Chapter 26

Months after Dimitri had walked into his life, Nikola was horrified at everything he had done. There had to be a way to atone, surely. He walked up to his bedroom, where Dimitri was reading a book on the bed.

“Dimitri, can we talk?” Nikola was unsure of himself right now, and Dimitri turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Sure, morsel. Come here,” the vampire patted the space next to himself and Nikola laid reluctantly. Dimitri, for all that he had been pushing in the life that Nikola considered his last, had been only gently these past months.

“How can I make amends for all I have done?” Nikola didn’t know what he would do if Dimitri told him there was nothing he could do.

“Do? Do what? It never happened. I am just showing you all these so that, when you get your memories back, you don’t flip again,” Nikola blinked. So, all the blood he felt was on his hands was actually not there?

“Niki, you are an immortal and that is without vampirism,” Nikola pointed at himself.

“Yes, you. Morsel, I have checked, and you have angelic grace. You have developed some of your own because of Uriel’s power. I have an angel for a moment of love,” Dimitri sang the last thing, and Nikola blushed.

“Well, that is…” There were so many questions swimming in his head now. Like, how he could make sure he doesn’t mistreat his powers and those two vampires of his last life. How does he help them? One was mad and the other prided himself on being demonic.

“Just like that?” It was what Nikola said, and then he felt a prickle in his arm.

“See? This should have killed you,” Nikola watched as the liquid in the syringe slowly entered his bloodstream. He felt a stinging there and some warmth then numbness then nothing.

“You just attempted to kill me?” Nikola wanted to feel something else but the numbness he felt now, but it was not to be so.

“Sorry about that, love, but we did something that just broke the whole time loop thing, finally. Or maybe it didn’t, and you will take more than a lethal injection to take down. At any rate, you are still alive, and I think we can more forward with exploring your abilities.”

“My abilities?” Did Nikola even have any? Well, apart from making candy, he guessed.

“Sure, you are an angel, Niki. Angels can heal, rise the dead and all that jazz. Well, full-blooded can. I don’t know about you,” Nikola nodded. That made sense, in a way.

“We have to rescue Malkav, Vasilisa and Ivan,” those three were most in need of assistance, Nikola was sure of it.

“Ok, we start with Malkav. His real name is Penemue, by the way,” supplied Dimitri, and he stood up, laying the book to the side.

“I’ll drive, come on. Pack up some sandwiches, it will be a long drive,” Dimitri began to dress as Nikola went to the kitchen and made some simple peanut butter and jam sandwiches. He placed them in a box and dressed himself too.

Then, it was a day-long ride across the state and into another to reach a town that Nikola had never seen before, apart from the videos Dimitri had shown him. They entered a dimly lit apartment complex with a gothic feel to it, and Dimitri knocked on a door on the top floor.

“But pretentious, right? He just had to have his apartment above the others,” said Dimitri with a shake of his head. The handsome, but dishevel, Malkav opened the door and Dimitri went pass him. Entering without much care for their host.

“Who are you?” Asked the Antediluvian. Nikola didn’t want to become a vampire to save Malkav, but found that a sane Malkav was much more prone to reason and wouldn’t attack those around him unprovoked.

“We are here to rescue you, daddy,” Nikola blushed at the wording that Dimitri used, and he coughed in his hands.

“I believe your madness can be reversed, lord Malkav,” Malkav looked hopeful at that, but then, suspicion crawled in his eyes.

“How?”

“My blood can have healing properties,” at least Nikola hoped it did. “I am like you, an angel.”

“Father remembers me?” Malkav grabbed Nikola and pulled him inside the apartment.

“I don’t work for God,” a breeze went through the room. “Even though I believe in him. It is a long story.”

The last thing Nikola wanted was to piss off God. So, when Malkav’s disappointment mounted, he offered his wrist to the vampire.

“You will see that I am immortal, so, drink as much as you will,” Malkav took the offered arm and a bit down, his eyes, such a lovely shade of blue, never leaving Nikola.

The feverish look he was giving him slowly receded, until the eyes cleared completely. Malkav let go of Nikola and Dimitri went to steady him, for his legs have become like noodles from the blood loss.

“Do you feel better?” Asked Dimitri, his head resting on Nikola’s shoulder and arms wrapped securely around the Bulgarian’s waist.

“How?” Came the disbelieving reply. “I no longer hear voices unless I seek to read thoughts.”

“You might want to lay off on that, least you become a not again,” teased Dimitri and Nikola send him a look.

“Now that this is done with, we have two more stops,” Nikola attempted to get out of Dimitri’s arms, but found that he could not.

“Do you mind if we stay until Niki here feels better? I’ll trade you a story like you couldn’t believe for the privilege,” offered Dimitri. Nikola didn’t want for Dimitri to tell Malkav everything, but found that he couldn’t stop him either.

“I would very much like to find out how the Devil got an angel to be by his side,” Dimitri snickered at that, happy to not have to explain what he was, and led Nikola to the familiar, cramped, apartment.

“My, your ghouls really have their work cut out for them, eh, daddy?” Nikola really wished that Dimitri stopped talking like that.

“You keep calling me that, why?” There was an amused lilt to Malkav’s voice. He was enjoying the attention, Nikola realized. Dimitri sat down on the couch between ancient looking tomes, some bound in leather, and sat Nikola in his lap.

“Are you two…” Nikola couldn’t understand from where the disappointment in Malkav’s voice had come from.

“I am working on it,” Dimitri puffed up his chests and Nikola leaned back.

“We are not, really. It is complicated,” Dimitri tugged Nikola’s ear and the Bulgarian sighed. “We used to be, though.”

And then Dimitri, as he was the one to actually remember the whole thing, began to explain to Malkav what had happened during Nikola’s last life. By the end, Malkav was smiling.

“You are not lying. I can tell,” Dimitri could do that as well, despite not making a habit of reading Nikola’s thoughts too much. In Nikola’s former life, Dimitri had led him to believe that what Malkav could do was something exceptional. When it had been just a clan discipline.

When asked why he had lied, Dimitri had told him it was all Malkav’s idea. It seems he still liked to throw him under the wheels from time to time. Despite being in love with him as well.

“So, the question is, daddy, will you help me woe Niki finally? Because he is a tough nut to crack and has been ignoring my advances,” Nikola hid his face in his hands and groaned. Of course, Dimitri would bring it up again.

“You wouldn’t mind sharing?” Nikola knew that Dimitri would mind, even to a small extent, but he also knew that Dimitri wanted all his lovers back. Plus, their family friends.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Whispered Nikola into his hands.

“No,” answered him, both Dimitri and Malkav at the same time. Nikola groaned, and he felt a gentle hand over his own. He peeked through his fingers and saw Malkav smiling at him.

“Would it be so bad to have what you once had, even when you don’t remember it? Even when I don’t?” Nikola thought on that. He was still a virgin, but did that count after all those lifetimes? He was not ready for such a commitment, but, did he have a choice?

Staring in those blue orbs, deep enough to drown in, he exhaled and got his hands away from his face.

“But, we can take it slow?” He was hopeful as he spoke, and he heard a chuckle behind him.

“You will be given the Toreador special treatment, plus the goody-two-shoes of the best behavior of Malkav. I don’t know about Vasilisa, though. He is damaged, and it took you a lot to get him out of his cracked shell,” Malkav got a wistful look and Nikola wished he could peer into his mind right now and see what he saw.

Or, maybe not. After all, to peer into Malkav’s mind meant to take on the vampirism curse. And that was something Nikola didn’t want.

“So, now that we have decided to be nice to one another, let us go for a nap. Malkav, you should be fine in the sunlight now. Try putting a finger through the curtains to check,” Malkav stood up and went to the nearby window. He opened the curtain a little and was amazed when the sunlight didn’t burn him.

They retreated to the bedroom, with Nikola sandwiched between them. He attempted to sleep, but Malkav was playing with his hair and Dimitri was planting surprise kisses on his neck.

“Could you two stop?” He felt teeth in his neck and the feeling that his blood was being drank followed. Dimitri was the culprit this time, and Nikola wondered if the man wanted to make sure they stayed in the apartment for longer.

“Dimitri?” Nikola knew for a fact that Dimitri didn’t need to eat or drink blood, despite indulging in both. Hands snaked inside his shirt and Nikola drawled in a breath. “No, that is enough!”

“Why should it be?” Came from Malkav. Nikola turned to stare at him with wide eyes. “We can be good.”

“Very good,” added Dimitri as he got his teeth out of Nikola’s neck. “The very best.”

“I don’t remember what happened during that life, Dimitri. I may never remember, yet you behave like I never died. But I did. Twice,” Dimitri huffed and got his hands out and straightened Nikola’s shirt.

“So sorry, morsel. I will be patient,” mumbled Dimitri. Then, he took Malkav’s hand and kissed it. “You don’t mind my advances, angel?”

“Not in the slightest,” assured him Malkav. Nikola was sandwiched even more, and he heard the two as they began to kiss. Good for them, but he wanted to take things slowly. So, that, they could last.