The Rare Bookseller, Part 44: Alexander's Vain Hope
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tw: conditioning, captivity, blood drinking, toxic possessiveness
September 1925
"So Fitz is visiting soon? Well, now, no wonder you've perked up! And here I thought it was just your new thrall," said Ruth, laughing. "So when is your lover boy arriving, hm?"
Lex groaned. "Please don't call him that. And he'll be here in about a week and a half. He won't be staying long, unfortunately."
"If I don't get to see him, please send Fitz my regards, then," said Ruth. "I remember back when he was your favorite thrall..."
"Mmm." Lex remembered too, all too well. He'd had Fitz as a thrall for such a short time, and as a vampire for so many years now, but in the cold remains of his heart, he still thought of Fitz as human -- warm, delicious, bursting with life.
"Your new thrall is quite an excellent choice, though," said Edith, seemingly noticing Lex's malaise. "Lily was quite right. You needed a decent thrall. This Oliver will be very good for you, I can tell."
"I certainly think so," said Lex, dragging his thoughts back to the present. "That is, if I can protect him from my sire. I'm sure you know how he -- "
"Oh, that's right! I remember what I wanted to discuss with you, Lex," Ruth interrupted. "Remember how you were looking for witches?"
"Yes..."
"I've heard a lot of rumors lately of a vampire hunter new in the city. She's only staked a few vampires, and no one worth mentioning, but she's been raiding thralls from a few of the more established manors." Ruth leaned forward dramatically. "Apparently, this hunter has witch heritage, and has the power to resist a vampire's aura and avoid enthrallment."
Lex's eyes widened. He'd been looking for something like this for years, in the hopes that he could gain the power to defy his sire's power over him and free himself once and for all. But the fact that he'd been looking for so long with little success made him temper his hopes. "Do you believe that? That's what every two-bit vampire says after a narrow brush with death -- that the hunter was a witch, that their enthrallment just didn't work. Nine times out of ten, they're just ashamed of their own weakness."
"What if I told you I heard it from Evelyn? One of her thralls was taken from her servants' quarters a week ago."
"Evelyn? A hunter stole a thrall from Evelyn?" She was one of the oldest and most formidable vampires in the city, almost as old and as feared as Alexander's sire. She most certainly wasn't the type to lose easily to any hunter, or else she'd have been turned to dust long ago. "And Evelyn believes the hunter had witch blood?"
"She said she could smell the witch all over her manor, and that when she used her powers, they had no effect on hunter."
"Witch blood has been incredibly rare in this region for decades now," said Edith. "Are you sure?"
"All I know is what I've heard through the grapevine."
Edith was right, of course. Witch blood was rare in the region because they had all been mercilessly hunted by vampires in the years before Lex was sired. His sire, it was said, was a major part of these hunts, and some of the thralls Lex remembered from his sire's manor in the early days were witches. The smell of magic in their blood was intoxicating, almost impossible to resist, but the one time he'd given into his urges, he'd been starved for months as a punishment.
But their blood quality was not what primarily interested Lex. No, he was interested in the ability, rare even among witches, to defy a vampire's power. If this hunter truly had the secret...
"Lex?" Lily shook him gently. "What are you thinking?"
"Hm?" His thoughts returned to the sitting room, where his guests were looking at him. "Ah, my apologies. I seem to have been rather in my own head."
"When are you not?" said Lily.
He should turn the subject to more cheerful matters -- after all, it wasn't every night he entertained company. "Oh, Ruth, I wanted to ask -- did you look into the matter I wrote you about?"
"Oh, yes, I did!" She rummaged around in her large bag for a moment, pulling out a manila envelope tied with string. "I have some papers you'll find interesting."
"Thank you, I appreciate it. I'll write you a check for the time spent before you go."
Ruth waved him off. "No need. I'm fine with you owing me a favor."
"Very well," said Lex, smiling as he opened the packet and rifled through it.
"Would it be intruding if I asked what this was?" said Edith, leaning in.
"My thrall, Oliver, ran the most charming bookshop before he was taken. I'm taking steps to ensure it transfers into my name once he's formally declared dead." He closed the envelope, satisfied. "In better days, I'd like for him to be able to run his bookshop. It's his passion."
Edith nodded approvingly. "That's very sweet. You're so generous with your thralls."
"I do try. I really do."
----
"You're planning something reckless, aren't you?"
Ruth and Edith had both gone home, but Lily had hung behind to chat with Lex in the library. He already knew why.
"No, not at the moment. But if the rumor is true, if there is a witch who knows the secret to nullifying a vampire's power..."
Lily groaned. "Are you a glutton for punishment? Do you yearn for our sire's dungeons? You know what he'll do to you if you try and fail to kill him. Again."
"So what's the alternative, then?" Lex said, temper flaring. "Never trying? Don't you want to be free?"
"I don't want to see you get tortured just as you're getting back on your feet!" Lily was getting equally heated. "Maybe encouraging you to take Oliver was a mistake. I foolishly thought you had learned your lesson."
"Oh? And what lesson is that?"
"Not to fall in love with thralls!"
Lex nearly choked on his breath, his chest tightening. "I'm not in love with Oliver."
"And yet you're already planning to risk everything for him. I remember the last time you acquired a thrall and immediately started coming up with schemes to kill our sire -- when you fell for Fitz."
"And again I'm going to ask you what you think the alternative is," said Lex, not so subtly dodging that line of thought. "Remaining under the Maestro's whip forever?"
"The alternative is to try and be content with what you have," she said. "You have so much, Lex. You have the manor and the library, you have a perfect thrall, and need I remind you that you have a very handsome and eager vampire lover."
"And that's exactly the reason why I need to kill my sire, because Fitz will never be safe as long as he's alive. And I can't bear to go through the same thing with Oliver, Lily, you know I can't take it."
Lily sighed, relenting. "God damn you, Lex. I know I can't talk you out of this when you get this stubborn. Even if I did, Fitz would talk you right back into it. Neither of you have any sense of self-preservation."
"I'm plenty preserved. I'm 132, and I've spent most of that time locked away in this manor or our sire's, marinating in my feelings like a pickle in a jar, every day the same." Lex looked out of the window at the stars, just barely visible above the glare of gaslights. "I want to live with my own thoughts, and not a dark shadow pulling at them as he pleases. I want to travel. I want to have my precious lover and my precious thrall all to myself without having them yanked away from me at my sire's discretion." He turned back to Lily. "Don't you? Don't you want to be free, too?"
Lily looked so small, less like the confident conditioning expert striding through the halls of the auction house, and more like the terrified but still defiant human she was when she first met Lex. Chained to the wall in the Maestro's manor, feet bleeding from her body being forced to dance, knife and whip marks marring her skin. Somehow, her spirit wasn't broken then. Lex didn't think it was broken now. Not truly. In his experience, anyone who underestimated Lily would be swiftly put in their place.
"You know that I do," she said. "But I also know how this story always ends. That's why I've made my peace."
Lex pushed a hand through his messy hair. "Look, I'll make sure this is all on me. You won't be pulled into this. He'll never know you knew a thing about it."
"Of course he will," said Lily with a sharp laugh. "He always knows."
"I'll be careful," he insisted. "This is all just a rumor anyway, even coming from Evelyn. It's probably nothing. But if it isn't -- if there's really a power I can use to get past our sire's defenses -- I could never forgive myself if I didn't find it. We might never get that kind of opportunity again."
Lily threw up her hands, relenting. "You're right, fine, Lex, you're right. Just don't let all of Oliver's rich blood get to your head. Don't invoke our sire's wrath because you went all soft-hearted over a thrall."
"I'll try not to."
"You won't, but I'm glad you're at least pretending you will." She smiled. "And when Fitz gets here, we'd better all go out on the town together, for old time's sake. Don't forget."
"I won't forget. Consider it a deal."
---
Oliver was bustling about the kitchen, cleaning the dishes and putting the remaining sandwiches in the icebox. Lex couldn't help but watch him silently from the kitchen door. He could smell the delicious blood from there, and after all that socializing, Lex was hungry.
But he didn't want to interrupt Oliver while he was in the middle of something. Besides, it was nice to watch him. Nice to have a thrall in the house once again.
...But Lily was out of line. He wasn't in love with Oliver. He just wanted to protect what was his.
Fitz was probably going to be a tad jealous of him anyway, even though he had nothing to be jealous about. The only solution, naturally, would be to share Oliver with Fitz -- he just knew Fitz was going to love him if he gave him a chance.
Fitz was the only one Lex would willingly share a thrall with, and the thought was so much sweeter than the nightmare of having to share Oliver with his sire. He could just imagine how lovely Oliver would look as Fitz's enthrallment took hold of him, how gorgeous Fitz would look when he was satisfied from feeding.
And Lex's mind supplied him with another fantasy, one that was impossible and wistful. Fitz as he was as a thrall, so warm and so delicious. Lex possessing them both, filling their minds with enthralling song, feeding from them and watching them curl up on the couch with him in a pleasurable daze. The dream long lost, because as much as he loved Fitz as a vampire, he was far superior as a thrall.
His heart's desire, if he still had a heart.
Thrall or vampire, Fitz and Oliver both belonged to him. And he was absolutely sick of his sire violating his rightful companions and possessions.
Lex shook his head. He had to get a grip. His need for blood was driving him too far into his darker impulses. Thankfully, Oliver was finishing up and could very well provide relief.
As Oliver drained the dishwater and dried his hands, Lex came up behind him, loosely pinning him against the sink. "Did you have a nice time tonight, Oliver?"
"Oh, yes, sir," he said, somewhat flustered. "It was very good to talk to other thralls for a while. I hope to get the chance again."
"You will," said Lex, his control slipping now that he was so close to Oliver. Oliver could certainly tell, as his eyes were already starting to go glassy from Lex's aura. Lex nestled into the space between his shoulder and neck and began to sing quietly, a simple song of pleasure and obedience.
"Sir..." Oliver's muscles began to go slack as he relaxed and fell easily under Lex's spell. "Master..."
The mesmerized bliss on Oliver's face was a sight that Lex doubted he would ever tire of. "I wish to feed from you now," he said, moving in closer to the soft skin of his thrall's neck. "Would that be all right?"
"Yes, master," said Oliver. So eager, so willing. "Please, sir, I'd love for you to feed."
Lex wove a promise of protection into his song, hoping to reassure his dear thrall as he sank in his fangs and lapped at the blood.
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