percent. I'm assuming there's a little bit more you have to tell us." 

Alex gave Marcus a look of dread, "There is a lot more to share. I am trying to decide if sharing the prophecy will change the future. There is so much more for us to go over. There is more I need to know from Meridian. We have a lot to discuss and decide. The game plan has been decided but there are many details to be hashed out."

Meridian was still shaking her head at having another premonition of the funeral, her funeral. Death was on its way. It wouldn't be much longer now. Visions of funerals still cut her to the core. She had never managed to evade a premonition. Then she sensed the discussion of full disclosure and prophecies.

She saw her sisters as she walked down the staircase when they said the same thing at the same time, "Prophecies tend to breed fear and destruction; their meanings distorted throughout the ages."

"Obviously the talking in unison has begun. Can I just say it's kind of creepy?" Connor was staring at Trinity as he began to speak again, "You alone go from funny to creepy in under 60 seconds."

"Shut up Connor or I'll make you eat a cookie!" Trinity taunted Connor.

"Be nice Trinity or I'll post your nearly nude June Cleaver photos online," Drake taunted her.

Alex looked at Marcus, "Marcus, are you ready for full disclosure on both parts? We would know our strengths and weaknesses."

"I believe it's instrumental to pull this plan off." 

"I have to ask Meridian a question first. Who is Jamison? I saw him in your dream and you said his name before slamming the door in my face. It may be a mental door but it's still rude." Alex was staring at Meridian waiting for an answer.

"Jamison is a freelance agent now, former government agent out for the highest bidder. He wants me dead." The expression on Meridian's face was one of complete disregard. 

Alex's face contorted, "I want to know the rest of it. I saw how he looked at you during the brief moment of the vision before the door shut. It's more than freelance to him."

"We should discuss this in private." Meridian was worried about the judgment they would pace on her.

"No, this is what full disclosure is." Alex gave her a stubborn searing look.

"Fine, we had a very brief relationship. My job came before him and we fought at the end of the relationship. Connor, the job always came first. It was not the reason you were hurt. I had him burned and that was one of the reasons he had to go rogue and do freelance." 

She was hoping Connor wouldn't go on the offensive and try to insinuate disloyalty. The possibility of her being disloyal to Connor? Ha! She's the one who cut Jamison's face in rage when she found out he had taken Connor. The timing of the event was impeccable. She was riding him Jamison and had a vision mid orgasm of him having Connor tortured hit. Her eyes had instantly changed to storm gray as she fell on his chest. She nibbled on his neck as she slipped the knife from under her pillow and without a thought cut him. That was one time in her life when she let herself go totally on rage.

Connor looked at Meridian. His gaze could not hide the anger. "But you found enough time to fuck around with him. So tell me, would you have been on time if you would not have been sleeping with Jamison? Would you have kept me from getting hurt and tortured? I almost died on that damn mission and you were busy fucking Jamison?"

"Connor, please try to understand. I was given instructions to get close to him. I was not late due to Jamison. I was late because our commander attacked me." 

The fight was still so vivid in her head. After she had cut Jamison their commander had come in and the two had attacked her. It was a close fight and they were taunting her on how they would rape her before killing her.

 "He was the one selling us out. Please do not be mad at me. I always put you first." Meridian was trying to keep her focus on not getting upset. 

"I don't know if I can believe that, not after you let him touch you. What should I have expected?" Connor gave a harsh condescending laugh. "You were damaged goods from day one." Connor pushed his chair out from the table. Every glass on the table exploded and objects around the room were shaking. 

Meridian was cut to the core. After all the years working together she finally got together the courage to tell what happened in the one horrid foster home and he threw it in her face. She walked up to Connor and slapped him. "How could you? Well even damaged I saved your ass many times. So go the fuck home!"

Meridian looked over at Marcus and noticed he looked highly agitated. "How many people did you sleep with because of your government job or is that just something you do? You obviously fooled around with me while engaged. And you wonder why Ken cheated on you?" Even as he said the words he regretted them. 

Meridian was so full of rage, anger, and hurt. Her attempt to calm herself was not working. "What can I say? I am already judged a whore, damaged goods and a slut completely unworthy of love and trust. Alex, can you have Tarrin set their flight up and get the guys home. Drake and Logan please have a nice flight. I will not be here to see you leave. I can't stay in here any longer!" Objects around the room vibrated, glass was exploding and things flew around the room until slamming into walls and falling to the floor. Meridian went upstairs to her room and started pulling clothes out of the closet to change.

Marcus stood at the door ready to speak when Meridian yelled at him from the bathroom, "Go away, GO HOME!" She ripped the IV out and wrapped it in a bandage and gauze. Marcus was ready to speak when she turned around, stared at him and in a deep evil voice said, "Go Away!" The door slammed shut without her being near it and locked. Marcus went to push it open and could not get it to budge. 

Alex walked upstairs to see what was happening and caught her yelling at him to go away and the door fly shut. "Marcus, let her cool off."

After a half hour, Alex went to check on Meridian. She knocked, "Its Alex can I come in?"

"Yes," Meridian said. She was packing a bag.

"Don't leave; give them time to realize the mistake they made." Alex gave Meridian a hug.

"I've got to get out of here for a while. I need to just get away." Meridian was hiding her hurt and rage. Things around the room started to shake and the house began to shake. 

Alex pulled a set of keys out of her pocket. "Bike clothing is in the closet. Here are the keys. Go for a drive." She gave her a hug. "They didn't mean what they said."

"They did. How can I ever be worthy of love? After that foster home where I was raped? I am damaged goods. At least I know it now before I get any more involved. What can I say? I should have remembered 'everyone dies or leaves'." Trinity had been standing outside the door and heard the conversation. The house felt as if it was shaking.

"YOU ARE NOT DAMAGED GOODS. You are not responsible for being raped. I will not let you accept responsibility for that. Now go let off some steam. Trinity's friend has a race track. Remember, Ryan is harmless but will hit on you." Alex smiled.

"I think I need that."

Alex looked at her, "Honey, we all need that. Worship me damn it! Call me your queen." Alex smirked, "Sorry I was thinking of the pool boy!"

The house stopped shaking and Meridian started changing clothing. Alex began to talk, "Taking a drive helps me when I'm upset. The keys for the other two bikes are numbered on the wall but I figured you would want to ride that one. Here is a number. He knows you're coming and you can race on his track."

Meridian almost started to laugh, "You know me so well despite all these years we've been separated. Weird."

Alex gave her an evil grin, "The weird is just beginning. We all race and probably have the same traits. Go race for a while and then we have to work on practicing."

"Practicing what?"

"We each have a hidden gift. I can tell what yours is but I am not unleashing it here. I will explain when you come back. Then the weird can begin. The world as you know it is about to disappear." 

"My world has disappeared, I'm glad to see you in the new one." Meridian hugged Alex and went down the stairs to the garage. 

Marcus had come out of his room long enough to see her leave. He walked over to Alex. "Is she coming back?"

"When she's ready. She needs to cool off and so do you." Without giving him a chance to respond, she went down the stairs and outback. 

~~~~~~

Marcus knocked on Connor's door. "How many people did she sleep with for her job?" Marcus was still fuming with jealousy.

Connor looked up at Marcus with regret shaking his head, "I shouldn't have said it. It was wrong of me to accuse her of that. He is the only person I knew of her sleeping with associated to the job. I was angry about the whole thing. I still am but it was wrong for me to suggest what I did. Be mad at me Marcus not her. She was attached to one agent during her years of work and I turned into some jealous ass. I accused her of shit that was not her fault. She was my partner so another agent being with her bothers me. I just hope she will forgive me. Shit, I called her damaged goods. She might never forgive me. She confessed her deepest darkest secret and I throw it in her face in front of others." Connor rested his head in his hands. "I should go apologize."

Marcus looked at him, "She left on the motorcycle." Drake knocked on the door and Logan followed him into the room. Just before he was going to shut it, Trinity walked in. Alex stood at the doorway. Trinity glared at Marcus and Connor. Alex was the first to speak, "Can everyone leave for her sisters to talk with Marcus and Connor?"

Trinity looked at them, "No, when Alex says the first of this we need you to keep Marcus from killing Connor. You want full disclosure, we'll give full disclosure." Sweet loving Trinity turned into a force of nature. She made tornadoes look tame. Her voice sharp and scary. She tilted her head to the right, "Now Connor explain it to me? What made you betray her trust? Throw something so horrid in her face twisting the facts to hurt her?"

"I'm sorry, I got so angry. I have been seeing her slip away from me. I guess I always wanted her as mine but first it was Ken and now Marcus so I…I used it against her. I'm an asshole." Connor put his head in his hands. 

Trinity looked at Logan and Drake. She walked up to them. Her voice became melodic and hypnotizing. "You will hold Marcus back so he doesn't hurt Connor. Tell me yes if you understand."

Both chimed in, "Yes."

Alex stood back like the judge letting Trinity be prosecutor. "Now Connor, why did you call her damaged goods? Why should you feel guilty about that? Before you answer; Drake and Logan hold Marcus back."

"I was the first person she shared that she left her foster home at 16 because as a virgin her stepfather raped her. He hurt her so bad, she was hospitalized for a week. She was told she could never have children due to it. She slipped in during the middle of the night, packed and never went back. She always felt like damaged goods and I always told her I'd never tell anyone or throw it in her face, until today."

Marcus flew into a rage and it was taking everything for Logan and Drake to hold him back.

Trinity walked up in front of him. "Trinity, move out of the way!"

She began speaking hypnotically, "You will find you cannot move, you can talk but you cannot move."

Drake looked at her and asked, "So how many times have you used that one me?"

Trinity walked up to him, as he was able to remove his hands from Marcus. Her accent changed to British, "It is none of your concern until we explain our...hum…talents? Yes, talents. Now, I have never used it to disgrace you or in a derogatory way." She ran her hands up his chest straightening his collar and whispering in his ear, "Be a good boy and maybe you I'll play with you to make up for it." She gave an evil smile and then it vanished as she turned. "We need to make sure you never underestimate us. Connor your behavior is inexcusable."

"Marcus your jealousy has got to tone down. She has been severely victimized and doesn't need anymore."

Alex walked forward. Her attitude was reserved, conservative and purely business. She grabbed a chair pulling it in front of her straddling it. "Connor, you were very lucky today. Meridian is just learning her powers, inherently learning and losing control of our emotions becomes extremely dangerous. We have had time to learn ours. Understand this clearly, we expect you to do WHATEVER you need to in order to apologize when she comes back. Also understand, we will BURN YOU DOWN if you ever do that again." She motioned to Trinity. 

Trinity twirled her hands emptying a silver bowl on the floor without any regard. She then artistically stacked many items from around the room in the bowl with the final piece being a chair balancing on odds and ends from around the room. It resembled a magic trick, the chair looked liked it was levitating. 

Trinity changed her accent, "Gather round boys and girls to watch the amazing the magnificent Alexandria." 

Alex spoke first, "Turn order to chaos."

Trinity spoke the next phrase, "Burn flames to earth."

Alex said the end of the spell, "Take these items and make them dirt."

The entire stack caught fire and burned in record time into dirt in the bowl. 

Alex walked up, "Fix what you've done to her; you have to get her trust back."

Alex turned and left. Trinity looked at Marcus and in a hypnotic voice said, "Are you going to go after Connor if I let you lose?"

"I'm going to hit him but I won't kill him." 

Trinity glanced at Logan and Drake. "Seems my job here is done, you might want to make sure he doesn't get too carried away." Trinity set Marcus loose and left.

Afterwards, Trinity and Alex met in the library. "Damn they can fight. You sure he won't kill him?"

"Pretty sure," Trinity smiled and laughed. "Connor will hurt but won't die."

"Champagne love?" Alex made exaggerated moves to serve the champagne.

"Why yes, I think I shall. Will we be called harlots for drinking so early?" Trinity made a fake worried face.

"Why surely not, I am sure it is happy hour somewhere in the world. In addition, I am sure Ryan will hit on our dear Meridian. I'm sure it will help put things in perspective for Connor and Marcus."

Trinity giggled knowing that Ryan was a vampire and he had a habit of kissing the girls. "They all think we're naive. And Ryan is one hot piece of eye candy."

Trinity looked at Alex, "Ryan could make a woman want to plant her feet on the ceiling and ignore the world for weeks!"

"Trinity!"

Trinity gave an evil smile and smirked. 

Both laughed. Alex looked at Trinity, "How do the vampire men handle jealousy?"

Logan walked into the room. "I don't know if you can call it handling. I have never seen so much stomping and brooding in my life. It's like teen testosterone rage."

Alex then wrinkled her eyebrows, "Do they get better at it as they get older?"

Drake walked in waving for Alex to pour them drinks and then answered, "No, honestly, I think we get worse. You wait so long for your mate then you turn into a complete moron."

They all made faces at him. "Marcus is behind me isn't he?"

"Yep."

Marcus grunted and sat down as Alex handed him a drink, "Yep, we get even more irrational. Wisdom comes with age but it does not make us rational."

Trinity looked at Marcus, "Have you and Connor shook hands and agreed to be friends again?"

"Yes, but he's still got to apologize and get Meridian to accept it."

"Oh yeah, if you guys ever do shit like that again I'll lock both of you in cages and feed you my crack cookies! Now you guys need to discuss if you stay or leave, you have an hour we've got stuff to do and find us when you decide." 

~~~~~~

Marcus took care of business. He returned emails, calls, and outstanding business. The entire time he wondered if he burnt down any chance of being with Meridian.

His mind was focused on her. He could not focus on work. He was angry and upset. The very thought of letting her go made him clench his jaw. He thought of someone else touching her. He remembered sucking on her pierced clit, her coming while he thrust his fingers in and out, and kissing his girl while he slid his hard shaft into her. Damn it! He hated the thought of another man licking and sucking on her clit. She was his! He should not care this much. There were rumors of vampires finding mates, irrational and illogical but drawn. The longer she was gone the worse it became.

He had to get out of the house. He found Alex in the library.

"I need to run out for a while."

Alex simply tossed him car keys. "Garage is in the basement. Hit the button and the car will flash."




Finding Meridian Ch. 09



"How did you…?"

We're oracles, vatics if you may." He was unable to finish before she answered. She never looked up from the paper.

"The advice I give you is don't fuck this up! She may be my sister but she cares for you intensely. Your responsibility is to realize how much your words affect her good or bad. If you are unsure, back off. She's been hurt enough."

Marcus got in the car unsure where he was driving. How the hell did this woman make a man of his years get frustrated and unsure. He was thousands of years old and the thought of this woman being with someone else made him want to kill. The visions of her head thrown back and her moans when she came were infecting his mind. Shit! After the first thousand years, he had given up on the idea of a mate. He thought it was completely idiotic; folklore, myth and nonsense. 

Then the vision of her in the motorcycle outfit made him hard. He wanted her in front of him with her pants down his cock lodged deep inside her. He wanted to hear her whining and whimpering until she screamed his name. Fuck! He thought of her racing with other men watching. She was his! The thought of another man kissing her, holding her, and taking her made him extremely angry. He barely slammed on the brakes to avoid rear-ending another car. He saw the jewelry store on the right hand side. He could not resist and was drawn to it. 

As he walked in, he knew why. He could not do it. He could not let her go. He would do whatever he had to in order to make her his. His Meridian. His little one. He thought of the preordained vampire mating ritual and almost broke the glass to the case holding the jewelry.

An older couple came out to help him. "How may we help you today?"

He looked around realizing everything was antique jewelry. "Everything is antique?"

The older woman came forward. "Hi, I'm Abbie and this is my husband Leo. Yes, we run an antique only jewelry store. However, I sense you are here for something specific. I can let you look around or we can make this simple." She pulled out an ancient wedding ring set.

"I recommend something like this. We will custom make the bands in platinum. I can sense what she would like. I would replace these with blue-green fire opals and pigeon blood red rubies and diamonds. I will make it for you. I just need your decision. Do you want me to make them?"

Marcus looked a bit shocked.

"Oh honey, don't get all shocked on me. You know why you are here. Take your time and let me know. You cannot get her something antique it must be custom made. I know what she wants so just let me know if you make a decision."

Marcus started to think. After everything was over would their relationship be the same? The thought of sleeping with his girl every day brought a smile to his face. He could envision seeing her face as he makes her come. The idea of the ancient mating ritual made him jealous and angry but would he give up jealousy to be with her? The thought of waking her up with sex every day made him hard. It would be Logan and Drake to complete the mating. At least he could trust them. They would never hurt her or scare her. They would always be tied to her to keep her safe. 

If he waited…could he wait? Shit! He wanted her only for him. Only his. His Meridian. His Mate. His Wife. He could see the picture in his mind vividly of him deep inside her rocking back and forth while she sat on his lap with her legs wrapped around him. Her cries of ecstasy as she came around his cock. Her head going back as she screamed his name with her sweet tight pussy milking every bit of him out. Just the thought made him need to adjust his pants.

"How do you know what needs to be made? This is my first time here." The older woman just took his hand. 

"You know it will be much easier to give in to the fact that you love her. She would never stray. Cultures have different standards. Yes, your sharing the ceremony will make her nervous but we all sacrifice something for love if we do not, we end up sacrificing love itself. Giving up love due to worrying about hurt and betrayal is a bigger sacrificing than just giving in and admitting you love. I'm psychic."

Marcus was stunned. He looked more and his mind went back to if she said yes. Could he hold back his jealousy during the vampire mating ritual? The true test of love was him pushing his possessiveness and jealousy aside for the ritual. It would guarantee Logan and Drake as protectors connected to her. His mind went back to seeing her asleep with the IV and so pale. His Meridian.

"Make the set." He handed over his credit card not even caring of the cost. "How long will it take?"

"I knew you were coming, it will be done tomorrow morning." She smiled at him. 

~~~~~~

Meridian saw the Grand Prix motorcycle-racing bike in the garage and immediately fell in love. Once she was on the bike, she saw a bow with a card. "This doesn't make up for many a missed Birthdays but it's a nice treat. If your ribs hurt too much there is a gift to the right. Yes, both are custom." She looked over to see a custom antique Shelby Cobra in midnight blue with white racing stripes. She needed the speed of the bike though right now. 

Meridian fed the business card into the navigation system and it confirmed her arrival as she drove to the track.

A very tall man in racing gear met her. Damn, when did motor-cross become so damn hot! He was a good six foot with chiseled body. The blonde hair and blue eyes were hot! She got off the bike and removed the helmet.

"Damn, she wasn't kidding when she said you were her sister. I am Ryan a friend of Trinity's. So you need to race to vent?" 

She placed her hand out, "Yes, it's Meridian." Ryan showed her around the track. 

"So let's get you ready."

"I do need a favor first. I've got broken ribs and need you to pull the corset strings to tighten it for my driving." Ryan just gave her an odd look and started shaking his head. 

"Damn, Trinity said you were hardcore but shit. Ok doll, it is a no go for you racing the bike with broken ribs. You're sis assured me you race cars too?"

Meridian had an evil grin, "Sure do. They know me better than I expected. They bought me this and custom Shelby Cobra in midnight blue and white racing stripes too."

"I'd kill to drive the Shelby on the track. Ok doll, you mind if I call you doll?"

"Doll is fine."

"Doll, I'm not comfortable with you racing a bike with the ribs but I have a grand prix racing car I need to tweak. I need to run practice laps, see where the engine adjustment, oxygen flow…I'm probably losing you right?"

Meridian started laughing, "Not at all. Let us go over the custom specs so I know what I am working with. Give me the skinny on it."

Ryan was impressed and they discussed everything about the car.

"So you ready to take it for a run around the track?"

Over the next four hours, they raced and tweaked the specs on the car. Finally, he handed her a beer. "I think that's all for tonight."

Ryan then looked at her seriously, "I have to ask did your boyfriend hurt you like that? The makeup isn't hiding it well."

"No boyfriend, no I had some asshole attack me." Yeah, no boyfriend. It does not look like one soon. Maybe I am better off single.

Ryan ran his hand over her cheek. "You want me to take care of the guy just give me a name and let me know where to find him. I will handle it. You're too pretty and brilliant to be treated badly."

"I appreciate it but I took care of it. My sister did tell you that you'd keep any knowledge of me being here under the radar?"

Ryan ran his hands over her hips and pulled her close, "Of course. I hope you weren't gentle on the guy." He ran his fingertips lightly over her cheek.

"I'm not so good with being gentle but more with vengeance." She gave him an evil smile.

"Good," he pulled her in and went in to kiss her. Meridian resisted for a minute and then gave in. Ryan buried his hand in her hair kissing her he slid his tongue in her mouth and deeply kissed her until she was breathless then he started kissing her down the neck. It was not the same, it was not Marcus. Shit!

She pushed a bit against his chest, "I can't do this right now."

Ryan pulled her in and hugged her, "You smell like another man. You sure you're not bound to another?"

"You can say it Ryan, I know you're a vampire. It is no big deal. Yes, it is another vampire. He likes me at least did until today. Ok, he liked me. He has a problem with my past and jealousy. He made comments that made me feel pretty shitty to be honest. I do not know. I just ended an engagement too, not to him. Maybe it is just too soon. Maybe I'm just too complex to be with someone long term." Meridian gritted her teeth her mind lodged between wanting to cry and wanting to break things.

Ryan used his hand in her hair to pull her head back to stare in her eyes, "Nothing should ever make you feel shitty. You are too unbelievable for that. Sexy as hell, sell my soul for you sexy. I'd take you any day, complex or simple for as long as you'd have me." He pulled her closer and kissed her deeply. He pulled her close nibbling on her neck and then whispered in her ear, "Take time, I'll be here. You can come here all you need to drive and vent."

"I don't want you pissed if it goes nowhere. I also don't poach on other women's men."

"I don't have a steady woman to get pissed. Merely hanging out with you and I could accept playing with your new birthday gifts as a trade off if necessary. I really would love to drive the cobra. No matter what, I will not pressure you. I'll take whatever you give me friendship or more but no pressure."

"Ryan, I truly appreciate that. I have to figure out everything in my head." Ryan gave her a hug. He knew his scent would be on her when she left. He could not resist. "Wait here." Ryan ran to his office grabbing a key card. "Do you remember how to turn things on around here?"

"Yes, why?"

"Here's an entrance card. Here is the pin. Come anytime day or night and race. Just leave me a text to let me know it is you and not someone breaking in. Next month I am having new security installed. I'm here even if it's just as friends." He pulled her in and gave her a hug. 

"I'm brilliant at security so we'll make an exchange that I can race when needed and I will also go over your new security with you."

"Deal. I'm here even if you just need to lean on my shoulder." He gave her a hug before she left.

~~~~~~

Trinity and Alex received the text from Meridian at 3 pm. They did not bother to tell the guys. Better they stew. They left them all wondering.

They announced dinner would be served at 6 pm. Dinner was tense to say the least. Finally, Connor spoke up, "Is she coming back?"

Trinity made a snorting sound at him, "She's a big girl. Why the hell should you give a shit if she returned?!" Trinity left the table. 

Marcus's hand tightened on the edge of the table.

Alex looked at him, "Marcus, cool down. She needs to vent. She will come back. She's with a friend."

Connor finally asked, "Who is it?"

"Do you care? It is a friend of mine and you do not know him. " Trinity taunted him.

Connor stormed out and slammed the room to his door.

Marcus looked at Trinity, "She's with another man. What are they doing?"

"Fuck if I know. Do I look like a goddamn spy cam? You're the ones who said the shit you said now suck it up that you hurt her." 

A look of guilt went over Marcus's face. He knocked his chair over and left for his room. Just as he walked out of the dining room, he saw Meridian coming up the stairs from the garage.

As soon as he got close to her, he could smell the other guy.

"Who was he?" Marcus's jealousy was taking over.

"None of your business. Shouldn't you be gone by now? Why the fuck even act like you care?" Meridian was mentally and physically exhausted. The pain of both where wearing her down.

Connor walked over and grabbed her arm, "Who the fuck was he? What did you do with him?"

"Connor, remove your hand or I will remove it from your body! Both of you stop this shit! I have nothing to give either of you. You've called me names." Meridian pointed at Connor, "I'm already damaged so why should you or anyone else give a fuck? I am sure you have already told them so why don't you just go fuck off! I emotionally have nothing left for you to take from me so go away!" Meridian turned and looked at Marcus, "Why even bother Marcus? Go find someone who isn't damaged goods."

Connor dropped his hand when he noticed her crying. Seeing her cry broke Marcus's heart. Every bit of jealousy drained from him. He ran up the stairs after her. She slammed the door to her room.

"Little one, I'm coming in." Marcus walked in to see her curled in the fetal position crying. "Baby, I am so sorry. I know there aren't enough words to apologize but I am so sorry." He pulled her into his arms and let her cry. "What are you not telling me? I know you are strong but little one, I am here for you. Talk to me."

"The doctors on Friday said it's normal for me to be emotional after everything. I…I" Meridian started to cry. "The attack Friday caused me to have a miscarriage. I did not know I was pregnant. I was never supposed to be able to get pregnant." Marcus thought he could not feel any worse than he already had felt, he was wrong.

He grabbed a painkiller out of the bottle. "Don't argue with me you need it. I am having the doctor come over and check you out. I am sure you did not tell him. I am not having you out of this bed for 24 hours. I do not want to hear any excuses. My girl has been through more than I knew. I did not even take into account what all happened. We need to get you healed and that won't get done if you're not eating and resting." Marcus called down and had food brought up. "I'll be right back sweetheart."

Marcus stepped into the library where everyone was drinking. They could all tell by the look on his face this was serious. "Connor, both of us stop this shit now. Alex, can you get the doctor back here? He needs to do an exam to make sure nothing has gone wrong since her miscarriage on Friday." Everyone just stared at the announcement. "Logan and Drake, work with everyone so we have a plan to fix everything but she needs some time to heal. Connor, make sure your office gives announcements that investigations are ongoing. I need you to calm down and go apologize to her sooner than later. I do not want her out of bed. Just so we are all clear, I love that woman. I am not letting go of her. I'm planning to propose to her tomorrow."

Everyone just stared at him. "I love her and won't lose her. This bullshit fighting amongst each other is getting us nowhere. No one says a word until I propose."

Connor apologized for his behavior and shook his hand.

Trinity began to speak, "Her sisters will visit her first. Connor get ready to apologize because we have to patch this up."

~~~~~~

Trinity and Alex entered Meridian's room where they surrounded her giving her hugs. 

"Honey, you should have told us instead you send in Marcus like a raging bull telling everyone what to do." Meridian started to laugh. "You should have seen it; he was bossing everyone around and giving instructions to Connor. It's good to know he takes control."

Both sisters hugged her. They could tell she was feeling better and were able to get her to eat.

There was a knock at the door and Connor walked in. Both sisters exited the room. He moved her empty food tray to the table. He moved to the other side of the bed and pulled her into his arms. 

"You have every right to hate me forever. I saw you slipping away. I broke a promise. You never told me about the miscarriage though that is no excuse for my behavior. Take as long as you need but I'm here as your friend and I am so sorry." Connor hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

"I forgive you." Connor pulled her into his arms.

"I could never live without you. So you feel better, Marcus did kick my ass, literally. I need to let the doctor get in here. You need anything you call me." Connor kissed her on the head.

~~~~~~

The doctor left the room after the exam.

"She's doing a bit better but her healing is slow. Emotionally, she is drained. Everything is clear after the miscarriage. I do not recommend her ever getting pregnant. There is too much damage. I have not told her. She needs some time to heal. It would be too much stress to go over that at this point."

~~~~~~

Marcus reentered the room. "Let's get you a shower." He helped her undress and then removed his clothing. He held her up in the shower as he washed her. He could not help but get hard. 

Marcus went to rub her shoulders when she flinched. When she leaned forward, he saw the hand marks on her shoulders and around her neck. The bath had washed off the makeup covering the marks. He wanted to see everything. 

"Are you done sweetheart? Do you want me to wash your hair?"

"If you wouldn't mind." After washing her hair and rinsing it, Marcus lifted her out of the shower and wrapped her in a towel. He sat her on the bathroom lounge and dried her off. 

He noticed all the black and blue marks she had been hiding. He then pulled her into his arms.

"Meridian, I am so sorry. Do you think you could forgive me?"

He did not hear any response. "You can take all the time you need but is there a chance you'll forgive me?"

Meridian woke up to hear only half of it. "Yes, I forgive you."

"I really need to talk to you about something. I do not want to rush you but I want you with me exclusively. I wanted to offer you something if you accept. I can give you some of my blood and your healing will accelerate but you will not become a vampire. I will always be able to sense your feelings and moods. It's very intimate and attaches us."

Marcus slid his fingers up and down her wet slit. He pulled her so her back was against his chest. He pressed against her clit ring. He nibbled on her neck and whispered in her ear, "Feeding from me doesn't bother you?" Meridian started to moan. 

"I'm not bothered or grossed out by it. How long would it take me to heal so we could play?"

"I thought we were playing?" He pulled the hood of her clit back to flick her little clit. She began to moan. He started to whisper in her ear, "You let me know if anything hurts."

"I love what you're doing. It feels so good." Meridian started to moan.

Marcus picked her up and took her to the bed. He walked to the bathroom and returned with a razor and a towel. He sat on the bed leaning back against the headboard and placed her sideways on his lap. He tilted her head back to stare into her eyes. "Little one, I'm going to cut the side of my neck. Put your lips around it and suck on it. I will pull you back when you have had enough. Understand drinking is very erotic and you will probably orgasm during it. I want you to." He spread her legs so he could easily slide his hand in between them.

He cut the side of his neck and with a hand in her hair; he directed her lips to his neck. She began to suck on his bleeding neck as she ran her tongue over the cut. She began to moan and arch her back. "That's my little one, suck a little harder. That's it." He ran his hand in between her legs and rubbed her clit. "I need you to keep sucking little one as you come. I can feel your close. You can come for me little one." He lightly flicked her clit. He knew it would take very little for her to come. She sucked on his neck harder and started bucking her hips against his fingers as she came. She ran her hand up and down his hard cock still in his pants as she whined. 

He finally pulled her head back from his neck when she had had enough blood. She was still coming in his arms as he flicked her clit. He used his legs to hold hers open. "That's my girl. You are so sexy when you come." 




Finding Meridian Ch. 09



"Marcus…oh god Marcus…I'm yours." She cried out with her body arched. 

He placed her on the bed and spread her legs. He licked the sides of her inner thigh. He then pulled her clit ring back and touched her clit. Meridian started to whine and moan. 

"I want you to come for me a few more times little one." He knew it would take very little for her to have multiple orgasms after feeding. He sucked her tiny clit into his mouth and flicked it with his tongue. She whined and cried as she came. He slowly started licking her clit then he sucked on her sensitive clit again. "Marcus, uh…uh…oh fuck." She screamed and he licked her as she came. 

"That's my girl." He let her come down from her orgasm and used the towel to wipe the excess blood from his neck. He kissed her deeply thrusting his tongue into her mouth. 

He pulled her against him as she started to drift off into sleep. "But you didn't get to come."

"I get to make the rules since you are healing. Now go to sleep."

She dozed off and he sat there thinking. He never wanted to lose her. He wanted to be with her forever. This was not human love this was immortal love. He loved her completely. Tonight when he saw the rest of the bruises she was hiding, he wanted to lay his head on her lap and apologize that he did not protect her from this. The bruises on her inner thighs and her mound made him angry. He never realized she was covering them from him. 

He loved her. He noticed she was asleep so he slid out of bed to go talk to Drake and Logan.

~~~~~~

Drake and Logan were working in the library alone when Marcus entered.

Logan gave a look, "I see you have something on your mind."

Drake gave a devilish grin as he saw Marcus's thoughts, "Ah, so you want her fully as your mate. The full ancient mating?"

"Yes, I want her completely and forever. I was hoping both of you would be the best men also in the ancient capacity."

Drake and Logan looked astounded. Logan was the first to speak, "Of course I'm in."

"Me too but it might be best if you ask her first and make sure she understands the intimacy of the ancient full mating ceremony part." Drake looked at him sincerely, "Ask her when you have the ring tomorrow. Give her time if she needs it but make sure she understands our role in her being completely mated to you."

Logan started to speak, "Assuming she accepts, I've seen some of her background. I believe it is instrumental each of us talk to her and make sure she knows this is not a ceremony for her to feel used and guilty over. She could easily feel this is just a chance for someone she loves to violate her trust." 

Logan looked at Marcus, "I know she loves you Marcus. I think the best thing is to make sure she knows this is to show her our dedication and how we cherish and are dedicated to her. Marcus, please understand. I am not trying to insinuate you didn't think of this but with my background in psychiatry I need to point out this could backfire if we don't make sure we make sure she knows why we do this. We make sure she understands this ceremony is for her. To love, care, cherish her, and keep her safe. She is not used to allowing people in and she has been hurt a lot. Let us just make sure each of us lets her know how we care and cherish her during this. We make her comfortable enough to say stop to anything she gets uncomfortable with."

~~~~~~

The next morning he made sure, she had extra painkillers so she would sleep in. As he walked downstairs, Alex threw keys at him.

He hurried to drive to the jewelry store.

As he entered, the woman just smiled. "Here you go. They are perfect. Well get a move on it. You need to surprise her when she wakes up."

~~~~~~

As he walked into the house, Alex and Trinity surrounded him. "Let us see, let us see!"

"Wow they are beautiful. Now go propose to our sister. The breakfast tray is all set up." Alex showed him the tray. "Put the ring on top of the rose."

Trinity giggled, "Don't put it in the yogurt or she might eat it."

As he entered, the room Marcus stared at Meridian's sleeping body and he brushed the hair away from her face. Her eyes fluttered open and all he could think was he would get to see this forever. He propped her up against the headboard putting the tray of food on her lap. Marcus slid from the side of the bed to his knees. That is when she saw the ring.

"I love you so much. I do not want to be without you ever. Will you marry me?" He pulled the ring off the rose and held it out for her as he pulled her in his arms.

She started to cry. "Honey, you can take as long as you need. There is no rush. I'm not trying to pressure you."

"You're squeezing me too hard." He loosened his grip and she giggled. "Yes." He grabbed her hand and slid it on her finger. 

"Now I have to ask you another question." Marcus slid up in bed behind her to hold her closer. Meridian snuggled up to him.

"I want you as my mate forever. I love you. I want you, marriage in the traditional sense and complete ancient mating in the vampire tradition."

Meridian just stared at him stunned. What she felt for Marcus was so deep and so different than she had ever known. Should she throw caution to the wind? If things went as her premonition had shown her she did not have much time with him. She had never seen a death premonition avoided. Why should she not allow herself to be his completely? That was her ultimate answer to the question. If these were her last days, would she be with him? It was irrational and made no sense but why shouldn't she allow herself to love him. "I love you Marcus. Yes. However, you need to explain what you mean by the ancient mating in the vampire tradition. Would that include me being turned?"

Marcus smiled like a kid at Christmas. He hugged and kissed her repeatedly. "As far as turning you, if or when you wanted to be turned would be later or whenever we agreed to it. I want you turned later. You are too vulnerable as a human. There is the traditional wedding and an ancient mating tradition that the higher vampire classes do involving two top vampires to seal the bond."

Meridian had a perplexed look on her face. "I need you to explain more to me Marcus."

"The wedding is separate. The upper class vampires undergo an intimate mating and blood exchange as part of the bonding process. Drake and Logan would be involved. You know as vampires we are very possessive but the mating ceremony is done for a couple reasons besides tradition."

"Can you explain the ritual to me please?"

"Because it's so intimate why don't we go and talk with Drake and Logan so you can understand and maybe become a bit more comfortable with the idea of what will happen. They just found out I was going to ask you."

Meridian grabbed her robe and was getting ready to walk into the hallway when Marcus picked her up. "Marcus, I can walk."

He leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Not if I get to have my way with you later." Meridian started to laugh.

The sisters chimed in together. "I take it the answer was yes?"

"Yes, we're going so he can explain the vampire part of it to me."

"Go discuss, congrats!" They gave them hugs.

They walked into the library. Marcus locked the door behind them so they could talk in private. Marcus sat down on the couch and motioned for Meridian to sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her, "Logan and Drake, Meridian has accepted my proposal but I wanted to have both of you here so we could explain the ancient mating ritual. That way if I miss explaining something you can add in." Logan and Drake moved to sit on opposite sides of Marcus.

Marcus pulled her closer as he began to explain, "First of all the wedding and the mating ceremony can be at different dates. The wedding would be for your world and the mating ceremony would be for the vampire world. It would bind you to me for life. As I explained earlier, you becoming a vampire would be decided later. As a human or vampire, to be bound to an upper class vampire in the vampire world there is a mating ceremony. It involves the consummation of our relationship. Two other upper class vampires are required to participate in the mating ritual. The vampire who asks picks two upper class vampires to assist in the mating process and they can decline."

Meridian became a bit concerned, "How involved are they in it?" Logan motioned for Drake to follow his lead. He started stroking her hair.

Marcus gave her a hug as she tensed up, "It depends on how things work out, let me explain. Because you would be mated to an ancient, you would be required to have two additional upper class vampires who would have to be blood linked to you. The reason is not just tradition but for safety purposes, if they are linked they can track and find you. It is for protection. You mean so much to me that I do not know what I would do if I lost you. The world would be hollow."

"That makes sense but you need to explain exactly what happens."

Logan took her hand and knelt in front of her, "Drake and I accepted because we not only respect Marcus but we respect and care for you. Our acceptance of this means we are willing to sacrifice our lives for you and vow to protect you. In order to do that we have to be blood bound to you. An ancient tradition was set in place many years ago. It is to mate you to Marcus but also to show you how we cherish and care for you." Meridian began to get nervous. Drake poured drinks and handed her one.

"Go ahead and drink, you need to relax to understand and not freak out on us. First of all understand Marcus is at the top of our ancient vampires so this is necessary."

Marcus chimed in, "The ceremony is specifically how we become mated intimately. Logan and Drake would be required to feed from you and have you feed from them in order to be linked to you. It is so they can accomplish their vow to protect and keep you safe."

Meridian looked cautiously at Marcus, "Marcus how many times have you been mated? I am assuming when Logan and Drake become mated you would do the same thing for them? How many other people would you be involved in their mating ritual?"

Marcus hugged her, "I have never been mated. I have never felt like this about anyone. The feeling of finding a mate is much more powerful than regular love and marriage. It is quick and irrational. If Drake or Logan asked me to be involved in their mating ritual, I would accept. I would not accept any other offers to be involved in the mating ritual." 

Logan rubbed her shoulders, "Understand it's an honor for both of us to accept the duty to protect and keep you safe." Then he sat back down and let Marcus explain.

"I determine how far things go but in general both Logan and Drake would be dressed in a robe. One of us would be on each side holding your arms down and your legs open. So for example, Logan would be on one side and Drake on the other. I would play with you until you orgasm but we would not have intercourse yet. Once you've come then I would replace Drake and hold you down." Marcus took a drink and noticed Meridian was getting nervous. 

Drake spoke to Marcus telepathically, "I'm going to take her hand and have her sit on my lap so I can explain a few things. I need you to be ok with that. It's to make her feel secure."

Marcus replied telepathically, "You can hold her and explain."

Drake poured and handed her another drink. He then took her hand and motioned for her to sit on his lap. She looked at Marcus and he shook his head yes. "Endorphins are required for us to link with you as your protectors and friends." He waited for her to finish her drink. "We will be in robes but you would be nude and we are required to bring you to orgasm, usually it's done by sucking on your clit and hitting your g-spot. When you climax I would bite over your clit and feed. You have to orgasm while I feed by biting you over your clit so I can suck the blood and your clit while prolonging your orgasm. When I've drank enough I would lick the wounds to close them."

Marcus then spoke, "Then Logan would do the same thing. Then I would go last. After that, I would get undressed and while Logan and Drake hold you, I would fully consummate the relationship. I have to time our orgasm at the same time. When we both cum together Logan, Drake and I would feed from your neck at that time. Then we would cut our wrists and you would feed from us afterwards. That is the whole thing. Unless things get delayed or complicated for some reason then I would figure out what additional is needed to finish the binding."

"Geez, no pressure on my part," Meridian was getting nervous and went back to sit on Marcus's lap.

Marcus hugged her, "We can take as much time as you need until you feel you're ready."

Logan put his hand on her cheek, "This is considered a big responsibility on our part. If there were a less intimate way to do this, we would but it is not only the tradition but also the order and timing is the only way to truly bind to you. We are taking oaths on our part for your protection and safety. We are honored to be chosen as your protectors."

Drake took her hand, "I know you may be uncomfortable with the sexual part of it but it's necessary. We are both honored to have been chosen. You would not focus on satisfying us, the entire thing is meant to show you how you are loved and cherished and to bind us to you as protectors. Marcus must push aside his intense possessiveness to allow us to link to you to protect you. It is quite a difficult thing for him to deal with. It shows how much he loves you by doing it."

Meridian looked at Marcus, "When would we need to do this?"

"I would want it at least a few days before we have the meeting to let everyone know you are still alive. It would link us all and give you time to recuperate. You would be a bit weak after it for a day. However, I do not want you to rush your decision. I love you and will wait as long as you need. Are you ok little one?" Marcus cupped her face and kissed her.

"Just a bit shocked." Meridian rested her head on Marcus's shoulder.

"Even if we took away the fact that I am upper class, your ability to be hurt seems above average. It is truly an honor that Logan and Drake would accept being linked to you to help keep you safe in addition to me. I love you enough to do this. I do not want you as a mistress. I want you forever as a mate, as my wife. A vampire willing to allow this shows how much he cares for and puts his mate first."

Logan took Meridian's hand, "Even if you were vampire it would still be the same. The endorphins are required for us to link along with the blood. For this to work right there has to be excessive endorphins, the more of them in your blood when we feed the more we are linked. Understand we would take care of you during the whole thing. It also shows a dedication on our part not only to Marcus but to his mate, you."

Meridian started to chew on her lip, "What if I get nervous and I can't come? What would we need to do to prepare for the ceremony? We could do the wedding at another time?" Meridian could not even believe she would agree to this.

Marcus hugged her, "We'll take as long as we need to in order to make you comfortable so you can relax and come. That is why I said I might have to change things. You need to trust me. If things are taking too long, I will come up with a way to fix it so the mating is complete. There really is not much preparation. I want you to have the wedding however, you want it so it would be at a later date. They take longer to plan." Marcus was still a bit worried she would tell him he had lost his mind and she would not do it.

"What about what Logan and Drake are allowed to do during the ceremony? How they talk to me?" 

Logan grabbed her hand, "Marcus decides what we are allowed to do. We would take care of you. We are usually in a robe for the ceremony. As far as talking to you, we are not allowed to talk to you in any degrading manner but if you want us to talk dirty to you then we will. You let us know. If you relax for it then we can read what you don't like and do like."

"And if I said I'm willing to do this tonight?"

Marcus looked shocked, "Are you sure?"

"I'd prefer not to sit around being nervous for a week or more for something I would do to be with you Marcus."

"We'll go over everything tonight after dinner."

~~~~~~

Marcus took care of getting everything together for the ceremony tonight. The day dragged on until they had finished dinner. Marcus talked to Connor, Alex and Trinity separately to explain he would be making Meridian his mate tonight. He figured it would be easier if they knew why they might hear screaming. Afterwards he pulled Connor to the side.

"I hope you can accept this Connor. I love her."

"I know you do and I'm happy she found you. If you hurt her, I'll kill you." They both laughed. 

~~~~~~

Marcus took Meridian to meet with Logan and Drake to go over the details.

Logan grabbed everyone a drink, "I think it would be good to go over the details. Little one, we will take care of you. We are honored you want to be with Marcus and you are willing to accept our ways."

Marcus grabbed her hand, "I need you relaxed little one so make sure to drink that. I have to deal with my possessiveness during this."

"I have a stupid question."

Marcus hugged her as Drake held her other hand, "There are no stupid questions." Marcus said.

"So this doesn't mean that later you get to give me away or loan me out to Logan or Drake or someone else."

Marcus hugged her, "As my mate it's forever. This ceremony is only once if we need to deviate from the original plan, it is because I have to. We have to get you to a high enough endorphin state."

"I'm sorry it's just new to me. Why would you need to deviate?"

Logan spoke, "No sorry needed. It is a valid question. It does not mean either of us will be making sexual advances at you in the future. It has quite the opposite effect. Afterwards, you are even more off limits. Marcus will become more possessive of you. Other vampires will sense and know you are off limits. As far as why we might have to deviate from the original plan. I'm going to let Marcus explain."

Marcus kissed her cheek and held her face in his hands. "I am highly possessive of you but understand I have to push that aside during this. Why we might have to deviate? Little one you are so tiny and tight. For us to complete this I have to be in you completely. I am not small by any means. We have to come at the same time while I am buried in you and we feed from you. It is also our responsibility to make sure you more than enjoy this. If it takes too long to get you to come then we have to add activities to get you to the right endorphin level for the mating to stick. If it took too long and I didn't push you to a higher endorphin state we would have to perform the ceremony again." Marcus looked at Meridian, "Are you sure little one? There is no rush to do this right now."

"As long as you promise to take care of I'm sure." Marcus carried her into her room and let her stand up. Logan and Drake followed. Marcus left her room for a minute. 

Logan and Drake came up to her, one on each side, "We will take care of you. There is nothing to be embarrassed about. The more open you are the easier and more enjoyable this will be."

Marcus returned carrying a small bag and robes for everyone. Marcus locked the door after they entered her room. 

Logan looked at her sensing a question in her head, "We hold you down so when you come you don't knock us off of you. The orgasms can be quite powerful. Marcus, do you want to go shave her? It's easier since we'll have to drink from between her legs."

"Will biting me hurt?"

All three chimed in, "Not at all." Marcus then spoke up, "No need for her to shave her, she's hairless." Drake and Logan took turns changing into a robe in the bathroom.




Finding Meridian Ch. 10



When Vampire Mating Goes Bad

"We are a bit confused," Logan began, "we were under the impression you were not identical twins due to the hair color and eyes." Logan had stood and was standing behind Alex and was running his hands up and down her arms.

Drake had grabbed Trinity and she made a squealing noise as he sat her on his lap and started nibbling on her neck. "You smell good. I love your red hair." He ran his hands through her hair.

Trinity and Alex's eyes became huge as they stared at each other. 

Alex stood up and turned to face Logan, "Why is that important?" Logan ran his hands over her hips as he nuzzled her neck. 

"We are unsure how it will affect the sisters since Marcus is mated to Meridian and now we're blood connected as protectors to her." Logan started to growl.

Logan then pulled Alex back so she fell straddling him on the couch. He reached his hands up putting them in her hair and pulling her down to kiss him. He aggressively kissed her then started kissing down her neck.

Drake had Trinity locked against his chest sliding his tongue in her mouth growling as he kissed her roughly. He ran his hands up under her shirt cupping her breasts pinching her nipples. He started kissing down her neck.

Alex looked over, "Trinity!"

Trinity looked back, "Shit!" She tried her melodic hypnotic voice, "Why don't you guys go and we'll meet you in your rooms?"

"I love touching your skin. You're so soft." Logan was running his hands over Alex's legs and started sliding them under her skirt.

"Trinity, try again," Alex was panting at this point.

"Let us go change and we'll meet you in your rooms. It'll be worth it. We promise."

Reluctantly, Drake and Logan let them loose. They walked out of the library and started to run.

Alex told Trinity, "Luke should you try using the force again?" Alex was hinting she use her hypnotic voice.

"Fuck the force, damn it run to the safe room!" Alex hit a hidden panel as they ran through the walls to the basement and locked them in the safe room vault.

"What the fuck was that shit?" Alex asked as she was shaking her head.

"A bad series called 'When Vampire Mating Goes Bad'. Seriously, what the hell?" Trinity was shaking her head. She walked over to the phone and rang Meridian's room. "Not that I'm hugely complaining but shit."

Marcus grabbed the phone, "Trinity, she's fine."

"Marcus, what the fuck? You guys may be fine but we're locked in the safe room because Logan and Drake were chasing our asses. What is up with 'When Vampire Mating Goes Bad?' did we do something? Shit. I wasn't sure if he wanted to kill me or fuck me!"

Trinity chimed in, "I think fuck us to death. Don't get us wrong Marcus your friends have been friendly to us but this is more than friendly."

Marcus was shaking his head, "Hold on Trinity."

He kissed Meridian. "Logan and Drake were chasing Trinity and Alex. I don't understand. I mean you're not identical triplets." He heard screaming on the other end.

Meridian looked at him, "Marcus, we are identical."

"But you have different hair and eye color?"

"Contacts and hair color damn it!" Alex was getting testy.

Meridian sat upright on him, "When does this wear off?"

For once in his life Marcus had no answer. "I don't know. Let me contact Damon and see if he can find out for us."

"What the fuck do you mean you don't know? You're friends want to either kill or screw the hell out of my sisters and you didn't check to see what might happen?"

Marcus picked up the phone, "Let me come down and we'll figure something out."

~~~~~~~

Trinity looked at Alex. "It sounds like they want to fuck us to death."

"Shit! What the hell? They are ancient and they don't know this shit?" Alex started pacing. Trinity grabbed out a bottle of booze.

"When all else fails drink! Would you like to join me?"

Alex shook her head and spoke in Russian, "Da!"

Trinity walked back and forth in security vault that housed the wine cellar. "I'll take one for the team and find out if it's a fuck or fight situation."

"Trinity, what the hell? I know your last boyfriend was horrid but damn. You would actually go out to be screwed or killed?"

Trinity just sat down. She turned on the music. "My last boyfriend wasn't what you would rank as competent in the bedroom."

"What the hell do you mean?"

"He was bad in bed. Let's just say I've never had a guy be able to give me an orgasm."

Alex looked in complete shock. "Are you telling me you've never had the big O?"

Trinity had opened two bottles of wine and handed one to each of them. "Exactly! No. Never. Net!"

Marcus, Meridian and Connor went to the basement where they saw Alex and Trinity in the safe room. "Are you guys Ok?" Meridian was worried.

"Not completely. You need to make sure Marcus gets Drake and Logan under control." Just then Logan ran down and was trying to unlock the keypad.

"Drake get yourself under control. You are frightening Trinity. Calm down. We didn't realize they were identical." Marcus was trying to talk them down. Connor was on the phone with Damon.

"I want my Trinity. Trinity, please come out little one. Give me the phone Marcus." Marcus hesitated but handed the phone to Drake and Alex handed hers to Trinity. "Trinity, I would never hurt you my little one. I just want to kiss you sweetie. I want to kiss from your neck down to your..." Marcus grabbed the phone. 

"Sorry, I think he was going to start the phone sex."

Connor interrupted him, "I have Damon on the phone it looks like we have an answer. You may not be happy."

"Hand the phone over." Marcus was becoming irritated. All he wanted right now was to be in bed with Meridian. "Damon, what were you able to find out?"

"Sir, it's all hypothetical, understand the mating of one as ancient as you to a triplet has never occurred."

"So how do we end this? When will this wear off? What do we need to do to terminate the connection?"

"Well the first option is not something you would accept. The second option is let them lose and let them get it out of their system but that would involve Alex and Trinity. The third option is according to our estimates it would calm down in approximately one week per bite they gave Meridian during the mating ceremony."

"She was bit at least four times." Marcus was becoming agitated, "Are you telling me it would be a minimum of four weeks till it wears off?"

"Sir, not exactly, they will become more agitated as time goes on. No matter what, if you wait four weeks they will still be highly attached to Trinity and Alex. I only have prophecies to go on and I cannot give you any exact answers."

"We have to clear this up before four weeks. I can have them living in a safe room for four weeks!" Marcus started pacing.

"Sir, let us do some more research and call you back."

"Fine!"

Meridian was on the safe phone with Alex. "Did I hear four weeks?" Alex said in an irritated voice.

"Yes, they are doing more research. I am so sorry. I never knew." Meridian was starting to feel bad about the whole thing. Marcus came up and put his arms around her. 

"Alex and Trinity, we didn't know." Just then Tarrin came down the stairs. Meridian explained the situation to her and she smiled and laughed.

Alex leered at her, "You wouldn't be laughing if you were stuck in here!"

"I wouldn't be stuck in there. I'd take one for the team and be doing romper room with a vampire. I would do it all in the name of science of course."

"Tarrin!" Alex started to laugh. Marcus's phone rang.

"Damon, please tell me you have some answers."

"Sir, I have one but I don't think you'll like it."

"What is it?"

"If we had a medical crew stop Meridian's heart then the mating would be severed. We could then restart it and the links would be severed. But you could never completely mate with her without this happening again."

Meridian grabbed the phone, "Send the crew then." Marcus grabbed the phone back.

"NO! I am not having my mate severed from me and killed hoping we can bring her back."

Meridian went to talk and Marcus pinned her against the wall. "I said no! I have not gone through all this to lose you now. We'll find another way."

Meridian talked to him with dread in her face, "Marcus, I'm going to die soon. I've seen the premonitions. I've never been able to stop a death premonition. We're just delaying the inevitable. I can't give my sisters over to delay my death anyways."

"NO! I said no and we will find a way around the premonition." Marcus grabbed her by the hips and roughly kissed her as he held her against the wall. She wrapped her legs around his waist. "NO! I love you."

Logan and Drake both growled, "NO! We won't let you stop her heart."

Marcus smiled, "Three against one little one. You lose."

Trinity and Alex looked over and said, "Five against one, you lose!"

"What am I chopped liver? Six against one!" Connor chimed in. After about thirty minutes Trinity was on her second bottle of wine.

Trinity had downed almost an the entire thing and was holding up the bottle. "To fuck or not fuck seems to be the question for the day." She started to laugh as she wobbled and sat down Indian style on the floor.

Alex scowled, "You're gonna leave me in here for four weeks while she drinks away her liver and make snide comments? I think we need to also take into account if she would have a liver after this."

"And on the fifth day god created wine and said 'Let them drink wine!' I want to sing!" Trinity turned on the stereo and started dancing on the counter top. Trinity finished her bottle of wine off and looked over, "Ooh la la a vintage Opus One from 1990. Yes, I think I shall have some!" She jumped off the counter and looked for a wine opener and saw a Swiss army knife. She grabbed the bottle and pulled the tiny corkscrew opener from the Swiss army knife wedging it into the bottle. She wedged the bottle between her legs and pulled. The opener broke off and she lost her balance falling behind the counter onto the floor. "Ouch! I'm ok." She shouted as her hand flew up over the counter top.

"I've fallen and my wine can't stand up! It seems I can't hold my liquor, literally!" Trinity was laughing on the floor.

"I am not doing four weeks in here with her." Alex looked at Logan, "It looks like we'll be getting a room!"

Drake laughed, "I don't think I'm going to get to sleep with her even if we get her out. I don't like my women unconscious."

Drake saw a hand go up from behind the counter, "Hey, I resemble that remark! Bartender may I have another."

Meridian looked at Alex, "You don't take her out drinking much do you?"

"Nope!"

Marcus noticed Drake sounded more coherent. He called Damon. "Damon, retranslate that. Was that weeks or hours in the translation? Drake is sounding coherent but that could be Trinity's behavior."

Then they heard, "Screw it! I'll take one for the team!" Trinity wobbled to her feet and hurried out of the safe room. Marcus was running over to keep Drake from her. Drake caught her as she started to fall. 

Marcus looked at Drake, "Drake look at me and promise nothing against her will."

Damon spoke over the phone to Marcus, "Sir, it could be hours it's not clear."

"Thanks Damon." Marcus closed the phone.

"I promise to take care of her. Besides it looks like I'll be holding her hair while she gets sick." Marcus nodded.

Meridian went over to Marcus, "Are you sure?"

"I can read his thoughts, she's safe. He wants her but he would not touch her when she's drunk like this. He would only take care of her." 

Drake looked at Meridian, "I promise. I'll take care of her."

"Bartender, I'll have a double!" Trinity said with her arms around Drake's neck.

"Sorry sweetheart but no more booze for you!" He kissed her on the forehead as he carried her up the stairs.

Alex looked at them, "Am I safe to come out?"

"I won't hurt you." Logan waited for her to come out. He wrapped his arms around her hips and whispered in her ear, "It hasn't worn completely off but if you would just let me hold you it would help." They headed upstairs.

Marcus just laughed. He ran over to Meridian pinning her against the wall. She pulled her legs around his waist. "Now where were we?"

"I believe upstairs in bed." Meridian kissed him deeply.

"Too far," Marcus panted. He started opening her robe.

Connor looked at Tarrin. "I think that's our sign to exit." Tarrin said before she ran in and grabbed the wine bottle Trinity left. "It's vintage, it would be a shame to waste it." 

They left the room as Marcus pulled down his pants and swiftly slid his cock into Meridian. She gasped for air. "Fuck Marcus...I'm not used to how big you are...give me some time to adjust."

"Sorry sweetheart, fuck you are so tight." Marcus rested his head against the wall, a sweat breaking out on his forehead as he wanted to just take her. 

"Hold my hips," Meridian told him as she pulled her legs over his shoulders. He slid in deeper.

"Little one you are not helping my self control by doing this." He looked down to see how deep he was buried in her. "Uh...you are going to kill me!"

"I don't think that is possible!" Meridian nuzzled against his ear, "Look down Marcus and fuck me!"

That was all he needed. He stared at her spread around him. The sight was pushing him to the edge of control. "Harder! Fuck me Marcus! Fuck me! I'm coming. I'm coming."

Marcus slammed her each time pushing her up higher on the wall and she started to scream. "Marcus!"

He pulled completely out of her and slammed all the way back in as she spasmed around his cock. He was only able to thrust completely out and in once more before his hot seed was released deep inside her. "Meridian!" 

He held her against the wall while resting his head against the wall. He started sucking on her nipples using his mouth to tug on her nipple rings. He looked down to see his cock still completely in Meridian. Her bare pussy was red and swollen with her lips stretched tightly around his cock and her clit was swollen. 

"Marcus, oh fuck!" Meridian felt him becoming hard inside her. He slightly slid forward and she screamed. "I'm coming." He pulled her legs away from his shoulders and pinned them to the wall as he slid all the way out and in her over and over. He shifted his hips to hit her g-spot and she kept coming. The more she whined and cried the more he felt he was losing control. 

As he had her knees pinned next to her shoulders he kept pumping in and out of her. "Just the sight of my little one's pussy wrapped around my cock makes me want to fuck you even more." He looked down and groaned, "Come for me little one. Come for me. I'm so close."

She screamed, "Marcus," as she clamped down on him hard in an orgasm.

"Oh fuck!" Marcus said as he was covered in sweat as he slammed into her pinning her even more against the wall as he came. She licked and lightly bit the side of his neck as she contracted her muscles around his cock again. "Fuck Meridian!" He kissed her roughly thrusting his tongue into her mouth. She buried her hands in his hair. A few minutes after he stopped panting they devoured each other's mouth. 

He slid out of her and let her bring her legs down. She started to slide to the floor. He caught her before she fell. "I don't think my legs work anymore."

He finished buckling his pants and wrapped her in her robe as he pulled her up into his arms. "I'm sorry I was so rough with you little one."

"We are eventually going to have to work on the plan for announcing I'm alive and such. Is sex with mates always this intense?" 

Marcus started laughing, "Hell if I know. You would be my one and only. Let's go to bed and worry about it tomorrow." He started carrying her up the stairs.

"Seriously, I don't think I can take anymore right now."

"I meant to sleep," Marcus said laughing.

~~~~~~

Trinity woke up and felt Drakes arms around her. "Morning sunshine. How is your head?"

"It will be better after the band stops playing in it. Right now it's playing the Ramones 'I wanna be sedated'. I wonder why?" She laughed, "So I take it we didn't?"

"You passed out on the way up the stairs. I've only been able to get you to drink some water throughout the night. You would wake up run around the room and I'd get you to lie back down." He handed her aspirin and a bottle of water.

"Thanks! So I'm assuming the effect wore off you guys?" 

"Toned down yes, worn off? I'm not sure if it will. I feel possessive and attached to you. We'll have to see how things go." 

"I think brushing my teeth would be task one!" Trinity stood up then realized she had no clothes on. "Where are my clothes?"

"It seems you have a hatred for clothing when you get toasty." He tossed a dress shirt of his over to her. "I was only able to get you to wear this before you would strip it off. That was after we had gone out to the bars. Not that I was complaining, nice tattoo!"

Trinity made a face at him, "What tattoo? I don't have a tattoo!"

Drake laughed as she ran into the bathroom turning around in the mirror to see Drake's name was on her ass. "What the fuck?!" He started laughing when she came in yelling at him. "What the fuck is that from?"

She grabbed a pillow and hit him with it. He grabbed her and pinned her face first into the bed. He lightly bit the side of her neck. "You don't remember sunshine? I held you over my knees as the tattoo artist put my name on your ass? I told you last night that I was going to give you a reminder of what happens when you start stripping your clothes off in public."

He started kissing down her spine. He laughed and smacked her ass. Trinity yelped as he laughed. "It's just Bic pen." She pushed him off her and smacked him with the pillow. He pinned her to the bed and she could feel he was starting to get hard against her stomach. "Sunshine, you best grab that shirt and get out of here before I lose control."



Finding Meridian Ch. 11



She just stared at him. "What happens if I stay?"

Drake slid down her body and started licking her slit. Trinity whined. "Drake, that's sweet of you but I've never been able to have an orgasm."

"You will today." Drake used his fingers to spread her thin blonde hair until he saw her clit. He pulled the hood back a bit. "Look at me sunshine." Trinity let out a whimper. "I'm going to show you what ancient vampires can do. You are not leaving this room without coming. I want to hear you scream my name. I'm giving you the first of many then I want you screaming my name."

He licked and lightly bit the inside of her thighs. He pushed her legs up, "Legs up sunshine. I cannot believe no man has ever made you come. Do you come with a vibrator? Can you make yourself come?"

Trinity was in shock and not answering. Drake licked up her slit again hitting her clit with his tongue. Trinity whimpered. "Answer me sunshine!" Drake said in a demanding tone.

"Never. I've never had one through sex or any other way."

Drake smiled, "Get ready sunshine. I'm going to make sure you come." Drake slid a finger in her and Trinity whined as her head went back. "Trinity I need you to look at me. I need to see your face when you come." Drake propped her up on pillows so she could see everything he was doing. He took his time slowly licking her in a figure eight around her clit. He slowly slid a finger in and out of her tight slit.

Drake lightly sucked on her clit. He slid another finger in her. As he slid them in her he curled them forward to find her g-spot. "Drake, don't get me wrong it feels good but...uh...uh."

Drake moved his mouth off her clit and slid up her body sucking on her nipples. He cupped her breast as he sucked on her nipple. He became rougher as he pumped his fingers in and out of her hitting her g-spot and hitting her clit with his thumb. "Look at me. Trinity, look at me. I want to see you come." 

He could tell she was getting close. He thrust his fingers in hitting her g-spot and clit roughly as he pinched her nipple. "Drake!"

"Keep looking at me. That's my girl. Come for me." He slid down and started sucking on her clit while still hitting her g-spot. She dug her hands in his hair as she screamed his name. Her muscles clamped down around his fingers and she kept screaming. She finally started coming down and Drake moved up her body to hold her.

Alex ran in thinking Trinity heard screaming in Drakes room and ran in. 

"Alex, everything is fine. Sorry about the noise." Trinity was turning bright red. Drake had thrown the covers over her.

"Please tell me Drake has succeeded where no other man has?"

"Alex!" Trinity was for once becoming embarrassed.

"She had her first of many. So now if you'll give us some alone time." Drake started sliding his hands under the shirt.

"Enough said." Alex smiled and left.

Trinity looked at Drake, "Wow! So that's what that feels like."

Drake just laughed. 

"I need to go brush my teeth and I'll be right back." She put on his shirt and went to her room.

~~~~~~

Trinity ran out of the room after putting on the shirt. She entered her room quickly cleaning up. She put on an ancient satin oriental gown that had slit all the way to the hips and no sleeves. Then she felt the hairs on her neck stand up. Someone was in the room with her. She grabbed the switchblade out of the pocket of a jacket in the closet.

Telepathically she tried connecting to her sisters, they were unsure if this worked or not. They had never practiced. She hit the silent alarm button. "Meridian, Alex Code Red!"

A man jumped out from the behind the clothes to grab her and she could smell the chlorophorm as he brought it close to her. She dodged it but it did make her slightly woozy and off balance. She grabbed the switchblade tighter while holding her breath and cut him.

"Bitch!" Jamison said as he pulled back and she ran into the other room. 

Trinity hid the alarm in her room. Drake threw on some pants when he heard the alarm and saw flashing lights.

Meridian grabbed her gun from her bag and ran down the hall to Trinity's room.

Trinity bounced off the bed swinging around the canopy bed like a gymnast and landed on the table grabbing the rare samurai sword off the wall. 

"Meridian, you are going to die here and now!"

Trinity posed for attack on top of the table. "My name is Trinity. Leave now or die!"

Jamison was shocked when he saw Meridian, Alex, Marcus, Drake, Logan and Connor run in the room just as Trinity flipped from the table. The flash of gun fire went off. "Fuck you bitch!" As she flipped towards him he caught her off balance and swiftly pulled a pair of handcuffs locking her to the bed post. She managed to cut him but was hit with the bullet from his gun in the shoulder. A flash of fire also flew across the room hitting Jamison. Meridian's shot hit him in the head. 

His collapsed to the floor dead. 

Trinity became alarmingly silent. Alex ran and hugged her. Tarrin ran into the room grabbing the fire extinguisher from the corner putting out Jamison's burning body.

Drake was running his hands over her. "Sunshine, you're bleeding. He clipped your shoulder." Connor threw towels to Drake as he applied pressure to the shoulder wound.

He pulled her gown over to look at her shoulder. Trinity let off a blood chilling scream and began to freak out. She was pulling violently at the handcuff to remove it from her hand. She was pulling so hard her wrist began to bleed. Her eyes were full of extreme fear and terror. 

"Alex we need a doctor. Why is she screaming like that?" Drake looked confused.

"I already called him and he is on his way. A memory became unblocked. Drake please hold her even if she struggles. I need to put the block back."

"Trinity this is your sister Alex you will relax. I am going to count backwards from 10 and when you reach one you will be completely relaxed. 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 Now you are completely relaxed there is nothing to be afraid of. You will see a door in front of you that has nightmares inside. They are just nightmares. I need you to walk up to the door close it and lock it. Can you do that Trinity?"

"I just closed and locked the door."

"Any fragments you may remember are only pieces of bad dreams. They will slowly fade just as a dream does until you forget. After I count forwards from 1 to 10 you will be tired after this and sleep for an hour. Afterwards you will wake up refreshed and renewed not remembering the bad nightmare. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10. You are now sleepy but relaxed and will sleep for about an hour."

Drake picked her up and tucked her in his bed.

Marcus ran his hand through his hair. "I'm thinking full disclosure is going to need to be really soon because I'm getting confused at what the hell just happened. Don't get me wrong. I get Meridian's dead ex here but swords, guns and fireballs and then what happened with Trinity"

Alex looked at Marcus, "We'll go over it after the doctor takes care of Trinity. I have to call Jacob."

Drake looked at Alex, "Who is Jacob?"

Alex looked at everyone, "Ok, Jacob runs the local funeral home and crematorium so he cleans up any messes we end up with. Yeah, I'll call him now. He'll send in a crew. I'll move her room."

Drake cut in, "Just put her in mine."

Marcus scowled, "She needs her own room. Drake we need to talk."

Ten minutes later the doctor arrived and worked on Trinity while Marcus and Drake went to talk.

~~~~~~~

The doctor was cleaning up Trinity in Drake's room while Marcus and Drake talked in the hallway. 

"Drake, Damon ran both Alex and Trinity and it is best if you keep your distance from Trinity." Marcus ran his hand through his hair knowing this would not go over well.

"Why the hell do I have to keep my distance from her? I adore her, I was thinking..." Marcus cut him off.

"Trinity was married and he sold her off to a Japanese man as a slave. You cannot have her, she belongs to someone else. Even if he gives her up it's highly possible you would be shunned in the Vampire world for choosing such a mate. You would be an outcast."

"Marcus, you make the god damn rules then change them. I've never felt like this for someone." 

"Drake, I'll have to think about it. Trinity was and will always be regarded as a slave and a whore. She is inferior and unqualified to be anyone's mate. He was very well known and her association with him makes her considered a high priced very used slave." Marcus said everything not realizing that Trinity heard it in her light sleep. The doctor stitched her up and kissed her on the forehead. 

"You will find a man who is worthy of you." Then he left. 

"Well that changes things. I can't have a whore for a mate much less a mistress." On the other side of the door Trinity's heart became cold. Tears spilled down her cheeks while she slept.

~~~~~~

Trinity walked back and forth in front of the bed thinking. Drake walked into the room an hour later and was emotionally cold to her. 

"Couldn't you have made a mess in another room?" Drake snapped at her.

"Housecleaning will be in shortly and clean it up." She turned and left the room.

Someone started moving her stuff into his room when he stopped them. "It's best if she has her own room."

Trinity looked at Drake then housekeeping, "Just wait for me in the hallway and I'll direct you."

"Trinity, I just think maybe..." Drake was cut off. 

Trinity was trying to hold back tears but lost it. She responded with eyes full of sorrow as the tears streaked down her face. "I heard it all. Maybe get the whole story before you judge someone. Alex blocked out the memories but there are things I know. I know I married the man I loved and was a virgin. I know the drugs turned him into someone else. I know that other than you I've never let another man touch me. Thanks for earlier. It was nice to have met you." Tears started going down her face and Trinity gritted her teeth while walking into the hallway. 

"Trinity, I..." Drake noticed she was already gone. Drake rested his head in his hands. Shit!

~~~~~~

Trinity walked into the hallway to talk to housekeeping. She hurried and wiped her tears.

Meridian walked up to her, "When you finish, meet us in the library so we can do the full disclosure thing and go over the plan."

"It's going to take me a few minutes, start without me? I'll be in when I finish." Trinity seemed cold and distant.

Meridian looked at her noticing her face wasn't her normally cheery self, "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing other than getting shot. Just go deal with details." Trinity did her best to keep a blank face.

"OK," see you in a few minutes. Meridian shook her head feeling something was wrong.

~~~~~~

Trinity looked at housekeeping. "Can you help me carry this down to my vehicle?"

"Of course."

Trinity walked into the garage and grabbed the keys to the Hummer. It was an odd feeling; she hadn't touched the hummer since his death. She flicked the alarm button and opened the vehicle. She handed the guy money as he loaded it. "Thank you."

"No problem, miss? Did you need anything else? Are you ok?"

"I will be fine. Actually, yes I would like a favor from you." She wrote out a note and sealed it in an envelope for Alex. "My sister Alex, just like me but dark hair, can you give it to her when they come out of their meeting?"

"Of course."

She kissed the man on the cheek as he opened the door and she got in the vehicle and left the estate.

~~~~~~

Alex began the meeting. "We will show good faith by me explaining our powers. We all have telepathy, premonitions and a 3rd gift. I have pyrokinesis... a fire starter. We've found out our Meridian here has telekinesis...she moves things with her mind. Trinity is a hybrid. I call her a trancer; years ago she was referred to as a siren. She hypnotizes with her voice. People feel the urge to do what she suggests and she can talk people down from situations but it has taken years of work and there are a few who have resistance to it. She wouldn't have been shot today if he wasn't slightly immune to it."

"There are prophecies of the Triadic. Many cultures had many different names and different prophecies. The one that makes the most sense is the Indo-European theory. It is the belief that the three are "spinners" of destiny, the idea that they weave destiny. From the little we have found we believe we are able to spin or weave destiny. Inherently changing it."

"As far as powers, Trinity has obviously felt her power is more sedate hence the sword fighting. Is she coming in soon?"

There was a knock at the door. "Excuse me Miss Henderson but your sister left and told me to wait until you finished your meeting to give you this note but she seemed upset. I'm sorry if I interrupted but I was concerned she left in the Hummer." Drake started feeling horrible about how he treated her and what she heard him say.

"No, Thank you, for bringing it in."

Dear Alex and Meridian,

Sorry about everything. I'm pretty damn useless when it comes to this shit anyways so I'm going to force myself to take care of the warehouse. Alex, I am aware the block may drop with the trauma but maybe if I completely break, it will be over. Alex can explain it to you Meridian. It is time for me to take care of the past. I am sorry my presence has disgraced Marcus, Logan and Drake. 

Alex and Meridian, Marcus did backgrounds on us and I've been labeled a whore slave who is unqualified and inferior to be anyone's mate. I love you guys but I have gone through so much and to be treated like I have leprosy is something I can't handle. We'll figure out training and such soon but we can easily do it remotely. 

Trinity

"Trinity's moved her stuff out." Alex tried to act undisturbed by the letter. "Why don't we take a break?" Alex motioned for Meridian. "We need to talk outside."

~~~~~~

"We need to get this over with to go check on her. She went to her dead husband's warehouse to stay. I want to just cancel this right here and now and go get her. If her block comes down again I don't know what will happen."

"Give me the skinny! I want to know so we can decide." Meridian was becoming nervous.

"Ok the skinny is Trinity married a dude she loved from high school. First lover thing and he very rich, more than anyone knew. The playboy, mega rich guy with a prince title, fell in love with Trinity. They got married. He kept going out for Treasure Expeditions. She started to notice his attitude was changing. He started doing drugs. He became a sadist and beat the shit out of her. She loved him, thought she could save him. He started drugs to try to get through it. Things went bad. I hadn't seen her in weeks. I took the spare keys to the warehouse to check on her and he had her chained and beaten in the basement. She almost died. The drugs spurred on schizophrenia in him and he lost it completely but not before he auctioned her off as a sex slave."

"If it wasn't for a business associate of mine in the lifestyle, I would have lost her. I had him buy her. The name on ownership is actually mine. I set up a mental block to block all the horrific memories that might surface but as you can see it can break down. She still has some memories."

"My friend in Japan took her in. He never touched her. He said she was the student and daughter he always wanted. She had surgery after surgery to heal the scars from the beatings. We told her it was a car wreck in the beginning. He taught her how to use the sword. She lived with him. He helped her built her business there. He felt like he had to have his "daughter" as he called her fully trained so no man could ever do that to her ever again. Blocking the memories was the only option. We tried therapy and she was completely unresponsive. With the block we get back the majority of the original Trinity. Her husband was mysteriously killed in a home invasion shortly after my associate started taking care of her. I have no doubts it was her benefactor who handled it. Marcus and Drake said something about it and she overheard. I want them to tell you."

~~~~~~

Meridian called everyone into the Library.

"Alex and I are taking off. Something has upset Trinity and we're worried." Meridian was playing stupid.

Drake just scowled and looked away. 

Meridian sensed something from Marcus, "What is it Marcus? You are not telling me something?!"

"She's going back to her dead husband's warehouse to live because someone did something. Said something!" Alex looked furious, "You're grown men talk!"

Marcus told the conversation he had with Drake to Alex and Meridian. 

Alex pulled out a folder and was in Marcus's face, "Did you see the paperwork? Did you? I bought her! He was a Japanese associate. He did it to save her life. Her time spent in Japan was for surgery after surgery. He considered her a daughter. He taught her the sword. He had her taken care of. Do you have any idea what it was like for her to love a man who went insane and left her beaten and chained in a basement? She begged me to kill her when I found her. This was the happiest I've seen her in years, she didn't smile for so long. The man she loved lost his mind and brutalized her over and over. In one way I was lucky, I stopped it before he allowed anyone else to brutalize her but the scars are there despite the numerous surgeries to remove them. Mentally the scars are there." Alex threw the file describing the abuse with all the photos attached.

"I didn't know." Drake said trying to apologize. Drake felt like he should be holding her close. "I want to go with."

Both Alex and Meridian yelled out, "I don't think that's a good idea."

Meridian looked at Marcus, "So Marcus, does that make her inferior to be mated with a Vampire? Did you make sure there isn't something I've done that makes me unacceptable?"

"Meridian, I was not aware of the whole story. It changes things. I will work on changing it."

"Fix it and fix it fast. Even if she was forced into that lifestyle there is no reason a person should be ostracized for that. Have a video conference and take a vote but fix it. The law should be corrected. Until then you will be sleeping with Drake!" Meridian was fuming.

"We're mated! You do not have a choice now!" Marcus was getting angry.

"I die soon that will sever it. Be sure to include your words about my sister in my eulogy." Meridian was furious and used her telekinesis to push him out of her way.

"You are my mate and you cannot leave me!" 

"Watch me! Marcus, this is me leaving you! Drake this is me giving you a one finger salute." Meridian and Alex walked out of the room they allowed Connor to follow. Logan stayed with Marcus and Drake.

~~~~~~

Connor asked, "What's the game plan?"

"Are you with us Connor?" Meridian looked at him.

"I am right here so that would be a yes."

Alex spoke up, "I worry she might hurt herself so we have to set to the warehouse."

They hurried and got in an SUV. "Connor, the warehouse is in the GPS so I'm assuming being vampire you can drive faster than the rest of us."

"I'm taking the motorbike. I can race faster than an SUV on the side streets." Meridian geared up stripping in front of Connor as she put on the leather.

She heard Marcus talking to her telepathically, "Get back here! Put your clothes back on! You do not get to show your body to other men!"

"You are not my god or master you are my mate, an equal! She is my sister! If you have a problem with that then bite me!"

"Do not test me I will punish you after this!" Marcus was furious.

"Like Trinity was punished? Wouldn't that tarnish me? Do you get to toss me to the side? I die soon so suck it up Marcus! I will not let my sister die because you and your friends are stuck up! If she dies I do not give one damn what threats you offer me!"




Finding Meridian Ch. 11



"Little one! You are highly testing my patience." Marcus's voice was threatening.

"Yes, asshole?" Meridian took and used her powers to slam them each to a wall in the library. "You are unable to stop me so get over it. Do not make me choose between my love of you and my sister. I have to concentrate on driving high speeds on back roads now if you not mind!"

Meridian could hear Marcus speaking in an angry tone but she started singing as she drove quickly to the warehouse. She turned the radio up on the helmet as she raced to the warehouse.



Finding Meridian Ch. 12



Thank you JJ34 for editing the beginning! 

As a recap from Chapter 11, Trinity and Drake got closer sexually. As Trinity went to change in the other room afterwards she was attacked by Jamison. The attack brought back a flashback of Trinity's past and her former marriage. Words were said and Trinity left to deal with baggage from her past. Alex, Meridian and Connor went to find her. Please remember to vote! 

Enjoy,

Meridian

Mourning Aura 

Trinity drove up to the warehouse. She took a deep breath to center herself. Something in her soul shifted. A loss of expectations she formerly had for a love, marriage, and children. It all blurred from a dream into reality. Slowly from the beginning of her marriage her blurred unrealistic expectations were devoured by the brutal blinding light of reality. She climbed out of the Hummer and walked up to the front door of the warehouse. She slowly entered glancing around viewing the destruction. 

She remembered when she had first married Jeremy; he had carried her over the threshold to show her the refurbished warehouse. It was his idea of their perfect home and office. He had renovated several areas so that he had an office for his salvage and treasure hunting and she had space for her dream of a jewelry store where she designed the jewelry. Unconsciously, she smiled at the dreams that began her marriage. But the dreams had slowly dissolved. The fights had begun with the stress that slowly took over until Jeremy started doing drugs to cope with it. 

How much she missed the man she loved in the beginning slipped through. She had forced herself to never cry while she was married to him once he started doing drugs. The more she cried and fought the more he enjoyed hurting her. The only part of it she remembers was the initial night he had done so many drugs he was virtually out of his mind. It was a stupid fight. He was pissed that dinner was running late and he had thrown the dinner on the floor. Unaware of the person her husband had changed into, she got in his face to fight with him. He had hit her until everything went black. It was at noon the next day that she woke up in the hospital and Jeremy was asking who had beaten her. She still remembered whispering, "You." He threw everything from her bedside table across the room and left.

She had tried to hide what was happening from her sister Alex. She really did suck at lying. Her excuse of falling down the stairs was a miserable lie. Jeremy had become more and more possessive after that and she rarely left the warehouse. 

Their beautiful dream warehouse had turned into her dingy dirty prison. She took stock of things in her mind. She saw the holes in the walls from when Jeremy would get mad and punch the wall instead of her. Handcuffs were chained to the bed with blood on them, her blood. After Jeremy's death, her sister Alex had warned her that if she focused too much the block her psychic sister had built in her brain would tumble down and all the worst memories would come back. 

There were very little emotions attached to the events right now but even on the outside looking in it was heartbreaking. Alex had warned her if she focused on it too much that would change like a virtual closet door that was full, it would open and all of the bad things would fly out. Alex had built the door to help her cope, after watching her sister struggle for six months with counselors making little progress she had to do something. Alex was relieved when she tried constructing a psychic block on the horrible memories and it had worked. 

The stains were still on the bedroom floor were her husband had died. Not really her husband, some other man after the drugs. The brilliant man who was into salvage and ocean treasure hunting went from brilliant to a rambling madman on drugs. It was hard to believe the man who did the drugs was so cruel and uncaring but still her husband Jeremy.

She kept telling herself she could be strong enough. She had to be strong enough. The words from Drake and Logan kept ringing through her head. Marcus's words had hurt, "Trinity was and will always be regarded as a slave and a whore. She is inferior and unqualified to be anyone's mate." She was really starting to adore her sister Meridian's mate Marcus and this made her feel like an outcast but the worst was yet to come. She actually had some hope of something going forward between her and Drake. Then without even talking to her he judged her and said words that froze her heart, "I can't have a whore for a mate much less a mistress."

She had promised to never let herself cry ever again. Alex had blocked most of the memories but a few still slipped through. Alex was unable to block them all out but had been able to block most of the worst ones. Entering the warehouse was not like entering a place she had never been but more like walking into a partially faded nightmare to find out it was real.

She was going to deal with this now. She would never be weak again. She never needed anyone ever again. Love was just a lie someone made up. Love was a very cruel illusion. 

Trinity faced her demons as she walked into the basement. Her loss of memories made her feel somewhat empty and lost. She was overcome with a cruel coldness that oddly calmed her soul. She had to decide what to do. She searched in the corner for the hidden bombs she knew Jeremy kept there. She planted them around the foundation. No one should ever come here again. No one should ever have to live what she lived through. She placed his ashes and urn in the center of her cell in the basement. It was where a part of her died and he should be left in the same spot. 

She sent a text to Alex & Meridian: Destruction clears way for growth. I love you.

Trinity left the building and sat in the hummer away from the warehouse with the remote detonator. "Goodbye. I loved the real you Jeremy." One tear slid down her cheek as she hit the button and the building exploded. She drove around for hours. She had no idea where she was going.

~~~~~~

Meridian saw the blast from a distance. She felt pain in her heart. As Meridian, Alex and Connor drove up they saw the police and fire department but there were no updates. Alex climbed out of the SUV and just stood there looking at the rubble burn. Connor got out and stood behind her. Meridian stayed in the SUV.

Alex started to cry, "Please tell me she wasn't in the building!" Connor grabbed her and held her. 

~~~~~~

Meridian's hold on Marcus, Logan and Drake had passed. Drake was in his room. He felt a horrid feeling in his stomach. He felt the change when he entered the room after talking with Marcus. He felt her loss of happiness; her lack of smiles just coldness remained. He felt so damn empty and guilty. He had hurt her. He should have been standing up for her and protecting her but he abandoned her. All over fucking status and what others would think. Well fuck that!

The pictures of her abuse were stuck in his head. One thing that really blew about being a vampire is that memories of things like that did not fade like in normal humans. He was stuck with each description of her abuse and each photo in his mind.

Marcus knocked and walked in. Both of them looked like a wreck. "Have you heard from them?"

"No, I'm just a feeling of mourning from Meridian." Drake turned on the TV to see the news report of the remote warehouse exploding. Drake buried his face in his hands.

~~~~~~

"I really don't think there is anything we can do here. Let me drive us back. Even if she was inside it will take days to figure out." Connor commented as he picked up Alex and placed her in the SUV.

Meridian became very cold just like she had when bad things happened. They went back to Alex's mansion.

Connor carried Alex up to her room and Meridian followed. Marcus, Drake and Logan tried to follow them when Alex's assistant Tarrin blocked the way. Tarrin stood directly in front of Marcus.

"No, now is not the time. I should write a book 'How to not fuck things up as a vampire'. You guys need to back off. Alex will burn this house to the ground if she gets any more upset. Meridian is likely to behead you with some object from the room so back off!"

Marcus looked at her and scowled, "You will not forget our rank and who we are!"

Tarrin's voice became stern and extremely serious. "Oh ancient ones, I know who you are! You're the ones who hurt Trinity and if we're lucky she's not dead. You will also not forget those two women in there have not killed you yet but could. One in particular risked her life to help you without you asking. You underestimate what happens to us lowly humans when in pain. They don't even know if Trinity is alive. You were not here when she was dragged out of that filthy basement barely alive. So DO NOT consider this disrespectful, I am trying to save your lives. In the end we still have a job to be done!"

Marcus knew he had to reign in his anger. "Please just have Meridian come out and talk to me."

"It's your funeral." Tarrin walked in and asked Meridian to talk to Marcus. Meridian just stared at him when she walked out.

"I'm sorry about what happened. I'm sorry about our laws but they have been in place forever."

Marcus saw the hurt and pain in her eyes. "Times are different now. Maybe it's time to change them. Do you have any idea how it feels to be judged for things you had absolutely no control over? If you judge my sister in such a way you should judge me as such! Neither of us chose to be hurt, brutalized or raped but we were. According to your laws that makes it our fault. I don't know if I can be a part of that." Meridian quickly went from hurt and in pain to extremely cold as she walked out of the room.

~~~~~~

Meridian had gotten Alex to sleep with some medication. Meridian instructed housekeeping to move her items into a guest room next to Alex. Marcus walked into the bedroom noticing it looked different. Meridian had moved her stuff out. He stormed down the hall until he sensed her.

"What the hell is this?" Marcus stared at Meridian.

"I need some space. You sleep alone." The look of hurt and anger in her eyes cut him like a knife.

"It is ancient law. I am so sorry that our law is written that way, I am working to change it. I do adore her. I..." Marcus was cut off by Meridian.

"You just followed the line. But your words hurt Trinity even more. We are psychic and during extreme stress we connect. I heard what you and Drake said. What is the good of being a ruler if you cannot change things? Now here I am stuck with wondering if one sister is dead and the other is a mess. I'm not going to argue with you on this Marcus. I need space. She is my sister! This rips my heart out! You may stand there outside the door and say the comments but I feel her feelings when her heart is ripped out by the words the two of you said. Please Marcus, just leave me for now."

Marcus didn't know what to say so he left.

Meridian called Connor into her room.

"Hey doll, you holding up?" Connor gave her a hug.

"Trying to, I need a favor." Meridian handed him a piece of paper. "I need you to GPS her cell phone. I need to try and track her."

"Let me call the station right now and see what they can find." Connor gave her a hug and went to his room.

~~~~~~

Marcus joined Logan and Drake in the library to drink. Connor walked in and just glared at them. 

They all sat around not talking and drinking. Tarrin walked in, "Damn you could make a Motivational Seminar commit mass suicide with your attitudes. Drake makes the special punch! You guys are a walking advertisement for Prozac!"

Drake spoke first, "I've fallen for a woman I was told I couldn't have and instead of standing up for her I treated her like crap. Oh by the way Marcus, I'm resigning as soon as you find my replacement. I can only hope to apologize until she forgives me. Oh and I've managed to make her feel so bad about herself she probably killed herself earlier. Excuse me for being fucking depressed! I screwed up and chose a job over a mate."

"My mate is so pissed that she has left my room and won't sleep with me. She has also had premonitions that she dies soon so no pressure there. Oh and she blames me for Trinity not that I don't deserve it! Screw it I'm going to fix this." Marcus left for his room.

~~~~~~

Marcus sat in his room thinking. All of the words from Meridian and Tarrin were stuck in his head. She was right. He would find a way around the law if it were her. He would never judge her so harshly. Even if she went into the whole thing willingly she shouldn't be shunned for it. 

Finally he made a call to his office in Chicago. He talked to his other assistant to set up the conference call in one hour to discuss removing the current law. It amazed him when she called back in less than 20 minutes to say everyone had already approved the change and it was enacted as soon as he signed off on the form she faxed over. "Oh and sir, don't be surprised if you receive a lot of mating invitations. And Dominic from Italy said 'It's about fucking time! Call me later.' There is no need for the conference call since it was unanimous."

He hurried and signed off and faxed it back. He hoped his correction after his mistake was not too late. All he could think of was crawling in bed with Meridian. He needed to give her more time to cool off and then he'd tell her.

~~~~~~ 

Trinity couldn't help but start crying after driving a few hours. What to do now? She decided to find a hotel and check in. As the light turned green she drove forward just as she saw the Semi run the light. The Hummer was hit so hard it rolled. As the vehicle flipped several times everything went black.

Someone was talking, "Stay with us. What is her name?" "Trinity," someone else said.

"Trinity, I need you to stay with me." Then the darkness sucked her back into its depths. 

She was standing on a beach when she saw her dead husband, Jeremy walk up. Her first instinct was to run. She should run!

"Trinity, please stay. I won't hurt you. I need to speak with you." He sat down on the beach. "Does this make you feel safer?"

"Coming from you? Not exactly, so what's the deal? I'm being punished in death by spending it with you?"

"There are no words to apologize for how I hurt you. I don't deserve your forgiveness. I can't even ask for it because I don't deserve it. I want you to go back. You can't stay here. You deserve love and caring. You always deserved more than I could ever give you. Don't give up now Trin."

"Don't you fucking call me Trin! You lost that right the first time you hit me so hard you broke my ribs. You abusive excuse of a man! I loved you! I gave everything I could to help you! What did I get? I got hit. I got treated like a slave and locked in a damn cell hanging from shackles? You wouldn't treat a damn dog the way you treated me so forgive me if I tell you to go fuck yourself! There is no excuse for what you did. I don't care if daddy or mommy didn't pay enough attention to you. There is no excuse for it!"

"I have no excuses, I fucked it up. I could have had it all and I fucked it up. Before I was killed the assassin told me to get on my knees. She told me 'for my crimes I was being judged guilty'. I was never happier. I deserved to die. I hope someday you can put what I did behind you. I hope you find someone to love you and treat you right. I never deserved you and you never deserved what I did. I do hope one day you can forgive me. Don't hold what I did against other men. Now you need to go back Trinity. You can't stay here and neither can I. You need to live."

"I wish you would have never done the drugs, it all went downhill from there."

"There are many things I wish I would have never done. That is at the top of the list right below what I did to you. Now go live your life. Any guy who doesn't treat you like the Queen you are, tell them to fuck off! I hope one day you can forget about all the bad things I did and only remember when I was the man you wanted."

Trinity laughed, "For once I think I like that advice."

Through the dark fog she heard people speaking. "She's back. Come on people we need to keep her alive."

~~~~~~

Connor ran into Meridian's room. "Did you find something?"

"Meridian, I need you to sit down. I ran the GPS on her phone. I had officers make calls and they found her. Meridian, she got hit by a semi that ran a red light. The Hummer rolled and she's been air lifted to Harbor Medical Center. Doctors are working on her now but it's bad. If she was in a regular vehicle she would have died instantly. The best doctors are working on her."

"I'll round everyone up." Meridian hit the alarm button.

Connor gave her a hug, "I know she'll be fine. Don't forget to wear a wig; you can't go in looking like a rock star."

~~~~~~

Meridian ran into Alex's room to wake her up. "Alex, wake up! Trinity's been in an accident. She was airlifted to Harbor View Medical Center. Get dressed we have to go."

Alex jumped up and rushed to dress. 

Meridian walked into the hall to see Marcus, Logan, Drake and Tarrin standing there.

Marcus looked at Meridian, "Little one, what's wrong?"

"Trinity was hit in the Hummer by a Semi. She was airlifted to Harbor View Medical Center."

Drake became angry, "And now I'm going to lose her even though I resigned."

Marcus looked at Meridian, "I called a conference call to remove the law. It has been removed. Drake you can be with her."

"If she doesn't DIE!" Drake's face clenched in anger.

Marcus looked at him, "Drake she is going to make it."

"What if she doesn't, what if I never get to apologize for my words? What do I fucking do then?!"

Meridian let off a loud whistle and screamed, "SILENCE!!!" Then she started to talk, "Enough! Go get dressed so we can get to the hospital. This fighting helps nothing. Everyone be back here in 10 minutes. If you're late we leave without you. NOW MOVE IT!!!"

Connor looked at Marcus, "I am so buying her that bullwhip with lessons for a wedding gift!" Marcus gave him a nasty look.

~~~~~~

Five minutes later Meridian came over the intercom in her stern commanding voice, "5 minutes and counting down! Move it people!"

Marcus and Logan were standing in the hallway when Logan laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Her deep evil voice could scare Satan. Have you even bothered to tell her she'll be ruling vampires with you?" Logan chuckled.

"We haven't gotten to that conversation yet." Marcus had honestly forgotten during all the drama.

Finally everyone gathered in the hallway with Meridian in a wig with short hair. Drake started heading to the stairs when Alex grabbed his arm to stop him. 

Alex spoke up, "We take the elevator." She pulled up a wood panel and put her hand over it when a panel opened to reveal an elevator. They headed down to get in the limo and drive to the hospital.

~~~~~~

When they arrived at the hospital Alex ran to the front desk. "I'm here about my sister. Trinity Henderson. She was airlifted after a wreck."

"She's in surgery. Let me have a nurse escort you up a private waiting room. It will be a while but just as soon as the doctor is done he will come out and talk to you."

When they reached the private waiting room Alex and Trinity started pacing. Drake had his head in his hands. Time seemed to drag on forever. Finally, three hours later a doctor came through the doors.

Alex ran up, "How is she?"

The doctor motioned for her to sit down. "Hello Alex. I am Dr. Fieldstone; I am one of the doctors who operated on her. She has extensive injuries. If it wasn't for an off duty paramedic she would have died at the scene. She coded twice on us, once in ER and the other in surgery. Her spleen was nicked, a broken rib punctured her lung, we set her broken nose, she has a skull fracture but somehow she managed to not break her limbs. She had other internal bleeding that we repaired. We'll know more if she makes it through the next 48 hours. We just have to wait and see."




Finding Meridian Ch. 12



Alex started to cry. Connor grabbed her to hold her up. "She's going to make it. She's strong." He sat her on his lap.

The doctor took her hand, "We are doing everything we can. I'll let you know when anything changes."

~~~~~~

Minutes seemed like hours as they sat in the room waiting to hear any more news on Trinity's status.

Connor went down to the cafeteria and handed Alex over to Logan. She had finally cried herself to sleep.

Marcus pulled Meridian on to his lap, "I'm so sorry little one. I love you so much and I was wrong with what I said. I was wrong. I really hope I didn't fix my mistake too late." He held Meridian as she cried until she fell asleep from exhaustion.

12 hours later the doctor walked in. Logan and Marcus woke up Alex and Meridian.

The doctor walked over to Alex. "I have good news she's stabilizing. She actually started to wake but we've put her in a drug induced coma so she can heal. She still is not out of the woods yet but it's a great sign. We won't take her out of the drug induced coma for another 12 hours. Please remember we won't really know anything until she wakes up. Because of the skull fracture we won't know about any brain damage until she is awake and we can test her."

"Thank you doctor. When can we see her?" Alex relaxed against Logan.

"We have her in ICU, only one at a time and for 15 minutes. It can help if you talk to her. It might be possible for her to hear you. I can only allow four of you to go visit her separately. We don't want to overload her. A nurse will be in shortly to show you in to her room."

"Thank you doctor," Alex said.

Drake walked over to Alex, "Please let me go talk to her. I know you may hate me but I am so sorry for what was said and how I treated her. I really care for her. I was going to resign until Marcus told me he had the law removed. I also wanted to ask for your forgiveness as well as Meridian's."

"Ok Drake, I forgive you and you can go talk to her but Meridian and I go first. I forgive you." Alex said while wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I forgive you but there will be consequences for what you said. Payback is a bitch and so am I." Meridian said. 

"What do you mean?" Drake looked concerned.

"Don't sleep too deeply!" Meridian growled at him. Marcus pulled her back and she stared up at him. "Don't think you'll be getting out of this without me paying you back too!"

"Calm down little one. We will fix this." Marcus was concerned what she would do to him.

Marcus went over and grabbed Alex's hand, "I too apologize. I would appreciate seeing her and apologizing. I hope that you and Meridian can forgive me too. I'm hoping for forgiveness without too much payback."

Both Meridian and Alex forgave him and allowed him to see Trinity. Meridian refused to remove her threat for payback.

Connor walked in, "What did I miss?"

"She woke up, it's a good sign. They put her in a drug induced coma so she can heal. They'll take her out of it in 12 hours. I'm staying but if anyone wants to go home and clean up and come back feel free. We won't know about brain damage until she wakes up. Meridian is threatening Drake and Marcus with payback." Alex started to relax against Logan.

"I would lock my door at night and I hope you aren't deep sleepers. Her payback is a bitch!" Connor said as his face twitched like he was remembering something she had done to him.

All of the men refused to leave. The nurse came in and Alex headed to see Trinity.

~~~~~~

Alex started crying when she saw all the tubes hooked up to Trinity. She looked so frail and tiny.

She went over to the bed and grabbed her hand resting her head on the side of the bed crying.

"Don't leave your sisters now! We just got back together. You have to pull through this. I promise Drake and Marcus are sorry. We'll even set them up and take a battery with jumper cables to their balls if it makes you wake up and smile. Please Trinity, come back to us. We love you so much. I can't think of this world without you and your laugh." 

She sat there staring at her sister and the anger welled up. "You fight this Trinity! You never gave up before don't you dare do it now do you hear me!"

She finally gave her a kiss on the cheek and left.

~~~~~~

When Meridian went into the room she felt her heart was being torn apart. She wouldn't allow her sister to be taken from her just after getting her back.

"Hey sis, you need to heal and come back to us. I know Marcus and Drake will be coming in to apologize. I've already promised payback so you have to wake up to choose what you want me to do to them. What would make you smile more? I was thinking snakes in their bed, scorpions in their shoes, hair remover in their shampoo? These are very important decisions I can't make without you. I love you Trinity. I need my sister back. Don't leave us now. And if Drake isn't good enough for you I'll just accidentally toss him out a window on to a rose bush. Vampires are sturdy but it will sting. You need to get well and come back to us. I miss your laugh."

Meridian got closer to her ear and sang lightly to her. It was a song she sang to Trinity when they were children and Trinity had gotten hurt. "Don't cry our little Trinity, don't make us miss your laugh to long, we love you more than if the stars were gone, our little Trinity come back."

She kissed her forehead and left the room.

~~~~~~

Marcus was waiting outside the door and heard her sing to trinity. He hugged Meridian, "That was beautiful. I love you." Marcus walked into her room next. When he saw all the machines and tubes he felt like he had been punched. 

"Hi Trinity, it is Marcus. I wanted to apologize for what I said. It was wrong. I was wrong. Come back to us little one. Drake resigned before I had the law removed. If you don't come back he's going to see if a vampire can die from alcohol consumption. Please don't go. I'm so sorry for my insensitive words. I am so sorry. Come back to us."

Marcus kissed her on the forehead as he noticed Drake in the hallway looking in.

~~~~~~

Drake walked in and felt like his heart was being torn out. She still had some blood on her face and he went and got a warm wash cloth and wiped it off.

"I know I'm sorry will never cover what was said or how I treated you. So you have to get better so you can kick my ass. Make me suffer. But come back to us sunshine. Come back to me sunshine. I'll even eat your crack cookies for punishment if you come back to us. I've never felt like this about anyone. I resigned today after you left. I don't want to be without you. Marcus had the law removed but we can do whatever you want to do as long as you'll consider forgiving me. Come back to me sunshine. I love you sunshine."

The nurse came in to motion he needed to go. He went up and whispered in her ear, "Come back to me sunshine." He kissed her forehead.

~~~~~~

Drake met everyone back in the private waiting area.

"Alex, as soon as she is close to stable, I want her taken to the house. I want to give her my blood to heal. She can hate me forever as long as she lives if she needs to but I want her well."

"We have to wait for at least the full 48 hours. I will call Damon and have him set up our medical crew." Marcus walked outside with his cell to set it up.

Alex looked at them confused. "I'm lost what is going on?"

Meridian went over and took her hand, "Drake is going to give her blood. The blood will make her heal fast. Marcus is having his crew set up medical so after 48 hours we can get her to the house and they can make her well."

"What about the brain injury? Will it fix it?" Alex was concerned. "I love her but don't want her to be an invalid." Alex buried her face in her hands.

Drake walked over and sat next to her, "It will fix it. Marcus gave blood to Meridian to heal her. It links mates together but even if she hates me afterwards I can accept that as long as she doesn't die. I'll even eat her cookies." Alex started to laugh.



Finding Meridian Ch. 13



I wanted to thank everyone for reading. Don't forget to vote.

Enjoy,

Meridian

The Healing of Old Wounds

~~~~~~~

The next morning Alex and Meridian talked to the doctor to allow them to go visit Trinity together.

Meridian went to talk to Marcus to explain the new plan. Marcus saw her come towards him and he pulled her into an embrace. As he held her he stroked her hair as he spoke, "I miss being so close to you. Now what is it you need to talk to me about?" Marcus pulled her hips to his and rubbed his hardness against her.

"You are making it very hard to have a conversation. I see you checked your shoes before putting them on." An evil smile came over her face.

"Yes, and I didn't kill your pets, they are in their cage."

"I was hoping you wouldn't kill fluffy and muffin."

"You named scorpions fluffy and muffin? How long do I need to tell you I'm sorry? I hope the payback can end soon. Look at Drake; he's having his own pity party. So what do we need to do to make this right? And for your information you're the one that makes me hard." His hands cupped her ass as he rocked her against him.

"I'll be nice and not mess with you tonight. Marcus, we have an idea to help Trinity. The doctor has authorized Alex and me to see her at the same time. We will be taking some sleep medication so we can go into her mind and speak with her. What we need is for you guys to carry us out at the 15 minute mark so no one knows what we are doing."

"We're there for you no matter what you need." Marcus started nibbling on her neck.

"Marcus, calm down we'll play soon. Don't make me sick fluffy and muffin on you! I need to go in with Alex and time us 15 minutes. We'll take the pill and meet her in her dreams. We'll do whatever is needed to help her out." Just then the nurse came in and Alex gave Logan thumbs up. Marcus smacked Meridian's ass as she went to see Trinity.

Once in Trinity's ICU room they took the pill and l rested in the chair dosing off. 

~~~~~~

They looked out and noticed they were standing on a beach dressed in swim suits. Trinity was sitting in the sand. They sat on opposite sides of Trinity.

They noticed she had been crying. Meridian was the first one to talk, "Drake resigned to be with you and Marcus changed the law. I'm assuming he'll stay working for Marcus since this is cleared up."

In a weak and timid voice Trinity spoke, "But they were right. I'm damaged and broken. I can't get the words out of my head."

Both sisters hugged her. Alex began to speak, "No, you are not. You are extremely strong and made it through."

"You don't have to lie to me Alex. The block is gone and I remember it all."

Both sisters hugged her. Meridian held her face in her hands, "It was not your fault. You are not responsible for what happened." 

"I talked to Jeremy. He apologized. He said he didn't deserve my forgiveness."

"I understand where he's coming from but it's time to move on. You deserve the best and not to live your life holding onto this." Alex was hoping this would help convince her.

"It seems like baggage I can't get rid of. After what I heard, I just think maybe I shouldn't ever expect a relationship from anyone." Trinity had tears streaming down her face.

Meridian gave her another hug, "What they said was stupid. It was bullshit and I called them on it. We are way past the days of the cave man. They both are sorry and Drake is a mess."

Alex hugged Trinity again, "It's time to move on and leave the past where it is. I know it may take time but we'll get help to deal with it. We will always be on your side and there for you."

"I feel emotionally drained. Seeing Jeremy...maybe it helped with some closure. Drake was the first guy I've let in. It makes me sad that it's all gone."

"Trinity, it is not all gone. You have every right to be upset but don't give up on him. What they said pissed me off but they realized it was wrong. Sure you can make him beg and plead but don't close yourself off."

"I don't know if I have the strength to put my heart on the line again."

"Trinity, give it time. Unfortunately, we have to go but you will be coming back to us soon."

"I love you and I will be back. I'm dealing with the memories now and they are fuzzy anyways, more like a bad nightmare that's fading. I so appreciate having you as sisters. I love you. I'll see you soon." They all stood up and gave each other hugs. 

Meridian awoke to Marcus lightly shaking her and Logan woke up Alex. Drake was pacing. He looked nervous. 

Meridian looked at him, "She'll make it through this but she needs time."

Drake was nervous to ask, "Was she in pain? Is she suffering?" Drake sat down and rested his head in his hands.

Meridian touched his shoulder, "She's hurt Drake she's questioning her value."

~~~~~~

The next 24 hours seemed to drag on and the doctor had delayed pulling Trinity out of the drug induced coma. Finally they decided to reduce the medications and see if she would come to. The doctor was hesitant at the idea of home care but once Marcus's medical staff discussed everything he was sure she would have the best treatment. They waited around for Trinity to finally wake up. Meridian and Alex were allowed to wait in the room. Minutes seemed to stretch into hours. Finally, Trinity's eyes fluttered open and she looked over to see Alex.

"Water," she said in a dry raspy voice. Drake walked into the room and rushed to her side.

"I have ice chips for you right now. We can try water later. It's good to see your back. I'd ask how you're feeling but I'm going to assume shitty." Meridian said while holding her hand. 

"Can everyone just let me rest? I don't feel like talking." Drake turned around and left the room.

Meridian took her hand. "We talked to the doctor and he has agreed if the next 24 hours go without any problem he will allow you to be care for by Marcus's medical staff."

In a weak raspy voice she spoke, "We should just put me in the guest house. I won't disturb anyone there and the guys don't have to be embarrassed by my presence. Has the doctor said how long it will take for me to recuperate? Meridian, make sure you find out how much Marcus spends on my healthcare and I'll reimburse him."

Alex cut in, "Trinity, don't be like this."

"Just set me up in the guest house. We'll plan on how to get Meridian's life back and afterwards I'm going to head back to the island." Trinity's face showed how sad and hurt she was.

"How do you feel?" Meridian was hoping to pull her out of her shell.

"Like I was hit by a semi, I hurt all over. All the memories are back. I remember Jeremy saying he was sorry." Trinity looked a bit nervous. "Alex can hire people to clean the warehouse out and sell it? Can you also get rid of his ugly ass urn? I really don't care what you do with it."

Meridian hugged her, "Honey, you don't remember everything that happened. Don't get upset. Both Drake and Marcus came in while you were in a coma and apologized. Drake was ready to resign to be with you but Marcus got the law removed."

"Tell them I said thank you but it wasn't necessary." Trinity stared blankly at the floor.

"Trinity, you can't just shut us all out." Trinity's eyes were read and filled with tears until they started spilling over.

"I appreciate you guys but I need some time and space." Trinity slowly twisted the sheet on the bed as she closed her eyes and cried until she fell back to sleep.

Later the doctor walked in and checked Trinity over. "I don't think we officially were introduced. I'm Dr. Fieldstone and I will be getting you well until your stable enough to go home. It looks like you'll be out of here tomorrow to recuperate at your sister's house."

"That's great. Thank you." Trinity just kept staring at the floor as she spoke.

~~~~~~

The hours dragged by and they took turns going back to the mansion to change and rest. The next morning Trinity was given all her paperwork so she could recuperate at Alex's. 

Drake tried to put his hand on her shoulder but she flinched and he removed it. Marcus stared down at her as they took her out of the hospital in the wheelchair and to the SUV.

When they arrived at the mansion Drake went to pick her up and carry her in. She moved away from him, "Please don't Drake."

Trinity forced herself to stand and walk to the back guest house. Despite the pain and dizziness she forced herself to the house where the nurse reattached her IV.

Drake looked at the frail Trinity with all the sadness in her eyes. "Trinity, please forgive us. It's killing me to see you like this."

"I forgive you. I'm tired and just want to rest," Trinity said void of emotion.

Connor spoke up, "Why don't we go to the library and plan how we will reveal that Meridian is alive."

Trinity had already curled away from them in the bed. Meridian had a very pissed off look on her face when Marcus spoke, "Just give her some space."

~~~~~~

Later that night Marcus grabbed Meridian to pull her into the bedroom.

"I don't know if I'm ready to move back into the room with you Marcus. I'm going to go keep Trinity company."

Marcus just stormed up to his room.

~~~~~~

Over the next couple days they worked on the plan to keep the peace among the groups and reveal Meridian was alive. The routine stayed the same with Meridian staying with Trinity. They went in and would go over the information with Trinity but she never said much. Later that night when the maid came back with her dinner tray Drake looked down at it. 

"What has she eaten since she arrived back?"

"She says she's not hungry. I've tried but I can't seem to get her to eat."

Marcus then started talking to Drake, "Screw it. I'm not putting up with this shit anymore."

Marcus and Drake stormed out to the guest house. Enough of this shit. Marcus wasn't going to spend another night without his mate in his bed and if he had anything to do with it Trinity was going to snap out of this depression.

Marcus stormed into the bedroom to see Meridian sitting in a chair looking at Trinity who was curled up in the fetal position.

Marcus threw Meridian over his shoulder. "What the hell are you doing damn it?!"

"I'm taking my mate to bed and Drake is going to fix his relationship with Trinity."

"Put me the fuck down! Do you think manhandling me is going to make me all hot and turned on?"

"I've had it. I've had it with the sulking and the silent treatment so we are going to see how silent you can be." Marcus was taking the stairs to their room two at a time. When he entered the room he kicked the door shut behind him. He hurried tossing Meridian down on the bed holding her down with his body. He began devour her mouth as she lost her train of thought. She felt his arms slide up hers but didn't know what he was doing until she heard a clicking sound. He had locked her hands in handcuffs hooked to the bed posts.

"What the hell Marcus! Let me go!"

"No, we're going to see just how silent you can be." Marcus unzipped and pulled off her pants and thong. He then ripped her small t-shirt off her body as he tore the bra off.

"Let me go now Marcus!"

"No, now we are going to find out just how silent can you be." Marcus pulled each of her legs towards a post and tied it.

Marcus ran his fingers from her feet to between her thighs. He dipped a finger into her wet slit and curled it forward. "You sure seem turned on for someone who wants to be let go of. You can't tell me you don't miss me touching you or my mouth on that sweet clit of yours." Marcus dipped his head between her thighs and lightly licked her clit. "Are you sure you don't miss me fucking you? With my fingers, my tongue and my cock." Marcus removed his finger from her and thrust his tongue into her tight hole. Meridian whined in shock and pleasure.

Marcus then moved away from the bed and took off his clothes. Meridian cursed herself in her head. She couldn't hold out when he looked at her like this. Like a predator needing to feed and she wanted to be the main dish. Meridian didn't realize that she was whimpering when Marcus was on his knees between her legs. His big shoulders and tan body made her hot as hell. He took his cock in his hand and ran it up and down her slit.

"Are you sure you don't want me little one?" Marcus teased her again by barely pushing the head into her hot pussy. "If you want this Meridian you are going to have to tell me." Meridian didn't realize she was whining with the feeling of the head of his cock in her. "Go ahead Meridian tell me you don't want me."

"Marcus please."

"Please what?" Marcus slid slightly out of her and then slightly back in. "Tell me what do you want Meridian?"

Meridian's will was quickly fading when he lightly pinched her clit. "Fuck me Marcus. Please fuck me."

Marcus pulled completely out of her and slammed all the way in her bracing himself on his arms. He slowly stroked completely in and out of her. "Does that tight little pussy of yours miss me? How does that feel little one?"

"Oh fuck Marcus...Marcus!" Meridian began to spasm around him.

"That's my girl come on my cock. My sweet little Meridian, look at me." Meridian looked in Marcus's eyes as he started speeding up his thrusts. He thrust his tongue into her mouth as he made sure to grind against her clit with his thrusts. Marcus stopped and Meridian whimpered.

"Please fuck me Marcus!" Marcus unlocked her legs from the post. He slid some pillows under her head and another under her ass. He pushed his cock just in her pussy. 

"Can you see my cock go in and out of you little one?"

"Yes, oh please fuck me Marcus." Marcus went extremely slow thrusting in and out of her. Her whimpers and whining were starting to make him lose control. When Meridian slid her legs up around his waist he increased his speed. 

"Tell me what I'm doing to you little one. Say the words."

"You're slamming your cock in my little pussy." 

Sweat was forming on both of them. "What a sweet tiny little pussy it is. You're going to come with me. I'm close little one." Marcus grabbed her legs behind her knees and pulled them to her chest. He looked down as he slammed into her even deeper. "Oh fuck little one. No one else ever gets to fuck you, your mine. Come for me sweetheart." 

Meridian screamed out his name as he groaned and thrust into her two more times as he came deep and hard in her. Marcus whispered in her ear. "I know how sensitive you are. All I have to do is slightly slide out of you and slam back in like this. That's my girl. Come for me again. I wonder what would happen if I keep fucking you and hitting that little clit of yours?" Marcus slid his hands under her and held her hips while squeezing her ass as he thrust. Meridian started arching her back and screaming. Marcus kept thrusting making her whine and whimper then she would scream his name and he would start over.

Marcus was painfully hard, "Come with me again little one. Let go. Does it feel good when I hit your clit? Answer me!"

"So good...Oh fuck... Yes, Marcus I'm coming... Oh fuck me, please fuck me!" Meridian came and clenched around his cock so hard he had to hold her legs open to finish thrusting two more times before he came deep inside her with a loud groan. Marcus collapsed next to her. He grabbed the key for the handcuffs and unlocked her arms pulling her into his arms.

~~~~~~

"Trinity, we are going to talk this out. I can't stand seeing you suffer like this. I refuse to go through thinking I've lost you again." Drake stared down at Trinity who was still curled in a fetal position.

"What is left to talk about?" Her voice came out weak and scared.

Drake slid into the bed and pulled her curled up body onto his lap. "Look at me." Drake cupped her chin pulling her face up to look in her eyes. "I messed up. I hurt you. I love you and I'm not losing you over this."

"You shouldn't be stuck with someone that will make you an outcast."

"We have settled all of that. Marcus got it removed. No one even questioned it do you know why?"

"No."

"Because he told them I had found my mate and that any what happened shouldn't be held against you." Drake ran his hands down her sides and he could feel her ribs. "I love you Trinity. Don't push me away anymore. I need to hear you laugh. I need to see your smile. I miss you sunshine. I want to give you my blood to heal you. What do you think?"

"Are you sure about wanting to be with me?" Trinity stared down at the sheets.

"More than you'll ever know. I'm here to stay. Will you drink my blood to heal?" Drake was stroking her hair.

"How does it work?"

"Sunshine, I'm going to put you in my lap and cut the side of my neck and you will suck until I tell you to stop. It's very erotic and I will take care of you. I will be linked to you forever. You'll be healed in a few hours. Will you let me heal you? Do you have any questions?"

Trinity placed her head on his chest. "Yes, I would like it if you would heal me. What do you mean by erotic and taking care of me?"

"Don't worry about that part sunshine. I'll take good care of you. Now let me just go grab a few things and we'll get you all better."

Drake came back with two towels and a razor. "I'm going to first remove your IV." Drake handled her hand like it was made of glass. "Did I hurt you?"

"No." Drake gave her a hug. Drake pulled her tiny nightgown up and off. Then he started pulling her thong off. "What are you doing?"

"I told you I will take care of you." He gave her a deep kiss. "I want you nude as you feed off me." Drake threw the towel over his shoulder and got the razor ready to cut his neck. "I'm going to make a cut and you need to suck on my neck so the blood heals you. Can you do that?"

"I think so." 

Drake cupped her face in his hand and tilted her face back, "Look at me sunshine." He saw the nervousness and fear in her eyes, "I'm sorry I hurt you. I love you." Drake kissed her softly then tilted his head to the side.

He made the cut in his neck and used a hand to cradle her head against his neck as she slowly began to suck on his neck. "Suck a little harder sunshine...That's it." Trinity was becoming very turned on and was whimpering as she fed. "You're doing so good little one. Spread those legs for me." Drake moved his hand from cradling her head to squeezing and rolling her nipple. He slid his other hand between her legs. He felt how wet she was and slid a finger up into her. He slid it in and out and added another finger. She whimpered more as he fucked her with his fingers. "You're going to come really hard for me sunshine. Just let it go. I've got you and will take care of you." Drake slid a third finger into her tightness stretching her out as he curled his fingers forward and roughly stroked her g-spot.

Trinity's body arched and her head went back as she cried out. Drake kept stroking her and started hitting her clit with his thumb as she cried out and came in his arms again. She finally collapsed against him. He kissed her on the lips tasting his blood. "You did great my little one. I wonder how sensitive you are?" Drake used one hand to spread her lips and he teased her clit with the fingers on his other hand. Trinity cried out and arched. He hurried while she was coming and slid two fingers in her pressing on her g-spot and lightly pinched her clit. Trinity almost fell out of his arms as she came hard. "Beautiful. You're mine Trinity and I take care of what is mine. I'm not letting you go. I will always keep you safe."

Drake pulled the covers over them as they went to sleep. 

~~~~~~

Alex and Logan were sitting in the Library hearing screams and moans from around the house.

"Fuck! Do I need to put up a flashing neon sign? Maybe install some stripper poles? Have Tarrin charge them by the hour for the room?"




Finding Meridian Ch. 13



Logan just started to laugh. "I believe you are the official hostess of the Love Shack."

In the background they heard a new noise coming from the kitchen, "Smack my ass! Smack it! Oh yeah!"

Alex and Logan both looked at each other confused, "Who the hell was that?" Alex said confused.

"Could be your staff getting into the mood," Logan said laughing.

Next they heard, "Oh yeah baby rub that butter on me!"

Logan was laughing when Alex went to the intercom to talk directly to the kitchen, "Whoever is getting busy with the butter, take it to your room and keep it! Come on people I eat in that kitchen!"

Alex had just settled down with a fresh drink when she heard the intercom come on. "Sorry Senorita mi esposa loves butter on her..." 

Alex ran to the intercom, "Too much information, too much information. Just go to her room!"

Logan started laughing, "Do you think they realized they hit whole house intercom to explain why his wife likes butter?"

Logan pulled Alex onto his lap, "Hey baby, you wanna go get busy with some butter?" Alex started laughing so hard Logan caught her before she fell on the floor.

Connor and Tarrin walked into the library just in time to hear Logan ask about getting busy with butter.

Connor looked at Logan smiling, "Do we need to give you guys some alone time?"

"No, come in," Logan said.

Alex looked at Tarrin, "So you couldn't sleep?"

"I woke up having a nightmare about some guy telling me how his wife likes butter." Tarrin said while scrunching up her face. 

Connor started looking at Tarrin, "Oh come on Tarrin, don't tell me you've never got busy on plastic tarp with a tub of butter."

"Eww...Damn Connor, you just made things worse. Now how the hell am I supposed to get the vision out of my head?" Tarrin said as she smacked him upside the head with a magazine she had. "Bad Connor!"

Connor kept going, "Do you think Meridian could make a hit song called 'Gettin busy with the butter'?"

Alex looked at him with irritation in her face, "Enough! I'm going to need enough therapy after that."

Logan pulled her tighter to him as spoke in a seductive voice, "I could make you look at butter in a whole different way."

"I already am! I'll probably never eat butter again!" Alex smacked Logan on the shoulder and he chuckled.

~~~~~~

Trinity was chained in the cell in the warehouse basement. Her arms were killing her and her wrists were starting to bleed from the shackles. 

"Please, no! Let me go! Just let me go!" Trinity kept reminding herself not to cry. Crying turned him on and she didn't want that.

"You didn't think you could ever get away from me? Where's that new lover of yours to save you now? I don't see him anywhere." Jeremy glared at her with glazed eyes as he walked over with a whip.

"He promised, he promised. He'll keep me safe." Trinity just kept repeating the chant.

Drake watched as Trinity cried in her sleep. He knew feeding from her this close to having her feed from him would link them even more. If she wasn't a natural blocker like Meridian he could help her. He could see into her dreams and keep her safe. He didn't want to do this without asking her but he promised her. He would keep her safe. Drake pulled her hair away from her neck and he sank his teeth into her neck. He had never tasted blood so sweet. He almost lost control but stopped and licked the wound shut. He then forced his body to sleep.

Drake heard the screams from the basement and ran down. He saw a man he didn't know whipping Trinity but it had to be her dead husband Jeremy.

"He promised he'll come. Please stop Jeremy." Trinity felt tears begin to form.

"Where's your fucking hero now? You'll always be mine! Always!" Jeremy drew back to whip Trinity when Drake ran forward grabbing his arm and stopping him.

"She's mine. You're dead and will no longer haunt my Trinity again. I take care of what's mine!" With strength that Trinity had never seen from Drake, she saw a blur as Jeremy was thrown across the room slamming into the wall and sliding to the ground as blood seeped out around his body.

Drake walked into the cell and broke the shackles from her wrists. He picked her up cradling her to his chest and carried her out of the basement and out of the warehouse.

"I should have asked to link with you even more than I was, but I promised to take care of you. I couldn't let you suffer anymore." He turned her around so she noticed they were across the street from the warehouse. Waving his hand the warehouse became a pile of rubble. "You will never return there. It is gone and so is Jeremy. And if you need to dream then you get to go here instead." 

The next thing she knew she was in a masculine bedroom. The room was painted a blue gray with dark emerald green sheets and curtains. The furniture was all a dark mahogany with a beautiful king sized bed. He took her hand and led her to the bed. "This is where you belong." Drake crawled under the covers and pulled her to him. "This is where you belong, with me in my bed. You're safe." He pulled his arms tightly around her as she slipped into a deeper sleep without dreams or nightmares.



Finding Meridian Ch. 14



I know this chapter may be a bit complex so I'm hoping I don't lose anyone. Thanks Dawn and Meadow for suggestions. I wanted to thank everyone for reading. Don't forget to vote.

Enjoy,

Meridian

Let the training begin

~~~~~~~

Amazingly, everyone gathered the next afternoon to eat. It was one small sense of normalcy that prevailed out of the hail storm of disaster that was surrounding them.

Drake had Trinity perched on his lap as he refused to let her sit on her own or feed herself.

"Drake really, I'm full." Trinity looked up at him when he looked at her with a mischievous look on his face. He slid his hand in between her thighs and slid a finger in her. Trinity let out a gasp and opened her mouth as Drake put the fruit in her mouth.

Drake whispered into her ear, "Don't forget to chew. No more starving yourself." Trinity went to speak as Drake slid his finger out of her and back in making her gasp and open her mouth. Once again, he placed a piece of fruit in her mouth. Drake whispered again, "Cat got your tongue?"

Meridian stared with a wicked smile at her like she knew what was going on.

Logan looked at Alex as she leaned over the table next to him to grab a pastry. Logan found his thoughts straying. I could strip her right now and claim her in front of everyone. What the hell? I'm the sane one here not running on hormones. Logan had to push the thoughts away.

Alex then began to speak, "It's time that training with my sisters began. After we finish eating we can change and practice. Later, we'll let you guys come in and practice with us." Her voice was unusually curt and cold.

Trinity looked at Drake, "Couldn't we wait a few hours?"

At the same time, Marcus had Meridian sitting on his lap and tried, not so discreetly, to slide his hand under her blouse and cup her breast. That's when the plate holding the pastries flew off the table and hit Marcus in the head. "Damn, what was that?" Marcus asked confused. Meridian gave a slightly guilty smile and looked away.

"That is why we don't need to delay training. I believe that was Meridian telling you to behave. Wouldn't you enjoy a more subtle way of telling you?" Alex said. Meridian sensed something was off with Alex today. 

"Not having to duck flying stray objects would be nice." Marcus said laughing.

Meridian slipped something under the table into Trinity's hand. Trinity dangled it in front of Drake's face. "I vaguely remember something about a promise to eat my crack cookies? Yummy crack cookie right here with sauerkraut just for Drake!" Drake growled at her.

Meridian laughed and taunted him, "Eat up vampire man! We want to know if vampires are immune to crack cookies!"

Everyone in the room started chanting, "Eat the cookie, eat the cookie, eat the cookie."

"Fine!" Drake started to eat it and made a disgusted face as he hurried to swallow it. 

"Now what am I going to wash it down with?" Drake growled and pulled Trinity's head to the side as his fangs elongated. He sunk his teeth into her and a display meant to tease her was quickly going out of control. Shit! He was losing his control right here and now. He wanted her right here and now. Drake picked up Trinity while his teeth were still in her neck as she cooed and carried her out of the room.

"Well then I guess we have a few hours." Alex said as she left the room.

~~~~~~

Drake finally gained control when they were in the guest house and removed his teeth from Trinity's neck and licked the wound closed. He placed her on the bed and growled as he started ripping her clothes off. Trinity had never seen a man undress as fast as Drake had.

Before she realized what was happening he had her in front of the mirror holding her back to his chest in front of the mirror. "Look at her Trinity. Don't you ever underestimate how amazing you are!" Drake ran his hand down her flat stomach and slowly rubbed her clit. "Look at her Trinity. She's strong, she's sexy, she beautiful, she's smart and I am so in love with her." Drake kissed her deeply slowly running his tongue over her bottom lip as he sucked on it lightly. He kissed and nibbled on her neck.

Drake held her securely, as if she weighed nothing with just an arm around her waist. "I want you to watch her. It's so much more than that amazing beautiful body. Her laugh can make the dark clouds leave and brings out the sun after a disaster has hit. She's so amazing with her compassion and loving. She deserves only the best. And I want you to watch how beautiful she is when she is overloaded with passion and falls apart in my arms." 

Drake gently slid two fingers into her sweet folds. He watched as her mouth that was swollen from intense kissing lips opened slightly as she threw her head back and her eyes were barely open. Drake used his thumb to flick her clit as he slowly slid his fingers in and out of her stroking her g-spot. "To think that I was the first to ever make such a sweet seductive little one comes apart in my arms. I'm going to be the last." Drake nibbled on her ear as he seductively told her, "I'm not letting her go and I'm going to spend forever showing her how cherished she is. Forever my love, to show you how wonderful my little sunshine is. Forever to watch her glazed look as she moans and whines until she comes apart in my arms."

Drake looked at her in the mirror and could tell she was close, "Come my love, I'll catch you so you won't fall. Come for me sunshine." Drake's words sent her over the edge and she began crying and screaming his name as she came harder than the first time he made her come. He held her securely as she bucked and pushed her hips forward. He kept stroking her as she moaned and started coming. Her arms went up and back around his neck as she slid her fingers into his hair and her body arched. As he held her back against his chest watching her cry out and come again he could swear he had never seen such a beautiful sight in all his years.

As she turned her face towards his he kissed her deeply. "My sweet Trinity, my own sunshine." She cried out again and he felt her spasm around his fingers. Then he felt her become limp in his arms realizing she had passed out. He gently tucked her into bed and while propped up on one arm he stared down at her wondering where such a beautiful creature came from. He brushed the hair away from her face. He whispered in her ear, "I meant it. Every word. I am the first and last man to give you an orgasm and I will more than take care of that need." He watched her for a while longer until her eyes finally fluttered open and she smiled at him.

"Are you strong enough and well enough to go practice with your sisters? There's no rush. I have to go run an errand soon but will be back shortly. Do you need to rest some? You were hurt pretty bad so it might take you a bit longer to recover." Drake ran his fingers over her cheek.

"Can you tell them I'll be ready in 30 minutes?" Trinity said looking up into his eyes with her lips parting slightly.

Drake devoured her lips with their tongues meeting. She started moaning and whining again. "No more of that or I won't make it out of the room for a few weeks. I'll be back before you know it sunshine. Be careful training." Drake devoured her lips again and then pushed back to stare at her. He didn't even notice he was lightly growling during the kiss. "Mine," he said. He finally got up and dressed. He gently kissed her. "I love you sunshine, be careful during training."

"I will be. Drake, you're amazing." Trinity ran her hands down his shirt as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"You're more than amazing sunshine. No more of that or I won't be leaving the room," Drake said as he gently grabbed her hands and kissed each one and left the guest house.

She finally forced herself to get up and get dressed in the small black leather shorts and tank top with calve high biker boots and leather gloves to practice. Her head was still spinning with everything that had happened over the last few days.

~~~~~~

Trinity went up to the house and saw both Meridian and Alex come down from the stairs. Connor's mouth dropped open as he looked at the three. Connor had seen Meridian in a sexy outfit but this one beat them all. She was wearing low riding dark blood red leather pants with red leather half corset and black/red biker boots to finish off the outfit.

Logan came out of the side office after he finished a conference call as he saw Alex descend the stairs and he stopped immediately. He immediately felt himself becoming hard looking at her outfit. She was dressed in a white leather sleeveless cat suit with a zipper in the front accentuating her cleavage and hugging every curve of her body. The belt with daggers on each side accentuated her tiny waist. 

Each of them had their hair held up with oriental chopsticks.

Logan and Connor didn't realize they had said, "Shit!" 

Tarrin looked at them, "You can close your mouths boys."

Alex looked at Tarrin, "We'll be in the back building practicing. Remember if you bring any of the guys out later keep them behind the glass."

Connor and Logan just stared as Meridian took the lead walking out the back door. 

Tarrin turned to them, "Hey, close your mouth. Where did Drake and Marcus go?" She waited and repeated herself until Logan snapped out of it.

"They had to run errands." Logan had the vision of Alex stuck in his head.

"Snap out of it, when they return I want to go over details with them." Tarrin just laughed and walked away as both men stood in the same spot looking like their feet were glued to the spot.

~~~~~~

Trinity laughed as they walked towards the practice building. "Alex, I think you got a rise out of Logan."

"He doesn't think of me that way." Alex just shook it off and clenched her teeth.

"Keep deluding yourself. What's up with you? You're cold and something is wrong." Meridian said.

"Just a bad day another bad day," Alex said as she lit a cigarette. "Give me a minute."

They had entered a round building, the gymnasium was in the center and surrounded by an outside ring. The outside ring was surrounded by safety glass so spectators could watch the training safely. 

Meridian reminded Alex, "I've read through what we're supposed to have powers to do just don't forget we have to recite the prophecy spell first."

"Thanks Meridian, I almost forgot." 

Meridian held out the spell and the sisters started to chant. As they chanted in an ancient language, the air around them became heavy. A mist of yellow surrounded the sisters and the air felt charged. As soon as they complete the chant the air crackled and each of them felt a shock.

"Well that was interesting." Alex said trying to shake off the left over static electricity, "Trinity, I'll work with Meridian if you want to go work on the balance beam and also throw on some music."

"I'll set up a mix of heavy alternative. Some Seether and so on?" 

"Sounds good," Alex said. Alex took Meridian to one side while Trinity started stretching on the other side. The entire room had drawers of weapons stored around the inside circle of the gymnasium.

"So how do we start this training Alex?" 

"Why don't we work on your telekinesis first Meridian," Alex said and Meridian nodded. "Remember there is no spoon."

Meridian gave her an evil look.

"Just kidding," Alex chuckled with Meridian. "I've had some items brought in for our 2nd stage of training for the first let's start over here." There was a table with numerous objects on it. "Start by looking at the barbell on the table just look at it and see it moving in your mind to the floor."

There was a swift thud as it flew off the table and landed on the floor. "Good job but we also have to make it so you can do it with complete control. Let's go to the next object a plate. Now in your vision see the speed and how it will sit down so that you don't break it." The first one went smashing into the floor. "Try again." Five plates later she was able to move it with her mind and not break it. 

"Great job! OK, next one is going to be moving the glass of water." Alex watched as Meridian moved it from the table to the floor with ease. 

"I have an idea, watch this." Meridian said before Alex saw the water rise out of the glass, the glass floated to the table and the water flowed into it.

Trinity had seen it. "Ok that was cool!" Meridian looked over to see Trinity doing flips on the balance beam.

"Next step is to stop something. I set up an automatic tennis ball launcher. I'll go start it and you need to freeze the balls so you don't get hit." Alex turned the machine on and gave a motion to start. At first, Meridian could only stop a few as they came at her. What happened next no one expected as Meridian froze the entire room. Trinity was in the air mid flip. Meridian decided to go with it. She concentrated as the entire building started to lift. She lowered it and the ground quaked shaking the main house. 

Inside the house Drake and Marcus had just returned. "What the hell was that?" Marcus said as they all rushed out back. 

They rushed into the building and from the outer circle saw that everything in the room had froze. Meridian's eyes resembled a thunderstorm. She waved her hand and Trinity landed from her flip. Alex looked at Meridian, "Let's try it again."

"You missed part of it; I froze you and Trinity. So watch this." Meridian swirled her hand and the tennis ball machine froze then her head lowered and her eyes turned even darker. The building began to rise about a foot off the ground and then she lowered it back down.

Marcus was the first to speak, "Damn!"

With dark eyes she looked over at Marcus, "That's just the beginning. Watch this."

She looked at the barbell and moved it with her mind so it was floating a foot in front of her. "Back to dust," Meridian said as the barbell turned to dust and fell. "From the dust back to form," Meridian said as the barbell turned back into a solid object and no longer dust.

Meridian's head went back and ancient words came out of her mouth as they watched her start to levitate in front of them. Alex's head went back and she spoke the same words and levitated. Trinity then followed in the same fashion.

Connor looked at them, "Oh fuck, what the hell are they?"

The three sisters looked at them. All three spoke at the same time. "We are the Triadic."

Trinity then spoke, "Life."

Meridian was next, "Death."

Alex said, "Rebirth."

Then they spoke together, "From nothing, to chaos and then to form. We can control the elements. We can weave and unweave time. We are…"

Trinity said, "The beginning."

Alex said, "The journey."

Meridian said, "The end."

Drake was becoming concerned because they were still rising. With one swift move all three landed on their feet with Meridian in front and Trinity and Alex on the other sides.

Trinity spoke in her melodic hypnotic voice, "Come out come out come out and play."

Marcus, Logan, Drake and Connor walked into the training room as if forced and in a trance. 

All three sisters tilted their heads to the right, "Come at us. Attack us."

Their fangs elongated and they went running with a blur to attack the sisters. Meridian put her hand out as a motion of stop and they were frozen.

Alex spoke next, "Back to normal."

Logan was the first to speak, "Fuck, you froze us."

All three spoke together, "You think that's scary check this out."

Meridian conjured a fireball in her hand. Trinity levitated four bottles of water and directed each one to the guys. Alex then spoke in a melodic hypnotic voice, "Drink."

After they took a drink Connor started shaking his head. "Fuck!"

Trinity giggled, "You think that was good, watch this!" Trinity ran her hands over her head and looked just like Ophelia; she did it again and looked like Cleopatra. Each sister followed suit changing their appearance. Then they ran their hands over her head and once again looked like their original self.

Drake then said, "I need a damn drink."

Marcus ran his hand over hair, "I agree but look at it this way, what a way to role play!"

The sisters spoke together, "Let's go."

Connor shivered, "That still freaks me out. Creepy!"

Meridian, Alex and Trinity looked at each other and spoke together, "Don't run Connor, we won't hurt you." They levitated him into the air with him stuck in the middle as they held hands in a circle around him. 

"So not funny! Let me down." Connor actually looked scared.

Meridian took his hand and they all lowered back to the floor. "You shouldn't worry; you're not the one who deserves payback." Meridian let off an evil laugh.

Marcus and Drake spoke together, "We apologized."

Marcus shook his head, "Now we're speaking together. Shit!"

Meridian giggled, "Don't worry love, we'll be gentle."

They went into the house and went to have a drink in the library. As they walked in Meridian waved her hand and drinks were sitting out on the table for everyone.

"Can you guys stop that shit? You're honestly freaking me out." Connor said with an edge of fear on his voice.

All three spoke together, "Sorry Connor."

Logan noticed Alex was unusually quiet and closed off. 

~~~~~~

After a few drinks and changing they joined for dinner. 

"I think we need to talk tomorrow about what happened today. It changes a lot of things. We were slightly prepared for it to happen and where it goes from here but we need to discuss it tomorrow." Alex said before turning to pour another drink. Alex was clenching her teeth. Her mind was still stuck on this horrid day every fucking year. She lost her concentration and started to become upset. Her glass caught fire and exploded.

Logan looked at her and walked over, "Everything alright fire starter?"

"Just peachy, just a surge of power," Alex said. 

Logan looked at her and noticed her hand was bleeding from a cut in the palm. 

"You're hurt. Let's call the doctor and get you fixed up." Logan said noticing the tension in her face.

"It's unnecessary," Alex used her good hand to form a small fireball. She directed the flame across the wound cauterizing it. "I'll wrap it when I get upstairs."

Logan looked at her with concern. Getting cut and then her burning the wound seemed out of character.

Telepathically Meridian said, "Alex?"

"Yes?"

"Are you ok?" Meridian asked telepathically in a concerned tone of voice.

"Not really but I'll make it through. Just a bad day," Alex exhaled and actually enjoyed the pain from cut and burn to seal it. At least the pain would distract her from how much she hated today.

"If you need to talk I'm here." Meridian hesitated a moment and then told her telepathically, "I've decoded the prophecy. I know Trinity cannot block like we can. It's probably due to her injury but I need to discuss it alone with you."

"After dinner say 9 pm, go to the training room but go to the back and put your hand on the glass. There is an elevator to a basement room. We'll discuss it then. I'm not sure bringing it up with the men is a good idea right now. As long as we are prepared, we can prepare them right before the meeting."

As they finished dinner so much was going through Meridian's head; prophecies, death, leadership and all of the responsibility that came with that. 

~~~~~~~

"I'm going for a walk Marcus, I'll be back later. I just need some air." 

"Do you want company?" Marcus hugged her.

"I just want a little bit of alone time. I have so many things in my head right now."

"Don't stay out too long and be careful." Marcus nipped at her neck. Meridian laughed as she walked out of library.

~~~~~~~

Meridian had the prophecies spread out as Alex walked in smoking.




Finding Meridian Ch. 14



"Don't keep me waiting any longer. What does it all mean?" Alex was looking over the prophecies.

"We will have the meeting with all the major players: Vampire counsel, Were Counsel, Witches Covens, and all other non-human groups. Loosely translated it says the Triadic Counsel will unite the groups and be a hierarchy that will rule over them. We'll be like a court over the other groups to handle disputes that are unresolved and enacting laws that rule everyone. 'The three triadic will rule with their three mates and three other members will be chosen for a chosen number of nine to rule as the Triadic Counsel. They will bring equality and justice to all non-human groups.' It will be like a merger uniting the groups but not taking them over. It is meant for peace and unity but will have to deal out justice to those who ignore the authority. " 

"So our coming out is going to piss some people off and we need to convince them of the legitimacy of the whole thing? We're telling ancient people that we were chosen to rule over them." Alex said and then lit another cigarette.

Meridian hesitated to say the rest. "Yes, but we must also look at this logically. I will be the one addressing everyone to inform them. I will have to be convincing. I think I can convince them of the fairness of this. Our other concern is the possibility of one of us dying. This is part of the prophecy. 'Should one of the Triadic Counsel die their mate will continue to rule with a vote to be made to fill the position. When or if the mate finds a new mate that elected official will give up their position. They will be given a position of stature afterwards.' So it will be the same for you since you have no mate. You will rule with an elected official at your side until you get a mate." Meridian noticed Alex's eyes started to water.

"That's fine; we need a clause in there in case a member is ill and needs temporary relief." Alex took another drag off the cigarette.

"Good catch. Now here is where I'm not going to lie to you. We are not invincible, amazing but not invincible. Also, with you being single you're going to highly sought after. You will have security. I just want you to be aware. I have a feeling Drake will mate with Trinity before the meeting occurs. Also, we will eventually have to break it to them that we're all Queens and our mates are Kings. They are unaware of the island and the titles. Just as the prophecy said."

Alex finally spoke, "So you're just going to say 'Marcus honey, I forgot to tell you I decoded the prophecy and also found out I'm a Queen and that makes you a King and oh we'll be ruling over all the non-human counsels, covens and groups from around the world including the Vampire Counsel. I should have told you earlier but I was distracted.' Something like that?"

"Hell, I don't know. I've got to unite all of the factions of non-human groups from around the world and tell my mate that. No pressure. Oh and I'm still having premonitions of dying. No pressure. Speaking of that, what's wrong?" Meridian stared at Alex. 

"It's just a bad fucking day." Alex said as she chain smoked. "We'll just elect someone to rule with me. Go ahead and up the security at the island." Alex got a worried look on her face.

"Already done," Meridian sighed. "Are we sure Drake doesn't know about Trinity being a Queen?"

"I've been paying attention and I haven't seen any indication he knows. I think we are past worrying about it."

"So tomorrow let's get everyone together to set up the timing for the meeting and details but leave off the whole higher court over all the non-human group part? Oh, we'll also leave off the Queen and King thing?" Meridian said while exhaling.

Alex looked at her, "We need this meeting sooner than later. It's going to be hard to not be distracted and not tell Marcus. Not to mention all the other shit he's dealt with. Assistant, rock star, assassin, engaged, attacked, almost killed, and then top it off with two sisters that are her missing triplets."

"Hey, I plead the fifth on the assassin thing, that's confidential." Meridian laughed. "Why don't we just plan it all out tomorrow and after dinner we'll spill the whole thing. Prophecies and all to the guys and get it out of the way. You know that you are not restricted to who you mate with?"

"I know. I have feelings for Logan but hell I get some light flirting back but that's it. Doesn't really fucking matter anyways." Alex grabbed them both a drink.

"I think your underestimating his interest. I think he's more worried about everything that needs to be done and putting his interest in you after that. Why does it not matter?" Meridian said before taking a drink.

"I just don't think he's interested. Who knows maybe some handsome werewolf will sweep me off my feet. We've been down here 45 minutes. We better head up or they'll send out search parties for you. I'm going to go work out for a while so you should head up to see Marcus." Alex said.

"Don't forget you're allergic to animals with fur so you'll need allergy shots for a werewolf." Meridian teased as they got in the elevator.

~~~~~~

Meridian headed back into the house and slipped into bed with Marcus. 

"Hey sexy, right where you belong," Marcus said as he pulled her up to him. "Is everything ok with Alex? She seems angry and cold."

"She just said she was having a bad day. She'll talk if she wants to." Meridian said as she lightly scratched down Marcus's chest. "Wanna play?"

Marcus growled and pulled her closer.

~~~~~~

Alex changed into mini white shorts and a tank top. Maybe working out until she couldn't think would fix this frustration. She wrapped her cut and burnt hand and jumped up onto the balance beam. 

As much as the pain hit every time she used her hand at least it distracted her. She didn't notice Logan walked in and was watching her. She went up to the punching bag and was hitting and kicking it for all she was worth. Instead of diffusing her anger it became worse until the bag caught fire. 

Alex looked for the fire extinguisher as Logan walked in with it and put out the fire. Alex grabbed a table in the corner and threw it across the room before storming out of the building.

Logan hurried and followed her. "Alex, what's wrong?"

"I'm just having a bad day. A really fucking bad day!" Alex said before sitting on the lawn and realizing she left her cigarettes inside. She used Meridian's telepathic abilities to move them from inside the training room to her hand. 

Logan just watched as she lit a cigarette. "I've never seen you smoke until now. It might help to talk about it."

"Talking won't help!" Alex snapped at Logan. "I'm sorry Logan I just need some space." She finished her cigarette and headed into the house.

Trinity had heard the conversation and it hit her like a ton of bricks. "Shit! I should have remembered."

"What's wrong? I know Alex has been in a bad mood." Drake hugged Trinity.

"Today is the anniversary of burying grandpa. It's the day we lost Meridian. It's the day that all of the weight of losing all of our family fell on Alex. They kept mentioning splitting us up. Today is the reminder of that and every year she gets in a horridly foul mood."

Drake hugged her, "I can understand why. You lost all your family in a short time and she took over as the big sister. Can I tell Logan? He's worried about her."

Trinity looked up at him, "Yes, I'll take the blame if she asks. Just hurry back."

"I'm not going anywhere, I'll tell him telepathically." Drake said as he telepathically told Logan what was going on. 

~~~~~~

Meridian felt off, something wasn't right. She got up and went to the Library to see Alex drinking. She poured herself a drink.

"Ok, what's wrong? I know something is wrong." Meridian said as she looked at Alex. Then it hit her like a ton of bricks. Today was the anniversary of everything falling apart. "Fuck! You should have told me. I don't remember a lot of things. Damn Alex, I'm here." Meridian grabbed her and hugged her. "I didn't even think about you having to take care of Trinity and become the big sister with so much loss. I'm here now and everything will be fine. We'll make everything fine."

For the first time since her grandfather's funeral she mourned everything that happened. She started crying and Meridian held her. Trinity sensed it and came into the room and hugged her.

Trinity hugged her, "We're all together now. I know it doesn't fix the past but we're here now."

Logan stood outside the door letting them help their sister. Finally the crying calmed down and Alex hugged them both. 

"I never thought I'd have us together again. It was just so much at one time." Alex started to calm down.

Meridian hugged her, "I know each of us had our own hell to deal with and at that age. We're together now. Logan you can come in."

"I didn't want to interrupt." Logan said as he looked at Alex. He picked Alex up off the floor where they were all at and held her. He gently stroked her hair until he heard her crying end. 

Meridian whispered to him, "She's asleep. We'll help you get her into her bed."

"No, she'll stay with me. Don't give me that look. She needs someone with her." Logan said as he kissed the top of her head. "I'll be next to her if she needs me. I'll take care of her." Meridian and Trinity headed back to their rooms.

Logan effortlessly held her as he took her to his room and tucked her under the covers putting an arm around her waist.

For anyone confused, consider the Triadic Counsel like the Supreme Court.-Meridian



Finding Meridian Ch. 15



I wanted to thank everyone for reading. Don't forget to vote.

Enjoy,

Meridian

Powerful but not Invincible

~~~~~~~

Drake sat Trinity in the chair after making her a plate of food. She ignored the fact he was bent down. He slowly pulled a box out from behind his back. Holding her hand he stared up at her. "Trinity, would you give me the honor of becoming my mate and wife?"

Trinity stared down at him completely confused. "I'll cherish you, take care of you and keep you safe."

The nagging voice in Trinity's head was reminding her of how bad a relationship could go. Her sisters sensed it too. She was on the verge of a panic attack. That's when Meridian and Alex stood on opposite ends of her. Meridian spoke first, "Trinity, you have to leave the past where it is. The only thing you should be concerned with is do you love and trust Drake?"

Trinity stared down at Drake with big doe eyes, realizing it was the truth. "Yes."

Everyone around the table congratulated them. She noticed Meridian whisper in Drake's ear. Drake took the chair next to Trinity and pulled her onto his lap. "I would like to have the mating ceremony tonight, we will plan the wedding later. I just want you mated to me when we have the meeting. Meridian, can explain the mating ceremony?" Trinity motioned for them to go in another room. 

Only Meridian noticed that Alex looked ill. She wasn't eating much and her face looked sad. 

"Speaking of prophecies, I have to go read through some of them." Alex excused herself from the table. 

~~~~~~

Drake followed Trinity out. After the door closed Trinity hugged Drake. "Meridian mentioned a bit of the mating ceremony before."

Drake ran his hand over her cheek. "I understand if you need time."

"I'm nervous about having Marcus and Logan feeding from me. I'm nervous about how you will look at me afterwards." Trinity started to tremble and tears started to fall. "Will you still want me afterwards?"

Drake pulled her close kissing her face, "Oh sweetheart, they will just feed from you. I will want you even more after the mating. Meridian can go over the details."

"I feel silly." Trinity laughed. "I thought I had to sleep with each of you."

"No sunshine, we will feed from you twice each and at the end they will be there while I make love to you. The tradition is when we come together and the three of us will feed from you. It makes the bond strong. I will be taking care of you. I will keep you safe. I know it's intimidating but we will take care of you. Now the first feeding will be down here." Drake ran his hand over her clit. "But I will take care of you the entire time. I'll answer any questions you have and your sister can explain it to you. It's a onetime thing."

"You'll take care of me? They'll feed from me but they won't have sex with me?" Trinity was chewing on her lip. She was feeling stupid for asking the same questions.

"Sunshine, I love you. I will take care of you and no, Marcus and Logan won't be having sex with you. We can wait if you are nervous." Drake cradled her face in her hands. "I do not want you to feel pressured. This is done to ensure we are bonded and Marcus and Logan will be your protectors."

"No, I can do it if you take care of me." Trinity buried her face in his chest. "Can we do it tonight? So Marcus and Logan are ok with being my protectors?"

Drake was cussing at himself. He hadn't asked them yet. They had to say yes. "They will be fine. Now why doesn't my fiancé go relax?" Drake kissed her on the cheek.

Drake walked up to the library where everyone was working. "Marcus and Logan can I speak with you alone for a few minutes?" Everyone else got up and left the room. "I would be honored if you would be protectors to Trinity. I have our mating planned for tonight. I would hope you would accept joining us and being her protector."

Marcus was the first to speak, "I'm concerned about…"

Drake immediately got upset. "She's going to be my mate, my wife. I'm not giving her up for anything. I've stood behind you for so many years and for many things. I'm asking for this one thing and you're going to back out?!" Drake let out a frustrated breath as he paced the room.

"Drake, you didn't let me finish. I am not saying no. I'm concerned with her past about how we do this without making her feel restrained or trapped. I don't want her to panic or to feel like she's being used. Hell, I was scared how my mate would take it and your mate…she's been victimized. The last thing I want is to do anything that would make her feel that way. Damn Drake, she's gone through so much. I know my words didn't help her but I want to make sure we do this right. I am honored and accept being her protector."

Logan motioned for them to sit down. "Drake, of course I accept. Let's figure out a way to make this enjoyable for her without scaring her. I recommend absolutely no restraining her. We can help direct her, guide her and help her out. I just think if we force her down it will bring back horrible feelings."

Marcus then chimed in, "I think we need to remember not to grab her ankle or her wrists to restrain her. We may not think anything about it but she's sensitive to that."

"I appreciate each of you accepting and being willing to work with my little one. I appreciate your concern for her. What if I get her to come and feed then I'll have her sit on my lap using my legs to hold hers open while each of you feed? It would keep her close and safe with me." They shook their heads.

"Sounds like a good plan and we deal with any problems that come up from there." Logan then looked at Drake, "Are you going to shave her?"

"No, she has just a little bit of blonde curls and they stay." Drake started looking off into the distance thinking of her spread nude before him.

"Let's let Drake go see to Trinity. He looks a bit flustered." Marcus laughed after he said it.

"Like you get to tease me when you are on Meridian every chance you get." Marcus's eyes glazed over.

"I'm leaving! I'm the only single person here left to see the two of you lusting. Wipe the drool off your faces!" Logan said agitated as he got up to leave the room.

"What about Alex? You had her in bed with you last night."

"I was a gentleman. I refuse to be ruled by my emotions. One of us needs to keep a sane mind."

Marcus looked at Logan. "If you want her don't wait too long. When we have the meeting there will be many available suitors there. Unless you're not interested, then I'm sure there will be some other vampire or even werewolf willing to strip that little body of hers down just to sink into her. That is if she's anything like Meridian."

Logan just growled and slammed the door shut after he left. Marcus just looked at Drake, "He needs to decide before someone else steps up to the plate."

"It took me almost losing Trinity to realize it." 

~~~~~~

After a nap they gathered for lunch. Meridian felt tension in the air.

The three sisters spoke together, "Company is coming. We are going into the kitchen to prepare. Lock and load! 15 minutes and counting."

Meridian noticed Alex had dark circles under her eyes highlighting her complexion. 

"Nightmares of demons and monsters?" Meridian said looking at her.

"Yes, but I don't want to talk about it." Alex stared at her sister.

Meridian pulled her sister over and hugged her, "I grew up with demons and monsters; I know how they can affect you. Trinity is lucky to have Drake to escape them."

"Meridian, don't be dim you have Marcus." Alex said hugging her back.

"I'm selfish; don't tend to share my demons and monsters. We are not all open enough to share our dirty laundry. If mine doesn't include bullets and a body bag I don't tend to share. Besides what do I say, Marcus this asshole pissed me off, can you be a love and bury him for me?" Meridian laughed. "I feel evil, I want to play. I sound like I'm in AA- My name is Meridian and I haven't killed in 5 days. Leave the guys in the dining room."

Alex started laughing and she pulled a couple drawers out and sat guns with clips on the counter. "Sweets for the sweet!" 

"How did you know my favorite candy? Has anyone ever told you that you are an awesome sister?" Meridian said with enthusiasm. She locked and loaded a clip slipping a second clip in her.

Alex raised an eyebrow when Meridian responded, "Let's make it interesting. Let's lure them to the kitchen." All three women stripped to their bras, garters, thongs and heels. "Five minutes and counting!" then Meridian yelled in the other room, "We have incoming in 5 minutes. The bait is set up in the kitchen so stay in the dining room." Trinity laughed. 

Connor shouted back "Locked and loaded. Let's play!" 

Alex looked at Meridian and noticed she looked different. Her eyes turned thunderstorm gray and the whites of her irises turned blood red. Her body was emitting a vibrating energy that gave off a feeling of evil and emitted a red glow around her. Her lips were the color of dark blood despite not wearing lipstick and king cobra appeared curled around her tiny waist with its head ready to attack.

Fifteen men stormed through the back patio door entering the kitchen.

The three sisters walked towards them. The men stood in shock staring at them but fear was emanating off them like a thick fog. Trinity then spoke, "Stay boys we want to play. You don't want to hurt us."

Meridian laughed, "They can't move because the fear has frozen them." She looked at three of them and walked up as they shook. "You will bring your boss to me." She walked up running her hands seductively over their shoulders, "You want to make me happy don't you?" She licked the side of one of their faces and the three kneeled in front of them. 

"Yes Mistress. We will bring him now." They stood and hurried to leave.

Marcus, Logan, Connor and Drake had easily killed the additional ten men who stormed in the front door and walked into the kitchen. Connor's eyebrows raised, "Nice view!" Drake hit Connor's shoulder, "Stop staring!"

Meridian tilted her head to the side ignoring their presence. "Now, I want to play. Her hand petted the angry cobra curled around her tiny waist. "I think he's angry and wants to play too." 

Meridian, Alex and Trinity each walked up to one of the men frozen in fear as they spoke in unison, "We are the Triadic. We know your crimes and as Queens must judge you." 

Meridian's eyes turned a darker red, "Daniel step forward; let's first review your crimes." Meridian circled him like an angry predator. Suddenly she stopped and her hands went out as she held his face in her hands, "Some things can never be forgiven. What you did has earned you punishment." She removed her hands as her tone turned from taunting and scary to horridly evil, "ON YOUR KNEES!" 

"You led these men to kill villages of women and children. They were innocent women and children that you raped and killed. For your crimes I sentence you to death. STAND!" She lightly stroked the snake as it uncurled from her waist and slid across the floor. The beautiful iridescent olive king cobra rose to meet stare the six foot man in the eyes its neck expanding into a hood showing the beauty of its cream colored throat. Its forked tongue came close to his face and violently sank its half inch fangs over and over into Daniel before the snake shimmered back to Meridian and around her waist.

The man collapsed and his eyes closed as the venom seeped into his system as the venom suffocated from the affects. His heart and lungs began to slow.

Meridian moved back as Alex moved forward. "Josiah, stand in front of me and face punishment for your crimes." The man slowly walked forward shaking in fear but walked as if he was being forced to face her. He stood before her as her hand went out and stroked the side of his face. "What could ever make you kill your entire family? They did nothing to you. They were good to you. What could a six month old child have done to deserve suffocation?" Alex removed her hand. "For your crimes I judge you guilty and you shall burn." His body was covered in flames yet he was unable to move as the flames finally extinguished his life.

Trinity moved forward as Alex stepped back. "Fagan come stand in front of me. You are to be judged and punished for your crimes." Fagan felt her pull and walked forward forced to stand for his punishment. Trinity's body illuminated a bright gold as she closed her eyes in sadness and a tear of blood ran down one cheek. Trinity opened her eyes. "For your crimes I feel it is only fitting that you shall die the way your victims died. You kidnapped and killed 23 people. You stole mothers from their children, children from their mothers and fathers from their families all of them had committed no crime against you. You just chose to kill favoring the innocent. You savored the innocent kill against all else."

Trinity stepped back and took a deep breath. "Your punishment is special. You shall be transported by the gods to the desert and every wound you inflicted on them will be inflicted on you. For every death they felt you shall feel until the final one kills you. Each time you die you will be brought back to life to suffer your punishment until every wound and death you inflicted has been inflicted upon you." Another tear ran down her cheek as she waved her hand and he was gone.

The sisters then spoke in unison, "The rest of you are sentenced to death." Their hands joined and each screamed as they burned and turned to dust.

Marcus, Logan, Connor and Drake just stared in amazement and odd pride. 

Marcus finally spoke up, "Meridian, as my mate and soon to be wife I would appreciate if you would do this with all your clothes on."

Drake chimed in, "I agree."

Connor mocked them, "I'm fine with what they are wearing other than that damn snake."

Marcus talked to Meridian in a calm voice, "I like red but can you lose it and the snake?"

Meridian turned giving him an evil smile, "If you insist. We will go get dressed and discuss the prophecy with you. Meet us in the library."

Marcus walked into the bedroom as Meridian was dressing, "Can you promise me to tell me if you feel you're losing control? This is new to you."

"I will. I forgot can you and the guys take care of the leader and the three men bringing him back while we dress?"

Marcus walked behind her and hugged her, "Of course, see you shortly."

Marcus called the rest of the men telepathically as they rushed the four men coming through the front door and violently ripped their jugulars out. 

~~~~~~

They all sat around the table in the library. Meridian laid out the prophecies and started to explain.

"I wanted to explain this so everyone understood. It first started with Greek mythology of the three sisters Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. I am not sure if you are familiar with it. They were the daughters to Zeus and Themis. Clotho was considered one of the three fates; she was responsible for birth and spinning the thread of life. Lachesis was life; she decided how long each person was allowed to live. Atropos was considered the oldest; death was her assignment and she cut the threads of life and was inevitable. I could go into this a lot more but that's not what we are here in the end to discuss."

Meridian took a deep breath, "There were missing prophecies saying the three would be reborn but as the world changed so would their roles. They each had the powers of birth, life and death but they were also given the ability to share them with each other. The prophecy foretells a meeting of all the major councils: Vampires, Weres, Witches and loosely all other non-human groups. Loosely translated it says the Triadic Council will unite the groups and be a hierarchy that will rule over them. We'll be like a court over the other groups to handle disputes that are unresolved and enacting laws that rule everyone. 'The three triadic will rule with their three mates and three other members will be chosen for a chosen number of nine to rule as the Triadic Council. They will bring equality and justice to all non-human groups.' It will be like a merger uniting the groups but not taking them over. It is meant for peace and unity but will have to deal out justice to those who ignore the authority. "

Marcus, Logan, Drake and Connor sat there for over an hour reading over the prophecies. 

Marcus looked at Meridian, "You know this will not go over well. You are talking about Ancient Vampires, very old Weres, and Witches. There will be fighting and rebellion over this."

"I understand that and what I have not mentioned is the fact that there will be a major battle uniting them during the meeting to secure the Triadic Council. It will be a battle that will unite the groups and the formation of the council."

"How bad will the battle be?"

"It's still in motion but no matter what lives will be lost. There will be deaths on all sides." Meridian was hesitating from giving the final piece of the puzzle. She took a deep breath, "Now due to the loss of life before the council is formed and after it is formed another part of the prophecy has to do with death. 'Should one of the Triadic Council die their mate will continue to rule with a vote to be made to fill the position. When or if the mate finds a new mate that elected official will give up their position. They will be given a position of stature afterwards.' For example Alex is unmated and there will be voting and an individual will be elected to rule by her side."

Marcus looked at Logan and saw the agitation in his face. Alex spoke next, "The person who rules by my side will be a Triadic member but not considered my King by my side." Alex tried to keep her face as blank as possible. It figured she'd be the only one left alone.

"So when does this meeting go into motion? When do we all meet with all the groups just to have a group of pissed off people wanting to kill the idea." Logan was clearly showing his irritation in his attitude.

Trinity spoke up, "It is already set up, the invitations have been sent and in three days the meeting begins. Meridian will be the individual addressing the groups in the beginning."

Marcus looked at her, "What about me? I'm supposed to just stand by your side and keep my mouth shut?"

"Marcus, understand that the beginning of this meeting will have to be me discussing what I have done so far for the groups. I have to help remind them we are almost already joined."

Logan looked at her, "You are kidding me? You are not revered in the Vampire community. I think you are highly overestimating your abilities and this is just a death sentence!"

Drake looked at Trinity, "You are not immortal! They are not going to take you seriously."

Marcus looked at Meridian again, "I need you to leave us to discuss this."

Meridian acted cool and unaffected despite feeling like she had been kicked in the gut, "Discuss all you need."

~~~~~~

After they left the room Meridian looked at her sisters, "Well that went well." They all laughed. "What's the worst that can happen they dump us, we have the meeting and die?"

"Thanks Meridian for cheering me up!" Alex said laughing at her. "Let's go to the meeting room in the training building. There's something we have to discuss."

Once they sat at the table Alex pulled out a missing piece of the prophecy. "I left something out. It's a piece telling of a chant to enable us to be invincible but only for two weeks so we can have the meeting and not die but there is a drawback. It is possible we won't be able to have children afterwards."

Meridian snorted, "I'm mated to a vampire. I don't think children are on the menu for me. Oh, menu was a bad choice of words."

Alex gave her a sad look, "I know this pertains to me but it's my duty as a Queen to do this so I'll accept it. We have to wait until after the mating ceremony for Trinity so let's plan on tomorrow." Just then Alex's phone rang and she walked off to take the call. "I have to go have a meeting with my attorney and I'll be back afterwards. I don't know how long it will be but have fun Trinity. I'm happy for you."




Finding Meridian Ch. 15



Meridian hugged her feeling her sadness. Alex left for the garage to head to her meeting.

~~~~~~

Meridian and Trinity headed into the library where the men had calmed down and were planning out how to assemble the meeting and getting everyone on the right side.

Meridian poured everyone a drink when she noticed Logan looked at her. "Where is Alex?"

"She had some meeting with her attorney." Meridian said nonchalantly. 

"This is really hard on her, she feels alone. She has always acted like the strong one growing up and everything was left for her to take care of. Even our parents assumed she was smart enough and strong enough to handle everything without asking. No one even took a minute to pay attention when everything went to hell with her and her fiancé Jean. Our parents just acted like it was no big deal and she would suck it up and be fine. I still haven't heard her talk about it, I try to bring it up and she says it's the past that it doesn't matter. I've never gotten a straight answer from her. She won't discuss it. I'm sorry Meridian; I didn't mean it to sound like you haven't gone through hell." Trinity stared at Meridian with a small smile as if to apologize.

"Trinity, I completely understand. We all have had our trauma. I know at this stage she must feel alone with us finding mates." Meridian gave a glance at Logan with no hint of feeling good or bad.

~~~~~~

Trinity was sitting on Drake's lap in a robe. "I'm nervous." 

Drake kissed her, "You'll be fine. Here have some wine. It was just a busy day, no one forgot."

Marcus walked in with Logan following. Marcus walked up to Trinity, "We'll take good care of you. Don't get nervous and if you do tell us." Marcus kissed the top of her head.

Logan looked at her. He took her hands into his as he knelt down, "Do you understand why we do this?"

"To link us so you can tell if say I was in trouble." Trinity was slightly shaking.

"Exactly the endorphins increase the link. Don't worry little one. Drake is going to make you come." Logan had Drake pull her robe open and spread her legs. Trinity jumped a little as Logan stroked her clit. "Drake will feed from you right here, over your clit. It will increase the orgasm. Once Drake has made you come I will take care of you and then Marcus. Now after that, Drake will make love to you and when you come together we will all three feed from you at the same time but this time at your neck. 

"We don't want to hold you down so do you feel more comfortable like this? But for me to make you come you'll need to sit on Drake or Marcus's lap. Do you feel more at ease with one of them or do you want them sitting side by side?"

"Side by side." Trinity said with a shaky voice. 

Drake stood up with Logan and Marcus taking his place. Drake pulled a chair up in between her legs. Logan and Marcus put her arms behind their neck and then slid their hands under her ass lifting her until Drake put her legs over his shoulders.

"Oh God," Trinity said in a nervous voice.

Drake then spoke, "Sunshine, you're supposed to get as turned on as possible. We will talk dirty to you but not degrading. Just release yourself to coming. That is your only goal. They will touch you but just think of it as me."

Logan whispered in her ear, "Don't worry sunshine. Drake said he wasn't going to shave you. Look how pretty that tiny pussy is with his mouth on it."

Marcus gently tugged on her nipple. "Such pretty pink nipples. Logan, take care of that nipple over there. Look sunshine, what a pretty sight."

Trinity arched up and started to cry out. "Drake, she's coming."

Drake bit over her clit flicking it with his tongue as she arched more. He slid a finger in and stroked her g-spot until she screamed. He sucked on her for a few minutes until she calmed down and he licked the bite shut. Marcus moved between her legs. Drake hurried and thrust his tongue into her mouth as she was overloaded with hands touching her. Marcus thrust two fingers up into her and clamped down on her clit. Logan slid his hand up and down her ribcage until he slid his hand down between her legs and held her lips open for Marcus. Trinity started to arch and come. 

Drake whispered in her ear, "You are wonderful. Such a good girl. Marcus is going to bite over that clit of yours now. Let go sunshine, I want to hear how much you like it."

Trinity was screaming for two minutes straight as Marcus sucked and held his tongue firm against her clit continually rubbing it back and forth. "Back off now Marcus. Leave some clit for Logan."

Drake looked at Trinity, "How's my sunshine?"

"Uh!" Trinity cried out and arched.

"Logan, it's your turn." 

"Let's move her to the bathroom." Logan picked her up alone and carried her into the bathroom. Marcus carried in two things she didn't see.

Drake talked to Logan telepathically, "Don't get too dominant on my girl. I don't want you scaring her."

"I won't. I just have an awesome idea that you get the benefit of doing to her."

Drake laid Trinity with her legs spread over the bathroom counter top as Logan got on his knees. "Sunshine, legs in the air and pull your ass to the edge." Drake commanded and watched as she did it. He moved to her side and started playing with her nipple. "Damn, you are so sexy."

Logan got on his knees as he licked her clit in a figure eight. He ran his finger around her hole teasing her and then sliding a finger in. He curled his finger and lightly stroked her g-spot. "Sweetheart you have to come twice before I give you over to your mate. I have to stretch you out a little bit sweetie." She saw Logan put some lube on his fingers and thrust three into her making her squeal. Drake put a hand around the back of her head and thrust his tongue in her mouth and then released her as she cried out.

Logan bit down over her clit and rubbed his tongue against it as he drank until he slowed down and her crying calmed. "I didn't hurt you did I sweetie?" Logan looked up at her and she shook her head no. 

"Now I don't want you getting nervous. I know this looks intimidating but Drake needs to be all the way in you when you both come. You're really tiny sweetheart." Logan lubed up the 7 inch thick dildo and slowly slid it into her as she started whining and looking down at him. "Do you have any idea how sexy that is? That's it little one, take a little more with each thrust. Just relax."

Logan talked to Marcus and Drake telepathically, "Guys, when I get this all the way in her she's going to come fast. Marcus and Drake hold onto her so she doesn't fall off the counter. She's going to come hard."

"Look at that little sunshine. You've taken 3/4ths of it. Look how your tiny pussy stretches around it. Drake's will replace it. What a pretty pussy. Almost there sweetie. Here we go sweetie you can take it come on and show me."

Marcus and Drake hurried and held onto Trinity as Logan thrust the dildo all the way into her and she started screaming. Logan latched onto her clit sucking it like a madman.

Trinity started screaming, "OH fuck me, oh fuck me, oh fuck me!"

Drake whispered in her ear, "Soon sunshine, very soon."

Logan slowed down and waited for her to stop coming. 

Drake talked to Logan telepathically, "is that the one that was for my benefit?"

"No, we get her in the shower and you start fucking her. I'll let Marcus take the shower head to her clit when you're going to come with her legs over your shoulders. We'll hold her up."

"Damn Logan, you are kinky but hold on to her or we'll have to peel her off the ceiling when she comes and Marcus focuses that shower head on her clit." Drake smiled as he said it.

"I can tell by the bulge in your pants Drake that you hate the idea." Marcus taunted while smiling.

"Fuck off." Drake said back.

"I believe that's what you get to do with your mate." Marcus laughed.

They looked over to Trinity who they had laid down on the counter and wasn't moving.

"Logan I hope you didn't break my mate."

"She's alive, just resting."

Drake grabbed the lube and dripped it over her swollen pussy. He covered his fingers and gently thrust them into her. "How are you doing sunshine? You ready for the main course?"

"Umm, what is it?" Trinity said with glazed eyes.

"You on my cock little one." Drake pulled her ass back to the edge of the counter and slowly worked his cock into her pulling her legs over his shoulders. "Fuck you are tiny and tight, so damn tight."

"Damn, you're huge. I don't know if you're going to fit. Oh shit. Drake, it's too big." Fear started filling her face and she started pushing backwards.

Drake spoke to Logan telepathically, "She's panicking."

"Here" Marcus said as he started rubbing her clit. "Come on guys don't give her a chance to panic. We're almost there."

"Sunshine your almost there, relax you're made to handle it. Breath deep little one, look how sexy that is. Maybe if you run your fingers around where you're joined with Drake?" Marcus suggested.

"NO!" Drake shouted, "Sunshine, you're so tiny and tight if you do that I'm going to come. I'm only an inch away baby. That's it relax sweetheart."

"Logan, start the shower."

Marcus picked her up folding her up to Drake. She grabbed him around the neck. "That's my girl." Logan slid her legs slightly off his shoulders so she dropped down all the way on his cock. "Uh…You almost ruined it Marcus." Drake groaned again forcing off his orgasm knowing Marcus purposely let her slide down.

"Oh, I could have your girl coming again in less than 30 seconds." Logan taunted as he got in the shower next to Marcus. Drake climbed in holding Trinity and letting her slightly lean back so Marcus and Logan were holding her up.

Drake started thrusting in and out of Trinity slowly. Logan couldn't help but stroke her hair as her head went back. "You're doing so good little one." Logan said.

Marcus and Logan wrapped an arm around her waist as Drake sped up his thrusting. "Oh fuck, here I come. Marcus, do it!" Drake told him as Marcus aimed the shower head at Trinity's clit and Logan held her as she screamed. 

"Come hard little one. Are you taking all of Drake sunshine? Maybe I should check." Logan slid his finger down to hit her stretched out pussy around Drake pulling some of the lube up sliding the tip of his finger in her tiny rosebud ass. 

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!" Trinity stared up at Drake to see him smile until her eyes shut and her head fell back. They pushed her back up to Logan.

"We should feed now!" All three bit her as she kept coming and crying.

"Drake!" Trinity screamed as she felt him come in her. It was all too much for her and she passed out.

They licked her neck shut and looked down at her. Drake kissed her. "I love you sunshine."

Logan pushed her forward, "Do you have her Drake?"

"I've got her. You really need to consider Alex. I'd love to come up with some creative stuff so she could pass out on you."

Logan just smiled and said, "Someone here has to stay unemotional and handle business."

Logan threw a towel over Trinity. Marcus pulled her hair out of her face and changed the conversation. "So you gave this little one her first orgasm? Doesn't seem like she has any problem in that area other than keeping her off the ceiling!" Marcus said laughing.

Logan looked at Drake, "Really, that bastard never gave her an orgasm? I guess the sadistic factor would kill it for a sweetie like her." Logan couldn't help but run his hand over her wet hair. 

"She's mine Logan, get your own." Logan laughed.

"If you want her Logan don't wait too much longer. I'm not pushing you but she's going to be highly wanted at this meeting." Marcus was glaring at him like he knew Logan was holding himself back.

~~~~~~

Alex parked and headed up to Justin's office. It was unusual for him to want such a late meeting.

When she walked through the door she was grabbed from behind and hit as everything went dark.

When she woke up she saw Justin standing over her. What the fuck is this? Alex thought.

Her brain was fuzzy and she was tied down to a table. Her mind was trying to focus on the ranting and raving he was going on and on about. She couldn't focus on his words.

"I can't believe after all this time you would fuck someone else! Which one are you fucking? Are you fucking all of them? I'm meant to be with you. I've been waiting for you so long and you just go and fuck it up? What do you have to say for yourself?"

Alex looked at him like he was insane. They had never even gone as so much as a date or had a drink together. Here he wants a response when he's gagged me?!

"Oh, sorry I forgot you were gagged. You better make it good. It's going to take a lot for me to take you back! You fuck another guy and cheat on me?!" Justin fumed as he removed the gag.

Alex couldn't hold her rage back, "Me, cheat on you? First of all even if I had fucked an entire rugby team it wouldn't be your damn business. What the fuck do you think you are doing? I am your client and nothing more. Are you some deluded mental case? Have you hit your head? Untie me now!" She tried using the sharing of powers to will him to untie her but it wasn't working, figures there is a distance limitation to their power sharing.

Justin drew his arm back and hit her hard, "One of your servants said he slept in your room bitch! You lie to me about fucking him? I am your fiancé. You are going to marry me and you have the nerve to fuck another guy! You are mine! Now, I can forgive you but I'm going to have to punish you." Justin walked around the table and started cutting her shirt off with a knife and he cut her arm. "I'm sorry did that hurt? There is a lot more where that came from. You have to learn to obey me, I'm your fiancé."

"You have to be fucking kidding me! I'm having a bad day and you've gone completely crazy on me! Justin stop this now before I do something you will regret."

Justin cut her as he cut her shirt off and then she noticed he had already removed her pants. SHIT! A girl can't get laid but now I'm going to get raped by this delusional asshole?  As he went to cut her bra off she started getting extremely angry and her rage was going out of control. His suit jacket caught on fire and she focused the flames to the ropes holding her down. She made a run for the door as he grabbed her and hit her head on the side of the table and she passed out.

When she woke up the room was in flames. Fuck! If she levitated out the window she might be caught on film. Could she even do this being so far from her sisters? Yeah, flying out a window and dying was not on the menu for tonight. Shit! The next thing she saw was a firefighter picking her up off the floor.

"I have a woman on the 7th floor and I'm bringing her down. It looks like there is another man here but he's dead." He threw her over his shoulder and hauled her down the stairs and out of the building. Everything was spotted and fuzzy.

"You've inhaled smoke. The ambulance is going to check you out and the officer will talk to you."

"Thank you for saving me." Alex said to the young firefighter.

"You were lucky." He wrapped a blanket around her. "Everything is going to be fine," he said before walking off.

Her smoke inhalation was not too bad and she had to talk to the officer. Stick to the truth other than how the fire started. She explained how confused she was by his behavior and what had happened and she had no idea how the fire started. 

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" The officer was asking her.

"I'll be fine. I have a private doctor that will stop by and check on me. He's close and makes house calls." Alex was wondering how she was going to get home. "I don't have my purse or keys to drive home. They were in the office."

"I can't allow you to drive in your state. I'll take you home and your dealership can make you a duplicate key and bring the car home to you. I will call them and authorize it for you."

"That's really nice of you." Alex knew this wasn't their normal treatment but it was nice.

"We all know who you are. You donated so much to not only help officers but also in trouble teens. I'd be honored to take you home. Here is my cell phone so you can call your doctor. He should see you before you go to bed in case you do need to go to the hospital." The officer pulled the blanket up making sure she was covered with a blanket and escorted her to the car. 

"My partner was shot and your fund for wounded officers covered all the hospital bills that were not covered insurance. He has four children and the fund also provided for counseling and food plus childcare to help his wife out. You have no idea how much that fund has helped officers. It's bad enough for spouses to worry about us getting shot but being left handling everything alone and stuck with all the additional medical bills is extremely hard on everyone. I just wanted you to know how much we all appreciate it."

"I lost my parents at an early age, then my grandfather and was in the foster system till adopted. Though my father was military it was horribly difficult on my mother when he died. She moved us in with my grandfather and I saw the emotional stress it took out on everyone. I couldn't even image a wife with four kids trying to take care of her husband in the hospital and kids. I know my circumstances are not the same but I can understand needing help and not having it available."

The officer pulled into the gates at the mansion and escorted her to the doors. "I just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate it. I guess we kind of worry each year it will be pulled, I know the economy is tough."

"Let your boss know that especially in these economic times that the funding will not be pulled. Actually, have your Chief of Police send over paperwork so my accountant can get it stabilized and secured for the next 10 years. My company makes more than enough money to take care of it. Please understand this has nothing to do with tonight. I also want him to make sure he knows that I'm as confused about what happened tonight as you probably are."

"Are you up to finishing the interview while we wait for your doctor?"

Alex escorted him into a private meeting room with her, "Yes, I honestly was dumbfounded when he spoke about us being meant for each other. Understand, he is my attorney but we haven't even met for drinks to go over paperwork. We haven't met in any capacity other than to go over business during business hours. I thought it was odd him calling me late saying he had emergency paperwork but I went anyways."

"That should be enough. We will contact you with anymore questions. Do you mind if we pull your cell to confirm when you received the phone call?"

"I know you would normally need a warrant to pull it but I authorize it. I was attacked without any reason. I'm still confused by the whole thing. We never had anything more than just a business relationship; we never discussed any personal matters. He was just my business attorney and there is nothing with any of my businesses to warrant this. I'm still completely confused about the whole thing."

The officer put his hand on her shoulder. "Here is my card, I'm not sure if you remember my name with everything that happened. Officer Brandon Jiles, call me with any questions and I do recommend you taking your own suggestion you give us. Talk to someone about it. You went through a traumatic event tonight. Expect the nightmares and call me for anything you need. Day or night and if I am not working have the front desk page me."

She escorted him out of the front door and saw one of her servants who had worked for her over the years. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"




Finding Meridian Ch. 15



"Yes Ma'am, what did you need?"

"First send the doctor up to my room when he arrives. Second, a servant here has leaked information of my personal life to a colleague and I need to know who it is so when you find out let me know."

"Miguel has been making some odd phone calls about the men visiting and about someone leaving your room."

"Thank you. Can you get rid of this blanket; I'm going to my room and just show the doctor up."

Alex walked up the stairs only in her thong and bra. She was completely burnt out and in pain. Logan had been drinking and walked out to see Alex walking to her room in only a bra and panties. The alcohol helped with his loosening control and increasing possessiveness.

"So do you normally walk around looking like a slut or did you sleep with someone? I can smell him on you from here!"

Alex was furious as she turned she hurled a vase at him, "Fuck you! Fuck you and everyone else. Go to hell! I've been attacked, almost raped, cut and almost burned in a fucking fire. Can't you smell that or are you being fucking selective? So go fuck yourself! Leave me the hell alone, I don't need any more abuse today! Fuck you, fuck that delusional bastard, fuck being alone, and fuck all these damn prophecies!"

Logan stood there staring at the bruises and cuts on her as she started to try to hide the fact she started to cry. She turned and started limping to her room. He could smell the blood from the head wound. The trauma of everything overloaded her as she felt the walls were closing in and she was suffocating. Dark spots were entering her vision until her world went black.

~~~~~~

Logan ran at blurring speed and caught her. He noticed her wounds close up and pulled her even closer to him cradling her to his chest. 

Marcus came out of their room to see what the noise was about. 

"What the fuck happened?" Marcus stared at Alex.

"She said she was attacked. I smelled a man on her and lost it. I started accusing her of things until she turned around. She yelled at me and passed out." Logan's eyes were filled with regret and worry. Marcus didn't question him anymore.

Her doctor knocked walked up the stairs and rushed to her side. "What happened?"

"She said she was attacked and passed out." Logan said staring at her with worry. The nurse came up the stairs and followed the doctor.

"Let's get her to her room," the doctor ushered Logan into it. The doctor gave orders to the nurse instructing her to bring up oxygen and other items.

"She hasn't woken up," Logan stared at the doctor, "Shouldn't she be waking up?"

"Give her a few and if she doesn't wake up we'll get her to the hospital. Her heart sounds good and she's breathing well." The doctor went about checking her vitals. Finally her eyes fluttered open and she looked around confused. Logan refused to let go of her hand from the other side of the bed. "Alex, can you tell me what happened?"

Alex suddenly looked extremely exhausted and sullen. "Tonight my attorney out of the blue thought we were engaged. We've never even gone for a date or a drink to discuss business. The EMT said I'd be fine but I needed you to check me out."

"My nurse is going to take blood. I am going to keep you hooked up to oxygen in your room tonight. If it were any worse I would have you admitted."

"Honestly, I'll be fine. Do the others know?" Alex was shaking her head.

"Meridian is coming down. Don't worry; I made sure she didn't wake up the rest of the house." Logan said trying to soothe her.

"Thanks." Alex started to cry.

"You sure you don't want me to admit you?"

"It's just stress over the incident."

Logan refused to move from her side even as Meridian walked in. He just held her hand as she flinched as wounds were cleaned and stitched.

Meridian walked in. "Oh god, what happened? What the hell happened?"

Alex winced as the doctor stitched up a couple of deep cuts and gave her a shot of antibiotics. 

"He lost his mind. He was ranting about me fucking someone else. He had a servant spying on me, I talked to one of my long valued staff but I can't remember the conversation. He was insane. He had me tied to the table and it just all went so bad. He was calling me his fiancé and we hadn't even gone on as much as a date. We never even met for a drink to go over business."

Alex sat up and put her hand over her face. "It's ok." Meridian rubbed her back and she flinched.

"Meridian, can you go grab a sheet so I can completely examine Alex. I think she may not remember all her injuries."

Meridian stared at Logan silently giving him the hint to leave. 

"Alex, I want to stay with you. You're hurt and I want to be with you. Is that ok?" Alex would have told him to leave but she saw the pleading and caring in his eyes.

"It is fine," Alex shook her head to Meridian to let her know that everything was fine.

Meridian was outside the door talking to the security guard come up to her. "Hi, it's Stan right?" Meridian shook his hand.

"Yes Ma'am." The huge security guard stood over her looking at her hoping he wasn't going to be fired over what happened earlier.

"Stan, we have an issue that happened earlier. I need you find out which servant spied on my sister and got her hurt tonight. I also want the whole house scanned for hidden cameras, recording devices or anything else. Check her phone and make sure it's not tapped."

"Ma'am, I am so sorry about this afternoon. It will never happen again."

"Stan, it just happened. Our urgency is what happened to Alex and scanning the entire house. Include the guest house. Just wake those that are sleeping by ringing their room when you are ready to scan it."

~~~~~~

Logan walked out of Alex's room and looked at Meridian. "I want her at the hospital for a CAT scan and to check on the smoke inhalation, we'll be heading out shortly."

Meridian heard, "NO, I AM NOT GOING."

Logan walked in the room with Meridian and gave Alex a stern face. "You're going to the hospital."

"I don't want a big deal made of this. I want a shower and bed." 

Logan looked at her, "I'll just go with you and bring you right home. I'll help you shower and we'll be back in no time. Do it for me or we could get the entire house up to discuss it?" Alex whined as Logan carried her into the bathroom.

They returned a short time later with her dressed in sweats and a t-shirt. 

Alex whined at him until he put a finger over her lips, "No more complaining." Logan walked out carrying Alex and they headed to the garage.

The doctor looked at Meridian, "I like him, and I will be at the hospital with her. I don't feel it is life threatening but I'd rather check and be safe. I will call you directly if we need everyone to head down and if it's serious."

"That's great; Logan will take care of her. Are you sure we shouldn't all go?"

"I don't feel it's necessary. I like him. First man I've seen to take control and make her go. Seems like her match." The doctor chuckled as he left to get in his car and go to the hospital.

~~~~~~

Meridian crawled in bed and explained everything to Marcus. "It's about time he got off his ass before he loses her."

Marcus looked down at Meridian. Since the mating ceremony all he wanted was her.

He ran a hand down between her legs. Shit! She's so wet for me. Then he had an idea. He flipped her over grabbing her around the waist and holding her back to his chest. "Little one, pull your knees to your chest and put your arms under them to keep them there."

As Marcus lifted her folded body off the bed he walked over to the standing mirror. "I need you to watch little one." Marcus held her like she weighed nothing and tilted her slightly forward. He had one arm holding her she was confused until she felt his other hand positioning his cock to enter her. "I want you to watch every inch of me fuck you."

Marcus slowly lowered her onto him as she started to whine. His other arm held her so he could easily raise and lower her onto his cock without much effort. 

Then he had another idea. "Stand up little one." He pushed the chaise lounge in front of the mirror. "Face forward, on your knees with your ass over the edge of the chair." Marcus got on his knees behind her and pushed her legs further apart. "Give me your arms sweetheart." As she moved her hands back she felt him hold them behind her back. 

"Now, I'm going to fuck you senseless. I'm going to make you reconsider ever putting fluffy and muffin in my shoes." Marcus was staring down at her wanting as she slowly thrust almost all the way out and back in. He snuck out one of her "pets" and pulled and had one out in his hand. 

Marcus took one out bringing it over to her. Then he saw something he never thought he would see. Meridian started to cry, "No, please don't!" She kicked at him and the scorpion flew off his hand and stung her.

He was immortal and she wasn't. Plus, he had known she put them in his shoes. She was obvious about the whole thing. He knew she never intended him to get stung. Meridian's head lulled back and her breathing slowed. 

"Oh shit!" Marcus started CPR on her. 

Connor heard the scream and ran into the room, "What the fuck just happened?"

"It was just a joke to get back at her for the scorpions in my shoes. I had her hands held behind her back and acted like I was going to put it on her. She kicked at me and knocked it out of my hand and was stung. She's not breathing!" Marcus kept doing CPR. "Breathe!"

"Where's her epi-pen?" Connor asked.

"Bedside table, I think. Keys are there too."

Connor stabbed her with the epi pen and heard her gasp for air. "Find the god damn scorpion. I don't have another epi-pen!" Connor just gave Marcus a nasty look. "She was tortured with scorpions. I'm surprised she even teased you with them." Connor held her close. "She should be fine now. Keep an eye on her breathing."

"Do we need a doctor?" Marcus put the scorpion away and went to hold Meridian. "Connor, hand her over."

"Only if you promise to be safer with her, she's human." Connor held her close as he felt it.

"It was an accident. Connor, thank you." Connor handed her back to Marcus and wondered if he could feel it yet."I'll make sure Logan brings back extra epi pens just so we have them on hand. Is it just scorpions or are there other things she needs them for?"

Connor was having a hard time being pissed at Marcus by the way he was holding and rocking Meridian next to his chest. "Scorpions are the only things I know of. It was due to the number of times she was stung."

"I'm really sorry," Marcus said staring down at Meridian who was just opening her eyes. "Baby, I'm sorry."

Connor got up to leave and went to the closet grabbing the container with the scorpions. "I'm taking these with me. I'll let them go later outside. Marcus, take extra good care of her."

"Thank you again Connor. I owe you and will take care of her."

Connor wondered when Marcus would sense it but he wouldn't say anything yet. They would figure it out themselves.

~~~~~~

Logan finally got to carry a sleeping Alex back into the house after hours of testing. He took her to her room and tucked her into bed. He looked down at her as he put the oxygen mask on her and was about to turn and leave.

He stared down at her and remembered Marcus's words. Did he push her away and risk losing her? He didn't realize he was growling possessively until her eyes slightly opened and closed again. The realization of the night hit him all at once. Alex was almost raped and killed tonight. She could have burned to death in the fire. 

He paced back and forth across the room until the thought of another man having her as a wife came into his head. He pulled off all his clothes except his boxers and crawled into bed pulling her close. She was his. His Alex would be safe with him. All their talks in the library he would have lost if she had not been rescued. 

His powerful but not invincible Alex; he had to remember that. He would remind Marcus, Drake and Connor tomorrow of that knowledge. They could not just stand back and watch them use their powers. The meeting would be dangerous and they needed to be protected.



Finding Meridian Ch. 16



You'll need your tissues for this one, I did. Thanks Dawn and Meadow for suggestions. I wanted to thank everyone for reading. Don't forget to vote.

Enjoy,

Meridian

Bye Bye Love

~~~~~~~

Alex was in the middle of a great dream. She felt her nipples being suckled as hands ran up and down her ribs until they cupped her breasts feasting on them one after the other. She tilted her hips up to grind against the silken erection rubbing against her clit. She felt a hand slide down her back pushing her pelvis even closer to this dream lover's erection as his other hand kneaded her breast to feed on them with his mouth. 

She felt kisses being ran up her neck until her mouth was devoured as he made love to her mouth. Her hands buried themselves in his hair. Her head went back as she cried out in an orgasm just from the rocking of his hard erection against her clit. This was the best dream she had ever had. 

She heard a foreign language being whispered in her ear as she was brought down from the amazing yet unexpected release. "Tell me you want me, I want to be in you. I've waited so long." She thought she recognized the husky voice as Logan. It would make sense that he was in this dream. She wanted him but he didn't want her. She would take what she could get.

"Yes, please fuck me." She said in a low husky voice.

"It's not fucking, it's love. I love you. Be mine. Say you're mine forever." She felt her dream lover rock against her with his hard cock at her entrance teasing her. "Tell me!"

"I'm yours!" As she said it he slammed into her taking her breath away as he stretched her to her limits. 

Her dream lover heard her whimpering and whining in both pleasure and pain. "I'm sorry, I lost control."

Alex instinctively tilted her hips up and cried out as she came again yet harder and she heard her dream lover Logan franticly begin to thrust in and out of her until he grunted while she was still pulsating around him. He sank his teeth into her neck and it jolted her from the dream as she finally heard words a few minutes later. "I'll take my time next time love. I just couldn't resist."

Alex realized Logan was licking her neck wound shut and still holding her close as he stretched her to her limits. "It wasn't a dream?"

Logan looked down at her in disappointment, "No."

Alex gave in when she saw the caring and disappointment in his face, "Good, I love you Logan."

"Then come for me again. Since I didn't take my time but you were rocking against me and had removed your oxygen mask. You were purring at my neck as you nibbled on it. Honestly, how could I resist that?" Logan rocked against her knowing he was hitting her g-spot. "Scream my name. Let me know your mine."

Alex came hard as her legs wrapped around his waist, "Oh fuck, Logan I'm yours. Love me Logan."

Logan growled in her ear, "I love you Alex. That's my girl keep coming. Feel my cock stretching that little pussy of yours. My pussy, my love, my little Alex coming on my cock. The only cock that ever gets to pleasure you. You're mine!"

Alex screamed Logan's name again loud enough for even the guest house to hear it. Her arched body collapsed back on the bed as Logan moved to the side and pulled her close as they fell asleep.

~~~~~~

Drake had made love to Trinity over and over throughout the night. She felt the nudge in her brain from Meridian.

Telepathically Meridian contacted Trinity and Alex, "We need to hurry and do the chanting so we can get back to bed."

Trinity groaned at her in her head, "I'm not sure I can walk."

Alex laughed and then whimpered, "I feel like I've had the shit beat out of me."

Meridian responded to them telepathically, "You didn't get stung by a scorpion." She groaned back telepathically.

Trinity groaned, "I guess I'm the only one who didn't have a major medical disaster last night. Ok, let's go get this over with. I want to get back in bed."

Alex telepathically teased her back, "I wonder why."

Trinity taunted her back, "Have you rolled over? Is he sleeping on his side of the bed? The whole house heard you scream his name. About damn time too! I was wondering if he was ever going to man up."

Alex laughed back, "Ok, shut it. Get up and let's get this done."

They snuck out of the rooms and into the meeting room below the training room. 

Trinity felt compelled to grab the top ancient sheet and they chanted the foreign language. A wind blew through the room and swirled around them. Meridian looked down at it again with groggy eyes.

"Hey brain child, wrong chant!" Meridian chastised her. She grabbed the right one and they repeated it and headed back to bed. 

"Do you think I did any harm with that chant?" Trinity said fidgeting as they headed to the house. 

"Well if the world explodes soon I'm getting laid before I worry about it. I've been feeling like a nun," Alex taunted.

"Ok enough chatter. I'm going to bed." Meridian growled at them as she headed to her room crawling in bed with Marcus.

Marcus rolled over and pulled her on top of him. "We have unfinished business." His hands went up and cupped her breasts. "You want to ride me cowgirl?"

"I want to but I feel a bit sick. Can we sleep a bit more first?" Meridian stared down at him with a guilty look.

"Of course little one, you had a rough night." He pulled her to his side and pulled her into his arms. "Sleep little one." He pulled her into his arms possessively holding her as she fell into a deep sleep.

~~~~~~

The world had changed. Meridian felt it in the sleeping premonition. She and her sisters were walking into a great hall. An Ancient room with amazing carved walls. She went forward stepping up and sitting on a throne. Her sisters were all on their thrones each with their mates next to them. Another man was Alex's mate and not Logan. Then she saw they were all dead but her. 

An Ancient man stepped out and as she screamed he spoke, "Calm my child. You can keep this from happening. I will visit you again and we must change the world to keep it safe; to keep them from this outcome."

"Who are you? Did you do this?!" Meridian was glowing red with fury.

"Easy child, I did not do this. I would never do this to those who are part of me. We will keep this from being. I need you to trust me." He stood before her, a huge man at least seven foot tall rippling with muscles and dressed as a warrior. His raven black hair and matching eyes should have scared her but she wasn't. She took his hand like a child taking their fathers hand. This was a man she could trust; an Ancient to save her beloveds. 

"What do I call you?" Meridian stared up at him.

"I will tell you later, it is unsafe to tell you now. Go back to your mate for now. Be safe." He hugged her like a small child.

"I don't want to lose them." Meridian whimpered.

"Trust in me and you won't." Her hand let go of his and she slipped into a dreamless sleep.

~~~~~~

Alex was smiling as walked into her room expecting to see Logan but the room was empty. Maybe it all was just a dream. She saw him walk out of the bathroom dressed in a robe drying his hair. Her smile slowly diminished.

He seemed distant now. He walked over to her giving her a hug, "I'm going to head back to my room since you're doing better." He kissed her on the head and left. 

Maybe it was all a dream, but her body was sore and she knew it was not a dream. She lay back down and cried herself to sleep. She was woken a few hours later by Trinity. "Alex, oh shit Alex, I fucked up!"

Alex rolled over looking at her, "What is wrong?"

"You know that chant? Well it was to make us pregnant. Shit! We all have to head to the doctors house to see because it's supposed to be a fast pregnancy."

"Please tell me this is some nightmare and let me wake up."

Meridian walked in dressed and started throwing clothes at Alex, "No, we need to take an ultrasound and test."

2 hours later they returned after pregnancy was confirmed. Alex just sat there in shock. Pregnant, fucked, dismissed and now alone to be a strong queen. She wanted to talk to Logan.

"Alex, are you going to tell Logan? Earth to Alex!" Trinity said looking at her.

"I love you two, please don't tell anyone about me being pregnant. I think Logan was a mistake." Alex stared down at her feet.

Trinity and Meridian just stared at her dumbfounded. "A mistake?" Meridian stared at her. "What are you not telling us?"

"Please just don't say anything. I don't think he wants me like that." Alex started to cry, "He made it pretty clear this morning. Don't tell anyone I'm pregnant. I'm not sure where I go from here. I'm not sure if I'm going to have it. I don't know if I could do it alone." Her sisters just hugged her and made the motion of lips zipped up.

Neither noticed her go talk to the doctor before they left about terminating it. She didn't have much time to make the decision.

~~~~~~

Logan heard the knock on the door and knew he had to deal with Alex. He had to be the sane one here. He couldn't let his emotions and feelings for Alex take over. It would be easier on them is if he was just cold and cut it right off. Before he was able to get out any words the speaker announced for everyone to meet in the library.

Meridian and Trinity announced they were pregnant and Marcus and Drake hugged them looking like proud expectant dads.

"I'm so happy for you." Alex said as she gave them all hugs.

Connor then spoke, "I wanted to point out to everyone something we keep ignoring. While we accept the sisters here are extremely powerful let's all remember they are human and we need to be more protective of them."

Everyone left but Logan and he put his arms around Alex. "I'm sorry about being cold to you this morning. I have responsibilities and I care for you but I need to be the sane one. You have no idea how relieved I am that you're not pregnant. Maybe after things settle down we could see how things go between us." Logan felt like an ass lying to the woman he loved. "We could still play around though."

"I'm sorry Logan, I want more." Alex turned and grabbed her keys to leave. She held her breath to avoid sobbing.

Logan just watched as she left the room. Connor walked in and looked at Logan, "You did not just push her away?"

"Someone has to stay sane and not let their emotions rule things." Logan said as he refused to look Connor in the eyes.

"So you're just going to ditch your perfect pregnant mate for some excuse that you can't balance your life and have a mate, child, and rule as a vampire? Maybe you don't deserve her." Connor turned and left the room.

~~~~~~

Meridian felt the heartache from Alex. She spoke to her telepathically. "Where are you going?"

"I can't…I can't do this alone. He doesn't want me or the other. I'm going back to the doctor to take care of it. My fiancé left me because I was pregnant and it wasn't in his plans right then. I made it to six months and then I went into premature labor. Things went wrong and Alicia only lived two hours. She's buried in the family plot. I can't do this alone." Alex was trying to get the key in the ignition.

"Don't you dare drive; I am coming down right now. I will go with you. We're sisters, we don't suffer alone anymore." Meridian hurried to dress and run to the parking garage. She saw Alex slumped in the passenger seat with tears running her face. "Alex, I'm here for you no matter what. Are you sure this is what you want?"

"I can't do this alone. After the last time, I don't have the strength. I'm sorry." Alex started sobbing.

"You do what you need to do for yourself. We won't judge you. I'm here with you all the way." Meridian gave her a hug and pulled out of the garage.

~~~~~~

The words hit Logan until he was a bit dizzy and confused. How could she be pregnant? Trinity would tell him, she was the more emotional one and would tell him. He walked to Drake and Trinity's room knocking and hearing enter.

"Trinity, I need to talk to you alone." Logan was pacing back and forth. Drake shook his head and walked out of the room.

"Is Alex pregnant too?" Logan looked at her.

"Logan, that's something you need to discuss with her. I can't answer that for you." Trinity was biting her lip.

"She is isn't she?" Logan kept pacing. "It's not that I don't love her. I just feel like right now is the wrong time. I love her but I need to make sure everything works with this meeting." Logan kept debating his feelings in his head.

"Logan, she said she was going to talk to you to make her decision. Where is she?" Trinity looked at him and shook her head. "Logan, you've gotten what you want. You'll have no responsibility to her or a child. I lied when I said she didn't explain things that happened between her and her ex-fiancé. He left her to build his business. She was pregnant, going through school and made it to six months before she lost it. She got to hold Alicia for two hours before her daughter died. She said she didn't think she could go through this alone. I think that's your answer Logan, you're free from any responsibility from her."

Trinity turned and cried for her sister as Logan left. Drake had heard the whole conversation and confronted Logan as he walked out. "For being an Ancient you are a dumbshit!" Drake went into his room to comfort his mate. 

~~~~~~

Tears ran down Alex's face as she was on the doctors table. "It won't take long Alex. Are you sure?" The doctor patted her hand.

"Yes, I can't do this alone. He made it clear." Alex started to cry. Meridian held her hand and wiped her tears.

"Sweetheart, let me get you some more medication so we get you calmed down first." The doctor held her other hand as the medication made everything blurry.

Afterwards the doctor carried Alex to the car and gave her instructions for the antibiotics and pain killers. 

"I've gave you some anxiety pills too. I know this is rough on you. You call me for anything." The doctor gave her a hug. "Why don't I give you a nice pain shot so you can sleep after such a rough few days?"

"That would be nice." Alex was holding back the tears. 

After the shot he kissed her on the cheek and left. Meridian drove Alex back and saw Stan as they drove up. 

"Excuse me Stan? Can you carry Alex up to her room?" Meridian said as Stan walked over.

"Of course." Stan said as he lifted and carried her into the house and up into her bedroom. "Do you need anything else? Do you want me to notify the staff to bring in food for her later?"

"That would be great. Thank you Stan." Meridian tucked Alex into bed and brushed her back hugging her sister before going to talk with Marcus.

~~~~~~

Logan heard Meridian get Alex settled in. He had been sitting with his head in his hands wondering what he had done. He had broken any chance they had. He expected to feel relieved that it was over but he didn't. He felt regret. As a human he had botched every relationship he had ever had and now he avoided them completely to the point that he destroyed his chance with his mate. He told her he didn't want her or his child. His child, he had no child now. 

Logan walked into the room seeing the pills on the side table and Alex's tear stained face that soaked her pillow. God he was a bastard. How could anyone treat something so wonderful like just a fuck? He could, he was a bastard. He could tell she was completely out and he rested his head on her stomach. There was no heartbeat. His child was gone. His mate was gone. He had once again destroyed something good. 

He had to make some choices. He didn't even know if he could ever make up something so horrible to her. Could he ever make her love him again? For the first time in a thousand years Logan cried as he rested his head against her stomach. He never realized how much he could want something after he lost it. 

Logan stood up and stared down at Alex. He had hurt her so bad. The thought of life without her burnt him to the core. All he could do is talk to Marcus. Marcus would help him figure this out.

~~~~~~

Marcus opened the door after he heard Logan knock. "Can we go talk somewhere?" Marcus noticed Logan looked like shit.

"Sure, let me tell Meridian and I'll meet you in the library."

They made it to the library as Logan sat putting his head in his hands. "I told Alex I didn't want her right now. I told her I was happy she wasn't pregnant. I pushed her away."

"Go fix it." Marcus looked at Logan. He had never seen Logan so distraught.

"I was too late." Logan said and it almost came out as a scream.

"What do you mean too late?" Marcus looked at him. "Oh shit, you told her you didn't want her or a kid. She was pregnant too due to Trinity's mistaken chant."

"Yes, key word being was." Logan's eyes were glazed over as he grabbed a drink and offered one to Marcus too. "After this morning, I told her I loved her and then acted like it meant nothing."

"All you can do is try to make it up to her but you might need to give her space and show her she can count on you. You've been hot and cold with her. You'll have to show you're there for her no matter what. Even after this." Marcus felt Logan's pain. "Maybe you should go talk to her?"

"The doctor gave her a shot and she's out. I checked on her. There's no baby's heartbeat. I was too late." Logan's words felt like they were torn from his chest as he downed another drink.

~~~~~~

Alex was holding little Alicia. She was so tiny and barely cried. Everything seemed so surreal. The doctors had told her the baby wouldn't live very long. She had fought with this pregnancy to bring Alicia into this world just to lose her. She cried and cried as the nurse finally pulled the baby that had stopped breathing from her arms.

Jean didn't even show up for the funeral. It was such a tiny casket for a little baby. Alex just stood there staring through the funeral until she finally fell to pieces as her family had her taken home and the doctor gave her medications to knock her out. The world was so cold to her after that. It took her a year to even start enjoying life again. That one year seemed like a blur of walking through mud. She knew why she was unable to handle going through such a thing alone again.

Her dream changed, she saw two children running through a field as they were running to her but they didn't stop. They ran past her. She didn't exist to them. She turned and saw them running to Meridian's open arms with Marcus standing behind her. She stood up realizing she stood in the field alone. As she turned she saw the scenery had changed. She was at the cemetery staring at her little girl's grave. She was dressed in black and alone. 

Meridian felt her pain in her dreams and saw the whole thing. She bolted from the bed and ran to Alex's room to see her sitting up crying. Trinity ran in afterwards and the sisters held her as she cried. After about an hour of crying Meridian looked at her, "The doctor gave me a few injections if you needed them. Do you want one to sleep? Sleep without dreams?"

Alex sobbed again, "Yes, I have to get myself back together for this meeting. I just need to sleep some without the memories and nightmares."

Meridian gave her the shot and the sisters held her until she fell asleep again.



Finding Meridian Ch. 17



Thanks Dawn and Meadow for suggestions. I wanted to thank everyone for reading. Don't forget to vote. I appreciate the following!

Enjoy,

Meridian

A rewind as they prepare for the island

~~~~~~~

Alex spent the next few days until they left for the meeting just planning. Logan tried in vain to talk to her and she always was busy. 

Logan found himself staring at her continually. He felt his heart breaking when he heard her crying at night. He had knocked on her door several times to try and talk to her and was politely asked to leave. He noticed she didn't smile much and when she did it was forced. Logan just wanted her agony to go away. 

"Tomorrow we leave in the morning for the island so everyone needs to be sure to pack tonight." Alex said before getting ready to leave the dining room. She let bitter and controlling become her persona. 

Meridian stared at her, "Alex, why don't you eat with us?"

"There is business to attend to and I'm not hungry. Please, everyone enjoy themselves." Alex turned and left the room. After she had left Marcus finally spoke up.

"Logan, you need to make this right even if you two just become friends. We need to be a cohesive group for this meeting." Marcus gave Logan a stare that made him feel even worse than he already did.

"I'm trying and she won't stop to talk to me. She's closed off and cold." Logan said as he chastised himself again for what he had done.

"Marcus, she's hurt. You have no idea what she went through with her fiancé. She fought for six months to carry a child alone and Alicia died in two hours. Bastard didn't even show up to the burial. You have no idea how horrible it was to see her fall apart as they put the casket in the ground. She's avoided letting anyone close ever since. Everyone is going to have to give her time." Trinity was telling everyone to try to get them to back off. 

Logan wished the world would open up and swallow him whole. If he didn't feel like an asshole and bastard before he sure as hell did now. He didn't need to look up to tell everyone stared at him with loathing.

Meridian stood up, "I'm going to check on her."

~~~~~~

As Meridian got closer to Alex's room she heard the crying. She knocked and heard her sniffle as she said come in. 

"Alex, I really think…"

Alex cut her off before she could even finish. "Please don't push me to just forget what Logan said. I can't."

Meridian sat next to her pulling her close, "That is not what I was going to say. I was going to say give yourself some time. It's not going to heal overnight. If you need your distance from Logan we'll move your room when we arrive at the island."  

Alex just sat there crying in Meridian's arms, "Thanks for understanding."

"You're my sister, even if things work out in the future with him you need to work through this. Speaking of that, have you spoke with a counselor?" Meridian brushed the tears from her cheeks.

"I will later. I don't have time right now. We leave in the morning. I have to have everything ready. If I start talking about it babies I'll fall apart. We don't have time for me to fall apart right now." Alex pulled out paperwork trying to immerse herself in work.

"I understand, just promise me you will talk to someone once this has calmed down. Of course you know I am always here to talk to without giving any judgment." Meridian watched her and was seriously worried.

"I will, I have more paperwork to take care of. Thanks Meridian." Alex gave her a hug and closed her eyes as if to escape this situation.

"If you need anything, you call or find me." Meridian kissed her forehead and left.

Alex took some more pain pills. The doctor said it was probably due to her being small and would take some time. The stress of everything overtook her and she fell asleep amongst the paperwork all over her bed.

Logan knocked on her door but didn't receive an answer. He opened it to find her curled up in the fetal position among the mass of paperwork.

He organized the paperwork and tucked her in bed. She didn't know he kept coming in at night to check on her. He was worried. She wasn't eating and clearly depressed and it was his fault.

He had made the mistake of talking to Trinity more about what happened with her former fiancé and it made him feel even more of a bastard. The more he thought about it the more he thought, 'Past or no past what I did was cruel and hurt her badly.' 

He found himself slipping into her room when she would have nightmares and be crying. No matter what happened he had to do what little he could do to help her out. He would stroke her hair and hold her hand soothing her until she stopped crying in her sleep. Logan wasn't getting much sleep. You would think as a vampire you would lose the guilt but unfortunately it wasn't fading. The nagging guilt and seeing her hurt face was eating at him. Connor saw him leave her room and pulled him aside.

"Why don't you just let her go? Haven't you done enough to her?" Connor was not hiding his irritation from Logan.

"I can't hear her cry all night. I don't wake her but I've hurt her so much I can't have her crying all night in her sleep." Logan looked at Connor with look of torture in his face that stopped Connor from berating him. "I'm grieving too, this is my fault. I can't place the blame on her."

Connor just stared at him with compassion, "Give it some time just don't give up on her."

~~~~~~

A few hours later an officer showed up to talk with Alex. Logan just stared at him and went to get her. He noticed they walked into a side room. So this Officer Brandon Jiles was his replacement. Marcus walked by and noticed the irritation in his face.

Marcus put his hand on his shoulder, "It's going to take time."

"In the meantime, I'm a bastard and I get to watch her suffer. I stay up all night long to make sure she doesn't scream or cry in her sleep. When she does I go in and I have to hold her hand to stop her from crying in her sleep. I lied to her and I'm stuck with the results. I've lost my mate and my child. That skinny hurting woman in there is tortured because of what I said. After a thousand years I still managed to screw up a relationship. How can I even believe time will help her forgive me? I can't forgive myself for this." Logan closed his eyes to try to refocus. 

He heard the side room door open and saw Alex walk the officer out. Logan watched as he saw the officer grab her and hold her close and stroke her hair. I should be the one holding her! He was ready to bolt for the door and pull the man from Alex when Marcus held him back. He growled and went to his room to finish packing so they could leave for the meeting. He couldn't believe someone else was holding her. He couldn't believe how possessive he felt but also the remorse for pushing her away.

~~~~~~

Alex talked briefly with Brandon as he told her about her attorney's mental instability. The case was taken care of. Brandon kept looking at Alex.

"Are you doing OK? You look ill. Have you seen a doctor?" Brandon had come over and put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's just been too much stress all in one week." Alex was doing her best to contain her pain and heartache.

"I know that look. It's about the guy staring at you in the other room?" Brandon looked at her feeling her pain.

"Yes, I guess this is why you're a good officer. Already figured out what happened and with whom huh?" Alex laughed and smiled.

Brandon looked at her with awe, "You need to smile more. Yes, it sucks personally because I can tell you're still taken with him. But you know if you need a friend I'm here." Alex started to cry and Brandon held her.

"I'm seriously not trying to lead you on Brandon. I'm not ready for anything other than friendship." Alex said as Brandon handed her tissues.

"I don't think you need to worry about that. My boyfriend Jason would probably get upset if I started dating women." Brandon said making her laugh quietly.

"Thank you for everything Brandon. Let me walk you out." Alex walked him towards his car when she started crying again. Brandon hugged her.

"Call me if you need to talk." Brandon whispered in her ear, "Don't forget if he just needs a wakeup call; a little jealousy works wonders." Brandon kissed her on the cheek as she laughed.

"You are a wicked man!" Alex was laughing, "I needed that."

Brandon waved at her and left when she reentered the house with a smile on her face. Connor had seen Logan storm off and was trying not to laugh. He could tell Brandon was gay from the moment he entered. He still thought it was good if Logan saw a bit of competition.

After Logan had left the room Connor was laughing and Meridian threw a bagel at his head. "You know it's not nice to laugh at others pain." 

"Admit it Meridian, sometimes it is. Sometimes people need a kick in the ass to realize what they are going to lose." Connor said as he threw the bagel back at her.

"Good point. I'm not telling him if you don't," Meridian taunted Connor.

Marcus walked over and looked at the two of them,"What are you up to?"

They both hurried and said, "Nothing," simultaneously averting their eyes in guilt. 

An exhausted Alex ascended the stairs to rest. She was still in pain and extremely weary after everything that had happened. She was about to go into her room when she saw Logan walk over to her. "Can we talk?"

"I'm really tired and then I have a lot of things to wrap up tonight." Alex was doing her best to avoid him completely. Her heart had already been stomped on she didn't need any more.

Logan followed her into her room. "Just give me a few minutes."

"Logan, there's really nothing left to say. You made it very clear." Alex was holding her breath.

"I'm sorry Alex. I'm so sorry. Please just talk to me." Logan had turned her towards him.

"What is left to talk about?" Alex finally looked at him with tears filling her eyes.

"How I am so sorry for hurting you. How I didn't mean what I said. I have so much to say; so much to apologize for." Logan looked down at Alex as she started weeping.

"Logan, it's too much for me to deal with right now. I hurt, I'm tired and I got the point during our last conversation." Alex was staring at the floor trying to hide her tears. She moved around him to grab some pills and water. She sat on the bed exhausted and crying. "Can't you just let it go?"

"I'm not letting it go. I'm not letting you go but you need to rest." Logan pulled back the covers and tucked her in. "We'll talk but if you need rest that comes first. I love you and I messed up. I'll spend the rest of my life apologizing if you'll listen but you need to rest." Logan kissed her forehead and ran his hand over her hair. "We'll talk later."

~~~~~~

As sleep pulled her down she noticed a change in scenery. Alex was sitting down in a large back yard it was huge with a forest in the distance. She saw two children running around, a boy and a girl. She saw them running towards her but she was sure either Trinity or Meridian was behind her. The two children looked about three years old as they ran into her arms knocking her to the ground.

Alex started to sob. The two children hugged her and said in unison, "Don't cry mommy, everything will work out. We love you mommy. Everything will be fine." She looked up to see both children wiping the tears from her face.

The little girl looked at the little boy and pointed, "You made mommy cry!"

"No, you made mommy cry!" He yelled back. 

Then she heard them scream in unison and pointed behind them, "He made mommy cry!" The two children grew fangs and violently attacked Logan. The little boy looked up with blood on his chin, "He tastes like chicken!"

"Caleb, don't play with your food! Gabriella is doing such a good job, look at her." Alex found herself shouting back as she bolted upright out of the dream screaming and shivering.

Meridian ran in the room. "Another bad dream?"

Alex went from weeping to laughing, "You know how a dream can be scary and you wake up and it's kind of funny?"

"Are you taking too many pain killers?" Meridian stared at her.

"I might be. Just listen and see if you can't laugh in the end." Meridian listened at Alex told her about the dream. 

"Well it sounds like your subconscious is working this out. I do like the intervention of your violent vampire children though. Very creative!" Meridian laughed with Alex and hugged her. 

"You might want to talk to Marcus and find out what your child will be like, if that child comes out biting I'm sicking them on Logan." Alex said laughing.

"You will not be sicking my child on anyone. That'll be my job." Meridian said laughing. "Oh, I'm taking you tonight to see the doctor. I want to be sure you are fine before we get on the plane tomorrow."

"Yes mom." Alex said sarcastically. "Maybe he can explain my messed up subconscious."

Meridian looked at her, "You still look tired. Why don't you try getting a bit more rest?"

"That sounds good. Thanks for being such a great sister." Alex hugged her as Meridian tucked her in and went to take a nap herself.

~~~~~~

Marcus grabbed Meridian as she walked into the room. "Is your sister OK?"

"She's having nightmares but they are becoming comical now." Meridian was laughing.

"Comical how?" Marcus asked as he was stripping her clothes off.

"She had two vampire children that attacked Logan and said he tasted like chicken." Meridian said while laughing.

Marcus started to snicker and they fell onto the bed together. "Are you ready to go for a ride cowgirl?"

"Do I get to ride you?" Meridian asked as he pulled her on top of him. 

"You won't be riding anyone else little one." Marcus held her by the hips over his erection. "What does my little one want?" Marcus teased her by keeping the tip of his cock at her entrance.

"I want you in me. Please Marcus." Meridian ran her finger nails down his chest. Meridian got an evil smile on her face. "I want something else."

Marcus sat her down next to him. She straddled his knees kissing his chest and licking down his tight muscles. "You are an evil woman."

"You don't even know." Meridian lightly kissed and bit on his hip until her hand went around his cock. Marcus let out a low growl. He looked down to see her waiting for him to look. "Do you like the view?" Meridian had her tongue out looking at his cock like she was a predator. She ran her tongue around the head of his cock and slowly sucked it into her mouth.

"Fuck yes!" Marcus groaned as she ran her tongue on the underside of his cock. She slid his cock slowly in and out of her mouth as she looked up at him. He reached down and smacked her ass making her squeal with his cock in her mouth. The vibration made him shriek, "Oh fuck!"

Meridian moaned and whined as she went further down on his cock. "Mer baby, you're going to make me come if you keep that up." 

Meridian cupped his balls and used her other hand to move up and down his cock with her mouth enveloping him. She ran her tongue on the underside of his cock as she moved up and down. "Mer baby, I'm going to come. Fuck baby." Meridian looked up at him with love that made him almost come immediately. She sped up as Marcus buried his hands in her hair and guided her faster as she sucked on his cock. "Fuck. I'm coming." Meridian kept sucking and swallowing as his cock pulsed in her mouth releasing stream after stream of his hot essence. He stared down at her face as she looked up at him while still suckling him gently down. "Fuck yes baby!" Marcus groaned as he finally finished coming. 

Marcus growled and pulled her up to him and kissed her. "Fuck baby that was amazing." Marcus growled again and with a blur had her on her back with her legs spread. He slid two fingers deep inside her as he spread her lips to see her clit. He flicked it with his thumb and heard her whimper."You like that baby?" 

Marcus teased her by thrusting his fingers slowly in and out of her until he finally started thrusting in and out of her hitting her g-spot. He clamped his mouth over her clit and flicked it continually with his tongue. Meridian cried out and he had to hold her hips down as she kept coming. Marcus finally slowed down and let her come down from her orgasms. "I love you Meridian."

"I love you Marcus." Meridian curled up to Marcus as he pulled her close wrapping his arms around her possessively.

~~~~~~

Meridian awoke remembering she wanted to take Alex to see the doctor again. Just to be safe she grabbed Trinity and they all went for a last minute check up.

Meridian noticed the Alex was still extremely tired and looked like she was hurting. They slipped out of the house and went for the check up. Alex sat in the other room letting Meridian and Trinity go first. This was not a highlight to her day. All she wanted was to go to sleep and let the memories of this pass.

Finally the sisters finished and pulled Alex in to see the doctor. "I'm fine this is really unnecessary."

"You will have a check up just to be safe. I don't like that you are still in pain and I want to make sure you don't have an infection." Meridian stared at her until she gave in.

"Fine, but I do this by myself. I appreciate you holding my hand last time Meridian but I'll be fine alone this time." Meridian and Trinity nodded and left the room. 

The doctor came in and took blood like usual. "Your sisters say you are having pain still and you're tired. It can all be part of this. This kind of pregnancy and termination is still very much unknown. Completely rare and we don't have a lot of ideas on how it works. We are flying blind so don't get mad if we are overly doting to make sure the termination went smoothly." Alex just shook her head in misery and anger. The doctor clutched her hand and squeezed it. "You know we do this because we all care. Do you know how astounding it is you found your sisters and how close you have become?"

"I know. I just feel off. My emotions are all over the place. I feel alone. The pregnancy, though I couldn't do it alone, I regret not having someone to be by my side while I do have children. I don't want to be alone." Alex started to sob loudly. "I don't know what I ever did to deserve these horrific things. I still don't feel I deserved what Jean did and what happened with Logan still confuses me. Less than four hours earlier he said he loved me and wanted to be with me. I feel like a dim-witted teenager unable to see asshole he was. A man just lying and saying he loved me to get laid."

Meridian and Trinity could hear the weeping and feel her pain. Trinity had to hold Meridian back so she didn't barge through the exam doors.

"How about we focus on getting you better? I don't think you are confused or naïve about Logan and you're just trying to blame yourself. As far as you being strong enough, you have been plenty strong. After what you went through before this I highly recommend you lean on your sisters. That's what they are for. Talk to them. Let them in to your feelings. Now let's get this exam done so you can go home and get some rest."

"Please tell me you won't do anything too vicious this time. I always hate this." Alex said as the doctor chuckled.

The doctor proceeded to do the exam and check everything out. He ran an ultrasound to make sure everything was clear. After the third time of doing the ultrasound he finally just shook his head dumbfounded.

"What's wrong? I can tell by you shaking your head." Alex just stared at him wondering what he wasn't telling her.

"I need to check your blood work with nurse and I will be right back." He clutched her hand and let it go before he left the room.

"Sure, I need more complications." Alex rubbed her head. She had a headache that wouldn't go away lately too. Her sisters walked in for a few minutes until the doctor came back. "He's checking some blood work. I've gone through hell and something is off. They never show this shit on the pregnancy commercials!" Alex huffed in irritation. "They should be realistic, say 'pregnant and he's a wanker 'he knocked you up and now he's ditching your ass' 'he drank too much, can't hold a job and you're doing this alone' 'he's mentally and emotionally unavailable and unstable, you're pregnant run Forest run'." 




Finding Meridian Ch. 17



The doctor walked back in and Alex wanted to talk with him in private. Each sister hugged her and went to the other room.

"You have healthcare on the island correct?" The doctor was still looking over the blood work and results.

"Yes, so what's the bad news doc? I have an infection and can never have children? That would top this all off." Alex said shaking her head.

"You remember me telling you we don't know how this works. This kind of pregnancy is rare. Extremely rare and despite my connections there are virtually no books, prophecies or information on this at least none I have access to. Most of what I found was pure worthless babble." The doctor kept looking over the record.

"What's the bad news doc? I can take it just say it." Alex was numb by this point.

"The termination looked like it worked in the beginning but the pregnancy is back. I have no explanation; I will not risk another termination with you for two more weeks. Then if you decide to try again, we might be able to but that's it. No more tries. I also want you to know there would be increased danger if we try another termination in two weeks. I think it's a good time to focus on everything else and take your time on this decision. There is a reason for everything." The doctor held her hand while telling her the news. "I also cannot guarantee in two weeks I can or will do it. I have no idea the rate of progression of the pregnancy. It's all variable. " 

Alex started to cuss and try to figure it out. The damn spell so they couldn't be harmed that had to be it.

The doctor put his hand on her shoulder. "I want you to think about this before deciding. Everything looks normal. Here." The doctor showed her an ultrasound. "As far as your pain, the problem is your pregnancy is advanced. The pain is your body stretching to adapt for twins."

Alex inadvertently gave him a nasty look. Alex started laughing hysterically, "Please tell me this is a bad version of Punk'd?"

"No, with the progression in two weeks I cannot guarantee the safety or how developed they will be if you want a termination. I have my limits. We will just have to wait and see."

"I understand and I don't know if I can do it if I have to wait two more weeks. Let's just play it by ear and my doctor on the island will conference with you. How are my sisters doing?"

"Healthy and progressing rapidly. All looks good. Alex, did you sleep with him again after the termination?"

"No, so I really have to do some thinking." Alex got up off the table and went behind the curtain to change. 

"The picture is in the envelope. You have two weeks to think things over and we'll check things out and make a choice. I hope you're not disappointed."

Alex walked out, "I appreciate everything. I don't know how I feel other than puzzled and I need time to decide."

The doctor handed her an envelope and different meds. "I don't want you taking the other medication. Do you want me to tell your sisters?"

"No, let's keep it to ourselves for now." The doctor gave her a hug as went to meet Meridian and Trinity.

"Everything OK?" Trinity said looking at her.

"Just fine, you know the doctor always overly cautious." Alex was too weary to even think about the implications or what to do. 

~~~~~~

Logan ran up to Trinity after their arrival back home. He stopped Stan who was getting ready to carry a sleeping Alex to her room. Stan gave him an irritated look. "I'll take her. Hand her over." Logan said with irritation and possessiveness. 

"Is she OK? Are there complications?"Logan was asking nervously. Trinity chuckled.

"Just tired, they did a lot of tests but it's just precautionary. He said vampire babies are extremely rare. He wants to make sure everything is normal and fine. There will be a doctor at the island and they will be chatting. He wants to make sure there were no problems with Alex's termination."

Logan cringed at the term, termination and found he held her closer to his chest. "I'm going to put her to bed. Don't worry I won't wake her."

Logan was unsure how long he stared down at her until he noticed her shiver. He found another cover and placed it over her. He pried the envelope from her fingers and placed it on the side table. He stared at it wondering what was inside. He shouldn't look. It wasn't his business.

Curiosity got the best of him and he found himself sitting on the edge of the bed stroking Alex's hair as he stared at the ultrasound. This is what his kid would look like, if he still had a kid. He noticed Alex stir but couldn't seem to move. 

"Logan, what are you doing?" Alex asked as she noticed he didn't stop stroking her hair.

"I can't stay away from you. I messed up. I love you." Logan took a deep breath before he spoke again, "So this is what our child would have looked like? I can't stand it. I can't stand hearing you cry. I can't stand knowing I pushed you to getting rid of a child, my child. I should have been willing to stand behind you no matter what. I've fucked up. I just wish we could start over. I wish you could forgive me." Logan sat down the ultrasound and sunk his head into his hands. 

Alex pulled him over and held him. "Logan, I can forgive you but I'm going to need time for you to show you'll be there for me. And we have something else to discuss but I don't know how to say it."

"I love you Alex. I just want forgiveness and maybe if you would be willing in the future after I've shown you that you can trust me we could have the chant done again. I want you as my mate, with my children and in my life forever." Logan moved down and rested his head on her stomach. A look of shock came over his face, "Three heartbeats? Alex did you not terminate the pregnancy? Are they mine or was it that officer? I'm not mad if it is, you deserve to be happy." The thought of the children being from another man made him want to scream in rage. Logan didn't realize he was growling at the thought of giving her up.

"Logan, I wasn't with him that way. You can thank Trinity for the twins. She cast a spell so we couldn't be injured for two weeks. It seems to have brought the children back." 

Logan ran his hands over her stomach and the small bump. "Give us a chance Alex. Give me a chance to show you I can be everything you have ever wanted. I would like for you to keep the children but that is your choice. But I'd like you to keep them. I'll be there for you the entire time. Are you hungry? You haven't been eating. You also need to sleep. Let me get you something to eat and then you can rest. You can think over everything and don't need to make a decision now." He didn't remove his hands as the possessively ran over her stomach.

"Logan, I'm not hungry. How can you go from cold and treating me like shit to doting on me?" Alex stared at him.

"I made a mistake. I was an asshole and I don't care what others think. I'll dote on you as much as I want. I've got time to make up for. I have to convince you to be my wife and mate. Will you give us a chance?" The look of love and heartbreak in his eyes broke through Alex's barriers.

"Yes, we can try again but I need to be clear with you. If I decide to have them and if things don't work out with us, I need you to be there for me. I can't do this alone." Alex saw the immediate look of hope in his face.

"Things will work out and I will be with you till the end of the earth. I'll be there for our children no matter what. I'll help you in any way I can. So you're thinking of keeping them?" The emotional sound coming from him and the possessive caresses of her stomach made her start bawling.

"I don't think I can go through with another termination. It's too much." Alex said in a sobbing broken voice.

"Don't cry. I'm here and staying. I'll be your strength." Logan held her as if his life depended on her. "Can I stay and hold you?"

"I'd like that." Logan stripped to his boxers and crawled in bed with her until they drifted off. When Logan woke in the morning Alex had already left the room. He started searching the house till he arrived in the basement. The triplets were locking boxes and going over some kind of inventory.

"Ok, I've got the guns stocked here, ammo, and I also have the specialty ammo we have four cases of each of the following phase freeze bullets, spell casters, fire starters and eight cases of hollow point total killers." Trinity was reading off as she went to the next drawer. "I have some new flying taggers hooked to the guns. Once you aim and tag the individual no matter where you shoot it hits the target. My lab guy Dexter also included something we have to test; battle enders. They supposedly will forever sever mental connections between groups."

"Hi Logan, the rest of the guys will be down any minute now." Just then Marcus, Drake and Connor walked in. Tarrin followed them packing bags.

Meridian began to speak, "Half of us will be traveling straight from the airport. The other half will take a car to a boat to an airport."

Drake started to freak out. "I am not on the list to get on the boat. I don't do boats!"

Trinity looked at him, "Drake, it's a short boat trip to an island."

"Yeah and the Titanic was unsinkable yet they never saw the huge fucking iceberg as the boat crashed into it. I don't do boats!" Drake started pacing. 

"I'll move you to the direct flight. Calm down Drake. I won't book you a ticket on the titanic." Trinity was giggling as she said it. 

"Do you have any idea how cold that damn water was? They could have put a lighthouse on that damn iceberg and the stupid captain would have still hit it. I don't do boats." Drake was pacing back and forth as Trinity was leaned over laughing. 

"Don't forget to dress for the trip and change again in the plane before getting off the plane at the island. You know that there are a few justice issues that must be dealt with before the meeting begins. I would rather not have the individuals for the meeting seeing the court." Trinity said as she checked more weapons. "We are going to split all couples and travel separately. So I will go with Logan, Marcus and Connor taking the long route. Meridian, Drake and Alex will travel directly out on the plane."

"I don't like us separating. I want my mate." Marcus was staring at Meridian as he said it.

"Suck it up. You're a big boy." Meridian taunted him.

"Drake, take care of my girl." Everyone just stared as Logan said it. "She's carrying my children. Keep her safe." Logan wrapped his arms around her. "I just have to prove I'll be there for her. I've been an ass until now." Alex didn't notice she unconsciously leaned back to Logan and started to doze off. Logan pulled her into his arms and carried her upstairs tucking her in bed. 

When he walked back into the basement everyone looked at him. "She needs to rest, I'll help. I need everyone to not give her a hard time. I'm trying to convince her I'll be there for her. I will. She needs extra rest since she's having twins. Meridian, can you make sure next time you're in her room you grab the old medication on her counter. She can't take it." Everyone stared in shock at the possessive nature took over Logan.

"I'd be happy to. Has she agreed to this?" Meridian was concerned Logan had just possessively taken control.

"She's going to let me prove myself to her. I can and I will. I got a second chance I won't waste." The statement of resolve from Logan brought a new light to his personality.

"Just reel in the possessiveness. You're not mated and there will be men working hard to get her as a mate pregnant or not." Connor stated as he gave him a wicked grin.

"I'll fight for her. I won't fuck this up again." Logan stared back at Connor showing his fangs.

"Ok, enough touchy feely crap. I need to go over details with you. There's only so much talk of love I can take before I feel the need to vomit." Tarrin said teasing everyone. "I'll let Meridian do the honors."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to Dexter's Evil Ammo Depot otherwise known as DEAD." Trinity went forward acting like Vanna White holding up items and showing them off. Drake was winking at her.

"Drake, pay attention or I'll shoot your ass with one of these. Our first bullet is called phase freeze all dressed in green. These will keep any species from phasing or turning so vamps you will become sluggish and feel human. Weres can't change and witches can't do magic. Our next beauty is a spell caster and all dressed in yellow. These are precast to freeze. Anyone shot with these will freeze and be unable to move."

"Now moving along our next beauty all dressed in red is fire starter. When shot with this any species will burst into flames and dust is all that she wrote folks. Our final and piece de resistance and all dressed in black are hallow point total killers. These are Dexter's DEAD bullets. No matter the power, the species, the spell, the ancient or anything else these kill. No if ands or buts about it boys and girls."

"Moving on to our specialty items we have flying taggers. This hooks on your gun and shoots before the bullet. It tags your enemy and once tagged all bullets hit the tagged area. We do have a new prototype. I don't think I need to mention this but with all of these be sure of your aim. This black beauty is self propelled and you need to practice throwing the deactivated ones in the corner." 

Trinity was showing it off and holding it up next to her face it resembled a mini black Frisbee. "They are named Battle Enders. These should only be used when none, I mean none of our people are in the group you throw these into. A battle ender will permanently sever all mental connections a group has forever. You can image the damage it could do to our own people so keep these puppies as a last resort."

"If you have someone who cannot shoot, be a friend, don't give them a gun. Hand them a flag to carry." Marcus started to snicker. "Now for the details should your aim be off you need to know the following details. Phase freeze are active in the system for 24 hours. Spell casters are the same frozen for 24 hours. Should you hit one of our people, stack their asses in the corner. Fire starters and DEAD bullets are killers. There is no antidote for battle enders so use with caution."

Trinity was waving a gun around as everyone moved to dodge as she almost hit Drake in the head with it. "I'm voting no gun for Trinity." Drake said looking at her.

"I second that vote," Connor said while laughing. Trinity swung around and the gun went off shooting him in the foot. "Fuck Trinity! You get a god damn flag! NO GUNS FOR YOU!" Connor limped over to the corner as Meridian grabbed a first aid kit to remove the bullet and let him heal. "Drake, have you considered giving her to the enemy with a gun? I'm sure she could do some major damage."

Trinity had grabbed a flag with her islands symbol on it to wave it in Connor's face. As she swung around she accidentally nailed Marcus in the balls with it. "Oh god, I am so sorry."

"Fuck!" Marcus was bent over shouting obscenities in different languages. "Not even a damn flag fuck!"

Drake took the flag from her and held her trapping her arms next to her body. "Maybe we should just tie you up so you don't kill us?" He said amused.

Marcus looked at Drake, "Go ahead and laugh it'll be your balls sooner or later."

"I'm going outside to practice with these little Frisbee things." Trinity said pouting at Drake as she left.

They were finishing packing when they heard. "Oh fuck! Shit!" yelled by one of the servants. 

"Sorry!" they heard Trinity yell back. 

"She gets no weapons of any kind. No sharp pointy objects, sticks, rock or otherwise." Meridian said laughing.

Alex walked in amused. "Trinity just beamed not one but two servants in the head with one of those battle ender duds."

"She only left with one how the hell did she hit two of them?" Drake looked at Alex perplexed.

"She beamed it off a tree so hard it smashed in half and each half hit a two of the male servants coming out of the house. The doctor is taking them to the hospital because they think she gave them concussions." Alex started laughing. "So what other damage has she done?"

Meridian started chuckling, "She shot Connor in the foot and we demoted her to a flag. She swung around and nailed Marcus in the balls with the flag so she's demoted to no weapons."

"She's fine when she pays attention but damn when she gets distracted she could destroy an army but it would be hers." 

Logan went over and wrapped his arms around Alex. "How are you feeling mon Coeur?"

"Much better. So are we all locked and loaded?" Alex asked Meridian.

"Yes, everything has been packed and loaded. We leave in thirty minutes." Meridian turned to see Connor hand Marcus a small briefcase. "Oh no you don't! You are not lojacking my ass!"

"Don't put it in her shoulder. She'll just dig it out Marcus." Connor said while handing Marcus a syringe with a locator in it.

Marcus grabbed Meridian and pushed her face first over the side counter. He pulled down the back of her pants and injected her in the ass. "That should keep you from trying to cut it out." Marcus said as he pulled her pants back up and let her go.

"I will get you back for that Marcus and Connor! Finish things up and be at the car in thirty minutes." Meridian stormed out of the room.

Connor handed Drake a syringe as he went to find Trinity. Connor handed the final syringe to Logan and left the room. Logan sat down in a chair and motioned for Alex to come over. She went to sit on his lap when he bent her over his knees and pulled her pants down. He hurried and gave her the shot and then started kissing her lower back and ran his tongue over where he gave the shot. The blood from the shot was exotic on his tongue. "Don't get scared mon Coeur. Relax it won't hurt you." He licked her ass cheek and sunk his teeth in hearing her squeal. He licked the wound shut and hurried to undress her. 

Alex was unbuttoning his shirt as she licked and nibbled on his neck running her tongue down to his chest as she removed his shirt. She kissed down his chest to his abdomen as she unbuckled his pants and they slid off the rest of his clothes. Alex went to get on her knees when Logan shook his head no. "Are you wet for me mon Coeur?" Logan asked as he ran his fingers up her wet folds. He pulled her forward to straddle him. He rubbed his cock back and forth across her wet folds and positioned her over him. "We go at your speed little one."

Alex slowly lowered herself onto him and cried out when she was always down on him. "Fuck you're huge."

Logan waited for her to adjust and ran his hands up and down her spine. He stared in awe at the sight of her hard nipples and nude body enveloping his. "If anything hurts you tell me." He slowly slid in and out of her with her matching his thrusts. The sight of her breasts bouncing made him suck the hard pebble in his mouth. With a breathless sound his mouth broke free, "I wish we had hours little one." Logan moaned in her ear. He increased his thrusts as he pulled her down close kissing her deeply and grinding her clit against him with every thrust. He broke their deep kiss and put his hands in her hair pulling her head back. "That's my girl. I love you mon Coeur. Come for me. I won't ever hurt you again."

Alex started to cry as she looked at him. He ran a thumb over her lower lip. "Don't cry mon Coeur. I will never hurt you ever again. You stay safe for me. I love you so much." Logan felt her tighten around him and start to spasm almost painfully around him. He pulled her close as he started to come; holding her like she was a piece of him he had been missing for a lifetime. He rocked her and ran his hands over her body. Her head was resting in the crook of his neck as she rested. "Mon Coeur we have to get dressed."




Finding Meridian Ch. 17



Alex went to stand up and get dressed when Logan pulled her close running his tongue over her lips as he buried his hands in her hair. He gently pulled her in as he kissed her and slowly thrust his tongue into her mouth until she was breathless and broke away to breath. "I love you Alex." They finally got up and dressed just in time to make it to the cars.

They separated into two cars and the couples said their goodbyes and to be reunited later on the island. "Everyone travel safe." Meridian said as she got in the limo and they left.



Finding Meridian Ch. 18



Thanks Dawn and Meadow for suggestions. I know there was a delay and I felt instead of keeping everyone waiting I would break the arrival at the island and the meeting into separate chapters. I wanted to thank everyone for reading. Don't forget to vote. I appreciate the following!

Enjoy,

Meridian

Transit and Trouble

~~~~~~~

Meridian checked the plane making sure parachutes were in a hidden compartment. Extra guns were locked and loaded in various places. She could feel the hairs on her neck and the intuition that dire things were coming. Drake and Alex noticed her face become stern as if she was itching to shoot something or someone.

"What's wrong Meridian?" Drake asked as they settled in for takeoff.

"Something is going to happen. Everyone stay locked and loaded. I'd love to let everyone rest but I need you wide awake." Meridian could feel a fury of fire run down her spine and she felt an odd vibration. 

Telepathically she tried talking to Alex, "Can you hear me?"

"Yes, what's going on? You're on edge and acting real funny."

"I feel like fire is running down my spine and I am feeling an odd vibration. Something is going to happen in approximately one hour into the flight. I can't see what it is but I have us prepared. I just hate feeling like this. We need to give Drake the timeframe. I'm going to take a tour around the plane after takeoff. I want to see if I can figure out what I'm feeling."

"I'll get Drake the message."

"Hello Marisa, it's good to see you. Come sit for a second so we can chat." Meridian motioned to Marisa. They had worked together years ago; they had their own coded language they shared.

"What a delight to see that my Queen is safe after all. I had your favorite chocolates brought with us. Please let me know of anything else you require." Marisa was giving her a knowing look.

Meridian grabbed her hand to hold it and using a finger traced the number three in her palm without anyone noticing. "Let me get you drinks. I found you the number one vodka you like. Is that adequate?"

"Yes it is. Thank you Marisa, be sure to get our other Queen and soon to be King gets a drink and a box of chocolates."

Marisa grabbed the boxes of chocolates and drinks. She leaned close to Drake whispering in his ear. "The chocolates are to die for. Our countdown is one hour." Marisa moved back and Drake nodded his head in acknowledgement. 

Marisa gave Meridian her drink and box of chocolates. 

"Thank you Marisa. Sit and have a drink with us."

They chatted for about thirty minutes and then Meridian went searching the plane. She decided to follow the vibration she felt. As she moved to an overhead panel she grabbed an angled mirror and saw the bomb. Thirty minutes left on it. If she wouldn't have contacted the pilot to change the flight path they would have been over water when everything happened. 

Meridian came out and grabbed Marisa's hand tracing a zero under it. "Marisa, you should go change into something more comfortable. Clothes are in the closet." Marisa changed in record time and hurried out. 

Meridian pulled Alex in with her as they changed into combat gear with a Kevlar vest underneath. 

"Can you hear me?" Meridian asked telepathically.

"Yes, you found something?" Alex was almost holding her breath.

"No, we're just wearing a Kevlar vest as a fashion statement. Yes! A bomb, we'll be exiting the plane with hidden parachutes. I prepared for this. Everything had auto parachutes and transponders and trackers. We'll be fine but we need to keep an eye out. I say we bail out as soon as Drake changes."

"Deal! He'll never want to fly again you know." Alex said laughing.

They walked into the other room. "Drake, there is a change of clothing sitting out for you. Best change now." The rage in her eyes told him he needed to hurry.

Drake nodded and came back a few minutes later. Just then a copilot came out and quickly pulled a gun. Meridian swiftly snatched the pistol from under the chocolates and shot the man twice in the chest. She quickly went to check the pilot and found he was dead. She set autopilot and went to get everyone off the plane.

"Time to exit this death trap. I've got the plane heading for an open field. The pilot is dead, we are set on autopilot but it won't last long." Meridian threw parachutes at each of them. "Everyone ready?"

"No, but I'm not staying here." Alex said. 

Meridian tossed the luggage out and watched as everyone jumped. She saw a shadow from the edge of her view and heard a sound just as she was clipped in the arm by a bullet. She shot back and jumped.

After they all were on the ground they regrouped. Drake looked at Meridian, "You've been hit."

"The chant is supposed to keep me from dying but obviously not bleeding." Meridian grabbed one of the bags and pulled out a packet of gunpowder sprinkling it on the wound.

Alex tilted her head to the side, "Do you commonly carry gunpowder with you? Do you store it next to the vibrator?"

"I never take a vibrator on a plane. Haven't you seen all the horror stories of it vibrating and security blowing up your luggage?" Meridian teased as they laughed.

"I could feed you to heal you but we would be linked." Drake said as he heard Meridian cussing from the pain of the gunpowder.

"It's not that bad. If it were urgent I would consider it but this is just a flesh wound."

Meridian was relieved she had purposely sent the majority of guns and ammo with Marcus. They gathered the luggage and used a tracker to find a road. It was time for them to find the second plane with an Irish contact she had set up just in case this happened but they needed to get to Denver. They started walking across a field in Kansas. Meridian still felt like her spine was hot. 

As she turned she heard Alex yell, "NO!" as Alex jumped in front of Meridian.

Alex fell as the bullet hit her lower abdomen, just below the Kevlar. Meridian could hardly see the blur of Drake attacking Marisa and killing her. Meridian's vision distorted and she felt ill until she finally threw up. She turned her attention to Alex who was doubled over bleeding and who had started to throw up.

Drake came over and pulled Alex close to check her wound. When he got close he smelled it, "Poison, she put poison in the drinks." Drake put pressure on her wound until the bleeding slowed but he still worried about her pregnancy and how well the chant to keep them from dying would work. If he had no choice later he would give her blood. 

"We shouldn't be able to be killed but we might be able to be weakened. Alex sweetie, how are you doing?" Meridian asked checking the wound.

"Like I've been shot! Bitch shot me. What is this? Pick on Alex week? Do you think we could stop the drama train soon? I'd like to just sit back and be pregnant."

Meridian laughed, "You jumped in front of me sweetie. You should've let me take the bullet. Let's just hope the meeting goes well and we can all just relax and be pregnant."

"Well now you owe me. I hurt but we need to get moving." Alex went to stand but got dizzy. 

Drake grabbed her and carried her so she didn't have to walk. An hour later they made it to a main road and got a ride to town where they rented a car. It seemed to take forever. Finally they made it to the private airstrip in Denver when she saw all the armed gunmen come out. She would notice that burly figure anywhere.

Meridian got out of the car and ran over to an older Irish man, "O'Brien, how I've missed you! You have no idea how much this means to me." 

"You know to call me Teague! Now introduce me to your friends." Teague was an older gray haired burly Irish man that made you think twice about messing with him. His presence was large and very intimidating.

"Drake this is Teague O'Brien. He'll get us to the island safely." Drake shook hands with him.

"And Teague this is one of my long lost sisters Alex."

"Lass you're a mirror image. Let's hope she has a better disposition!" Meridian punched him in the arm. 

Alex was trying to stand without feeling so dizzy. Teague went to hug Alex when she cried out.

"Lass, you've been shot. I'll get you fixed up while the rest of the men load the plane." Teague laid her in the back of the Hummer and checked out her wound and dressed it. "I can't stitch it or take it out here."

"We have a doctor on the island that will take care of it." Meridian ran her hand over her sister's hair lovingly.

"Then she'll be fine. I have some pain killers." Teague started to pull some out of a bag when Alex stopped him.

"I'm pregnant, I don't know if I can take them." Teague gave her a look of concern.

"The shot's low, you're not having any cramping are you?" Teague ran his hand on her stomach to see if he felt any cramping.

"No, I think I'll be fine. It just hurts." Teague carried her onto the plane as they got ready for takeoff. He secured her in a seat.

"How's the wife, Teague?" Meridian asked him.

"Keeping me in line as always. I love her but it's nice to get away." Teague said giving her a handsome yet devilish Irish grin.

"Well someone has to! I'm surprised she hasn't gone stark raving mad just living with you!" 

"A guy needs to hang with his mates once in a while. What else can I say?"

"It would be better if she didn't have to bail you out of jail due to the fights from drinking."

Teague let out a low laugh. "Why don't you guys get some rest, I'll let you know when we land." Drake looked at Meridian and she shook her head to imply it was fine to trust him.

~~~~~~

After traveling Marcus, Logan, Trinity and Connor finally made it to the airport.

Logan felt a searing pain and felt Alex was in pain. Marcus looked at him, "What's wrong?"

"Something happened, Alex is hurt." Logan's face was etched with worry. Logan grabbed his cell to see the local news and saw the announcement of a plane crash. "The plane crashed."

Trinity closed her eyes and concentrated. She could feel Alex and Meridian and then she felt Drake. 

"They're alive. Don't worry." Trinity said opening her eyes. "Really Logan, she's sleeping. Meridian just has a flesh wound."

"Meridian got hurt? Why didn't I feel it?" Marcus said with concern.

"Because if she got shot she acts like it's a paper cut. She has a huge pain tolerance." Connor said acting like he wasn't concerned. "Really Marcus if she was hurt bad you'd know. Trinity would know. They are alive so that's all that matters."

Marcus looked at Trinity, "So can you give us the background of this island?"

"The island is located north of Sweden. It's not just an island. It is the country of Merdesa. You knew my dead husband was rich but he was also in line for the throne. After his death, I inherited the throne and rule the country as queen. My sisters are considered queens by my side now. Once any of you are married to them, you will be considered Kings and rule with us. I made a decision to share the throne with his brother, Douglas, because he is much better at the laws than I am. He will not lose his status when we arrive. I know all the Kings and Queens seem excessive but I get the feeling we won't live there forever." Marcus noticed Trinity became very cold when she mentioned her dead husband. Her attitude changed from fun and festive to stern and cold. 

~~~~~~

Meridian was getting stir crazy after waking up. She hated long flights. This one was over twenty hours. Teague looked at her, "You know pacing is not going to speed this up. It's like hitting the elevator button continually." 

"You know I hate long flights." Meridian turned and noticed Alex was shivering. 

Alex started complaining as Meridian pulled her into her arms. "Stop bitching at me. You're shot and cold. Let me take care of you!" She wrapped her in the blanket and pulled her close. 

She wondered how long it had been since she cared about others. She would find a way out of the horrible premonitions and to not let turn into an all out war at the meeting. She gritted her teeth letting her Ice Queen persona take over. She had never lost a battle before and damn it she wouldn't lose this one.

~~~~~~

Meridian fell into a trance. It took a few minutes for her eyes to focus. The plane was underwater. She was trapped behind a door and under water. She pulled Alex into her arms as she looked for Drake. She saw Teague and all his men were dead. It had to be the chant that kept them alive. Human's don't breath underwater.

Seeing his dead body she grabbed his arm and looked at his watch 19:25. This was her deadline. She fought to get the door open and finally Drake was able to move it. As they surfaced she felt the bullets hit her. She shielded Alex's body with hers. She felt strong hands pull her out of the water and shackle them beneath a boats deck. She saw a set of evil eyes she hadn't seen in years. She screamed as she felt herself being shaken awake.

~~~~~~

Teague was shaking Meridian. "Wake up, what did you see?" He noticed the change in her eye color and knew when they looked like thunderstorms there was one on its way.

Meridian grabbed his watch to look at the time, "17:02, we have time. We can figure it out and stop it from happening." 

"Ok my lucky four leaf clover. What did you see that we need to know?"

"At 19:25 we will be underwater and you will be dead. We need to alter course. Take the long way home." Meridian was gasping for air. She felt her lungs were burning.

"Teague, I can't lose you on this. Not like this." Meridian was doing her best to lock away the tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Don't worry lass. Let me talk to the pilot and we'll figure something out. I never thought I'd see you cry though." Teague gave her another hug before he went to talk to the pilot.

"I'm pregnant, I get a get out of jail free card."

Teague's first in command came over to make an introduction. "I apologize for the delay; we did not get introduced during the mayhem. Reardan O'Brien, pleasure to meet you Queen Meridian."

"Please just call me Meridian. There will be enough annoying royal court coming in the near future. How do you know Teague?" Meridian stared at him.

Meridian stared at the tall dark and handsome Irishman. He was one handsome stocky man who had to be at least six foot three. His looks were different than the common Irishman. It was those emerald green eyes and odd raven hair that made her want to...Shit, what was she thinking. Meridian shook her head.

"We've worked together for years but to be completely honest..." Reardan put his lips next to her ear, "I insisted on coming to meet this amazing Queen that my father talks about." Reardan hadn't noticed that Meridian was holding Alex until he saw a small figure in her arms stir.

"Reardan, this is my sister Alex. We're triplets to answer your question before you ask." She smirked as Reardan's eyes glazed over and slightly glowed.

Reardon looked at the two as if he had seen heaven. "I apologize for staring but you two are a sight for sore eyes." His eyes roamed over Alex, "Lass, you were shot?"

Alex's tired eyes were having difficulty focusing. "Yes, at least it feels like I have been." She saw the dark figure loom over her and she let out a gasp as he grabbed her up into his arms.

"Meridian, I'm going to check her wound and we will be back. I couldn't allow you to fade away on my watch little Alex." Reardan carried her back to another room in the plane.

Teague was smirking as he came up to Meridian. "I wondered how long it would take my son to make his introductions. Don't worry, he will care for Alex. The lass looks a wee bit weak so he's going to check on her. Reardan will take good care of her. I'd have him look at your wound but it looks as if you've gone old school on us with the gunpowder." Teague handed Meridian and Drake a drink.

"She's had a rough time lately so I'm overly protective." Meridian interjected.

"Lass, you have been alone so long and then you find two sisters that are your mirror images. You have every right to be overly possessive. You're her sister, you have years to make up for by being demanding and overly protective." Teague said with a chuckle. "Last time I saw you there was a new recruit you took under your wing and shot one of my men? Marisa was it?"

Meridian's face turned cold, "That was years ago and just a flesh wound. She sold us out and caused the plane crash. Drake handled it."

"Don't worry, sisters are different. Family is different. It's nice to see you have some now. Not that you aren't considered part of mine." 

"I consider you family too. Who is the first one to call you on your shit?" Meridian glared at him.

"Lass that would be me now." Reardan came out carrying a sleeping Alex. He grabbed a blanket and sat down while holding her and covering her up. He looked over at Meridian "your answer is no, I'm going to keep an eye on her. I can keep an eye on her vitals from here." Reardan motioned for Teague to throw him a pillow and he propped it under Alex.

"Reardan handles our medical. She's in even better hands with him than me." Teague said laughing while winking at Meridian.

"Reardan, I don't want you to get your hopes up. She's pregnant and he intends to have her as his mate." 

"There's no ring on her finger and she's not mated yet. When either has occurred I'll back off. Until then, what's wrong with chivalry?" Reardan gave her a sly grin as he checked Alex's pulse with his large hand. 

"It's a long forgotten art only known by few. It needs to be revived." Meridian said as she smiled. 

"What am I? Some crass bastard tossed to the side?" Teague bellowed at them.

Meridian chuckled, "I was not including you. You, my warrior, are a rare person as is your son." Meridian stared at him, "You have changed the flight path correct? If not it's time to change the flight plan."

Teague went to check with the pilot again and nodded to Meridian. Meridian finally relaxed and dozed off.

~~~~~~

She was back in the ancient hall but it was disserted. She turned to stare at the man from her former premonition. She looked like a small child standing near him.

"What do I call you?"

"Zeus."

"As in the god of Olympus type Zeus with thunderbolts? What happened to the beard?"

"Out of all of the people I come to, you are the only one whose main concern is me shaving." 

"It's been a rough month. I'm running low on what to converse about."

"Do you remember the visions of battle and the vision of your sisters and their mates being dead?"

"Yes, how can I forget that?"

"I told you to trust me. I can help make them believe but no matter what we do there will be a battle. It is imperative that everyone unites and fights the common enemy. You will see thunder in the night when I am ready to speak in front of everyone. I can help convince them to unite and the need for the Triadic Council. I hope to convince everyone to avoid individual meetings. You will need to spend that time preparing for battle." He touched her cheek. "As my granddaughters they need each of you to survive."

"We are relatives of Zeus? I mean you? Never mind, that was a stupid question. So we are related to gods?"

"With the powers that each of you have it makes you part god. You will need to watch how you use your powers. Remember, you were born first so you inherently are like Atropos. Inherently you bring death. You must not let it overpower you. Alex is inherently like Lachesis. She will need to be careful. She can determine how long someone lives and their fate. She may wish for people to live a life longer or have a fate they should not. Trinity is inherently like Clotho; she is responsible for birth and spinning the thread of life. She must remember not every child should be born."

"I will guide each of you. I can help unite you but you must heed every warning I give you." His hand went to her stomach, "Your children were not supposed to be."




Finding Meridian Ch. 18



Meridian pulled back placing her hand on her abdomen. "Don't take this away from me. I will fight for this child!"

Zeus started to laugh, "You have the fire of your ancestors. They were not as you would say 'on the menu' but they can help keep wars from occurring. We can work around them being born. Though you've each chosen vampires as mates." Zeus let out a low breath. "No matter what I do with my children they always manage to throw some kind of wrench in my plans. I need to warn you if you decide to become full vampire mates after the birth be prepared. You will not be like them, you will be a hybrid. I can explain that later. It's time for you to get back." Zeus gave her a hug. "Do you have any questions?"

"I thought you wore a robe but here you are in blue jeans, how odd."

Zeus started to chuckle. "As much as I enjoyed the toga party look; we gods have grown to love some things in your society. You are so odd; you must be one of my children." Zeus chuckled and hugged her. "Back you go. One last word of warning; someone close to you will betray you."

~~~~~~

Meridian awoke with a start as Teague looked at her. "Anything I need to know?"

"Info for later was revealed to me." Meridian had a feeling that all their planning would be shot to hell once they reached the island. 

~~~~~~

Marcus was getting irritated waiting for Trinity after they landed at the island. They were unable to leave the plane until she was dressed for royal court. It irritated the hell out of him as she shouted out commands at them. 

"Guys, I have to rush and start Royal Court and finish it before everyone arrives and Tarrin will show you around and make sure everything is set up for the meeting. I'll be out in a few minutes but you must let me walk out first. Oh and you'll have to address me as Queen."

About 30 minutes later she walked out. "Sorry, dressing for the court is a bit daunting." They turned to her seeing her in a full gown with all her hair pulled up and then having a crown placed on her head. "OK boys here comes the fun!"

"Finally, the Queen has finished," Marcus said oozing with sarcasm. 

"You go try wearing this corset with the ballroom gown and then we can talk about your irritation on how long it takes me to get dress!" 

Logan started to chuckle at the thought and telepathically sent Marcus the image.

"I can kill you!" 

Logan turned just let his fangs come down a bit and gave him a mischievous smile. "She looks much better in the outfit than you would."

Connor nudged Trinity, "Nice crown! You dress up nicely." Logan just smiled.

Tarrin led them over to separate limos as Trinity was surrounded by security until they could no longer see her. 

~~~~~~

Trinity stood in high court dressed as their ancient queen. She could see a bit of agitation on brother's face at her return. She whispered in his ear, "Be a good boy or I'll take your throne." Douglas stormed out of the room as Trinity began the proceedings. 

Trinity reviewed the paperwork in front of her. "According to the evidence I find you guilty of manslaughter. I see it was premeditated. It is such a violent act that I do not feel redemption can be made. You killed a fifteen year old that had her whole life in front of her. I judge you guilty and you will die in one hour by lethal injection."

"Our next case please." The court was overly anxious and scared of Trinity's abrupt and harsh court overtaking. She was not gentle and soft in court as Douglas had become. Everything was pure black and white with a crown on for Trinity.

"How do you plead?" Trinity said with nothing but irritation in her voice.

"In...Innocent," the young girl said.

The Queen was quite silent for a few minutes as she looked at the top pages. "Bring the woman to my office; this will not be discussed in open court." There were murmurs around the room about what happened and what was going on.

"Silence, I choose to discuss this one in private and determine it in private. This is a teenager under 18 and this will not become island gossip if I can help it. Do you understand?" The room took on a chilling silence. 

She walked first into the back office and sat at the desk. She motioned for the girl to sit and everyone to leave. "But it must be on record."

"I am the Queen and I will decide what will be on record." Her statement was so bold no one dared go against her. "Now close the door!"

"Now tell me what happened. I want the whole story. If you don't mind I'm taking off this crown, damn thing weights a ton. I feel like I have a small child attached to my head."

The young woman giggled and finally opened up a bit. "It's all so embarrassing and my fault." The young woman twisted her fingers and bit her lip while constantly staring at her feet. 

"You are a young woman and that means you must speak up for yourself."

"My name is Alice Grandy. My parents were killed in a wreck about six months ago and I was sent to live with my Uncle George. I admit I'm naive at 17 even though I will be turning 18 soon. My parents kept me sheltered. But my uncle looks at me funny and tries to touch me. I lock my door and I try spending all my time with friends but he's too persistent. I came home a week ago and he locked me in a room. He told me he was going to teach me how to be a woman. He's so much bigger than me. He ripped my clothes off and pinned me to the floor..." Alice shuttered and cried as the Queen came over and put an arm around her handing her some tissues.

She sniffled and began again, "He was going to rape me. He was drunk and saying vulgar things to me as he touched me and bit me." 

Trinity turned and was looking at the file. "I don't see any photos in the file. Did he not leave any marks?"

"The police refused to take any due to his rank in the military. I will show you what I can." Alice shook as she lifted her shirt showing bite marks on her nipples fading but large hand prints on her neck, and started to pull her dress down. "That's enough. Redress and finish your story please."

"I didn't want the first time to be like that. By some ugly incest fueled oaf who smells of booze. Please excuse my language. I apologize."

"Nothing to apologize for; you are allowed to choose who to sleep with. So what happened?"

"I got a leg loose and kneed him hard in the groin as he rolled I grabbed his shirt and ran to hide. " Alice was tensing. "My Queen, there are very few places to hide on this island and he turned me in and had me put in jail."

"Trust me I know you can find anyone in the dark on this island after a few hours with a flash light!"

Alice smiled and laughed. "Alice I must talk with your uncle in private next then I will hand down my sentencing. Alice began to cry and shake as she stood and Trinity took her hand. "Don't worry dear; all things come out in the wash." Queen Trinity put back on her crown. 

The Queen opened the door and motioned for the uncle to enter and sit. She was reading over his statement when he started talking.

"That bitch is my blood and bone and belongs to me. The ungrateful wench assaulted me for everything I've done for her."

"Sir that will be enough. First of all I did not ask you to speak did I? I said did I?" Trinity was becoming highly agitated. She wanted to just take his ass out back and beat the hell out of it. She was searching through her head on ancient laws and how someone else could claim Alice.

"No my Queen," George's voice was low and had an angry tone to it.

"You insult me in many ways and you also attempt to rape your niece. She is your niece that is incest. That is something long ago removed from our society. I will not have it reintroduced. You have been convicted of attempted rape and are hereby given two options for punishment. The first option is castration and the second option is death by lethal injection. Which do you choose?"

"My Queen this seems usually harsh," his counsel said.

"This is how it has always been. Please read the records, if it was ignored during the time I had been gone than consider it going back to the way it is supposed to be. Now what is your choice? I have no pity for rapists."

George glared at her with contempt. "I do not have all day. Decide by the time I return to this room or I will make your decision for you."

Queen Trinity went to walk around the desk when he grabbed her trying to throw her down on the desk. He was shouting something about she needed to learn her place. As all the officers pulled him off of her she straightened her clothing and had him pulled him into the main trial room. 

"Mr. George Grandy has been found guilty for attempted rape. On a separate charge he has been found guilty for assaulting the Queen. Let him visit his family with a guard and then bring those he wish back here to watch him die by lethal injection in one hour. It will be conducted in the main court yard for anyone to watch. Please do not think I have grown weak during my absence. There are items that are still crimes and will always be crimes."

"Ms. Alice Grandy, you will collect your things from your uncle's and be moved into servant quarters in the main Palace building."

Everyone started leaving and Alice walked up to the queen unsure of her punishment. "Please excuse me my queen but does that mean I am to be a slave at the main estate and for how long?"

"Ms. Grandy, you are being taken in as a paid servant. We do not have slaves on this island. Any money from your family and your uncle will be transferred into an account for you. Working at the estate will help you learn to run a household. It will give you a chance to learn what you like, whether it is accounting, computers, or cooking. We have some of the best chefs on this island. Also, with the upcoming meeting for treaties it will do you good to be around strong and admirable role models. It will give you time to decide what you would like to do with your life. When you think you have decided then let me know and we'll discuss it and get you the life you want to have. It's not a sentence it is an opportunity."

"Permission to hug Queen Trinity?" Alice said in a low voice.

Trinity scanned the room and only saw a few guards, "Permission granted."

Alice jumped up and down saying, "Thank you so much!" Trinity smiled, these were the times she liked having power.

"Ms. Tarrin will be here shortly and show you to your new home." 

A short time later Tarrin arrived.

"Buy her all new belongings; she needs full formal dress for the week. You can also buy the rest of her clothes and necessities but while we have company you will be in formal dress."

Alice kneeled, "Thank you again my Queen."

Queen Trinity finished and gathered her bodyguards to follow her back to the Palace. She did a quick walk around and reintroduced herself. She then went to her room. She couldn't wait to see Drake again. But in the meantime where the hell was the ice cream she thought as dialed the kitchen.

~~~~~~



Finding Meridian Ch. 19



Hello everyone, I wanted to include a list of characters since there are so many in this chapter. I know this has taken longer than expected but the meeting is so intense with all the characters I felt a listing of who was who would help remembering who everyone is. Thanks Meadow and Dawn for reviewing it!

Enjoy,

Meridian

~~~~~~

Characters

King Douglas -- Trinity's dead ex-husband's brother who is ruling Merdesa as a King; an island north of Sweden. The island is a bit more relaxed; they refer to royalty by their first name but title first.

Cyrus - An evil vampire looking to sabotage the meeting and take over all nonhumans.

Reardan O'Brien -- Prime Alpha of UK, Werewolf and son to Teague.

Quinn O'Rielly -- First in command under Reardan. Werewolf.

Teague O'Brien -- Old friend of The Ice Queen (Meridian )and former Prime Alpha. Teague is the father to Reardan and Werewolf.

Alice Grandy-Young island female whose parents were killed and uncle tried to rape. Uncle attacked Queen Trinity and was sentenced to death.

Hermes Trismegistus- Ancient Egypt spiritual leader whose name means 3 times great.

The Blue Priestess -- Magical daughter to Hermes and her powers are yet to be shown.

Meridian -- Lead singer of Genevieve's Revenge and One of the three Triadic Queens. Mate to Marcus and has telekinetic powers.

Marcus -- Vampire leader that mated with Meridian

Trinity -- Triplet sister to Meridian and Alex. Mated to Drake. Powers of hypnotic voice.

Drake -- Vampire leader that mated with Trinity.

Alex -- Triplet sister to Meridian and Alex. In a relationship with Logan but not mated.

Logan -- Vampire leader wanting Alex as a mate.

Zeus -- Ancient Great Great (you get it)...Grandfather to Meridian, Trinity and Alex.



Arrivals

~~~~~~~

Cyrus led his men in secrecy to a nearby island. He had an inside spy who had given him the itinerary. He'd launch his attack when they least expected. This was going to be too easy he thought to himself. He had found rogue groups to join his efforts and had devised his attack. This infamous Ice Queen would be his personal pet before he killed her and her sisters.

He was surprised the dark haired girl he had been holding hostage and raping continually was still holding onto life. Just the thought of her made him hard. He licked his lips and reminded himself he didn't have time for that now.

~~~~~~

"Sorry Drake but we are going to scuba into a secret tunnel under the island that will take us to the main palace. But the water is warm!" Meridian heard Drakes mutterings about water. "Teague the money has been transferred and it was a pleasure as always. Reardan, what do you think you are doing?"

"I'm going with. I'm old enough you know." Reardan gave her a cocky smile.

"I know you are old enough but you should stay with family, this is highly dangerous."

Teague laughed, "You just convinced him to go."

"I can help Queen Alex get in and settled." Reardan was suiting up his gear with an evil smirk on his face.

"You do understand this is a nonhuman summit? I'm sure you can shoot straight and to kill because of your father but this is more than likely going to lead to a battle." Meridian glared at him while she stood with her hands on her hips looking up at him.

"Yes our Ice Queen, I do." Reardan smiled at her.

"Seriously, Teague, he might get hurt or killed." Meridian was staring up the two men and didn't realize she was growling.

Teague had to stop laughing to answer her. "He is the Prime Alpha of our pack; I just stepped down last month. He has an invitation. You realize you are growling and glowing a wee bit red?"

"Must be like AA. My name is the Ice Queen and it's been a couple days since I've killed someone." Meridian started to laugh, "You always pull one over on me. Then suit up. Alex might need help too."

"Yes my Queens." Reardan started adjusting Alex's harness to not hit her wound. "Queen Alex, you just hold onto me and I'll do all the work." Reardan was savoring running his hands over her body as he checked the straps again.

"And this is my first in command Quinn O'Rielly and he will be accompanying us along a few others." Meridian just nodded as they got ready to jump.

"I love you Teague, thanks for saving my ass again!" She hugged and kissed him goodbye.

"Don't you go off and get yourself killed lass!" Teague said as he hugged her.

"Now what do I always say?" Meridian stared up at him.

"If one of us is going to die then it'll be you because I can run faster!" Teague said doing his best impersonation of her voice.

Meridian smiled and jumped off the plane and into the water. Drake shook Teague's hand.

Then Reardan walked up and hugged Teague, "See you soon Dad!"

Teague whispered in his ear, "Don't underestimate the women. They can kick ass."

Reardan chuckled and attached Alex's harness to him; they jumped out of the plane to follow the others.

Drake jumped with very little scuba gear since he didn't need to breathe. He looked and saw Meridian then there was a bright light and she was gone.

As they entered the underground tunnel they stood taking off the scuba gear. Reardan was the first to speak, "What happened to Meridian? Where did she go?"

Drake looked at him, "I saw a flash and she was gone. Let's go up and if she's not back in 30 minutes we'll send out a search party." He turned to look at the men. "The Queens are the Triadic Queens and have powers so she could be meeting someone on another plane of existence. For those of you who knew her as the Ice Queen and thought she was evil in battle before trust me she's worse now. I'm not too worried."

"Well this meeting keeps getting better." Reardan removed Alex's harness and noticed the tiredness in her eyes. "Where is the doctor at? She needs to be looked at. I'm assuming there is a doctor on the island."

Trinity introduced herself to Reardan as she walked in. She gave a bit of an evil smile when she saw Reardan carrying Alex after she screamed in pain trying to walk to the doctor.

King Douglas addressed Reardan, "Just call me King Douglas. Prime Alpha Reardan O'Brien correct? Trinity here was my brother's wife."

"Yes, it's an honor to meet you. I'm assuming I'll meet him later?"

Douglas leaned close, "No, he's deceased. We don't know with the pregnant Triadic the hormonal mood swings so we'll discuss in private."

Trinity overheard it and her emotions got the better of her. She elevated above the room and flew towards Douglas pinning him to the wall, "You were not the one locked in the cell." Her breathing increased as she felt her anger going out of control. "I didn't deserve that!"

Douglas quickly responded, "I never said you did. Trinity please calm down. It's OK. I just want you to be OK and not hurt the baby. Calm down Trin, I love you and the baby. Calm down."

Trinity let him go and levitated to the middle of the room landing in the middle of the room with her hands down as she screamed. The walls started to crack as Alex rushed forward.

"Calm down Trinity. He didn't want to upset you."Alex said in a soothing voice.

"It's too much power." Trinity said as she her breath increased. "Get me outside so I don't hurt anyone. I want to hurt someone."

Alex helped her outside as Douglas followed. Alex sang a childhood song to her until she finally calmed down and started to doze off. She turned to Reardan and mouthed, "Tranquilizer!"

He looked at her mouthing back, "She's pregnant!"

"Just tell the doctor!"

The doctor handed Alex the tranquiller and Trinity went limp in her arms. Alex stared up at the doctor.

"It's safe despite the pregnancy." Alex announced. "I called before we left and had it developed."

Douglas looked at Alex with pleading eyes, "I really didn't mean it to sound the way it did. I didn't want her upset. I don't harbor any hard feelings. I would have killed my brother long before if I had known. If he would have had her here I would have killed him. I adore her." Douglas looked off and muttered, "More than I should," under his breath.

"Prime Alpha O'Brien, would you assist Alex to her room after the doctor looks at her?"

"Feel free just to call me Alpha Reardan. I'll take care of the lass and make sure she gets to her room."

Douglas carried Trinity to her room at the palace.

Reardan looked at Alex, "Is she safe with him?"

"The question is if he's safe with her. We don't know what to expect. You might want to keep your distance from me; mood swings and all."

"Not going to happen. You're stuck with me until the doctor has you checked out and you're in your room." Reardan pulled her back into his arms as he got her settled on the doctor's table. "So I hear you are a fire starter and a Triadic Queen how does that work?" Reardan was trying to distract her from the doctor's exam.

Alex explained the Triadic Counsel and being pregnant.

Reardan looked at her, "If you would like, I have an herbal healer here that might help give you herbs to stabilize your moods. Were's have volatile moods especially when pregnant."

Reardan heard her cuss as the doctor was cleaning out her wounds.

"You hurt me much more and I swear I'll put your head on a damn stick!"

Reardan pulled her back holding her down, "He has to clean the wound. Deep breaths, he's almost done." Alex finally relaxed in his arms.

"I would be honored if your healer could meet directly with Dr. Mason. Sorry about the head on a stick comment."

"Just hand me a get out of jail free card and we'll be even." Dr. Mason said looking at her seriously.

"Consider it done. Let's consider it a 3 strikes sort of thing since we're all pregnant."

Mason brought out the ultrasound machine, "It's appreciated. I'd be happy to meet with the healer. Now I have to do an ultrasound. I'm concerned about the location of the bullet. This may hurt some over the wound."

"Reardan, do you realize how odd it is for me to have just met you and you're here watching me get an ultrasound?"

"I'm not just a Prime Alpha lass, I'm also a doctor so relax." Reardan held her hand as he chatted with Dr. Mason discussing the location of the bullet.

"So tell me the good or bad news." Alex was feeling the weight of the day come down on her as she struggled to hold her emotions in.

Reardan held her hand as he explained, "We won't know for a while. Dr. Mason has cleaned and dressed the wound but we are unable to tell if the bullet has damaged either child. The good news is you are not having any cramping or bleeding. It's a good sign."

Tears were forming in Alex's eyes.

Dr. Mason looked at her, "I want you to limit the amount of walking and exertion you do. The babies' heart beats are strong so that's a good sign. I'm working with your other doctor so we'll just keep an eye on you. I know it's impossible to put you on bed rest until after the meeting but after that bed rest it is."

Reardan left the room with the doctor as she got redressed. When she came out Alex yawned. "You need rest before the meeting. I'm going to give you a light sedative that's safe for the child." The doctor declared.

After the shot, Reardan picked her up and carried her up to the palace. "Which room is yours?"

"Up the stairs and 7th door on the right. So the children are a waiting game?" Alex said in a strained voice.

"It's not the best of circumstances but so far the signs are good. You need to stay relaxed and keep the stress down." He noticed her start dozing off as he carried her up the stairs.

When he entered her room Logan immediately sensed him and was ready to attack.

Logan saw her in his arms and his emotions went entirely possessive as he rushed Reardan.

Reardan pulled her close as he tried to explain with a hint of anger in a low voice, "Back the fuck off. You'll wake her. If you're here to hurt her you have to go through me first." Reardan spun quickly dropping Alex not so gently on the bed.

Logan's heart fell into his stomach as the thought of his love being killed hit him. "Just don't hurt her."

"I'm Prime Alpha Reardan O'Brien. I'm a friend of the Ice Queen. I've been caring for Alex. She was shot just recently so the doctor said he safely sedated her. Who the hell are you?"

"Her soon to be mate!" Logan announced. Logan's fangs elongated for attack.

"Sorry but I don't see a ring or sense you are mated." Reardan said as they stood ready to fight.

"She's having my children and she will be my mate." Reardan glared at Logan and gave a slight snort at his comment.

"Waiting until after 100s of powerful nonhumans meet her and want her for a mate?"

"It's none of your business!"

They both looked over when Alex whined and slightly shivered.

"Temporary truce?" Logan said as he saw the compassion in Reardan's eyes.

"Yes. Pull down the covers so we can get her in bed."

Logan hesitated but pulled it down. Reardan stepped away as Logan searched her body for the wound. His hand was on her swollen abdomen as he completely forgot Reardan was there.

"It's Lord Logan right?"

The voice pulled him out of his reverie. "Yes. The shot is low, too low." Logan muttered under his breath.

"My suggestion, from what I understand, is for you to bleed into her wound and let her rest." As much as he wanted her for himself he couldn't let her hurt.

Logan cut his wrist and let it bleed on the wound. He held her around the waist until Reardan again woke him from his self loathing.

"She needs to sleep. Let's go have a drink." Reardan offered him.

Logan pulled the covers up and contemplated sitting in the chair waiting for her to awaken.

"It will be hours before she is up. She needs the rest. She was shot. She's not cramping or bleeding and the babies' heartbeats are strong. Make her sit as much as possible during this meeting and after it's done she needs to be put on bed rest."   "You sound like a doctor."

"I am and we've all done everything we can. I believe everything will be fine. You need a drink."

"You want her!" Logan said in a low growl possessive growl. "I can smell your scent all over her."

"But that is her choice. I won't sacrifice her happiness or her children so let's be civil. I may be competition but I'm not going to sacrifice her well being for it." Reardan then diverted the conversation. "I suggest posting guards outside her door. There are way too many single men here to leave her unguarded."

Logan nodded his head and he tucked her securely under the blankets. He eyes were caught on her hand that should be wearing his ring. She was his. Logan leaned close kissing her on the forehead and then whispered in her ear. "I love you so much." Logan turned and followed Reardan out of the room. "Maybe this meeting will do all of us good. Normally, we would just fight each other. Plus, it only takes a few bad individuals to make a group look bad."

"It's like any group of people; a few can make the rest of us look like uncaring asses. As much as I may be attracted to her, I couldn't hurt her and us fighting is the last thing she needs right now. I'm guessing she'd kick us both out."

Logan laughed at the comment as he saw Marcus come up worried and upset.

"Where is Meridian?"

Logan motioned they move down the hallway so they would not be heard before they spoke.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Lord Marcus. I am Prime Alpha Reardan O'Brien. Drake said there was a flash of light and she was gone. He said we'd wait 30 minutes and if she doesn't show up we'll search for her." Reardan announced.

Marcus huffed growling under his deep voice, "We will search now!"

Reardan looked at him, "My men will happily assist you in searching for Meridian; we have known her as the Ice Queen."

As the men gathered they moved towards the beach.

Once arriving on the beach front Meridian appear through what looked like a portal and plopped very ungracefully into the sand in front of him.

"Honestly if I knew I could do that I would have dispensed with planes. I'm a bit rough with land though." Marcus put his hand out and pulled her to his chest. "Missed me?"

Meridian pulled her legs up around his hips as he walked with her around him back up to the house.

Marcus shook Marcus's hand, "Thank you for your Assistance Prime Alpha Reardan." Marcus shouted over his shoulder.

"I need a little alone time with Queen Meridian." Reardan and all the men followed them into the main Palace.

Logan looked at Reardan, "I'll meet you in the library after your men get you to your quarters."

Reardan walked back to the palace until he saw Tarrin grab Alice Grandy pulling her over to the men. Alice felt completely out of her element. She was unaccustomed to being dressed in a large formal gown. Tarrin handed her what looked like a tablet PC with a map. "You ask the sir his name, type it in and then you will show them to their room. You are right here on the map."

Alice looked like a deer in headlights as Tarrin walked away. She had never once worn clothes like this. Her caramel hair was in curls to her waist accented by the emerald ball gown with a plunging neckline. She was biting her lower lip and nervous being surrounded by so many men. Her habit of keeping several knifes on her felt like a security blanket. She couldn't believe Tarrin just dumped her out and left her to learn on her own. She literally felt like she was being fed to the wolves.

"Please excuse me for one moment and I will find out exactly where we are going." Alice walked around the corner when she was grabbed. "If you scream I will slit your throat. Call Queen Trinity down here."

"How? It's my first day here. I have no idea where she is or even how to use the phone here." The man cursed as Alice stomped her heel down onto his foot and elbowed him in the ribs grabbing her knife from her stocking. The knife the other man held lightly sliced her neck trickling blood down to her cleavage.

Reardan smelled blood. He turned to his first, "I smell blood. Track it."

They went around the corner into the kitchen to see Alice had grabbed a frying pan and smack the man in the head. "Sorry slight delay." Alice put a towel to her neck as the man started to get up. She hit him again in the head. "Stay down damn it!" Alice yelled as she smacked him again. "Sorry, please excuse the interruption. It's been a bit of a rough day for me." Alice said to Reardan and his men. The man went to stand again and she hit him in the side of the head. "Seriously, you would think he would stay down. STAY DOWN!" Alice looked at the pan and at the blood on her dress and her face changed to anger. "You bent the pan asshole! That's probably coming out of my pay! And you just had to get blood on the new damn dress!" Alice smacked him again in the head.

Reardan had been laughing but finally stopped, "Someone grab him and take him to security."

Tarrin walked in after being told of the commotion and saw Reardan checking Alice's neck. "If you show me to her room I can heal her there."

"I'll have one of the guards show you." Tarrin hurried and left to escort more people around.

Once at Alice's room he instructed all his men but Quinn to stay outside the room. Reardan addressed her personally, "I can heal you without stitches. Do you trust me? You'll get a bit of my blood in yours but you won't become a Were like me. Is that OK sweet little Alice?" Reardan was in a trance as he stared into her eyes.

Alice weakly nodded as Reardan took a knife to his hand and dripped his blood into her cut neck and pressed his palm to it. He watched as it healed immediately. Alice passed out at the sight of him slicing his hand. He pulled her into his arms.




Finding Meridian Ch. 19



Quinn looked at Reardan, "You realize you've temporarily marked her as your mate by sharing blood?"

"Of course I have. I was able to read her mind. She's almost 18 and the last thing she needs after her uncle tried to rape her is an island of nonhumans all trying to make her their mate." Reardan ran his other hand through her hair to make sure his scent was on her.

Quinn just stared at him before saying, "What is done is done."

~~~~~~

Logan saw Reardan enter the library with several other men.

"I suppose I owe you for taking care of Alex."

"You don't owe me. Just remember it's a temporary truce. Anything from the meeting forwards is fair game." Reardan said with an evil cocky smile.

"Are you saying you'll be seeking Alex as a mate?" The distress in Logan's face was clear.

"We'll see. Alex is dominating, head strong and you have to admit highly attractive." Reardan smiled knowing she would be a hand full as a mate. He knew this meeting would be a nightmare for Logan.

Douglas walked in catching the last phrase, "More than you know. Mind if I join you before the circus and the fighting begins?"

"We've decided not to fight for now." Logan announced.

Douglas snorted, "If the two of you fighting over Alex were the only fighting I had to worry about I wouldn't need a drink."

~~~~~~

The infamous Blue Priestess and her father Hermes Trismegistus had arrived. Tarrin was concerned; she never expected such revered people would attend. Seeing the men carry in a glass case carrying a beautiful blue woman was highly intimidating. Hermes was one of the few men that intimidated her.

She really didn't want to wake Alex or Trinity. She could tell as she approached Meridian's door she would definitely be interrupting a reunion she was having with Marcus. She contemplated what to do and decided to go to the library. She knew at least one of the future Kings would be there.

The conversation was sedate; at least there wasn't any fighting when she walked in.

"I apologize for interrupting but we've had a surprise guest we were unsure would arrive. Alex and Trinity are still out from the medication. I was going to ask Meridian but it sounded like she's making up for lost time with Marcus. I am unsure how to handle the Hermes Trismegistus and his daughter, The Blue Priestess."

They heard someone cheering from the stairs, "She's here, he's here and they made it!"

As they stepped out of the Library they saw Meridian slide down the banister to run towards Hermes.

"Hermes! You made it." It was obvious Meridian had just tossed on clothes and Marcus walked down the stairs with a disgruntled look on his face. Marcus walked over to the men as he ran his hand through his hair.

Hermes hugged Meridian. "I see you have found family. So wonderful for you, I hope you don't mind that I brought my daughter. You two behave though."

"Have we ever not behaved?" Meridian said as the guards gently sat the glass case holding the sleeping Blue Priestess who resembled snow white but in blue down on a stand.

Meridian ran over and opened the glass lid and played with a piece of The Blue Priestess's cobalt blue hair, "Wake up sleeping blue. Guess who?"

Her bright blue eyes opened and she stared up, "My Ice Queen, it's been so long." Blue pulled her close and kissed her deeply both running their hands through each other's hair. Blue pulled her in and closed the lid.

Marcus noticed Meridian laugh. He snorted, "And here I was complaining."

"Sorry Blue but I have a mate now." Meridian said as she opened the lid and climbed out.

"Oh goody! Which one is he?" Blue said as Meridian pointed to Marcus.

"Oh he's yummy. If you every want to share we could all play together!" Blue threw a kiss to Marcus.

"You know I'm not good at sharing." Meridian laughed and hugged Blue.

The two women giggled as Meridian helped Blue out of the glass case.

"Let me show you to your room. I'm sure Hermes would like to have a drink with the men after the flight."

Blue grabbed Meridian's hand and then ran her hand over Meridian's stomach, "Immortal child! You are having an immoral child? I am so happy for you." Blue pulled her close so Meridian could only hear her, "When the time comes and your child asks to take over your body, let him, trust me."

"A boy huh? Thank you Blue. We should go catch up." Meridian waived at Marcus as she ascended the stairs.

Marcus turned to the men, "It looks like we should all have a drink."

~~~~~~

Please don't forget to vote! Thank you for reading! 20 is almost done!



Finding Meridian Ch. 20



Hello everyone, I wanted to include a list of characters since there are so many in this chapter. I know this has taken longer than expected but the meeting is so intense with all the characters I felt a listing of who was who would help remembering who everyone is. Thanks Meadow and Dawn for reviewing it!

Enjoy,

Meridian

~~~~~~

Characters

King Douglas – Trinity's dead ex-husband's brother who is ruling Merdesa as a King; an island north of Sweden. The island is a bit more relaxed; they refer to royalty by their first name but title first.

Cyrus - An evil vampire looking to sabotage the meeting and take over all nonhumans.

Reardan O'Brien – Prime Alpha of UK, Werewolf and son to Teague.

Quinn O'Rielly – First in command under Reardan. Werewolf.

Alice Grandy-Young island female whose parents were killed and uncle tried to rape. Uncle attacked Queen Trinity and was sentenced to death.

Hermes Trismegistus- Ancient Egypt spiritual leader whose name means 3 times great. 

The Blue Priestess – Magical daughter to Hermes and her powers are yet to be shown.

Meridian – Lead singer of Genevieve's Revenge and One of the three Triadic Queens. Mate to Marcus and has telekinetic powers.

Marcus – Vampire leader that mated with Meridian

Trinity – Triplet sister to Meridian and Alex. Mated to Drake. Powers of hypnotic voice.

Drake – Vampire leader that mated with Trinity.

Alex – Triplet sister to Meridian and Alex. In a relationship with Logan but not mated. 

Logan – Vampire leader in love with Alex but not mated with her.

Zeus – Ancient Great Great (you get it)...Grandfather to Meridian, Trinity and Alex.

The Battle Begins

Three hours later everyone was gathered in the great ballroom to begin the meeting. The Queens would go first at entering with Meridian speaking first.

Meridian smoothed down her leather coat over her red leather corset and pants. Marcus had insisted it be slightly loose since she was pregnant and slightly showing. As a queen the ballroom gown was not her style for this meeting. She was given the responsibility of gathering the groups into a united front. This meeting needed to be the beginning of uniting all nonhumans. Marcus was acting especially possessive and cautious. He constantly kept his arms around her or his hands over her slightly swollen abdomen. He didn't want to let her go when the announcement for the meeting to begin was announced. 

Meridian was surprised to find Alice Grandy being the spokes person. She looked at Tarrin who gave her a thumb up and mouthed "natural". Meridian nodded and proceeded.

"I would like to thank you all for coming and to show the reason for this meeting; I wait no further in introducing a woman known of many names each of you will recognize her. Please do not be confused by the visions of her sisters with hair that is of a different color. With no further delay, I introduce you to Queen Meridian also known as Genevieve and The Ice Queen."

Meridian ran and jumped in the middle of the huge conference table into a crouched position before straightening. 

"Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, first I would like to say the rumors of my demise have been exaggerated. Not greatly but they have been exaggerated. I have called this meeting for many purposes but the main one is to align ourselves against one common enemy. We fight an enemy with no ethics, no rules and no boundaries. Now I understand most of us do not qualify as saints here. We protect our family, our friends and those we care for. That is what this meeting is for. This is a meeting to unite groups to remove those who hurt who we care for; think of not only our future but the future of our children. We throw away our pride and we walk forward to a new horizon without bigotry against others."

"Secondly, please read your booklet of laws for the island. These are not taken lightly. Justice is fair, quick and harsh here. You are here for purpose and action."

"Part of what we are here for is the future of our children. We put them before our fear and prejudice to provide for their future. The other part is to protect ourselves. There is safety in numbers. More details on the prophecy can be discussed later but the information was forwarded to you before the meeting and is included in your packet. I am one of the sisters of the Triadic Council. It astounded me as much as each of you if not more but I am here to keep peace. I would like to thank each of you for attending despite the danger."

"I would first like to give some guidelines for our attendees. Let the little things go but I have allowed everyone to be armed. We have a common enemy and I prefer if no one is left alone when out and about. Please understand we all put our lives on the line here. I want everyone armed because I cannot attest to each individual's intentions but remember on this island you are bound by our law."

"On this island there are three queens that rule. Let me introduce you to the original Triadic Council: I am Meridian Henderson and this is Trinity Henderson and last but not least Alex Henderson."

An irate Were stood up and started yelling, "Who the fuck do you think you are? We don't give a shit about some mythical Triadic Council! You simply come in here to try to take over all nonhumans? No way!"

Trinity's floated forward to him directly staring him in the face slightly elevated off the ground. Trinity forced herself to hold back her anger but spoke in a stern yet intimidating tone of voice. "First and foremost we are no longer a myth. We are here. We are the peacekeepers of the nonhumans. I would much prefer to be eating ice cream in bed right now with my mate but I am here for a purpose."

Alex then began to speak. "We are the ones to unite and destroy those that would destroy all of us."

The sisters' then spoke together causing waves of fear to emanate across the crowd of nonhumans, "We will let this insurrection and words of haste go... this time but please everyone remember we are the leaders of the council and queens of this island. We will treat you with respect and expect the same from you."

Reardan stepped forward and whispered to the disrespectful Were in his ear, "Don't forget I am your Prime Alpha, we will discuss your insolent behavior later."

Trinity floated back up to the table as Meridian began to speak. "We all thought long and hard about how this meeting should progress. I am going to name off the following individuals that shall step forward and stand in the middle of the ballroom." Approximately 30 individuals were called to the center of the room and stepped forward cautiously. "Would the following Masters, Sires and those responsible for these individuals please step forward? Please meet with the Queen who announces your name. After you receive the image you are welcome to return to your seat." Upon stepping forward each Queen asked permission to touch each Master/Sire's face and show them images. 

Each Master/Sire nodded and went back to their seats leaving the original 30 standing. "For those of you who were not called forward or not shown an image I will explain. The individuals standing in the middle of the room have all been charged with treason and we have shown the images of their guilt to those they are accountable to. We will now move to the main courtyard in order to punish them for their treason."

As they all walked out to the courtyard, guards kept the traitors from trying to run off. Meridian finally stopped in the middle and began to speak again. "For those of you accountable to these individuals, we have agreed that it is your choice in distributing justice to them if you wish and if not we will." A young traitor vampire lunged at her and she froze him.

An Ancient Vampire with air of lethalness stepped forward, "He is my responsibility and I will handle him accordingly." He quickly ripped the young vampire's head off. Meridian quickly turned off her microphone.

"Then let the executions begin."

Vampires, Witches, Weres and hybrids ran forward killing their individuals who had committed treason leaving no one for the sisters to take care of. The first Ancient Vampire to kill his little one walked forward to Meridian and raised her hand and kissed it. He motioned for the microphone and she handed it to him. "We are honored that you are considerate of our rules and laws by letting us take care of our individuals who commit treason. I would like to personally say that we at the Vampire Council stand beside the Triadic." Meridian shook his hand as she gave her condolences for losing someone he cared for as he handed the microphone back to her. 

"I want it to be known that the Triadic is not here to take your power but more of an upper echelon. We are here to guard against those who might want us hurt and find a solution to very complex problems. I understand this may feel like someone is stepping on your toes but that is not our intent we are here for peace and to support you."

"We also want to acknowledge how very hard every group works to keep peace. We are here to make things easier. There are details on the process for nominations to decide who will be the additional Triadic members in your packet of information.

Marcus stared at Meridian and smiled proudly at her ability to easily win each groups trust. 

A flash of lightning crashed from the sky and Meridian remembered the premonition. "In order to convince you of our legitimacy I would like to introduce our "Great great great...just keep adding those, Grandfather Zeus."

Zeus stepped forward in his regal robes in a daunting manner not only due to his magnitude but his power causing everyone to back away from him. "I want to give you a prophecy of the future. A battle comes shortly. If you fight apart most will die. If you join and fight together you ensure a long time of having peace. I cannot guarantee peace forever but this council is necessary. I wish I had time to stay but as my granddaughters know the prophecy does not allow me to fight with you. Anyone who is unwilling to join can leave now but you will not be protected. Who will join?"

Only a few small groups left. 

Meridian then spoke, "We have very little time the battle is coming. They will be here in 5 minutes and we must fight." Meridian and her sisters closed their eyes and took a deep breath. 

"Tarrin here is going to announce the ammo being handed to your leaders. Please pay attention; we have very little time until the fight is upon us. If an individual cannot shoot accurately please do not give them a weapon and let them return to the palace."

"I must go." Zeus hugged his girls as he pulled them aside. He handed them auto injectors. "Hide it and when Cyrus picks one of you to turn inject it in your jugular in preparation for his bite. Rule wisely."

The Blue Priestess transported from across the court yard to the Queens, "When your children ask to take over your body say yes. I will send the words to your head for the chant."

A loud sound of bombs going off signaled the beginning of the battle. Cyrus's men ran forward onto the island charging forward to battle the other nonhumans. Casualties were becoming heavy on both sides as bullets were flying. The pale white beach was quickly turning crimson from all of the blood drenching the sand. 

Meridian spoke to her sisters, "We won't win this way. We have to use our powers and I will be bait."

The three sisters elevated and Meridian began turning a bright scarlet with anger. All of a sudden The Blue Priestess was standing next to her. "Don't leave me out of the fight. Now let's kicks some ass."

The four started chanting and silvery wall went up closing off Cyrus's troops from the alliance of nonhumans that had just formed with the Triadic Council.

"Blue can you read transgressions too?" Meridian asked glancing at The Blue Priestess.

"Of course, I can find all the dirty laundry." Blue announced with an evil smile.

"Trinity, let's make Cyrus's soldiers sleep for now." Cyrus watched with increasing rage as his soldiers fell to the ground and Trinity walked up to stand beside her sister and Blue.

Meridian was grabbed by Cyrus as Marcus stood helplessly blocked by the transparent barrier separating them. 

"It seems you have no powers against me. It pleases me that you are soon to be my slave until I kill you."

Blue ran towards her stopping when she saw the evil grin on Meridian's face. Meridian twisted in his arms until she was looking up at Cyrus as he gripped her chin tightly kissing her. She gave him a look of disgust, "You don't get it do you?" He didn't notice her inject the poison in her body.

"I completely understand how I am going to rape you and your sisters keeping you as my slaves until I tire of you. I will enjoy ruling all the nonhumans in your place."

"No, look at me. Let me remind of who you were." Meridian had her hands on the sides of his face. Images of the triplet's birth, the vision of a happy family playing together and a vision of their father going off for deployment played in his head. "Don't you recognize me? Us? I was wrong in thinking the worst thing was you would never come back. You're my father. Your name was Mark Henderson and you are our father the Blue Priestess is not included of course. I don't know what happened during your change that made you so wicked and bitter but I can read every one of your sins." Tears of blood ran down her cheeks, "and it's time to die. Our real father died when you were changed."

The Blue Priestess sent the chant to let their children possess their body into their minds. Cyrus snarled and bit Meridian while she chanted, "Wings of metal that are sharp as razors with a heart of gold. I let my child come forth to possess my body. Our children fight for the freedom of all and justice."

Wings emerged from each of the sisters backs. They rushed forward as fangs came down from their mouth. Cyrus's men were released from their sleep only to be frozen upon their knees. The united nonhumans stared in horror as the sisters used the bottom of their wings that were sharp as blades to swiftly slice through the necks of Cyrus's men. 

The Blue Priestess pulled Meridian back from Cyrus as the embodiment of her child took over her body.

Cyrus screamed and broke his hold to Meridian and lunged at her. "I'm going to suck what little life you have left out of you!" Cyrus bit down on her neck again but as he let the blood wash over his tongue he felt something was wrong but was unable to stop immediately. He finally broke free and pushed her away from him.

"You've already drank enough of my TAINTED BLOOD to die." Meridian's son that possessed her body smiled up at him pale and weak. "Didn't anyone ever tell you Cyrus to fuck the battle but win the war?" 

The sisters ran over as The Blue Priestess pulled Meridian into her arms and away from Cyrus. 

Trinity and Alex flew up in the air with him before everyone saw an image that would forever burn a vision in their head from that day forth. "Cyrus he has been judged to die and dies now!"

Fangs came down from the two sisters as their child's spirit ripped each the side of Cyrus's neck out, spitting it to the side and letting the blood pour out. 

Meridian floated up. "My turn!" Meridian grabbed his head and then viciously ripped it from his body. They flew down and released the invisible wall between Cyrus's men and the united nonhumans. 

Very few of Cyrus's remained but cringed frozen upon their knees as they looked upon the image of the beheaded leader that lay lifeless on the ground. The united nonhuman's rushed forward quickly killing the remaining traitors. 

Finally, the battle was over. The three sisters fell to their knees as the mental possession from their children faded from the two other sisters and weakness overtook them. Marcus, Logan and Drake rushed towards the sisters. 

Meridian was the only one who called out in the voice of her child, "Father, mother needs you now! You must suck out the poison blood and she needs you to feed her for the next 24 hours until we are healed." Their wings dissolved as each man took the triplet they loved in their arms.

Marcus quickly bit her neck sucking the rest of her poisoned blood out and hurried slitting his wrist and placed it to her mouth, "Mer, baby you have to feed. I can't lose both of you. Our son said so." Meridian seemed lifeless as he tried to get her to drink by rubbing her throat coaxing her to swallow. "Drink damn it! You've never given up in your life! Drink!" 

Marcus watched as Meridian slowly began to drink and he let out a breath of relief. He finally got enough blood in her before she passed out. Both Drake and Logan had gathered up Trinity and Alex carrying them towards the Palace.

King Douglas went over to Prime Alpha Reardan, "Would you assist me in calming everyone down so that tomorrow we mourn those we lost but celebrate a new day?"

"I would be honored." Prime Alpha Reardan shook King Douglas's hand as they walked towards the Palace.

Announcements were made and dead bodies were carted off to be disposed of so the entire island did not smell of burning bodies. 

Prime Alpha Reardan made an announcement before they entered the Palace. "For those of you with personal death rites please send an individual to supervise and advise on how to handle the bodies of your dead."

Many hands were shook and a group of Ancient Vampires who had always been reclusive even among the vampire community walked forward to Prime Alpha Reardan and King Douglas. "When would we be able to meet the sisters? We have some unknown knowledge of the ancient prophecies and would like to help."

King Douglas shook their hands, "I will call Marcus right now. He is worried about Meridian so any help is appreciated."

"We will need Hermes and The Blue Priestess to assist along with Prime Alpha Reardan's herbal healer. Here is a list of items we need your healer to bring." The Ancient Vampire handed a list to Reardan.

Thirty minutes later each sister was placed together in a room with reclusive group of Ancient Vampires were joined by King Douglas, Prime Alpha Reardan, The Blue Priestess and the Were's top herbal healer. Three king beds were put in the room to keep the sisters together. They were treated with enchanted herbs as the Blue Priestess spoke in an ancient language no one understood. She touched each of their abdomens. She paused at Meridian whispering something in her ear that no one heard. "Zeus says it's a gift. You only get one shot at this and he wants you happy."

Marcus, Logan and Drake looked like expectant fathers who were worried they had not only lost their mates but their children.

The Blue Priestess walked up to them, "They should be fine. They will sleep for at least 24 hours then we can reintroduce them to everyone. The battle may be foggy in their minds. It might be best to leave it that way. I believe it is customary to honor the dead and celebrate the unity we have created here afterwards."

Everyone agreed as The Blue Priestess instructed the doctor who hooked up to IVs. The men stared down on the women.

Everyone left the sisters in their room with their lovers and handmaidens who gently washed the blood from each of the woman's body. Marcus and Drake crawled in bed with their mates after showering and changing.

Logan hesitated and stared down at Alex. Seeing his children speak through their mother was eerie. The thought of her leaving him to become another person's mate tomorrow made him unconsciously growl. He went back to their room and grabbed a box he had been keeping out of his luggage. Her eyes slowly fluttered open upon his return. "Logan, what happened? I seem to be missing some time."

"The battle is over. We are united." Logan went down on one knee, "Speaking of united, Alex would you be my wife and mate?" Logan held the rare red heart diamond ring up to her.




Finding Meridian Ch. 20



Alex started crying and Logan looked confused, "Did I say something wrong? Please be my mate and wife. I don't want to do this without you. You have my heart, I love you Mon Coeur."

"It's a bit hard to say yes when our children are cheering you on in the background." Alex wiped the tears away as she looked at him, "Yes."

Logan slipped the ring onto her finger and slid into bed as he held her close. "I love you so much."

~~~~~~

Marcus watched Meridian's body as it changed. It was not like a normal vampire changing. It was clear she would be a hybrid. He noticed a merlot streak of hair had grown down the right side of her almost white blonde hair. He had no idea what to expect. He finally started crying as he held her, "Mer, baby don't leave me. I'm selfish and want both of you in my life. Please don't go."

Meridian stirred and turned over noticing the IV in her arm, "I'm confused. I remember the speech. I remember going out to battle but nothing more."

"My Mer, you're ok. I love you. Is the baby?" Marcus choked up on the last word.

"Fine from what I can tell. The baby sounds fuzzy at times and hard to understand but I don't know if I'm supposed to be hearing our child speak." Meridian smiled at him and he noticed fangs come down. "So, I'm a vampire now? A vampire craving sardines, pickles and rocky road?"

"You're probably a hybrid and we don't know what you will need. So it's sardines, pickles and rocky road for now?" Marcus smiled as he rang the kitchen and ordered her food.

"Marcus Jr. said he'd humor me by letting me eat such a horrible combination."

"Marcus Jr.? It's a boy." Marcus froze looking at her stomach.

"Marcus Jr. said there is some other surprise but he won't tell us yet."

"It seems your son is as demanding as you are and has named himself." 

Marcus put his head down on her abdomen. "I'm so proud of you Marcus Jr." Marcus laid there stroking her abdomen as staff brought up the snacks. 

~~~~~~

Drake stared down at Trinity as her face relaxed in her sleep. He pulled her close and felt her stir, "Trin baby, tell me you're ok."

"I'm tired, I don't remember some things. I remember chanting something and now I'm here. What happened?"

"It doesn't matter as long as you're healthy. The battle is over and despite some death and loss we did win. How is the baby?"

"She says she's fine dad. Wow, I can hear her now."

Drake pulled her close, "I love you so much. We can discuss things tomorrow. You rest."

~~~~~~

Downstairs the upper echelon of Vampires, Weres, Witches and a rare group of Hybrids gathered in a large library. Alice had awoke during the battle and watched from the windows. She had found a file on slaves Cyrus was holding and after the battle ended, she had ordered guards to find the ones who were alive and set up separate quarters for their care and have the doctor come back and see her when done. The doctor and the herbalist attended to her wounds she had received upon getting the slaves settled. 

Alice walked into the library to assist to the battle weary upper leaders. "I will call for drinks and food. I am afraid that we lost Tarrin during the battle. I am not completely familiar with particular dietary requirements for some of the groups. If you have an intermediary who could assist me we could get you served."

Each group called to a group member to meet her in the kitchen to assist preparing their feast. 

After she left Reardan spoke first, "I know we have all lost valued individuals and we will mourn and honor them in the morning with your intermediary instructing each procession. For now I believe it is enough that we refuel and then rest. The Blue Priestess and Hermes have both encased the entire island in a protection spell so that everyone can rest easy."

An Ancient Witch looked at him, "Why couldn't we have just done that and avoided the battle?" She finally smiled and laughed. "I know the battle had to be fought and it would have delayed the inevitable."

"I honestly never thought such a thing would be seen. Such a uniting of individuals, as King I am proud to have been part of it."Douglas said.

"You hid behind the Blue Priestess before running into the Palace!" One of the Were leaders taunted and laughed with Douglas.

"I don't have any powers other than a neck strong enough to hold a 10 lb crown so hell yes I hid behind her. Have you seen her ass?"

A couple of the witches snorted, "Careful she could turn you into a toad." 

Bantering went around the table as every feasted and laughed while drinking until finally everyone retired to bed.

~~~~~~

Alice directed each of the leader's intermediary in the kitchen and headed to the basement to gather more supplies.

As Alice entered the basement one of the reclusive Ancient Vampire's grabbed her biting her neck. "You will be a worthy mate." Alice pushed at him until two Weres who had followed her down pulled him from her. He began to act odd and they hurried and locked him in a holding cell reinforced earlier by The Blue Priestess. One of the Were's ran upstairs seeing The Blue Priestess and requested her assistance.

The Blue Priestess looked the Vampire, "He shouldn't be acting that way after drinking her blood."

"Well, I was hurt during the battle and the herbalist gave me herbs and the doctor gave me medication. To be honest, I'm high as a kite right now."

The Blue Priestess pulled her into her arms smelling a mix of the drugs and herbs. She also smelled Reardan's scent in her blood. "Go get Reardan. She's still bleeding."

"It doesn't hurt. I'm fine."

The Blue Priestess started supporting her weight and lowered her to the floor as she became weak, "You should feel pain."

The guard rushed in whispering into Reardan's ear as he bolted from the table. He rushed to Alice and saw The Blue Priestess holding her neck. He was concerned seeing her body covered with blood.

"The Vampire bit her and didn't seal it."

Reardan cut his hand and held it to her neck. Alice's eyes began to flutter shut as he heard her heart beat slow down. "Come on Alice, stay awake for me little one." He noticed all her bruises as her shirt had risen. He automatically sensed she had internal bleeding. "Who the hell let her fight? Why the hell did that Vampire bite her? She should have been safe with my blood." He let out a deep breath and did something unprecedented; he cut his wrist and fed her blood. "Come on little Alice, drink my blood." Alice got some blood down her throat before she passed out.

Reardan and The Blue Priestess noticed that her heartbeat was stronger. 

"Can you designate someone to organize the household while I take her for an ultrasound at the doctor? I'm not letting her go until she's well."

The Blue Priestess's head went back as she had a premonition. "She won't make it. Get a knife, I can sense her bleeding internally here and she won't make it to the doctor."

Reardan pulled a knife out of his side holster and cut Alice's abdomen seeing the blood seep out.

"I sense that's enough, now cut yourself and drip your blood in her wound." 

Reardan knew giving her so much blood would weaken him but he was willing to risk it. Quinn rushed in and saw Reardan giving her blood again. "Is that wise?"

"It's the only thing that will save her from the internal bleeding." Reardan ran his hands over her body checking her for injuries. "Quinn, have one of the guards bring the doctor to my room and another bring her stuff to my room too."

"Sir, is that wise?"

The Blue Priestess left the room to take care of the others.

"Quinn, it's done. She needs me." Reardan rested his chin on her head inhaling deeply. "Damn it, it was the mix of drugs and herbs that caused him to bite her." Reardan pointed at the Vampire squirming in the cell.

"Sir, she's too young for you to take her to your bed."

"I'm not going to mate with a fucking comatose seventeen year old. Now do as I said Quinn!"

"Sorry Prime Alpha Reardan." 

Reardan smacked Quinn lightly in the head, "Sometimes for such an intelligent Were the obvious misses you. I need to keep an eye on her."

Reardan carried her into his room and the doctor began to examine her. After he was confident she was safe and resting he left Quinn to watch over her.

"I will be back shortly but come get me if there is a problem."

~~~~~~

Prime Alpha Reardan entered the large library and motioned for the rest of the reclusive Vampires to join him along with King Douglas. He explained the situation.

King Douglas spoke, "Normally the island would dictate his execution but I think because this was a mistake due to medication from the different doctors we should overlook it. Prime Alpha Reardan, are you fine with that decision?"

Reardan seemed to pace, "If she dies I will oppose the decision but for now I agree."



Finding Meridian Ch. 21



Early Arrivals and a Premonition Comes True

Sorry for the delay, I had writers block. Thank you QueenM for reviewing and critiquing of the story! Thank you everyone for reading!

Meridian

Characters

Reardan O'Brien -- Prime Alpha of UK, Werewolf.

Alice Grandy-Young island female whose parents were killed and uncle tried to rape. Uncle attacked Queen Trinity and was sentenced to death.

Hermes Trismegistus- Ancient Egypt spiritual leader whose name means 3 times great.

The Blue Priestess -- Magical daughter to Hermes and her powers are yet to be shown.

Meridian -- Lead singer of Genevieve's Revenge and One of the three Triadic Queens. Mate to Marcus and has telekinetic powers.

Marcus -- Vampire leader that mated with Meridian

Trinity -- Triplet sister to Meridian and Alex. Mated to Drake. Powers of hypnotic voice.

Drake -- Vampire leader that mated with Trinity.

Alex -- Triplet sister to Meridian and Alex. In a relationship with Logan but not mated.

Logan -- Vampire leader in love with Alex but not mated with her.

Zeus -- Ancient Great Great (you get it)...Grandfather to Meridian, Trinity and Alex.

~~~~~~

"You're getting big my little Meridian, soon that stomach is going to be bigger than the rest of your tiny body."

Trinity giggled, "My stomach is smaller!"

"You're just sucking it in." Meridian teased.

"It's a baby, there is no such thing as sucking in a pregnancy!" Trinity said back as she snuggled up to Drake and dozed back off.

Meridian woke a bit cold and hungry; she snuggled up to Marcus's heat. The hunger was becoming more and more demanding. She turned and began to grind against Marcus burying her head against his neck. The smell of his blood under his skin inflamed her hunger until she found she could not resist and fangs elongated just before licking his neck with her tongue and bit in. She felt his hand come up and felt him guide her feeding with his hands in her hair.

"Mer baby, we are not alone in the room." Marcus loved the way she sucked upon his neck drinking his blood down as if it were the finest wine. Meridian cooed as she enjoyed the sweet blood in her mouth and it inflamed her desire for him. She wanted to run her tongue over his entire body. She ran her hands down his muscular chest enjoying all of the rippling muscles.

Meridian had her fill and whined as she licked the bite shut. "I want you Marcus."

"Are you sure you're up to it? Yesterday was quite hard on you and your body. And you've obviously gone through some sort of hybrid change." Marcus toyed with the crimson streak in her hair. "I love the change. Let's go in the bathroom so I can see how your body is doing."

"Oh, I'm sure you are more than interested in checking out my body," Meridian teased as she snuggled against him.

Marcus abruptly picked her up and carried her into the bathroom locking the door behind him. He placed her gently on the chaise lounge after he swiftly stripped off her clothing. He immediately pushed her back and trapped her by leaving his body between her legs. He stared intently into her eyes as if deep in thought. "Mer baby, you have no idea how much it ripped at my soul to see you be bitten yesterday. I cannot even think of what I would do if I were to lose both of you. You are my life. If it wasn't for our son..." Marcus voice broke towards the end and abruptly stopped his words as he rested his head against her neck. "I love both of you so much. Logan asked Alex to be his mate and she accepted. I'm sure he'll want to complete the mating before tonight. I just want you to know I don't want to be away from you...you are my everything. I don't want you to ever question that."

Marcus slid down so his head was resting on her ever enlarging abdomen. "Our son! You have no idea how happy I am. I never expected to be able to have a family after I was turned. You both have blessed me so much. "

"Marcus, I know you love me. I understand your obligation in Alex's mating ceremony and I'm happy for them but understand I need you to participate and allow her the happiness I have...." Meridian was cut when he kissed her deeply. Then he backed off.

He placed a finger over her lips. "I need to say this. After almost losing you, I need you to understand something. I have been negligent on my possessiveness because I've been afraid of taking away your freedom and making you feel confined. You will have to understand my...nature...my increased possessiveness. Tonight is the ball and you are not allowed to dance with anyone else or be away from me." Marcus possessively looked down into her dark blue eyes while he ran his hand over her stomach.

"Marcus, I am not a defenseless mate and I think it's highly unfair to tell me what I am allowed to do." Meridian began to get irritated and that was not helped by her increasing hormones.

"You are going to have to give me some lead way here. I almost lost you and our child yesterday. I know you may be worried others might consider you weak but everyone will completely understand. I can't handle you risking your health or life much less our child." Marcus ran his hand down her abdomen until he was lightly rubbing her clit. "I am a vampire love and you are my mate carrying my child. I will not stand aside in the fear I might smother you. I'm going to smother you and dote on you all that I want. My mate, MINE!" Marcus licked his fingers after removing them from her clit and then placed them back.

"You're being a bit irrational Marcus. I am yours. I will be careful. I..." Meridian's voice escaped her as her eyes glassed over and her mouth formed an O. He stroked a finger into her and started to rub her g-spot.

Marcus' stroke became even more possessive. His fingers emphasized his words as he said them. "My clit, my mate and my son." Marcus said with a low growl. He slid up her body kissing her deeply until she felt light headed. He finally released her swollen lips and allowed her to breath. He noticed her heart rate increase as he continued to rub and plunge into her folds. His rhythm increased as he stared into her eyes. "Who is my mate that is having my child?" Meridian slightly turned her head and gasped as he became more fervent stroking her clit. "Who? Who do you belong to?"

"I am. I'm yours." Meridian's breath hitched and her whining increased as Marcus became quicker with his strokes. "We're yours Marcus."

Marcus pulled her legs over his shoulders as he teased her by rubbing his hard cock over her clit and down her slit but refused to enter her. "And who is going to allow her mate to be highly possessive while she is pregnant until things calm down? And don't worry I asked the doctor we are allowed to do this...that is if you're good and say what I want to hear."

Meridian stubbornly bit down on her lower lip trying to avoid answering the question.

"Look at me Meridian. If you want me in your tiny sweet pussy...say it!" Marcus growled possessively. He punctuated his words by sliding just the tip inside her.

Meridian whined as her control was quickly fading away. "Fuck me Marcus. Be possessive. I'm yours; we're yours."

It took every bit of his control to slide slowly into her with one thrust being ever careful of the baby. "You are so fucking tight Mer baby." Marcus's control was almost gone as he began to speed up his thrusts. He wove his hand into her hair tilting her head back to stare into her eyes. "My good little Mer lets her mate protect her." Marcus stared down seeing her breasts that were heavier than before as they bounced with each thrust. Meridian kept running her hands over his shoulders and back if to find purchase. He was entranced watching his cock disappear into her. He couldn't help but growl as he used his legs to spread her wider watching how he stretched her open with each trust.

"Watch me baby slide in and out of that tight pussy of yours." Meridian started to cry out as his hand cupped her breast and squeezed her nipple worshipping it with his fingers.

Meridian started to spasm around him, "I love you...Marcus, I'm coming!"

Marcus pounded into her as he held her hips up and stared up as he saw her head go back. He stroked into her jerking as he lost control. "MINE! My Mer!" He finally buried himself in one single long stroke as he finished coming inside her. He regained his breath and released her hips to cup her breasts. "They are beautiful." He teased the tips until they were tight pebbles again.

Meridian felt she was losing control again as Marcus played with her extremely sensitive breasts. He ground up against her clit still buried in her. "Marcus they're so sensitive you're going to make me come if you don't stop."

He pushed in circular motions against her clit. "Is my Mer going to come?" Her moans became screams as she quickly came hard on his cock. Marcus groaned as she spurred him on and he thrust into her a few more times before coming violently inside her once again. Meridian's hands scratched down his back as she came pulling him in as deep as she could.

Marcus stared down at her body glistening with sweat as her breathing slowed and she came down from her orgasm. He licked around her breast and sucked her nipple in his mouth.

"Please, no more. I can't take anymore." Meridian said in heavy pants.

Marcus chuckled and gently ran his hands down her ribs. "I'll give you some reprieve since you've been through so much plus I don't want to exhaust our baby."

"Do I get that kind of treatment anytime I argue about you becoming possessive?" Meridian smiled as she licked the side of his neck.

"Hell YES!" Marcus slightly thrust into her to punctuate his comment causing her to cry out.

"I'll have to argue with you again but I don't think I can take anything more right now." Meridian said in a low husky voice.

"Oh you don't do you?" Marcus looked at her devilishly as he slid down between her legs and held her open. He quickly slid three fingers into her as he devoured her clit. He refused to let her go as each orgasm spurred on another. He finally stopped when he noticed she became completely limp. He looked up to see her swollen lips slightly parted and her eyes closed but he sensed she was awake. He immediately thrust his fingers in her as he bit and started to feed over her clit.

Meridian dug her fingernails into his shoulders as she started to scream. "Fuck Marcus...oh fuck!"

Marcus finally licked over her bite to seal it and slowed down his fingers as he felt her spasms around his fingers subside. He finally cleaned up her limp body and carried her into the other room to see her sisters and their mates with smirks on their face.

Logan looked at Marcus, "We're going to move back to our rooms. As much as we enjoy hearing the porn channel from here we're going to need some privacy. Can you meet me at noon to secure my mating with Alex?"

Both Marcus and Drake looked at Logan, "Noon sounds fine."

Logan felt Alex become a bit nervous. "It'll be fine little one. I'm not letting you go unmated to the ceremony tonight."

Trinity started to laugh, "I have a feeling we all are going to be subject to the possessiveness."

Marcus looked at a sated Meridian as he pulled her close, "Speaking of possessive; no more of you making out with Blue."

Meridian whined as they spoke, "We're just friendly."

Trinity snorted at her response, "You're not as friendly with everyone else."

"Ok, I'll try to behave but make no promises."

"You already promised." Marcus said pulling her against him possessively. "Don't make me remind you or we won't make it at all to the ceremony tonight. I'll just keep you handcuffed to the bed."

Alex made a puking sound, "Can you please not share so much?"

Logan helped Alex up as everyone but Marcus and Meridian went to their rooms to clean up. Servants hurried and moved them back to their rooms.

~~~~~~

Alex tried to relax but became more anxious as the time grew closer to noon. Logan looked at her with concern. "Do you want to wait?" He didn't notice he growled under his breath at the thought.

"No, I'm just nervous. Meridian told me what happens but I'm still nervous." Logan was getting turned on by her biting her lower lip.

He ran his thumb over it to make her release it from her teeth. "You are so tempting but we can't play until noon. I'll be as gentle as I can with you. Are the babies ok for this?" Concern over the children began to show in his facial expressions as he face clenched.

Alex ran her fingers over his face to release his stress. "Just be gentle with me. I'm highly sensitive now." Alex curled up next to him on the sofa.

"I'll make sure no one is too rough with you. If you at all feel sick or hurt or even uncomfortable; you tell us immediately. I love you so much." Logan rested his head against her swollen abdomen until a short time later there was a knock on the door.

Marcus and Drake entered and changed into robes in the bathroom. Alex became even more nervous as they walked out. Logan looked at her lovingly, "Alex, I will take care of you."

Both Marcus and Drake walked over to her telling her they would never hurt her.

Logan was unaware that Drake had made some plans for this. Drake went over to the bed pulling down what looked like a hammock hanging from the poster bed.

Alex's voice hitched when she saw it, "What is that?"

"It's to make this easier on you. It was different when Meridian and Trinity mated but with the pregnancy we want you safe. Plus, Logan will really enjoy having you strapped into it." Drake looked at Logan with an evil smirk.

"I told you I would get you during your mating." Drake teased Logan telepathically.

"If she goes running from the room away from your bondage swing I'll kick your ass. I haven't introduced her to that kind of thing yet."

"Logan, I think she'll be fine with it. Plus, it will help since she's pregnant. I talked to the designer. No undue stress on the babies." Marcus said as he smiled at Logan.

"You sound like you already ordered one!" Logan smirked at him.

"No comment," Marcus replied.

Logan pushed the robe off of Alex and carried her over to the bed and placed her in it. The back was movable so she could watch as each of them fed between her legs. Each of them kissed down her arms and legs as they secured the leather restraint around each leg and arm. Alex's breath hitched in fear and excitement.

Logan had her sitting partially up as he stared into her eyes. "Alex sweetie, we are going to be gentle. I'm going to give you two words; yellow if you just want us to slow down and we're scaring you. Tell us red if you want to stop completely."

"Do you like this?" Alex said staring up at him with anticipation.

"Oh my love you look so beautiful." He ran his hand down her legs. "This is so sexy; having you restrained and ready to be fed from. Remember, you are completely safe." Logan moved between her spread legs, "It's ok little one. Marcus and Drake spread my little's sweet pussy open for me. Alex, are you ok?"

"Yes." It was all she could say as Marcus and Drake spread her legs a bit wider and each slid a hand between her legs to hold her open as Logan looked at her.

"You are so beautiful little one." Logan ran a finger up and down her spread pussy and circled her clit as he heard her start to whine. He flicked at her clit while Marcus motioned for Drake to take over holding her open as he suckled on her breasts.

Marcus cupped each breasts in his hands. "They are so gorgeous little one." Marcus began suckling them again as he squeezed them together.

Logan went down and started to lick at her slit as she started to move and whimper. He slid a finger into her wetness and stroked up towards her g-spot.

"She's not going to last long. The pregnancy is making her come quick and fast."

Marcus talked back to Logan telepathically, "Go for multiple orgasms and then feed."

Logan quickly suckled between her legs on her clit as she cried out. He felt her spasm around his fingers as he thrust against her g-spot. He didn't let her come down before pushing her to the next orgasm. When her third hit Logan bit down on her clit as her orgasm hit her even harder and she screamed out.

Logan kept stroking in and out of her with his fingers until Marcus replaced him between her legs. Marcus suckled her clit refusing to let up as she started to come. Marcus speared his tongue in and out of her tiny sheath as he rubbed her clit with his thumb.

"Oh fuck I'm coming again!" Alex screamed.

Marcus waited until she hit a high and he bit down on her clit. Logan looked up from suckling her nipples, "Marcus, suck my little Trin's clit. Come for us little one. " Her eyes glazed over as she spasmed around Marcus' tongue. Alex's head went back as she came again. Finally Marcus licked the bite closed.

Logan thrust his tongue into her mouth kissing her deeply. "You are doing so well little one. I am so proud of you."

Drake then moved between her legs as Logan reluctantly handed a small bag to him.

"Logan it's only fair. You got to be there during our matings." Drake said telepathically as he could sense Logan's unease.

"But stretching her out? Is that safe with her pregnancy? She's pregnant with my children." Both Drake and Marcus sensed his worry.

"We stopped by the doctor to get it approved. It might take a bit longer when you finally take her to work into her completely but we won't go overboard on the toys." Drake reassured him.

"Now little one, we have to make sure you can accommodate Logan. You both have to come at the same time. Are you ok Alex?"

Alex whimpered a yes as she felt Drake drip some lubricant between her legs and over something. Alex looked at Logan cautiously.

"Go slowly with my mate Drake. My little Alex needs time to adjust." Logan kissed her deeply as she felt something stretch her. Logan pulled back and looked at the dildo slide slightly into her. "Watch what I am having him do to you." Alex gave him a apprehensive look. "I'll take care of you little one and no one will hurt you."

Alex whimpered as Drake slid the dildo in her and out. "She is so tiny and tight." Drake lightly traced each side of her sweet slit that was stretched around the dildo and then stroked her clit. "I'm going to enjoy sucking on that sweet little clit of yours."

Drake pushed back her hood to reveal her clit and started to suck on it.

Logan sensed her orgasm coming, "Drake push it in and bite her."

Logan held her face and stared in her eyes, "Let me see you come. It's so sexy to see you come all tied down." Logan watched as Alex cried out and came hard while he held her face lovingly in his hands as Drake feasted between her legs. He couldn't resist thrusting his tongue into her mouth halting her cry.

Logan pulled back and watched her come down from her orgasm and replaced Drake between her legs. "I wanted to do this to you in the Jacuzzi but it's not safe for the babies."

Logan removed the dildo and rubbed his cock against her wet pussy. Both of them groaned as he slid halfway into her. "Sweetie, how are you doing?" Logan asked after noticing a pained look on her face.

"I think you're bigger...too big." Alex whimpered.

"Marcus and Drake please let the back of the hammock down." Logan telepathically asked them.

Logan pulled her hips down and slid further into her. "Marcus and Drake are going to suck on those gorgeous breasts of yours. They are so fucking beautiful." Logan groaned as he slid further into her and heard her whimper. The sound of Marcus and Drake sucking greedily on her breasts were turning him on. When they would suck hard she would clamp down on him with her muscles. "Baby, I'm not going to last long if you keep doing that."




Finding Meridian Ch. 21



Logan watched himself pull out and push back in her tiny sheath as each of the men watched her stretched tightly around him.

Marcus whispered into her ear, "Such a pretty pussy and look at those breasts. Before you know it you'll have milk for the babies. I think Logan needs to be reminded how tiny his little one is." Marcus spread his fingers and ran them down her ribs lightly hitting her clit until he reached the outside of her stretched lips tightly around Logan. Logan slammed all the way into her as Marcus's thumb hit her clit causing her to cry out and come.

Logan forced himself to pump in and out of her a few more times before she came again hard.

"Bite her now!" Logan said as he leaned forward pulling her head to the side and each of the men bit her. Each fed and then slowly let her come down.

Drake had an idea and pinched Alex's clit. Logan stared in shock as she clamped down on him screaming. Logan's faced pained as she gripped him spurring the beginnings of another orgasm within him.

"Logan all the way in and we all bite her. NOW!" Marcus instructed.

Logan held her legs open as he stroked in and out of her as she screamed. Each of them bit her again as she cried out as another orgasm pulled her under. Logan lost control coming deep inside her growling at how hard she was spasming around him. "My fucking mate, my little tight pussy!" Logan ground down into her clit as he came again as he pushed himself deep inside her in one jerking stroke.

"Logan, oh god Logan!" Alex screamed as Logan rubbed clockwise against her clit with his pelvis rushing her quickly into another orgasm that took her breath away as everything started to become dark.

"Bite her one more time then we'll feed her!" Logan said. The sated look on her face was everything he ever needed. "Release her arms." He had noticed how limp she had become while still clenching him painfully tight. He released her legs as he pulled her into his lap.

The men gathered around her. "Time to feed little one," Logan said as each of them held a wrist to her mouth. She was not moving or making any effort to feed as Logan lifted her to his chest. "Little one, I need you to wake up and feed."

Marcus took her pulse as Logan was monitoring her breathing and both were weak.

A look of panic spread across Logan's face and his tone became louder and sharper, "Alex baby you need to wake up and feed." Just then she began to stir, Logan tilted her head back so they could drip blood into her mouth. "That's my good little one," Drake said as she began to swallow.

After relaxing his head against hers and kissing her all of the face he shot Drake an evil stare.

"I could almost kill you for that Drake!"

Drake just chuckled, "Told you I would get you back for your behavior during my mating ceremony."

Logan growled telepathically at him, "I thought she was going to snap my dick off shit! I wasn't sure I was going to get it back!"

Drake and Marcus started to chuckle as Alex slowly came around and looked at them groggily, "What's so funny?"

"Drake's pinching your clit trick," Marcus said chuckling.

Logan was cradling her against him. She looked so tiny being cradled against his large chest. "I wasn't sure I was going to get my cock back after that."

"Sorry, it surprised me and I came so hard." Marcus pulled over a sheet and handed it to Logan.

"There is nothing to be sorry for little one, my sweet little mate. You're just more than I ever thought I'd have. I love you." Logan opened the sheet a bit to run his hand over her swollen abdomen. "I didn't hurt you did I? Is everything ok?"

"We're fine Logan. I love you." Alex snuggled up to him.

Both Marcus and Drake gave her a kiss on the head. "You did so well little one. Enjoy your make Logan."

"I don't think I can handle anymore sex right now." Alex said looking up at Logan.

Logan just chuckled at her comment. "Now if you get tired at anytime tonight you let me know. After the battle and the mating everyone will understand if we need to leave early." Logan stroked his hand down her spine and noticed she went limp in his arms. He released the hammock from the bed and settled her back as he noticed she had fallen asleep. He hurried and called the doctor to check her out just be safe.

He paced around the room until the doctor arrived a short time later. After a brief exam he was assured everything was fine.

Logan lay next to her afterwards looking at the small bullet wound that was pink and his thoughts went to worry. He hoped that it wouldn't hurt the babies when the invincibility spell came off. He ran his hand possessively over her abdomen. His heart sank and almost came out of his chest when he felt something kick his hand. "Alex, are you ok? Alex!"

Alex chuckled groggily. "Logan, it's just one of the babies kicking." Alex stared up at his worried face. "It's normal, it's a good sign."

Logan stared at her abdomen as he pulled her closer. He realized how empty his life was before now. He felt contentment as he ran his hand over her stomach. His mate was carrying his children...how could his life be more perfect.

~~~~~~

Reardan stared down at the slowly healing Alice. As much as he hated to think about it he felt connected to her and responsible for her. He felt her stir besides him.

"It's ok little Alice you are safe." Reardan said as he pulled her up against him.

Alice cooed and wrapped her limbs around him until she dozed off. Reardan sat there wondering how he would possibly leave her. He rested his cheek against hers and thought about it. "I'll have to talk to Meridian tomorrow because you are going home with me when this is all over."

~~~~~~

Meridian went down to the kitchen to get something to eat when she didn't notice the side of the table and ran into it. A soldier standing in the doorway ran to her catching her before she fell to the floor.

"My Queen, are you ok?"The guard said while helping her stand.

"I think so. Just hurt my back."

"Do you need me to call the doctor? Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine; just help me to the table."

The guard refused to leave her side worried that something was wrong.

After not eating much the chef fixed more food for her. She proceeded to run to the bathroom and get sick. She felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. She hoped that Marcus would be back soon because she was feeling sicker by the minute.

She looked over to the guard. "Can you help me up to my room?"

He knew how possessive vampires were but he refused to let her walk up the stairs. He gently hauled her up into his arms and set her down when they reached her room. "What is your name?"

"James My Queen, I will stay until your mate returns."

She finally made her way into their bathroom to notice just how horrid her abdomen looked with bruises.

"I'll be fine I just need to lie down. I'll be fine you can go."

"I apologize my queen but your mate would kill me if I leave you while ill. I cannot leave until your mate returns or someone else to keep an eye on you."

She hoped he would make it back soon. She tried to sleep but doubled over with horrid pain and noticed blood on the sheets. She dialed Connor's room where Reardan had just showed up.

"Meridian, are you ok?"

"No," she said as her voice broke, "Connor something is wrong. ...help. I don't know where Marcus is. James, one of the guards, is with me and going to call the doctor." The tiny sound of her broken voice had him pulling on his shoes in record time to run to her room.

"Be right there relax help is on its way."

"What's wrong Connor?" Reardan said concerned as he watched Connor run around.

"Meridian is in pain. She needs help. It has to be bad for her to sound so distraught."

"I'm coming with you. You call the guards to find Marcus and I'll rush to help her." Reardan said as they rushed to get to Meridian.

~~~~~~

Marcus went to the kitchen to find something for Meridian to eat. He couldn't wait to get back to her.

"Sir, is this for Meridian?"

"Yes, can you make something she would like?"

"Sir, she tried to eat but she's sick right now."

Marcus ran around the corner and up the stairs taking them two at a time to their room. The sight that he witnessed made him drop to his knees. She was surrounded by the doctor, nurses and Reardan all working on her. There was blood all over the sheets...too much blood.

"She's losing too much blood. The baby's heart beat is stressed. We need to do a C-section."

A bloody and weak Meridian barely whispered, "It's too soon. Not our baby."

"Sweetheart you are hemorrhaging. We have to stop it." The doctor said holding her hand.

Marcus ran to her side, "Hold on for us Meridian. I love you." Marcus turned to the doctor, "What the hell is going on?"

The doctor looked at her and let her explain. "I wasn't paying attention and ran into a table and started to hurt. I tried to eat but I got sick. James," Meridian pointed to the guard. "He refused to leave me because I was sick."

"Meridian, we don't have much time. We need to do an emergency C-section. It looks like the placenta has detached. "

Medical personnel ran around hooking her up to IV's and started the general anesthesia. Marcus noticed her eyes start to flutter shut.

"You come back to me Meridian," Marcus said holding her hand and crying. "Don't you leave us after everything we have gone through. Marcus Jr. needs his mother."

Marcus watched in horror as the doctor performed the C-section while her sisters stood against the door sobbing. The doctor turned his head to talk to Logan and Drake. "I suggest you wait in the other room. The women don't need the additional stress."

Reardan and Connor cleaned up and assisted the doctor during the C-section as Marcus watched in horror. Despite all the horrors he had been privy to as a vampire nothing had prepared him for this.

"Here we go. Reardan please help me with this. Connor, I need you to get the towel ready for the baby."

The doctor pulled the baby from the incision and clipped the cord. For once in his life Marcus felt completely helpless as he watched.

Connor quickly wrapped the baby in a towel and handed it to a nurse.

The doctor was working on Meridian when he started to talk to the nurse, "Why am I not hearing the baby cry?"

"Doctor, he's not responding."

"Reardan, you work on the baby."

Reardan rushed to the baby and worked to start its breathing. Finally the baby cried out.

"Good job Reardan. Come on Meridian hold on. Connor grab another towel." The doctor ordered.

"Here we go. Get ready Connor." The doctor said as Marcus nearly fainted at the site of another baby being pulled from the incision.

Connor held the baby as the doctor clipped the cord.

Marcus stood in shock watching the baby being taken over to Reardan when he finally heard the second child cry. Tears filled his eyes as he stared down at Meridian as he watched the blur of medical staff work on her bleeding body. When he heard them say her heart had stopped he stopped breathing and just stared as tears ran down his face.

It seemed like an eternity as he stood there and watched as his heart broke.

The doctor backed away covered in blood and finally spoke. "Call it. Time of death 1:13 PM," the doctor announced.

Marcus sat for about an hour just holding her hand that was turning cold. Finally, Logan walked in to talk to Marcus and placed his hand on Marcus's shoulder. "Marcus, I'm so sorry but you have two children who need you now. A boy and a girl need their dad."

Marcus pick up the little boy while Logan picked up the little girl as they left the room for the medical staff cleaned up Meridian's dead body. The nurses had incubators set up in the other room with Meridian's sisters and placed the babies in them.

The sister stared in awe at the tiny babies. "They're tiny but the doctor said they are fine. We just have to keep an eye on them."

Trinity looked at Marcus, "I want to see Meridian."

Tears started to stream down his face, "Trinity, Alex...Meridian didn't make it."

Logan and Drake hurried to catch their mates before they collapsed.

"She can't be dead! NO! She's our sister! We just found her!" Alex screamed out.

Reardan and Connor had just entered the room after cleaning up. "We are so sorry Marcus."

Alex stared down at the little girl, "Marcus you need to name your daughter."

"Gweneal, it means white angel." Marcus looked down at the small child the color of cream with silver hair.

Marcus stared down at his children as he mourned his Meridian.

~~~~~~

About 10 minutes later The Blue Priestess came running into the room.

"Did anyone think of calling me? Damn it we don't have much time. Connor and Reardan you come with me."

They followed her to Meridian's room where The Blue Priestess gave each of them instructions.

"Connor you are going to pour this over her incision. Reardan when I motion to you begin CPR."

"Blue, she's dead. There is nothing we can do." Connor said as he looked down on a dead Meridian.

"Death is just a plane of existence where the soul separates if we catch it in time we can reverse it. Now shut up and do as I say. I don't have time to argue with you."

The Blue Priestess began to glow and chant as she motioned to Connor to pour herbs over her incision. A bright light came from the wound as it began to mend itself. She then motioned to Reardan while she continued to chant. Finally, she moved close and whispered in Meridian's ear.

"Come back Meridian. Your mate and children need you. Zeus did not give you twins for you to not be around to enjoy them. It's time to come back." The Blue Priestess began to glow a brighter blue as she placed her hands over Meridian's heart. "Let your love for them bring you back."

All of a sudden Meridian gasped as Reardan had his hands holding her head. Connor ran up to hug her.

Reardan kissed her on the head, "Let me go get that mate of yours."

Reardan walked in to see Marcus staring at his children. "Marcus, you need to go see your mate. We'll start having your stuff moved to this room with the babies."

Marcus sulked as he slowly walked to the other room. He started to run in when he heard talking.

"Now Meridian, you are going to be sore. It takes a few days to completely heal. I want you in bed the entire time."

The Blue Priestess saw Marcus enter the room and he fell to his knees. She rushed over and helped him to his feet. "You don't think Zeus would forgive me if I didn't make sure she was around for the children."

Marcus crushed her in a hug, "If you ever need anything just contact us."

Marcus ran over to Meridian and showered her face with kisses. "Let's get you cleaned up and then we can see the babies."

Marcus rinsed her in the tub then filled it up sitting behind her. "Don't you ever leave me alone again." Marcus took his time memorizing every part of her body.

"Marcus, my breasts are clean now."

"I'm being thorough."

"Please Marcus I want to see Marcus Jr." Meridian stared up at him with her dark blue eyes.

"You don't want to see Gweneal?"

Complete confusion settled over her face as she looked at him. "Who is Gweneal?" Meridian said with a confused look on her face as she stared up at him.

"Our little girl; Mer baby we had twins. Blue said it was Zeus' gift." Marcus smiled at her look of shock.

"Where did you come up with Gweneal? I'm not complaining but it's unusual. And by the way hurry up. I want to see our kids."

Marcus couldn't resist giving her a deep kiss after losing her such a short time ago. He stroked her cheek as he talked. "Gweneal means white angel. Let's get you to our children." Marcus lifted her from the tub and dressed her in a loose empire gown. He refused to let her walk and carried her into the other room.

Alex and Trinity cried out as they saw her enter and ran to her crushing her with hugging.

"Gentle, I'm still sore and I hate to interrupt but I'd love to see my children." Meridian giggled at their affection.

Meridian cried as she touched each of their children through the incubator. The doctor finally arrived in the room.

"I'd ask how you've come back from the dead but with everything that happens on this island I'm not surprised." The doctor said shaking his head.

Logan started to leave the room when Alex looked at him, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to convince Blue to stay through both of your births." Logan said as he rushed out the door like a man on a mission.

Alex just chuckled.

"How long do the babies need to be in the incubators?" Meridian stared down at the tiny babies.

"They are amazingly advanced for their age so one week is my estimate. Now on that note," the doctor turned to Alex and Trinity, "I am not allowing either of you to fly. Very limited activity and I will be examining you every other day unless you have any pain. We have no idea when you will go into labor."

"Meridian, I want you on bed rest for a week to start at the end of the week I'll decide if it needs to be longer. Now I want everyone else out, except for Marcus so I can examine mommy and babies. Then they will need their rest. I already have a nurse assigned."

An hour later the doctor finished all the exams on mommy and babies. He sent nurses in to check on the babies when Marcus pulled him aside.

"Is this my fault? Was I too rough with her earlier?" Marcus ran his hand through his hair.

"Did you hit her or hurt her?" The doctor said seriously.

"Never... I would never hit or hurt her." Marcus said defensively. "I was a little ambitious during sex earlier."

"Then no, it was her running into the table; the bruises on her abdomen in no way resembled hand marks. You did not cause this. I do have to tell you there is very little chance she can have any more children and if she did it would be very high risk. I haven't told her yet. Since you have mentioned you had sex this morning we need to discuss this after I examine her."

Marcus took a deep breath, "After this I really don't think I could handle her being pregnant again."

The doctor performed the exam as Marcus held his hand while Meridian kept reminding him to breath.

"Everything seems fine. We need to discuss something and I wanted to wait but Mr. Benedict informed me you had intercourse this morning." Meridian shook her head yes.

"There is a very rare chance you can get pregnant from that. It's rare but it could happen. I need the two of you to make a choice. We can risk you getting pregnant or I can give you a pill to make sure you don't. Now I need to mention that if you get pregnant again it would be very high risk. I would recommend you not getting pregnant."

Marcus held her hand and stared at her until he spoke, "Meridian, I love you with all my heart and I love the children you have given me. On that note, I don't want to risk losing you for another child. It's not my choice but I want you to know how I feel."

"I'll take the pill. I don't want to lose you Marcus or our children."

"The nurse will bring it up. Now, take care of your mate...she might get emotional. It's all part of the hormone thing. She needs you with her." Marcus saw his mate smiling as she looked upon the children.

"Doctor, thank you for everything." Marcus shook his hand as he left.

Marcus moved behind her on the bed and pulled her onto his lap wrapping his arms around her. "You have made me the happiest man alive. Don't you ever die on me again. Later we are going to need to discuss me trying to change you completely if you are willing. Are you upset about not having more kids?"

"I didn't think I would have two and trust me I did not enjoy the whole death thing." Meridian giggled as she turned and kissed him.

Marcus stared over at their sleeping children as he cuddled down in the bed with her as she dozed off.




Finding Meridian Ch. 21



Please don't forget to vote and I appreciate everyone reading! Thank you for sticking with me during writers block.



Finding Meridian Ch. 22



Thank you MSNJ for reviewing and critiquing of the story! Thank you everyone for reading!

Meridian

Characters
Reardan O'Brien – Prime Alpha of UK, Werewolf.
Alice Grandy-Young island female whose parents were killed and uncle tried to rape. Uncle attacked Queen Trinity and was sentenced to death.
Hermes Trismegistus- Ancient Egypt spiritual leader whose name means 3 times great. 
The Blue Priestess – Magical daughter to Hermes and her powers are yet to be shown.
Meridian – Lead singer of Genevieve's Revenge and One of the three Triadic Queens. Mate to Marcus and has telekinetic powers.
Marcus – Vampire leader that mated with Meridian
Trinity – Triplet sister to Meridian and Alex. Mated to Drake. Powers of hypnotic voice.
Drake – Vampire leader that mated with Trinity.
Alex – Triplet sister to Meridian and Alex. Now mated to Logan. 
Logan – Vampire leader recently mated to Alex.
Zeus – Ancient Great Great (you get it)...Grandfather to Meridian, Trinity and Alex.

~~~~~~

Marcus woke up holding Meridian close to him as he looked over at their children. They looked like they had grown overnight. Their cheeks were chubbier as the nurse came in to feed them. 

"Sir, would you like to feed them?" 

Marcus hesitated as he looked at the tiny children. "They are still so tiny." 

The nurse chuckled as she looked at a frustrated Marcus. "You won't break them. It'll be fine. I'll walk you through it." She picked up Marcus Jr. and walked over with him and the baby bottle. "Now hold him like this and hold the bottle like this. I have to warn you that we may have to experiment with baby food since the children are hybrids." She gently handed the tiny child over to his father.

Marcus stared in awe at their tiny cinnamon faced boy with a small bit of ebony hair with sapphire highlights. He watched in amazement as the tiny pink plump lips suckled the bottle. The child's eyes opened which caused Marcus to gasp at the large brilliant teal colored eyes surrounded by dark lashes. Any former hesitation or doubt about Meridian being his mate was all lost in that instant. He would move heaven and earth to keep them safe.

He kissed his tiny little boy on the nose, "I love you little Marcus."

The nurse smiled as she saw the awe and joy in his face. She showed him how to burp the baby and finally returned the exhausted infant to the incubator. 

Marcus felt as if his heart would burst at the sheer love and joy he felt as he stared at his family. This was a day he had never imagined; he had a family. The nurse returned with Gweneal and he hesitated as she tried to hand her to Marcus. "Sir, it's OK, you can do this."

"Sorry," he said as he gently cradled the baby close. "She just looks so much different than her brother." 

"Well the children are the first of their kind that we know of." 

He stared in awe down at the perfect ivory colored porcelain face noticing it was drastically lighter than her brother's. A small amount of iridescent snow colored hair surrounded her face. The distinct difference to her brother shocked him. It was as if their little boy took after him and the little girl after Meridian. Teal eyes opened to his surprise as he began feeding her. 

His mind began to wonder to the future and an intense sense of possessiveness came over him. "Your daddy is going to have to threaten any man that comes near you when you get older. I may have to build a moat around our estate to keep away all the men when you want to date. By the way your daddy isn't going to let that happen until you turn at least 30."

Marcus had not noticed that Meridian had awoken until she fell into a fit of laughter causing Marcus to turn his head and mockingly glare at her. "It looks like we have double trouble now. You know Marcus Jr. is going to be a handful too."

After feeding and burping the little girl the nurse took the baby over to Meridian and proceeded to retrieve Marcus Jr.

"They are both so beautiful." Meridian started to cry as Marcus put his arms around his mate and children.

"You have made me the happiest man in the world little one." Marcus kissed the top of her head as she settled snuggly against his chest. 

Hours passed as if they were minutes until he looked down to notice both Meridian and child were fast asleep. Reardan knocked on the door and waited. Marcus slowly settled Meridian in bed and he worked with the nurse to settle the children in their incubators. He quietly exited the room.

"King Douglas and Blue have organized the mourning ceremony for those lost during the battle. It will be in the morning and celebration at night. I have taken the initiative to announce that due to her recently giving birth that Meridian would not be attending."

Marcus paced irritably. "I would have preferred you not sharing that she gave birth."

Reardan placed his hand on Marcus's shoulder for reassurance. "Do not worry. It spread like wildfire throughout the island as soon as it happened. I assure you that each group leader has assured me they would protect the Triad no matter what. Honestly, your family couldn't be safer. They also understand that if you do show it will be for a short time but understand if you do not attend. King Douglas has set up security around the clock for your family."

Drake and Logan walked up the stairs stopping to talk to Marcus.

"So when can we see your children? I never thought I would say that to you." Drake said snickering at Marcus.

"They are all sleeping and stop laughing. You too will be a father soon." He proceeded to give him a mock stern look.

"Please thank Douglas and Blue for all their assistance on this day. We all appreciate the security for our mates. I am concerned about Alice she was helping out before the battle. Please tell me we did not lose her." Marcus said sincerely to Reardan.

"I thought Blue would have told you. Alice was injured quite severely last night and will be under guard in my room." Reardan took a deep breath trying not to get angry over Alice's near death experience. "If it wasn't for Blue..."

The other men notice his inability to finish his comment even King Douglas overheard as he approached. 

Douglas immediately stepped up and began to speak. "Reardan, everyone knows about Alice and your protective nature towards her but also of her being injured. No one would take you leaving the celebration as weakness. That goes for everyone. I have made it clear that if anyone who cannot attend for any reason will not be looked down upon. It was a horrible battle and many mourned the death of loved ones and those close to them. I refuse to make this mandatory."

No one noticed Trinity had just walked around the corner and had heard the entire conversation. "So you take such an important celebration and YOU decide it's not mandatory?! You didn't even consult with me or my sisters!" Trinity scowled at him as his eyes widened.

"I...I figured you were on bed rest and the last thing you needed was the stress of handling all of this. I...I didn't mean to ignore your authority Trinity...I just." Douglas finally became at a loss for words.

Trinity finally broke out laughing. "I'm just teasing you."

The laughing men patted Douglas on the back. Douglas smiled at her, "Bitch!"

"Asshole," Trinity shouted out while laughing. 

Douglas grabbed her into a hug. "Wow, I can't even pull you that close. Damn, did you eat a beach ball last night?"

"I ate dinner and then had some ice cream that was it." Trinity looked at the men while pouting.

Drake proceeded to blurt out, "You ate an industrial tub of rocky road ice cream!"

Trinity began to laugh again, "Stop making me laugh! I'm pregnant I might pee!"

"You started it. You don't want to be known as Queen Pee do you?" Douglas quipped back at her.

"No, don't you dare Douglas!" She said as she waved a finger at him.

All of a sudden water hit the floor near her feet. Trinity's hand clamped over her mouth as she looked down to see the water. 

"Trinity, I'm sorry. I wouldn't have made you laugh if you were going to lose it!" Douglas said as him and the other men laughed.

The men soon noticed she wasn't lifting her head and they thought they saw tear falling as she stared in shock down at the floor. Douglas immediately started apologizing. "Trinity it's OK. You're pregnant and these things happen. Please don't cry."

She raised her head and stared at them in terror and distress. Drake immediately moved towards her as he began to speak. "Trinity, please don't cry. It's ok and not a big deal. I promise no one will make fun of you. Please don't cry you know I can't handle you crying."

Trinity's hands went to her stomach as she stared at them in terror. "Umm, my water just broke. I'm in labor. I've changed my mind. I don't want to do this now."

Douglas immediately started to panic, "Drake, why don't you get her into bed. Logan, go boil some water and Marcus can you go find newspapers. I will go gather fire wood." The other men just stared at him as if he had sprouted horns.

"Excuse me, I may only be the lady giving birth here but can I point out something. Douglas when have you ever been an obstetrician? And are we out in a shack in the woods without a doctor? And why the hell would you need to gather firewood? Are you making a bassinet for the baby while I give birth?" Douglas stared in shock as the other men started laughing along with Trinity.

Drake finally looked at Douglas, "It is ok sweetheart, let's get you to bed and Douglas will go get the doctor."

"Oh, I guess that does make more sense." Douglas said as he ran down the stairs to find the doctor.

Drake gently picked up Trinity when he noticed her head lull back and she began to shake. "Everything is so blurry and my head hurts." 

"Trinity, come on sweetie stay with me." Drake became more concerned when he noticed she was unconscious. "Wake up sweetheart."

Logan pulled the covers down as Drake gently laid her on the bed and sat on the side of the bed holding her hand, "Where the hell is the doctor?!"

"I'm here. Now tell me what happened?" 

Reardan proceeded to explain what had happened and worked with the doctor as the room became filled with nurses to assist in the birth. 

"Check her blood sugar. She's been eating a lot of sweets." Reardan commented.

Drake felt completely helpless as he had to move away from Trinity as she was being surrounded by medical personnel. Both Marcus and Logan noticed the look of despair on his face. 

Marcus put his arm over Drake's shoulder, "They are going to be fine. Do you want us to stay?"

Reardan had a look of sympathy on his face as he looked over at Drake. The other doctor and medical personnel began lifting Trinity onto a gurney. "A room was set up next door in case there were complications. We have to do a C-section on Trinity."

Marcus and Logan watched as Drake continually paced outside the door of the bedroom that had been converted into a birthing room. 

"You're making both of us dizzy." Marcus declared.

"It's been hours...what if I lose them?" Quickly his fear turned to rage. Marcus and Logan caught Drake as his rage ensued just stopping him before he punched a hole in the wall.

Drake turned when he heard the door open and Reardan walked out. "Why don't we go sit down in a private room so I can explain what happened?"

"I WANT TO SEE MY MATE NOW!" Marcus and Logan quickly grabbed Drake before he made it through the room Trinity was in.

"Drake she is alive and still out. There are things we need to discuss before you go in."

Reluctantly Drake went into a side room with Reardan and they sat down. Drake felt like he was waiting to breathe to hear the news.

"I won't lie to you, she had a rough C-section. Assuming there are no complications over the next 24 hours your family should pull through with no problem."

Drake felt completely numb at the thought of losing everything. 

"The odds are good they are strong. We do have a bit of a surprise for you though. You understand that a birth of this kind is unprecedented. There are things we do not know. Ultrasounds are not perfect with hybrids." Reardan watched as Drake put his head in his hands showing his exhaustion. "Drake it's a good thing. You are the father of twins, a boy and a girl. We do have to wait 24 hours to assure there are no complications but I feel confident they will all be fine."

"Can I see her now?"

"The nurses should be done cleaning up your family let me take you in. Trinity still may be out but that's not unusual. I also had a second bed put in the room. Unfortunately there is too much monitoring equipment for you to sleep in the bed with her but at least you get to stay with her."

"Reardan, I owe you and the doctor. Thank you for taking care of my family." Drake shook his hand and hurried to enter the room Trinity was in. He didn't notice Reardan had followed him in.

Drake's heart sank as he saw Trinity pale as she looked so tiny and frail hooked up to all the medical equipment. He looked over and saw the two extremely tiny babies in incubators. He immediately fell to his knees with his with his head in his hands. 

He felt Reardan place a hand on his shoulder. "Drake it looks worse than it is. I'm confident Trinity just needs rest to recover. The babies are strong. Their heart is strong and lungs are fully formed. I know you want to give them blood but we need to wait. We are unsure how it will affect the children and we want to give Trinity the choice to breast feed if she decides to. I promise if things become dire at any time we will have you give them blood. The two of you have come this far that I am confident your family will be fine." 

Reardan left the room as nurse constantly checked on Trinity and the babies. Finally exhaustion pulled him into sleep.

~~~~~~

Drake woke to feel a hand holding his. 

He looked over to see Trinity smiling at him. In a raspy voice she spoke, "I didn't mean to wake you."

"Sweetie you can wake me at any time. Let me get you some ice cubes." The nurse heard him and handed him the cup.

Drake stood up and kissed Trinity on the forehead. "I love all of you so much." He turned as he heard the door open.

Reardan walked over checking Trinity's health. Drake didn't realize he was holding his breath as Reardan went over and examined the children. It scared Drake to go see the children if he was going to be told they wouldn't make it.

"You can breathe now Drake. Mommy and babies are going to be just fine. Trinity, you will have some more time on bed rest and you both relax. We are going to keep the babies in the incubators one more day just as a precaution. Congratulations!"

Trinity began to cry as Drake gently held her close avoiding all the tubes and monitoring equipment. "Shhh, it's all going to be fine my angel. You have made me so proud and happy. I will always take care of and protect my family." Drake lightly held her until she fell back asleep.



Thank you for reading only a few more chapters to go and I promise they will come much quicker! Don't forget to vote. Thank you for staying with me only a few more chapters left.



Finding Meridian Ch. 23



And Life Continues On 

I would like to thank everyone for staying with me. Also, thank you MSNJ for not only editing but acting as my muse! Thank you everyone for reading!

Meridian

Characters
Reardan O'Brien – Prime Alpha of UK, Werewolf.
Alice Grandy-Young island female whose parents were killed and uncle tried to rape. Uncle attacked Queen Trinity and was sentenced to death.
Hermes Trismegistus- Ancient Egypt spiritual leader whose name means 3 times great. 
The Blue Priestess – Magical daughter to Hermes and her powers are yet to be shown.
Meridian – Lead singer of Genevieve's Revenge and One of the three Triadic Queens. Mate to Marcus and has telekinetic powers.
Marcus – Vampire leader that mated with Meridian
Trinity – Triplet sister to Meridian and Alex. Mated to Drake. Powers of hypnotic voice.
Drake – Vampire leader that mated with Trinity.
Alex – Triplet sister to Meridian and Alex. Now mated to Logan. 
Logan – Vampire leader recently mated to Alex.
Zeus – Ancient Great Great (you get it)...Grandfather to Meridian, Trinity and Alex.

~~~~~~

Marcus and Drake had taken a small break away from their families to visit the celebration. It was more of a somber occasion with individuals toasting the ones that were lost. 

King Douglas kept his speech short and sweet thanking everyone for having the courage to take this step towards change despite their losses.

Marcus and Drake just stared at each other in shock of all of the changes that had occurred in such a short time. "We have families now," Drake announced. "I never thought I could stare down at a little face and fall so in love immediately."

"I'm still in shock. Other than this brief break I wonder how I will manage if they are not at my side continually." Marcus said as he took a sip of his drink.

"You just had to mention work and duties." Drake snorted at Marcus in agitation. 

Logan walked up and laughed, "It's not a big deal; it will all work out."

"Oh, you just wait until Alex goes into labor, then we'll see how cool and collected you are!" Drake taunted him knowing Logan would know soon enough. 

Marcus and Drake started laughing as they turned and saw Alex. They immediately saw Logan turn and his face fill with possessiveness.

"You should be in bed resting." Logan continued to hold the look on his face.

"I just came to make rounds and then I will go and lay down. One of the Queens needs to do this." Logan could tell he was beat as soon as she stared at him.

Alex slowly made her way around the room thanking the many different groups. Her appearance did cheer up the crowd and help them form a stronger bond.

Logan had thought he had only looked away from her for a few minutes when he was unable to find her. Marcus and Drake had long since retired back to their rooms to their new families.

Logan frantically searched the room as several guards assisted him. The longer it took the more frustrated he became.

~~~~~~

Alex leisurely walked through the garden. She understood Logan's possessiveness but it was getting very irritating. Her back was aching and she just wanted to sit by the fountain with her feet in the water.

She failed to hear the noise behind her until arms were wrapped around her.

Connor laughed as he caught her before she fell in. "You know Logan is right. You should be in bed." 

Throughout the battle and trauma along the way Connor felt he had gained three sisters. 

"How are you feeling Alex? You look bigger than your sisters." Connor let her lean against him as he noticed her exhaustion.

"Thank you for the fat comment. I'm just exhausted and my back hurts and obviously my feet but I can't see them." Alex finally giggled trying to see her feet.

"Who knows, they said the ultrasounds are not real accurate with these hybrid births. You could be having six babies." Connor teased her knowing she needed to relax.

"Oh, hell no! I am not having a litter!" Alex finally started laughing. "Though, couldn't you see Logan's face...one, two, three, four babies."

"You sound like the Count off of Sesame Street." Connor mimicked her accent, "Five and six babies for daddy Logan."

They both started laughing. "You know I always felt the Count reminded me of a bad pimp."

Connor laughed when he noticed her start to rub her back. "Alex, did you ever think that you might be in labor with those back pains? How often are they?"

"About every five minutes. They are getting worse. Can you help me to the house?"

"Help you to the house? I'm carrying you directly to the doctor. I am not pretending I know how to deliver babies. So if you were hoping for a water birth in this fountain you can count that as one dream that will not come true." Connor swiftly lifted a giggling Alex as he ran her into the house and directly to the medical facility.

Reardan was busy checking Alice's injuries to make sure she was healing properly. He finally turned his head to see Connor carrying in Alex.

Connor immediately looked at Reardan, "She's having back pain. Where is the other doctor? I think she's in labor."

"He was examining the other sisters and babies. I'll page him to get here. Where is Logan?"

Alex gave a guilty look, "I had to get away from him. He's smothering me."

Reardan just looked at her, "And now we understand why he is smothering you. You were shot and we are unsure how dangerous this birth is for you or the babies."

Alex immediately thought of the gunshot wound and started crying. 

"Now hush, everything is going to be fine." Connor soothed her as Reardan started hooking up all the medical equipment to Alex.

Reardan was unwilling to wait for the doctor so he began her exam. "Connor, I am going to need your help."

"Why my help? What the hell do I look like a doctor? Sure I've been a field medic but helping birth a baby?" Connor paced back and forth with a look of fear in his face as he saw Reardan's head disappear between Alex's legs to examine her.

"Suck it up Connor. Alex, sweetie, please don't push. The baby looks breech. Connor will start the IV and we'll do a C-section. Everything is going to be fine just relax."

Reardan moved her to another room for the C-section. The doctor finally arrived and hurried to prepare for the C-section.

Reardan finally looked at Connor, "We can handle it now so if you would go find Logan that would be great."

Relief flooded Connor's face as he hurried to find Logan. 

Logan arrived several minutes later to be told he had to wait outside the room. He immediately stared at Connor. "So why were you with my mate?"

"I saw her slip out of the room and wanted to keep her safe. She was having back pain and I rushed her here. They are doing a C-section since the baby is breech."

Connor just stared at Logan as he paced back and forth.

In the other room Alex was arguing with the doctors. "Just give me two minutes. Two minutes and if the baby doesn't move I promise you can put me out and do the C-section."

"We need to put you out now!" Reardan announced with a determined look.

A look of anger came over Alex's face, "Two fucking minutes!"

Both men backed away but paid attention to the fetal monitor. Reardan looked at her, "OK then, two minutes as long as the fetal monitor doesn't show distress." Both of the men stared as Alex calmed down.

"Hey babies, I know there isn't much room in there but you need to move around so the doctors don't have to cut mommy open to get you out." They stared as she lightly rubbed her stomach soothing the children. 

"Ok, Alex it's been two minutes. I need to check." 

Both were amazed to notice the baby had shifted. "Ok Alex, it's time to push. They moved for you!"

Logan heard shouting from the other room and became even more agitated. 

"Slow down Alex...shit!" Reardan rushed to catch the first baby as she gave birth and immediately the other doctor had to rush up to catch the second child. Reardan worked with the children as the doctor finished up the birthing with Alex.

Alex looked over at Reardan who was hovering with nurses over the babies. "Why aren't they crying? What's wrong with them?"

Reardan turned his head slightly, "Relax Alex, they are just happy."

Reardan cleaned up the children when the doctor called him back over to Alex.

"Alex, how are you feeling?" Reardan looked at her concerned.

"Tired and I think the babies can still talk to me because I'm hearing a voice. He's tired too."

The doctor pulled over the ultrasound machine as Logan barged into the room. 

"What's wrong? How are the babies?" Logan's voice tensed as he stared at an exhausted Alex.

"The babies are fine. We have just a bit of a complication." Reardan said as he stared at the ultrasound.

"Complication, what kind of complication? What is wrong with Alex?!" Logan had sat down next to her and was holding her hand as she was drifting off. "Baby, I need you to stay awake."

"Logan, it's a rare occurrence and we told you the ultrasounds where incorrect with hybrids."

"Just tell me! Alex baby keep your eyes open for me." Logan said as he frantically looked at a pale exhausted Alex.

"Well she's not hemorrhaging and the labor has stopped. How do you think we should go forward Reardan?" The doctor said trying to ignore Logan's panic.

"Well it's smaller so I say we keep her in bed and just wait." Reardan announced ignoring Logan completely.

"Wait for what? Someone tell me what the hell is going on!" Logan said staring at Reardan.

"Please be calm Logan. You had your mating ceremony after the battle correct?" Reardan finally addressed Logan to get the situation under control.

"Yes, did I hurt her? What is wrong? Just answer me!" Logan stared down at Alex's face noticing her eyes were starting to close again, "Alex, I need you to stay awake."

"No, you did not hurt her but something rare happened. I am unfamiliar with the Vampire mating ceremony. I know it involves your two close friends. There is no polite way to ask this. Did everyone get to physically have intercourse with Alex?"

"Hell no. I am the only one allowed that privilege. The other two prepare her and feed from her." Logan glared at Reardan.

"I just needed to know. Now let me explain that in humans this is highly rare. But of course the whole hybrid birth is rare within itself."

Logan interrupted Reardan by panicking again when Alex began to close her eyes. "Baby stay awake for me."

"One of the babies said you're keeping him awake so can you just let us sleep?" Alex yawned and tried to turn on her side as all the men refused to let her.

Logan stared at her dumbfounded, "The children are still talking to her?"

"First, let Alex sleep. Second, one of your children is talking to her. According to the ultrasound if you look here, your third child was probably conceived during the mating. It's very rare. Now since the baby has decided to not be born today we are going to keep her under constant watch and the fetal monitor will immediately notify us if there are any issues. We have it set up to notify our phones. Logan you are going to have a third child when it decides to arrive. In the meantime, since Alex is sleeping, why don't you come and see your other two children."

Logan just stared at Reardan dumbfounded. "Wait! There are only two children over in the incubator. What do you mean there is a third?"

"Fucking figures I get the first vampire to go into shock." Reardan announced to himself. "Logan, you knocked up Alex again during the mating. Baby three is still in her. See look at the ultrasound. It is less developed than the other two and not ready to be born. Soon both of you will be the parents of three children and not two."

They heard Connor laughing in the other room. Reardan just smiled. "Logan, can Connor come in so he can explain what is so damn funny?"

"Yes, Connor what is so damn funny about this?" Logan stared at him.

"Well when she had her feet in the fountain I teased her saying she could be having more than two. I think she might kick your ass after the next birth. OK, mine too. She said she refused to have a litter." Connor smiled mischievously at Logan. "But you get to tell her."

Logan's attitude suddenly changed as he looked over at the ultrasound and started to pay attention to the fetal monitor. "My amazing Alex," he leaned down and kissed her gently. His hand possessively went over her rounded stomach. "Do we know, not that it matters, is it a boy or a girl?"

"Before she dozed off she said she thought the babies could talk to her because he said he is tired too."

Logan just stared at Alex and then her stomach in awe. 

Connor looked at Logan, "Doc do you think I need to smack him so that he will go look at his two newborn children?"

"Is she ok? Do I need to stay here?" Logan looked concerned again.

"It's a rare thing for a human but of course this whole thing is a miracle in and of itself. She is fine. I have all the monitors hooked up. She just gave birth and she's tired. Let me introduce you to Caleb and Gabriella."

Logan reluctantly let go of Alex's hand and walked over to stare at the amazing infants in the incubators.

"The incubator is just a precaution. You are fine to pick them up." Reardan picked up Caleb and placed him in Logan's arms. 

"Caleb, I'm your daddy Logan. Your mommy and I love all of you so much." Logan stared in awe down at the tiny child who had the same Greek features as him with olive skin but a tiny bit of bronze hair. His face looked even more shocked when the tiny child opened his eyes to reveal brilliant steel gray eyes. 

Logan stared at the beautiful face as he played with the child's clenched fist. "You act like you are holding something little man?" The tiny fist opened and a bullet fell into Logan's hand. 

Reardan stared in shock, "Is that what I think it is?"

"The bullet, our little man here kept his sister safe and assuming Alex is correct, his other brother too." Logan handed Reardan the bullet to clean and save for him. 

He gently place Caleb back in the incubator and then Reardan placed Gabriella in his arms.

Reardan and Logan were shocked at the light mocha skin tone the baby had. He stared down at the little face that looked just like Alex but with a mocha hue. Just as he noticed the small tuft of mahogany hair with cinnamon highlights she opened her eyes to reveal the same eye color as her brother. 

Connor looked at the child and then at Logan, "Amazing, absolutely amazing. Now who wants to notify the couples they need to use birth control or that they might already be pregnant again." Connor laughed as he said it and screamed, "Not it!"

Reardan smiled as he looked at the doctor, "You're the doctor here...go deliver some news."

Alex finally opened her eyes and went to get up. Logan raced over with baby Gabriella in his arms. "Stay in bed baby. You have to be on bed rest."

"I'm fine Logan." Alex said in a determined voice.

She went to get up when Reardan lightly pushed her back down, "There is something we need to tell you."

"Something is wrong with the babies?" Alex said as she began to cry.

"No sweetie, no the babies are fine. Here hold little Gabriella." Logan lightly placed Gabriella in her arms. 

Reardan looked at Logan as they were trying to decide who was going to tell her she was still pregnant.

Logan looked down at her glowing face and decided he would tell her, "Alex sweetie, something really rare happened during our mating. The reason you have to stay in bed is you're still pregnant. It happened during the mating and the baby isn't ready to be born yet."

"OK everyone you have had your laugh now let me get up to go see our boy." Alex's face filled with determination as Logan kept her from getting up. 

"Alex, can you hear the fetal monitor? And here's the ultrasound. Sweetie, you have blessed me with three children. You just need to stay in bed until the third is ready to be born. Now why don't I take little sleeping Gabriella and introduce you to our son Caleb?"

Alex placed her hand on her stomach with shock in her eyes. "Logan? Lucian said he loves you as do I." 

Logan turned to look at her completely stunned, "That was my father's name."

"He said he should be named after your dad." Alex smiled at him like there was a secret she wasn't going to share yet.

Thank you for reading only a few more chapters to go and I promise they will come much quicker! Thank you for staying with me only a few more chapters left. Don't forget to VOTE!



Finding Meridian Ch. 24



Death and Fear of Loss

I would like to thank everyone for staying with me. I am sorry this took so long. Also, thank you MSNJ for acting as my muse! Thank you everyone for reading! Sorry for the delay. So many things needed to be figured out.

Meridian

Characters

Reardan O'Brien – Prime Alpha of UK, Werewolf. Father is Teague O'Brien.

Alice Grandy-Young island female whose parents were killed and uncle tried to rape. Uncle attacked Queen Trinity and was sentenced to death.

Hermes Trismegistus- Ancient Egypt spiritual leader whose name means 3 times great. 

The Blue Priestess – Magical daughter to Hermes and her powers are yet to be shown.

Marcus & Meridian – Marcus vampire leader that mated with Meridian. Lead singer of Genevieve's Revenge and One of the three Triadic Queens. Children: Marcus Jr. and Gweneal

Trinity & Drake – Triplet sister to Meridian and Alex. Mated to Drake. Powers of hypnotic voice. Children: Nico and Skylar

Alex & Logan– Triplet sister to Meridian and Alex. Now mated to Logan. Children: Caleb and Gabriella. Pregnant with 3rd child Lucian.

Zeus – Ancient Great Great (you get it)...Grandfather to Meridian, Trinity and Alex.

~~~~~~

Over the next week everything seemed to calm down as the groups left the island and the babies were finally removed from the incubators. Alex was stuck on bed rest waiting for Lucian to be born. Logan was overwhelmed with not only taking care of the children but also catering to Alex's odd cravings.

"Chicken wings! Logan, Lucian wants chicken wings with blue cheese dressing." Alex said batting her eyelashes at him and biting her lip.

"I highly doubt our son has a craving for chicken wings which he has never eaten." Logan was becoming irritated due to the lack of sleep when he heard a knock at the door.

A vexed Logan turned to see Connor and Blue standing there. "Please tell me you don't need something too?"

"Actually, Blue and I spoke and we thought that maybe you would enjoy it if we took the babies for the night. We've sent up a kitchen servant with a cart covered in all kinds of weird food for Alex." Connor smiled as the servant pushed it over to her.

Alex looked like a carnivore going in for the kill as she saw the cart, "Oh Yes! Chicken wings, pickles, anchovies, and more!"

Logan was unable to hide his disgust as he watched her devour the food. He looked really ill when he saw her make a sandwich with pickles, anchovies, peanut butter and chicken strips.

Blue looked over at her, "Now that is just not right." She stepped over to Logan and placed a few things in his hand.

He looked at them and started to laugh, "Dramamine and ear plugs!"

Blue laughed, "You'll be sleeping next to T-Rex there so you will probably need it."

Alex scowled at Blue as she made a potato chip sandwich with cream cheese and pickles. As she chomped down on the sandwich Logan looked at Blue, "You are good and we thank you both so much. You sure you can handle taking care of the babies?"

Connor laughed, "The babies are no problem. I am more concerned that Alex will get hungry and we'll find your skeleton in the morning."

Alex threw a chicken wing at Connor. "Just wait until you're pregnant!"

Connor laughed again, "I don't think that is physically possible."

Blue looked at Logan, "Don't be afraid to wear the earplugs. All the monitors are hooked up and will notify both doctors immediately if anything happens so you need to rest." She told him as they left with the children.

Logan got into a hot shower trying to drown out the sound of Alex chomping down on more food. When he walked into the other room he looked to see Alex asleep but started laughing as he saw an entire cart of food demolished and a chicken wing stuck in her hair. He couldn't resist as he grabbed the camera out of the drawer and took a photo of her with the empty food cart. He called the servant and had more food brought in just to ensure she didn't mistake him for food.

He gently removed the chicken wing from her hair as he wiped her sleeping face. He couldn't help but smile as he placed his hand on her stomach. He crawled in bed next to her gently curling up to her to hold her as he dozed off.

~~~~~~ 

Reardan stared down at Alice who was asleep in his arms. Letting her go was tearing at his heart; she could have been back in her room days ago. She fit so perfectly in his arms. The feeling of protecting her was consuming him especially when she would cry in her sleep, he couldn't help but soothe her. 

She whimpered in his arms as he stared down at her wondering what nightmare she was having this time. She whined again and he realized it wasn't a nightmare as she curled against him and was gyrating. 

"Calm down my Alice, no need to test my patience." Reardan tried pushing her away as he heard her cry out impatiently then relax against him. Her musky smell was starting to drive him insane and the realization that she almost came in his arms meant he had to make a decision.

Reardan untangled her from his body and went for a cold shower. Jumbled thoughts ran through his head as he rested his head against the cool tiles. He COULD NOT mate with her yet. Was her caring merely due to him saving her life? Maybe he should just leave her to grow up some and come back. Then the thought of another man falling for his Alice made him want to punch the wall. What if he came back too late? Would she be happier married to someone else? With that thought he smashed his hand through the wall. He dressed and left the room while she was still sleeping. He knocked on Quinn's door before entering.

"Quinn, I need your help. We need to get Alice back into her room now. I don't know how to do it so she won't feel rejected. It's just..."

Quinn smiled, "You found your mate but she is not of age for you to make any move?"

Reardan let out a deep breath, "Yes."

Quinn stared at him concentrating, "Why don't you let me handle it?"

"I'll tell her but if you can handle moving her things she has back to her room that would be helpful."

Reardan walked back into the room to see a dressed Alice that looked sad. He noticed her looking at a photo she quickly put away. It made him feel even more like an ass for having to put her back in her room. "Alice, can you come sit with me? We need to talk."

"OK." Alice hesitated as she sat down next to him staring at her hands and not looking at him.

"I enjoy having you here but I think it's time for you to go back to your own room. You are healing nicely so I don't have to worry about your health. Just keep your appointments with the doctor." He paused as he held her tiny hand in his. "We head out for Ireland in the morning." Reardan stared over at her as he noticed she perked up. "I'll be leaving with Quinn and the rest of the group."

The realization that he did not want to take her with slowly broke her heart. She held her breath to hold back the tears. She let the coldness in her soul take over removing her hand from his. "Have a safe trip." She mentally kicked herself letting the insecurities wrap around her heart. How could he love me? He just saved me as he was meant to do. How could I expect anyone to love me? Everyone has abandoned me. I was just a patient to him. She refused to break down and cry now so she went with the only thing she could think of. She let the coldness settled around her heart as she removed her hand from his.

He couldn't resist as he reached out and hugged her, "It's ok Alice, I'll still see you before I leave."

He felt her stiffen in his arms, "I should pack." 

Reardan just watched the coldness settle over her. Her behavior became calculated and distant.

"Quinn is going to come help you." Reardan said as he noticed her rush and grab the small things she had in his room.

He didn't notice how little she had until he saw her fill the small box. She turned and looked at him hiding the unshed tears, "Thank you for everything Reardan."

Quinn walked in shortly after she left to help move her stuff. He noticed Reardan cussing to himself. She had been spending most of the time in one of his t-shirts so he never realized she very little. 

"What do you need me to move into her room?"

"I never realized she didn't have so little. She took the small box with her and has already left." Reardan ran a hand through his head feeling like a complete ass.

"Feeling shitty huh?" Quinn asked as he placed his arm around Reardan's shoulders.

"Beyond shitty, I didn't even notice she's hand one set of clothes. She would go wash it while I was in meetings. I never even bothered getting her fresh cloths; a few things must have been bought for her. Maybe I should just leave her here so she can have a normal life." Reardan continued to curse himself.

Quinn snorted at him, "That'll last for less than a week when you leave. It'll leave a hole in your heart and you know it. You already feel it. For such a big Alpha you can sometimes be slow. What about courting her when she turns 18?"

A smile came onto Reardan's face, "I knew you were with me for a reason."

"Yes, just to smack sanity into your thick head." Quinn gave a charming smile back to him.

~~~~~~~

Alice arrived back at her room to notice everything was gone as a man blocked the door. "What do you think you are doing?"

"This is my room, I'm Alice."

"Well I am your boss Mr. Michael Smith. This is no longer your room." Michael Smith gave an eerie smile as he reveled in his ability to have revenge against Alice in his new position. 

"Michael, when did you want me to start working?" Alice weakly looked at him. Embrace the coldness! No man deserves to hurt me again! She chastised herself.

"It's Mr. Smith and you've caused enough turmoil here in the main palace so here." He tossed her a plain uniform and directed her to follow him. He just smiled as he led her to the dungeon.

"Due to the change in your position, you will not be living in the main area of the palace." He directed her to a tiny cell. "You'll be working 12 hours a day or more depending on what needs to be done. I want you dressed in one hour. Also, at night you'll be locked in to keep you from getting into trouble. I won't have you running off."

He turned and left when she heard the door lock. Alice pulled a small picture from the box she had. It was of her parents and she pulled out the card it had been in. She stared at the photo as she allowed herself to fall apart and cried as she saw words appeared and the photo began to speak. "Happy Birthday our brilliant Phoenix Alice." She touched it quickly as she saw her parents smile and wave. A bolt of energy seemed to shoot through the cell and hit her knocking her out.

~~~~~~

Alice felt so different as if something was pulsing through her veins. The humming was in her ears. An eternity of memories attacked her all at once as she fell to her knees. All the lovers, all the deaths, all the lives she had lived came into view as she thought she was truly going insane. She let out a soundless scream as she felt her body change. It was all too much as she stared at the wall seeing static as if watching a television without reception until the darkness around the edges consumed her view and she passed out. 

A different Alice awoke and went into the small area that was her tiny bathroom. When she stared in the mirror she almost screamed. The image that stared back was her but different. She was now fully developed but tall now. She estimated she was about five foot eight as she stared at her now womanly body with gorgeous curves. 

Her hand reached out to touch the mirror to see if she was dreaming. She stared at her hair that had changed to burgundy and crimson in huge ringlets down to her waist. She closed her eyes and opened them again to notice the change in her eyes. The whites had completely disappeared to be replaced with an outer ring of fire surrounded by brilliant orange and black pupils in the center. 

She closed her eyes and stared again silently screaming, "Oh fuck!"

She noticed movement out of the right side of the mirror and turned to see her parents.

"Ok who slipped me peyote?" She started laughing as she thought to herself that she was finally cracking up. All the memories had dulled slightly but were in the back of her head. Knowledge she never knew was there. 

"Zeus allowed us to visit you just once to explain this to you. We bound your powers when you were a child to let you have a normal childhood."

"Ok, I'll play along." Alice changed her voice to a southern accent, "On any other day this might seem strange."

Her mother touched her hair as her parents hugged her, "I always knew you'd be beautiful when you came of age." Her mother hugged her as she cried. "We can only stay to explain this to you. I'm sorry Alice. I'm sure you've wondered why we would have given you your middle name."

"Phoenix," Alice said as she turned to stare in the mirror with her parents at her side. "NO! NO, I've had enough happen!"

Her parents held her, "Honey, we couldn't have children and Zeus blessed us with raising you. I know you'll need to learn more as time goes on but Zeus is sending a guardian, a guide to train you. We had to see you on your 18th birthday our gorgeous girl."

"So I am a Phoenix?" Alice stared at herself dumbfounded.

Her mother hugged her, "Mostly, you are a hybrid so Phoenix, Witch, and we're not sure what else. With the way you were brought back to life the last time we are unsure." Alice's mother didn't want to go into how her resurrection had been mixed with an experiment by a laboratory. "I'm sorry sweetie but we don't have long."

Her father hugged her again and her parents backed off. "We need to teach you something before we go."

Her father pushed her backwards hard making her upset as she felt something emerge from her back. "Why? What in the..." Alice sputtered as her parents motioned for her to turn. 

"OK, enough with the peyote, this is no longer fun." Alice stared to see wings. She cocked her head to the side and flexed them noticing the beautiful colors of shimmering purple fade to a crimson then brilliant orange ending in golden sun colored wing tips. She turned sideways to stretch her wings out to a span of about seven feet hitting the other end of the cell.

Her mother and father smiled, "It's your heritage our little Phoenix. Just remember your tears heal with compassion and your anger kills with the fires of the damned. Do not touch others when you are angry. Remember you can and will lead armies it is your destiny. And just be safe, your Phoenix side is like a natural aphrodisiac to almost everyone. You have more powers than you can imagine. Here are wrist bands so you can hide who you are until you are safe. They will not last forever."

Her mother secured the wrist bands as she looked like herself again expect for her hair, "We love you so much. Be safe and remove them if you need to protect yourself. You change the destiny of the triad."

She noticed her hair did not return to its former color. She quickly pulled her hair up to try and hide the change.

Alice went into the other part of the cell to see Michael had just entering. Michael lightly touched a curl sticking out from the bun her hair was in, "I don't think I noticed how pretty your hair was before." Lost in thought he finally shook his head and returned to his task.

"It's time for you to work. You took long enough." Michael pulled her roughly from the cell and directed her on cleaning before leaving her for 14 hours after which he escorted back to her own private hell. She had asked about food and was told she would earn it after a week. She couldn't figure out why he seemed to have personal hatred and loathing for her. 

On the second day she had ripped her stitches and had asked him for assistance. She returned to her cell to find a needle and thread. 

After three days of not eating and working 12-14 hours hard labor she passed out. She awoke to Mr. Smith kicking her until she stood shaking. "I don't pay you to sleep! Get back to work." She passed out again as he hit her an area she had just restitched.

~~~~~~

Alice awoke and it was dark. She was unsure where she was and felt weak. She realized she was back in the cell but bleeding and too weak to stitch it this time. Her hands were shaking too badly. She curled into a ball shivering as she tried to sleep. Until she removed the wrist bands and cried until she was able to summon just enough tears to slightly put on her wound. It was enough to heal her temporarily unfortunately she was severely dehydrated and unable to summon anymore tears. She slipped on the wristbands before passing out.

~~~~~~~

Later that night Michael stood outside the cell mad with desire as he felt his blood lust rise. He stared again at her unconscious body locked in the cell. He rested his head against the cold bars; he was unsure how long he could control the desire he had for her. He owned her she was his.

As she whined and turned over he spoke to himself. "You'll endure this forever. Your uncle was my friend and you got him killed. Stupid cunt!" He took a deep breath as anger and lust settled over him. "He promised you to me. I own you. If you are lucky I will marry you and punish you for the rest of your life."

~~~~~~

As the days went on Meridian felt she saw Marcus less and less. He was constantly in the library taking conference calls and working with Logan and Drake to catch up on business. He was able to get a temporary assistant to help but it was going to take the assistant some time to get up to speed.

Meridian had just dozed off when she heard the children crying at 3 am. Marcus was irate that this was happening constantly. He had business to attend soon and the screaming children were taking a toll on him. 

Marcus stormed out of the room as Meridian attended to the babies. He slept in another guest room to get some rest before his conference call. Meridian sat crying as she rocked the children back and forth to stop the crying. She felt so depressed after everything. 

It seemed anytime she laid the children down they cried. Meridian just kept holding the children to stop the crying. 

Marcus finally reentered the room to see her walking around with the children. He hurried and got ready for his meeting. They had all agreed to wait until the children were older before they were completely sired as vampires. He stared over at Meridian as he noticed she was just walking around in a daze with the children. 

"Meridian, I have to head to a meeting." Meridian just stared as she walked around. "Meridian?" 

Marcus was irritated at her lack of reply and just slammed the door shut behind him. Meridian shook her head when she noticed the children were crying again and she sat down to nurse them. Once again crying overwhelmed her as she broke down. 

Marcus sat near Logan and Drake slowly seething with frustration. They finished the final conference call and they both looked at him. "So what is wrong Marcus?" Drake said looking at him.

"The children won't stop crying. Right as I'm trying to sleep. I actually had to go to a guest room to get a few hours of sleep."

"So you just leave Meridian to take care of the children?" Logan leered at him.

"What else does she have to do? I have a business to run." Marcus said regretting the words as soon as he said them.

Drake shook his head, "Marcus this is a dangerous road you are turning onto. How is she healing after the C-section? Is she having a lot of pain since she can't take anything because of breast feeding?"

"How the hell do I know? That's why there is a doctor. She has nannies to help. My assistant now is only partially up to speed." Marcus was becoming annoyed at being questioned.




Finding Meridian Ch. 24



Logan shook his head, "I doubt she's using the nannies. Ever think about the way she was raised or the lack of it?"

"I am not discussing this with you!" Marcus said as he stormed out of the room. 

~~~~~~

Reardan ignorantly forced himself to leave the island. As he paced the castle in Ireland the peace and serenity he had gained over the years had left him along with the disappearance of Alice. He was told by her supervisor she had left with another clan. The time away from her was slowly driving him insane.

Teague turned the corner as he watched his son slowly unravel. "Have you tried to find her?"

"Yes, I have! Why the fuck should she want me after I pushed her away? She's gone." Reardan said as he paced again.

 "I understand your frustration but son, stop fucking around. Find her!" Teague gently shook his son. "I honestly thought we had taught you better than to try and walk away from a mate."

"She isn't of age." Reardan said as his eyes hit the floor.

He heard Quinn knock and enter the room. "Quinn have you heard anything?"

"Only one thing sir, she turned 18 that day." Reardan threw a chair against the wall shattering it into pieces.

"Let me contact one of the Queens and let them know our worry for the servant." Quinn quickly grabbed his phone as he left the room and Teague followed him. Teague grabbed the phone from him.

"Teague, is everything ok?" Meridian heard his deep breath. "Alice is Reardan's mate and he's denied it due to her age but just found out he sent her away on her 18th birthday. Now he is unable to find her. Your new manager has said she left with a group." 

In the background Meridian watched as Alex threw a glass against the wall and overheard her start ranting. "I did not save her for some asshole to have another fuck with her. I am her Guardian; I did not authorize anyone to take her! I fucking swear if one damn hair is hurt on her head I will hunt the bastard down and chop the asshole to bits."

"And likely eat him with your appetite," Meridian teased.

"And I thought you had a temper Meridian." Teague chuckled.

"It's Alex's first day allowed out of bed to help possibly promote her giving birth but the hormones are making her a force to be reckoned with." Meridian turned to see Alex give an evil look and start to growl.

Teague laughed and then tilted his head, "Is your sister growling?"

"Yes, Alex is growling now. She's already bit a few servants."

"Well hell, I'm getting my boy and a crew. We will be there in a few hours. He'll go insane if he waits and your sister will eat people soon." Teague said as he chuckled.

"Can't wait to see you," Meridian slapped Alex's hand as she tried to grab the phone.

Meridian worked on more contracts for the island as she held the children. She had officially given up on sleep and food held no appeal to her. Marcus was beyond cold to her.

~~~~~~

Five hours later they arrived back at the island once again. "I have to figure out how to find her. She has to forgive me. She's MINE!"

"Oh hell, five fucking hours on a plane with the same fucking record from you, this is it. Reardan, shut the fuck up! You are a strong black alpha black man; stop being such a pussy!" Teague grabbed him as they fell out of the plane fighting. 

Both men shifted to their Dire/Gray Wolf forms at over five feet long and weighing over 300 pounds as they began to fight. 

Reardan and Teague finally stopped and both reverting back to their human forms covered in blood and surface wounds.

"Son, we will find her but we must start where she was seen last."

Quinn carried them both clothing as they redressed.

~~~~~~~

Alice was wondering how much longer she was going to last. Each day was becoming more of a blur. But something in her was emerging and she was also changing. A sort of rage was starting to manifest and she was unsure how much longer she could hold it off. Michael kept promising her food but she was to the point of becoming a cannibal soon; he would be dinner as her demeanor changed and she was starting to feel like a predator.

She stared at Michael as he told her she hadn't worked hard enough and despite the arm bands she began to change, "You will bring me dinner or I swear to each and every god there is that you will be my next meal!" As she approached him her eyes slightly changed and he felt as if a predator was coming after him.

The change of her eyes scared Michael as he changed his mind and had food brought to her. 

~~~~~~

When Alice awoke Michael was on top of her trying to pull her clothes off. 

"Fucking bitch you don't give me orders!" 

Something snapped in Alice as she raised her hands to push him away and electricity cursed through her veins and out her hands. It was as if years of reincarnation had filled her soul and mind. She elevated him to the ceiling, "Hear me loud and hear me clear...Meek, scared Alice has left the building and I will personally eat your damn soul before you lay another hand on me!" 

Michael screamed at the realization and as the electricity flowed through his body and he noticed that Alice's eyes had changed again. 

"Leave me now or die!" Alice screamed as she let him down and he scrambled out of the cell. 

Alice refused to stay in this cell and die. She was a victim no more. She quickly removed her wrist bands and kicked open the cell. She clamped them back on as she slipped out of the dungeon of the castle.

Alice noticed one of the last boats getting ready to leave the island and slipped onboard hiding under a tarp. As the power quickly dissipated and extreme exhaustion took hold she fell into the darkness of a deep sleep.

~~~~~~

The next morning and troubled and tense Grand Mage Elly paced back and forth waiting for Queen Meridian's arrival. As Meridian entered she noticed the distressed look on the Mage. Meridian was doing a pretty good job of hiding her sleep deprivation helping take up for the slack of her still recuperating sisters.

"I'm here to petition ownership of the young woman slave kept in a cell of the castle. I was called by her parents to take care of her until her guardian arrives. I will not allow her to be abused any longer." The mage was doing her best to keep her fury down.

"According to the new manager she left." Meridian said after investigating the situation.

"She didn't leave; Zeus called me with her parents at his side. She is here and being held as a slave."

"We do not have slaves," Meridian toned was low and deadly. "Let me call King Douglas."

Douglas arrived quickly and was told of the situation, "We do not have slaves. We do not allow people to be slaves." An unknown anger spiked in Douglas. "I'll have the head of anyone has imprisoned her. Call the guards!"

A guard walked in and escorted Douglas to the corner to inform him of the circumstances.

Douglas' hands shook as he summoned Mr. Smith into the room. "Do you want to explain why you have taken one of our servants, called her a slave and locked her in a cell continually? Do you want to explain your complete and utter disregard for her health and safety or just your cold cruel disregard towards her? Why you have violated one of the laws I personally incorporated into our legal system?" Despite Douglas' formerly kind and teasing attitude it had quickly turned. Malice seemed to drip from his words.

The Mage was trying to hold Meridian back as she was ready to attack until she noticed the anger on Douglas' face. 

"She's a slave. She doesn't deserve to live in the castle. She lied about her uncle and got him killed. I will make it right when she marries me. I own her, she belongs to me."

Douglas swiftly grabbed him slamming him against the wall lifting him off the floor by his neck. "That will not happen. Guards, take him to a cell. Soon Mr. Smith you will find out why I am King! There can be no 'ownership' of another on this island. It was outlawed a very long time ago." Douglas turned to another guard, "Gather your men, I will find her myself and bring her directly to medical."

Just then there was a knock on the door. "Excuse me King Douglas, Queen Meridian and Grand Mage Elly but we found a stowaway. Oddly enough our men would be angry but she's so frail and we couldn't do anything but bring her to the castle to get her medical attention."

Elly gasped as she noticed the huge man cradling the woman she instinctively felt was Alice. "It's her."

It took Douglas a moment to realize it was Alice in her condition covered in filth, "Oh shit, Alice." As he stood closer he felt rage rise and a distinct need to take care of her and keep her safe.

The large man handed her to Douglas as if he was holding fine china. Douglas cradled her close carrying her as fast as he could to the medical building while the rest followed. Her scent seemed to hypnotize him. 

Wizard Morely spoke as they walked to the facility. "I am Grand Wizard Morely and our men have asked if they can delay departure to ensure this little thing is safe and if she would be released into our custody. There are men vying for her hand in marriage. We would take fine care of her. Everyone is amazed at her strength."

Meridian interrupted, "Of course you can stay. As far as custody, we need to wait on that. Let's first get her to the doctor before any decision is made." Meridian nicely asked them to wait outside the medical facility. 

~~~~~~

Outside of the doctor's office waited a group of over twenty some mages along with over thirty wizards and apprentices. 

King Douglas sat at her bedside holding her hand waiting as Alice was cleaned up and IVs where started until she was resting comfortably in a hospital bed. Meridian entered and he began to speak as he stared at Alice with eyes filled with longing, "Meridian, you know I've never been married and she is so adorable." Douglas noticed she had a bad fever. "I could court her and she could be my Queen."

Meridian tried not to laugh at the situation that one small woman had fifty some people all wanting her. She instructed the doctor to run hormonal and pheromone panels. Just then Reardan ran through the doors to see Alice.

The yearning to have her as a mate increased tenfold. He was quickly reminded of her dire medical state and was completely on edge ready to fight anyone who hurt her. He knew the pull of finding a mate was strong but never having experienced it before it was all encompassing. He took her other side taking her hand as he debated with the doctor. "She has a high fever if it is not down soon I'm putting her in an ice bath myself!" As he heard her moaning and he ran a hand through her hair.

"That's my future Queen and I will make that decision!" Douglas couldn't even believe he had said it.

Reardan immediately became defensive, "She is meant to be my mate. I've been looking for her. MINE!"

"Obviously not hard enough while she's treated like a slave and finally tries to run away." Douglas said as glared at Reardan.

"If I had known I would never had let it happen." Reardan said defensively with a growl.

"You had her in your room and you kicked her out so get over it! You didn't want her. I want her as my Queen." Douglas said heatedly.

"She was 17 and it is against the law to mate with a 17 year old. I was trying to protect her from my love for her." Reardan said as his feral rage increased.

"How appropriate! It was her 18th birthday that you moved her out. You've given up any right to her!" Douglas couldn't understand his fury and his need to stay close to Alice.

Meridian felt the need to end this now. "OK men, that is enough. She is not a commodity. This situation is bad enough. I have the two of you fighting for her as a mate or spouse and I have 20 mages and 30 some wizards who also want custody of her. So why don't we all tone it down and let her get well without all the testosterone?" Meridian said shaking her head dumbfounded at the situation.

The doctor had an odd feeling about Alice. He quickly brought over some additional pain killer to put her out completely and stop her from moaning in pain. Everyone started to calm down slightly. "Now men, she needs her rest. One word from either of you and I will banish you from her room."

Reardan walked over to Meridian growling, "You will not give me any instructions regarding my MATE!"

Meridian grew fangs and wings as she looked at him and spoke in a deadly low voice, "Listen to me clearly Reardan, she is not your mate yet and do not threaten me." 

Reardan became more feral as he looked at her, "I am a Prime Alpha! You will not speak to me as such."

The days of sleep deprivation and Marcus being stuck in meetings had taken its toll as rage was taking over Meridian. "I am Triad. I am above you."

Reardan went to slam Meridian against the wall as she shifted to the side and slammed him against it. She held him in a grip of steel with her fangs near his neck. "Do not push me Reardan. I will end every chance you have at having a mate if you push me much further."

Marcus had felt Meridian's temper slowly snap as he searched for her as he saw her with Reardan against the wall.

Marcus acted out of instinct pulling Meridian away and slamming Reardan across the room. He started to approach Reardan as they both became more feral, "You NEVER touch my mate!"

Suddenly Alice's whining moan broke their reverie as the air seemed infused with pain. Everyone started becoming calmer as Marcus put his hand out to help Reardan up. Reardan reluctantly took it as the doctor asked everyone to go outside.

Reluctantly they all went out the back door to the facility. He looked at them, "This is just preliminary and I will work on a longer lasting one but do to the hostile atmosphere I had her blood analyzed. She is giving off excessive pheromones." The doctor injected each of them. "Right now you need one a day."

Everyone felt the tension in the air begin to thin. Reardan looked at Meridian, "I'm sorry Meridian."

Meridian just shook her head wearily. 

 "I have a conference call but will be back later." Marcus said as he turned and left.

~~~~~~

Alex was feeling back pain when she awoke. She noticed Logan was no longer in bed and she was in the room alone. Great! The one time she wanted someone around she was alone. Screw it, she thought, I'll just walk to the medical facility.

She unhooked all the medical equipment and walked out towards the medical facility. She made if halfway across the lawn when a labor pain hit her so hard she collapsed to the ground. 

Marcus saw someone collapse as he walked from the medical facility. He rushed up when he realized it was Alex. "What the hell are you doing walking?"

"I'm trying to get to medical to have the baby!" Alex screamed as another labor pain hit her. 

Marcus pulled her up into his arms and rushed her into the medical facility. The large group waiting outside the facility quickly parted and opened the door for him.

He settled Alex on a gurney as he called over Reardan and the doctor. 

Meridian finally pushed Douglas from Alice's room and out of the medical building. She directed him to get everyone settled in the castle. "Go be productive; she will be out at least 12 hours so GO!" 

~~~~~~

Finally, they prepared Alex as she started to give birth. Meridian held her hand as she dialed Logan. "Get your ass here now! Your mate is in labor. A guard is posted at the door giving shots so take one before you enter." 

Logan couldn't even think straight as he ran across the lawn in his boxers. Reardan just laughed at the disheveled state of Logan as he walked in and sat next to Alex. "Logan you forgot your pants though the Italian loafers do make you look runway worthy." Meridian grabbed some scrubs and threw them at him.

This birth wasn't as fast. After an hour of pushing Alex looked exhausted. Reardan looked up at Alex, "Just one more push Alex. Just one more."

"I'm too tired. I can't do it." Alex slumped backwards in defeat feeling her energy leave her.

Logan quickly lifted her back and sat with her between his legs. "Sweetie, just one more hold my hand. You can do this."

Alex screamed during the final push when she saw Reardan remove the child. She lay back against Logan as he stroked her hair. "My amazing Alex."

Meridian walked outside of the room feeling like she would crack soon seeing the display of affection. The vast chasm between her and Marcus was becoming larger. She leaned back against the wall calming herself before she reentered the room.

Reardan checked he baby over noticing he seemed more mature than the other children. They heard doors open as Drake walked in with his little boy.

They walked over to Alex, "Lucian is finally here huh?"

"Yes, and do we have a name baby blank?" Alex teased.

"Yes, this is Nico and my twin sister's name is Skylar." Drake announced. "He wouldn't stop crying so the closer we got to you the more he calmed down." He noticed his child trying to get to Lucian. Drake's concentration was cut to pieces when he noticed Alex turn white. "Alex, are you ok?"

Reardan started shouting as he noticed she was starting to hemorrhage. "She's bleeding out."

Nico reached his arms out for Lucian who was being held by a nurse who started leaning over Alex. 

Drake didn't notice them touch as he leaned over trying to calm Alex. Logan was holding her face trying to get her to concentrate and stay awake. Finally, he noticed Nico and Lucian reach down to touch Alex. "Nico, no, we need to leave the room." 

Nico cried out and kicked until he somehow pushed forward until he and Lucian were touching Alex's torso. Both had somehow pushed the people holding them forward so they were able to touch Alex making it impossible to pull the children away. Everyone noticed a light start to glow around the children then Alex.

Reardan announced, "The bleeding is stopping. She still needs some blood." Logan cut is wrist and whispered gently to her to drink until he was sure she had enough. He gently ran his hand down her throat coaxing her into swallowing. 

Nico turned his head and the vampires thought they heard a voice in their head, "Alex better."

The vampire men just stared at each other.

Drake pulled Nico close as the child began to doze off.

Logan face was filled with dread when he finally looked at Reardan, "Is she going to be ok?" The question almost came out as a mourning cry.

"More than OK. Let her rest and let's finish making sure all is fine with Lucian."

Logan gasped as he looked at Lucian and was a bit concerned that he was almost a mirror image of Nico with his bronze skin and hair. Both children almost seemed to glow and had dipples on opposite sides of their faces. 

Meridian walked over and touched the child as she went into a trance, "Ashvins, the two are the Ashvins. Nico was born on the 7th and Lucian on the 14th. They are the immortal twins of the gods." The stress of everything and the premonition hit her so hard she collapsed and hit the floor.

The doctor hurried over and picked her up taking her to the other room while Reardan tended to Alex.

~~~~~~

Lucian started holding his arms out and flexing his hands as if to motion the need to go into another room. 

Logan heard a voice in his head, "Alice."

Logan looked down to notice Alex was asleep as he gently placed her back in the bed. The vampire men followed Logan to Alice's room.

Reardan made sure Alex was fine and another doctor relieved him before he followed to find out what was going on with everyone going to Alice's room. The first thing they noticed was the slow an erratic heart beat as the heart monitor started going off. 

Lucian kept flexing his hands as if he wanted to touch Alice. Logan kept resisting, "Alice is sick we need to let her rest." Reardan rushed to her side to try to stabilize her heart. He felt his heart shattering as he heard her heart become even weaker.




Finding Meridian Ch. 24



Lucian cried and kicked until Logan held him close to Alice's body as some unnatural power pushed him forward. Lucian touched her cheek as his hand glowed.

Lucian finally removed his hand and Logan pulled him back. He seemed to telepathically talk to all the vampires, "Heal Phoenix Alice."

Reardan finally relaxed when her vitals became stable again. He tried to hide wiping the tears from his cheeks. He gestured to the other doctor as he needed to walk outside to clear his head.

All the vampires then heard the children speak telepathically to them, "Phoenix Alice, Aunt Alice!" Nico clapped his hands as he smiled as did Lucian from the other room.

Lucian looked at Logan as he kicked his feet and reached his arms out motioning for Alex's room.

Logan carried him back to his mother who cradled him close as they fell to sleep.

Drake went to check on Meridian as she started to wake. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine I just got dizzy. Don't tell Marcus, I just passed out. I'm fine."

Drake looked at Meridian, "Who are Ashvins?"

"What?" Meridian stared at him dumbfounded.

"You said two of the children are Ashvins, what are Ashvins?" Drake looked at her as he held Nico who began to sleep again.

"It must have been a premonition. I will need to do some research."

Drake noticed the dark circles under her eyes, "When was the last time you slept? You're doing too much."

"I'll be fine. I can't sleep anyways. I'll get some rest some rest when things slow down. Thank you Drake. Can you talk Logan into not telling Marcus?"

"I'll try."

Meridian got out of the bed and forced herself to check on her sister before heading back to the house. It was time to feed the children. 

~~~~~~

Michael was rushed to the medical facility complaining of appendicitis. As the doctor turned he was hit over the head and knocked unconscious. 

Instinctively, Alice's eyes opened and she removed the wrist bands. Despite the weakness she knew the children were in danger. She pulled the IV from her arm as she staggered into the other room.

She saw Douglas making his way towards Alex's room. She somehow felt he was going to hurt the child. 

She felt a pulsing of electricity flow through her body as she removed the arm bands and her body changed. A startled Michael stared and began to second guess his actions as he saw the raging anger and loss of control start to seep through her.

She grabbed him and was ready to kill him when Douglas walked in seeing her in her full glory.

 "You will be my first kill." Alice announced to Michael. Alice was holding him by his neck up in the air.

She turned to Douglas and Reardan were shouting at her. Logan was standing feral in the doorway to Alex's room ready to attack anyone who threatened his family.

Douglas' voice finally came through, "I will finish his execution! You have my word." 

Logan rushed grabbing Michael roughly transferring him to the guards as Reardan rushed in just catching Alice as she started to pass out.

~~~~~~

Alex awoke to a distraught Logan as she looked over as he rocked Lucian. His mind was fixed on how he almost lost things that had never thought he wanted but now meant everything to him. His heart belonged to them. Her mind immediately went to worst case scenario as he saw him rocking the child.

"No, please no Logan." Alex cried out. 

"Michael attacked. You started hemorrhaging. I could have lost both of you." He said as he crawled into bed next to her needing to hold them both to prove it was over. 

"I'm fine Logan," Alex said as she tried to get up but the emotions of everything hit her hard when she realized what happened. 

Alex held him close quietly crying as she saw Lucian reach a hand up touching both Logan and Alex, "Don't cry. All is fine."

They both quietly sobbed for a bit until falling into a sleep as Douglas stationed over 20 guards outside their door.

~~~~~~~~

Reardan sat in the library with a drink surrounded by the top royalty including the Grand Mage and Wizard. 

A weary Meridian was the first to speak, "It seems we have some issues to deal with." Meridian hesitated as she wondered what the easiest way to end this struggle for Alice.

All of a sudden Blue barged into the room followed by Connor.

Grand Mage Elly gasped as she said, "The Guardian has arrived!" She looked at Grand Wizard Morley, "Blue is Alice's Guardian so we can leave her in Blue's care. It was ordained by Zeus."

"Then we will remove the petition for her custody." Grand Wizard Morley stood and left with Grand Mage Elly.

Blue and Connor sat at Blue began to speak, "I am so excited. I was notified by Zeus I am to be the Guardian and trainer for Alice who turns out to be a Phoenix." Blue started clapping. "I am so excited."

"I know you are excited Blue but we have a few issues." Meridian said wondering how to get the rest of the issues settled. 

Marcus studied her and noted that he would have to work with her to restrict her life so she wasn't so drained and exhausted. He felt a pang of guilt as he looked at her.

Blue just waived her hand and laughed, "Tisk tisk. Reardan, a mate is a mate is a mate. I talked to Teague and you will temporarily be ruling North America and Teague will rule again in your homeland. You still get precautionary shot every day. We have more to discuss later Reardan. No going all cave man on us. Am I forgetting anything?"

Marcus started to laugh, "Did you and Meridian take the same domination course?"

Meridian looked at Blue who looked at Trinity and they all spoke each word separately, "Why yes...yes we all are of the same sect."

Marcus looked around the room at the other men, "I think I speak for all the men. That's just creepy."

The women started laughing as Connor muttered, "That's upping the creepy scale can we please stop."

Logan then spoke, "I want time to meet with Alice to thank her. Meridian, Drake and I need to know what Lucian and Nico being Ashvins mean."

Meridian then spoke, "I did quite a bit of research. They are divine twins, immortal and considered doctors to the gods. They heal and avoid misfortune and illness. We won't know all the abilities until they grow up."

Trinity burst out laughing, "So Lucian is Nico's brother from another mother?"

Meridian tried not to laugh but she couldn't help it. It had been so long since she had laughed.

Connor finally just burst out his comment, "Blue if you would accept I would like to assist you."

Blue smiled at Connor, "I accept."

Marcus took control of the conversation, "Well before we go any further there are decisions to be made about where to raise the children and such. For now I think we have more than had enough drama for the day."

Everyone got up to leave as Reardan headed over to Blue. "Blue, I need to be with her. I promise to behave but I really need to be with her."

"I took care of having her moved into your former room and listen to me carefully. She is of age but no mating yet. But I am unsure of how your blood has altered her DNA. Let's try and keep her unmated shall we? I am going with you to check on her first. Today was quite traumatic for her. She needs to heal in her Phoenix form so to keep that under wraps we need to keep her confined to the room." Blue gave him a stern face.

"I will do my best." Reardan shouted as he ran to his former room while Blue followed.

~~~~~~

Blue grabbed Reardan's arm as he almost fell to his knees when he saw Alice in the bed they had shared. He saw the nurse cleaning the wound on her abdomen which was still unhealed and had ugly infected stitches from being ripped open and restitched. "Reardan, hang in there with me."

Reardan sat by the bed holding her hand until he finally fell to pieces staring down at the unconscious Alice, "I am so sorry." He looked at the nurse, "Why is she still unhealed?"

"She hasn't been fed but once since you left. She's been worked to exhaustion." Blue felt him tremble with rage. "Reardan she needs your love now not anger."

He felt a hand on his shoulder as he noticed the medical equipment that surrounded her. He heard her whimper in pain and wanted to get her something.

"Calm down Reardan. I need you to trust me. No pain killer." Alice looked at the nurse, "Could you leave us?"

"Yes, of course miss." The nurse nodded and left locking the door behind her. Blue had already set a spell to make the nurse see Alice as her former self and not the changed Phoenix she was now.

Reardan stared at Alice as if in a daze. Her wings had retracted but he was in awe, "Alice you are so..."

Blue rushed in, "Reardan watch your words."

"Beautiful, stunning, and amazing." Reardan said without thinking. Reardan stared in utter awe at his Alice's burgundy and crimson ringlets. 

 "Alice, I am Blue. We met before. I was ordained to be your Guardian. Now listen to me. Stay calm. Everything is fine." Blue looked at her with a sweet smile, "Sweetie, it's not that time...No one will punish you. Now I need you to cry. I can make it all better if you cry. Can you cry?"

"I have no tears left." Alice muttered still refusing to open her eyes.

"Open your eyes Alice. Reardan is not an illusion he is here."

He gasped when she opened her eyes and he saw the brilliant orange and black with a ring of fire. Reardan was shocked to see her eyes as he marveled in their brilliance. 

"I'm dreaming; Reardan left me." Alice said as she was holding back tears.

"And if you don't cry little one he will lose you again." 

"I love you Alice. Please forgive me. Please." Reardan said as he held her hand as tears slid down his face.

Tears began to falling from Alice's eyes as Blue caught them in a cup. Reardan sat beside Blue trying to get closer to Alice.

"It's ok Alice, I have enough now." Blue laid her back as Reardan watched her pull the cover down and pour the tears over her wound watching her abdomen heal. "Alice it's still going to take some time to heal and you still might be sore. Do you want a sedative?"

"Reardan will leave then," Alice mumbled in a slightly incoherent way.

Reardan settled next to her and pulled her close. "I'm here, I'm here to stay. I haven't slept in so long since I left you. Please take the sedative and sleep. I will be right here sleeping with you knowing I haven't lost you. I haven't lost you have I? I love you so." The words seemed wrenched from his soul as he turned her head to stare into her eyes and held his breath.

"You haven't lost me. If you still want me? I'll take the shot." Alice said as Blue gave her the injection. Reardan heard her mumble and moved closer, "I love you to."

Reardan pulled her close as he just enjoyed the completeness of her being in his arms. He then looked at Blue. "I need to stay with her."

"Of course, rest, you look like shit!" Blue chuckled and left as he saw Reardan holding Alice close as he couldn't resist playing with her curls.

Blue looked at Reardan, "I will talk to you tomorrow. Decisions need to be finalized."

~~~~~~

Trinity thanked Meridian again for helping her with the babies. Despite Drake giving Trinity blood she had insisted he not share too much. They still were not completely out of danger. She was still hurting from the C-section. No one seemed to notice Meridian was still in pain from hers. She had also insisted in Marcus not sharing much blood.

Meridian continually came to help Alex with the babies along with taking care of her own. 

Marcus was busy catching up with business back home. He failed to notice she was getting little or no sleep. 

Meridian left Trinity's room as if some kind of trance. She needed to do more research in the library downstairs. She felt a wave of dizziness and nausea hit her as she was heading down the stairs. She felt the blackness enveloping her as she collapsed and fell down the staircase landing at the bottom.

~~~~~~

Marcus awoke with a start feeling as if something was horribly wrong. Then he heard the scream downstairs. He ran to the stairs seeing a collapsed Meridian at the bottom with blood pooling around her. 

At the same time Alice awoke with a cry. Despite his strength Reardan was unable to hold Alice back as she ran to the door and headed down the stairs. By now there was a group of people surrounding Meridian as Marcus cradled her in his arms. 

Reardan rushed down the stairs to see Alice blur to Marcus' side. Marcus was cradling Meridian in his arms trying to coax her to drink his slit wrist but her eyes were staring off into space. As much as he tried she wasn't responding. 

Reardan rushed up checking out her head wound and cussing at the severity of it. He noticed her weakening heartbeat as did Marcus. 

Alice reacted from instinct from memories from her past. Tears began to flow down her face as she leaned forward holding Meridian's face in her hands as she went to lightly kiss her lips. A golden light seemed to flow from Alice to Meridian causing their lips to glow through the kiss. Golden iridescent tears fell upon Meridian that did not slide down her cheeks. Instead they were enveloped by Meridian's skin. 

Marcus went to push Alice away as her hand went to his cheek causing him to still. Alice's head went back as her other hand stayed on Meridian's face. A brilliantly enchanted singing voice began to chant, "Stay with us...Stay with us...Ignore the other side...You belong with us. Stay with us...from me to you...from him to you." Alice very lightly and lovingly kissed Meridian as the glowing began again from Alice's mouth and illuminated Meridian. A glowing began at her hands and seemed to link both Meridian and Marcus together as he felt his soul scream for her to stay. 

Alice's head went backwards as Reardan was barely able to move as she screamed out and wings sprouted. Her hand slid from Marcus' face to Meridian's heart. Everyone stared in shock as they both disappeared. 

Marcus howled an ancient vampire whose soul had been ripped from him as he just howled a cry of loss and sorrow making everyone around him fall to their knees in grief.

Drake and Logan immediately sensed the volatile nature that was surfacing within Marcus. They rushed and grabbed him struggling as they dragged him into a safe room and locked him in.

~~~~~~

The final chapter is next! It is actually done and right behind this one so hang in there with me. I didn't want to leave everyone waiting forever with such a cliff hanger. I so appreciate your voting and support!



Finding Meridian Ch. 25



Does love last or die...Conclusion

Thank you everyone for staying with me throughout this long journey. I know it seemed to take forever but sometimes good things take time. Also, thank you MSNJ for not only editing but acting as my muse! Thank you everyone for reading! For now we have an ending.

Meridian

Characters

Reardan O'Brien -- Prime Alpha of UK, Werewolf. Father is Teague O'Brien.

Alice Grandy-Young island female whose parents were killed and uncle tried to rape. Uncle attacked Queen Trinity and was sentenced to death.

Hermes Trismegistus- Ancient Egypt spiritual leader whose name means 3 times great.

The Blue Priestess -- Magical daughter to Hermes and her powers are yet to be shown.

Marcus & Meridian -- Marcus vampire leader that mated with Meridian. Lead singer of Genevieve's Revenge and One of the three Triadic Queens. Children: Marcus Jr. and Gweneal

Trinity & Drake -- Triplet sister to Meridian and Alex. Mated to Drake. Powers of hypnotic voice. Children: Nico and Skylar

Alex (Alexandria) & Logan-- Triplet sister to Meridian and Alex. Now mated to Logan. Children: Caleb and Gabriella. Pregnant with 3rd child Lucian.

Zeus -- Ancient Great Great (you get it)...Grandfather to Meridian, Trinity and Alex.

Band: Genevieve's Revenge: David: Drummer, Billie: Bassist, Alex: Guitarist

~~~~~~

NOTE: SINCE MERIDIAN'S DRUMMER IS NAMED ALEX TO KEEP DOWN THE CONFUSION HER SISTER WILL BE CALLED BY HER FULL NAME ALEXANDRIA.

Marcus awoke with a start feeling as if something was horribly wrong. Then he heard the scream downstairs. He ran to the stairs seeing a collapsed Meridian at the bottom with blood pooling around her.

At the same time Alice awoke with a cry. Despite his strength Reardan was unable to hold Alice back as she ran to the door and headed down the stairs. By now there was a group of people surrounding Meridian as Marcus cradled her in his arms.

Reardan rushed down the stairs to see Alice blur to Marcus' side. Marcus was cradling her in his arms trying to coax her to drink his slit wrist but her eyes were staring off into space. As much as he tried she wasn't responding.

Reardan rushed up checking out her head wound and cussing at the severity of it. He noticed her weakening heartbeat as did Marcus.

Alice reacted from instinct from memories from her past. Tears began to flow down her face as she leaned forward holding Meridian's face in her hands as she went to lightly kiss her lips. A golden light seemed to flow from Alice to Meridian causing their lips to glow through the kiss. Golden iridescent tears fell upon Meridian that did not slide down her cheeks. Instead they dissolved into her skin.

Marcus went to push Alice away as her hand went to his cheek causing him to still. Alice's head went back as her other hand stayed on Meridian's face. A brilliantly enchanted singing voice began to chant, "Stay with us...Stay with us...Ignore the other side...You belong with us. Stay with us...from me to you...from him to you." Alice very lightly and lovingly kissed Meridian as the glowing began again from Alice's mouth and illuminated Meridian. A glowing began at her hands and seemed to link both Meridian and Marcus together as he felt his soul scream for her to stay.

Alice's head went backwards as Reardan was barely able to move as she screamed out and wings sprouted. Her hand slid from Marcus' face to Meridian's heart. Everyone stared in shock as they both disappeared.

Marcus howled an ancient vampire whose soul had been ripped from him as he just howled a cry of loss and sorrow making everyone around him fall to their knees in grief.

Drake and Logan immediately sensed the volatile nature that was surfacing within Marcus. They rushed and grabbed him struggling as they dragged him into a safe room and locked him in.

~~~~~~

Meridian stared over at Alice confused. All the pieces were jumbled and a blur. She stared down at the amazing gown she was wearing and gasp in surprise. She turned to see Alice and lost her breath. Alice was amazing dressed as a warrior with armor and weapons. Her beauty was all encompassing.

Alice was scowling, "We don't have long on this plane. You need to make a choice now! Look in the mirror. This is what you are choosing right now? Is this what you choose?"

Meridian turned to stare in a full length mirror to see the gorgeous gown but she was dead. Not vampire dead! She noted to herself in her head.

"If you die now we go to war. It will be a very long and brutal war. Some of the children will die. Marcus will lose it and kill anyone and everything that gets in his way. War will be his only focus."

Alice placed her hands on the sides of Meridian's face. "This is the future if you do not fight and come back with me." The images that filtered through her view made her scream and cry as tears fell down her face. The sight of Marcus in the vision made her cry out. He had lost all humanity. She saw him leave their children with her sisters as he left. The visions of the war and the dying made her collapse to the floor as Alice held her making her see the results of her death.

Finally, Alice removed her hands as she sat behind Meridian holding her as she sobbed. "I'm just so tired. He seems to resent me and the children. All I hear is that he has conference calls. He ignores me now. I'm so lonely and tired."

Meridian turned and stared at Alice. "You are one strong Queen and one hell of a fighter. This is not you. I know that you are hybrid but you still have a very human nature. It is possible to be depressed after birth. Normally you would demand that Marcus pay attention and talk to you. Instead you work yourself to the bone and kill yourself falling down stairs. I can bring you back but we don't have any more time. What is your choice?"

"I'll go back. I'll work it out. Even if I do it alone." Meridian said as she took Alice's hand.

"Correction, both of you will work this out. You have sisters, staff and plenty of people who love you. Without all of you I wouldn't have lived. You gave me Reardan. Now I need to tell you that bringing you back is at a cost to me. When we get back I will collapse. I need you to just have Reardan put me to bed and let me rest. This wears me down. Don't make any assumptions that I have died it's a hibernation. Explain that to Reardan."

~~~~~~

Meridian and Alice appeared within the safe room as Alice collapsed to the floor. An almost feral Marcus approached Meridian with anger and loathing in his eyes for her leaving him. He grabbed what he had perceived to be an illusion and briskly bit into the side of her neck sucking rapidly. Using the blood to try to ease his pain he started feeling he was hurting someone he loved. His eyes opened to a weak Meridian crying with tears falling down her face.

His humanity slowly started to resurface as he heard her weak words.

"Please Marcus, I'm so tired and weak. You're hurting me." A broken Meridian let the tears fall.

His eyes focused on her face and the fact that he had not used his venom during the bite. He had wanted her to suffer for leaving him. Now his heart was heavy with regret.

He went to bite his wrist when she stopped him. "I need you to be strong if something happens." She was fading in and out.

"Something happens?! I lost you. I fucking lost you! You will feed and that is it." He bit his wrist and cradled her head to it as she slowly swallowed. When he felt he had given her enough he pulled his wrist away.

"I'm so tired." Meridian stared up at him with weary eyes.

"Then sleep my Meridian." Marcus lifted her as Logan and Drake opened the safe room and Reardan rushed in grabbing Alice.

Meridian stirred and looked at Reardan as he howled out in grief to what appeared to be a dead Alice.

Meridian looked at Marcus, "I need to tell Reardan something."

"He just lost Alice that's not wise." Marcus was scowling at the thought of going near him.

"She's not dead she wanted me to tell him."

Reardan overheard the words as he picked up Alice in his arms and walked over to a weak Meridian being cradled by Marcus.

"She's not dead?" Reardan said with a touch of hope in his voice.

"She said she goes into some kind of hibernation after the strain of bringing me back. She just needs to rest in bed. She will be fine. She saved me." Meridian began to drift off as Marcus carried her back to their room.

He settled her in bed and went to the Library to drink.

~~~~~~

Marcus sat there thinking that he had hurt her so badly. Maybe letting her go was the best thing. Maybe he wouldn't feel like his heart was tied to her if he let her go.

Drake and Logan headed to the library to find out why Marcus was not with Meridian. They waited until they had a few drinks and then started to ask him.

"So you are just going to leave her alone to wake up?" Logan said as he stared at Marcus.

"It's none of your business! A nurse is there." Marcus said with malice in his voice.

"Don't push her away. You almost lost her today you idiot!" Drake said as his control snapped.

"Yes and I almost lost myself. I let her get too close. I should know better." Marcus said coldly.

"So you are throwing your mate away. How does that work oh Ancient one? How does it work? Does she meet someone else? Do you give up custody of the children? Do they see you on weekends?" Logan said pushing him even farther.

Marcus threw his glass across the room. "If you were hoping to push me you've both succeeded!"

Marcus grabbed a new glass and drank rapidly. Logan and Drake watched him until he passed out at the table.

"Should we take him to their room?" Logan asked.

"No, let him wake up to what he has done." Drake said as he left the room.

~~~~~~

Meridian felt herself in Marcus' mind as she heard him saying the words in the library. She knew it was real when she awoke alone and called Marcus just to get no reply. Her anger rose as she order servants to move her to another part of the palace. She refused to be around him until he got his head out of his ass. She needed to be strong for the children. If he decided to not be with them she would have to deal with it.

~~~~~~

King Douglas stood in court yard with Michael surrounded by guards.

"It seems that during my years as a ruler some have forgotten the laws on this island." One guard pushed Michael down on his knees. He pushed him forward so Douglas had a good straight aim. "Michael Smith you have been found guilty for kidnapping, slavery, abuse, attempted murder and attempted rape. Your sentence is death."

Most of the Queens and Kings had made it out to the courtyard to watch the execution. They were surprised to see this side of Douglas.

Douglas drew his sword as if weighed nothing and swiftly cut Michael's head from his body.

Douglas refused to say anything else as a guard wiped his sword clean; he turned with a scowl and left.

~~~~~~

Marcus finally made it back to their room to notice silence. He entered and the room was spotless. So spotless there was no Meridian or their children. Logan and Drake had warned him. It didn't matter he was better off alone. His business was suffering and he would focus on that.

He walked over to the desk and saw the ring. A small note was next to it.

You're free. Meridian

Pain surged through Marcus as he decided to leave the island and go back to work at the office. He quickly boarded their jet and left the island.

~~~~~~

Meridian was heartbroken over the next few weeks. She tried her best to not cry every night but every time she turned around she cried. She put up a strong front in front of everyone else but alone she cried. Reardan finally came to see her and check out her health.

She burst out crying as Reardan held her close to let her cry out the pain.

"I need to do an exam. You did have a C-section. You haven't made it to any follow up appointments. We have to assure there are no problems."

Over the next hours she had test after test done until Reardan came back to talk to her.

Reardan pulled her into his arms to hug her. He knew this news would be devastating and she was already alone. "Sweetie, you have a very bad infection. You ran yourself down too much and you're not healing. I can call Marcus to give you blood." Meridian just shook her head no. "Then we are going to have your sisters take care of the children while we take you down for a procedure. Even with Marcus' blood I doubt it would reverse the damage done. I'm sorry but I doubt you'll be able to have any more children. Can I explain it to your sisters? You need someone here for you."

"Yes, can you also call Connor for me?" Reardan nodded as he instructed a guard to keep a constant eye on her when he left.

Connor entered the room not too much later. Meridian just burst into tears crying as Connor pulled her into his arms. He waited until she calmed down, "Connor can you work with Douglas to get my band here? I need them. I can trust them."

"Of course sweetie, I'll help however I can." Connor just held her and cursed Marcus in his head.

Connor left as he saw her sisters enter. Logan and Drake finally told everyone what had happened after Reardan explained how she needed surgery.

Alexandria and Trinity held her close, "We're having our rooms moved towards you." Alexandria said as she wiped her sister's tears away. "We'll help you. When we leave the island you'll be staying with us. Logan and Drake agreed we would raise the children together."

"I would like that but I may record an album and take them on the road with me for a while." Trinity just looked at Alexandria. They both knew her band was coming and they had to devise some way to stop this distance between Meridian and Marcus.

They looked at each other decided they would discuss some way to make this right. They didn't have much time. Her surgery was in two days while she prepared paperwork in case something went wrong. Reardan had reluctantly agreed to the delay while he put her on antibiotics.

~~~~~~

Marcus buried himself in work.

Despite his wanting to not feel anything for his mate over the weeks the hurt just increased. He felt like a human as he felt his heart hurt. He missed her and the children but he reminded himself he just hurt her.

Marcus walked back to his office and sunk to the floor with his hands in his hair. How did shit get so bad so fast? His love just increased for her and the children the longer he was away.

He felt himself sinking deeper as another week went by. The days and nights dragged and he felt empty. When he saw Logan and Drake come in later with the children including his children he nearly dropped to the floor. His heart hurt even more.

Logan just smiled at him, "We thought we'd stop by."

Marcus immediately went to his children having Trinity help him hold both of them. Confusion set over him as to why Meridian wouldn't have the children.

Logan and Drake looked at each other wondering if this plan was a good idea. "Meridian is going to go back on tour after an excuse is made to the press about her alleged death. We offered to take custody of your children."

They hoped Marcus wouldn't sense their lie. Well if he kept up his stubbornness it wouldn't be a lie.

"She's just going to abandon our children while she goes off and has some rock star life?" Marcus began to scowl at them.

"She's keeping the tours short so she can come back and see them of course but she said she has to get back to her life. She's sent us with paperwork to dissolve the mating. I'm not sure how it works I've never heard of one." Drake said with mischief in his eyes.

"Where is she? Where the fuck is she?" Marcus demanded.

"Back at the palace and her band is with her. That Alex is so hot." Trinity said hoping to cause some jealousy in Marcus' mind. She noticed the fury in Marcus' eyes.

Trinity helped him put the babies down as she noticed him rush to the desk. "Is the jet ready?"

"Well, yes we were just stopping by. Did you need to use it?" Drake asked.

"We are all going back to the island." Marcus said with such force as to not cause anyone to question him.

Trinity and Alexandria hid their smile.

~~~~~~

Meridian was surrounded by her band as they hugged her. Each had crawled into bed with her holding her to prove she was still alive. Alex pulled her into his arms as he noticed her sadness. He noticed her constantly touching where the ring used to be.

"Spill it!" Billie said as he watched her.

"It's a long story." Meridian said in a shattered voice.

"We have time," David said as he held her hand.

The fatigue of everything took her over as she spent the next few hours telling them everything until she finally finished. She then cried as they held her and she dropped into a deep sleep.

After all of the travel and hearing their lead singer was still alive and what she had gone through exhaustion settled over them as they fell asleep holding her.

~~~~~~

Marcus was in a frenzy when he entered the palace and searched for her rooms. He was filled with violent rage and resentment.

When he opened her door and saw the men in bed with her he was ready to tear them limb from limb. Alexandria and Trinity had quickly realized things were going to go bad really quickly.

Logan and Drake rushed forward grabbing Marcus as the men woke up to look up at Marcus.

Alex was the first to look at him with distain, "I'm guessing you're Marcus."

"Get your hands off my mate!" Marcus felt his fangs elongating with his anger.

The two other band members left the bed but Alex suddenly had a concerned look on his face. "Meridian, Marcus is here." He felt her not stir and he shook her lightly, "Meridian, wake up." He felt her head. "Call the doctor, she needs a doctor."

Marcus just noticed the IV's hooked up to her as once again he felt his heart clench. Marcus felt something break inside him. His mind was made up. He no longer had the strength to run away in fear of losing her and the children. He was going to lose her if he didn't stay. Alex could sense the change in him as Logan and Drake let go of him. Alex gently lifted her in his arms and handed her to Marcus. Marcus noticed her shallow complexion and weightlessness as she resembled a ragdoll in his arms.

Reardan rushed in while Marcus was holding Meridian and kissing her face asking her to forgive him. He pulled the ring from his pocket and put it where it belonged, on her finger.

Reardan quickly got her stabilized over the next few hours and she was taken for surgery.

~~~~~~

Alex tried to be angry at the Marcus but it was hard when he saw him pacing the waiting room. Finally after hours Reardan and another doctor finally entered the waiting room. "She's going to be fine but will need time to recuperate." Reardan looked directly at Marcus, "NO STRESS!"

They all went to the library to drink since Meridian wouldn't be awake for at least 12 hours.

Marcus telepathically talked to Drake and Logan.

'I apologize to both of you. I can only hope she will forgive me. If she will, I want to be tied to her by marriage too. I won't ever let her go.'

Logan smiled, 'Bout time you got your head out of your ass. Why not a triple wedding?"

Drake just smiled and nodded.

Marcus looked at the band members and began to speak, "Thank you for consoling her. I am going to ask her to marry me. I'm not sure how things will go forward with the band but we'll figure it out after she's healed."

David finally spoke up, "I don't know about the others but I'm just relieved she is alive. Also, I'm in shock by the duplicates of her here." David winked at Trinity. "Definitely hotties."