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Silver Eyes

By: ParanormalQueen



PROLOGUE

It was a day of joy and sorrow. 

A day of laughter and pain.

It was the day the daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt was brought forth to the world. As her cries filled the palace, everyone gasped with joy. 

Then gasped in horror. 

The first and only heir to the Egyptian throne was a dark skinned child!

This caused consternation amongst the people of the palace. Both the Pharaoh and his wife were olive-skinned and brown eyed. Their offspring however was cocoa skinned with the most piercing of silver eyes.

'What is the meaning of this?' The Pharaoh roared harshly at the midwives and his exhausted wife. Had his wife been cheating on him? But with whom? There were no dark skinned people in his land. No Moors. But what could explain this inconsistency with nature?

'Answer me woman or I shall rip your tongue from your mouth'. 

'My...my Lord, I know not what....I am...'His wife trailed off and moaned. Whether in pain or in horror, she could not differentiate. How had she birthed a child of the Moor? She had never lain with any man other than her husband. But who would believe her? She moaned again.

The Pharaoh clenched his fist and looked round in despair. What was he to do? He knew in his hearts of heart that his wife had not cheated on him but he was feared by all as a ruthless ruler. If he did nothing his people would think him weak. He stared again at his wife who looked down, fear plain on her face. Oh how he loved her. He truly could not cause any harm to fall on a single strand of her hair. Not by him or by anyone else. What he would do was deal with the child instead. They could always have another child. The thought that any other children of theirs might come out looking the same flitted through his mind but he pushed it away. That was a problem he would deal with later.

'Guards! Seize this abomination from the midwives and drown it in the River Nile. It is clearly something of the devil and should be killed instantly.' He shouted this harshly looking at the guards.

The three guards by the door hesitated. They knew the baby was...wrong, yet they could not harm her in cold blood. Their people had been known for drowning children in the River Nile as had happened in the olden days in the time of deadly plagues, but these were modern times. 

'Have you gone deaf or pox-ridden? I said drown that thing or I shall have you whipped soundly for your impudence.' Pharaoh half bawled in crazed anger.

Immediately they rushed towards the midwives, stumbling in their haste to snatch the baby. The midwife carrying the baby could not suppress the half-sob that burst from her lips when the baby was cruelly snatched away. She was only a baby and had no idea about the circumstances of her birth, yet she was to be drowned. She turned her face away as the guards walked out stiffly with the oddly quiet child.

Two hours later, that same midwife rushed to the river to see if the baby was indeed drowned. She saw that one of the guards was still sat there, staring into the river with absent eyes. She cleared her throat and he turned startled from whatever thoughts he had been harbouring. 

'Did you do it then? Did you drown the poor child?' She asked breathlessly. She had been looking for a way to leave the palace unnoticed in order to try to save the baby. She knew it was pointless now as she had been delayed for such a long time but she could not help but wish a miracle had occurred. 

'Yes. We did. We dropped her in this very spot. The other two are back in the palace but I cannot stop thinking about what we have just done.' The guard stared back into space, a bleak look on his face. He could not have any children as he was a guard for the palace and had been made a eunuch. However, his sister had just birthed a child a month ago, a little girl with soft curls and an infectious laugh. He felt his heart shrivel as he thought of what he would do if his own niece had faced such a cruel fate.

The midwife wailed and broke off quickly. She did not want anyone hearing her cry over the baby. That would result in her own drowning, she was sure. She was not so scared of the guard next to her noticing her pain. He looked damaged by it as well. 

The guard stood up from his seat of grass and rubbed his eyes wearily. 'I shall go in now or they will notice my absence. Thanks to the...' he spat out the word in disgust, 'festivities going on I got away with it for so long. You should do the same, midwife'. He turned to go and as he did, he murmured so faintly that she had to strain her ears to hear him, 'May the gods never forgive the Pharaoh for what he has done for surely this is murder of a child of the gods. Those eyes...murder, and yet they celebrate'. He shuddered and quickly walked towards the palace.

The midwife shuddered as well at his words. The eyes of the child had truly been of another world. Maybe the gods, maybe the devil, but of another world she was certain. She looked down at the spot the guard had pointed to regarding the death of the child and tears blurred her eyes. She sat there for a minute crying softly. 

Then she heard it. The cries of a baby. She jumped so suddenly she nearly toppled into the banks of the river. What? Where? How? She looked around and saw nothing then she heard the sound again. It seemed to be coming from the river. She looked down and saw the baby floating upwards, her eyes shining with a glaring silver light at her. She could not make a sound. She looked into the baby's eyes mesmerized. It could not be. The baby was actually floating. She whispered the names of the gods in shock, and then added for good measure, 'the God of Moses, what is this I see?'

The baby finally floated to the top and blinked once at her. Her eyes had turned back to normal, or as normal as silver eyes could look. The midwife stood there not knowing whether she should pick up the child or run as any sensible person would do. Then the baby smiled beatifically at the midwife and that seemed to determine her fate.

'Angel, demon or magician, you are still a baby. And you deserve to be loved'. With this, the midwife picked the baby up and cuddled her to her skin. She looked round furtively to make sure no one had seen all that had happened then scuttled off in the opposite direction of the palace.

Silver Eyes Ch. 01



CHAPTER ONE

'Double vodka coke and two pints of fosters, did you say?' Annette Fleming asked pleasantly. 

The man at the other side of the bar smiled back at her nodding. God, she was pretty. He tried to catch her eyes again but she focused on getting the drinks and did not look back at him until they were ready.

Annette, or Netta as she was known to friends prevented herself from looking up at the near-drooling man that was making no attempt to hide his hungry stare. Ever since she started working in the quirky bar off the famous Oxford Street, different men had pestered her for her phone numbers; for drinks to be served to them; even offering to buy drinks for her. She had been as firm as possible with them, yet nice in her turn downs as the tips she got from them practically trebled her normal salary. She did not understand why they all thought she was so beautiful and had asked her best friend and flatmate Olivia about this after the first couple of days working at the bar.

'Are you mad, girl? Of course they're all ogling your goodies. With that hair, and smooth as cocoa-butter skin, and body and....bloody hell. What the fuck do you expect?' Olivia had answered exasperatedly. This was something they had argued over throughout their university days back in Bristol and she still could not understand how Annette was so oblivious to her amazing beauty. 

Annette shook her head once more as she came back to the present. Although it had taken her one whole month of mastering the perfect art of nice rejection, she now had it down pat and her further two months of working there had seen no disturbance. 

About three hours later, the bar was winding down and Annette finally allowed herself twist her neck, smiling inwardly as she heard the satisfying clicks. She ignored the look of disgust on Melissa's face, the other female bartender who worked on the ground floor with her. She was used to people practically recoiling from her when she clicked her neck. It was something she had done from childhood and she could not help herself. It felt like heaven whenever she did it. 'Well,' she sighed. 'Another night, another dollar.'

'Pound you mean,' Melissa sneered back. Annette rolled her eyes and did not bother to explain that it was just a phrase. There was no point in doing that as it would just cause Melissa to sneer some more about her being so clever yet working in a bar, same as Melissa herself who had quit school at the age of sixteen. Sometimes graduating from a Redbrick University with a First Class Honours in such a difficult subject as Law could be excruciatingly tasking.

'Okay guys, lets tidy up here and you can all get your money and sod off. Need you all prepared for tomorrow. Busy night, Friday nights you know.' The manager of the bar, David, an average slightly balding brown-haired man hollered at them as he was wont to do every Thursday night. Like they did not know Friday night was a pain in the arse; all the smug City types splashing their hard earned money on drinks that would be pissed out the next day, and pestering Annette whilst they did so. This was probably another reason for Melissa's hatred. She was an attractive enough girl, but clearly not as attractive as Annette as she never got the same attention the other girl got. No matter how much she gazed sultrily at them or pouted her lips. This angered her to no end as she was a closet racist and she thought all black girls where, by preference uglier than white girls. Plus, Annette was fatter than the average girl. Why, she was definitely a size ten or twelve, not like her, Melissa, who was a six. She glared at Annette again as the other girl wiped down the tables, humming cheerfully to herself. 

Annette was oblivious to the intangible hatred emanating from the skinny sulky girl at the other end of the bar. All she could think of was her nice soft bed waiting for her, and, hopefully, some leftover lasagne which Olivia was sure to have cooked tonight. She was very lucky with the flat she shared with Olivia. She had met Olivia in uni back in Bristol as a fresher and they had become best of friends whilst studying the same course. They had lived together in their second and third years and, when they had graduated, had moved into the cosy yet comfortable flat Olivia's rich and doting father had purchased for her on Baker Street as a graduation present. Olivia had gone on to do her LPC in the College of Law as she had secured a training contract with the magic circle firm Allen and Overy. Annette, on the other hand with no training contract as she had never bothered to apply for one had gone backpacking in Australia for six months and Asia for the other six. Now that she was back, she decided that she did not want to work at all and would rather enjoy life earning whatever she could whilst doing so; this was the less important reason anyway. Olivia knew the real reason for her reluctance to work but it did not stop her from being exasperated as she, Annette had such an amazing degree, even better than Olivia's 2'1. It was not about the rent as Annette had enough money to pay, even though Olivia was very reluctant collecting money from her. It was the fact that Annette was exceptionally clever and Olivia had grown up in a house where brains had to be utilised. She had tried explaining this to Annette and the cheeky girl had replied to Olivia's frustration, 'Well, since I was practically raised in an orphanage, there were no expectations there so no harm done really.'

When Annette was through with her work, she waved a goodbye to David and Melissa, with the latter ignoring her as usual, and she walked out almost jauntily towards the bus stop. It was one in the morning and therefore too late for the tube so she had to use the bus, a mode of transportation she was not too fond of. No matter, she thought to herself and slipped her IPod earphones into her ears. 

An act that she would come to rue, if only for a moment as it blocked out the footsteps that shuffled towards her quietly. 

As if she felt the change in air, she looked up suddenly and realised she was the only person on the street. She turned to her left sharply and was too late to see the hard blow that landed on her face.

'Gimme your purse, bitch.' The unkempt looking man in the oversized hoodie growled at her, his partner laughing manically beside him.

She did something which shocked both men. She sighed. 'Seriously guys, I'm not in the mood for this, just go away and leave me alone. It's for your own good really.'

'Are you high, bitch?' the hoodied man asked again, looking at her incredulously. The other man, who was clearly high on something giggled uncontrollably. 'Yeah man, she high, man. High as me, come on cut the bitch and get her purse.'

Annette looked round to see if anybody was walking towards them and saw that the street was still empty. She turned back to the two hoodlums and saw the man in the hoodie bring out a knife from his pocket, 'I ain't messing with you bitch, gimme that purse or I'll cut your pretty face up so bad.'

Annette studied him coolly. This was something she tried to resist as much as she could. In fact in the past year, give or take a couple of months, she had not had to do what she was about to do. She smiled at the man and said, 'Come and get it then tough guy.' 

The man growled wildly at her and rushed with the knife. She raised her hand ready to grab him and she heard a voice yelling from behind her, 'Hey, leave her alone you two!' 

She whirled round in surprise and felt the knife slice at her raised arm, cutting deeply. By the time she turned back to the yobs, they had run away, the giggling one doing a scary impersonation of the Joker from Batman. She sighed and stared at the long, deep gash on her arm. She looked back at the 'saviour' who was running towards her as if he could save her from, well, nothing now. She quickly tried to hide her arm from the man as he caught up with her panting heavily.

'I saw...I saw him cut you. Are you okay? Did he cut you?' He grabbed her hidden arm roughly as if his eyes had healing powers. His worried gaze turned to confusion as he studied the perfect skin on her arm. No blood, nothing. 'But...I could have sworn...what...' He stuttered.

'Guess in his haste to run he missed.' She shrugged at this. Luckily the bus was coming towards her. She quickly put out her arm to stop it and got her oyster card ready. As it trundled to a stop in front of her, she turned round to her would-be saviour and said, 'Thanks for yelling like you did. You probably saved my life.' 

He did not reply but just stared at something on her grey tracky bottoms mouthing silently as the bus door closed. She looked down to see what he was staring at and noticed the red smears and drops on her tracky bottoms and groaned. It was the blood that had spilled from her arm.

'Oh Bugger!'



Silver Eyes Ch. 02



Annette yawned loudly as she stretched on her bed. She looked at the bedside clock and saw that it was three in the afternoon. She raised her eyebrows in surprise as she kicked off her duvet. Wow, she must have been more tired than usual as she normally woke up by twelve or one at the very latest. She squinted at the faint sunlight that tried its hardest to squeeze out from the grey clouds. It was November so winter had happily settled in the capital city of England. She did not mind at all as winter was her best season of the year. She stretched once more and scratched her head, digging through her afro as she walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She stared at herself in the mirror, grimacing a little at her large silver eyes. Back in the orphanage, most of the other children had been so scared of those eyes staring out of skin as dark as hers that as soon as she turned thirteen she started wearing non-descript brown contact lenses. She smiled wistfully to herself as she remembered her early days in the convent in France. She had stayed with a group of nuns till she was seven then something terrible had happened which caused her to be shipped hurriedly to an orphanage in England. She quickly blocked what had happened in France from her mind. She had lived in the orphanage and gone to a nearby comprehensive school till she was sixteen. Then she had taken her GCSE's and had the highest mark that the school, or any other school in the county had ever seen. This had caused one of her teachers, one of the few nice ones, she remembered bitterly, to put her name forward for a scholarship in the prestigious public school, St Pauls School for girls. She had gotten said scholarship and gone on to score the highest A level scores there as well. This got her a full scholarship to Bristol, and as they say, they rest was history.

No one onwards from St Pauls knew about her silver eyes. She did not want to draw unnecessary attention to herself. This had continued whilst she was in university, and although the contacts did not detract from her beauty, she tried her hardest to downplay any interest with the addition of plain clothes. Oh she was no virgin; she had done away with that seeing it as something one had to do as a university student, however she had never been in a relationship. She never let anyone come that close. In fact, the only person she trusted enough to tell her secrets was Olivia and this had not been by choice. One evening in second year, it had been Olivia's turn to make dinner. In those days, Olivia had not been the amazing cook she was now and had been trying to make pasta with pesto sauce. The water had been boiled and Olivia, in her sporadic bursts of clumsiness, had missed the pot that was near the sink and poured the boiling water straight from the kettle unto Annette's hands as she had been washing a mug in the sink. Annette had not realised anything was amiss until she saw Olivia staring at her arm in horror with a very white face. Annette had hurriedly looked down and realised that her arm was shrivelling from the burn and, just as rapidly, healing. She groaned inwardly and looked back up at Olivia.

'Err, weird hunh?' She had quipped weakly.

It had taken her only about ten or fifteen minutes to explain what she was to Olivia and to her delighted surprise, Olivia had taken the news calmly. The truth was Annette did not know what she was. All she knew were three things: one, she healed fast – immediately in fact. She had been stabbed, burned, even shot at and yet she had healed all injuries instantly. 

Secondly, she felt no pain; physical that is. At first, she had thought she had an abnormally high threshold of pain until she realised that she never even noticed when she got hurt except if she was alerted to it. This had caused her countless worries when she first realised this and she had become extremely careful so as to notice little acts that caused the average person to bleed or even bruise however slight. She must have been extremely relaxed with Olivia to have let her guard down as she did that evening and she told her this. Olivia had blushed a little, pleased that Annette considered her that true a friend. 

Thirdly, she was incredibly strong. Like, inhumanly strong. She had realised this when she was about the age of six back in the convent. One of the nuns had been trapped under a fallen pillar during an earthquake and Annette had been so frantic with worry and terror that she had grabbed the pillar without realising what she was doing, and thrown it so far across the rubble that was the former church that it shattered on impact. The nun had been unconscious so she had not been aware of what had occurred, but Annette in her innocence had told her favourite Nun, Sister Esther, about it. Sister Esther had shushed her hurriedly and told her never to repeat what had happened to anybody else and she had asked why. Sister had replied that very bad people would take her away if they knew what she could do, so it was for the best that she kept it their little secret. Of course, keeping it their little secret had not stopped what happened a year later....

Luckily, Olivia had, after a minute or so of silence, taken it all in her stride and this had endeared her to Annette more than ever. She had also taken out her contacts to show Annette her real eye colour and this had made her gasp in awe. Everyone else had gasped as well, but in horror or fright, or even revulsion. But trust Olivia to be fascinated by her eyes. Annette privately thought that it was a result of Olivia's upper class blood. They were known for their eccentricity, weren't they?

Of course it turned Olivia into a mini-mother as she made sure to watch Annette like a hawk so that she never inadvertently 'forgot' to wince or scream in pain whenever any situation warranted such. It sometimes made Annette laugh at the way Olivia berated her if she put herself in reckless situations. She shook her head wryly as she imagined what Olivia would say or do if she told her what had happened last night. She could already hear the shrieks that would burst out of Olivia's rosebud lips. Shrieks of anger, fear, all sorts really. And this was why she was not going to stress her unduly. It was not like she had died anyway, so why frighten her best friend over nothing? 

She washed her face and put her contacts in. Although she was not going anywhere till seven when she had to leave for the bar, she was so used to putting in her contact lenses the moment she woke up that it was more of an automatic thing than a way of hiding from others. Contacts in and teeth brushed, she went to the kitchen to make some toast. As she ate she stepped on the scale and saw that she had not lost any weight since the last time she checked, which was two weeks ago. She grimaced slightly at this. Granted she had not gained any weight either, but she really wanted to drop a size down to a proper ten. It was really frustrating having to buy some size ten dresses in one shop, and size twelve in another. Why did she not have the power to stay skinny, she thought for the umpteenth time. She knew deep down that she looked good with her curvy body but sometimes she wished she was slimmer, maybe even a size eight like Olivia was. Ah well, c'est la vie, n'est pas? 

Several hours later, Annette came out of the bathroom as the door to the flat opened. 'Hey babe, how goes the world of the top legal brains in the country?' Annette asked a visibly weary Olivia as she towelled her hair.

'Oh good Lord Annette, I think I need a large gin and tonic.' Olivia sank to the soft cashmere clothed sofa. 'Bloody hell, it was a nightmare. We're trying to sort out the acquisition of some other company for Bucks Plc but it's via auction so obviously we don't have the fear of as many warranties as normal acquisitions. But some stupid oversized company is demanding we increase the warranties, and also give them a list of any other thing that we could be hiding as they are the main contenders for buying Bucks. God, why did I not pay more attention during bloody Private Acquisitions?'

'Don't be silly Livvy.' Annette said, dragging on her trusty boy shorts, 'All Bucks has to do is firmly inform the other company that it's a bloody auction. That's what comes with buying target companies this way. They do not have to increase warranties nor do they have to tell them anything more than what they've informed the other companies bidding as well. If this 'oversized company' was to look at things practically, then I'm sure they would be rather ticked off if the other bidders were being fed information that they weren't privy to. Anyway, isn't it against the law to give some company info which isn't equally meted out to their competitors?'

Olivia gaped at her in shock. 'Please Annette, remind me again why you did not bother to practise as a lawyer? I mean, how do you even know all this? They definitely didn't teach us that in undergrad and you didn't do an LPC so...'

'I was bored and read some of your textbooks. Didn't have a job then, did I? So had to keep myself busy, somewhat.' Annette refused to look up as she said this, furiously applying Shea butter body scrub to her arms. 'And anyway,' she continued hastily as Olivia opened her mouth to argue, 'I've already told you a million and seventy one times, I don't want to draw any attention to myself as a solicitor. I might, I dunno, help with some mega-billion deal and get my name and picture put in the paper and those guys...' she trailed off.

Olivia gently said, 'I understand, Annette. Completely. It's just; sometimes it kills me that such a clever light is being hidden under the bushels.' She stared at Annette who in turn looked out the window unblinkingly.

'And who said you'd help with some mega-billion deal you cheeky arrogant bugger?'

Annette started at this and turned to see Olivia grinning wickedly at her.

'Oh sod off Livvy, you know I'm like, clever enough for that to happen. Maybe even during my first year as a trainee.'

'Sod Off!'

Annette giggled as a cushion sailed towards her head and she ducked, running into her room and slamming her door shut. 



Silver Eyes Ch. 03



The bar was heaving with suited bodies and loud drum and bass music. Annette strained to hear orders shouted by a fat red-faced man who looked like he should pack in the alcohol and sleep soundly. It was the fourth time the man had come up to the bar to order drinks for him and his friends and it was not eleven o' clock yet. This would definitely be a problem as the bar closed by three on Fridays, so she made a mental note to inform David, or the other male bartender Alex to keep an eye on him. As before, he ordered five Heinekens and two straight whiskeys. Seeing as there were only four of them, Annette was sure one of the lagers was for him as well as the whiskeys. She shook her head to herself as saw him down them straight the moment he sat with his friends. She turned round to get more orders tended to and immediately felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle as the door to the bar opened to let three men in. She immediately heard the hush that descended on everyone. 

It lasted about a second then continued immediately, this time on a higher scale than before. The guys were posturing in a macho way and the girls were giggling and curling strands of their hair or pouting sexily as the men walked towards a full table. Annette smirked to herself disbelievingly. Did they actually expect to get a table in a bar this packed? However, to her amazement, the men who were sat there, quietly got up and moved to stand with the rest of the crowd. Annette almost gasped in surprise. This was truly stunning. No one ever gave up their seats, especially if they were not booked in advance, or paid for so it was a 'come-first, sit-till-the-end' unwritten rule. She looked at the men who stood up again, this time closely, and saw that they had a bit of a glazed look in their eyes. She narrowed her own eyes wondering if this was merely as a result of over drinking or if they had been threatened to move. Hot or not, no bullying was to be condoned in this bar. She looked back at the new comers and her gaze widened for one of them was staring at her intently. She quickly averted her gaze and proceeded to serve as many people as possible without looking back there. 

All three of them were truly gorgeous. Two of them were twins with matching cropped dark hair, large topaz coloured eyes and cheekbones to die for. They were also rather tall about six four, give or take an inch, and had bodies as honed as granite. She acknowledged their gorgeousness but she could not very well say she was attracted to them as they looked a bit too muscular for her, like bodybuilders. It was the third one who made her uneasy, and not in an unpleasant way. He was tall too, probably the same height as the others, and in any case, far taller than her five six height. But instead of being as muscular as his friends, he was more lean and wiry, like a runner or a swimmer. He had long wavy golden blond hair which swept the neck line of his shirt and those eyes, God those eyes. As they had stared at her so piercingly, for that second she had felt that she could drown in that green gaze. She could not tell if his eyes were all green or more hazel as he was too far, but they definitely looked purely green, eyes that she could stare at all night long.... 

Annette shook herself hard and resumed serving drinks. She saw Melissa sidle over to her and whisper under her breath excitedly, 'Oh my God! Eye Candy!' Annette stared back at her shocked. This was the first time Melissa had said anything to her that did not include a slur or a sly dig. She had to be overly excited about the new comers or maybe she had been tipping some liquor down her throat on the sly as it was forbidden for them to drink whilst working. Not that that stopped quite a few of them, Annette included. Sometimes, of course.

There was a lull in orders and she looked at her wrist watch. Ah, time for the party-boppers to move to the basement and shake what the good Lord gave them. She sighed to herself and rubbed her aching wrists. Suddenly, she felt Melissa vibrate to attention next to her and squeak in an unnaturally high voice, 'What would you like to drink?' She looked up and saw that the twins were at the bar. One of them stared at her and something must have been in her gaze because his eyes clouded with, was that disbelief? And his nostrils flared before he looked back at Melissa. As her attention was occupied and there did not seem to be anyone clamouring for drinks, she mimed the sign of going outside to David and grabbed her coat. She did not see the third man's gaze follow her. All she could think of at that moment was her naughty vice, Marlboro Lights.

Once she got outside she lit a stick and inhaled deeply. One of the many perks of healing instantly; she was safe from lung cancer and could go through as many packs as she wanted. Olivia envied her for this as she had given up smoking claiming she did not want to die young, but Annette had no such qualms of dying anytime soon. Not from smoking anyway. She was so lost in her non-guilty pleasure that she jumped and shrieked rather loudly, dropping her cigarette when she heard a deliciously husky voice whisper, 'You do realise cigarettes kill don't you?'

She whirled round to see the third man from the bar staring at her from underneath hooded eyelids. She was so shocked she answered without thinking, 'Not me it won't.' 

The man's eyes widened a bit at this and she gasped inwardly thinking, stupid git why on earth did you say that? She slowly shook out another stick as the one she had been smoking had fallen into a puddle and she bent to look for her lighter but a lighter emerged in front of her, cupped in the man's long fingered hands.

'Oh,' she whispered shakily then quickly cleared her throat. 'Err, thanks.' Ye gods, he was much fitter up close. She felt a curl of desire whip its way down her belly to her nether regions. 

As if the man had noticed this as well, his nostrils flared widely and he narrowed his gaze at her. He smiled slowly at her then brought out a pack of Camels. She narrowed her own gaze at him and said accusingly, 'Yet you berate me for smoking. Hypocritical, no?'

He chuckled softly at this, 'I never berated you, I just asked if you were aware of the consequences of smoking.'

She noticed that he had an American drawl, sort of like the cast of Gossip Girl, all elite and Upper East Side. 'Hmm, well are you aware of the consequences of smoking then, or you just don't care?'

'Like you, not me it won't.' He repeated her words back to her.

She scowled at him. Was he mocking her? Ah well, see how he felt ten or twenty years down the line when he wheezed from a hospital bed, a tube dangling from his rather perfect throat. If the powers-that-be could just be on her side at that fateful moment, she was word perfect on what she was going to say to him, 'Now do you believe me when I say not me it won't?' and she would laugh sarcastically and...

He gave a little chuckle and she raised her head up quickly and stared at him. He seemed to be laughing at her. Had she thought out loud? No she didn't think so. What was the smug American laughing at? Smug, sexy American, she thought rather dreamily and quickly snapped out of it as she saw his gaze narrow then fall on her lips. She licked them nervously and dragged quickly on her cigarette before stubbing it out. 'Err, was really nice meeting you, Mr...err, anyway, have to go back in. Duty calls.' She chirped and made to go round him back to the bar. 

He, quick as lightning, snaked out an arm and grabbed hers. 'You never told me your name.' He said softly.

'That's 'cause you didn't ask. Same as I didn't ask you yours. Now please let go of my arm.' Beautiful or not, she hated people touching her without her permission. It had taken her months to drop her guard around Olivia and not flinch when she touched her. Now she was used to it, but only to Olivia's. She glared at the man coolly and snatched her arm back. 'Now if you don't want me to get you thrown out of the bar, I suggest you don't try that little stunt with me again. Good evening.' With that she walked back into the bar, leaving the man to stare at her thoughtfully.

***

Sebastian Jean-Pierre Beaumont stared at the beautiful dark skinned girl as she served and chatted with customers. He had been staring at her as surreptitiously and intently as possible. When he had entered the bar with his best friends, nay brothers, he had noticed her because he thought her extraordinarily beautiful. Then his gaze had turned to observation as he saw she was not just a pretty face. She was also incredibly astute. She had been the only person to wonder why those men had stood up so abruptly from their table. He had caught her staring at them, trying to decipher what made them move. Of course she would never know the real reason, no one would. Even if they did, they would never believe, but still, she had noticed. Then he had spoken to her outside and read her thoughts. God, she was funny. He had successfully stifled loud laughter at her thoughts, only letting out a chuckle which had caused her to question if he was reading her thoughts. At that he had stilled himself, but relaxed as he realised it was just a rhetorical question not a real searching quest. Her comment on not being killed by lung cancer had been rather serious as he had gathered from her thoughts of her strolling in twenty years down the line and laughing at him. Why was she so certain she could evade such a disease? And why was she so scared of being touched? And who was Olivia? It was definitely a girl's name but the thought of it being a man made him scowl so ferociously his friends looked at him puzzled. He quickly tempered his countenance. Who was this girl that made him react so quickly? It had been years, since he felt this way about anyone and he was determined to pursue it to the very last. This girl was going to be his. How, he did not know, but he was most assured of it.

He stayed there till the very end of the night and would have sat there still if one of the men did not call out, 'Last Drinks.' He gazed rather dispassionately at the stick thin blonde girl who had been throwing their table increasingly smouldering looks all through the night. 

One of his friends, Dante, twin brother of the other Damien smirked, 'I asked her if she was down with double teaming and she said yeah.'

Damien choked on his drink as Sebastian shook his head in disgust. Damien whistled, 'Score, bro. Tonight then?'

Sebastian muttered, low enough that no one but the twins could hear, 'You guys really need to grow up. Double teaming at your ages, really?'

'Hey man, don't be jealous 'cuz we're like, centuries younger than you. And you shouldn't be saying anything, what with all the stuff I heard you got up to back in the God knows what year BC.' Dante chortled and Damien laughed along.

Sebastian looked round sharply to make sure no one had heard their conversation. Not like it mattered because no one would truly believe the three men sat there were anything older than twenty six or seven when in actuality, the twins were three hundred and fifty five years and Sebastian, well, suffice to say he had stopped counting when he passed his second millennia on the earth. 

He sighed and downed his drink in one gulp. 'I'll drive the car back as you know alcohol does nothing to me, unlike you two who are definitely drunk and should take a cab.'

'Yes father.' Damien giggled.

'No! No! Yes great-grand ancestor.' Dante added.

'Nice,' Sebastian rolled his eyes at them, they were like overgrown children. Always playful, but loyal and honest friends. Being dangerous in battle was a definitely plus of course. 'And you truly expect that blonde to look at you with anything other than utter revulsion at your antics?'

This sobered them up quickly, or rather made them act sober as they were determined to take her home and fuck her all night long. Damien looked up and caught the eyes of the girl, Melissa she said her name was, and mimicked going outside to wait for her. She nodded brightly and winked at them. 

Sebastian rolled his eyes once more and looked for the other girl. He saw her staring at Melissa with the same expression he had had on his face when Dante had told him about their plans with the blondie. He smiled inwardly, then outwardly as he saw her look at him. He grinned widely when she averted her gaze immediately. Then he frowned; he had not seen any cars parked outside which meant she was going to take the bus or a cab home. He was going to wait outside and if he did not see her hailing any cab then he was driving her home whether she liked it or not. There was no way in hell he was going to see her risk her lovely human body on a potentially dangerous Friday night in the city.

***

Annette rolled her neck as she shut the door to the bar. She was bone tired with cleaning up. Melissa had hardly done anything before rushing out, no doubt to meet those twins. She sighed out loud to herself. It was almost four and she had a feeling she was going to have to wait for an hour for the bus if she did not get to the bus stop before four o' clock. She considered taking a taxi briefly, but discarded the thought just as quickly. There was no point wasting money on a taxi especially when she knew nothing could hurt her. As she walked quickly towards the bus stop, she had a feeling she was being followed. She looked around but did not see anybody. She quickened her footsteps, partly because she preferred not getting involved in any brawl (in two consecutive nights) and partly because she could hear the distinct rumble of the bus making its way towards its stop. As she turned the corner into the main street someone grabbed her arm and she instinctively whirled round punching with all of her considerable strength. She heard a loud crunch as whoever it was sailed past her and landed against the side of the adjacent building. She winced as she remembered she was stronger than the average man, hell, stronger than the average giant. She rushed towards whoever it was forgetting the bus at that moment; there was no point worrying about the bus anyway since she was surely going to miss it now. She looked at the body and gasped when she saw that it was the third man from the bar. He did not look hurt. In fact, he looked shocked as hell. 

'Are you okay? Oh God, I don't know what happened. I did warn you not to grab me. Oh dear, let me help you up.' She gabbled bending towards him. He rose in a scarily fluid motion to his feet. Clearly he was not hurt, nor did he need her help. She gulped at the fierce scowl on his face which was directed towards her. 

'Err, I see you're okay. So I guess, I'll be leaving now, although I've missed the bus.' She forced out a laugh and backed away slowly.

'You pack quite a punch, little girl.' The man said in a very quiet tone. 

'Oh, adrenaline you know. Was really shocked, I mean, one shouldn't scare people in the middle of the night. That's when everyone's at their most alert.' She answered quickly, looking round out the corner of her eyes if there was anybody coming towards them. As usual, where were people when you need them?

He circled her slowly and she realised that she was being backed against the wall. She narrowed her eyes now. She was tired and really wanted her bed. This guy, no matter how stunning, was turning out to be a bit of a psycho. He had obviously waited outside for her to come out because the bar had shut over an hour ago. 'Look, I don't have time for this. I've apologised for hitting you and you seem alright although why you would still be able to stand after that, I don't know and right now I don't even care. Now, I'm tired and hungry as hell and I just wanna go home. So please get the fuck out of my way.'

He tilted his head to one side as if contemplating letting her go, then he smiled. 'No I don't think so. You see, it takes a lot to knock me down let alone across over twenty feet. And that puzzles me. So you see, I'm afraid I can't let you go till you tell me what exactly you are. Then I will gladly drop you at your place. You should not be alone at this time of the night anyway.'

Annette wanted to pull her hair out and scream in frustration, 'Look, I've said many times over that I'm sorry. And I told you, adrenaline. Now whether you want to believe me or not I don't care. Let me go, I can take care of myself as you have clearly realised. And do you honestly think I'd get into the same car with a creep like you?'

The moment she yelled this last question, she realised the mistake she had made. His face darkened and his eyes...glittered? She let out a scared whimper as he somehow appeared in front of her without moving and pushed her somewhat roughly against the wall. 

'Don't call me a creep, ma cherie. That is a word I abhor more than anything.' He whispered against her neck. 

Then he licked her.

That was the last straw, her temper snapped and it was as if everything happened in slow motion. Her eyes seemed to blaze through her contacts and she could feel them disintegrating letting her silver eyes shine through. The man's hand relaxed as he stared at her in disbelief. She gripped his arm with one hand and slowly unclenched his fingers from her neck, and with her other harm, she made a fist and punched him solidly in his solar plexus. She barely heard the grunt he made as he flew across to the other side of the street. She walked over towards him, murder blazing in her eyes as they grew brighter and brighter. 

He looked up and mouthed silently, 'What are you?'

She smiled evilly at him and replied, 'Someone you wish you never messed with pretty boy.'

She grabbed him by his coat and lifted him up roughly till he was practically on tiptoes. 'Now I don't want to kill you, I really don't. So stay the hell away from this bar and stay as far away from me as you possibly can. Understood?'

To her surprise, he smiled down at her and then, he did something that would forever remain branded in her memory. He whispered, 'I will never stay away from you, little girl.' He kissed the hand closest to his lips then disappeared.

It was a wonder Annette did not faint.



Silver Eyes Ch. 04



'He what?'

Annette winced as Olivia shrieked out loud dropping her teacup on the dining table with a clatter. It was Saturday morning and Annette had not been able to sleep as she went over last night's fight. Olivia had been surprised to see her up so early and Annette had told her all that had happened the night before, starting from the moment the man and his friends had entered the bar and ending with his disappearance.

'I know. I mean, it sounds unbelievable right? I would have hardly believed it myself if I didn't see it and I know I definitely was not drunk. I didn't even taste anything remotely alcoholic. The man honest to goodness disappeared!' Annette ran weary fingers over her face, 'Although I really shouldn't be that surprised. I mean, the way I flung him all over the place, any normal person would have been in a coma if not dead and this guy barely felt a thing. In fact, he looked amused, once he'd gotten over the shock of being thrown about by a short girl. Oh God, Olivia, he said he would never stay away from me, what the fuck have I got myself into?'

'Got yourself into? Annette, shouldn't you be wondering what the fuck it was you fought with last night? I mean he definitely isn't normal from what you said. What if he's like you?' 

Annette froze at this question, staring at Olivia with her wide silver eyes. She had not bothered with her contact lenses as she could not concentrate on anything but what had happened. Oh my God, she thought. It was true. What if there were other people like her, she thought. I mean, in novels, the hero always thought he/she was one of a kind then found out midway through the novel that there were others like him/her.

'Oh God, you're right! I knew there wasn't something altogether right about him and his two friends. What if he knows what I am?' Then she wrinkled her nose as she thought of something, 'If he really did though, how come he asked me what I was? I mean, he wouldn't have been that surprised would he? And anyway, I can't disappear but he can. He must be something else. Maybe similar to what I am but definitely something else.'

'Hmmm,' Olivia tapped a beautifully manicured pink nail on the edge of her teacup. All thoughts of the tea were forgotten. 'Maybe he's a vampire.'

At this, Annette burst out laughing, 'Vampire? Really, Livvy? That's a bit too farfetched mate, even for me. Vampires, werewolves, fairies, whatever; they do not exist.'

'But would you have thought someone like you existed if you did not know it?' Olivia asked sagely.

Annette stopped laughing abruptly. That was true. She definitely was not your average girl, but at least she breathed. And had a heartbeat. She tried to remember if the man had had a heartbeat but she could not. No matter; maybe there were extra strong, weird pill-popping drugs out there, but she was certain he was not a vampire. That could not be true.

'No, Livvy. I don't think he's a vampire. Something like me, maybe a more reformed me, yes. But vampire, uhn uhn.' She emphasised this with a firm shake of her head.

'If you say so. Well we have to find out what he is and how to get him to stay away from you because you really don't want to bring any unnecessary attention to yourself, remember?' Olivia stated matter-of-factly.

Annette nodded, more to herself than her best friend. That was definitely true, or else all those Sisters who had sacrificed so much for her had done so in vain. 

'You're right. The problem is where do we start?'

***

'She threw you across the street? Like you were nothing? Ha ha ha.' Drake guffawed loudly at the annoyed expression on Sebastian's face. Damien joined in the laughter, chortling so hard he spewed his coffee across the table.

'Har, har. Laugh all you want but think about this. If she could do this to me without breaking a sweat, think what she could do to both of you who aren't one tenth as powerful as me.'

This quietened the twins abruptly. 'Uh, so what do we do then? She might be a threat to the vampire community like that TV Buffy girl. What if she's like a vampire slayer?' Drake asked seriously.

Sebastian rolled his eyes at this. Even Damien shook his head. 'That has got to be the stupidest thing you've ever said, and believe me when I consider that amazing as you are a walking book of stupid quotes. A vampire slayer, really?'

'Then you come up with something more plausible, Mr Havard, Yale and Princeton all rolled into one.' Drake said disgruntled. 

Sebastian rubbed his face and leaned back on his leather sofa. He had given a lot of thought to what the girl could be and had actually considered if she was truly a threat to their tightly knit community. As a master vampire, he could go out in the sun to look for her but that would deplete his energy quickly. Drake and Damien were too young to attempt day walking and would be burned if they tried. He would try seeing and, hopefully, talking to her on Monday night at her place of work but if that did not work then there was only one thing to do. Ask for help from their 'day brothers', the werewolves. This would be especially unpalatable as the werewolves were an extremely smug race and would lord it over the vampires for centuries for needing their help. Luckily, their leader, Angus, was a good friend of his, so he would ask him to help discreetly without telling his Pack. He would, in turn, not tell his coven as news would spread to the vampires in other cities and countries and might lead to the girl's death. And that was something he definitely did not want happening. He smiled to himself as he thought about her sparkling eyes. She was more beautiful when she did not have those brown eyes. He had finally met someone strong enough to match him, even stronger and, coupled with the desire he felt for her there was no way he was letting her go.

***

It was Monday night and Annette could not help jumping every time the door to the bar was pushed open. She sternly advised herself after jumping for the eleventh time to 'quit it' as Melissa had begun to give her half-puzzled, half-irritated looks. Soon it was time for her cigarette break and she sighed to herself in relief. It was nearly one o' clock and there were no signs of the 'gorgeous three' as she called them. Especially the disappearing one. She lit one up and inhaled slowly, savouring the nicotine rush. All of a sudden, she felt an icy shiver go down her spine and she whirled around quickly. No sign of him, or anyone. She turned back chuckling nervously to herself. She really had to get a gr...

'Aargh!' She yelped out loud as her face hit a hard chest. It was Him. The disappearing one. Her heart raced speedily before being forcibly calmed down as she inhaled and exhaled slowly.

'Bloody Hell, you startled me.' She half gasped. He simply stared at her with a mocking smile on his face. If possible, he was more gorgeous than before. His blond locks fell over one eye and the other visible green eye was pinned on her with heart pumping intensity.

'I apologise, that was not my intention.' He said sounding anything but apologetic.

Annette could not help the snarky remark that burst from her, 'No puff of smoke I see. Golly, what heralds your disappearing and appearing act then?'

His grin widened at that. 'No, no puff of smoke sorry to disappoint you. Although, it did take me more than a few centuries to perfect the stealthy way I do it.'

Annette choked on her cigarette. Did he just say more than a few centuries? What the hell? Oh No, Livvy was right. He was a...

'Ah, I see you discussed me with this friend you always refer to in your mind, Livvy is it? So she was right in guessing who or what I was. A vampire.'

'You have got to be joking me. I didn't think you lot existed. And stop effing reading my mind, Transylvania king!'

He burst out laughing at that. 'That's definitely a new one. I've heard blood sucking leech, devil servant, monster...but Transylvania king; wow, definitely a new and good one.'

'Ha, ha...lovely I made your day...oops, shoulda been night. Anyway, vampire man, I have to go back in. Thanks for keeping me company, not that I asked of course. Hope I never see you again.' Annette turned around and made to walk off but his voice stopped her.

'And that's it? No questions or real surprise that we really do exist? No thoughts on how I read your mind, or disappear, or anything. You just hear out of this world remarks and walk off. Wow, you truly are an interesting human.'

'Why would I be shocked by what you just said when I'm still trying to figure out what exactly I am? At least you're in a named category, albeit weird. You can name yourself -- you are a vampire. I am...a nameless freak.' And with that she walked into the bar, shutting the door behind her softly.

***

Well, that went well. If you could call being introduced to a vampire that. Annette sighed loudly to herself as she wiped the bar counter half-heartedly. She had half thought (half hoped a small voice in her head slyly put in) that the vampire would try to talk to her again. Not that she was going to listen to him of course, she hastily reminded herself. She would simply have loved to turn him down again. She shook her head wryly to herself as she dropped the damp napkin in the tiny laundry basket by the kitchen door way. Who was she kidding? Deep down she loved the fact that he pestered her. Who wouldn't? Attention from a guy as hot as he was? Forgetting, of course, the fact that he was a blood sucking vampire if the movies were right. 

She shook her head once more and looked at the time. He must fancy her to keep on bothering her but there was no way anything could happen between them. It was futile so best she got her head out of the clouds it was seeking to bury itself in. 

Another sigh. Well, she had to make a move now or she definitely would miss the bus. 

As she walked to the bus stop, she looked round half expecting someone or something to pop out at her. These days, one thing or the other disturbed her previously tranquil nightly walks to the bus stop. 

As if on cue, she heard His voice behind her. 'You really should stop being so hard-headed. Walking home alone at night is not conducive for a lady.'

She let out a small smile and turned round to see him standing behind her, his head tilted slightly to a corner.

'Ah, but I was not alone, was I? And it isn't particularly scary. Not that it was before. In any case, now that it seems I have my very own bodyguard, I think it's pretty 'conducive'.' She replied.

He smiled at this as he walked towards her. 'Touché.' 

She looked up at him waiting. What was he going to do now?

'Nothing. Except to see you get safely on this bus you seem intent on taking late at night.' He answered her inward question.

She groaned quietly to herself. Was he ever going to stop reading her mind? She quickly put up a hand as he opened his mouth again. 'No, don't answer that. It was more of a rhetorical question. Anyway if you want to wait here, oh knight in shining armour, then feel free. As I've said, and proven, I can take care of myself so whatever.'

She turned round to continue her walk to the bus stop. Luckily too, as the bus was making its way to the bus stop. She ran quickly watching as the bus made its lumbering way down. 

'Would you have dinner with me whenever you're free?' 

She whirled round. He was standing right behind her, so close that she could feel his breath ruffle the fine hair at her temples. She hastily stepped back, her heart racing a bit. God, he could be scary.

'No. Thanks. And please, leave me alone. I'm happy I'm not the only weirdo in the world, or at least this city. But this is not a movie and I do not want to get to know you or join forces with you or whatever simply because we're different from regular people. We are not the same and we never will be. So please, I beg you. Leave me alone.' She wearily said. She was tired of all this. Although she felt a bit of a fanciful spark for him she knew there was no way 'they' were going to work. And the sooner she got used to it -- they both got used to it, the better for them.

She turned around and got on the bus as it came to a stop. She hoped this was the last time they saw each other. He could keep his secret as a vampire to himself and whoever else he knew and she would keep hers. Her life was too complicated to include another inexplicable being and she simply could not afford anything more or less.

***

Sebastian gazed at the painting he had been staring at thoughtfully for the past two hours. It was not the painting itself he was studying, he merely needed something to stare at and his eyes had chosen the exquisite Van Gogh masterpiece. He went back to the last thought that went through the mind of his new fixation.

Her life was too complicated and she could not afford anything more or less. 

What exactly did she mean? Was she referring to the fact that she was different? Or was there something more? His gut told him there was something more and his gut had never been wrong. He needed to find answers. This was his life mate, he was sure. He certainly had never felt anything like he did for her in over two millennia. When he was around her, the heart he believed he did not possess thudded heavily in his chest. Her eyes, her hair, her smile, her smell -- God, her smell. He inhaled deeply as if he could smell her and wanted to get every inch of her scent down his lungs. And the way her top had pressed against her full, lovely breasts when she had stretched to fill up the glass of someone at the bar. God, his fist involuntarily clenched. His mind had been filled with extremely x-rated thoughts. Freeing those lush breasts, palming them, licking, nibbling and sucking those nipples he was sure were dark and gorgeous, bending her over the bar counter and...

'Hey, bro. What's got your face all tightened up?'

He whirled round with his teeth bared at the intruder. It was Drake. A shocked Drake who wisely backed off, his hands raised in surrender. 'Hey, hey, hey, calm down bro. Just...calm down.'

Sebastian ran a frustrated hand through his hair. 'Sorry, Drake. I'm just a bit out of it tonight.' He truly was. This was the first time in centuries that anyone had been within a mile of him without his sensing it. The fact that his thoughts had been interrupted also contributed to his ire. He really needed to get a grip. He knew he would not be himself fully until he figured out everything he could about his woman as he now referred to her in his mind. 

He turned to a carefully sat Drake. 'Brother. I need your help. I need to do something, find something, anything at all about Her.'

Drake looked confused, 'Her?' Then his face cleared, 'Oh, her. The bar girl. Just get one of the vamps to look her up. Hell, I'll help if you're that worried. I've been watching Buffy re-runs on how to get her weak spot anyway...'

Sebastian bit back a grin. Trust Drake to put a smile on his face. Buffy re-runs. 

'No, it's more than that. I want to be the one looking her up. But she's not as easy as humans. She isn't the average human and she does not care about herself. Why else would she be walking the streets alone at night? She might be strong but she's not invincible. She is so hard-headed it's unbelievable. I need to watch her, to take care of her, to protect her...' His voice trailed off as he saw the way Drake was staring at him. 'What is it?'

'Oh my God,' Drake looked shocked and amused as he stared at Sebastian. 'You've got the hots for her haven't you? Woo-wee! Damian has got to hear this.'

Sebastian growled inwardly. Why did Drake have to reduce everything to his own silly level?

'I do not have the hots for her.' He retorted angrily at Drake. So angrily that Drake's smile was wiped off his face. Sebastian sighed roughly and sat down next to his friend. He buried his head in hands and mumbled to himself, 'I do not know what it is I feel for her exactly. But I know this, what I do feel for her is different from anything I have ever felt for anybody. Even you and Damian. I think she is my life mate.'

Drake widened his eyes at this. 'Whoa. Life mate? That's serious, man.' He stared at his older friend's head. In the centuries he had known Sebastian, he had never seen him like this. So hopeless. 'If that's the case just keep on trailing her then. I can watch her home or whatever when we find out where she lives and you can watch the bar and Damian can...hell, he can watch the cemetery.'

Sebastian looked up at this, 'The cemetery? What does that have to do with anything?'

'You know...if she like pulls a Buffy on us or something.'

Sebastian groaned loudly. 'Drake, she is not Buffy. She did not even know we existed until I told her and she has nothing to gain from killing us. Even if she wanted us dead she would not need a cemetery to do that. In case you haven't noticed we don't sleep there, do we?'

Drake shrugged sullenly, 'Well, fair enough. So what do you want us to do then?'

Sebastian shrugged, 'I don't know. There's only so much we can do. We're night creatures. And the only time she's not really safe is when she's walking to the bus stop anyway. Not like it really matters, protecting her. She's established she's capable of taking care of herself. What I really want to know is why she thinks her life complicated.'

'Maybe because she's a freak?'

'No. It's more than that. And she's not a freak.'

Drake shrugged a half-hearted apology. 'Well, we need to get close to her and be her friend or whatever. And we can't do that because she knows who we are. And it's not like you can send some other vamp because she might start to wonder why she only sees him at night now that she knows we exist. So you need to get her a day friend.'

Sebastian looked at Drake with something close to disbelief. Drake self consciously ran a hand through his hair, 'What, I'm not as dumb as I look. Most of the time anyway.'

Sebastian laughed out loud at this. Drake could actually put his brain to work when required. 'You're right. Absolutely right. So what do we do then? Who can we control to be our daytime eyes?'

'Why control anyone when you can get a trustworthy person to help you? Someone we both know would do anything for his true, blood relative.' Drake asked smiling.

Sebastian smiled to himself as well. He remembered thinking of the same person not too long ago. It was time he overlooked the animosity between their kind and werewolves and rope his great (countless times) grandson in his predicament. Anyway, as his ancestor, he was owed respect. 'That's an excellent idea Drake. All I have to do is find out where she lives. Then get Angus into the picture. He did complain about how dull his life had become the last time I saw him. Maybe it's time to give him something to sink his teeth into.'



Silver Eyes Ch. 05



Annette hummed a tune to herself as she wore her earrings then stopped, staring at the mirror. It had been a week since she had seen her 'vampire stalker' and although she continued telling herself how happy she was about the turn of events, deep down she was disappointed. She shook her head sharply and turned to get her coat. She was going to be late to work and there was no time to waste thinking about a guy whose name she did not even know.

Two hours later, Annette was so busy serving drinks that she could not spare a thought for him. 'Bloody Hell, Melissa. Watch what you're doing.' She hissed angrily as Melissa jostled her arm making her spill her drink all over the counter. 

'You be careful.' Melissa retorted, 'And don't yell at me for your mistakes, Miss Clumsy.'

Annette growled quietly to herself. This was the third time Melissa had 'accidentally' nudged her out of the way whilst she was doing whatever the hell she was doing. Annette was getting crankier as the minutes passed. She was having a very bad day, what with all orders coming her way. She definitely was not in the mood for Melissa and was about to snap. She looked away and continued serving the drinks yelled at her. As she passed by Melissa on her way to the gin bottle, Melissa smirked at her annoyingly. Annette stretched her hand out towards Melissa and was grabbed from behind. 

'Hey hey hey, Netta. Calm down. Just ignore Mel. She's an idiot definitely but don't let her get to you. I mean, what were you about to do? Pull her hair out?' Annette twisted around to see her friend and fellow bartender Luke holding her tightly. He normally served downstairs but the ground floor was so busy he was helping out upstairs. 

She sighed wearily, 'I know, but I'm not in the mood for her foolishness and if she nudges me one more time so help me God I will...' 

Luke chuckled. 'You know you can't do anything in here so best be careful or else David will have your head, not forgetting your job and paycheck.'

Annette smiled ruefully, 'Yeah, I know. I honestly don't know what I was about to do but I was certainly going to inflict some form of exquisite torture on her.' She ran her finger through her tight afro. Exquisite torture was right. With her temper this riled there was no way she would have been able to rein in her abnormal strength and if she had indeed pulled Melissa's hair, she was sure Melissa would have become bald in a split second. 

'God I can't wait for it to simmer down. I desperately need a cigarette and to get away from her for a few minutes.' She sighed again.

'You and me both. You know what, in thirty minutes, both of us are gonna sneak outta here, busy bar or not, and get our ciggies. Alright?' Luke grinned at her.

'Definitely mate.' Annette grinned back and moved over to the other side to keep on serving.

'Hmm, I spy with my little eye a very eager cock.'

Luke spun round to see Melissa smiling slyly at him. 'Say again?'

'Oh you heard me.' Melissa rolled her eyes at him, pouring two shots of vodka in a tumbler for a bloodshot eyed suit-clad man. She smiled at him as she handed the glass over and turned back to Luke. 'I know you fancy Annette, hell you make it so obvious even a blind person would spot it.'

'Have you gone bonkers? What the fuck gave you that idea?' Luke said in disbelief.

'Oh please, Luke. Cheering her up; always around her whenever you can; helping her with her serves. Bloody hell, Luke you might as well snog her and get it over with. I bet you're so fucking pleased you're up here and not down there.' She sneered at him.

Luke looked at her confused, then curled his lips at her. 'Oh you sad, sad, stupid, skinny slag. You think you know everything but you are just a dumb blonde. The reason I'm 'always around her' you twisted little thing is because she's such a nice girl and would not talk back to you when you keep on bullying her in your snaky little way. I do not fancy Annette, not like it's any of your business and if you were so observant you would know that she's not my type, neither are you thank God. I'm gay, barbie. And today's one of those days that I'm so pleased about my sexuality as it saves me from poisonous little girls like you.' He turned around at that and moved closer to the bar leaving Melissa standing in shock with her mouth wide open. 

***

'Thanks so much for today, Luke. Especially with what you told her, ha ha that was classic and I wish I was there.' Annette giggled. The night was over and Luke had offered to drive her home and now both of them were in his car driving to her flat. 

'It was pretty funny. Of course I was bloody pissed off then, but now; God she totally deserved all that I said.' Luke grinned widely as he drove.

Annette laughed some more to herself. At first the night had been shitty, what with how extremely busy it was and bloody Melissa being more horrid than usual. Good thing Luke had been upstairs and she said as much to him. 'I wish you could stay upstairs all the time. I'm gonna have a word with David. Try to convince him that the atmosphere would be so much better with you working alongside me and Melissa downstairs.'

Luke shook his head at that, 'As much as I would love to be up with you, I don't think that's gonna happen. Most of the people downstairs want cocktails and that's what I'm really good at. Melissa couldn't even mix a red bull and vodka properly I'm sure.' 

Annette laughed again. 'Yeah I guess you're right. Crap, there goes my lovely fantasy -- Oh turn left here, my place is on the left. Number 52.'

Soon he pulled into the free spot adjacent to her flat.

'Thanks so much, Luke. It was so nice of you to offer to drop me home and good thing too because I really could not face waiting for that stupid bus this late.' Annette turned to him with a grateful smile.

Luke shrugged good-naturedly, 'Mate. That's what friends are for babe and next time you need a ride don't hesitate to ask. Go on then, need to go jiggle with my boo.' He wriggled his eyebrows.

Annette chuckled shaking her head. 'You horny dog! Go and have your naughty 'jiggle'. See you tomorrow maybe. Good night hun.' She pecked his lips and got out the car, waving as he drove off. She never noticed the car that was packed at the corner of the street as she opened the door to her building and walked in.

***

'Is that the girl you want me to get close to?' A gruff voice emerged from the tall, extremely muscled red-haired guy.

'Not exactly, Angus. Not if you don't want to be skinned alive.' Sebastian drily replied.

A small smile crossed Angus' face. 'Okay then. Maybe I said that wrongly. Is that the girl you want me to find out everything about?'

'Yeah, that's more like it. But what I would like you to do exactly is get close to her flatmate. A girl called Livvy. Seduce her if you like. Just get her to tell you everything she knows about the girl.'

'Hmm, that might be interesting. Fine then. Shall start tomorrow.'

'Thanks, Angus. You're a good friend.'

More like a good great-great-great...whatever grandson, Oldie.' Angus grinned.

'Watch your mouth youngster, or this geriatric man here will give your eye the ugliest bruise it's ever come across.'

They both laughed as Angus drove away from there. Sebastian deliberately said nothing about the guy that had dropped her off. He was definitely going to pay that man a visit if he ever saw him around his life mate again.



Silver Eyes Ch. 06



'Yay, it's the weekend! No work for me. Glorious weekend, whoop-de-doop!' Olivia ran round the living room waving Annette's bra over her head. 

Annette scowled at her angrily from the depths of her duvet. She was near comatose on the living room sofa. Friday night had been awfully busy as per usual and all she wanted to do was laze around on the sofa, watch TV all day long and eat Walkers Cheese and Onion crisps, bag after bag. Listening to Olivia's off-key singing voice and watching her run about like a mad harpy with her bra was not part of the plan.

'Hush you crazy whore and give me back my bra! Your voice is horrendous.' Annette hissed at her, glaring as evilly as she could. Without her contacts she was doing a pretty good job.

'You can't scare me, superwoman. So stop with the evil glare.' Olivia jiggled her bum right in Annette's face and ran off giggling when Annette lunged at her. 'Come on. It's a glorious day. Well as glorious as any winter day could be especially in this shitty country. Let's go for a walk in the park. Kick all the dead leaves at annoying perky kids. Come on, I know you want to. You hate kids. Plus it's been a very long time since you went out in the day, you've become a night creature. Like your mystery vampire guy.'

Annette hit her head with the flat of her hand groaning loudly. Olivia was going to whinge non-stop if she did not get her way. And she really did not want to hear anything about her vampire right now. She blushed to herself softly as she realised she was actually referring to him as her vampire. She got off the sofa stretching. 'Fine. We'll go for a walk. But...' she raised up a hand to stop Olivia's mad shriek of victory, 'But you have to promise me something. A few things actually.'

'Anything! Your wish is my command baby.' Olivia crowed.

'Firstly, no talking about the vampire. Not a single word for the whole journey. Secondly, you are going to leave me alone in peace when we get back. I intend to be a bum today and there's no way you are going to interfere. And lastly, you are going to buy a massive tub of Ben & Jerry's Phish Food as a gift for my loving friendship to you.'

Olivia rolled her eyes, 'More like bribery. Yeah, whatever. But I can talk to you about him when we get back. You did say the whole journey, nothing about when we get back home.'

'Indeed I did. But I also said you have to leave me alone when we get back. And that includes talking about him. For the entire day.' Annette replied with a sly smirk.

'Whatever. Go get your coat, killjoy.' Olivia mock sulked.

A few minutes later, they were strolling towards Hyde Park all wrapped up in thick scarves, ear muffs, beanie hats and large coats. 

'Isn't this glorious? The sun shining, crisp fresh air, taking in the deliciously wintery air...aah, divine.' Olivia inhaled happily.

'Glorious? Hmm, let's see. The sun is shining, definitely. But it doesn't really matter does it because it's more like a fucking blinding glare in my eyes. It's not doing anything to prevent how sodding cold it is. And taking in the air, ha! More like inhaling shards of glass down your nostrils straight to your lungs.' Annette complained bitterly.

'Stop spoiling everything, Netta. You've been sulking around the flat this whole week like your favourite toy was stolen from you and I've been trying my best to cheer you up and frankly you're getting on my last tits. I get back from work tired as hell but I push it aside so you see a cheerful face before you go to the bar. Still you don't show me any form of gratitude or whatnot. I don't even care about that 'cuz you're my friend and it's my job to get you out of your funk but trying to ruin the only free day I have in a week, spent on cheering you up again nonetheless...no, I won't have that. So stop it or just go back home. I don't want you ruining my mood any further.' Olivia had stopped in the middle of the park pavement with her fists on either side of her waist. 

Annette thought to herself darkly, well I didn't ask you for your help now did I? I was perfectly happy being in my so-called funk and you just had to be little miss fucking sunshine. Well that's what you get for being a bloody Good Samaritan. She half felt like saying just as much to Olivia but she relented almost immediately. It really wasn't Olivia's fault that she was in a bad mood. The whole week had been shitty what with her vampire not turning up at all and the fact that although she had been the one to drive him away, she was still wishing he was around. It was mostly self disgust that filled her for wanting her stalker back. She snorted at herself in anger then looked up. Olivia was still staring at her with her eyes flashing. Annette sighed, 'I'm sorry, okay. Sorry I'm taking out my annoyance on you especially when I know you truly are trying to get me out of this stupid, self-inflicted mood I'm in. Don't worry, I won't say anything depressing again. I'll even talk about the joy of the birds chirping and the bees buzzing if you like.'

That elicited a reluctant smile from Olivia. 'Well, you don't have to go that far of course. But just smiling and nodding will be alright.'

'Okay. Smile and nod. Got it.' Annette grinned at her and linked arms once more as the girls continued their walk.

***

Angus stared at the two girls as they resumed their now joyful jaunt across the park. With his enhanced hearing, he had listened in as they argued. He smiled to himself. He was definitely going to enjoy getting to know the one called Olivia better. She seemed very fiery especially after being a witness to her little display of temper. He thought of a plan on how to attract their attention. He had to make sure it came across as genuinely accidental. There was no way they would believe otherwise as they struck him as very intelligent and suspicious characters. He let out a soft chuckle; he was going to enjoy this bit of challenge. His eyes narrowed once more as he stared at the girls, Olivia in particular. She was quite delectable, he mused to himself. She had been too far away for him to notice the colour of her eyes or how her body was with it all wrapped up in those ugly winter clothing. But the bit of hair he had spotted, all wavy and full the colour of a rich sable and the delicious looking full lower lip she had chewed on as Annette apologised to her; he felt himself begin to harden. 

Yes, it was truly going to be a very enjoyable task, getting Olivia to trust him.

***

'Bloody Hell, why do they allow dogs as massive as that to run about the park leash-less?' Olivia muttered angrily as they watched a big Rottweiler run around, it's owners oblivious to its activities.

Annette laughed out loud, 'Oh my God, forgot about your completely irrational fear of dogs. Really Livvy, they are delightful creatures. And are completely lovely and tame. Why on earth is anyone scared of dogs?'

'Why wouldn't they be?' Olivia retorted, 'Dreadful, snarling creatures. And they've become baby eaters too. Or have you forgotten the story about that horrid dog that ate a baby?'

Annette rolled her eyes, 'Oh please, Livvy. Ate a baby? It bit a baby, yes but it's a pit bull terrier. Those dogs are crazy animals. And don't even go saying 'I told you so'. Just because one dog, or maybe a particular type of dog can be a bit mental doesn't mean all dogs are horrible creatures. It's the same way humans have serial killers and you know, child molesters...'

'Oh Annette. Comparing dogs to human beings, that fucking takes the cake.' Olivia shook her head vigorously as Annette opened her mouth ready to argue, 'No, nope, nada. We are simply going to agree to disagree. You like dogs and think the world of them and I hate dogs and think they should all be gassed. Okay. Fine. Moving on rather swiftly...' A large shriek of horror cut off her words and both girls turned round hurriedly to see the topic of their conversation crouched over a skinny dark-haired little boy and snarling at him viciously. 

Olivia stood still in shock and terror. She could not be propelled towards the screaming boy as all her fears rose to the surface. Her face turned white and she saw black spots fill her vision as she slowly sank to the ground. 

Annette, on the other hand, had run towards the boy and the dog who truly looked scary as it snarled and growled at the obviously petrified child. As she tiptoed closer dog, she began cooing softly, 'Here boy, down boy. Come on, big fella, you don't want to hurt the young 'un now, do ya?' 

The dog turned towards the voice and snarled at her angrily. She quickly looked round and saw that its owners, although rushing towards them, were still far away. She didn't notice anyone else near them so she quickly ran to the dog and stuck her arm quickly in front of its frothing muzzle as it lunged towards the white-faced, mewling little boy. She did not feel the bite of the dog but she certainly heard its loud snap and thought to herself, that it definitely did not sound good at all. She used her bitten arm to raise the dog off the boy who immediately fainted at this unbelievable sight. She used her other arm to pry the dog's sharp teeth off her mutilated arm and winced as she heard a wet ripping sound. She closed her eyes as she also heard the scarier sound of footsteps running towards her. Oh crap, witnesses were coming closer. She looked at her arm and almost sobbed in relief as it healed rapidly and looked up at the dog as it gobbled down the little bits of her flesh. She had no idea what she was going to do about the smears of blood on its snout however. 

Just as she thought this, a hysterical woman rushed towards her screaming, 'Ben! My baby, Ben!' 

Annette quickly grabbed the collar of the dog as it went almost mental, barking and straining towards the woman. The woman paid no attention to the snarling animal, so intent was she on getting to her son. She rushed to him and scooped him in her arms sobbing loudly.

Annette quickly said, 'Best you get your boy out of here to the nearest hospital. I can't hold this dog for too long.'

'Oh thank you. Thank you so much.' The woman sobbed as she ran the opposite way towards her car, Annette presumed. She turned around and saw the owners of the dog, a young man and woman run towards her. 

The man quickly grabbed the collar from her as the woman turned towards her with widened eyes, 'Oh my God I'm so sorry. It's never behaved like that before. I'm really sorry. Did it hurt you?' She did not wait for an answer as she looked at the dog's snout and noticed a tiny smear of red. Luckily Annette thought, it had licked off most of the blood.

'Oh no! It did. It did hurt you. Oh, it doesn't have rabies I assure you. Do you need a doctor? I will pay I swear.' The woman babbled as tears ran down her face.

Annette rushed to placate her. 'Oh no, don't worry about that. It was a tiny scratch, honest. Just keep your dog away from the park for a while, I think. If that poor boy's mother wasn't so anxious about her son, she would have gone bonkers. She still might if she suddenly realises that she's not sued you to heaven and back and comes back here so best you scoot with the dog now.'

'Oh thank you. You are so incredibly nice. Thank you ever so much.' Both man and woman gushed as they leashed their dog and walked off, turning every step or so to mouth 'Thank you.'

Annette rolled her neck hearing the ever soothing clicks. All she had wanted was a lazy day on the sofa but what did she get? A fucking adventure, that's what!

She turned back to see Olivia being held by a large red-haired man who seemed to be talking in a calming manner to her. Both of them stared at her as she approached them cautiously.

'Oh my God, Netta.' Olivia half-sobbed as she hurled herself in Annette's arms. 'I was so worried, I mean. I thought that dog was going to rip your arm off, I mean I know it probably didn't...' Annette quickly cleared her throat halting Olivia mid-speech. She did not want Olivia blurting out her secret in front of a stranger, or anyone for that matter. Olivia quickly understood and shut it, content to hug Annette as tightly as she could. 

Annette in turn stared suspiciously at the red-haired chap. He looked back at her albeit with concern in his hazel eyes. 'Are you okay?' He asked. 'I could have sworn I saw that dog clamp down on your arm.'

'You saw wrong. All it got was my coat. Thank God for winter and its incredibly thick coats, hunh?' She replied not caring if the excuse came out weak or not. 

Olivia noted the flat tone of Annette's voice and quickly unglued herself from her explaining as she did so, 'This man was so lovely to me. You know my fear, now understandable thank you very much, about dogs? Well apparently, I fainted and this guy caught me. And he's been here with me as you wrestled that demon spawn of a dog. Oh Netta, I felt so helpless 'cuz I couldn't do absolutely anything to help you. And he wanted to go on and help but I thought I would faint again and he stayed to make sure. Hope that wasn't selfish of me, babe?' She looked at Annette who snorted inwardly.

Selfish my arse, Annette thought. She knew that look in Olivia's eyes. Olivia clearly knew that Annette could take care of herself and although she might have been worried at first, the attraction she could spot in Livvy's devious wide blue eyes was what had kept the red-haired guy by her side, Annette was certain. 'No it wasn't darling. I totally understand. But as we can all see, I am perfectly alright. Probably best if we cut this walk short and head on home. Think I've had enough excitement for today.' 

She started walking off leaving Olivia and the stranger behind.

***

Angus stared after Annette as she walked off. Well, Seb was right after all. She truly was extraordinary. She smelt completely human yet acted differently especially after what he had seen with the dog. Her coat sleeve wasn't long enough to cover the end of her arm close to her wrist and he had clearly seen the dog bite and even rip off some of her skin. Immediately, her skin had knitted itself together and the blood had bubbled and sank back into it as it healed. Even vampires did not heal that neatly. They usually lost some blood from their cuts or wounds but she, it was as if her body was jealously guarding all her precious blood and did not want any of it to waste. She truly was different and he could not wait to report this interesting bit of sighting to Sebastian. He focused back on the beautiful brown-haired blue eyed girl stood in front of him. She was definitely gorgeous and he knew that he was going to take her to his bed. All he could hope for was that she was ready to take all that he had to offer because their first coupling was not going to be a gentle affair.

'I'm sorry about my friend. She just had a frightening experience so isn't as friendly as she usually is.' Olivia apologised on behalf of Annette.

Angus almost snorted. Frightening his arse. More like routine for her he was sure. Instead, what came out his mouth was, 'I completely understand. She even took it stronger than any person I've ever seen, man or woman.'

Olivia smiled at this, 'Well, I guess I have to get going. Thanks again for catching my fall. How hideously embarrassing. Guess I'll see you around.' She said this airily but Angus caught the hidden question and smiled to himself.

'I hope I do see you around. Here's my card.' He handed her a card from his wallet. It had his name and phone number of his office. He was the head of a private investigation company. 

How apt and ironic, he thought to himself for the umpteenth time.

She took it and read it, 'Angus, hunh? How Scottish.'

'Olivia, hunh? How upper middle class.'

The both laughed at this. Olivia looked round and noticed that Annette had walked quite a long way off, 'Oh shit. I really have to go now. I'll give you a call sometime.'

He stared deeply into her eyes and said huskily, 'I'll be waiting.'

She blushed and ducked her head quickly muttering a 'Good bye,' as she ran off towards Annette in a hurried manner.

Angus grinned to himself. How fortuitous it was that Olivia was scared of dogs. He felt a smidgen of regret that he had had to 'push' the dog to lose control and set it on a kid, but he had made sure that the dog wouldn't harm anybody. Annette putting out her arm like that had startled him and he had lost control of the dog for that split second that it bit her. But at least it had made him see firsthand her non-human abilities. Especially as Sebastian had no idea that she could heal too. All he knew was that she was exceptionally strong. 

Hmm, maybe telling him this would alleviate the roar of anger that Seb was certain to emit once he heard that Annette was bitten in the first place. He chuckled once more to himself as he walked away, whistling as he did so.



Silver Eyes Ch. 07



Annette stared at herself in the mirror with a tiny spark of happiness in her eyes. It had been a fun weekend, apart from the dog episode on Saturday. She shook her head to get that day out of her head. When they had got back home, Olivia had not stopped babbling about 'darling Angus.' It had given Annette the opportunity to tease her continuously about the aptly named ginger Scot. She grinned to herself again. She did not really have anything positive to say or think about him. In fact, she was rather suspicious of him, not like he had done anything but there was just something about him she was not sure of. Maybe it was because she was very protective of Olivia. Same as Olivia was protective of Annette. Annette focused back on her light make up forcibly removing her thoughts from Olivia and Angus. There was nothing to be worried about yet. Olivia was still too shy to ring up Angus so Annette did not have to break every bone in his body yet, until he caused Olivia pain and she was waiting for that to happen. Not that she wanted Olivia to be hurt but if that was to occur then she was waiting. She smiled to herself at this.

Thirty minutes later she was behind the bar smiling and exchanging idle banter with Alex the other bar tender and David the manager. She ignored Melissa who ignored her in turn. Clearly no love lost there, Alex thought to himself wryly. Soon the bar started filling up and conversations gradually ceased as the focused on their customers. Annette suddenly felt eyes watching her and looked round quickly. The first time she scanned the room she did not notice anyone so she continued serving albeit cautiously.  

Then she heard a very familiar voice which she had not heard in a week ask in a soft voice, 'Have you gone entirely crazy, woman?'

She looked up and stared into furiously blazing green eyes. And gulped.

***

Sebastian stared at Annette with what he hoped was controlled anger. From the expression on Annette's face, it was quite clear his anger was not as controlled as he wanted it to be. Not like he really cared at the moment. What had possessed her to put her arm in the face of an angry Rottweiler? He had nearly roared the mansion down when Angus had informed him of what had happened at the park. He had been unable to stop himself from grabbing Angus's throat in fury. How dare he lose control? What if Annette had been unable to heal so fast? He closed his eyes trying to stop himself thinking along that line. He had been tempted to go see Annette immediately he heard what happened but the twins had been able to calm him down and stop him from blowing Angus's barely laid out cover. He stared down at Annette while she looked up at him in fear and confusion.

'What have I done wrong now?' She asked.

He looked round about to open his mouth and noticed that they were the centre of attention. He shook his head slightly at this and said in what he hoped was a calm voice, 'Could we talk about this outside, please?'

'Well we can't. Not now anyway. I'm on a break in an hour so if you wanna wait till then?' She asked.

A slightly balding chubby man came up behind her and asked, 'Is there any problem here, Annette? This man bothering you?'

Annette shook her head quickly, 'No. No, don't worry about it, David. Just a guy I know. He's gonna order a drink now and wait till my break time, isn't he?' She directed this question to Sebastian who nodded curtly and replied, 'A Bud, alright then?'

She quickly served him his drink and he moved to a half-filled seating area and waited.

***

Annette took quiet, deep breaths trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. What the hell had just happened? David gave her a questioning look again and she nodded quickly, reassuring him that there was no problem. She ignored the concerned look from Alex and the malicious one from Melissa, concentrating on the next order.

Why was the vampire so angry at her? What had she done? Normally she would not be bothered by him, but the fact that she had not seen him in such a while and had been subconsciously pining for his attention; plus the shocking anger he had never directed towards her – she was definitely worried.

She rushed through her order, making a few mistakes in her hurry. She could not wait for her cigarette break to come so that she could address the issue with the vampire once and for all.

After a torturous hour of serving and thinking, it was time for her break. Annette grabbed her coat while throwing a quick look at the quiet vampire who had been nursing his one bottle for the whole hour. He stood up immediately in a fluid manner and followed her as she stepped out the back way. 

'Okay, what have I done now? I don't see you for a week and I'm glad about that, then you come in here, guns blazing, trying to give me a heart attack.' She quickly went on the defensive as she lit her cigarette shakily. 

He simply shook his head in a tired manner, 'Forgive me for that unnecessary outburst in there. I don't know what came over me. Accept my heartfelt apology.'

'What?' She looked at him incredulously. He had come in with so much anger and now, he did not want to tell her what it was all about? 'You better give me a reason for causing a scene in there. There's no way you can downplay what happened. You, the almighty level-headed vamp, lost your temper so obviously and now you want me to forget about it and 'accept your heartfelt apology'? Unh-unh, no way.'

'Please. Just...I really don't know what came over me. I've had a very tasking, shall we say, week and found out that you still take the night bus. I guess it all culminated in my stupidity.'

'That's it?' She asked again in shock, then building anger. 'You came into the place I work to yell at me over such a silly reason? How many times do I have to tell and show you that I cannot be hurt? I've been taking the night bus for fucking months and I'm still alive and kicking. I don't understand your over protectiveness at all.

'And what do you mean, apparently found out?' She continued. 'Have you been spying on me? Again? Or you've got someone here tattling? Let me think, Melissa? You have got to grow the fuck up, man. What the hell is wrong with y...' She was silenced with a kiss. 

Oh God, she thought. She pushed him away hurriedly. Then stared at him. His glistening lower lip; the passion in his heated gaze. The attraction that was sizzling between them could not be ignored. She pulled his head down and kissed him again, dropping her cigarette to the ground.

***

Sebastian almost sighed against Annette's lips as she kissed him. She had looked so beautiful as she yelled at him. He was aware of how weak his reason for shouting at her had been, but he could not tell her about knowing she was bit by a dog. He slanted his lips over hers, taking control of the kiss. He gentled it as she had been kissing him passionately. He wanted her to feel how much he cared about her. How attracted he was to her. He nibbled her lower lip gently eliciting a soft moan from her. He sucked that same lip into his mouth and soothed it gently with his tongue. He did the same to her upper lip before sucking her tongue hard. She gasped against his mouth almost falling and he wrapped his arms around her tightly holding her up. He wanted to press her against the wall and rip her clothes off. His hand moved slowly to her breasts and he had to concentrate to stop himself. He did not want to rush her. She was someone to be savoured; wined and dined. She was his life mate and should be treated thusly. He reluctantly ended the kiss. She stared up at him with a widened gaze, her swollen lips parted as she breathed heavily.

He ran a finger down her cheek tenderly. She looked so incredibly beautiful. 

'Go out with me.' He stated softly.

She stared at him limpidly. 'Okay.' She replied just as softly.

He smiled gently at her reply.

She shook her head slightly and stepped back from him with a sheepish smile. 'Erm,' She cleared her throat and ran her fingers through her 'fro. 'I don't even know your name.'

'It's Sebastian.' 

'Oh, well, nice name.' She blushed, looking down at her girlish remark. 'I'm Annette. No point adding pleased to meet you as we've met countless times, eh?' She quipped looking up at him then looking back down hurriedly.

He smiled again. She looked so adorable rattled. He never thought she would become as shy as she clearly was over a kiss, no matter how lovely the kiss had been. 

Hmm, seemed her tough exterior was hiding a soft, vulnerable interior. 

A wave of love rushed over him. He would definitely die for her. He could not understand the intensity of his feelings for her, he was not even sure she felt anything for him apart from physical attraction but he did not care. This was his life mate.

'Guess I better go in now, don't want David sending a search party out now. Surprised he hasn't already.' Annette giggled self-consciously. 

He simply stared at her as she walked to the door leading to the bar. As she raised a hand to open the door, he called out, 'You should probably give me your phone number.'

She giggled loudly, 'Oh dear. God, I completely forget all about my phone number. Silly me. Err, yeah definitely. 07845633978. Gosh, completely skipped my mind.'

He nodded at her, grinning as well.

She stood waiting and staring at him.

He stared back, his grin changing to a confused smile, 'Didn't you say you had to go in?'

'Yeah, but you didn't store my number or anything. Just waiting for you to whip that phone out and ask for the number again 'cause I'm sure you've forgotten it already.'

He chuckled and shook his head at that. He was a vampire. Incredible memory. '07845633978. Vampire memory.'

'Oh.' She blushed. Then laughed, 'I'll just go in now before I stick my whole leg in my idiot gob.' And with that she rushed into the bar. 

Sebastian chuckled once more. Persistence really did pay off. 

***

'I want you to forget about Olivia.' 

Angus removed the phone from his ear to stare at it then put it back. 'Have you gone mental? You asked me to, shall we say infiltrate her and Annette's abode and now you want me to 'forget' about Olivia?'

'Yes.' Sebastian sighed. Angus could hear the smile in his voice. 'Yes. To be honest, I don't really need you to ask her anything again. I thought I'd never get Annette to go out with me, what with our fights every time we crossed paths, but I guess I was wrong.'

Bully for you, Angus thought. 'Well, that's nice to hear. But the problem is, would she actually tell you what she's clearly hiding? There's no question that she's being secretive about something. About whatever she called 'complicated.' In order for her to tell you what it is you want to find out, you'll have to gain her trust. And I think that's going to take you a very long time, and we both know you aren't the patient type now, are you dear ancestor?'

Sebastian thought about it, Angus was right. It would take time for him to gain Annette's trust. Physical attraction was one thing, trust – now that was a right kicker. 

'Fine, but I'm not too happy with this. Not anymore. I just realised how much I feel for this girl and I don't want to hide anything from her. So find out what I want as quickly as you can so I can stop feeling guilty.' Sebastian muttered darkly.

Angus replied just as darkly, 'Fine boss, whatever you say. Now if there's nothing else, I have to go. Have a busy life here mate.'

'Busy? Now that's a new thing.' Sebastian chuckled as he cut off his mobile phone, ending their conversation.

Angus smiled to himself as well. Little did Sebastian know.

'Who was that?' a soft, sleepy voice asked.

Angus shook his head as he got back into his bed. 'No one, love. Just some stuff from work. Go back to bed.'

Olivia smiled and kissed his shoulder as he dragged the duvet over them before turning over and falling back asleep.

Yes, Angus thought. It was too late to quit now. He was going to do as Sebastian asked alright, but he was going to drag out the fun he was having at the same time.



Silver Eyes Ch. 08



'And where are you coming from?'

Olivia jumped in the darkness. She looked over her shoulder and saw Annette sitting on the sofa staring at her, her silver eyes glowing in the dark.

'Jesus Christ! You nearly gave me a heart attack. What are you still doing up anyhow?' Olivia asked putting on the table lamp in the living room. She dropped her bag next to Annette and slumped on the sofa sighing.

'Waiting for you. You have work tomorrow...well tonight and you were with Angus I presume?'

'What's it to you, Mother?' Olivia asked irritated.

'Let's see. The fact that you just met him like what, two days ago? And next thing, you, who has never gone out for a simple night out on a week day 'cause of work ends up sneaking into the house at four in the morning on a Monday.' Annette answered quietly.

'Annette. I appreciate the fact that you are concerned about me because you are my best friend and flat mate, but you are not my mother. So please mind your own business. I am an adult and I can do whatever I please.' Olivia answered growing angrier by the second.

Annette shrugged and got up walking to the door, 'You're right. Completely right. But you can't blame me for being a bit suspicious. I mean, you hardly know this guy.'

'Like you know the vampire you're pining over? At least Angus is a normal human being. Can't say the same about your 'lover'.' Olivia replied snidely.

'Same as you can't say about me too, I suppose.' Annette answered with a hurt expression.

'I never said that Netta, stop putting words in my mouth.' Olivia sighed. 'Look, thanks for your worries and suspicion and everything. I'm thrilled I have a friend who cares about me. But please, let me do what I want to do. If it ends up being a mistake then just be the good friend you've always been and give me a shoulder to cry on. I'm just having fun, it's not like I'm getting married to him, so please Netta. Just let me be.'

Annette let out a huge, tired sigh. 'Fine. I will. Just...just go on to bed now, you know how cranky you'll be later on in about...three hours. So...well, good night.' She made to leave the living room.

'Netta.'

Annette turned round to stare at a smiling Olivia.

'I'm really happy about this Annette. Thanks really, but just...just be my friend okay?'

Annette walked over to Olivia and gave her a tight squeeze, 'Of course I'll always be your friend. And my shoulder's here for you to bawl on; not that I'm hoping that's what happens of course.' 

They both grinned at this and Annette kissed the top of Olivia's forehead and ruffled her hair, 'Go get some sleep now, Liv.'

***

Annette stared at her phone for the umpteenth time then dropped it on her bed in frustration. Why had Sebastian not rung her yet? What was wrong with guys? They pestered girls then, finally, got the girls to kiss them, collected their phone numbers but neglect to call. She jumped on her bed with a huff. She had to get ready for work soon but she could not be arsed. All she could focus on was why her phone was still silent. Suddenly, as if prompted, her phone rang and she pounced on it happily. She cleared her throat then picked it up without checking the number on the caller ID.

'Hello.' She said breathily.

'Have you got a sore throat?'

'Livvy.' Annette said sullenly. 'What do you want?'

'Err, to talk to my friend that's what. Okay, I lie. To tell you that I shan't be coming home early tonight so don't wait up okay?'

'Yeah, fine. Whatever. Gotta go now.'

'Please tell me you aren't still angry with me.' Olivia sighed, 'Annette really...'

'Trust me when I say this Livvy, whatever you're up to right now isn't even registering on my radar.'

'Oh. Okay. Well, I'll let you go then. Are you okay?'

'Yeah sure. Just...yeah, I am. Have fun, yeah. Shall chat to you later.'

'Well, fine.' Olivia said hesitantly, 'Okay then. Bya.'

Annette hung up the phone and sighed. Guess he was not calling anytime soon then. She dropped the phone back on the bed and went into the shower. As she stood there and the water poured from the powered shower head heavily, she did not hear the phone ringing in her room.

***

Why was she not picking up her phone? Sebastian thought to himself. 

'Calm down, Sebbie boy. She's probably busy.' Drake muttered dryly.

'How on earth...what are you talking about?' Sebastian asked him puzzled. Had he voiced his question out loud?

'Oh please, dude. I can read you like a child's story book. You're ringing your Buffy and she's not picking her phone and you're worried she's being slaughtered by some evil monster. She's probably busy, you know, getting ready for work. Not everyone's like us dude, some people have to work for a living.'

'Okay, cut the sarcasm, boy.' Sebastian rolled his eyes flushing a little. Drake was right. Annette was probably getting ready for work and could not hear the phone ring or something. Why was he acting like a school boy with a heady crush? He shook his head wryly at himself. 'Guess I'll just go see her at work then. Probably ask her if she wants to go out for like drinks or something. Or I don't know...what do young girls do nowadays?'

Drake smiled evilly to himself, time to pull staid Sebby's legs. 'You should probably take her clubbing. She'd definitely love it. There's this club in Marble Arch, not too far from her bar. It stays open like all night. She'd love it.'

'You think? I mean, she'd have been in a bar all night, do you really think she'd want to go clubbing afterwards?' Sebastian asked confused.

'Definitely. Girls love clubbing. I mean, you'd know that if you actually spent time with girls. Fuddy duddy.'

'I spend time with girls, Drake. I just don't...did you just call me a fuddy duddy?' 

Drake laughed out loud as Sebastian shook his head at him, 'You are definitely a child in a man's body.'

Drake stuck out his tongue at Sebastian's back as he left the room. 'Whatever, F.D.'

Sebastian smiled to himself. Oh, Drake. Definitely a character. Well if clubbing was what girls wanted, what Annette could possibly want, then clubbing they would go.

***

Annette struggled to hear orders being screamed at her over the din in the bar. 'Could you repeat that, please?' She asked squinting as she concentrated on the man at the other side of the bar.

'I said, I want two Buds and a Strongbow.' The man yelled looking a bit irritated.

'Coming right up, sorry.' She replied rolling her eyes as she turned. Silly man, did he actually think Annette had super hearing?

'Hey, your new hunky dory man just walked in the bar.' Melissa snidely said as she walked past Annette.

Annette whirled round quickly and saw Sebastian staring at her as he stood by the door. She smiled immediately not able to hide her joy. Then she quickly turned round blushing to herself. Oh God, why did she make it so obvious that she was thrilled to see him? Not too long ago, she was certain she could not stand the sight of him. Okay, more like she had been super attracted to him but had been angry at herself so took out her annoyance on him. Plus she had been scared that getting with him might further complicate her life. But who said she could not have fun just because she was different? Other people had fun. Olivia had fun. By Jove, she was going to have her own fun too.

She could not help another smile slipping out as she filled up a pint of Strongbow and placed it on the table with two bottles of Budweiser in front of the man. She nodded as he paid her and snuck a glance at the door to see if Sebastian was still standing there. 

A voice whispered maliciously behind her, 'Looking for your new boyfriend? Surprising really, as I thought there was no love lost between you two.' 

Annette let out an irritated sigh. She had been perfectly happy when Melissa used to ignore her. Now she could not take two steps without Melissa whispering something bothersome in her ears.

'And where did you get that idea from? You know what, don't answer that. I don't even care. Don't you have people to serve, drinks to open? Demons to play with?' She smiled sweetly at an open mouthed Melissa and pushed past her. 

Sebastian grinned widely as Annette sashayed towards him. 'Hey you. I waited for your call.'

'I did call you. But you didn't pick up.' He replied leaning back on his bar stool to slide a lazy gaze over her.

'Ah, so that weird number was yours then. I was in the shower. Didn't hear the phone ring.' Her breath hitched as Sebastian's gaze turned hot at the word 'shower'.

Lord he was sexy.

'So you're through when? three?' Sebastian asked placing his hands on the counter to get closer to her.

'Actually no. It's Tuesday so I'm through eleven. Why?' She asked bemused, her heart speeding up as he came so close she could see little flecks of army green in his almost pure forest green eyes. 

'Just wondering if you wanted to go out later on, after you're through here I mean.' He continued hastily as her look grew more confused. 'I mean, clubbing. Do you like clubbing? I know this really cool place in Marble Arch...just wondered if you wanted to go there.'

'Err...well...sure. I mean, yeah, cool.' She looked at him puzzled. He wanted to go clubbing? He seemed so old-fashioned; she would never have pegged him as a clubber. More like genteel nights in, drinking expensive wine and eating oysters. Ah well, she thought excitedly, it had been ages since she went clubbing. Months actually; she had not been out since she started working at the bar. She was always too tired. But now, knowing she had him for company, she was definitely well up for it.

'I'll see you when I'm through then.' She smiled up at him and he nodded, looking quite relieved, she thought.

'Do you want a drink while you wait?' She asked.

'No. I'm okay. Don't want to drink whilst driving.' He replied.

'I didn't think vampires got drunk.'

'Well, I don't actually. Just setting a good example for the young ones.' He grinned at her.

She laughed out at this, 'Young ones. Really, what are you 30...no wait, vampire. You're probably a hundred or something. That's not too old.'

'Add about two thousand to that and you'd be closer to the mark.' He said.

Annette gasped out loud, 'You're joking me! Are you serious? Bloody Hell, you're probably as old as Jesus.'

'Yes, that I am.' He replied chuckling. 

She stared at him in awe then quickly shook her head, 'I'm gonna try to forget that or I won't be able to concentrate on whatever anyone says again...two thousand...Bleeding 'eck.' She turned around and walked back to her side of the bar. 

Two thousand??!

***

'Wow. This is awesome.' Annette shouted over the pounding music in the tastefully decorated VIP section of the club. She had been stunned when Sebastian had had a few words with someone who she was pretty sure was the owner of the club and they had been whisked to the VIP section pronto. She had felt a bit frumpy in her plain black t-shirt and short denim skirt with flat ballerina-like pumps, especially as she was with Sebastian who looked like he had stepped out of a GQ magazine cover. She thanked her stars that she had had some make up in her bag. At least she was not completely plain. She was completely clueless to the fact that as 'plain' as she thought she looked, she was actually attracting quite a few stares as they walked past people to a secluded table. 

Sebastian was well aware of the looks she was getting and tried to control himself from snarling at the guys who unabashedly ogled her. He could feel his fangs pressing against his lower lip as they grew from his upper gum and he forced them to retract. It had been ages since he had to really concentrate on controlling his vampiric senses and this puzzled him a bit. He placed a hand behind Annette's back and led her to the soft leather couch. As they sat, a suited man appeared in front of them with two chilled bottles of vintage Dom Perignon. 'Compliments of the club, sir.'

Sebastian nodded as the man uncorked one of the bottles and poured it into two long stemmed flutes. Drake had not been joking when he said he knew contacts. He certainly knew his way around the upper echelons of the club scene.

Annette looked at him completely mystified, 'Wow. Who do you know here that could pull such strings? I mean, normally you have to book a table like ages before getting to this club. And to get complimentary champagne? Wow, aren't you connected.'

Sebastian just smiled at her. Drake had warned him not to put himself down. Apparently, the ladies liked suave guys. Gone were the days when he could simply beguile girls to do as he pleased. Not Annette anyway, he did not want to use his vampire powers on her. He looked round, ignoring the girls that were sending him come-hither looks. Okay, what to do next?

***

Thirty minutes of steady gulping and Annette was practically buzzing. They had sat there drinking and staring into each other's eyes and Annette was extremely tipsy. Although Sebastian had relented and drunk with her, it was obvious that he was not even remotely drunk. 

'Let's dance.' She said excitedly.

Sebastian gulped at this. 'Dance? You mean now?'

'Duh! Of course now. Let's dance, come on.' She stood up and pulled him hard and he shot to his feet immediately.

'Oops.' She giggled. She had forgotten her strength, 'Sorry. Forgot how strong I was. Hehe, blame it on the al-al-alcohol.' She sang. He looked at her blankly.

'Guess you don't know that song then. T-pain? Jamie Foxx? Haha.'

He kept on staring.

'Ah, bugger it. Come on. Off we go.'

'Err, just one thing. I'm not a particularly good dancer.' He hastily stated as Annette danced her way to the packed dance floor.

'Who cares? Just move your body. I'll do the dancing for the both of us.' She threw a saucy grin over her shoulder as they found a spot they could squeeze into against the wall. 

Then she began to move her body. 



Silver Eyes Ch. 09



Sebastian gulped as he stared at Annette. She was definitely an amazing dancer. Especially the way she twisted and ground the back of her body against the wall. It could make a man drool. He looked on as she stared at him with a saucy grin and crooked a finger beckoning him towards her. He moved to her until they were pressed tight against each other, chest to chest. Then she slowly danced around him till he was leaning against the wall. Leaning against him, she rotated her bum slowly against the front of his jeans. He felt himself harden immediately. She must have felt it too as she stared over her shoulder at him and placed a soft open-mouthed kiss against his neck. He groaned above her head and turned her face to his, kissing her hard. 

Annette moaned then whimpered as Sebastian thrust his tongue into her mouth. He, quick as lightning flipped her away from him and against the wall, before crushing her lips with his again. She raised her arms to run her fingers through his hair, something she had wanted to do for a long while. One hand moved slowly down to cup his buttocks and pressed it against her. He released her lips immediately, panting harshly. 'We have to leave this place or I'll embarrass myself more than I already have.'

She nodded quickly at that statement. Sebastian stared at her once more, his breathing steadying as he battled with control. He did not want to take advantage of her drunken situation, and neither did he want her to have sex with him just because she was drunk. He wanted it to be something they both consented to. Hell, he was sure he had consent enough for two of them, what with the woody he was sporting; but he did not want her regretting it in the morning. 

'I'm only going to ask this once, are you sure about this? Because once I leave this place, I'm not going to stop until I've had you at least twice.' He growled harshly.

She emitted a sultry laugh, 'Look, vamp boy. I may be drunk but I'm very sure of what I want to happen. What I want you to do to me...and it starts with 'Fuck' and ends with 'Me'. So stop talking and start acting.'

At that statement, Sebastian grabbed her arm and started towards the front door, practically dragging her in his haste to leave the club. He barely had time to grab their coats before rushing towards his car. He had no idea of how he drove them safely to his place. All he could think of was getting Annette to his bedroom, and fast. 

On getting to his house, he turned to her and opened his mouth to ask a question and stopped as Annette placed a finger on his mouth, 'You best not be asking me if I'm sure again, Sebastian.'

He laughed against her finger and nipped it lightly, 'No I'm not. I just wanted to tell you that I live here with a few other people, so we have to get to my wing as quietly as possible or we'll be letting the whole house know we're here.'

At this, she turned to look at the house and gasped, her tipsy state sobering up a bit. 'Wow, this is huge. Bloody hell. Is this like the vampire quarters?'

'Scooby-doo-ish, but surprisingly quite apt.' He replied dryly. 'Yes this is where we meet, all the vampires under my command as I am the Master of this city.'

'Oooh, aren't you all Jean-Claude-y?' Annette giggled at him.

He looked at her bemused, 'Jean-Claude?'

'Only the fittest vampire in the world of vampire novels, you know, Laurell K Hamilton...never mind.' She mock punched him.

He caught her fist, quick as lightning and her smile faded. His gaze had turned from playful to heated. She looked on as he lowered his head and caught her lips with his. They kissed slowly and tenderly. 

Soon, the kiss changed to a passionate frenzy and Annette raised her hands to work at his shirt. Soon it was off his head and she placed her hands on his chest, sighing against his lips at the feel of his taut, muscular pecs. 

Sebastian groaned against her lips, 'Let's take this inside or I'm not going to be able to control myself.' 

Annette reluctantly took her hands off him. They were both visibly vibrating with desire. Sebastian got out the car and rushed to her side in a blur, grabbing her in his arms and effectively cutting off her gasp of surprise with the speed with which he raced up to his suite. Before she could utter a word, they were both in his bedroom and Annette was placed against the door, her wrists held together in a strong grip above her head.

Sebastian smiled and whispered lazily, 'Now where were we?' before swooping down to capture a shirt covered nipple with his strong teeth.

Annette whimpered as he nipped at her gently before sucking her nipple hard into his mouth. She gasped when he left one damp-clothed breast and moved to the other one. She writhed against his arms wanting to free her hands so that she would be able to touch him too. Sebastian was aware of what she wanted to do, but all he wanted was to give her pleasure. 

With one hand still holding her wrists in a firm grip, he used his other hand to drag up her skirt roughly. He then placed his hand over her mound and grit his teeth when he felt how damp she was. 'God, I want to fuck you.' He groaned hotly against her neck.

She panted in reply, 'Then what are you waiting for?'

On hearing those words, Sebastian could not hold himself any longer. He ripped her knickers from her body and dragged his jeans down his legs. He got his hard cock out his boxers and, in one smooth move, surged into her. 

Annette moaned loudly and wrapped her legs around him taking him in deeper. 

There were no words, only harsh pants as he thrust into her savagely. No finesse, no thoughts of whether she hurt or not. At that point, all he could think of was getting his pleasure. 

As he thrust into her and his orgasm drew closer, he could not control his bloodlust. His fangs burst from his gums and he nuzzled her neck. He looked up at her and saw that her contacts had disintegrated. She was staring at him with glowing silver eyes. 

He hesitated at this, and jerked into her harder than before in his surprise. This seemed to affect her as she threw her head back and shrieked, her vaginal walls contracting rapidly and squeezing his cock. This pushed him over the edge as he spurted into her, his head buried in her neck.

A minute or so later, he exhaled heavily against her damp shoulder and lifted his head. Annette was staring at him lazily, her arm stretched against the door.

'Wow that was fucking intense.'

'Did I hurt you?' Sebastian asked, suddenly realising they were pressed against his door. He could not imagine the racket they must have caused and with the super hearing vampires possessed, he was positive that any vampires that were at home would definitely have known what had been going on in his room.

'Don't be silly, I can't be hurt remember. Not physically anyway.' She ran her fingers through his damp curls. 'Although, moving to the bed now wouldn't be a bad idea. I feel rather weak.'

Sebastian chuckled at this and carried her to his bed, laying her gently before lying down beside her. She was still clad in her shirt, but her knickers were in tatters on the floor and her skirt shoved up to her waist. 

He opened his mouth to apologise but she beat him to it by saying, 'you were gonna bite me, weren't you?'

He nodded confused.

'Then why didn't you?'

'Your eyes. They threw me off a bit when I saw how bright they were. Then you came. And that was the clincher.'

Clincher, hunh?' She grinned at him then suddenly flipped him to his back and straddled him. 'Why don't we *ahem* engage in some clinching?'

He grinned up at her in reply, 'My body is yours to do as you please, Miss Annette.'

Annette slowly raised her top over her head causing her full breasts to jiggle as she flung the shirt over her head. 'And what a fine body it is.' She softly said as she lowered her lips to his chest.

***

Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, Annette thought to herself as she looked round the room widely. She had woken up groggy, then her eyes had widened as she saw how dark the room was. She was a bit disoriented as she took in the unfamiliar surroundings. Then as thoughts of the night before flooded her mind she blushed furiously as she recalled how uninhibited she had acted. As she remembered what she had done to Sebastian's body, she groaned inwardly to herself. Licking a wet trail from his chest to his cock, deep throating him, sucking his balls, even licking round his arse hole...oh what a hussy she was! She turned over and looked at his sleeping form. Thank the Lord for small mercies, she thought. 

She slowly slid from under the thick duvet and crawled to the floor to gather all her stuff scattered round the room. As she searched for her skirt, she heard a sleep-filled voice gruffly ask, 'And to think majority of the world believes it's the men who run out on women.'

She whirled around with a squeak, not registering the pain of how hard she stubbed her toe against the side of the bed. 'Oh, hello. Didn't think you were awake.'

'Hence the sneaky escape.' Was the wry reply.

She giggles widely but on noticing that he was not responding she stopped abruptly. 'Look, I just wanted to get out any awkwardness this morning. I mean, last night was amazing, but I didn't want you having to pretend you wanted me to stay today. And anyway, don't you need your beauty sleep?' She quickly stated

Sebastian continued to stare at her, his eyes dark in the dim lit room, 'You don't honestly expect me to answer any of that rubbish you just spouted, do you?'

She opened her mouth to protest, but he beat her to it with a blurred move to her side dragging her back to bed. She fell on the bed with a cut off gasp.

'What the fuck?'

'Oh be quiet. I don't want you out of my bed. If I had my way, I don't think I'd ever want you out of my bed. Ever. Now, stay here and let's cuddle.' He nuzzled her neck, nipping lightly.

Annette sighed happily to herself. Was she to believe that he wanted her to stay in bed with him? That he did not want her leaving, the way other guys always acted when she woke up with them the morning after?

'Yes my darling. I want you here with me. Although I would really appreciate it if you did not think about other men whilst here.' He muttered dryly.

She choked out a laugh. She had completely forgotten about his little knack for reading her thoughts. She sighed and snuggled against him. 'Well, I guess I could stay here all day. But I have to get back home later this evening to get ready for work. I do work you know.'

'We'll tackle that when the evening comes. For now, let's go back to bed. You've drained me off all my energy and I need to fuel myself with some much needed sleep.'

'Oi! Cheeky!' She hit him on his shoulder laughingly. Although it was not as gentle or playful as she thought it was as she noticed him suppress a tiny wince.

'Whoops. Sorry.' She apologised grinning.

'I can't get over the fact that you're actually stronger than me. I've yet to meet a creature, living or not who had that power.' He grumbled mock-vexingly.

'Ha! Doesn't that just stick in your craw? Not only am I stronger, I'm also female.' She laughed out loud.

He pretended to scowl at her then shut her up with a sizzling kiss. She sighed then sunk into the kiss. She could definitely get used to this.

Then she shrieked and pushed him off, 'Ewwww, I forgot my horrendously horrendous morning breath.'

'Well, I wasn't complaining but now that you've pointed it out...' Sebastian started with a twinkle in his eye.

Annette batted his hands off her and blew out a loud lusty breath in his face, 'Now you can complain, bad breath-free Vamp boy.' 

***

Annette waved as Sebastian roared off in his black as night Phantom. She sighed happily to herself as she walked into her flat. It had been a glorious day. They had spent the majority of the day in bed getting reacquainted with each other's bodies. She blushed hotly as she remembered all that had occurred. It had truly been wonderful. Sebastian had gone downstairs to get her food from the large communal kitchen as she had been too shy to go there. She grinned to herself as remembered how much he had teased her. She sunk to her bed giggling lowly to herself as she remembered the way they had snuck out of the house when it was time to drop her back home. Next thing she looked up suddenly as her door was wrenched open,

'What the...' She started startled.

'Ah, the proverbial pot calling the kettle black methinks.' Olivia said slyly, leaning against Annette's door. 

Annette grinned ducking her hot cheeks under her duvet, 'Piss off, idiot.'

Olivia laughed out loud and jumped on Annette's bed with her, 'You've been an extremely naughty girl, haven't you? And there you were getting on your high horse and warning me about Angus when you, my dear girl, was doing the dirty deed with Vampistical.' 

Annette giggled out loudly, 'Vampistical? What the fuck? Where did you come up with that one now, Livvy? Anyway, his name's Sebastian.'

'Ooooh, poshy, ain't he?' Olivia said tickling Annette.

Annette laughed out loud trying to dodge Olivia's quick fingers.

Then Annette's laugh faded as she asked seriously, 'Are you truly okay with it? Really?'

Olivia replied just as seriously, 'Would it really matter if I was?'

Annette thought for a second then shook her head slowly, 'No. I don't think it would actually. I think I really like him. He's funny and nice and amazing in bed. Not to forget sizzling hot.'

Olivia smiled at her, 'There you go. That's exactly how I feel about Angus. I know it all seems rushed, for both of us but I guess...I mean, now I know how you felt about Angus 'cause I'm not too sure about this Sebastian dude, but we're both adults aren't we? And we can learn from our mistakes if it all goes tits up...and...'

'Enough with the pep talk Livvy, it's beginning to sound like you're trying to convince yourself as well.' Annette cut in jokingly.

Olivia let out a deep sigh and wiped imaginary sweat off her brow, 'Phew...was really struggling with the words there. Anyway, you should get ready for work. I've got things to do like sleep. I'm bloody exhausted.'

'That's what you get for sex-on-tap on consecutive days.' Annette shrewdly said earning her a cuff on the head.

'Ow...that hurt!' She said rubbing her head.

'Yeah right, liar. Hurts my arse, bionic woman.' Olivia said cuffing her again the running out of Annette's room giggling.



Silver Eyes Ch. 10



Annette smiled to herself as she got off the phone. It had been three weeks since she started seeing Sebastian and it had been the best three weeks of her life, she had to admit. Even Olivia had grudgingly conceded to the fact that Annette had never been as happy as she was now with him since she met her. 

It was a Thursday and Annette had been haggling with David all week to go off early so that she could surprise Sebastian at his home. She had been there on several occasions so she was pretty certain she knew how to get there on her own. She looked at her bedside clock and noticed that she had less than an hour to get to work. She considered ringing Olivia to ask if she could borrow a top from her then remembered that she was probably still at work. She smiled sneakily to herself as she went to Olivia's room. She was simply going to have to 'help' herself to something there and return it later. Not like Olivia would mind anyway, she was always taking her stuff without asking. 

She opened Olivia's door and put on the light not noticing the bed was occupied. Next thing, she saw a tousled red-haired man squint at her and she let out an involuntary squeak.

'Aak!'

'Babe, you're back early...' The man muttered in a sexy voice then widened his eyes as he realised it was not Olivia, 'Fucking Hell.' He swore then quickly covered himself up as much as he could.

'Shit, shit, shit.' Annette said out loud putting a hand over her face as she edged towards Olivia's wardrobe, 'What are you doing here? Don't you have a job?'

'Yeah, I do. But as I'm the owner of my company I reckon I can do whatever I like.' He said, recovered from his near faux pas.

'Oh...oh well. I just need to get something...' She quickly said as she rummaged through Olivia's clothes. Thank the Lord Olivia was anal-retentive about her clothes and had them all arranged in colour codes and what-not. Once she found the top she was looking for, she half-sobbed to herself in relief and rushed out the room without a word. 

Talk about embarrassing. It was a good thing her blushes were not visible as she was sure she would have been red throughout their awkward conversation. 

She sighed to herself as she dropped the top on her bed. Back to more important things like what make-up to take with her to get ready for what she called the 'night of sexual bliss'. She giggled out loud to herself at that name; talk about cheesy.

Soon, she was ready for work. Although clad in her ubiquitous back t-shirt and short denim skirt, she was ready for the main event that night with her stolen gold spangly top and a miniscule black skirt. She already had on her one and only sexy lingerie that she had skimped and saved to buy from La Perla and she knew for a fact that it did wonders for her body. Why, she was positive she had lost some weight as she had tried on Olivia's top before and it had been extremely tight, making her cleavage look obscene, but now it fit perfectly. 

She hummed a happy tune to herself, 'What a wonderful world', as she put all her make-up stuff in her bag. Smoky gold eyeshadow, check; Clinique mascara, check; pale rose blusher, check; her favourite cherry scented lipgloss, check; and last but certainly not least, what she could not do without, her Mac powder. 

She smiled widely to herself, she was certainly ready. She slung the big bag with her clothes, sexy gold stilettos and make up over her shoulder and walked to the living room. She stopped short as she saw Angus with Olivia's bathrobe looking shrunken wrapped round him making a cup of coffee for himself in their kitchen and looking quite comfortable doing it. 

'I see you're off to work then?' He asked conversationally as he stirred the freshly ground beans in hot water.

'Yeah.' She answered shortly, not bothered with making unnecessary conversation with him. She had always avoided making any banter with him as she still thought suspiciously of him but for the sake of Olivia she tried to hide it. Not well enough, she thought as she heard the next words that came out of Angus's lips.

'You don't like me do you?'

She whipped her head round to look at him as she had been making for the door as quickly as she could. Ah well, since he was aware of her dislike there really wasn't any point lying to him then was there?

'No, I don't. But it doesn't matter does it? Olivia likes you, so that should be enough for me.'

'Yes, but it makes me feel rather awkward. I would really like to get to know you better. Olivia thinks the world of you, you know. I wish we could be friends as it's something I'm sure you know would make Olivia thrilled.' He replied leaning against the counter as he blew on his steaming mug softly.

Annette turned fully to him and said clearly, 'Look, Angus. I'm not going to lie to you. I don't trust you. There, plain and simple. There's something about you that I find very shifty and unfortunately I can't place my finger on it. All I can tell you is this, Olivia really likes you and I hope -- in fact I know that you are not going to break her heart or hurt in any single way. And do you want to know why I know this? It's because if anything happens to her, if she is hurt by you whether intentionally or accidentally, in fact if anything happens to her that is remotely connected to you, no matter how slight, then you'll truly rue the day you decided to take a walk in the park. Because I will hunt you down and...let's just say you won't be the same person you are right now.'

Angus smiled pityingly at her, 'I understand you love your friend and don't want to see her hurt, but really. Do you honestly think you can hurt me, except if not physically? I'm over a hundred pounds heavier than you, my dear.'

Annette smiled evilly at him and said in the softest, quietest voice ever, 'Oh my dear man. You really don't want to put that to the test, trust me.' And with that she walked out of the flat shutting the door quietly.

***

Angus was disgusted to find his heart racing a bit as Annette shut the door behind her. Bloody hell, she was just a mere chit he tried to tell himself as he dropped his mug down firmly. Ah, but a mere chit who's capable of turning you inside out, a voice inside his head sang out. He wondered to himself if he would be able to take her in a battle if he was in his werewolf form, then he remembered that Sebastian had said she was stronger than he was which meant he probably could not then. 

Sebastian was definitely stronger than Angus whether in his were form or not. 

He would just have to be extra careful then. With Annette and especially with Olivia. He smiled at himself as he thought about his blonde girlfriend. Girlfriend? Since when did he start referring to her with that word to himself? He tried calling her his 'squeeze'; 'girl of the moment'...none of those seemed right to him. He ran his fingers through his hair as he stared absently out the kitchen window. It was time to face facts, he was beginning to care for Olivia. And to be honest with himself, he had begun to care for her a long time ago. He had not even bothered trying to find out anything concrete about Annette. He preferred talking about Olivia instead. Finding out that she hated marmite but liked peanut butter and jelly and felt like she was betraying her English heritage; that she loved hardcore rap and hip hop but she could not dance to save her life. The only thing she had told him about Annette was that she was an amazing dancer but, ironically, loved music of the heavy metal variety. And that had been like squeezing blood from a stone. Olivia fiercely guarded Annette's privacy and he had to admit that she was truly a trustworthy friend.

The question now was how he was going to confess his previous motive to Olivia. Previous, as he was getting wracked with guilt and he did not think guilt looked great on him. He had to truly think about what confessing to her would do as it would affect all four of them, Sebastian, Annette, Olivia and him. Olivia would definitely be cross with him, he doubted if she would ever forgive him actually. And Annette, well she would truly torture him for hurting Olivia, then torture Sebastian for deceiving her...and let's not forget Sebastian would kill his, Angus's tortured form for causing Annette's anger. 

Why did he ever tell Sebastian he was bored with monotony? That seemed very welcome right now.

***

Annette looked at her wristwatch for the thousandth time. Why was the time going s slow, she shrieked inwardly. It was ten thirty and she had succeeded in whining to David continuously to leave the bar at eleven. David, after much prevaricating had succumbed telling her that she was doing his head in. She did not care, as long as she got her way, which she had, she did not mind doing every person's head in. She smiled so happily at everyone she served, her tips kept pouring and pouring in. Hmm, it seemed she was going to make a full night's pay at this rate even if she did not stay till the pre-requisite one a.m. She turned round, about to get a bottle of wine from the fridge and bumped into Melissa accidentally, 'Oh sorry about that. Didn't see you there.' 

'How would you? Being all jolly and what-not?' Melissa spat out and walked away quickly.

What had got her knickers in a twist? Annette thought staring after her. Ah well, who gave a shit? She was too excited to let her spirit be dampened.

Soon she was throwing her napkin down and blowing a kiss to Alex as she ran to the staff loo to get changed. She wiped her face with her cleansing wipe and washed her hands. After painstakingly applying her make-up, she took off her work clothes carefully and folded them into her bag. Then she shook out her gold top and skirt and put it on, making sure that her make-up did not get smudged. She slipped on her shoes and stared at herself in the mirror. 

Wow, she gasped to herself. She certainly scrubbed up pretty well, she smirked at the mirror. She ran an afro comb through her hair making it bounce and she placed a red rose clip in her 'fro. 

She was ready. She puckered her lips at her reflection and did a little kicking dance before leaving the loo. She laughed as Alex, David and numerous other patrons of the bar wolf-whistled at her. Luke had come upstairs from his spot in the basement and grinned at her, 'Hmm, someone's got a hot date, I take it?'

'You take correctly, Lukey hun.' She grinned back. She quickly gave him a peck on his cheek, 'Have to leave now babe but shall ring you later to give you all the details.'

'You had better, especially as you haven't told me 'owt anyway.' He mock-scowled at her.

'Okay, okay. Bya babe.' She laughingly waved at him and walked out, pointedly ignoring Melissa's dark looks. 

A few minutes later, she was in a cab on her way to Sebastian's mansion. She kept trying to catch a glimpse of herself via the driver's mirror until the cab driver gave her a scared look. She quickly gave him an apologetic one in return and stared out of the window.

Soon, they arrived in front of the massive gates. She paid the driver and hopped out smoothing her tiny skirt as she did so. She took a deep breath, as if to ginger herself and started walking towards the house. This was the first time she had ever done anything so impulsive, something that could potentially backfire in her face if he was not in the mood to see her or anything. She quickly told herself that he would be thrilled to see her. They had not seen each other in three days so of course he would be happy to see her. 

She walked to the door and raised a finger to press the bell but realised that the door was slightly ajar. She pushed it in tentatively and looked around, it was quite quiet. She walked in carefully and saw how quiet it was. She started getting a bit worried. Normally, there was always someone up and about. She had even bumped into the twins on a few occasions. Now it just seemed empty. Oh bugger, what if she had arrived on a day that he was actually busy and out of the house. Of all the days she picked. 

Crap. 

Suddenly, she heard a voice and looked round just as someone blurred towards her and grabbed her hand. She shrieked immediately and reacted by shoving him so hard he flew across the room.

The man got up and shook his head with a shocked look on his face. He had a large meaty face, gleaming grey eyes and an extremely muscular physique. He snarled at her and blurred again towards her but this time she was ready. She timed a well aimed punch and heard his nose crunch as he flew backwards so hard that he smashed through a door she had not noticed, blood flying from his broken nose. 

She walked towards him, her contacts disintegrating as her eyes flashed angrily. 

How dare this man, this vampire, attack her? As she walked into the room to hurl the man up, she realised that the large room was filled with men. With vampires. She stopped in her steps and looked round. Sebastian was staring at her in bemusement as well as the twins. Other vampires gazed at her with looks varying from surprise to anger.

'Annette? Why are you here?' Sebastian asked in confusion. It seemed he had not noticed the man that was lying dazed on the floor, his nose healed to a crooked angle. 

'It was meant to be a surprise. My coming here. Clearly, I interrupted your meeting. I'll leave now.' She turned to the man lying on the floor and staring at her in something akin to fear. 'Sorry about that. It's just...I'm not a big fan of being touched by strangers, or anyone really.' 

She made to help him stand up but he scooted away from her hastily. She pursed her lips at that. Well, she had tried to apologise, hadn't she?

Sebastian looked at the scared vampire as if he was just noticing him, 'Malachi, what happened? And what is wrong with your nose?'

The vampire on the floor named Malachi gibbered to him in a foreign accent, 'Sorry, Lord Beaumont. I caught a strange scent whilst the meeting was going on and I went outside to investigate. Then I saw her. She seemed to be skulking about in a furtive manner and I thought she was an intruder. I made to evict her and she...she threw me across the room! I got up and this time she broke my nose. Oh, my nose!' He quickly threw a hand to his face, and on feeling that it had healed crookedly, he moaned to himself. 

Sebastian glared at him in anger, 'You mean to tell me that you laid a hand on her?' He roared.

Annette rolled her eyes as poor Malachi whimpered in fear at Sebastian's angry tone. 'Oh give it rest, Seb. He's the one in pain, not me.'

'Still...' Sebastian grumbled, shooting angry looks at Malachi.

Drake let out a guffaw that he had been unsuccessfully trying to stifle, 'I still can't get over the fact that 'Scary Malachi' got his nose broken by a girl. Haha, now he has a thuggish look to go with his personality.' He sniggered some more and a few other people joined in.

'But who is this girl that has got you questioning Malachi's actions, Sebastian?' A silver-haired man called out. He was one of the few sat on the same high level as Sebastian. He clearly was a powerful elder vampire. 'I ask merely because, from what I can see and smell, she is simply a human.' He said the word 'human' in such a derogatory tone that Annette scowled at him ferociously. 

Sebastian said in a very cold tone, 'I understand your query, Marcus, but I would rather you did not refer to your future queen in such an insulting tone of voice.'

There was a collective gasp at that, the loudest emanating from a shocked looking Annette. 

'Queen?' The vampire called Marcus gasped at him. Immediately, mutterings broke out amongst all the vampires, apart from Sebastian, Drake and Damien. The mutterings grew from incredulity to outrage. 

Annette readied herself for battle just in case they all decided to attack her. She was sure she could take out a few of them, but she had never been in a situation where she had to fight more than forty men and women at a go, much less vampires.

'Enough!' Sebastian roared, effectively silencing the whole room. 'If anyone has a problem with this, then I suggest they take it up with me. In a challenge.' 

No one said anything at this. Only a fool would challenge Sebastian. He was the oldest and strongest of them all, and had been their Master for centuries. They had too much respect for him to engage in anything as deadly as challenging him.

'I have a problem, actually.' A voice rang out and they all turned round to see an angry Annette staring at Sebastian with her hands planted on her hips, eyes flashing bloody murder.

'Annette, this is not the time...' Sebastian started and Annette cut him off immediately.

'Not the time? You must be having a laugh. Now, I have no idea what queen means in your circles, but if you think you can spring something so definitive; so serious on me, after three weeks, in front of a group of strangers, and expect me to smile and simper demurely waiting for the Master to condescend to what I feel about that statement, you have another thing coming, mate. So yeah, I challenge you.' She said, glaring at him.

The whole room broke out in murmurs again, this time solely shocked as no one had ever spoken to Sebastian in such a tone. Well, spoken like that and lived to tell the tale.

Sebastian shut his eyes, clearly trying to control himself, 'If we could just take this somewhere more private, it would be for the best. This is not a discussion for public.'

'Well, you should have thought about that before springing that on me. In Public.' She replied sarcastically. 

It seemed this was too much for the rest of the vampires. How dare this mortal woman, whom the Master dared to make queen be so rude to him?

One of them shouted amidst the murmurs of anger, 'I vote she proves she's worthy of being queen. In the way of the werewolves. Against two vampires at a go.'

This resulted in silence. Then a high pitch of excited consent. Drake and Damien looked at Sebastian uneasily. The meeting was getting out of hand.

Sebastian raised a hand silencing the whole room, 'There is no way that is going to happen. I forbid it.'

'You cannot forbid it, Sebastian. You cannot expect us to subject ourselves to a human who is reluctant to gain the mantle of queenhood and who blatantly disrespects our Master.' Marcus pointed out in a quiet yet firm tone.

Sebastian stared at Annette silently pleading with her to refuse in a polite manner. 

Annette simply asked, 'And how does one prove one's worthiness?'

All the vampires smiled at this as Sebastian put his head in his hands in resignation. 

Annette simply paid attention as it was explained to her. Apparently, she had to fight till the death, or in this case, till the other party was unconscious. And as she was human, she had more to prove about her strength so that vampires of the other cities would fear and respect her irrespective of her humanity. She smiled inwardly. It seemed the little display she had shown them with the vampire called Malachi had not proven to them how different she was from mere humans. 

Once the explanations were over, she gave a curt nod. 'Fine, bring your finest two.'

She clicked her neck both sides and rotated her shoulders. Immediately, her eyes began to flash. The two burly vampires that had stepped out hesitated at this then shrugged. There were two of them, what was the worst that could happen?

They ate their words at this as, with one almighty shove, both vampires flew across the room and landed on a grand piano at the far end smashing it. One of them stayed down, whilst the other rubbed his head and looked about dazedly. 

There was utter silence as all the vampires stared at Annette in shock.

***

Sebastian sighed quietly. He knew he should not have been afraid at the turn of events as he had experienced Annette's display of strength firsthand. But he could not help being scared anyway. The girl he loved was fighting against vampires who had plainly shown their aversion for humans. Having one as a queen was something he knew they would not take lying down. Of course he was scared. He looked on as she kept on eliminating vampire after vampire. Soon his fear changed into admiration then passion as his gaze grew heavy-lidded. Annette suddenly looked hotter than ever taking out vampires twice her size in a skimpy outfit without breaking a sweat.




Silver Eyes Ch. 10



He raised a hand to put an end to the battle but there was no need as she had taking out practically all the strongest warrior vampires in the room. He smiled slowly to her as she gazed at him triumphantly.

'Now that this is settled, does anyone have any problem with my queen?'

No one said anything as it was blatantly obvious that she was beyond capable of taking care of herself and the whole gathering singlehandedly. Sebastian nodded at their acquiescence.

'This meeting is over.' He said softly, his eyes only for Annette. He stood up abruptly and walked over to Annette. 'My lady?'

Annette stared up at him, her own gaze turning limpid as she noticed how aroused his stare was. She smiled at him and placed a hand in his and they both walked out of the room straight to Sebastian's suite.



Silver Eyes Ch. 11



The moment Sebastian and Annette got into Sebastian's suite, he slammed her hard against the door, panting heavily and gazing at her with a furious, yet heated gaze. 

'What the FUCK were you thinking? Challenging all those vampires like that?'

'Oh please, Sebastian', Annette drawled, her eyes narrowed in barely concealable excitement, 'you and I both know they couldn't have hurt me if they tried. And they did.'

'I don't give a shit. You're...you mean so much to me. Do you know how it felt to stare at them rushing towards you with murder in their eyes? So much rage? Do you actually think I was in the right frame of mind to console myself with the fact that you're different? Stronger than I am?'

Annette turned away from the anguish in Sebastian's face. She had not thought of it that way. Apart from Olivia, she had not really had anyone to care for her, to think of her with such concern. It was all new to her, 'Look, I'm sorry for scaring you. But I didn't think you wouldn't believe I was safe. I mean, you know how strong I am. And anyway, I was too angry to think about that. You'd just sprung on me some bullshit about being your queen!'

'Bullshit?' Sebastian gazed at her in anger, 'I name you my queen and you call it bullshit? Do you know how many vampires would kill, kill to be named my queen?'

'Well I'm not a vampire am I? So why the fuck would I kill for a position I know fuck all about? It's the human way to warn someone if you want to spring something as monumental as that.'

'Hmm,' Sebastian murmured lazily as he nipped at her tautly set jaw gently, 'Is that so? I thought it was the surprise when proposing to women that made them excited, made them love it. Or am I wrong?'

'Not in front of tens or hundreds of people.' Annette gasped as she tried to control her suddenly heavy breathing. Sebastian was now licking a trail down and back up her neck to the side of her lips. 'And am I to take what you just did downstairs as a proposal?'

'What do you think?' He drawled back, pulling his head away to stare at her, his gaze more serious than it had ever been.

She stared back at him. Could she do it? Could she commit herself to someone who she knew nothing about? A vampire, for that matter? But one who matched her in strength, well kind of. One who would not or could not be freaked out by her 'otherness'. One who she experienced the kind of passion that she had never experienced with any other person in her life. 

One who she knew, without a doubt that she absolutely loved.

'Yes,' She whispered. Then clearing her throat, she shouted wildly, 'Yes. Yes I'll be your queen, Sebastian Jean-Pierre Beaumont.'

Sebastian stared at her with love blazing in his eyes and bent his head to capture her mouth in a hard, hungry kiss. He opened her mouth and pushed his tongue in; filling her mouth so much that she could hardly breathe. He sucked her tongue hard into his mouth and bit her lower lip roughly.

Annette moaned loudly, the sound muffled by Sebastian's lips as she kissed him back. Sebastian carried her, her legs wrapped tight around him to the large dining table in the middle of the room. He set her on it and pushed her to lie flat on the table. Staring at her intently, he reached down to her skirt and shoved it up to her waist. He lowered his gaze to her knickers and smiled, a little evilly, as he caused his pinkie nail to lengthen and slit her knickers of her body. 

She gasped as she felt the scanty material give way and flutter from the table to the floor. She stared on, her eyes wide and her pupils dilated as Sebastian stood there. Just staring at her. Gazing down at the kiss-mussed girl looking up at him in utter arousal. 

Sebastian smiled again and, in one move, ripped his trousers of his body. He did the same with his boxers and looked back at Annette. She simply stared up at him, waiting. He placed both hands on her dainty ankles and used them to drag her to the edge of the table. She gasped silently as he did that. He stretched her legs as far as they could go, which was quite far as, although she was not athletic, she could feel no pain as he widened them. When they seemed to be in a perfect sideways split, he licked his lips and stared at her glistening pussy. He almost groaned to himself. She was spread open, bared for his very own perusals. He did not think he had seen anything as sexy as this in his long years of living. He bent his head as his hands drew closer towards her thighs. Her legs closed as his hands moved and he whispered gruffly, 'Keep them spread.' Immediately, they went back to their previous position.

Sebastian bent his head till it was less than an inch away from the pink image in front of him. He let out a breath, warm and moist against Annette's nether regions and she let out a whimper. He smiled to himself at that. God, he was going to enjoy this. He pushed out his tongue and as it touched her clit, she jumped slightly. He gripped her thighs firmly, not worried about if they would bruise as he knew it would heal immediately and proceeded to suck on her clit as if it were a nipple and he was a baby.  

Annette let out a sharp scream as she felt the suction at her clit. It felt so wonderfully hard and delicious that she came at once, her eyes widening almost comically at the orgasm she felt rushing through her. She had no idea it was possible to come without being aware of its arrival. She screamed again, as she felt pressure building. She had not come down from her first high and she could already feel another orgasm coursing through her veins. She used one hand to press his head to her pussy and she gripped the side of the table so tightly she heard a crack. 

Sebastian heard the crack as well and raised his head to look up at her, his mouth and jaw glistening with her juices. He grinned wickedly at her and said, 'Hmm, wonder if we can go all the way and break this table?'

With this statement, he held his penis with one hand and grabbed Annette's buttocks with the other, sliding her to the very edge of the table, so close it seemed she was sitting half in the air. 

Then he rammed himself strongly into her pussy. So hard that he was sheathed to the hilt with that first thrust. 

Annette moaned loudly at this and bit his shoulder. This pushed him over the edge so that he started thrusting hard, almost viciously into her. His eyes glowed red as hers glowed silver. Audible sounds of their fucking filled the room as he slammed continuously into her. Soon, the table was moving across the marble floor, pushing the dining chairs as it backed into the wall. Sebastian did not stop fucking her. Annette moaned almost continuously as she felt those familiar stirrings go through her body. She screamed loudly and with triumph as she felt her third orgasm of the day rush through her, so hard and intense she almost blacked out. 

When the dizziness subsided, she realised that she was not sitting on anything again. She was supported by Sebastian holding her against the wall, still fucking her vigorously. She looked down to see that the table and three chairs that had been on its unfortunate side were smashed to smithereens on the floor. She looked up in utter surprise at Sebastian's glowing gaze, 'We did it.'

'Yes, we did.' He panted harshly and with that he reared his head back and bit her neck.

The pleasure that rushed through them was enough to make them climax simultaneously. Annette's blood was like nothing Sebastian had ever tasted. It was rich, so rich he felt for a second like he was being choked. It tasted meaty, almost solid. Like the best steak he had ever had when he had eaten as a human. As for Annette, Sebastian's bite had felt like a drug. One that had intensified her already high demeanour. It had made all the other climaxes seem like child's play. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she fainted for the first time in her life.

***

Annette slowly came to as she heard whispered voices. She stretched and rubbed her eyes with one palm, half-sleepily. She looked round and realised that she was on Sebastian's bed. This made her smile sheepishly to herself. She must have been really knocked out to not notice when she was moved to the bed. She looked round once more. Sebastian was not in the room. Maybe he was in the kitchen, then. She contemplated staying in bed as she remembered how loud they had both been the night before, and then she shrugged to herself. No point being shy anymore, especially if she was going to be their queen. It was about time they got used to her little screams...well loud screams when she was with Sebastian as she was clearly going to be spending a lot of time in the mansion. If she did not overcome her shyness now, when would she?

With this thought, Annette got out of the bed with firm resolve and grabbed Sebastian's thick house robe from the side of the bed. She draped it round herself, fastening it snugly and made for the kitchen.

As she walked there, she realised the mutterings had stopped. Seated in Sebastian's kitchen in his suite were Sebastian and the twins. They looked up at her with varying expressions on their faces.

'Okay, fine. I scream a lot when I'm having phenomenal sex. Sue me.' She rolled her eyes at them and dropped to a kitchen stool heavily.

Damian bit back a chuckle at this, 'Honey, we know that. Trust me. We've had three weeks of continuous screaming -- varying pitches at that. So trust me darling, scream all you want, it don't affect me much.'

Annette blushed a bit at this and ducked her head, 'Oh, well, it's just that I thought...I mean with all of you sat there staring at me so funny...anyway...' Her voice trailed off as she blushed harder.

Sebastian laughed gently at this, 'We're not talking about your, ahem, vocal appreciation of last night, although it pleases me to know that you consider what we engage in as phenomenal. It's something else. Something unheard of actually.'

Annette quickly looked up at this. All three men were staring at her seriously now. But they all had barely suppressed excitement on their faces. And for vampires to not be able to school their features to be stoic, Annette was positive that it was something very important.

'What is it? Do the rest of the vampires still hate me? Do they still wanna fight me 'cause if they do, then they must be incredibly stupid no offence. I mean, talk about death wish...'

Sebastian quickly shook his head, 'No, no darling. Don't fret, it's none of that. Something extraordinary happened this morning. Something I thought...I would have thought was not possible if it did not happen to me myself.'

'Sebastian was out in the sun for two hours and did not weaken.' Drake burst in excitedly.

'What?' Annette shouted turning to Sebastian.

Sebastian scowled at Drake angrily, 'Why didn't you let me finish?'

'Because you were dragging it out, old man. I couldn't help myself.' Drake rolled his eyes at him then turned to Annette with glee, 'Isn't that awesome?'

'Yes. I mean...are you supposed to be able to do that?' Annette looked askance at Sebastian.

Sebastian shook his head in reply, 'Don't get me wrong, I can definitely go out into the sunlight. I just can't stay in it for too long without getting weak or feeling drained. But this morning, when I woke up I realised I had left the curtains open and had rushed to close them. Then I realised I did not feel the customary dizziness I get when I look at the sun. I felt...the same way I feel at night. I was surprised of course and I went outside to the balcony and just stood there.'

He sighed at this, almost to himself, 'It felt glorious. The first time in two millennia in which I could truly bask in the ambience and delight of the sun.'

'But...how?' Annette asked weakly.

'That's the interesting part. I think it's 'cause he drank your blood.' Drake butted in again.

Sebastian actually growled at him and Drake put up his hands quickly in surrender, 'You mean I thought that it was because I drank your blood. That's the only explanation. This sort of thing has never happened to me before, only now when I drank from you. Of course, you're different from any other human I have encountered, but this was truly brought to me when I drank from you...I have never tasted anything so fresh, so different, so truly remarkable...' He trailed off as he saw the other three people staring at him in wonder. He ducked his head as he blushed a bit. His cheeks turned bright red.

'Wow,' Damien whistled, 'You're actually blushing. Like a true human being. This is awesome. It's like Annette infused you with a bit of 'human' today. Wonder how long it will last.'

Sebastian turned to stare at Annette. Annette just stared back at him in amazement. They both gazed at each other for such a long time that the twins started fidgeting and muttering quietly, 'I'll just...yeah I think I left something in my...yeah,' and they both scuttled out of the kitchen as fast as they could to their respective suites. 

Annette gazed at Sebastian as he looked down then up at her, 'I'm sorry if I didn't tell you this first. I was just so excited and shocked and...a maelstrom of different feelings really and I had to tell someone, and you looked so peaceful that I didn't want to wake you up and the twins were awake and they are the closest people I know so...'

Annette placed a finger on his lips to end his stammering, 'It's okay. Believe me; I'm not upset with you. I'm just so happy.'

'Happy?'

'Yes.' Annette smiled widely and gently at him, 'I'm so happy that my blood can do this for you. All we have to do is wait and see how long it lasts. And this can be my wedding gift to you...or queenship gift, I don't know how it's done in the vampire world. But this is, I mean, what I mean is, I'm just so thrilled. This way we can be together during the daytime...well as long as you don't take too much and leave me stuck on the bed recovering of course, 'cause that way we can't be together of course...' 

Sebastian silenced her own ramblings with a soft kiss. She looked up at him and sighed, 'I didn't think it was possible, after just three weeks, but I think I've fallen in love with you.'

Sebastian smiled at her with such tenderness that she felt her eyes tear up, 'It must be possible because I fell in love with you the moment you shoved me across the alleyway the first night I met you. I love you Annette Fleming. And I can't wait for you to truly become my queen. My wife, both in the vampire realm and in the human world.'

'Hmmm, that might be a bit tricky as you're a vampire and can't enter a church. I'm Catholic, Mister.' She teased him, brushing her lips over his.

He laughed at this and nipped her lower lip lightly, 'That's where you're wrong oh clever one, because I'm Catholic too. Vampires not being able to touch or enter religious areas or things is a silly myth that Hollywood uses to make money.'

Annette grinned happily, 'Good. We are must definitely having a larger than life church wedding then. And it'll be during the day. Of course, we'll have to smuggle the twins in as I can't become a blood bank to all and sunder. Your other vampires will simply have to make do with the vampire ceremony. However that will be. Oh and Livvy'll be my bridesmaid, hope her bothersome new boyfriend will have a broken leg and not be able to make it, stupid name like Angus...is he a burger or what?' As Annette grumbled to herself, she missed the guilty look that went through Sebastian's eyes at the name Angus.

Sebastian cleared his throat guiltily. This was probably not the best time to talk about Angus, but he could not let her continue with plans of their wedding without coming clean. He opened his mouth and started with, 'There's something I need to tell you...'

'Hold that thought before I forget what I want to tell, or rather, ask you. Where's the ring? There's no way I'm going to tell Livvy about this without a ring to show for it. She'll hate you even more than she does now. And I know she definitely hates your guts.'

Sebastian nodded at this. 'Yes, the ring. I was going to give it to you in a romantic setting, but no time like the present, no?'

'No.' Annette replied practically vibrating with excitement. As they both walked back to Sebastian's room, Annette asked, 'What was it you wanted to tell me again?'

'Don't worry. It's not that important.' Was the quick reply.

***

Malachi smiled to himself maliciously as he moved from the hiding place he had positioned himself in when he heard Sebastian's outrageous comments. So the little witch's blood could make their kind stay out in the sun without any worries, eh?

Good. He hated her with a passion after he had been so embarrassed by her in front of everyone. She had demeaned him and made them laugh at him. Him? The great Malachi? Stronger than the proverbial vampire. 

He knew just what he would do. There were certain vampires that would pay exorbitant prices for her blood. Maybe even drain the bitch dry. Let's see how strong she would be then, he cackled to himself as he skulked off.

Yes, no one got away with making a fool out of him. 



Silver Eyes Ch. 12



'Stop it, you big tosser!' Olivia giggled as she batted Angus' hand and ran to the other side of the kitchen table. It was a glorious day. The weather crisp and lovely, the sun shining, albeit in a futile attempt as it made no impact in the cold, December weather; even the birds were chirping -- a great feat as no stupid pigeons were batting about the trees. 

But what made it most glorious of all was that Olivia had Angus to herself for the whole day. Annette was sleeping over at Sebastian's again or was at work, she had no idea, but Olivia had skived off work to be with Angus for the whole day. At her flat. On a weekday. Something she never thought she would do as she was too strait-laced for such. She sighed happily to herself. Angus was everything she had dreamt of and more. He was attractive, had his own job, nice, caring, patient...all the good words there were in the dictionary pointed in his direction. Even Annette had started liking him. Or pretending to in an Oscar winning way. 

She was distracted from her thoughts as Angus lunged at her playfully and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards him so suddenly that she fell into his arms. She laughed as she struggled weakly. 'Let go! I'm not going to eat whatever concoction you...concocted.'

Angus mock growled at her, 'Oh yes you are. You wanted me to cook and now I have. So open up wide and feel this slimy, green soup thing slide down your throat.'

Olivia shrieked loudly and tried to keep her mouth shut as Angus brought a large ladle of something that could not be described as soup in a million years towards her lips.

'Mmmmpphhh,' She wrinkled her nose at the smell while keeping her mouth tightly shut at the alien like thing advancing towards her.

Suddenly the bell rang and Angus turned round, his arms loosening its hold on Olivia.

Olivia grinned triumphantly as she broke away from him and danced towards the door. 'Saved by the bell, haha. And I know Annette's not gonna let you get away with force-feeding me that vile crap you call cooking.'

Angus shrugged at her good-naturedly, 'We'll see about that, then.' He leaned against the side of the table and stared at Olivia as she walked towards the door with something akin to tenderness. He had to tell her why he had befriended her. Today. He could not cope with the guilt anymore. Sebastian was as close to his lady as he would ever be and did not need him anymore. Even if he did, then he, Angus would deal with the consequences of his actions later. Right now he owed much more to Olivia. He could only hope that she would forgive him. 

Angus was so deep in his thoughts that he almost ignored the red alert of danger that burst into his brain as Olivia placed a hand on the door knob. He had no idea what was on the other side of the door, but it was not Annette. 

He opened his mouth to yell out a warning but he was too late. Olivia had opened the door and he watched as her smile faltered at whoever or whatever was on the other side. 

'May I help you?' She asked politely.

A deep voice replied in a cold tone, 'Is Miss Annette Fleming here?'

'No.' Olivia replied confused, 'Why? Is there a problem?'

'Yes. We need to speak to her now. Could you tell me where she is?'

'I don't know. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you.' Olivia retorted sharply. She did not like the look of these men. There were three of them, all cold looking and wearing sun glasses in the cold weather. Her heart pitter-pattered loudly in her chest. 

She suddenly felt Angus behind her and unconsciously slumped in relief. She had no idea she had been poised in such a tense manner.

Angus said flatly, 'You've heard the lady. The woman you're looking for isn't here. If there's nothing else we can help you with, then we suggest you leave.'

He made to shut the door, but was stopped by one of them who now had an evil smirk on his face.

'Well that wouldn't do now, would it? And this must be a great thing as, from what I heard, Miss Annette is a, shall we say, spectacular being. Why, three of us here wouldn't be able to hold her down, would we?'

All the three men laughed at this. Olivia looked frightened. Hold her down? What the hell where they talking about? What did they want with Annette? And how the hell did they know she was different?

'Look, I don't like the tone of your voice and I would very much like if you would remove yourself from my property. This is turning into trespass and if you don't leave, I will call the police.' She said as firmly as she could, although she could not help the little tremor that was visible in her voice.

'Oh no, my dear. Sorry that won't be possible. Since we can't find Miss Annette, then you will have to do. I take it you must be a friend of hers or at least an acquaintance, and I'm sure this will be much easier than getting Miss Annette. She would be easier to...agree with when she knows we have you with us.' This was said with a full out grin.

Olivia felt Angus stiffen behind her. Then his voice came out in a very soft drawl, 'Oh I don't think that's gonna be possible, my dear men. No one is leaving this house but you three. Alone.'

'Is that a fact?' One of them replied then before Olivia could blink, the man's hand shut out in a punch towards Angus' face. She let out a sharp scream and whirled round to see the man's hand in Angus' grip. Her eyes widened at the look on Angus' face. His eyes were blazing with fury. 

'You shouldn't have done that.' He whispered. Then he dragged the man into the house so quick it was like a blur and he twisted his wrist causing a sharp crack to sound loudly. The man yelled in a girly voice and looked at his now released hand. It was bent in an unnatural way.

The other two men looked in horror at Angus and one of them gasped in shock, 'Oh my God, he's not human. He's not human!'

Olivia turned in fear to them and back to Angus. What the fuck was going on?

'What the fuck? What's he saying?'

Angus tried to push her behind him with barely controlled gentleness. 'Stay out of this, Olivia.' And with that he turned back to the men who were standing stock still in fear.

One of them lashed out blindly, trying to hit Angus, but his fist caught Olivia as she was about to run into the house and call the police. Olivia's head snapped back with the force of the punch. She dimly heard Angus let out a piercing howl as she struggled to retain consciousness. She blinked rapidly filling eyes at the scene by her door and let out a terrified gasp at what she was seeing. Angus had dragged all three of the men into her flat and slammed the door shut. He then turned towards them, but this time his eyes were different. The whites of his eyes were turning to a deep brown and his lower jaw looked funny, as if it was stretched. 

'He's a fucking werewolf!' One of them shrieked then tried to squeeze past Angus to the door.

Olivia thought to herself absently, as if she was not seeing the spectacle before her eyes, was the guy nuts? He could see Angus turning into something not human and he was still trying to push past him. Talk about being incredibly thick.

Angus snarled at him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. The man whimpered and a dark stain spread down his jeans. Angus held him to his face and growled in a muffled voice, as if his mouth were full of teeth, 'You should have left while you had the chance.' With that statement, he opened his mouth wide and the man moaned at the rows of large sharp teeth, all looking like individual scissors blades in Angus' mouth.

Olivia let out a large horrified scream at what she saw. Oh my God! Angus was truly a werewolf. 

Angus turned sharply at the sound. He looked at Olivia for a second with inhuman eyes as if he could he not recognise her, then something cleared in his eyes and he dropped the man immediately as if he were an unwanted bag of stale, musty clothes.

'Get out of here. And stay the hell away from Annette and Olivia. Infact stay away from this part of the city.'

The men nodded vigorously as they stumbled over themselves in their haste to get out of the flat. Angus turned to look at Olivia and saw the fear on her face. He put a hand to his face and groaned inwardly. His blasted temper had gotten away with him as it always did. He felt his jaw in the early stages of merging with his nose and turning into a muzzle. He felt his sharp large teeth crowding his mouth. He could smell the fear and...oh no, was it revulsion, emanating from Olivia in waves. But he couldn't have helped himself. Olivia had been hit and he had felt as if his world was going to end. His future mate had been hit!

He opened his mouth to apologise to Olivia and she put up a hand to stop him. 'Don't. I know you want to apologise but don't. You were trying to protect me and I thank you for that. Just tell me one thing. Did you know about Annette's...otherness?'

Angus stared at her looking for a way out of the line of questioning. He was shocked at what she asked. He thought she was going to talk about him being a werewolf, but she had brushed over it like it was an everyday thing. 'Erm...yeah I did.' He wasn't going to lie anymore. 

'You did. I see, and how did you know this?' She asked blankly.

'I always knew about Annette. I just didn't know how to tell you.' He hung his head. His features had turned back human, but he still had a sad look on his face.

And you knew about her how?' Olivia's voice was slowly turning frantic. Please God, let him not say he got close to me to get to Annette. Don't make him say he used me to get to Annette. That he never fancied me, he just wanted Annette.

'Sebastian told me to get close to...' He started and Olivia let out a wail so sad it sounded inhuman.

'You used me. Oh my God, you used me. You fucking arsehole! You fucking werewolf pig, get the fuck out of my house.' She screamed like a banshee.

Angus shook his head frantically at her, 'No! No, no Livvy. You don't understand. I love you. I swear, I love you. I never meant for this to happen. I never thought I would fall in love with you, but I did. I'm sorry I didn't...'

'So all this was a game to you, hunh? You and that fucking psycho, Sebastian. 'Oh we're bored, Angus darling, we higher beings that are vampires and werewolves. Let's go play with those weak humans.' And fucking Sebastian didn't think one of those humans wasn't actually humanly, hunh? That she would be different? And so he wanted you to get close to me to understand why his plaything wasn't just that -- a weak human?'

'You're getting it all wrong.' Angus started, but Olivia kept on screaming obscenities at him. He suddenly walked up to her and grabbed her arms, giving her a little shake which cut off her screaming abruptly.

'Now listen to me, Olivia. What I did was wrong. Horribly wrong, and I accept that. But don't insult Sebastian because you're mad at me and you hate him and you've finally found a way to justify your hatred. Don't. He asked me to get close to you because he wanted to find out why Annette said her life was complicated. Then he felt guilty and told me to stop, but I didn't. Because I didn't want to stop talking to you. Being with you. Then I got in too deep. I started feeling stuff for you. Stuff I've never felt for anybody else in my whole life. And I couldn't tell you. I guess I was in too deep and I got scared. I love you Olivia. And I am so, so sorry.' He was staring deep in her eyes as he said this. 

Olivia felt a tear slowly drop from her left eye down her cheek, 'You love me, but you couldn't tell me about Annette. About being a werewolf. What's love without trust? Because that's all I see. You claim you love me, but you couldn't tell me who or what you really are. Did you think I couldn't take you being a werewolf? You knew about Annette, knew I knew what she was. And that Sebastian was a vampire. So you don't have any excuse about that. I wouldn't have been freaked out.'

'I'm sorry. I didn't know how to tell you without you finding out about why I was really here. In the beginning of course.' He hastily added.

Olivia smiled bitterly, 'It doesn't matter now, does it? You lose. In every way. I don't know why Annette's the way she is and neither does she. Even if I knew, I would never have told you in a million years. You see, unlike you I don't betray the people I love. Ever. Now please, I beg you, leave me alone and don't come back.'

Angus stared at her for a long second then let out his breath in a drawn out sigh. Who would have thought the day would end up like this? He thought of how ironic it all was. He had been debating with himself about how he was going to tell her the truth and that had been sorted for him. And there was no point telling her he had wanted to speak the truth, she would never believe him. It would seem too convenient. Guess it was just a little too late.

He walked to the sofa and grabbed his coat then walked slowly to the door. When he got there, he turned to look at Olivia one last time and said gently, 'Don't ever doubt that I love you. Because I do. Wholeheartedly. And I know you love Annette. And I know that's part of why you're upset and I can understand that. She's like your sister. She is your sister. That's kind of how I feel about Sebastian. Which is why I want you to answer this question for me. If you had been in my shoes, if Annette had asked you to spy on Sebastian through me, wouldn't you have done it without any hesitation? Wouldn't you? And if you had fallen in love with me, what then?'

Olivia just stared back at him, crying silently. Oh Angus, she thought inwardly. She would have done whatever Annette asked and would definitely have been devastated if Angus did not forgive her. Her lawyer mind knew that. But her heart was involved in this. And right now it was too broken, too destroyed to be logical. She couldn't trust him. Not now. She stared at him without saying anything.

Angus' shoulders slumped and he looked to the floor. 'I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me, Olivia. I'll be waiting, whenever you're ready. Be well.' With that, he walked out of the flat, shutting the door gently.

Come back! Her mind shrieked, but her lips remained tightly sealed as tears coursed down her cheeks. Come back! 

Olivia slumped to the floor as she let out huge, heart-wrenching sobs.

***

'Doop-da-di-do da, doop-da-di-ay, my oh my, what a wonderful day.' Annette warbled in a tuneless voice as she opened the door to her flat. It had truly been a wonderful day. She had spent it walking about with Sebastian, in the freaking sun, mind you! They had had an early lunch in a posh restaurant in Knightsbridge and had gone ice-skating in a town on the outskirts of London. They had been like any other normal couple. No spending the whole day in bed or in the mansion because Sebastian was a vampire, no treading about in dim rooms so that the sunlight could not get in. It had been beyond glorious. 

She twirled as she dropped her keys on the dining table still humming to herself. She had been in such a good mood at work that David had teased her, 'Keep taking whatever it is you're on, Netta. Loving the new mood, better yet, bring some in here. We need everyone this high.' She giggled to herself as she remembered David saying this with a pointed glance at perpetually sulky Melissa. 

She walked into Olivia's room and pounced on the huddled lump in the middle of the bed. 'Wake up grumpy! I know you have work tomorrow...oops, today, but have I got news for you.'

She did not wait for a reply but snuggled in next to her, chatting away excitedly, 'I have had the most interesting day...well, including last night...anyway, I surprised Seb at his place last night, in your borrowed top by the way, and had the most amazing fight with his silly, wimpy vampires. They thought they could best me in a fight. Me? Ha! I whooped their puny sun-deprived arses. Ooh, and as a reward, well after a mini row, we had the best sex ever. We broke a massive dining table and some chairs, wooo...fan me somebody!'

Annette sat up suddenly dragging the blanket off an immobile Olivia, 'Then we found out something stupendous. Sebastian can stay out all day in the sun if he drinks my blood. Yeah, I know, he drank my blood. No yelling please, it ended nicely...even though I fainted...terrible, no? Anyway, we spent the whole day out in the sun...well as sunny as this shitty weather could allow and it was fucking fantastic.

'And the best part is...I'll leave that for last. By the way, I saw your stupid boyfriend in your room last night and we had a bit of an argument. Don't know what he told you, but I had to confess I didn't like him one bit. And before you bite my head off, I warned him never to upset you or I'd rip his scalp off his skull...which he should thank me for as that silly hair makes him look, well, silly.'

She stopped to stare at Olivia who was still silent. 'Okay, say something, homo. Stop being a drip. Be happy about my day; yell at me for the blood bank move, or for the Angus-bashing. What's wrong with you?'

Annette looked on as Olivia said nothing. She was clearly awake as her eyes were shining in the dim light but all she did was stare at the other side of the room.

Annette suddenly got scared and concerned. There was definitely something wrong with Olivia. She got up to turn on the light then she looked back at Olivia.

'Okay, what's wrong Livvy? Did something happen at work today? Did you get in some kind of trouble? What is it?'

Olivia looked at her blankly then smiled bitterly as she whispered, her voice croaky from lack of use and hoarse from crying for so long, 'Guess you'll be scalping Angus sooner than you thought.'

Annette bit back a gasp at that. What had that fucker done to her best friend? 

She hurried back to the bed and sat down next to Olivia, 'What happened?' She asked with controlled anger.

'Seems darling Angus wasn't what he said he was. He's a werewolf, do you know that? A fucking werewolf. Wow didn't know the American werewolf in London wasn't just a myth.' Olivia barked out a sharp laugh at that.

Annette remained silent waiting for Olivia to let it all out. A werewolf? Why were they suddenly inundated with supernatural stuff these days?

'And the best part is, or worse, depending on how you look at it, was that I found out while he was protecting me from some meatheads who punched me.'

'WHAT?' Annette practically roared.

'Oh, that's not all. They didn't just punch me, well one of them. They were looking for you.'

Annette stared at her with wide eyes.

'Looking for me?' She whispered stunned. 'But why? Why on earth would they...'

'Because they knew about you. Knew, or rather know you're different. They said it.'

'Fucking hell. How the fuck? Maybe they were sent by the vampires. Not all of them were happy about Sebastian calling me their queen.'

Olivia looked confused, 'Queen?'

Annette smiled weakly. She felt horrible for saying this last bit as it meant her relationship was getting stronger as Olivia's was destroyed, 'Err...Sebastian kinna asked me to marry him. Today. Well, last night to be precise, in front of everyone. Wanna be my bridesmaid? She ended weakly.

Olivia did not say a word as her eyes filled rapidly. 

Annette quickly gathered her in her arms, 'Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to sound insensitive. I was just joking. Not about the proposal, or you being my bridesmaid, but I promise, I'm not getting married till I tear Angus from limb to limb, and till you get better and don't tell me not to be silly and go ahead, because I won't. I can't be happy when my best friend isn't. It all just seems hollow.'

Olivia cried out at this, 'Oh Netta. I'm not just crying because I broke up with Angus. I'm crying because of what he told me about you. About why he came into my life, our lives in the first place.'




Silver Eyes Ch. 12



Annette stopped rocking Olivia immediately. With her arms still around her, and her face away from Olivia's, she asked softly, 'What are you on about, Liv?'

'The reason Angus came up to me in the park wasn't 'cause he wanted to comfort me about that cursed dog. It's because he wanted to use me to get to you. To know what exactly you are, or what your life's about, that bit's still a bit hazy.'

Annette moved away from her, her face still expressionless, 'What do you mean?'

Olivia wiped her eyes. This was going to hurt Annette, what she was about to say, so she pushed her own pain to the back of her mind, 'Annette. Netta, Angus was sent by Sebastian to spy on you. Through me. He was sent to find out stuff about you.'

Annette shook her head at that. Once. Then twice, 'That's not true. Why would Seb do that? He could easily ask me stuff himself. Why spy on me? I don't believe that creature.'

Olivia said gently, 'He said Sebastian said to find out why your life was so complicated'.

Annette stopped her fidgeting at those words. It had to be true because those were the exact same words she said to Sebastian when she warned him away from her. 

'Annette? Are you okay?' Olivia asked worried.

'That was a long time ago, though.' Annette said, her voice sounding like it was coming from a faraway tunnel, 'This happened ages before we got together. Before we became lovers. Friends. Everything.'

Olivia actually wrung her hands at the empty look in Annette's eyes, 'Yeah, you're probably right. I mean, Angus did say Sebastian told him to stop, so Seb probably...' 

Annette had stopped listening. Her mind was whirling to all the days and nights she had spent with Sebastian. With his friends in the kitchen. On the bed. Having sex. Making love. Talking. Laughing. He had had so many opportunities to tell her what he had sent Angus to do. To ask her outright about her life. The complications. Whatever. He had not. He didn't trust her. He had had questions about her life, questions so important to him that he had gotten someone to spy on her, yet he had asked her to marry him without clearing the air on what he wanted to know. What he had asked Angus to do. And he had done it through her friend. Her best friend who wasn't as strong as she was. Who could easily be killed. Her heart skipped a beat as she thought about what could have happened if Angus had not been around. This was all her fault. If she had never got involved with Sebastian, no one would be looking for her or hurting her friend. She had let herself fall in love with a man she barely knew, a man who looked at her with guiltless eyes and asked for her hand in marriage. He had knowingly sent a werewolf to her flat. Knowing that werewolves supposedly lost control when they changed. Her heart turned to ice.

'Annette!' Olivia shouted shaking Annette's limp hand. 

Annette blinked and looked at her. 

Then she smiled sweetly, 'We have to do something about those men who came here. Whoever sent them obviously wants me bad enough to have found out about this flat that no one knows about, well apart from Angus and Se.... We have to find out what's going on before they send some other people around here who'll probably succeed in really hurting you this time.'

'Annette, what about Sebas...' Olivia started but stopped at the look in Annette's eyes.

'He doesn't matter. Not to me. Not anymore.'



Silver Eyes Ch. 13



Sebastian paced his bedroom for the umpteenth time ignoring the uneasy looks the twins were giving him and passing between each other.

'Err...Seb, don't you think you should go see her at her place? I mean, if she doesn't want to see you at her bar or pick up your calls then maybe if you see her at hers where no one could cover up for her then...' Damien started after clearing his throat.

'Don't you think I've thought of that? Do you think I'm stupid? It's been a week since I last spoke to her. Since I saw her. What the fuck has happened since then? She just ignores me. Acts like I don't exist. Like I'm invisible. I proposed to her goddanmit! And she was happy, she accepted it. Now...I just don't know. What have I done?' His scream ended in a broken whisper.

He dropped to a nearby chair heavily. 'You're right, Damien. I'm not thinking clearly. I'm gonna go over to her house. Now.'

Drake looked at Damien, then back at Sebastian, 'Actually, this evening's probably better. It's afternoon, Seb.'

Sebastian looked up at him, his eyes blazing, 'Do I look like I give a fuck?' He snarled.

Drake hid a gulp and shook his head rapidly. In all his years of being with Sebastian, and they had been a lot, he could not remember anytime that he had seen him as furious as this. 

'Yeah, sure. That can be arranged. We'll just organise a car with tinted glasses for you, and you should be good to go, I guess.' He quickly said.

'Do that.'

***

Annette stared at her ceiling as she lay on her bed. She had finally been able to persuade Olivia to stop checking on her every time. That had been a chore. She sighed as she rolled over to her other side. She remembered the last time she saw Sebastian. He had come to the bar frantic with worry because she had not been picking up his calls. She had ignored him, as she had done the eighty seven calls she had received from him since Olivia told her the truth. 

She punched her pillow angrily. She had to stop thinking about him. He was now her past. Now she had to focus on her life. Her future. Those sorry fuckers that had messed with her friend. And whoever was behind it all. 

She had spent two days trying to find out any information from her neighbours. Like if they had seen anybody coming to her flat. Or if they had seen any strange cars or people around their block of flats. Nothing. A part of her knew that the fastest way she could find them was to tell Sebastian, but she'd rather eat dirt than do that. Maybe it was time to pay Angus' office a visit. She could beat their description out of him. Or just beat him up for the hell of it. She smiled grimly to herself as she thought about the satisfaction she was going to get from pummelling his hairy werewolf behind.

The doorbell rang and she sat up suddenly. Who could it be? Certainly not Olivia as she had her keys. For a second she grinned evilly as she thought it might be the attackers of before. Then she shook the thought out of her head. They could not be so stupid as to attack with warning. No, they would have broken in, catching her unawares. She walked to the door hesitantly, wondering who it was.

She opened the door quickly, ready to punch the unfortunate person behind it, but her hand hung in the air as she saw that it was Sebastian.

'Sebastian?' She gasped. 'What the hell are you doing here? In the freaking afternoon?' She dragged him in and quickly shut the door, then ran round drawing all the curtains shut.

'Are you suicidal? Have you gone mad?' She screamed.

'Yes.' Sebastian replied grimly, 'Yes I've gone suicidal. If that's the only way I can get to talk to you, then by all means, deem me mad.' 

Annette studied him closely as her mind whirled in anger. He had risked his stupid life to come talk to her. Oh, now he wanted to talk. He must have forgotten his stupidity with Angus. In fact she was sure he had, or maybe that did not even register on his radar. She opened her mouth to yell at him then saw him weaving slightly on his feet.

She rushed to him and shoved him on the sofa, half-irritated, 'Oh sit down, you fucking drama king. You can't even stand straight and you have the effrontery to stare at me as if you have any right.'

'I have every fucking right to stare at you!' He tried to yell, but it came out as a loud whisper. His head was spinning. He was dizzy.

'You need blood, don't you?' She asked flatly.

Sebastian tried to deny it but he felt faint. He nodded slowly. Even the act of moving his head hurt him. 

Annette rolled her eyes then crouched by his side. He made to bite at her throat but she moved away and stuck out her arm. He looked at her for a few seconds then he lowered his mouth slowly to her wrist.

She looked away as she heard suckling sounds. She did not feel any pain but she felt a tingle snake its way down her stomach. She hastily pushed it aside. She did not want to feel anything for him. No arousal, nothing. If she could squash her anger too, she would have done so in a heartbeat. 

She looked down at his head and at the same time he looked up at her. The intimacy in the act of sucking from her wrist while looking up at her made her gasp. She tore her hand from him and quickly got up.

'You any better?' She asked quietly.

He nodded. He felt better. He felt better than he had before going out in the sun actually.

'Good. Now you can go out in the sun without any effects so don't let the door hit you in the arse.' She turned around to go back to her room but he blurred towards her and grabbed her arms.

She shrugged away of him, 'I'm not your run of the mill human toy that you can mind fuck, Sebastian. You may be infinitely faster than I am, but I will knock your sorry arse from here to your teenagehood. I said get out of my house.'

Sebastian simply stared at her in amazement, 'I can't believe you, Annette. The last time we spoke, everything was good. Fine, beyond perfect even. Now you can't even bear to look at me. What have I done?'

'Get out!'

'Fine. If that's what you want then I will. But you have to tell me what went wrong, what I did wrong before I go anywhere. At least you owe me that.'

I don't owe you anything.' She hissed at him so ferociously that he moved back a step, 'I don't owe you Fuck All, Sebastian Beaumont. All I owe you is the blood you lost for coming here in the first place, for risking your life to see me and I've paid you in full. More than full actually, 'cause, for the remainder of the day, you can prance about with glee in the sun. Consider that full repayment. Now leave, or I WILL throw you out. And we both know I'm very capable of that.' 

Sebastian stared at her in horror. He must have done something really horrible for her to be so angry. He thought about forcing her to talk to him then he smiled bitterly to himself. He could not even do that right. She could not be forced. Not by him. Not by anybody. 

He walked to the door slowly. As he made to open the door, he heard her mutter darkly to him, 'And tell your good pal Angus that he best be using his fucking werewolf powers to track down who hurt Olivia. That's the only way I'll make his death as painless as possible. He should consider that my forgiveness.'

He turned round quickly at that, 'What the...how did you know...hurt Oliv...' He was flabbergasted. She knew. She knew what he had sent Angus to do.

He walked towards her with his hands stretched out, 'Look Olivia, I'm so sorry. Let me explain...'

'Get the fuck out or I'll throw you out the window. Your last warning.' Annette whispered.

Sebastian stopped mid-step, 'Won't you even let me explain? Won't you at least give me that?'

'You had your chance to explain when I slept in your bed. You had your chance to explain when you fucked me over and over again. When you named me your sodding queen. When you took my blood. You had your chances. No more. Chances over. Leave.'

Sebastian bit back a hoarse cry. 'Please Annette. Don't do this. Don't destroy us like this. Please, I've waited for this, for you for over two thousand years. Two thousand years, Annette. Don't let it end like this.'

'I'm sorry, Seb.' She said softly. 'It's over. I can't be with anyone I can't trust. I just can't. You know the trust issues I have with people. You're the only one I've ever trusted as quickly as I did. It took me years to trust Olivia. With you, it took me less than a week. And you betrayed it. You sent someone to spy on me. I can understand that you did that when you hardly knew me, but you've had three weeks to tell me. Three weeks, Sebastian.' 

'I told him to stop.' He said weakly, 'I told him to leave Olivia. I did.'

'But you never told me.' She replied and he hung his head at that.

'Telling him to leave Olivia is one thing, but telling me. Why couldn't you? Why didn't you?'

'I wanted to.'

'Then what stopped you from telling me then?'

'I didn't want to hurt you.' He whispered brokenly.

'Well guess what, you have.' And with that she walked to the front door and opened it, 'Since you don't want to go, then stay as long as you want. I'll leave. Good bye Sebastian.' She walked out and closed the door behind her.

For the first time in centuries, Sebastian felt tears slide down his eyes.

***

Olivia opened the door to her flat, exhausted from work. She dropped her keys on the side table and walked into the living room, turning on the light as she did so.

'Aaarrggghhhhh!' She screamed, almost falling over herself as she backtracked out of the room.

'No, no. Stop, it's okay.' Sebastian rushed to her side to steady her. 'It's me, Sebastian.' He smiled ruefully as she stared at him in shock, 'I never thought this was how our first meeting would be, but, hello. I'm Sebastian Beaumont. And you must be Olivia.'

She replied with a hard slap to his face. He barely felt it, but she gasped in pain and cradled her hand to her cheek.

'Sorry, about that. I didn't mean to hurt you.' He said quickly.

'I know. I knew it'd hurt me more, but I'd take the pain over and over again as long as it makes you realise how much I loathe you for what you've done to my best friend.' She shrugged out of his hold and walked into the room properly.

'What are you doing here, anyway? Haven't you caused enough pain?' She huffed as she threw her jacket on the sofa.

'More than enough apparently. She hasn't been back here since she left four hours ago. She should have come back by now, at least to change for work.' Sebastian replied wearily.

'Guess she'd rather skive work than be here with you.' Olivia snidely replied.

Sebastian just stared at his hands. 'Look, I know you must hate me. But you have to know, I love Annette. I really do. You have to believe me. I didn't mean for the Angus thing to go on as long as it did, I swear. I know I made a mistake and there's no way I can change what happened, but I promise I would spend the rest of my life making it up to her. And that's incredibly long.'

Olivia smiled a little at that, 'Fair play. And I do know you're crushed about this. Look at you, talk about contrite. I believe you, I mean you are a tosser, and I still hate your sodding guts, but one thing I'm sure of is that you do love Annette and you made an extremely stupid mistake.'

Sebastian looked with a tear-stained face at her, 'Thank you. Oh, thank you so much. You don't know how much your forgiveness means to me...'

'Hold it, buster. I said I know you love Annette, that doesn't mean I forgive you. Hell, not only did you fuck up with Annette, you got me involved with that Scottish twat and now some funny lot are after Annette.'

'What!' Sebastian looked confused. Annette had said something about some people coming over to her place and hurting Olivia but he had not been paying attention at that point. 'What do you mean after Annette?'

'Oh, didn't she tell you?' Olivia looked surprised then she rolled her eyes, 'Trust Annette to go all superhero on me now. I just knew she would want to do this on her own.'

Sebastian stopped himself from yelling at her to speak quickly. Barely.

'Basically, some guys came over here a few days ago asking for Netta. I told them to fuck off and got hit in the scuffle and Angus decided to go all hairy on me. Anyway, the point is, they talked about Netta being 'different' so obviously they know she's not your average human being and they must have known how...well different she is, what with being able to toss heavy objects about without chipping a nail, 'cuz they said it would make things easier if they had me as a hostage. So, you best be finding out what's happening here because I heard Annette muttering to herself about vampires being behind all this. And it makes sense since no one knows about this, well apart from me, you and your vampires and I'm pretty sure you weren't behind this.'

Sebastian's mind whirled as he took in all that Olivia had just dropped on him. 'Thanks for trusting me.' He said absently.

'Well, more fool me. Listen, I'm not your best friend or your new crony okay. I'm telling you this because I know Annette's too stubborn to do so and this is her life at stake. She thinks she can handle it but she has to know she's not invincible. Hell, everyone has an Achilles' heel and so does she. We just don't know what it is, yet. So sort this out. As quickly as you can because if my friend gets hurt, I'm gonna make sure you and the sun become best buddies, I promise you.' Olivia's indifferent facade broke as she wiped a quick tear that had rolled down her cheek. 

'I'm just so scared. I mean, life wasn't perfect before, you know. But now we have vampires running through our lives and werewolves and kidnappers...it's all too much. I'm waiting for the inevitable breakdown that's gonna follow through because I don't think I can hold it together for so long. I've been handling Annette's otherness for a long time and I've gotten used to it, but now, vampires, werewolves...fucking Loch Ness monster I won't be surprised...I just can't take it anymore.' She barely noticed as Sebastian came round and put a consoling hand on her shoulder. 'And now I have to be strong for Annette because she's hurting. I barely have time to hurt myself...I really liked Angus you know. Plus I have to go to work and put on a brave face and a braver attitude 'cuz it's a dog eat dog world out there....I don't know if I can hold it together much more, I just don't know...' She broke down in tears.

'Hey.' Sebastian said, 'Hey, hey, hey, it's alright. Shush, don't cry.' He cradled her in his arms and rocked gently as she sobbed. 'I think you're one of the strongest humans out there. Certainly one of the strongest humans I've ever come across. And how you've managed all these, I don't know but I certainly applaud you. I'm terribly, terribly sorry about Angus. It was all my fault I promise, and if it's any consolation at all, I think he's fond of you as well. He's not the biggest fan of humans but he willingly stayed with you. Even when I told him I didn't require anything more from our plan. He stayed. He must have done so for another reason, one which I believe was you. And as for this new twist, I promise you, whoever's behind it will be brought to justice. This I assure you. So stop crying okay, you're a strong, strong woman and Annette is lucky to have you as a friend.'

Olivia sniffed and wiped her nose with her sleeve, then blushed slightly as Sebastian passed her a clean handkerchief.

'Thanks. Thanks really, breakdown aborted for now.' She smiled at him. 'Okay, now what to do about Annette.'

'Annette can take care of herself, how many times does she have to tell you?' A tight voice said.

Sebastian and Olivia whirled round to stare at an angry looking Annette.

'My, my aren't we cosy?'



Silver Eyes Ch. 14



'Annette! I didn't hear you come back.' Olivia said.

'Clearly,' Annette replied sarcastically, 'Or if you had, you wouldn't have been sobbing so daintily into My ex-boyfriend's arms.'

Olivia looked her in shock at first, then laughed, 'You have got to be having a laugh. Are you serious? Me and Sebastian? Seriously, Annette.'

'Oh, don't be stupid. Of course I know you aren't having anything with him. I mean, he betrayed me. Kinna betrayed you indirectly, and you're here with him all cosy and what not. What's gotten into you? Hello, Sebastian, man...no vampire we hate with all our guts.' Annette said rolling her eyes.

'No!' Olivia said abruptly. She stood up, eyes flashing angrily. Annette took a step back in surprise and confusion. 'No, we don't hate him. You, because underneath all that indifferent and kamikaze front, you're hurt about what he did and you're lashing out blindly at everyone that comes your way. And I certainly don't hate him, well not anymore because he wants to help you. Help us. I'm tired of looking at you running around like a headless chicken not knowing what to do about this new issue. I'm sick and tired of looking over my shoulder on my way to work and back, even at work because I'm scared someone's gonna snatch me and stuff me in the back of their van and I won't have anybody to protect me. It's not like you're around me twenty four seven. And I'm fucking sick of you moping about when you clearly are still in love with him. You guys sort out your fucking issues so that we can deal with this kidnapping malarkey because I'm fucking through with it all.' She yelled.

Annette stared at her with her mouth wide open, 'Are you fucking kidding me? This is Sebastian. The guy who sicced Angus on you.'

'Yeah, he did. And I hated him for it. And hated Angus. But unlike you, I'm trying to be mature about it all. At least until we find out who these people are and deal with it before it gets worse.' She replied hotly. 

Annette just looked shocked, and a little tearful. 

Olivia sighed and walked up to her. When she was directly in front of her, she put her hands on her shoulders and said gently, 'Annette, I love you. I love you so much and I would do anything to make sure you're safe. I will yell at you, I will cry with you, I will mourn with you. I will become best friends with Sebastian for you, and I will make you so mad at me that you wish you could bury me alive. I will do all these things if they would make you safe. So be shocked at me, be angry with me, hell hit me if it would make you feel better. But by God, you're going to sit your stubborn arse here and work things out with Sebastian, if only to protect yourself. To protect us. And hopefully, get back together with him, 'cuz truthfully, I liked you a lot better when you lot were together. He made a mistake, fine. But he's sorry. Kick his arse, gouge out his eyes, but listen to him and don't throw away a good thing, okay?' She placed a kiss on her forehead, 'Now I'm going to go for...ooh, I don't know a walk...no make that a cab ride, don't want anyone jumping me in the dark, and by the time I get back, I wanna be hearing plans on how both of you are gonna get the bad guys.'

Annette smiled softly at her, 'I know you love me Livvy. I do, but can I ask you something? Are you gonna practice what you preach and get back with Angus?'

Olivia faltered in her steps, 'I'll have to think about that one.'

Annette shook her head at that, 'Why do you want me to do what you can't do, then?'

'Because you're wiser than me, even though you forget it sometimes. And deep down you know I'm right. And in any case, he proposed to you. Your relationship's far deeper than mine.'

Annette opened her mouth to say something again and Olivia placed her hands over her ears, 'Nope. Not hearing anything. Start trading superhuman strength stories already. Byeeeee.' She rushed to the door and ran out the flat.

Annette shook her head wryly and turned back to the stone-like person perched stiffly on the edge of the sofa.

'Happy now? You've succeeded in mind-fucking with my friend and now she's your number one fan. Whoop-de fucking do for you, Beaumont.'

'Why didn't you tell me that you had people after you?' Sebastian asked quietly.

'Oh sod off. Now you know how it feels when something's hidden from you.' She retorted going into the kitchen to get herself a drink.

'This isn't just something, you foolish woman. This is not a 'revenge' scenario – 'keep something from me and I'll do the same.' This is your life we're talking about.' He shouted walking after her into the kitchen.

'Oh please, stop already. We both know my life's pretty hard to end.'

'Stop being so nonchalant. Do you think you're invincible?' He said through gritted teeth.

'Yup. As a matter of fact, I do. Which is why I really don't need your help.' She shrugged, leaning back against the counter.

Sebastian stared at her, not knowing whether he should strangle her or kiss her senseless. 'Over my dead body will you go into this situation alone.'

Annette stared at him back, 'That can be arranged.'

Sebastian looked at her in shock, and then his eyes narrowed in fury. He rushed towards her so fast that she did not quite catch his blurred state and had her against the sink in a chokehold. She tried to grab his hand but he blurred away again and rushed at her from another angle. She whirled round trying to grab his arm, shirt, anything but he was too fast for her.

He sped back to the other side of the counter and watched as she tried to gather her bearings together. 'You may be strong. Stronger than me, but you aren't as fast. I could do that repeatedly till you were out of breath and slagging. Then I could strike so fast you wouldn't see what was coming. You heal fast don't you? But can you heal a severed limb? I don't think so. Even if you could, is that something you would like to find out? No, I don't think so.'

Annette glared at him as she tried to control her breathing. Crap, she should have enrolled in the gym, she thought to herself randomly. 'Fine. You've made your point. But we are going to work together on this. No matter how fast you are. This is my fight and you're coming along as the road runner and fountain of information as you know your vamps so well. Are we clear on that?'

Sebastian shook his head, 'I don't think so. I work better alone. Plus I don't think I could live with myself if you got hurt.'

'No way, buster. You're not going to pull that emotional crap over me. Either we work together or I work alone. Take your pick.'

He looked thoughtful for a second, then blurred towards her but this time she was ready. She ducked then reached upwards with both hands and clamped down on his arms. She gave a little smile as he was caught and held immobile. 

'I'm a very fast learner, Sebastian. So we can stand here with me holding you like a little girl, maybe giving you a little shake now and again, or you can agree to my very sensible offer.'

Sebastian scowled at her so ferociously, she thought she was going to burst into flames. 'Fine.' He bit out.

She gave a large grin and released him so suddenly he stumbled. 'Now that we've proven our individual strengths, how about we get to work. Starting with why your vampires, assuming they are vampires of course, would want me anyway?'

Sebastian rubbed his arms and sat down on a kitchen stool opposite Annette, 'I don't know. Maybe because you're my queen...' He backtracked as he saw the glower on her face, 'I mean, because I announced that you were my queen.'

'Then I suggest you have another meeting and un-announce it. Problem solved.' She replied.

'Fine. We'll try that. But I don't think that's going to end this situation. If it was simply because of you being my queen, they wouldn't need to kidnap you to try to change my mind. They know how ruthless I can be, and they know I would kill every single one of them.' He said this with utter conviction, making Annette sigh inwardly. 

'But let's try it anyway. See what happens, if it doesn't work, then we can try something else. Torturing everyone with the sun until they confess or someone rats them out.'

Annette rubbed her hands together with glee, 'I like that idea better. Does that make me bloodthirsty?'

'No. It makes you a worthy vampire ruler. Just, yet ferociously capable of dealing with betrayal.' He said softly.

She froze at the word betrayal. 'Yeah, look it's been a long day. Maybe we should continue this some other time. I assume you can trust Damien and Drake so tell them about this plan and do it. I'll be waiting here so you can tell me how it went. Un-announcing me that is. If it doesn't change a thing...then I guess reuniting your vamps with the sunlight as a torture option doesn't sound too shabby.'

She rose to her feet and stretched, 'Well, it's been a long day. I'll be seeing you...' She trailed off as Sebastian stood and walked slowly towards her. He came to a stop right in front of her and said softly, so softly she had to strain to hear the words, 'I miss this. I miss talking with you. Laughing with you. Just being with you. It's only been a week, but it feels like it's been decades.'

Annette gulped loudly. His nearness was affecting her strongly. She had barricaded herself behind her hurt and anger, but now that she had let them down to talk sensibly with him she could not put them back up, 'Sebastian, this is just a truce so that we can put an end to this problem. It's not an opportunity for you to come back into my life. So don't view it that way.' 

Sebastian trailed a finger down her cheek, 'So you aren't thinking of kissing me. Of touching me, you aren't thinking about me taking you against this counter. Not one single thought?'

Annette backed up against said counter, her eyes wide and unable to release themselves from Sebastian's heated gaze. 'Sebastian, stop it. Stop messing with my head. I can't think clearly.'

'You know I can't mess with your head, Netta. I can read your thoughts, but none of that mind control works with you. Kiss me Annette.'

Annette could not help swaying towards him. Slowly, she moved forward, inch by inch towards his lips. Just before they connected, he muttered against her lips, 'We belong together, Netta. Surely, you must see that.'

Annette snapped her head back so suddenly she hit the cupboard behind her. 'You should have thought of that before going all mute on me when it mattered.'

Sebastian bit back a curse. 'What do I have to do, Annette? Tell me! Can't you see how sorry I am? How much I wish I could change everything? I came here, risking my life in the bloody sun for you. I defied my trusted vampires to name you my queen. Hell, I've even agreed to the potential death of every single vampire under my leadership to keep you safe. Even if it means killing the ones I've trusted for centuries. All for you. What more do you want?' 

'I didn't ask for you to do any of that. You offered, so don't put it all on me like you're some martyr and I'm the humble soul needing your help or salvation. All I ask is that we act civilly towards each other till this is sorted then we go our separate ways. If you have a problem then by all means, fuck off. I can do shit myself. At least one good thing came out of this, I won't be taken unawares by any vampires so thanks for that lesson.'

Sebastian growled angrily and grabbed her by the hair, catching her in a violent kiss. She responded equally as well. They sucked at their lips angrily, biting and licking. He thrust his tongue into her mouth as if he was fucking her with his tongue.

She moaned loudly into his mouth and ground herself against him. Soon they were pressed against the counter, she half sitting on it as they ground against each other. 

A loud clearing of throat startled them and Annette half leaped over Sebastian in her haste to disentangle herself.

'Ah. Well I see a lot of progress has been made.' Olivia said slyly.

Annette blushed fiercely, 'Well you're wrong. Sebastian was just leaving.' She turned to stare at the wall sullenly.

Sebastian ran a hand through his tousled hair. 'Yeah, I guess we'll continue this later. I'm just gonna talk to Damien and Drake about the meeting and...yeah...I'll tell you how it goes. Bye.' He nodded at the two girls and strode out of the flat.

Olivia watched him go then turned back to Annette, 'Wow! I know I said that you lot should sort out your difference, but I didn't know it was gonna involve shagging against the counter. Ewww...that's where I chop my vegetables.'

'Naff off, you tart. We weren't sorting out anything. I still think he's a right tosser, but we've agreed to a truce. Until we find out who's after me.' Annette replied throwing a spoon at Olivia who ducked with a giggle.

'Well I for one am very happy with what I just saw. At least we're laughing with each other. Something that hasn't happened in a while.'

Annette sobered up quickly as she gazed at Olivia in contrition, 'Oh dear, have I been that bad? I'm so sorry babe, I've been so selfish. Only thinking of myself and my hurt and forgetting that you had a double...no triple whammy sprung on you. First you get hit by some soon-to-be dead people, then you find out your boyfriend's a werewolf, and that he lied to you. And I've been moaning about the house over some trust issues that are, admittedly bad, but not as horrendous as what you've been through. I've been a right idiot, haven't I?'

Olivia smiled and gave her a big hug, 'Yeah, you have but that's okay. I still love you, warts and all. Anyway, I'm off to bed now. Have a long day tomorrow. But make sure you wipe that defiled counter before you go anywhere. And think about calling David to tell him why you missed work.'

'Oh shit!' Annette exclaimed, she had totally forgotten. 'I forgot all about that, David's definitely gonna have a go at me.' She rushed to the living room to grab the landline.

'Don't forget that counter, missy.' Olivia called after her.

Annette stuck out a middle finger but she couldn't help the smile that came to her face as she remembered the hot kiss she had shared with Sebastian. 

***

'Why are you back, for the fifth time this week, without the girl?' A voice bit out from the shadows.

'I'm sorry your highness. I mean your lordship.' A man whined, bowing down as low as he could. He was the same man who had gone to Annette's and encountered the dark haired girl and the...he gulped as he pushed the werewolf out of his mind. His other two colleagues had said that they were not going to go back to Annette's flat again and had been swiftly executed. He had agreed to go again but on the condition that his fees were doubled and he had a vampire partner. The fees had been doubled but, unfortunately, no partner.

'I tried to do it this time, but I couldn't because she had some man there with her. And I think he's one of you because he did some disappearing thing. I mean, one second he was talking to her, the next he was choking her or something. I left at that point because I didn't want him to see me, or spot me or smell...whatever.' He ended as the man shrouded in shadows slammed his fist so hard on a table that it cracked.

'You mean to tell me you saw, 'one of us', choking the girl and you didn't think to stay and watch if he killed her or not?'

'No, I didn't...I mean, I'm sorry, I should have. But I did look back before I left totally and he was back at the other side and she was alright.' He quickly added.

'Really?' The man thoughtfully rubbed his chin. 'And what did this man look like?'

'He was tall, had on a real expensive looking coat, cashmere, innit? And he had like, long blonde hair and...'

'Sebastian.' The man bit out in fury.

'I have no use for you anymore as this is obviously more than you can chew.' He said coldly to the snivelling thug.

Immediately, the cowering thug fell to the floor and tried shuffling to the angry man's feet, 'Please don't kill me. I tried, really I did. I can't die. I got three kids I need to feed and their mum's in prison. I'm all they got, please.'

The man kicked out the moment the hem of his trousers were touched. 'How dare you touch me? How dare you?' He looked to the side of the room and another shape which had not been noticed by the grovelling man blurred toward him and snapped his neck cleanly.

'Dispose of that creature.' He snapped. Then sighed as the room was vacated by the two men, one dead, one alive, or undead.

It seemed he was going to have to do everything himself. He looked up as the vampire returned. 'It seems I'm going to have to do this myself as you obviously cannot find the right person for me and you can't do it yourself.'

The other vampire shrugged sheepishly, 'I wish I could, but we both know she's far too strong for me.'

'Yes Malachi. That was made very blatant to all of us.' The reply was droll.

Malachi ducked his head hiding his fury as the other man gave a theatrical sigh.

'Must I do everything myself? This is abysmal. Well at least you were useful, in that you brought me that juicy piece of information about her blood, now all I have to do is...'

The phone rang interrupting his speech. 'What now?' He grumbled. He picked up the phone just as Malachi's phone beeped the arrival of a text. 

He listened to the voice at the other end and nodded grimly, 'Yes, of course.'

He turned to Malachi who looked back at him in confusion, 'We have a meeting this says. But why, we just had one a week ago. This happens monthly, normally.'

The man shrugged then let out a dark smile, 'Well we'll just have to find out, wouldn't we? This is clearly a result of whatever happened between him and Annette, and if that cretin was sure about what he saw then it must be something serious. Sebastian choking Annette...methinks I shall be hearing good news. And if what I'm thinking is right, then that makes capturing that exquisite creature even easier.'

Malachi grinned back as the other man sat down in evil rumination.



Silver Eyes Ch. 15



Sorry for the late submission...this is the penultimate chapter...already finished the whole story woohooo!!!! so shall be submitting both chapters! Thanks an awful lot for all the glorious comments that I've gotten so far...both positive and negative. And please don't forget to vote and comment.

Happy Reading! :) xoxo

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CHAPTER FIFTEEN

As Sebastian got ready for the meeting that was to take place in a few minutes, Damien and Drake sat at the dining table and stared at him with restrained excitement in their eyes. 

'Are you sure about this, Seb? I mean, what if a vampire is truly behind Annette's cocked up capture? Are you truly going to fry him?' Drake asked.

'Without a doubt. This is my queen, their queen, all our queen. And by attempting to put her life in danger, they show disrespect for me. And I must act accordingly.' Sebastian replied grimly.

He had thought long and hard about how he was going to approach finding out who wanted to hurt Annette and he had come to his decision. Whoever it was was going to pay, and pay hard.

'Come on guys, let's go downstairs.' He said and walked out of the room.

On getting downstairs to the main hall, he saw the room filled with confused vampires milling around. He could understand their confusion. This was an impromptu meeting. One that should not be taking place as they had had their monthly meeting. He smiled grimly to himself.

'Ladies and gentlemen. I am sure we are all askance as to the purpose of the meeting. All would be revealed in due course. Please, I ask of you, sit.' Sebastian said in a loud voice and all the vampires silently sat, waiting patiently for what he had summoned them for.

Sebastian sat down and looked at everyone. They stared at him patiently. He sighed to himself sadly. For all his bravado and anger, it would truly hurt him to find the betrayer in their midst. He had lived with most of them for decades, centuries even. And to find that one or some of them were unhappy with his choice in queenship and chosen to kill Annette rather than inform him of their unhappiness...that shook him to the core.

'This is a meeting of grave importance as something...shocking has come to my attention.' He started in a grave tone. 'It seems that there are some people here who are unhappy with my choice of Annette as your queen.'

A murmur broke out as vampires looked at one another in surprise.

'So now I ask, and I beg you to be honest in your answer. Remember, we are brethren first and foremost, and your council is something I will not take lightly. Does anyone here disagree with the choice of Annette, my soulmate, as your queen?'

No one said anything. 

Sebastian looked round as everyone stared at him with stoic expressions. He smiled to himself; these were vampires. They put the expressionless in expressionless demeanours.

'I see that no one here disagrees. And I am glad of course. Yet it amazes me as someone here dared to go to my soulmate's home to harm her.'

This caused arguments to break out among the vampires as they reacted with shock, anger and fear.

Sebastian raised a hand and they all fell quiet. 'Yes. It's shocking is it not? And yet it saddens me, that someone here did not deem it fit to tell me that they were unhappy with my choice. Instead, they decided to take the decision of harming...of killing my queen into their hands. Truly saddening indeed.' He bowed his head for a second letting the tension in the hall to rise to almost boiling point. Then he snapped his head up with his eyes blazing in anger. Some of the vampires sat in front of him shrank back in fear unconsciously.

'Well, as no one intends to admit to harming my queen, I shall give you all the benefit of the doubt. This is simply because I trust you all. I have lived and learned and been with you all for centuries. I have been your Master for centuries. We have all been through thick and thin together. And I believe that if anyone had had a problem with my choice they would have come to me, have told me about it, whether in confidence or not. And we would have looked for a way to sort things out. Since no one here confesses to it, then I believe you. But in order to ensure that such a thing does not occur again; in order to...shall we say not put my trust and faith in you all to the test, then I un-announce Annette as queen.'

A gasp went through the hall at his statement.

He nodded, albeit sadly, 'Although it hurts me to do this, it seems I have no other choice. I think it's for the best this way. I shall comply with your harsh yet secretive demand of letting Annette go, no matter how much of a sacrifice this is. The only thing I ask of you, whoever you are, is that you let her be. Your wish has now become my command. This meeting is adjourned.'

With this he got up rather abruptly and swept out of the hallway and back to his room ignoring the mutterings and whispers that commenced immediately he left.

He did not have to wait for too long; soon the room opened and Damien, Drake and another Vampire, Samen walked in and shut the door quietly behind them.

'Your plan worked perfectly. We know who it was...well one of them anyway.' Drake said excitedly.

Sebastian nodded grimly and looked at Samen. 

Samen nodded in the affirmative. Samen was a vampire with an added ability. He was like a walking lie-detector. With him in the room, he could detect liars by what they said, how they spoke, how their postures were, even by how they breathed. He was exceptional amongst humans and lowly or normal vampires. Unfortunately his system was wonky amongst the higher vampires and he said as much.

'Of the vampires, I believe Malachi is the culprit. When you asked the question, his heart rate sped up and he looked to the left before looking at your table. He is definitely up to something. However I am not sure about the elders as I cannot read them. Plus there seemed to be something, or someone that Malachi looked at when he glanced at you but I could not tell who exactly he was looking at as I was reading his pulse. He is working with someone else and that someone is an elder close enough to sit at your table.' Samen said in his soft tone.

Sebastian nodded, 'Thank you Samen. You have been most helpful. You can go.'

Samen bowed and made to the leave the room but was stopped by Sebastian's words.

'I need not tell you that this conversation goes no further than this room.'

Samen nodded immediately, 'You can trust me with your heart, my Lord. I would never betray you.'

He left the room and Sebastian sighed to the twins, 'I really hope he wouldn't as that would definitely be the death of him. Literally.'

Drake shook his head, 'I do not think Samen would betray you. He has stood by you even before you knew us.'

'Yes, I know. But so have the other vampires. So has Malachi. So have the elders. But one of them is against me. I can trust no one but you two right now, Drake.'

Drake nodded and sat down with his twin brother. He could never betray Sebastian. Neither he nor his brother could and he was pleased that Sebastian was aware of that fact.

'Now that we know Malachi's one of the people behind Annette's near capture, what do we do?' Damien asked.

'We question him, that's what!' Drake said, 'and then we kill him. I never liked the thuggish fuck anyway.'

Sebastian smiled although it was more of a dark twist of his lips, 'Yeah, you're right. We question him. And torture him with the threat of the sun. And if he does not talk still, then what?'

Drake shook his head, 'Naw, he'll definitely talk. He's scared of you. Hell, every single one of them there's scared of you, Seb.'

'If they're so scared how come they have the effrontery to try to harm Annette?' Sebastian asked angrily.

'Err...well...good point.' Drake replied sheepishly.

Sebastian shook his head then barked before he could change his mind, 'Go get him for me before he goes too far, Damien. Drake, ring Annette and make sure she is safe.'

***

Annette jumped as her cell phone rang. She looked at the time and saw it was half past three. She saw that it was Sebastian's number and grumbled as she pressed the answer button. 

'This better be good, Vamp-lord. I just about fell asleep after a very, I repeat, Very gruelling night at work so you best be giving me good news.'

'And hello to you too, little miss sunshine.'

Annette widened her eyes at the familiar voice, 'Oh crap, it's one of the twins isn't it? Can't tell which one...embarrasing.com.'

Drake laughed, 'It's me, Drake. Nice one, Vamp-Lord. Don't think he's been called that before.'

Annette laughed and then laughed some more as she heard a thud then a muffled 'Ow, it's not my fault she loves me.'

'Ignore this peasant child, Annette. I'm sure I woke you up and I apologise. I just wanted to make sure you and Olivia are safe.'

Annette ignored the tingle that snaked its way down her spine on hearing Sebastian's deep, sexy voice, 'No worries. We're alright. Anyway, how did your meeting go?'

She heard Sebastian sigh and could picture him running his hand through his hair as he always did when he was tired, 'It was Malachi, well one of them anyway.'

Annette was blank for a second, then she remembered the scary looking man that had rushed towards her that fateful day. 

'That horrid creature!' She gasped angrily, 'He clearly has forgotten that nose I fixed for him. I'm coming over to yours this instant.'

'No.' Sebastian barked and Annette jumped startled.

'Err...this is my kidnapper and the person who caused Olivia so much fear and pain so who are you to tell me no?' She snapped.

Sebastian sighed again, 'Look I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so abrupt but you coming here will ruin the plan.'

'What plan? I thought you've found him, just torture him and get who the other people are and then we kill them. Simpactico.'

'It's not as clear cut as that, Annette. Please just let me do what I've decided on doing. Just trust me, and I promise to let you get your pound of flesh.'

'Fine. As long as I get that pound of flesh, but God help you I don't Sebastian...!' She grumbled.

Sebastian chuckled softly, 'Don't worry, Netta. You shall. Now I have to go but I shall ring you later to check up on you. Good night, my queen.'

Annette's heart leapt at his words as she said, 'Don't call me that Sebastian. Remember, nothing's changed.'

Sebastian replied, 'Indeed, you are right. Nothing's changed. I still love you.'

Annette quickly said, 'Good night, Sebastian.' And she hung up the phone, her heart speeding. 

She lay back on her bed and replayed his last words in her mind. 'I still love you.'

Was it time she forgave him? No, she would not think about that. Not until she and Olivia were truly safe again.

***

Sebastian cut his phone and smiled to himself. He was slowly getting through her defences, he was sure about it. Soon, he would be completely forgiven. Well, he hoped his instincts were right because if he wasn't, he did not think he would be able to continue with his life.

He looked up as he heard the door open and Damien fling Malachi to the middle of the room. He pushed out all thoughts about his love life so as to concentrate on the task at hand. Namely, torturing Malachi.

'Hello, Malachi.' He gave a sinister smile.

Malachi looked up at Sebastian from his position on the floor and gulped rather audibly. 

'My...My Lord...'

'Oh No...Don't be frightened. I just want to have a little chat with you.' Sebastian smiled again and sat down. 'Please, sit. Make yourself comfortable.'

Malachi got to his feet and shakily made his way to a chair and sank down, almost gratefully.

'Now that we're all comfortable, let's talk Malachi. Firstly, I would like to state my utmost disappoint in you. We have known each other for what now...three hundred and eighty years? Well, thereabouts anyway; and yet you lied to me tonight.'

Malachi shook his head vigorously, 'No! No, my lord, what are you talking...'

'Now, now, Malachi. Don't make it worse by lying some more. Your punishment will be greater I assure you. Now let's end all this pussyfooting, why did you try to kidnap Annette and who are you working with?'

Malachi blubbered immediately, 'Working with? Kidnap...my lord why would you think I was involved in such a heinous act? Why...'

Sebastian shook his head and sighed as if he was weighed down with the sorrows of the world, 'Oh Malachi, I wish you had not answered that way.' 

With that he blurred so suddenly to Malachi's side and back that no one really saw how it happened. When he was seated again, the twins looked at Malachi's shrieking face in horror. His ear was hanging by the thread of his skin and blood was dripping rather copiously to the floor.

'That's for turning a deaf ear to my plea. I begged you to be honest with me yet you refused. I hope you don't intend to turn another deaf ear because that will be gone too. Then I shall start with all your other senses; eyes, nose, tongue...and then your skin. Then I shall wait for it all to heal, then start again. And believe me when I say I can do this over and over and over until you the sun rises. I need not tell you how the sun shall be involved in this scenario now, do I Malachi?' Sebastian said calmly.

Malachi nodded gingerly as he pressed his throbbing ear to the side of his face and felt it knit itself back together painstakingly. He could not hold back his whimpers as a torn limb reattaching itself to its skin was excruciatingly painful.

'I'm sorry, my lord. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do it. I swear.'

Drake rolled his eyes and muttered to Damien, 'God, he's such a girl. He couldn't even take his torturing like a vamp and now he's blubbering. I can't believe we all thought he was the toughest of the lot.'

Sebastian shot a dark look to Drake and he buttoned up quickly.

'Go on, Malachi. I'm all ears.' Sebastian said and ignored the quickly stifled guffaws that came from the twins at the unintended pun.

'It's just that I got so angry that your queen could best me in a battle. And so effortlessly too. I decided to punish her.'

'By kidnapping? What was that to do? She would have killed you, and rightly too. What were you to gain?' Sebastian asked incredulously. Was all this just because of Malachi's battered ego? That did not make any sense.

'Oh no. I wasn't just going to kidnap her. I was going to do much more.' Malachi said and could not hide the glee that had crept into his voice unconsciously. 'I overheard you talking about the effect of her blood on you and I thought that selling it was going to make me richer than life itself.'

Sebastian stared at him in horror, 'Selling it? Her blood? How...' He swallowed as he heard Malachi complete his statement. 

'We were going to drain her and sell her blood to the highest bidder.'

Sebastian just stared at him blankly as bile rose in his throat. He forced himself to swallow and push it all down. Malachi had planned to drain his beloved qu.... He wanted to stand up and crush his skull but he forced himself to remain seated. It would not do to kill him without getting the names of the people who were involved. And he had stupidly thought that it was because they did not approve of Annette as his queen. This meant that by un-announcing her as such, he had removed the last protection she might have even had. 

Oh No!

'I see.' He said quietly trying to hide the turmoil broiling in his guts. 'And who was involved in this apart from you?'

Malachi mentioned a name and Sebastian looked down biting back an oath. 

He could not believe it. Samen was right, it was one of his most beloved elders.

'And is it just the two of you?'

Malachi nodded fearfully. Was he still going to be tortured? He had answered everything they asked of him.

Sebastian nodded almost to himself. Then he stood up and walked towards Malachi, his expression stony.

Malachi shrunk back until he was pressed against the chair, 'I told you everything my lord. I did. Please don't hurt me.'

Sebastian replied, almost in a dream like state, 'You intended to drain my queen dry. My soulmate. And yet you call me your lord. How can I be your lord if you disrespect me so? How can I be your lord if you threaten my happiness, my joy, my QUEEN, so that you can be 'richer than life itself?' Have I not treated you well? Have I not shown you respect? You do not deserve to live, Malachi. You do not.'

Sebastian raised his hands to lay them on Malachi and Malachi blurted out manically, 'Since you intend to kill me anyway then you are too late. I was going to withhold this from you, but there is no point as you are still going to suffer.' He burst out laughing, almost in a deranged manner and Sebastian looked at him in confusion.

'You see, I knew that you were not going to let me go, 'my lord.' So I told him, I told him that if he did not hear from me before the sun rose that he should go ahead and take the girl. I knew that even if I told you all you wanted to hear that you would be too late to stop us. Kill me if you like, I have lived centuries on this earth. But your precious 'queen' who's lived some stupid decades is going to see her last sunrise today.' Malachi laughed louder and spat on the ground.

'I served you, yet you laughed. You all laughed as that abomination bested me. You spat on my honour. Well, guess what? Now I spit on yours.'

Malachi laughed continuously until Sebastian howled in anger and twisted Malachi's neck right off his head.

This, obviously, shut him up permanently.

'Hand me my phone.' Sebastian said staring at the head he was holding. Drake rushed to the table and picked up Sebastian's phone, almost throwing it at him in his haste.

Sebastian dialled Annette's number and it rang continuously before going straight to voicemail. He calmly cut the phone and rang it again. It seemed like he was having an out of body experience. This time the phone was picked up.

'Aah, I see you have figured out everything and well, what can I say, you were definitely quick. But not quick enough. Poor Malachi...and poor Annette, I might add. You see, your human may be strong enough when it comes to fighting, but the power of science will always prevail. Who knew that the amount of tranquilizer required to fell a herd of rhinos would be just about enough for your highly metabolised girlfriend? Good thing I always come prepared.'

Sebastian gritted his teeth as he heard the voice he had had by his side for over half a millennium. 

'What do you want from me? Tell me, I will give anything. I will step down even. You can become Master.'

The voice chuckled softly, 'Why would I want to become Master? And have to settle squabbles, keep the peace, judge justly? No, that is most certainly not for me. This isn't because I hate you or anything. No. I feel nothing for you, quite frankly. This is simply business. Business that will make me richer than Croesus. You're too late my friend. And now I bid you adieu.'

'Wait, wait...Marcus!' Sebastian yelled as the phone was cut off.

He dialled the number again furiously but this time it went straight to voicemail.

He let out a loud cry and disappeared.



Silver Eyes Ch. 16



Final Chapter and epilogue...Thanks ever so much for being on this journey with me...well Annette, Seb, Livvy, Angus and I...shall start writing the sequel as soon as I can...which means after I'm through with University Life and Forbidden Love as I don't want to rush it and end up writing utter drivel! :)

Hope you love this last chapter!! xoxo

**************************************************

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Marcus smiled to himself as he crushed the phone with the palm of his hands. He looked at the drugged girl on the bed and let out a little laugh. It seemed Malachi was dead then. Ah well. He had intended to kill him anyway. Did the little thug actually think that he, Marcus, an elder, was going to share his money with a nobody? He gave another laugh and sat down by the unconscious body. 

He stroked her hair and let out a little sigh. Such a waste of a useful person to the clan. When he had seen her in action he had known that she was going to be an asset to the vampires and their city. And he had been alright with that. Then he had caught Malachi skulking off from Sebastian's quarters and forced him to tell him what he had been doing there under threat of reporting him. When he had heard the impossible news about what Annette's blood could do, he had been astounded. Then ecstatic. Lately he had been thinking of ways to leave the clan and move somewhere far away with enough money to live like he was accustomed to. As an elder of the city he did not need to work as Sebastian had always provided them with money. But he was a lazy individual, this he was very aware of, and he had never saved any money. Now, he wanted to retire from the monotonous life of pretending to care about the vampires' problems; giving advice to other elders and Sebastian; having to attend boring meetings...they all bored him. But he had not been able to break free as Sebastian was his only means of income.

Well not anymore, he smiled to himself. He had found vampires that were willing to pay billions of pounds, dollars and euros, from all over the world, just for some litres of Annette's blood. They had found doctors that could reproduce the synthetic form of her blood once drained and this could keep them in strength for the rest of eternity. 

He smiled to himself again. He did not necessarily have to drain her of course. Just a litre or two and the doctors would have their blood to experiment on. But he did not want to tempt fate and leave her alive in the belief that in her weakened state she would be incapable of hurting him. No. He was not going to take that chance. He was going to kill her then disappear. And it was clear that Sebastian would be too crushed to do anything as revenge was not going to bring back his one true love. So he was safe in that aspect. 

He smiled to himself again and flipped his phone open, 'This is Marcus, just to inform you that...oomph!' He jerked and the phone landed on the floor. He whirled round in surprise and saw a female human raise a baseball bat aiming for his head again. He grabbed the bat and flung it away. The woman gasped and tried to run for the door but he held unto her arm and threw her on the bed next to the still body of Annette. 

This must be the roommate that the men he had sent before had spoken about. The one who had been with the werewolf.

'Ah, stupid of me to forget that Annette had a roommate. Olivia, I presume?' He asked.

'Fuck off you hideous creature. I've got my crucifix on so you can't be spell me.' Olivia hissed at him with eyes narrowed in anger.

Marcus laughed out loud at this, 'Do you think to scare me with you little gold chain? My dear girl, some of us were created when your Jesus was a little boy. Why would you think to threaten me with a boy we all saw grow up?' He shook his head as he looked at his phone. 

'Oh dear, you made me hang up on a very important person. Lucky for you I'm in a good mood or else you would be punished for such impudence. You know what; I still think you should be punished.'

He bent towards her and grabbed her hair, raising her off the bed in one move. 

She shrieked in pain and struggled, her hands flailing uselessly as she tried to pry his hands off her hair. He laughed again at her struggles and carelessly slapped her with his other hand.

The sound rang out loudly in the room and she hung to one side limply, the slap knocking her unconscious.

'Humans.' He tutted to himself and dumped her unceremoniously on the ground. He looked at his watch and saw that it was nearly sunrise. 

'Time to pick up my parcel and flee the nest,' He chuckled out loud to himself.

He bent to pick her up and suddenly gave his own shriek of pain in a very high falsetto.

***

Annette bent the vampire's fingers backwards, smiling grimly to herself as they broke with satisfying crunches.

He howled in a girly voice and sprang backwards cradling his fingers to his chest. She leapt up with a grace that she did not know she possessed and stalked him to the corner of the room.

'You clearly haven't watched too many horror movies.' She said softly as she picked him up until his feet were dangling off the floor then smashed his head against the wall, ignoring the loud crack as the wall caved in slightly.

'Because if you had, you woulda realised that it's so, so stupid to keep on talking and smiling to yourself instead of doing what you came here to do.'

She twisted his arm high up and whirled him round before picking and throwing him across the room and watching him land on the dresser at the far side of the room.

She walked towards him, talking as she did so, 'That was a helluva drug you injected in me. Funny you didn't think to pump me up some more, or did you think I wouldn't recover quickly?'

She grabbed him by the hair, grabbed his phone as well and dragged him to the kitchen window to stare at the sun. 'Now look closely at the rising sun. You probably haven't admired its beauty in a long while, have ya? Well look at it and see how wonderfully it casts gorgeous red and orange lights everywhere.'

Marcus struggled violently but it was all in vain. She was too strong for him. She looked at him with something akin to distaste then shook him a bit, making his head flop from side to side, 'Stop fidgeting and look.'

Marcus knew that it was all over. There was nothing he could do. He was definitely going to die. He shrugged and looked with calmness at the sun. If he was going to die, then he was going to die respectfully.

Annette seemed to feel his acquiescence and she nodded to herself. Made her job easier anyhow. She had been in that state of in-between – not yet asleep but not awake and she had seen a shadow by her head. She had looked up and seen the vampire she remembered Sebastian referring to as Marcus and had tried to grab his hand but he had been too fast for her and had stabbed her neck with something that caused her limbs to become heavy. She had not fallen unconscious, but she had been too sluggish to move and then she had heard what Marcus said to Sebastian on the phone. At that point, she had grown so angry that she had practically pushed the effects of the drug out of her system and had, almost suddenly, felt it wearing off rapidly. She had remained in her position as she did not want Marcus to be aware of her awakened and strengthened state. When Olivia had rushed in, she had almost screamed at her to get out. Then Marcus had slapped her so hard that she saw Olivia's body spin with the force of it and she had had to clench her jaw to suppress the scream of anguish that had threatened to tear out of her body. As she remembered her unconscious best friend she shook in fury and smashed Marcus' head against the nearby wall.

Marcus' eyes rolled in his head as he fought nausea. He had never thought for a second, that he, an elder, would be beaten to the point of fighting off unconsciousness. He dimly remembered how Annette had fought at Sebastian's home and cursed himself for underestimating her. This was his reward.

Annette raised him up and shook him like a rag doll. 'How could you hit her so hard? How could you? Was it fucking necessary?'

'Apologising would be futile, would it not?' He shrugged and Annette let out a little growl and punched him full in the face, hearing his nose snap. That sound seemed to release whatever control she had over her anger and she dropped him on the floor, crouched astride him and proceeded to punch the living daylights out of his face.

She suddenly felt herself being lifted off him and placed in other hands. She let out a yowl of anger and turned on the other person, eyes shining silver and heard, as if from a faraway land, a voice saying, 'Hey, calm down. Calm down, it's okay.'

She shook her head as her anger cleared a bit and saw that she was in the arms of one of the twins. The other twin was staring at her uneasily as if afraid to touch her. She looked back and saw that Sebastian was holding an unrecognisable Marcus. His face looked like it was a bag of raw meat; no feature was exactly discernable.

'Bloody hell, girl! Remind me never, ever to get on your bad side.' The twin holding her whistled.

Sebastian looked at her with worry, 'Are you okay, Annette? Did he hurt you?'

The other twin stood by her side asked incredulously, 'Are you mental? You should be asking Marcus that, she practically pulverised him.'

Annette shrugged the twin off and ran to her room to check on Olivia.

***

Sebastian stared without any feeling whatsoever at the thing that remotely resembled Marcus. His features had started healing itself but it was a mishmash of re-knitting as everything had been smashed inwards. 

Sebastian smiled to himself as he studied the work that his queen had done. It was better than he could have done himself. He should have brought Malachi to be killed by her. He shook his head as he dropped Marcus back to the floor.

'Why?'

Marcus coughed and spat out blood, 'I told you before, Sebastian. You did not do anything. This did not concern you, well more than the necessary fact that she was your girlfriend. It was simply business.'

Sebastian laughed bitterly, 'After all I've done for you, you betray me for business. You were my trusted friend. I sought your advice during meetings before any other elder. I respected you above and beyond the other elders.'

'Oh let's forget the sob story and kill me if you have to. There is no need to rehash how loyal you were to me. What's done is done. Finish what your human started.' Marcus cut in rudely.

Sebastian stared at him for a second. Then gave a slow nod. 'Very well then. Good bye Marcus.' 

He made to snap his head off but Annette shouted, 'No!'

He turned in surprise as Annette said, 'No, don't kill him. Not yet.' 

Annette walked towards Marcus and picked up his phone, 'Call your buyers.'

Marcus looked away. Annette smiled evilly, 'Call your buyers or I will slowly, piece by piece, expose each limb of yours to the sun.'

Marcus suppressed a shudder at that and snatched the phone from her hand.

'Boy, you two sure know how to torture...you truly suit each other.' Drake whistled and gave a mock shudder.

Annette ignored him and studied Marcus whilst Sebastian looked on in confusion. What was Annette up to?

Marcus called the number he had dialled before then said, 'It's ringing.'

'Good. Tell them you have the 'parcel' then pass the phone to me.'

Marcus did as he was told then gave Annette the phone.

Annette smiled then said softly but clearly into the phone to the unknown person on the other line, 'This is the parcel speaking and so sorry to have to give you such bad news, but this parcel will not be able to be delivered.'

'What is the meaning of this?' The other voice asked in annoyance.

'Simply a quick phone call to inform you that your plan to drain me of my precious blood has been thwarted. Marcus probably didn't tell you this but I'm kinna difficult to kill, let alone drain. Now Marcus is about to go bye-bye.'

'I see. Well, aren't you lucky?' The voice snidely said.

'Extremely,' Annette replied in a laughing voice, then her tone changed suddenly into something deadly, 'Not only am I lucky, but I make my own luck. Right now I have nothing against you as this was just business that's gone bad. However, if I'm pursued again by you or any of your cronies then it will become personal. Let Marcus' death be a lesson to all of you. Look for your elixir of immortality and sunlight somewhere else. Or I will kill you. I assure you. Have I made myself clear?'

'Crystal.'

'Perfect. Nice doing business with you. Oh and would you like to say bye to Marcus?'

'That won't be necessary.' The voice said dryly.

'Oh well. Have a nice life then.' She chirpily said then cut the phone. She turned to the staring Sebastian, 'Kill the fucker.'

Sebastian simply turned and snapped the head off the jerking body.

'Get away from the window, you guys.' Annette warned and Sebastian and the twins hurried towards the darkened area of the living room and away from the kitchen. Annette opened the window wide and watched passively as the sun shone on the body and it disintegrated into ashes on her kitchen floor. She picked up a dustpan and broom and swept it all together, including the clothes, and dumped it in the bin. 

She looked round her kitchen as she thought about the past few hours. If she had been told that, at this point this would have been happening in her life she would have laughed in the person's face. But now she had just watched her vampire boyfriend snap the head of her killer vampire and she had personally burned his body and swept the ashes into the bin. 

Who woulda thunk it?

***

Sebastian watched as Annette walked into the living room and he searched her face worriedly to see if she was in shock or scared or anything? She looked back at him with no expression. Both of them staring at each other as if there was no one else in the room.

Olivia cleared her throat and looked round with a smile on her face. She was pretty proud of herself, hitting a vampire with her bat although it had resulted in the hardest and most painful knock out of her life. No point dwelling on that bit she told herself. Now it seemed her wish for Sebastian and Annette getting back together properly was about to materialise and it was time for her to quietly get away. Oh and the cute twins too. 

She beckoned to the twins to follow her out of the room and stifled a giggle as the one called Drake said, 'Best not be taking us to a room where we could be toasted. Oh and be sure not to get too trigger-happy with your baseball bat.'

Sebastian did not even notice when the other three left the room; all his attention was focused on the beautiful dark skinned girl with the silver eyes in front of him.

'When Marcus picked up the phone. I thought I was going to die.' He started after clearing his throat. 'I went straight to his house thinking he had taken you there and then I searched other places. It never occurred to me that he was still here with you and I am so so sorry that I got here late.'

Annette laughed softly at that, 'From where I'm standing you didn't get here late. You pretty much got here right on time. I was handling my business.'

Sebastian gave a sad smile at that, 'But what kind of boyfriend am I who's too late to save his queen, no matter how strong or invincible she is?'

Annette walked over to his side quickly as she saw his eyes well up with tears, 'Hey, hey. Don't cry now, I'm safe. We're all safe.'

He gave a watery smile, 'Yes, I know. But I thought...for a second, I thought I'd lost you.'

Annette put her arms round him and gave herself up to the crushing hug as Sebastian pressed her to him.

Annette nestled herself in his arms thinking that, at last, she was home. In his arms. Back where she belonged.

'I'm so sorry, Annette. Please forgive me. For everything.'

'There's nothing to forgive you for, Seb. I should be asking you to forgive me for my pig-headedness and going on and on about you betraying me when it really wasn't such a big deal.'

'It was.' Sebastian said over her head, 'It was. I should never have sicced Angus on you and not told you about it even when I did. I betrayed you and I'm so sorry.'

'Oh, shut it Seb. I've already forgiven you, don't make me regret it.'

Sebastian let out a soft laugh and pressed a kiss to her head. 'Does that mean you'll be my queen again?'

Annette raised her head and looked into his eyes as she said, 'I never stopped being your queen.'

Sebastian's eyes blazed with love as he lowered his head to hers and captured her lips with his. 

Annette sighed as she sunk into the kiss. She had missed this. Missed holding him, kissing him, touching him. She had missed Sebastian Jean-Pierre Beaumont and she was never going to let him go.

'I trust you, Sebastian. And I always will no matter what.' She said when the kiss had ended.

'And I will never give you cause to wander about me, Annette. I will not pester you about your life or your past. Whenever you are ready to tell me, then I am ready to listen. I'll wait for you.' He whispered back to her.

Annette shook her head, 'There's no need to wait. In fact there was no need for Angus really because I did not lie to you before. My life is complicated. There is nothing else to tell because I don't know anything. I lived in France as child in a convent with the Sisters until there was an earthquake when I was five. I was sent out of the country with a few words of my heritage – 'be careful about who you trust, Annette. You are very special.' And that was it. Nothing else. All the sisters died so I never got to find out why exactly I had to be careful. Obviously, it wouldn't do to tell the whole world that I can fling lorries around like I'm flinging loo roll but that's just it. Nothing else.'

Sebastian nodded as he cradled her to him again, 'We'll find out. If you want that is. We can go to France again. To the convent. But only if you want to.'

Annette thought for a while. 'I don't know. I'm scared I guess. Fear of the unknown. Maybe later. Right now my life is perfect. My best friend, the man I love, why disrupt that?'

Sebastian smiled as well. 'Indeed. And I shall protect you with my life. That I can assure you with no qualms whatsoever.' 

Then he groaned, 'Oh crap. Seems I'm going to have to un-announce my previous un-announcement. My vampires are going to think I've completely lost it.'

Annette laughed out loud at that and they kissed once more between laughter. 

All was as it should be...

EPILOGUE

A phone rang disturbing the serenity of the large glass room.

'What is it?'

It seems our patience has not been in vain.'

'How so?'

There was a little...shall we say, fracas in the city of London recently amongst the vampire community.'

'Therefore...do not disturb my patience, young man.'

'Let's just say it was over a dark-skinned girl with silver eyes.'

There was silence for a while, then a joyous voice breathed, 'At last, we have found her.' 

THE END