BloodBorne Ch. 05

Xan hid her surprise at the question. "All the time, kid."

"I wish I could remember her."

What the hell was she supposed to say to that? "She loved you very much. Remember, she died protecting us."

"How come you don't really talk about her?"

Xan had to think about that for a second. She did miss their mother dearly and thought about her every day, but it never occurred to her to mention her. The pain of her death was still fresh; she could still smell the Laureate blood. "I guess I just didn't want to deal with the tough questions."

"Like what?"

"Like what happened the night she died."

"But I know that now."

"Yes, you do."

"So maybe you could tell me about the good stuff."

"You got it." Xan smiled at the victorious gleam in her sister's eyes as she gave the paella one last stir. She watched Xion place the bread halves into the oven before turning to watch Alexis, Liam and Draco walk into the kitchen. It was amazing how the three men could be related. Draco had a bit of a jovial bounce to his stride; it almost seemed as if he would start skipping at any moment. Alexis on the other hand; his gait was strong and purposeful. This one didn't make a move unless he had a reason. Xan should have figured that by now; the man only spoke when he had a question or something to say.

She took her time shifting her gaze to Liam. Her insides were still churning from their moment in the game room. He looked as if absolutely nothing happened. Same annoying scowl, same arrogant air around. Except... His walk was different. He'd gone from elephant stomps to a slower, easy gait. His body held an arousing fluidity to it's movements that made her mouth water. Shit, she still wanted him.

"Something smells awfully good," Draco remarked. He moved to pick at the paella but only laughed merrily when Xan swatted his hand away. "Oh come on, just a taste."

"You can taste it when it's on your own plate." Xan accepted the dished Xion handed to her before placing them in front of the seats docked at the island. She waited for the men to sit down and watched as her sister placed soup bowls on top of their plates. "Do you want to serve the Gazpacho?" Xion's answer was to lift the large bowl she'd prepared before serving everyone. Xan smiled at the scene in front of her as she sat down; she may not have known much about the men of this particular family, but she knew acceptance when she saw it.

The meal would have been perfect had it not been for the fact that Alexis continued to stare at her arm. While Xan knew that the man was fascinated by the marks, she found it odd that he concentrated on them and not the person who wore them. It wasn't as if she purposely had them tattooed on; the morning after her mother died, the marks began to appear and darken until they'd taken over her entire arm. "You did good, kid," she said. Xion beamed at the praise as she struggled to pull her chair closer to the center island. Liam came to her aid; he used his foot to shove the chair forward, never pausing in his motions to eat. The bulk of the meal was silent, which didn't seem to bother anyone except for Draco who'd explained that he was unused to having a meal without his twin.

"So Xion and I have been here for quite a while and have yet to hear anything about how this situation we're in is going to be handled."

"We thought it would have been easier to find Sherlaine," Draco replied, "It seems that our favorite un-killable demon has learned a few of our tracking tricks. He doesn't even have minions we can beat the answers out of. What kind of big bad doesn't have minions?"

Xan almost smiled at the outburst. "So what do we do? Xi and I can't stay here forever."

"Like we'd be stupid enough to keep you that long," Liam grumbled. He was in pain. The very sight of Xan made him ache with need. His jeans were suddenly too tight. There was only one cure for this sudden bout of algia, and he didn't think his brothers would appreciate his throwing her down on the island and-

"Don't start," Xan warned. "I didn't ask for any of this so stop acting like it's my fault."

"Why don't we all take a step back-"

Xan interrupted Draco's attempt at peacekeeping by saying, "If I could, I'd track down this Sherlaine character and find a way to get rid of him myself."

"Sorry sweetpea, but Sherlaine belongs to me."

At the declaration, everyone in the room turned toward the back entrance that led to the garage to find an impossibly large demon with dark blue and black stripes covering the expanse of its skin. Dark eyes bore into everyone in the room and narrowed suspiciously when Xion emitted a blood-curdling scream only seconds before bolting out of the room.

"For fuck's sake!" Liam roared as he stood up. He only had a second to reach out and restrain Xan as she moved to attack the demon standing in the kitchen with an incredibly bored look on its face. "He's not a threat."

"The fuck he is!" Xan shouted. She moved to attack again but this time was stopped by Liam and Draco. "I will fight the both of you to get to it."

"Maybe you should have come in wearing your human face." Alexis commented. "The child has panic disorder, brought on by her exposure to demons."

"Hell."

Xan watched in amazement as the demon instantly shimmered out of the room. She turned to the men who all seemed uncaring about the fact that there was an evil being in the house. "Well it's no fucking wonder you sons of bitches can't find this Sherlaine character. You're too busy letting demons in and out of this place."

"He's our brother," Draco explained.

At that Xan had to sit down. "What?"

"Big Daddy Royce got it on with a demon and out popped Drae."

"Big Daddy Royce?"

"It's what I call our father," Draco replied. "Twelve kids from eleven different women. He was a pimp."

"Twelve that we know of," Liam cut in. "How would we know if there aren't any other bastards walking around?"

"The Council would have sent them here. They are the ones who started this whole thing, you know."

"I'm not usually one to step in a sibling squabble, but what in the fuck are you talking about?" Xan asked.

"You know the High Council?" Draco asked her.

"Yeah. The four beings that are the end-all-be-all."

"Ok, well there used to be five of them. Our father, Roycelyn, was one of them until he came up with the bright idea to create an army. So he comes down to earth, knocks up ten women and nine months later, my brothers and I pop out."

"But that only counts as eleven," Xan murmured.

"The old man wasn't only into human women," Liam answered, "He knocked up a demon princess and out popped Andrae. The rest of the Council found out that he mixed the bloodline instead of only thinning it out and they banished him. Left the rest of us to pay for his mistakes."

"And here I thought my family had issues."

Draco smiled at the remark before he said, "Moral of the story; D.'s cool. He's probably talking to your sister right now." He turned to Alexis and said, "One hell of a homecoming."

"What does that mean?" Xan asked.

"He hasn't been home in almost two years," Draco said.

"Why?"

"He lost the person he loved most in this world," Alexis answered.

"Heavy stuff."

"You haven't even heard the half of it," Draco murmured.

Just then Xion and Drae walked into the room hand-in-hand, as if they'd known each other for years. Xan was shocked; the man who'd walked into the room looked nothing like a demon; he was still ridiculously large but his toffee colored skin looked very soft; almost like a newborn's. His square-shaped face was nothing but sharp angles that were emphasized by his thick, dark eyebrows and black eyes. His nose was not overly large, but it was slightly crooked, an obvious sign of a break sometime in his past. This man was also bald, but it looked good on him. This was the second time Xan had ever found a demon attractive. Andrae placed Xion on the seat she'd abandoned before slapping hands with his brothers. "So what's this about Sherlaine?"

"He's up to his old tricks," Draco replied.

"Is that why the Limani's here?"

"Excuse me?"

"Did I stutter?" Drae asked. "Limani: the elite branch of the Esmali utilized to protect powerful items and weapons from those who would abuse them."

"See Xan, I told you!" Xion exclaimed happily. She turned to Drae as she said, "I read about that in the history books Alexis showed me, Andrae."

"And Poindexter didn't think it was important to tell you that?" Andrae asked as he stared at his silent brother. "Still up to the same shit, I see."

"Is that why you're always staring at my arm?" Xan asked.

Alexis only shrugged.

Xan turned to Andrae as she asked, "What else can you tell me about these Luminati?"

"Limani," Andrae emphasized the name to help her remember the correct title, "are pretty bad ass hybrids. All of the Esmali are, considering they are my distant cousins."

"WHAT?"

Andrae ignored Xan's outburst as he said, "The history books tell you that you're part demon. What they don't tell you is that you are part Belial demon. I am half Belial and since there has been a lot of interbreeding within the clan, you and I are cousins. Very distant, but cousins nonetheless."

"Wow," Xion whispered.

"How long are you here?" Alexis asked Andrae.

"I thought to come here to get my blade back, but it seems that I have a reason to stay a little while longer."

"You're OK staying here?" Draco asked. He knew that his brother had a hard time being near anything that reminded him of Nadia. The majority of her clothes had been given away, but there were still personal items littered throughout the house and in his room. Staying here would not be easy.

"I'll deal," was Andrae's only reply. "So Sherlaine. Since the Limani-"

"The Limani's name is Xan," Liam interrupted.

Xan watched as the two men stared at each other for long moments having what could only be perceived as a conversation with their eyes. Neither man blinked, but it was obvious that they were communicating something extremely serious.

Andrae was the first to break the silence. "Just don't make the same mistakes I did."

"I won't," Liam assured, "its done when this is done."

Andrae only nodded before getting back to the subject at hand. "As I was saying; since Xan is here, I'm going to guess that she has something very powerful that Sherliane wants."

"Yes. He ransacked her home trying to find it, "Alexis answered.

"Any luck tracking him?"

"He seems to have our moves figured out," Draco said with a disappointed shake of his head.

"And let me guess; you have no intention of pulling him out of hiding?"

"They're too young," Alexis said.

"Of course they are," Andrae said as he rolled his eyes heavenward.

"Xi, let's go upstairs and get you washed up."

"But the dishes..."

Xan looked over to Liam who began to shake his head, but stopped at the pleading look in her eyes. "All right fine; I'll clean the fucking dishes."

"How many times..." Xan stopped herself from getting to another argument in front of Liam's family. She walked Xion out of the kitchen and toward their room.

"I'm surprised you haven't had sex with her yet," Andrae commented.

"Now is not the time for this," Alexis admonished.

"Kind of hard to ignore since I can smell the desire pooling of him," Andraw replied.

"I really fucking hate that you can smell emotions," Liam muttered. He knew his face was flushing. He could feel it.

"She wants to have sex with you too."

"Andrae..." Liam warned.

"It's obvious that wanting her is fucking with your ability to find Sherlaine Get in, get off, and get yourself back in the game."

For the first time in his life, Liam had no idea how to react to his brother's attitude.

"I'm not saying you should use Xan as bait per se. Take her someplace accessible to demons but at the same time can be controlled by us. I'll get Sherlaine's scent and I'll be able to track him wherever he goes. The Blade of Abraxis will be in his heart by the end of the week."

"It's not a sound plan," Alexis said.

"But it's the only one we've got."

* * * * *

At nearly four in the morning, the last place Liam expected to find Xan was on the dining room terrace that overlooked the garden. Her forearms were braced on the metal railing and her head was tilted upward as she looked at the stars. He couldn't stop himself from staring at the line of her body, at the long delicate neck covered with soft supple skin, or the tank top that should have looked overly masculine on her considering they were made for men. Her legs were crossed casually and the angle of her stance forced her to contract her body inward in order to brace her back on the railing. Though her face was partially cast in shadow, she was a vision.

"You going to stand there all night and stare at me or are you going to say something?"

He almost smiled at her acerbic tone. Liam walked onto the balcony and mimicked her stance, facing the garden instead of the house. "What are you doing up so late?"

"Same as you, it seems." Adrenaline was pumping through her veins. The second she felt his presence, every muscle in Xan's body tensed and readied for what was to come. Her senses kicked into overdrive; his subtle scent inflamed her and the very innocent brush of his arm against hers sent her libido into overdrive. She wanted to mold her body into his, to melt into him. She didn't even care that she hated him most of the time; to have his hands all over her body seemed the only thing in the world she could think of. To distract herself, she lowered her head just enough to stare into the dining room. Her vantage point gave her a sufficient view of the way the white trimmings and ceilings accented the red walls. There was a large mahogany dining table resting over a large Asian rug and above it hung an iron chandelier that looked to have actual candles in it. The silver displayed in the curio cabinet gleamed in the moonlight and actually shot small balls of light over the liquor on the opposite cabinet. Paintings decorated the walls, but Xan wasn't sure what they were of; most likely something from the renaissance era worth millions of dollars.

Oh, to be rich.

"Is this where you always come when you can't sleep?"

Liam focused his attention on the rose bushes that lined the perimeter of the garden as he said, "does it matter?"

She wanted to say yes, but as there was no reason behind that answer other than the fact that his presence set her blood to a boil, she remained silent. "It's funny how the things you expect to remain constant in life are the very things that always change." She glanced at his profile and the gentle way the faint breeze brushed over his short hair. It took every ounce of self control to keep from throwing him on the ground and ravaging him. "If some random stranger came up to me two weeks ago and said that Pogue would be dead now, or even that I might be dead next week because some demon wants something I didn't even know I had until now, I would have laughed in his face. After I punched it, anyway."

"Does everything always have to be violence and anger with you?"

If it wasn't for the quiet and introspective tone to his voice, Xan would have gone into a rage. But there was something in his question that immediately alerted her to the fact that he wasn't directing it to just her. "I'm going to have to throw that question back at you, Captain Belligerent." He only smiled at her comment as he continued to stare out at the garden. For a moment, a sinking feeling settled in the pit of her stomach as she realized that something was wrong. Or perhaps he was waiting for her to answer the question. "It's easier to be this way. People don't fuck with a person they think won't hesitate to kick their ass."

A mentality he knew quite well. Where Liam came from, being tough wasn't enough. People had to have fear put in their hearts for a person to gain respect. The only way to do that... "You know, I wasn't always so much of an asshole. There was a time in my life where I actually got along with people. Well, certain people anyway."

"What was her name?"

Liam looked over at Xan and felt his chest constrict at the tender look in her eyes. She'd never looked at him like this before. It was as if she saw the little boy hiding behind the enraged man. No one, not even Nadia, had ever been able to see so deeply into him. "You're sure it was a woman?"

"It's always a woman's fault. She breaks your heart and scars you for life or something like that. At least that's what I hear."

"In this case, what you've heard is only half right." He couldn't bear to look at her as memories that tormented him for centuries dominated his mind. "I didn't have an easy childhood. I don't think there is a hell out there that's worse than what I've had to live through. The things Ivelda forced me to do..." Liam's stomach contracted painfully as the past he fought to suppress ignited within him.

Xan felt her hands shake in fury on his behalf. "You mean she..." She couldn't even finish the question. She didn't think she was ready for the answer.

"No, Ivelda was never kind enough to whore me out. Being forced into child prostitution would have been a wonderful vacation from the life I lead." He took a deep breath to calm himself. Nausea was threatening to double him over and he was sure that Xan would never look at him the same after this. While he knew that there was no reason to exercise such candor, he didn't want to stop. Liam had never spoken to anyone about his past; what his brothers knew they'd learned through research. And even then, it was never the whole truth. "I won't go into details but I didn't have the balls to leave until I was fifteen and it took me two weeks to realize that if I didn't want to starve to death, I would have to keep doing the very thing that made me run away in the first place."

"Liam, what did she-"

"I am a prime example of nature winning out over nurture. My past is why I'm the asshole who gets off on making everyone else's life a living hell." He ventured a glance at her and felt relief wash over him at the concerned look in her eyes. There was no pity, only the kind gaze of someone who wanted to listen to what he had to say. "You are a product of nurture. You're mother loved you enough to die for you. I understand how you want to look in public, but I've seen you with your sister. I'm looking at you right now. Don't pretend. Not with me."

The weight of his words nearly knocked her off her feet. She wasn't sure if he was asking her to be herself or to see past the mask he refused to remove. Either way, he was asking for something deeper. Something real. He was asking her to accept the difficult truths in her life. Xan wasn't sure how to react to this; there was no denying the magnetism that seduced her. But was physical. Chemical. It was only attraction.

So why did she want more than a physical connection? Why did she suddenly crave more?

She looked down at their hands when she felt his thumb brush over her fingertips. A gentle hum rippled through her body. She closed her as she let it tingle with in her. "What's your angle, Liam? Why are you suddenly Mr. Sensitive and not picking a fight with me?"

He took his time answering, choosing to run his hand over the length of her arm before gently cupping her neck. Liam ran his thumb over the erratic pulse that made him smile. He wished he had the power to freeze time; there was an ominous feeling that someone would walk in and interrupt them at any moment. As it was, their time was limited; this would be over once Sherlaine was permanently dead. Every moment counted. "As much as I enjoy pissing you off, maybe I wanted you to see that I'm not so bad."

Mission accomplished. "Why?"