Incest/Taboo Akeldama

"And just where have you been?!" Mary huffed in false annoyance when she answered the door once Conner had returned.

"Correcting a man on his villainous ways," Conner replied with a smirk on his lips.

"Uh-huh," Mary intoned, trying to keep her smile from showing. "Come, the Hunters have been waiting for you," she said, stepping out of Lord Harland's chambers and closing the door behind her. "So, was Regan in any real danger?" Mary asked, looping her arm around his right that he offered to her. Something she, herself, missed greatly from that period of time.

"No," Conner answered, lightly patting Mary's hand. "Just an old friend pulling my leg."

"And the way you disappeared, what was that?" Mary asked, glancing over at him.

"Trade secret."

"Spoilsport," Mary intoned, "fine keep your elder secrets," sticking her nose into the air in a playful way, "but you owe me a night out for walking out, or whatever that was, on me."

"I see; whatever shall we do?" Conner mused, ignoring the other nobles they passed. Knowing if it went as he planned, then he would never see them again; if not, he would be dead, and what they think won't matter anyway.

"Conner, why aren't you addressing the other nobles?" Mary whispered low.

"Because all they care about is me winning their little war for them like I did ages ago, who owes their very existence to my men and me. So, I don't give them any credence to their plans. To me, it matters little," Conner stated in a cold tone.

"Conner, when I say this, don't take it the wrong way, alright?" Feeling her face growing hot due to the blood she had just consumed as his eyes peered at her. "But why me, and not Lynn? Six hundred years is a lot of time to know one another. She obviously cares about you..."

"She doesn't, not in that sense. She cares about the throne and the power that comes with it. Why do you think I didn't give in to their demands a hundred years ago? Because I knew she cared more about the title than anything. Could there be some true feelings for me buried underneath that narcissistic exterior of hers? Possibly. However, in six hundred years, I haven't seen it. As to why you and not any of the other women that's been nipping at my heels for the past thousand years. You remind me of Margaret," Conner said in a plain tone.

"Ah," Mary muttered, not eager to be compared to a dead woman, yet she couldn't say if that was a bad thing or not. After all, it was that reminder that she was currently on his arm and not sitting in Harland's fore-chamber entertaining dull nobles. "I hope I can live up to the legacy she left behind," she said, flashing Conner a smile.

"Where have you been?" Helen asked, in a disapproving motherly voice as Conner walked, with Mary on his arm, into the antechamber they used for such things. Seeing those hard, cold eyes boring into her, silently telling her anywhere he damn well wished to be. "An elder such as yourself just can't go traipsing through the city unescorted." If she didn't know better, she would have said, her son depicted how she looked in the numerous ways he thought of killing her. Little did her son know that could never happen, at least by his hand. Her son just didn't have the juice as it were to end her.

"Says whom? Them?" Conner asked, jutting his chin towards the few nobles that were gathered there. "The very nobles that cried and begged for me to save them? The very nobles that condemned me to that torment? Or is it you, my oh so sweet mother, well? Speak. I don't have all eternity." Noting the scowls on their ageless faces. Personally, he didn't care what they thought. Their opinions of him died when they all cast their vote to toss him into that box.

"Conner, we'll speak on this matter at a later date; we have a rogue to hunt," Helen said, gesturing to the table. Pondering on how many of them would die once Conner makes his move. She knew her son. He might not show it or have done anything to them yet. That didn't mean her son didn't have something brewing in that mind of his. Hoping that this didn't bring about another war. Not that she would mind really, to her, the more the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve died, the better the world would be. If all her turned children were wiped out, it wouldn't matter to her. She would just start all over again. It's the same with her son. If he turned against her, she wouldn't have a problem killing him and having another. It wasn't the first time she's had to do such a thing.

"Uh-huh, sure we will," Conner intoned, rolling his eyes.

"This is where we believe Dustin has fled to," the male Hunter said as he pointed at the city of St. Louis, Missouri.

"You believe, or you know for certain?" Conner questioned. Conner found it odd that what intel they supplied him was nearly identical to what Giovani had told him when he, too, had his men out looking for Dustin.

"The information is solid, Conner," Helen spoke, seeing how he didn't believe a word she said. "Unless, of course, you have something else to give us, a sighting, a rumor, something that would point to Dustin not being there," she said in a condescending tone. Not enjoying how Lord Harland's daughter was clinging onto her son. In her mind, Lynn would make a better Queen. Lynn had the mindset and the skill needed to run a global kingdom. Not some woman who was a simple, unknown stock broker no more than two weeks ago. Her son could do far better than the woman currently on his arm.

"Very well, we'll play your little game. If he isn't there... well, you better pray that he's there, or you'll join his place," Conner said, eyeing the nobles who squirmed under his murderous gaze.

"Conner?!" Helen warned, knowing if he kept up such talk, it would only lead to civil war amongst her children. Then again, if the look in her son's eyes were any indicator, then it seemed to her that was exactly what he wanted. Wondering if anything of her son left that coffin when he escaped.

"Save your platitudes for them," waving dismissively at the nobles, "they're the ones willing to kiss that ass of yours. You raped and murdered my wife. You threw me into that box for a hundred years. If you thought we would have anything left between us, the years have dulled your wit because from where I stand, you're as good as dead to me as they are," Conner said in a cold, monotone, emotionless voice.

"Very well, Conner, then let this be my last act as your mother."

"Please, spare me the fake caring act; we both know it's a lie," Conner uttered in disgust.

"Conner, I know you're angry, I know you're hurting, but saying such things will only lead you and our people to more heartache," Mary said; she wasn't trying to write off his anger. It was warranted. No. She was only trying to keep him from doing something that would pit their people against one another. "Let's just go to St. Louis and see if we can't find him. Then you can finally put the past behind you," she uttered in a caring tone, trying to soothe his temper. Wondering if what he said was true or not.

"Very well, when are we leaving?" Conner asked, eager to move this along.

"Our vehicle is already waiting; we can leave any time you want," the female Hunter said; she knew the look of a killer when she saw one. She also knew he wouldn't care one bit if they all died there just so he could kill this man. She planned on making sure she wasn't one of the dead left in his wake.

"Then let's be off, the sooner this is done..." Conner's voice trailed off, letting them ponder what else he was going to say as he spun on his heel and walked out of the room.

St. Louis, Missouri. Home of the Gateway Arch, the Missouri Botanical Gardens, Cahokia, and lastly, a vast cave system beneath the city itself. Carved out of the limestone bedrock that the city anchored its foundations to. A place now sealed off under the guise of cave-ins. That was furthest from the truth as the rebel vampires had made that vast expanse into their lair far from the eyes of the ruling House that dominated the city. A House loyal to the Queen and the Council. Who had been informed of the arrival of the Queen's private jet at the Creve Coeur Airport.

When she had heard of her sire's arrival, Patience, Conner's second turned child, would not let anyone else but her greet her dark father. It was because of him, she didn't have to live the life of being nothing more than a cobbler's wife. A fate she so graciously celebrated in not having to endure. The night she was running from one life only to find herself in another that she never knew existed.

"Patience, stop fidgeting," hissed the woman that was the second-in-command of the House she had wormed her way into. Patience never liked the woman. For the past five hundred years Patience, like all the other three, hid who her true sire was. After what had happened a hundred years ago, she couldn't fault him for wanting to keep everyone in the dark about who her dark father was. "We're about to greet royalty, so act like it," she snapped when Patience failed to listen. As you can expect, she did not live up to the virtue that Patience was named after. No. Patience was anything but patient, and being cool and level-headed did not come naturally to her.

She had learned that over the years she was with Conner. Ignoring the woman's snort of disgust, she was the youngest of the three of them that the House had sent to greet Conner and whomever else the Queen was sending along. They all thought Patience was the youngest. Given how she had all told them she was only fifty when she showed up in St. Louis. When in reality, she was approaching her five hundred and twenty-seventh year, while the man beside her was only a little over two-fifty, and the woman that thought she ruled them all was only over a hundred or so. Wondering what Salvatore, Nico, and Giovani were doing these days. Also, pondering if any of them knew that Conner was back.

Then again, the news of John's death and the destruction of the Paris House spread like wildfire. She had no doubt that Conner was the one that killed John. She always hated the man. He was just so... sleazy. It was only when she threw him off the top of the castle they were at that he got the hint to leave her alone. Her nostrils flared as she caught his scent that announced his arrival. She would never forget it. How could she? They did, after all, share a coffin quite a few times to escape the sun and a few times that didn't involve sleep. Patience felt her body heating, remembering how his touch felt on her body as her eyes fell upon him. Although, she was not too pleased with the sight of the woman that walked far too close to her sire.

While it might have been taboo for the two of them to get involved romantically. That didn't mean she wasn't going to try. Even after so long apart, that tug still pulled at her. Ignoring how Delaney was chatting away with the Hunters the Queen had sent. It wasn't hard to spot them. They pretty much wore the same thing. All black. Patience could never understand why. However, it was Conner who truly held her attention as she did with his. Also, noticing how the woman that was with him was looking between the two of them.

"Prince Conner, it's an honor to meet you. I'm Delaney, and this is Fredrick and Patience," Delaney said, gesturing to the two behind her after introducing herself to Mary. "House Krill is very honored to help in your search of this rogue that has fled to our city. Nonetheless, it would be best to start tomorrow night given the time. The sun will be up shortly. If you will follow me, I will escort you to the awaiting vehicles," she spoke in a polite tone. Sensing the aura of power around him as she eyed him curiously. In all her years, she has never heard of the man. Yet, given how her House leader acted when he was informed of his arrival, she knew this was a very big deal. "Please, this way," Delaney said with a wave of her hand towards the exit of the airport.

"We'll talk later," Patience whispered to Conner before Delaney pulled her away, chastising her for daring to speak with someone of such rank. What irritated her was that smirk of his, not Delaney's prattling. She tuned that out. It took all her will not to walk over there and slap that smirk off his lips.

"So, Conner, who is that woman?" Mary asked after they were shown to the room they would be using during their stay, crossing her arms below her breasts. Recounting how the man who led this House nearly kissed the ground Conner walked on. Sycophants. She hated them, always telling you one thing but saying another behind your back.

"A very old friend," Conner admitted, looking around the room, ensuring no one had placed a sigil for the blood arts to eavesdrop on them.

"And did you sleep with this woman?" Mary asked, unsure why she was getting jealous. Love was never a component of vampiric marriages. So she couldn't understand why she was getting jealous of the thought.

"You want the truth, or do you want me to lie to you?" Conner spoke with his back towards her.

"The truth," Mary stated firmly.

"Yes, we've had sex before."

"And just who is she to you?" Mary inquired, watching how he opened drawers, running his fingers along their insides before pulling them out altogether and examining the outside of them and placing them back.

"She was my fledgling at one point in time," Conner said, his mind flashing back to the year 1583. The day they had to part ways to keep her safe from his mother's schemes.

"Wait.. come again?!" Mary uttered in confusion.

"Does that surprise you?" Conner asked, peering over his shoulder.

"No, I just never thought about it. Hell, you know damn well I didn't even know you existed until you showed up at my former House. So... how many have there been?" Mary asked in a bashful tone. Seeing the confused look on Conner's face when he replaced the last drawer. "You're children, I mean," she clarified.

"Oh, there are three others," Conner admitted.

"Then why is she here and not at the capital?" Mary inquired, trying to make sense out of it all.

"Because I didn't want my mother to know about them," Conner replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "She would use them in some scheme of hers not caring if they lived or died, that's why I kept them hidden from her," he added when Mary gave him a look as to say: 'Go on.'

"Will you tell me about them?" Mary asked, knowing she wasn't going to be speaking of this to anyone, not if he went to such lengths to keep them out from beneath the Queen's gaze. Lowering herself into the plush chair, feeling the rich leather molding to her body as she leaned back.

"Hmm... I don't know if they would want me..." Just then, a hurried knock came upon their room door. The moment he opened the door, Patience leapt into his arms.

"I thought I'd never get to see you again?!" Patience exclaimed, burying her face into his neck. "I've missed you so much?!" Peering through strands of her long red hair, noting how that same woman was eyeing her with a hint of jealousy in her eyes. Placing a kiss on Conner's right cheek when she felt his hands lightly rubbing her back. "So, Conner, are you going to invite me in?" Patience asked with a coy smile.

"Please enter," Conner said, stepping aside and gesturing for her to enter the room.

"So, sire, is she a new child of yours?" Patience asked, waving to Mary when she peered back at Conner as he closed the door.

"No, I am not," Mary stated in an unpleasant tone. "I'm his future wife."

"That so, so the Queen finally got her hooks into you, huh?" Patience teased.

"No, that would be Lynn, not Mary," Conner corrected, offering her a seat beside Mary.

"You know I only kid, Conner," Patience said with a warm smile as Conner sat on the bed across from them. "So, Mary, was it?" Seeing her nod in response to her question. "Tell me about yourself; why are you with Conner?"

"Because I want to be with him, is there any more of a reason than that?" Mary shot back with a pointed look.

"You haven't been a part of this life, in Conner's orbit, I mean, for long, have you?" Patience asked, knowing Mary didn't have the look of a fledgling nor the poise of a vampire from her time. If she had to guess she would put Mary about one or two hundred years younger than she was.

"No, not until recently," Mary stated, her eyes flickering over to Conner. Remember how he looked like falling through the air once Dustin's room exploded. She had no idea how he could have survived that blaze. Most would have been turned to ash long before hitting the ground, given how fire was their second major weakness.

"So, Mary, tell me, how did you meet Conner?" Patience asked, curious to know what he has been doing ever since he's been free. Listening intently as Mary went over the events that brought her into Conner's orbit.

"Now, I would like to hear how you became Conner's fledgling," Mary stated in a firm tone. Trying not to be jealous at how beautiful Patience looked in that full-length dress she was wearing.

"Well, you see, the year was 1483, and back then, women were pretty much thought of as a bargaining chip or livestock to trade or barter," Patience intoned bitterly, seeing Mary nodding in understanding. "I was headstrong, not something my father liked, mind you."

"Yeah, mine wasn't all too happy when I just up and disappeared before I was to be wed to a sheepherder in the village I lived in," Mary said with disdain for the way her father went about it.

"I totally get what you mean; my own father was going to force me to marry a cobbler. A man forty years my senior?!" Patience exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air. Seeing Mary nodding in understanding once again. "So, if Conner isn't your maker, who is or was?"

"He was a Hunter, yet he had gone mad by the time he turned me," Mary said, reminiscing to Patience of her three hundred years of life before the night she first met Conner. "That was very devious of you, my Prince, to lie to me that you were a Hunter."

"Hey, would you let me in if I told you I was there to very violently dismember Dustin?" Conner asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"No... probably not," Mary admitted. "Is that what you did to John?" Knowing that they were only told that John had been taken out, not by the means of which his life was ended.

"Seemed fitting given what they did to my wife," Conner said coldly.

"So you were married before it all went to shit?" Patience asked, seeing the confusion in Conner's eyes at her use of modern lingo.

"In a sense, yes," Conner nodded.

"Did you feed on John before you killed him?" Patience asked, she, like the other three, rarely did such a thing to keep themselves hidden.

"So then what you said on that day was true? You really do feed on vampires?" Mary questioned, seeing him nodding in response. "What is it like?"

"About the same as feeding on a human, but I don't stop at a pint. If I feed on a vampire, I drink them dry," Conner said darkly.

"I have to assume since he's your sire, you can do the same?" Mary inquired, looking over at Patience.

"I can and have," Patience nodded. "Have you spoken to the other three yet?"

"I've only seen Nico in passing, spoke to Giovani just before coming here. You remember how he would go on and on about velvet this, and velvet that?" Conner asked, watching how Patience vehemently nodded that she did. "Well, you wouldn't guess what he looks like now."

"Oh?! I bet it's good," Patience said with a wide smile. Laughing hysterically when Conner detailed Giovani's attire he was wearing at the time. "You remember that one time you had him sneak into that Lady's manor because you told him she had the finest roll of velvet in the providence hidden away in there and that if he could fetch it without being seen or heard, you'd have it made into a suit for him?" Seeing the corners of Conner's lips lifting telling her he did indeed remember that night. "I know you; you fought yourself from laughing as he went out to her place for a week trying to find it," she said, wiping away a tear as they shared past memories.

"What happened after the end of the week?" Mary asked, very intrigued to hear about Conner's life before she was even born.

"What do all young fledglings do when pissed? He tried to attack his maker," Patience answered with an amused grin. "Remember you had Salvatore chain him in his coffin until he calmed down enough?"

"Yeah, he was not a happy li'l fledgling for a month after that," Conner nodded, recounting how she and Salvatore used to tease Giovani when he struggled to grasp the fundamentals of their blood arts.

"Who's Salvatore?" Mary asked in a confused tone.

"Conner's first born," Patience stated factually.

"And that makes you... what?"

"His second born, Giovani is his third, and Nico is his fourth," Patience listed off. Tossing her head back, feeling her hair brushing along her lower back as she released a frustrated sigh when she heard Delaney calling out her name as she was walking around looking for her. "I must go; I really wish you would just let us tell people, then I wouldn't have to be putting up with people like her," she groaned as she lifted herself out of her seat.

"I do believe it's time for the House of Ambrose to stand on its own," Conner said in a plain tone, causing Patience's head to snap towards him.

"You mean that? That I can finally get out of this dump?!" Patience asked; her excitement was clear as day. So very eager to finally be recognized as Conner's daughter, to finally tie her name to the House Ambrose. To be able to say Conner Ambrose is her sire, that she was and always had been Lady Patience of House Ambrose. Dancing a jig in her head when she saw Conner's nod. "Then I need to pack, Mary; you wouldn't mind showing me around New York City; it's been ages since I've been there?"

"I'd be happy too, Patience," Mary said with a smile. Wondering how big of a commotion Conner's offspring would make once news got out about them.

"Patience?"

"Yes, sire?" Patience replied, peering back at him as her hand rested on the doorknob.

"Inform the other two and meet up with Giovani in New York," Conner directed.

"You're planning something, aren't you?" Patience asked, knowing Conner wouldn't bring them all together if he wasn't planning on something big. She was just going to have to be content with that twinkle in his eyes when she knew he wouldn't divulge his plans in a strange House. When he knew not if their conversation was being spied upon. "I'll see you later, Conner," Patience said as she slipped out the door.

"Now, Conner, tell me how you first met Salvatore," Mary spoke, crossing her left leg over her right, interlacing her fingers together as her hands rested on her knee.

"Then I have to take you back to 1375. You see, the plague or the cover for our war never went away..."

"Conner, I know you don't need to seek your coffin before the sun rises, yet I can feel it on my skin," Mary said, shutting the thick curtains as the dawn light approached.

"I understand," Conner nodded, remembering when he was just like that when he was her age.

"Will you join me?" Mary asked in a shy tone. She has never really shared her coffin with anyone. Given how vampires tend to attack anyone that disturbs their slumber. However, they were to be wed, she hoped; there was no sense in sleeping away from one another when she knew they would be seeing far more in the coming days.

"I don't think that would be proper for an unwed lady," Conner mused with a smirk.

"Fuck being proper, you are going to sleep with me," Mary said, feeling the corners of her lips lifting when Conner barked out in laughter. "So my lord, shall we?" she asked with a salacious smile on her lips as her hands rose, her fingertips loosened the top button of her fancy blouse. Watching how those eyes of his studied her as her blouse continued to inch open, revealing the light green, see-through, plunge bra. A sultry light appeared in her eyes as his eyes ran down the sides of her 40B breasts that the opening of her blouse showed off.

"Something the matter, my Prince, surely you've seen a woman's bust before," Mary teased, knowing she had his attention, just the way she wanted it. "Or has the sight of women's modern-day undergarments have you enthralled?" she cooed in a sinful tone as the last button slid out of its slot and allowed her shirt to hang open. Watching how his eyes ran down her body. She so wanted him to look. To know what waited for him whenever they were together.

"Have to say, they are an improvement from a hundred years ago," Conner said; he just couldn't pull his eyes away as the pinkness of her areolas could be seen through the material of her bra.

"Oh? You think so?" Mary purred, reaching behind her and lowering the zipper of her skirt, noting how his eyes followed its fall as it pooled around her feet as she stood in nothing but her underwear. While the matching, while non-translucent, Brazilian-style panties hugged her hips, it really didn't leave a lot to the imagination. Noting how captivated he was by it when she returned to her starting position after doing a slow spin to show off how it showed off her ass. "Well, my lord? A gentleman such as yourself simply cannot leave a woman standing so exposed all by her lonesome," Mary stated with a coy smile. Slyly noting the growing bulge in his pants.

While turned vampires had to have fed recently in order to perform during sex, it appeared Conner did not have that limitation as they all had. She felt her body responding as her eyes ran down his chest once his shirt left his shoulders. Savoring every muscle he had earned throughout his very long life. She suspected most were earned in the years of the war. The image she saw in Lord Harland's library flared in her mind as her mind superimposed what he looked like standing on that cliff in his armor. Thanks to the blood she had consumed before they had retired to their room, Mary felt her mound heating as she watched his muscles move beneath his skin as he removed his pants from his body. Only leaving a barrier of cloth between her and what she desired.

After all, if they were going to be together for centuries, she at least had to know if they would be good together, did she not? "Very... impressive, Conner," Mary said in a sinful tone as she glanced up to his face after she had enjoyed every inch of his exposed body to her eyes. Wondering if Lynn ever got to see this side of him. She so prayed that woman never did. Yet, she wasn't about to bring that up. It was improper and rude given vampiric traditions. Noticing how those pale blue eyes viewed her as her fingertips danced up his chest as she stepped into him. "My lord, the sun is rising, shall we?" Feeling his light touch on her arms as she stared up at him. Wondering how those lips of his would feel against her own.

"Lady Harland?" Conner uttered, a little taken aback by her straightforwardness as she kissed him. It was not something he was used to. However, this was a different age, an age that seemed so distant from the one his mind was currently in.

"It's okay, Conner, just enjoy..." Moaning into his mouth when he kissed her with such skill, such passion that her mind was adrift on it. Sucking on her lower lip as her eyes remained closed just so she could enjoy the lingering taste of the man on her lips as she pulled away. Feeling her blood heating her cheeks, something else that only happened after a feeding, leading him by the hand to the coffin the House had provided for them. Actually, there were two of them in the room; nonetheless, one of them would never be used, not if she had anything to say about it. Her chocolate brown hair dangled before her, her sensuous smile graced her lips as she lowered the lid as she leaned forward, pressing her breasts into his chest when she rested on top of him.

"Mary?!" Conner whispered when he felt her hand slipping into his underwear. It wasn't that he was opposed to sleeping with her; still, he wasn't about to impugn her honor to satisfy his own lust.

"Shh, I want this," Mary whispered softly as she slipped his cock from the confines of his underwear. Smiling in the darkness at his light moans as her fingers glided along his rod. Wondering how long he would last after a hundred years, that was if he hadn't slept with anyone since he had been awoken. Her ass bumped against the lid of the coffin as she reached between her legs and pulled aside her underwear. She had to know. She had to know how he would feel deep inside of her and if she would enjoy being with him for eternity if they lived that long. Feeling his hands on her thighs as her paradise admitted him entrance to her secret garden. Whimpering as she slowly slid down that hard pole, all so she could savor every inch of the man. Burying her face into his neck as she glided the best that she could given the space, or lack thereof. Feeling his pulse on her lips which in of itself was weird. She chalked that up to him being the only pure blood vampire in existence.

Wondering how his kiss would feel like. Would it be like she had felt when her sire had turned her, or would it be different? "Yes, Conner," Mary uttered breathlessly as she felt his hands on her ass. "Just enjoy it," she whispered so as not to alert anyone, who might still be up at that hour, of what they were doing. She had no wish for rumors to spread around about him. Pondering if a pure blood's seed was fertile compared to how the other turned vampires weren't as she felt his hot goo filling her womb. Kissing him to show that she wasn't upset that he came far sooner than she would have thought. She couldn't blame him, after all, a hundred years without sex is far too much for anyone to take. She was just happy that she could give this to him.

"Rest, Conner, we have much to do tonight," Mary said, feeling the sun's pull on her body sending her to sleep. No one could ever tell her why the moment the sun was up, they all were dead to the world, figuratively. If disturbed from their slumber, a vampire was known to strike out blindly. When she was a fledgling, her sire had told her that was an instinct born within them to keep themselves safe if or should their hiding space be discovered. The last thing she remembered before being pulled under was the feel of Conner's arms wrapping around her.

"We should be able to find some information on Dustin here," Patience said as they stood in front of the club that had similarities to the one in New York City.

"You sure?" Conner asked; he would rather not have to scour the whole city just to find the bastard. Then again, he might enjoy taking his frustration out on the man once he found him. Who was he kidding? He so would!

"I'm sure," Patience nodded. "They may live in the caves below the city, but most of them come here like we all do to feed," she said, leading them down into the club. "Conner?"

"Hmm?" Conner hummed as he slyly glanced at Mary, who was walking very close beside him. Feeling so foolish when he felt his cheeks heat when he noted how those chocolate brown eyes of hers held this sultry light in them when they flickered over to him.

"May I finally let the world know that I am your daughter?" Patience asked, knowing it would quickly get back to the House she had been hiding in to keep out of the Queen's reach. Yet, if Conner was bringing all of his dark children together, she no longer wanted to hide what House she truly belonged to.

"Be my guest," Conner said, trying not to notice how Mary's left breast brushed against his arm. Arching an eyebrow when Patience hissed a 'Yes!'

"Hello, Patience of House..."

"It's House Ambrose," Patience said proudly. Noting the shocked looks from the vampires that manned the club's check-in.

"Patience, you know it's unwise to joke about that. You could get into very serious trouble for trying to masquerade as one of the ruling House," the man chided.

"She isn't," Conner stated, stepping forward with Mary still on his arm. "I am, Conner Ambrose of House Ambrose, and Patience is my daughter."

"Surely you jest!" the man balked.

"Does it appear that I'm joking to you?" Conner asked in an annoyed tone. "Or do I need to prove to you fools that I am your Prince?!" he sneered, revealing the tips of both of his right fangs. Only Crusniks like himself had double fangs to penetrate a vampire's skin. Only those over five hundred required him to use both sets of fangs due to how tough a vampire's skin gets as they age. Seeing Patience biting her lip not to laugh at how quickly they went about ensuring that Conner was who he said he was. He also noted how Mary was eyeing him, more importantly, his fangs. They, Crusniks, had one straight one like all other vampires, and the second one had a slight curve towards the back of his mouth. It was to keep the vampire, whoever they were feeding on, from being able to break free. If they did manage to free themselves, it would cause them to bleed out. If they were young, they wouldn't survive, although those like Patience would slip into a deep sleep like he had been for the past hundred years.

"Please, forgive us, your highness, we weren't told that you would be visiting us," the man bowed apologetically.

"Of course not. Do you think I would let my prey know that I am here?" Conner spoke, waving the man off. "Now, I think the one you need to apologize to is my daughter," he said, gesturing to Patience.

"It's quite alright, Harold. No one was supposed to know I even existed as per my sire's request," Patience said, lightly patting Harold's right cheek. "Now, is the leader of the rebel faction here tonight?"

"Yes, Lady Ambrose." Patience couldn't keep from smiling wide at the title. It seemed fitting to her. Presenting her right cheek and hand to the man as he placed the stamp on it.

"Lady Mary Harland," Mary spoke as she stepped up to the counter and presented her own cheek like she's done ever since she's first started going to the clubs back in the '40s.

"This way," Patience said, leading them off towards the stairs that would lead to the bottom floor.

Mary noted how Conner scowled at the sight of what happens to those that fall from their House's grace. She, too, felt for them as they had no one to help them when they needed to feed or a safe place to sleep. Knowing it was the Council's policies that were the cause of such heartache. It had always been her hope that she could reverse some of the archaic laws those old-timers seemed to enjoy when they belong back in the middle ages and not in the year 2000. Looking up at Conner when he released a hiss that only vampires could produce. Which was normally used as a warning to others that were younger than they were. Noting the frightened looks on the faces of those gathered there trying to find something to eat. Seeing him gesturing for Patience to take the lead.

"We're looking for Timothy," Patience spoke, instantly dozens upon dozens of fingers pointed towards the man's direction.

"Patience?!" Timothy scrambled up from his seat, causing it to fall backward as she appeared in the little section that had a sunken floor. It was where he and all his House normally gathered when they came to the club to seek those willing to extend their unnatural lives. "What are you doing here?" he asked, cowering behind his overturned chair.

"Patience, what exactly did you do to him?" Conner asked in a hushed whisper.

"Threw him off the roof when he tried and failed to have sex with me. He thought I was a weak vampire, didn't you, Timmy?" Patience asked with a sadistic smile on her lips. "I am, after all, Lady Ambrose, I simply can't be seen laying with such a man," she said, putting on airs.

"What?!" Timothy gasped with wide eyes. Even he knew who House Ambrose was.

"Pick yourself up man, it's unbecoming of a vampire to cower at the sight of a woman," Conner intoned as Mary placed her phone into his hand with Dustin's picture on it. "Now, I need you to really think," he uttered as he approached the man. "I'm not here for you, but I've been told you're housing my prey. Have you seen this man before?" Conner asked, holding out the phone to him.

"You're after him?!" Timothy squeaked in fear. Noting how his own house members looked fearful as well, knowing they had already dispatched the man thinking he was a spy for the Queen. Scrambling backward when Conner squatted down before him.

"Where is he?!" Conner growled in a murderous tone. He couldn't wait to rip the man apart for his sin.

"D-dead," Timothy answered in a trembling voice.

"What do you mean dead?" Conner asked in a hard tone. Narrowing his eyes at the man, unsure if he could believe his words.

"We sent him into the sun... well staked out in the sun actually and watched him burning up. He was a spy for the Queen after all," Timothy said, finding his strength finally.

"Show me," Conner said, holding out his hand for the man's wrist only to have a camcorder filling it. "What am I supposed to do with this?" he asked incensed.

"Don't you know how to work a camcorder?" Timothy asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"No. I've been imprisoned for the past hundred years." Watching how the man took the camcorder back from him.

"Here, watch and see for yourself," Timothy said, placing it back into Conner's hand once he brought up the video. Becoming a little unnerved at the sight of that sinister smile on Conner's lips as Dustin's pleas filled the air. He so didn't want to know what the man had done to cause such delight to appear in Conner's eyes as he watched and listened to Dustin's howls as the sun burnt away Dustin's undead flesh.

"I thank you for that," Conner said, handing the man's camcorder back to him. "As much as I wanted to tear the man apart myself, at least I know he's dead," he uttered as he rose to his feet. "Come, our business in this city is concluded. There's no reason for us to stay any longer," Conner spoke as he turned towards Mary and Patience. Knowing Margaret can finally rest in peace now that the last of her rapists and murders is dead.

"Conner, since we're already here, why don't we partake of a meal before we leave," Mary said, hoping now that this sordid business was done with it would bring some relief to him. She knew it would never bring his wife back, yet he could take solace in the fact that the people who were the cause of her death were not in this world any longer.

Mary watched with curiosity at how much of a one-eighty Delaney had done when word reached the House they were staying at of Patience's true lineage. She could see how much Patience enjoyed the ass-kissing the woman was doing as they stood in the airport terminal to head back to New York. However, Conner wasn't paying any attention to the display. No. It appeared to her; something was brewing behind those eyes of his. Wondering what else he had planned against those who had wronged him. Pondering on how much whatever it was would throw their nation into turmoil. Praying that she could at least talk him out of doing anything brash like throwing them all into a civil war. She knew if that happened, then there was no way they could keep the humans from finding out about them.

"You done soaking up the brownnosing?" Conner asked in a teasing tone when word came that their plane was ready.

"Never!" Patience said, shaking her head causing her red hair to brush along her chest and back. "I've been waiting for this day ever since you turned me back in 1483. Don't deprive me of this?!" she pleaded with a joking smile on her lips.

"Then come, I'm sure you'll get enough of that in New York," Conner mused, escorting Mary out onto the tarmac where their plane waited.

"I better, I haven't spent over five hundred years in the shadows not to get my comeuppances," Patience said, following after them. The House would be shipping her things to New York once they could get it all packed. Something she was very happy about. She didn't know if she could spend another night in that House and hold her tongue now that she knew Conner was alive and walking the Earth again. Seeing Conner turning back to her when her cell phone rang in her purse. "Why, hello stranger! I haven't heard from you in ages!" Patience answered happily into her phone at the sound of Salvatore's voice. "Yes, he's right here, oh you do, do you? Then I want a foot rub when we see each other again. Here, Salvatore wants to speak with you, my lord," she said, holding out her phone to him. Flashing Mary a smile when she fought back from laughing at how small her phone was in Conner's hand.​