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Chapter Text

“I think we should find the boy,” Louis told Armand.

They had just finished another day of nothing of importance, and it was driving Louis crazy. Not the kind that Lestat specialized in; this was his own. The madness that had no name, no reason. The madness that made his memories shift like swaying waters.

“What boy?” Armand asked, he didn’t even look up at Louis from his tablet. It must be something very exciting because he had been staring at the thing for almost an hour.

“Daniel. Daniel Molloy.”

That seemed to get Armand’s attention, his eyes locked in on Louis. It was a clear sign that he wanted Louis to stop talking about whatever he was talking about. But Louis would not be swayed, not today, not again. This wasn’t the first time he brought up the boy that he had almost killed.

He had killed a lot in his very long life. Not as much as some but his fair share. But Daniel had been different, he had wanted to keep him. Not turn him, he never wanted to curse anyone like that, not again, not after Claudia. But there was something about him. Maybe it was just that he wanted him to finish the story they gave up on so long ago after everything went so wrong.

“I told you before, Daniel Molloy has disappeared from the face of the Earth. He probably went home with someone else trying to score and either was killed or OD’d and thrown out with the garbage.”

Armand hadn’t liked that Louis wanted to tell his story to Daniel. But he had saved Daniel’s life after Louis had gotten out of control. The drugs he fed Daniel through the night, when he started drinking from the boy, it became too much. His anger and his hunger warring with each other but both with the same goal…kill.

“He had such a brilliant mind,” Louis couldn’t help but say.

Armand stood up from his chair at that moment. Louis wondered if it was the compliment or the admiration in his voice that angered his lover more. Lestat would have killed and had killed, to keep Louis’s attention. But Armand wasn’t Lestat, not even close. Louis had learned long ago how to block Armand from reading him. He knew he still was jealous of Lestat. Even though Louis had picked him, but there had been no choice.

There was no way he could ever forgive Lestat for being the guillotine that killed their daughter. Because that’s what she was in the end, on that day. That day she hadn’t been their sister, she had been their little girl, their ferocious, strong, battle-scarred daughter. She may have lost that battle, but she won in a different way. She had forced Lestat to look at her while she burned to death. Forced him to see what he did. Louis hadn’t been there to see that, but Armand had told him.

“Brilliance can be its own curse,” Armand said, pacing the floor in front of Louis. He did that when he was feeling out of sorts.

“What would he be now? 69? 70? He was but a boy of 20 when I met him that night.”

“Yes, I suppose so, if he’s still alive. But I don’t believe he is. You would have been able to find him before now. Or I would have so he must be gone. Just a boy with a drug problem that probably died before the year was out after we left him.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Believe what you want,” Armand snapped before leaving.

“I guess that’s that,” Louis said to the empty, modernly decorated room.

Since the day Claudia died he stayed away from his vampire brethren. Madeline’s death also hit him hard, he had no way of knowing it would feel like that. It was like a part of his soul had been stripped away from him. He barely knew the stranger that was his fledgling and Claudia’s love. But felt her leave this mortal coil just seconds before Claudia. Did Lestat feel the same when Claudia died or had he hardened his heart so much he didn’t feel anything anymore. No, that was the crux of Lestat, he cared too much. Too much and it made him crazy. Claudia and Lestat were just too much alike to ever live peacefully. Peaceful wasn’t in either one of their vocabularies. Every vampire had been born of trauma, which was something he learned a long time ago.

Some traumas were just too horrible to think about like Armand’s. His mortal life was what nightmares are made from. Lestat’s trauma was different; he had been loved by his mother unlike Armand who was given no love. Lestat knew love so when he was forcibly taken away from it and the beatings and starvation from his father and brothers started, he hid inside himself. That was until one day Magnus saw the beautiful boy and had to add him to his morbid collection. Test Lestat, see if he was strong enough. And he was but it came at a price, a heavy one. Not insanity, what Lestat had had no name. It was one of a kind, much like the vampire.

Louis was surprised to find out from Rashid that Armand had left the building. Not only that but left the country. Louis tried to reach out to him, but Armand had closed himself off, he was not accepting visitors to his mind it seemed. It was almost yearly that they would get in a fight and this would happen. Armand would leave but never for more than a week. Louis would be able to tell that he had been with someone else. Louis did what he did best, he ignored it. Armand was always very apologetic though, he didn’t try and buy Louis’s forgiveness with gifts like Lestat, he would become even more subservient. For an ancient, powerful vampire like Armand, he was a very lost boy most of the time.

Louis noticed that Armand had left his tablet, that was very unlike him. He kept it so close to his chest that Louis had never even asked to see it. He didn’t need to; he had his own. Not that he used it, when he wanted to read he liked real books. The smell of their pages, the feeling while turning them. The sound of his fingernail going down the spine.

Walking over to the table where the tablet rested, he did something he didn’t think he should. Years ago, when he read Claudia’s diary when she was alive, it felt like betrayal. But he had been so scared for her, he couldn’t stop himself.

This time was no different, he was worried about Armand. This time he hadn’t even taken any clothes. Unlike Lestat, Armand was simple, caring but he also loved his creature comforts. So even when they were fighting, he would take time to pack his things. This time he left with just the clothes he was wearing and his phone.

Waking the tablet up, he saw that it was passcode protected. Taking a chance he put in 1945, the year he and Armand met. It didn’t work. After a few more variations of that date, he tried something else. 1973. He didn’t know why he put that code in, and he didn’t know why it unlocked the tablet.

It was a book that was on the tablet, page 293, that was strange because Armand also liked to read real books. He used the tablet for news and controlling things around their home. Louis turned off the tablet and put it back. All Armand had been doing was reading a book? He felt so guilty for invading his privacy like that. Armand had earned his trust. It’s why the relationship was never actually closed because whoever Armand went to see once a year for a week was always the same person. Louis wondered about this mystery person, but that jealousy he felt when Lestat was with Antonette never reared its ugly head. What did that mean? He feared he did know what it meant but refused to think too much on it.

For a week he wondered where Armand had gone, but then when the second week started with no sign of his beloved, he knew he should be worried. Never, not in 48 years has Armand been gone more than a week. Nothing Louis did was getting threw to him, he searched through the vampires answering his calls, seeing if they had seen him. A vampire of Armand’s age and standing would be noticed. But he came up empty, until day 22.

Louis channeled the vampire telecommunications line, their own way of contacting each other.

Louis: I’m looking for the Vampire Armand, he’s not answering my calls. Has anyone seen him? If he doesn’t want to come home I understand, I just want to know if he’s alright.

Male vampire voice 1: Seems like he doesn’t want to see you mate.

Female vampire voice 1: Leave him alone, it’s hard when your companion leaves you for someone else.

Louis: He didn’t leave me for someone else, he’s just taking a little time away, clearing his head.

Female vampire voice 2: Are you sure? I heard the Vampire Armand was with his true love now. And seeing as he’s not with you…well, I don’t want to spell it out for you.

Male vampire voice 3: He’s with me. He’s fine.

Louis: Who are you? Your voice is a little familiar? Do I know you?

Male vampire voice 3: Once upon a time you tried to kill me, but I’ve forgiven you.

Louis had to think for a moment, he had tried to kill a few vampires in his life. Succeeded with the only ones that mattered…except for Lestat but he hadn’t wanted him to die.

Armand: We are on our way; I have things to confess.

Louis: Who are we?

Armand: You’ll see when we get there.

Chapter Text

It had been three days since the communication with Armand. Three days of doing nothing but non-stop worrying. Not only worrying what one of the vampires meant about Armand’s true love. Louis was his true love, at least that’s what he had always been told by Armand. Sure, their love hadn’t been like his own with Lestat. Lestat’s love threatened to consume him. When Lestat loved, he loved hard end of story.

At one point, he thought if Lestat did one genuinely kind thing for him or Claudia, it would have changed everything. Maybe they wouldn’t have planned his murder just to be safe. Claudia had told him that he needed to fall back in love with Lestat if their plan was to work. That she would pull him out of that love. But once you’re inside a hurricane, there is no escape. You have to wait it out and hope you’re alive at the end of it.

An alert was sent to his phone, telling him that their elevator was being used. The staff didn’t use that elevator, only him, Armand or their guests would use it. Since he didn’t invite any guests over, he knew it must be Armand.

He met them at the elevator. He wished he could say he wasn’t surprised, that he expected something like this, but he didn’t, not this.

“Hello Lestat,” Louis said even as it burned his throat to say it.

Lestat didn’t say anything, he just looked forward with vacant eyes. It was then Louis noticed that Lestat was being held up by Daniel, the boy reporter. Still a boy, probably still a reporter too. Louis’s eyes strayed away from Daniel back to Lestat then over to Armand.

“What is going on?” Louis asked.

“It’s a long story and I need to put him somewhere,” Daniel answered instead of Armand.

Armand wasn’t even looking at Louis, his eyes were downcast, meaning he was ashamed of something. His lover had two personalities in one small lean body. The first one was caring, loving, gentle and empathetic. That one was also the one that wanted to be controlled in the bedroom. Then there was his other self; cold, spiteful and eager to cause pain. Not the physical kind, no, he thought that was beneath him. The pain he liked to inflict has only been used on Louis once and he never wishes for it to happen again.

As Daniel stepped out of the elevator with Lestat, an overwhelming sense of jealousy hit him. It was maddening, Lestat and Louis hadn’t been together in over 80 years. But here he was, pulling Lestat out of Daniel’s arms and taking Lestat into his room, the room he shared with Armand. It was probably the wrong thing to do but he was doing it anyway.  

Once Lestat was on the bed, staring at nothing, Louis turned to Daniel and Armand. This wasn’t Daniel’s business, he knew why he was here. When Daniel opened his mouth just moments ago, Louis was able to place Male vampire voice 3. Daniel Molloy. Looking not a day older than he did that day in San Francisco. Gone was the boyish clothes and hair, in its place was a slick grey suit with a red tie. It shouldn’t work but it did on him. His hair was still curly but not the untamed mess it had been the last time he saw him.

“What is going on?” he asked for a second time.

“Marius is alive,” Armand finally said.

“What do you mean he’s alive?” Louis asked.

One of Armand’s worst days as a vampire was the day Marius died. Leaving him alone in the world again. Then he was sent to Paris and where he stayed, first leading one coven, then starting one with Lestat. Lestat who is the biggest non joiner of them all, helping create a coven was actually pretty funny.

“He didn’t want me,” Armand said, his voice coming out strained. “So, he didn’t come and get me. He didn’t tell me he lived.”

“Okay but where does Daniel still looking like he did 50 years ago, and Lestat come into the picture?” he demanded.

“Well, you should know,” Daniel said angrily.

“Know what?”

“You’re the one that did this to me.”

“What are you talking about? I bit you, I own that, but I never gave you the Dark Gift. I wouldn’t.” That had been what everything had been about. When everything went wrong that day.

“Lies. King of lies,” Daniel said.

Ignoring that for right now, he turned back towards Armand.

“What’s wrong with Lestat?”

“He was trying to bring her back.”

“Bring who back?” Louis asked.

“Claudia.”

All the air in the room seemed to get sucked out of it, not that he needed it but still. There was ringing in his ears, not a day goes by that Claudia doesn’t haunt him. But she was 77 years gone and he’d never heard of any kind of resurrection.

“It can be done but only by very powerful vampires and they need some of the vampire they want to bring back. Lestat had collected her ashes before he left the theatre that day. After we found him at Magnus’s lair, and left him there, he lost his will to live. That was until he heard rumblings that Marius was alive. How I do not know. The only vampire powerful enough to bring back only ashes to life would be Marius.”

Louis was having trouble following the story.

“What do you mean?” he asked, daring not to hope.

“Lestat knew you would never forgive him, never love him again if she were gone. He didn’t have the power to stop what happened that day. The only reason he came in the first place was to save you. His plans had been to save both of you, but he was put under lock and key after arriving.”

“How do you know this?” Louis asked Armand.

Armand looked at Daniel who looked utterly disgusted. “Tell him. Or I will.”

“Tell me what?” Louis asked Daniel in his mind.

“I planned it all with the coven. I made sure everything went to plan. Our only mistake had been forgetting that Lestat was still going to be Lestat,” Armand said.

“You killed Claudia. Not just failed her like you’ve had me believe for the last 77 years but actually planned her death.”

“Yours too,” Daniel added.

Louis looked back at Daniel. “How do you even know any of this. This was 7 years before your mortal self was even born.”

“Marius told me because Lestat had told him.”

“What do you have to do with Marius?” Louis asked Daniel.

“Isn’t it obvious. Marius has replaced me. Replaced me with my own fledgling.”

Daniel’s eyes glowed with anger. “You said Louis gave me the Dark Gift. I remember him doing it.”

Louis looked at Daniel with a bit of pity. “Give yourself a minute.” Then he looked back down at Lestat, again just staring at nothing. “I guess he was unable to convince Marius to bring back Claudia.” He knew he shouldn’t have hoped.

“Oh, he was able to bring her back. Her and her companion, seeing their ashes were mixed together,” Armand said.

The only reason he wasn’t popping Armand’s head off was because one, Armand could kill him pretty easily if he wanted. And two, he needed to find out about Claudia.

“Where is she?” he begged.

“Coming back from ashes, it’s just not done. Broken and beaten bodies? Sure. Burned bodies? Still sure. But completely burned to ashes. It’s not summer holiday. They are still healing.”

“Why is Lestat like this?” Louis asked. Claudia was alive, he needed to find her.

“I found him like this after Marius brought back Claudia and Madeline. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but Marius said to bring him to you,” Daniel told him.

Louis had never met Marius; he was long dead before Louis took the Dark gift. Or at least everyone thought he was dead.

“Daniel, haven’t you ever wondered why you can’t speak with Armand or read his mind?”

“No, should I have?”

“You’re with Marius and don’t know the first thing about fledgling/maker dynamics?”

“I guess we haven’t gotten to that part yet,” Daniel said.

“How long have you two been together?” Louis asked.

“I need to make my leave,” Armand said suddenly. “Unless you forgive me.” He was looking at Louis with such hope, but all Louis could see was Claudia and how scared she had been. “I see.”

Louis guessed he had read him well enough to know that was an impossibility.

“I don’t understand why you tell the truth now?” he asked Armand.

Armand looked at Daniel then back to Louis. “It’s taken me my whole life to find my other half. The one I’m supposed to be with for eternity. He’s just with someone else. I can’t pretend anymore, I’m tired.” Armand didn’t hang around after that, he left after packing everything important to him.

Chapter Text

“I don’t understand. How long as this been going on?” Louis asked Daniel. They had left a vegetative Lestat back in Louis’s bedroom. It was strange seeing him like that. Even after slitting his throat the beautifully messed up vampire had been there. Knowing what was happening around him, this Lestat was just blank.

“Lestat found Marius a few years ago. At first Marius refused because of how young Claudia was, saying he would bring her back only for her mind to break again. I’ve got to say, I didn’t remember any of this during our conversation in your shitty little apartment. But I found out why that was many years ago.”

“Why?”

“Ask Armand, I’m not even sure what’s real and not real. He does have a tendency to make things increasingly shaky. The only reason I know the story, what I do know, is because Marius is immune to Armand’s mind editing. As for Lestat, I do not know where his mind is or why. I do know that because of his age, he has a little time before he starves to death but not very. I told Armand this all needed to end, or I would never give him what he wants.”

“What’s that?”

“Me.”

“I thought you were with Marius?”

“I am. I don’t know where I would be without him. Let’s just say, I need a lot of care. Getting the gift while high and drunk leaves you in a perpetual state of ADHD. Of course, until just an hour ago, I still thought you were my maker. Another game to Armand, or something else. I do not understand his motivations.”

“Have you been having an affair with Armand?”

Louis thought finding out his beloved of almost a century wanted someone else would devastate him. But his mind went back to the vampire currently in his bed and realized, that would be hypocritical.

“An affair isn’t the right word. When Armand found out Marius was alive and hadn’t come back for him. Let’s just say, his anger was all encompassing. You probably noticed, it would have been around 26 years ago.”

Armand had been a complete bear at that time. Everything made him annoyed and angry, it was the only time he used his powers to hurt Louis. Now it made sense, Louis had been a surrogate for the person he was really angry at. He wouldn’t be able to hurt Marius; it would be like a toddler fighting a giant. But he could hurt Louis, and he did. It did make him wonder if Daniel was right and Armand has been messing with his memories, how bad must it have been before for Armand to leave that in.

“It was a warning,” Daniel said. “He had just been hurt by Marius who he worshipped, his savior. It seems even Armand can change his own memories of certain things, convincing himself the things Marius did to him was for his own good. So he wanted to make sure you would never hurt him.”

“Have you been with Marius this whole time?”

“Yes and no. The first few years after I was bestowed the Dark Gift, things got a little rough. I would forget I needed to eat. Like I said before, perpetual state of ADHD. I’ve almost died from starvation more times than I could count. Armand put me in a coven in London, a favor from the coven leader there. I didn’t like it, so I left. Never been too much a fan of being told what to do.”

“What happened?”

“Marius found me. I told him about Armand; he did not share with me who Armand was to him. I could fool myself and say it was because when Armand was with Marius, he went by another name. But that would just be a lie. Marius knew exactly who Armand was, he found him after he healed himself from his almost fiery death. But Armand was not his Amadeo, not anymore.”

Louis stood up and went to the window looking out. Night had fallen and lights from the city were lighting up the midnight sky. He remembered the horrific history of life that Armand had given him. Arun, the boy sold to a brothel. Amadeo, a beautiful boy that was traded like a commodity. Out of every vampire he had ever met, if any one had a reason to be lost it was Armand. He had thought Lestat’s story had been tragic, while it had been, it was nothing on Armand’s.

He shook off those descending thoughts. He didn’t get out much anymore, saw no reason in it. But if Claudia was on her way back, he would have to. She wasn’t someone who could stay indoors, she needed freedom.

“How long have you been sleeping with my companion?” Louis asked, not bothering to turn around and look at Daniel.

“Which one?”

That did get Louis’s attention. He rounded on Daniel faster than he had when he attacked him all those years ago.

“You were with Lestat?” Because there could only be one other Daniel meant.

“I remembered very little of our conversation in 1973, but I did remember wondering about how he would be in bed.”

Louis could feel his teeth threatening to come out. Daniel telling him he had been with Armand over and over again for decades had little to no affect on him. But just the thought of Daniel with Lestat, even for one night, made his blood boil under his skin.

“Before you get too worked up know it was one night only. You aren’t the only one who is extremely jealous.”

“Marius?”

Daniel shook his head. “Armand.”

Yes, Louis knew that, knew that Armand’s biggest issue was being left for someone more exciting. Armand wasn’t fire like Lestat; he was gentle like welcoming waters.

Daniel let out a laugh. Louis must have thought something he thought was funny.

“You only know the Armand he lets you know. As I’ve stated, I don’t know much about your relationship with Lestat, at least one that’s not covered in a fog in my head. But I do know Lestat’s point of view of the situation. If half of what he said while he was ranting is true, your heart is colder than the tundra.”

“Maybe you should listen to the tapes before you make judgements on me and my life.”

“I would love to, in fact, I would love to get the whole story of you and Lestat. It would go well with mine about Marius and Armand.”

“What are you doing?” The Great Laws were very strict on that sort of thing.

“What? Your life can be chronicled but not anyone else’s. I found out a long time ago, in that shitty apartment in fact, that all vampires want one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Recognition.”

“Still the boy reporter it seems.”

“Am I going to be called boy for the rest of my life?”

“Do you know when Claudia will be healed enough?” Louis asked ignoring the question and asking his own. Now that he knew Claudia had come back he wanted to see her.

“Marius will let me know, and I will tell you. But you have to understand, Marius did not take this lightly. He didn’t bring her back for her to lose her mind. He’s helping in aging her body.”

“Impossible.”

“It would be if she weren’t Lestat’s fledgling.”

“What does that mean?”

“The reason why Lestat is the way he is now, is because he’s aging her. They are connected at this very moment.”

“No, Lestat wouldn’t do that for Claudia. He wouldn’t risk his own life for her.”

“He’s not risking his own life for her; he’s doing it for you. I believe deep…deep in his heart he loves her. I know her death weighed on him. But none of that held a candle to losing you.”

“If he loved me so much why did he come all the way from New Orleans to stand witness to our execution?”

“I can’t answer that, memory shifts from person to person. What you do is get several points of views of the same event and piece together what fits. But there is always a few pieces no matter how much you jam it in just won’t fit.”

“What you’re saying is you think my memory of that day is wrong? I remember feeling the rocks digging into my feet when they put me in the vault to starve to death.”

“And I remember waking up in a drug den that never existed. I’m not saying it didn’t happen, I’m saying that it might not be the full story.”

“I was there.”

“Who else was there?”

“Lestat and Armand.”

“Which one specializes in weaving illusions and memories?”

“Why would he?”

“I can only think of one reason.”

“Which is?”

“There is something from that day he is trying to hide.”

Louis decided right now that at that moment he didn’t want the answer to that. That day he lived over and over again. If Armand was hiding something it had to be for Louis’s benefit, that was Armand, Louis’s protector.

“I still don’t understand how Lestat has this power to age her physically.”

Claudia had been warring with herself for so long before she died would she even know how to live without that war. Being a girl in the throws of puberty for eternity, he had cursed her with that. But Lestat never explained to him how bad it would be. After he got the idea that she would be their daughter, he was fully on board.

“Was he now?” Daniel asked.

“I guess my thoughts may be too loud to ignore right now. But yes, it wasn’t until after she left that things between them really changed. They fought because they were too similar to let the other win.”

“To answer your question. Lestat has the blood of Akasha in him.”

Louis remembered back in Magnus’s lair after Claudia’s death, Lestat had said that. Armand had looked confused which confused Louis. There was an unspoken agreement on even speaking Lestat’s name after that, so it was never brought up again.

“What do I do for Lestat? How do I keep him from starving?”

“Feed him. Pour the blood down his throat if you must.”

“But he won’t swallow, wherever he is in his mind, it’s too far gone to do something so simple as that.”

“I’ve done my part. I promised him I would bring him here. He said you would know what to do to keep him alive. Armand was very against the idea, but I gave him little choice.”

“Are you with Armand?” he asked. He was pretty sure he already had asked that but wasn’t sure he had gotten an answer. He would try and work out his feelings for Armand later.

“Yes and no.”

“Meaning?”

“He lives in my mind because he refuses to leave it. Once a year he shows up to plead his case, but he never leaves me alone. I wish he would just let me remember what happened that night. There has to be a reason for him not letting me go.”

For that, Louis had no answers. There was no reason for this reaction from Armand from what he remembered. Armand barely spoke to Daniel and in the end, he removed his existence completely and just left Daniel and Louis there in the memory.

Chapter Text

The seams were coming apart; the center wasn’t holding. Everything Armand had worked 77 years for was coming unglued. All because of that fucking boy reporter and Armand’s own maker. So fascinating in his mediocrity that Louis had been enthralled with him at one time.

Daniel Molloy, someone who doesn’t even rank as a footnote in life, had ended everything. Marius doing the talking, but the words were coming out of Daniel’s mouth. For almost 50 years Armand had known he had made a mistake. A lapse in judgement. After he and Louis fixed his memory of that night and took Armand out of it they had let him go. Memories of a drug den should have been the end of it.

But his love for Louis had him checking on the boy once more after that night. It was a few months after the week he had kept Daniel. When he found the fascinating boy he was overdosing, would be dead in minutes. Because Armand loved Louis and knew one day he would want to find the boy, he saved him. Only his age and power kept him from feeling the full effects of the drugs in Daniel’s system.

For almost 500 years he had never given the dark gift to anyone. One moment of weakness for his love, and now his life was over. Louis would take Lestat back; there was no doubt there.

It didn’t matter that Louis’s time with Lestat was filled with toxic and hateful words and actions. It didn’t matter that Armand treated Louis like the gift he was. None of it mattered because he knew what he had always tried to deny. The love of Louis’s life was never Armand. It was always going to be Lestat.

Then there was what to do with Daniel. It wasn’t like he could move the boy in with him and Louis; he had to put him somewhere. So, he made an arrangement with the coven leader in London. From what Armand found out when he went to check on Daniel a year later, he had left the coven. One of the more susceptible vampires was an easy read. From her he had learned the Daniel had difficulties with being a vampire. Not like Louis and his morality. No, Daniel had tried to walk out into the sun several times, forgetting he would burn each and every time. Once should be lesson enough. He would forget to feed and one of the other members would find him almost starved completely to death. How was it when his body started failing he couldn’t figure out he needed blood? It’s an instinct.

He still did his duty to his fledgling and checked on him every year. He knew after he left the London coven, Daniel moved in to be some boy-toy of an older vampire. Daniel never wanted Armand to meet his sugar daddy. And because he turned Daniel, he couldn’t read him. Very little of his mind control could work on Daniel. At least the mind editing he did on Daniel before they released him stuck. And because of that, it was 1996 before he found out that Daniel’s companion and lover was none other than Marius, Armand’s own maker. But because he couldn’t read Daniel, finding him in Marius’s arms had been a dagger to the heart.

In the end was one of his darkest days, he had made Louis pay for the betrayal that wasn’t his. He would be forever trying to make up for that…that and his part in Claudia’s death.

But now Marius had Daniel as his puppet, he didn’t need to be able to read the boy to see that. Marius’s handprints were all over the way Daniel was acting and talking. The boy couldn’t find his nose on his face on a good day but somehow he made Armand bend and help bring Lestat back to Louis. No, that was all Marius. Marius had complete control in there, like always. And his little pet Daniel was an empty vessel. There was nothing deep about Daniel, the drugs had long taken that away. He was a stupid boy with a stupid knack for reading people and for that he was considered fascinating. A dog can listen to a tale it doesn’t mean they are smart or fascinating.

Marius had replaced him with a broken toy and then had that broken toy detonate Armand’s life. How would he feel if his toy didn’t come back from Dubai? Knowing Marius, he only controlled Daniel enough to put Armand in his place and get Lestat to Louis. Marius apparently had a soft spot for Lestat, Lestat had enchanted him, like he did everyone.

Daniel was weak and confused now without Marius’ influence in his head. Trying to make pieces of a puzzle fit. Armand knew that Marius was relying on him to bring Daniel back to him. What if that just didn’t happen? What if Daniel disappeared?

Armand waited for night to fall, knowing that is when Daniel would leave. Standing inside the doorway of a building, he saw Daniel leave the tower. He waved goodbye to the guards outside and got into a taxi. Armand followed them to the airport, knowing Daniel expected him there.

Once Daniel was alone, waiting for the redeye, Armand showed his face.

“I thought I felt you near,” Daniel said, looking at his phone.

“Running back to Marius?”

There was tension ever so slight in Daniel’s shoulders, causing Armand to pause. Was Daniel scared of Marius? From what he could tell was Daniel was his favored pet. So why would Daniel be frightened?

“I had to do it. He wouldn’t get out of my head.” Daniel was still not looking at Armand and that was starting to bother him.

“He does have a tendency to always get what he wants. Why do this to me? Could you not have closed your mind to him?” He hated how childish he sounded.

“I forgot how to do that.”

Armand rolled his eyes because of course Daniel had forgotten.

“Have you eaten?”

“Louis gave me blood before I left. I didn’t like it, tasted bad.”

“Animal blood.”

“I think I told Louis your obsessed with me and want me. Is that alright?”

“Why would you do that?”

“I don’t know. Why else won’t you leave me alone?”

Armand sat down in the seat next to Daniel. For a while they said nothing and just watched the comings and goings of the late-night travelers.

“I made you. I haven’t ever made anyone before.”

“Why not?”

“Why did I make you or why haven’t I ever done it before?”

“Both.”

“I’ve never done it before because the fledgling will always resent their maker. I did it because I couldn’t watch you die.”

“Maybe it would have been best if you did. My mind, it’s broken.”

“A little forgetful but not broken.”

“You’re angry with me.”

“Very.”

“Because I told Louis the truth.”

“What truth would that be?” Armand asked, he could feel his control slip just a tiny bit.

“That you trick and change memories. People don’t know what’s real and not real. Maybe you don’t even know anymore.”

“I see.”

“Marius is in my head right now, he’s telling me to get away from you, go back to Louis. Why? He sounds panicked.”

Armand looked around, stopped time. A woman was mid fall, tripping over her suitcase. A drug dog was frozen smelling a very suspicious looking falafel that someone had dropped. A family of four were frozen, the baby with his face scrunched up ready to cry, the toddler running in between his father’s legs.

“You’re going to do something aren’t you? Marius is right, I should run.”

“You should but it’s much too late for that.”

Chapter Text

Daniel had showered twice today, walking around nude most of it. Only an hour ago was Armand able to get him to put on clothes.

“So, you’re not going to kill me, you’re not going to fuck me, what are you going to do to me?”

Armand was getting really tired of the boy’s mouth. It had been two weeks since he kidnapped him. Just for reasons like this or close to it, Armand had a hiding place that no one knew about, not even Louis. There was nothing attaching him to this house.

After Louis had the windows fitted to keep sunlight out, Armand did the same to this house. He didn’t need it, but he knew Daniel would. In fact, he bought the house for Daniel…26 years ago. If you would have asked him a month ago why, he would have said to take care of his fledging if Marius ever got tired of him.

If you would ask him now, he would say he always planned to take Daniel and put him here. Even before he turned him, Armand was interested. Daniel was fascinating. And not because he could listen to Armand drone on about his life. No, it was because even when Daniel was out of it, he was still sharp. Forgetful and broken but still sharp.

“I wouldn’t taint myself with the likes of you,” Armand said, doing his best to ignore Daniel as he stripped. “And eat.” He pushed the blood bag to him.

“I don’t like the bag stuff, tastes like desperation.”

“You don’t eat; you die.”

“I’ve lived so far.”

“Because someone has always been looking after you. You’re like a child, Daniel.”

“Is that why you won’t fuck me?” Armand glared at him. “Or do you want me to fuck you?”

“There will be none of either.”

“I’m so bored. I don’t think I can watch the Real Housewives of Chelsea anymore.”

“You’re the one that keeps watching it. It’s aiding to your mind rot.”

“So, you think I should move on to the Real Housewives of Atlanta?”

“Why don’t you get back to writing your book? Your last one wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” He had been reading it when everything went to hell two weeks ago.

“You liked it, you said it,” Daniel said, grinning.

“I said it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Those are two very different things.”

“So, you told me about you and Lestat yesterday. And you were with Louis. Which was the better lover?”

“Shut up.”

“I haven’t been with Louis, not from lack of trying…I think...undetermined. But Lestat is like a dream in bed. One of those dreams where you wake up right before the climax of the dream.”

Armand looked up at Daniel. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I didn’t orgasm. You would think that would happen with the great Lestat, it was kind of disappointing.”

“Really? Did you feed prior?” Armand wouldn’t be surprised that Lestat only thought about himself.

“I don’t remember. Can I use your phone and use that app to invite people over. You’re bi, I’m something so we’ll all have a good time.”

“Why are you obsessed with sex?”

“Because I’m bored.”

“How does Marius put up with you?”

“You really want to know? You said you didn’t want to hear about the sexual details.”

“I don’t. Marius must have really let his standards drop.”

“I’m wounded. I do have a question though.”

“Ask.”

Armand was regretting his decision to take Daniel, but he couldn’t give him up. There was no way to explain the unexplainable.

“Why do we have to share the same bed?”

“I need to know if you try to leave. If you get outside you’ll be burned before the door even closes.”

“I’ve only done that like once.”

“Seven times in the few months you were with the London coven. Too many to count with Marius, according to him.”

“You turned me while I was ODing, we’re lucky I can tie my fucking shoe. That’s what you told me, right? I remember waking up in the drug den after the interview with Louis. I don’t remember you there, but you tell me you were, so I have to believe you. I remember going home and promising to get clean, I guess it didn’t take. What day did I die?”

“September 23^rd, 1973.”

“That’s right. I forgot.”

“You forget a lot. And just so you know you can’t, I tied your shoes because you kept tripping over them.”

“Oh.”

The only thing that Daniel can actually put his mind to do is write. Things like daily care are too hard for him to remember. It’s like starting from 1 every day with him. He remembered important things, like when, where and how. Except for the things Armand had to fix in his memory. But he would get hungry and try to eat human food, forgetting they wouldn’t nourish him. He would try and go for morning strolls. He would forget he was a vampire unless he was under constant supervision.

“Why do you keep me here?” Daniel asked like he asked every day.

“For your own good. Marius is not the benevolent vampire he makes himself out to be. He will only hurt you in the end.”

“Why can’t I remember that night with Louis?”

“You were on drugs.”

“But I remember before it. I remember after it. I had a bite on my neck. Why?”

Armand decided to do something that he was sure he was going to regret one day. He lifted the memory gift off of Daniel. Daniel’s eyes went a dull color for a moment but then brightened back up.

“What do you remember now?”

“I don’t like rat blood.”

“What? You don’t remember the night or the following days?”

“What following days?”

It had done nothing to him. Then he remembered, it hadn’t been important to remember before. He had never made another vampire. His mind gift was impotent on his fledgling. He always thought that he could fix Daniel’s instability. He had been putting it off because he had been with Louis and didn’t want Daniel to find a real immortal companion. Marius wasn’t the forever type. But Daniel would be forever in his fog.

Louis: Armand. Armand can you hear me? Vampire Armand.

Armand: Yes, Louis I’m here.

Had Louis decided to take him back and forgive him?

Louis: I don’t know where you are, but I need your help. You owe me this.

Chapter Text

Madeline had become babysitter to Daniel while everything was worked out. When Louis had reached out to Armand he was out of options. Marius refused to help, said they needed to work it out on their own. No coddling. Armand had admitted to Louis that he had taken Daniel, that Daniel needed a firm hand.

Since Louis had his own problems at the moment, he let that go. Claudia and Madeleine came to Dubai as soon as they were healed and healthy enough. Louis spent so much of the first few days looking at her, talking to her. It was like a dream he never wanted to wake up from.

After Armand left, he must have lifted whatever he had done to change Louis’s memories because now he remembered everything. There was still some unanswered questions, but he didn’t need to know all the answers right now.

Claudia and Madeleine had been in Dubai for two days when Lestat woke up. Then the price of bringing Claudia back and maturing her body was made clear. Lestat, a powerful, 262-year-old vampire in the body of a 34-year-old man now had the mind of a 14-year-old boy.

Madeleine  had taken to teaching him English, she was the best French speaker. Louis tried to speak it very little after Lestat. Lestat, even with the mind of a 14-year-old was an astute pupil. All this was needed because 14-year-old Lestat was in middle of being beaten and starved for 4 years in his mind. His fear of his father was still very great. He didn’t know English to begin with, but the abuse caused him to lose things he already knew. Now he was already fluent in English, although much like he told him before, he didn’t care for the way it felt on his tongue.

While Madeleine  and Lestat were actually getting along, Claudia didn’t trust him. She suspected he was faking it. Louis knew he wasn’t, Lestat was too narcissistic to be able to keep the lie up this long. He would have shown his hand by now. Claudia also didn’t like the bond that was growing between her companion and her maker. Louis thought it was a little creepy but understood Lestat had mommy issues. So, he had made Madeleine  his stand in mother.

But since Armand and Daniel showed up, Madeleine  had taken to making sure Daniel didn’t hurt himself. Jealous Lestat did what Jealous Lestat did best, he threw a world class fit.

“I need to be alone with Lestat,” Armand said, coming into the reading room where Louis had been.

“He doesn’t want to be alone with you. You scare him,” Louis said, not looking at him.

“There’s too many distractions with others around. There’s no way I can find his adult self in his mind with distractions.”

“Do you even know why his 14-year-old self is here and not his 262-year-old self? Is it some price to pay for what he did for Claudia?”

“Yes and no. All he did was provide the blood that was needed to mix with Marius’s to bring her and Madeleine  back. There was worry it wouldn’t work on Madeleine , but you are her maker, and he is yours. This is all mental. He’s scared to come back so he’s hiding somewhere in the dregs of his mind. The only one brave enough to come stop hiding is him when he was 14.”

“Why?”

“My guess is the unknown is much less scary than where he was.”

“He was scared when Magnus turned him. Why didn’t that Lestat surface?”

“He had already resigned himself to death. As soon as he was first thrown in, he thought he was going to die. Teenage Lestat still believed in the good of people. Still had fantasies that his mother would pack up and they both would sneak out and run away. They would do all the things she filled his head with.”

“He doesn’t like drinking blood. He’s temperamental.”

“He was temperamental before,” Armand snapped lightly. Armand had that way about him, he didn’t have to raise his voice to intimidate.

“But his mind is of a teenager. We’re just lucky he doesn’t have the hormones of one. We would be putting out fires every day.”

“Claudia must be enjoying this.”

“You don’t know her at all if you think she enjoys any of this. She doesn’t want him here; she doesn’t want him near me.”

“Something we both share.”

“I didn’t ask you to come for any other reason than to help us. I didn’t know anyone else that had a chance in hell on doing this after Marius turned us down.”

“My maker is a logical vampire, not one known for bouts of good will. Are you going to get back with him…after everything?”

“I don’t think you have a leg to stand on there. And no, I’m not. I’ve been lied to and used by men for over 100 years; I’m going to be with just myself for a while. Claudia and Madeleine are moving in permanently when Lestat is better and leaves.”

“I still need to be alone with him.”

“And I can’t trust you with him.”

“Either you want me to fix him or not, I can’t do it with others around.”

“Fine but you scare him, you need to be nice. He can feel your anger.”

“I will not coddle the worst vampire that walked the Earth.”

Louis knew it was useless to argue, he didn’t want to work Armand up before he went to help Lestat. He stood up from where he had his feet in the rocks.

“Follow me.”

He led Armand into his bedroom, what used to be theirs. It’s where he had been letting Lestat stay. He had gone on and on about how pretty everything was. How when he grows up he wants pretty things too.

In the bedroom, Lestat had…made a pillow fort.

“Oh for crying out loud. He’s got to be fucking with us. This is something an 8-year-old would do,” Armand said.

“Where did you learn how to make a fort?” Louis asked the pillow fort.

A sheet was moved and Lestat peaked out. “Daniel told me about things he did. I never had a fort before.”

“Can you come out? Armand is going to help you remember everything.”

The sheet shut back and Lestat was back inside it.

“No. He thinks mean things.”

“What mean things?” Louis asked.

Louis was shocked because since he arrived Armand had blocked everyone from his mind. But besides Armand, Lestat was the strongest vampire in the penthouse. Lestat was probably reading him without even trying.

“It was about Daniel, it has nothing to do with this,” Armand said.

“What about Daniel?” Louis asked.

“He’s not your concern. He’s my fledgling.” Armand gave him the look. The look that promised 1000 years of raining fire. Lestat called him a gremlin; he did have that way about him.

Turning back towards the pillow fort, Louis leaned down, pulling the sheet out of the way. Lestat was inside but he didn’t look scared like he had been a moment ago. Now he looked like he was posturing. It was a look Louis was used to from the vampire. He did it when he wanted people to think he was sure of something that he wasn’t.

“I can tell you want he’s thinking about Daniel,” Lestat said, his voice sounding less boyish than it did a moment ago.

“Is he going to hurt him?” Lestat shook his head. “Then it’s really not my business or yours. I’m going to leave the room and you’re going to let Armand in your fort. He’s going to make you better.”

“Because I’m bad?”

“You’re not bad.”

“Father said I was bad. I was never going to be a man. He said men don’t act like me, only girls.”

“Well, he’s not here. Only people who want to help you.”

“Armand doesn’t want to help me. He wants me to catch on fire. He dreams about it; his dreams are so loud.”

Armand had only gotten there earlier that day. How had Lestat known any of that?

“Why do you think that?”

“Because he’s showing me right now. He’s in my head. He wants you to know he’s there. He’s saying not to stop what is about to happen.”

Louis moved and got up, looking at Armand. He was in a trance; he had breached Lestat’s mind. Louis couldn’t do anything or risk forever injuring Lestat’s mind, Armand had been clear. Once the foraging started it cannot be stopped.

“Just relax and let him heal you,” Louis said before leaving the room quickly. He couldn’t be there while this was going to happen. Armand had also said that Lestat would cry out and beg for help. There was no way he’d be able to hear that and not do anything.

Chapter Text

There was one thing his father taught him. What someone looked like when they wanted to cause pain. And that’s what Armand planned, Lestat could see it in his head when the pretty man arrived. Boys weren’t supposed to be pretty; he’d been told enough. Pretty boys were useless. While he thought Armand was pretty, he thought Louis was beautiful.

When Armand arrived here, he had told Lestat to tell Louis not to interrupt but he wouldn’t say what he didn’t want interrupted. After that, Lestat started running, he needed to get away. But nowhere he ran could he get away from him. Running down the hills, through the waters, even through fields full of crops to get away from him. Nothing was good enough though, he was always behind him, walking slowly but always keeping stride with Lestat. How was that possible? Lestat was running as fast as he could.

“Running is pointless,” Armand said but not out loud, it was in his head.

“Go away,” Lestat shouted out loud but never stopped running. He could feel his feet bleeding, exhaustion in his legs but he wouldn’t be taken. The pretty man was the devil, only the devil would hunt people.

There were others around, but they didn’t speak. A man that looked very much like him if he were older with bites all over his neck, he was trapped in a tower, he didn’t speak but he did scream. The man was waiting for death; he would be no help. Then there was the bleeding man, blood pouring from his neck. He looked like he was trying to speak but nothing would come out. Lestat could feel the betrayal rolling off of him.

“I will not harm you,” Armand said, his voice gentler than before.

Lestat stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at him.

“A wolf cannot change its nature,” he said, hoping he didn’t sound weak.

“And I’m the wolf?”

“You aren’t the lamb you pretend to be.” Lestat thought about fire, and it appeared in his hand. “Stay away from me.”

“Do you want to be trapped here forever…with him?”

Armand was pointing behind Lestat, but he was scared to turn and see. There were so many dangers around. What could be worse? But curiosity made him turn around.

Standing in a tree line was a man…was it a man? Old and frail and very much on fire. But his eyes were easy to see, there was something in them he had seen quite a lot. There are things he may not know, but because of what his mother called, the need, he knew some men thought dark thoughts seeing him. In the monastery, he used it to his advantage. Maybe that was wrong but on whose part?

“Who is that?” he asked.

“That is Magnus, your maker.”

“Don’t let him take me.”

“Now you want my help. Now you need me?”

“Please, I’ll do anything you want. I don’t want to go with him.” Lestat fell to the man’s feet.

“You have nothing I want.”

“That’s not true is it, Armand?” Lestat looked around to see who said that.

He found the speaker. Tall, blond, and incredibly beautiful.

“I was wondering when you would come out to play,” Armand said, talking to the blond man. “Hiding like a mouse has never been your style, I was starting to wonder why.”

“Let the boy go,” the blond man said.

“I can’t. I let him go and you go back into hiding.”

“Maître…oh wait, that’s not you anymore is it? Not only lost a coven, lost the man you’ve been lying to for 77 years. How’d that work out for you?”

“It was working fine until this plan of yours. Louis was happy with me.”

“He was content but only because anytime he wasn’t you would wipe those memories away. I may have been a bastard but I was an honest bastard.”

“You lied to him about so many things.”

“Things that weren’t important. You lied to him about who he was, what happened to his daughter and your part in it. How is that good?”

“You were the one that traveled an ocean away to kill her.”

“Never. She was my progeny and my enemy but I never wanted her dead. Not even when she wished it on me.”

“But you chose Louis, why?”

“Save her for her to throw herself in a fire in twenty years or save Louis. I made the only choice I could. He may hate me but he’s alive.”

Lestat didn’t like either man, they looked like they were going to hurt each other. He started to step away before, suddenly Armand was in front of him again, holding up his hand.

“Rest,” Armand said and everything went black.

Lestat looked at his childhood self and the glazed expression on his face.

“Was that necessary?” Lestat asked.

“He had served his purpose. Much like you.”

“Does Daniel know you’re the one that fed him the drugs that he overdosed on? Does he know that you did it so when you turned him he would be forever in that fog and reliant on you. You knew Louis doesn’t need you and would figure it out sooner or later. You made Daniel for yourself. And people call me clingy.”

“You made Louis for yourself.”

“I didn’t alter his mind before I did it. I wanted a companion, a partner, an equal. You wanted a pet, but you didn’t want him to run away, so you cut off one of his legs.”

“Lies.”

The scene around them changed, now they were in 1132 Rue Royale, the only home he really ever had. There were shadows dancing on the walls, the people just out of sight. One him, one Louis and one Claudia.

“Why are you here, in my home?”

“You killed your family,” Armand said, turning his back on the shadows.

“No, I-I saved them.” It took almost a century for Claudia, but he had done it, he was sure of it.

“You didn’t save Claudia, you brought her back, big difference. Can you imagine what kind of horrible death she had?”

“Stop.”

“Killed by her maker.”

“Stop.”

“Killed by her father.”

“Stop.”

“Killed by her –

Before Armand could finish what he was going to say, Lestat threw him into the wall. No longer was he ignorant to his powers. He didn’t have to be stronger than Armand, he just had to be smarter. A lesson he learned from Claudia.

Louis was in the reading room again when Claudia came rushing in.

“Something is very wrong. You have to do something.” She then turned and ran back out of the room, him on her heels.

It was his bedroom she led him. Inside was what could only be described as weird.

Armand was no longer on his feet in a trance where he had been standing. Now it looked like he had been thrown into the wall. Lestat was no longer in the pillow fort; he was standing with his hand out and fire in palm. Both men were still wherever they were in Lestat’s mind, but it seemed to be playing out here.

“We can’t do anything, Armand had said it would damage Lestat.”

“Armand, the same Armand that put us on trial. The same one who master planned my death?”

“I didn’t think you’d be worried about Lestat.”

“Worried? No, he can take care of himself. But if I have to choose between them I’ll take Lestat. At least he was honest in his cruelty. I never had to read behind the lines and work out what was going on in his fucked-up head. With Lestat you get what you see, can the same be said for Armand?” She paused. “Look.”

Louis turned and saw the fire in Lestat’s palm extinguished. By the wall Armand’s eyes cleared and he looked at them.

“So?” Louis asked.

“Ask him yourself.”

“Mon Cher,” Louis heard from behind him. It had been so long since he heard those words from him.

Turning, he locked eyes with him. “Lestat.”  

Chapter Text

As soon as Lestat’s mind was restored, Armand took Daniel and left. There was nothing of his old life left. It wouldn’t be the first time he had to start over fresh, but it would be the first time he had no plan at all. Even when Lestat chased his coven above ground, he still knew who he was. Lestat didn’t leave him alone after that either, wanting to seduce him so he could learn everything Magnus should have taught him.

Did Lestat break his heart? Not really, but he did break his trust. Something he thought was impossible for him to have. Lestat was too charismatic, it fooled him. Made him think it was sincere. He didn’t make that mistake with Louis and he wouldn’t make it with Daniel. The only problem was with Daniel he had the disadvantage of not being able to read him or take out the memories that make him sad. All Armand has ever done was try to make things better. Better for Marius, better for Lestat and better for Louis. They all left him, and he wasn’t going to let that happen again.

He found Daniel sitting by the window, the protective glaze protecting him.

“Have you eaten?” Armand asked.

“Not hungry.”

Something that he had only put together when Madeleine brought it up, this wasn’t a part of Daniel’s forgetfulness. Because of the drugs in his system at his time of death. How can you want food or blood if the drugs have ruined your appetite.

He had thought it was because Daniel kept forgetting he was a vampire and trying to eat human food. But that wasn’t it at all, there was just no appetite in his fledgling. But the forgetfulness and trying to walk in the sun he found out was true. It wasn’t like Daniel would go totally blank on being a vampire. It was more like in his state of confusion he would think he was fast enough to do these things.

“I don’t care if you’re hungry or not, you’re going to eat.”

Lestat: Armand. Are you there, Armand?

It had been a few days since he got Daniel back home. He hadn’t heard from anyone. Not a surprise, he was still persona non grata unless he was useful.

Lestat: You are not too far away not to hear me. I do not like having debts. For this reason and because Louis wants it, Pandora will be with you in days’ time.

Armand: NO!

Lestat: She is even more skilled than you with the mind gift. She can bring your fledgling out of his fog.

Armand: I said no.

Louis: I’m going to assume it is Lestat you are telling no. I have spoken to Marius; he has decided that Pandora will help Daniel. This is not your decision anymore.

For Louis to know it was Lestat that he was talking to had to mean they were still together. It wasn’t like he could hear Lestat.

Armand: Daniel is not Marius’s property.

Claudia: He’s not yours either.

Armand grabbed Daniel by his neck and bit down, causing his fledgling to tense for a moment before melting against him with a moan escaping his lips. After he was done drinking, he lowered Daniel to the ground.

Armand: Pandora will not be allowed to be near him. Marius will not be allowed near him. None of you so-called saviors will be allowed near him.

Claudia: Only one so called savior here, Maître.

She really was Lestat’s. There was nothing empathetic in her at all. Cold and uncontrollable.

Louis: We should ask Daniel. Daniel can you hear us?

Looking down at Daniel on the floor, eyes glazed over more than before, he knew Daniel would not be speaking to them.

Armand: He is not going to answer you. He doesn’t trust you.

Louis: Only one person weaves their own wants and desires into other vampires’ heads, and it is not us. Humans, it can be accepted but your brethren, that’s a new kind of low.

Armand shut them all out, he didn’t need to hear from them. Not one of them should be able to sit in judgement of him. He did what the Great Laws demanded. His coven was coming apart at the seams, there had been no other choice.

Daniel hadn’t moved and it was starting to worry him. He must have drunk too much. So doing something he hadn’t done since he turned Daniel, he bit his wrist and put it to Daniel’s lips.

It only took a moment before Daniel reacted but when he did he latched on like a newborn foal. Drinking until he was sated, Daniel finally let go with some encouragement from Armand.

This time when he looked at Daniel’s eyes, they were clear. Not just clear from getting blood in him, his eyes were clearer than they had ever been. There was no cloudy irises like he had since he was turned. They are sharp, sharp enough to match his wit, something even confusion hadn’t taken away from him.

Daniel looked around the room and then his eyes landed on Armand.

“You motherfucker.” Armand didn’t say anything, he wanted to see what the boy would do next. “How long?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean?”

“How long have I been this,” he said, waving a hand over his body.

“You’ve been an insolent boy since the day I met you.”

“Polynesian Mary’s.”

Armand couldn’t help it, he was impressed. He had to remove the fake memories from Louis for him to remember. But somehow, Daniel remembered without any help, not that he could.

“So, you remember it.”

“I remember everything. It was like I was watching someone else live in my body, sometimes I could get control but mostly it was just…autopilot.”

“You had overdosed; I saved you.”

“Leaving a part out, I see. You’re the one that gave me the drugs. Stayed with me, knowing that I would use all I wanted. Knew that my body couldn’t handle it. Knew that when you did turn me, I would be a barbie doll.”

“How do you remember all that, you were passed out for most of it?”

“Like I said, it was like I was watching my body in a play. You turned me and didn’t even keep me. You gave me away.”

“I knew you needed help. I couldn’t leave you on your own.”

“You tried to kill me before. In your jealous rage you tortured me for six days.”

“You really do remember it all?” The altered memories that Armand put in his brain were nowhere in sight.

“Not all of it. I remember waking up after my head went into a wall.”

“I had just saved you, sometimes I forget my strength.”

“No, you just didn’t care about the stupid human boy that followed a stranger to his apartment for the promise of drugs.”

“It is a miracle you hadn’t been killed before. You were just asking to be used, abused and killed with that lack of self-preservation.”

“Wait…I wrote a book like that. How?”

“I don’t know, it was like being a journalist was the only thing you thought about, even with the fog.”

“Louis. Louis and his super peptalk.”

Daniel started stripping his clothes. He did this a lot, but it was always in a fog. He would demand sex, but Armand couldn’t do it, he couldn’t have sex with him while he was so disoriented.

“What are you doing?” Armand asked.

Daniel lunged at him, grabbing him and forcing a kiss. There was no way that Armand was going to let Daniel have control here. He had allowed it with Louis, even had wanted to give up control there. But there was no way his fledgling was going to control anything in the bedroom or outside of it.

Armand pushed back, putting Daniel’s back to the wall. Taking control of the kiss. When Daniel started trying to remove Armand’s clothes, he stepped back out of Daniel’s reach.

“No.”

“No?” Daniel asked.

“You didn’t earn that.”

“What do you mean?”

“You, boy, need to earn my affection.”

“I’m not asking for your affection, just a fuck.”

“And until you earn one, you will not get either.”

Armand didn’t need to be able to read Daniel’s mind. His eyes were too expressive. He was weighing his options, trying to figure out if it was really worth it. Finally, he seemed to come to a decision.

“How?”

“Tell them, all of them that you do not need help. Tell them that you want to be here with me.”

“I’m not great with talking like this without Marius’s help.”

Anger shot through Armand at the mere mention of his maker’s name.

“And you will not speak his name or any other man you have had sex with. Do you understand, Boy?”

“Yes.” Daniel looked angry but didn’t fight it.

“Say yes, Maître.”

Daniel bit his lip, and a drop of blood spilled before he spoke again. “Yes, Maître.”

Eleven hours later, Armand gave Daniel his first reward for submission. Reward and punishment. Orgasm denial. He didn’t even have to do anything to him. He just didn’t feed him before he took Daniel into his hand.

Sadly, after that, the mask came back, and the confused fog set back in. But Armand had gotten his answers on how to keep Daniel and have him bend to his will. Armand’s blood had cleared his mind for almost half a day. Armand could control Daniel’s fog, and that was all that mattered.