The Wolf and the Unicorn

Antigone unlocked the three locks that secured the front door and stepped into the vestibule of her home, securing them again behind her once she was in. Built before the turn of the century on what was then the outskirts of Central Park, with ten-foot ceilings and leaded glass windows, it was a comfortable retreat from the world. She walked to the interior door, unlocked and opened that as well, and stopped with a smile to take in the scene before her eyes.





Sprawled on one of the couches, wearing a new pair of jeans and a grey t-shirt, Beckett was reading one of her books and was very obviously lost in concentration. After a moment, he realized she was standing there and looked up, marking his place with a bookmark and closing the book. “You have pieces of the Cycle of Lilith,” he said, grinning widely at her. “And some of the other books here are ones I’ve only heard about.”





She crossed the room and sat on the opposite couch, kicking off her sneakers. “The Lilith pieces, as I’m sure you can tell, are copies. Actually, a lot of what I have here are copies that I’ve made from works borrowed from others.”





“I noticed that. I’d love to know your sources. I think I’m jealous,” he smirked with a nod in the direction of one of the bookshelves.





“Most of the Kindred pieces I have are copies I made from books in my friend Viktor’s library. He’d never let the originals leave, not even if I were the one borrowing them, and to say he’s selective in who he’s willing to deal with is an understatement.”





“Viktor?” He mentally reviewed the roster of Noddist scholars he knew of, and could only come up with one possibility. “Viktor Ilanovich?”





She nodded with a bright smile. “The brother I should have had. Do you know him?”





Beckett shook his head, “No, only by reputation. You have some interesting associates, woman.”





She threw her head back, laughing. “I’m assuming you’re including yourself in that category as well, then?”





He smirked and mimed throwing the book at her, “Of course not. So how in the world did you manage to befriend him and earn his trust enough to have access to his library?”





Antigone sighed and stretched. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The Tzimisce have just as much cause to hate the Tremere as the Salubri; he and his sire sheltered me for years.” She closed her eyes, evidently lost in memory. “Uskanova was very kind to me, and treated me with the same respect and accord as she did her childe. I miss her.”





Beckett looked at her and started as he noticed faint traces of blood near the corners of her eyes and on her cheeks. “You’ve been crying. What’s wrong?”





“What?” She was caught off guard. “No, everything’s fine.” The lie came harder to her than she’d thought it would.





“Are you sure?” He got up and moved over to the couch where she was sitting.





He speech faltered and she bit her lip, a spot of dark blood welling up. “It’s nothing to worry yourself about. I’ll be fine,” she said.





He brushed a kiss on her cheek. “Alright, if you say so.” He pulled her close and held her to him, and that was when her self control finally broke. She wrapped her arms around him tightly as if clinging to him for life, her body shaking with silent sobbing. Beckett held her and stroked her hair until she regained her composure and sat back up, wiping blood-tears away.





“Maybe it is something to worry about, hmm?” He brushed a tear away and kissed her again. “Want to talk about it?”





Antigone released a shuddering sigh and nodded. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, though.”





He barked a laugh. “I’ve hung around with a Malkavian for a long time; crazy is a relative term.”





She laughed despite her tears. “I suppose so. Well…it’s just that there is so damned much despair and pain and sickness and evil in this world, and there is so little I can do about it. No matter how many people I help or heal, there are more, so many more.” Her voice broke and she sobbed again.





Beckett raised an eyebrow. “Now that’s a sentiment I never thought to hear from a vampire’s lips.”





“I told you that you’d think I was crazy.” She hid her face behind her hands, rubbing her weary eyes.





He leaned over and gently took her hands away from her face, taking one in each of his, and met her gaze squarely. “I don’t think you’re crazy, Antigone. I’m not sure I understand you, or why you feel the way you do, but if it’s a form of insanity, a lot more of us could do with catching it.”





“You’ve heard of Golconda, I assume?” she asked.





He nodded. “I’m not sure that I believe it’s real, but I know what it is.”





She smiled sadly. “Oh, it’s real, all right. I’ve met three of our kind in all my years who’ve reached it; two were of my Clan, the third Brujah. I’ve been struggling along the path myself for a long, long time, and there are nights when it’s a harder road to walk than I ever imagined. I may never get there, but I just can’t give up trying. It’s become part of who I am.”





Beckett reached for her and took her in his arms again. “You are the most unusual vampire I’ve ever met,” he chuckled softly, “and I don’t mean that in a bad way.”





She rested her cheek against his shoulder and breathed in his scent. “Thank you. I…I haven’t been able to talk about any of this to anyone for a long time. It means a lot to me.”





He held her tighter and kissed the top of her head. “Thank you for trusting me enough to talk about it. Like I said, I might not understand it, but I’ll certainly listen if you need me to.”





“Can you stay here with me again tonight?” she asked. “I’d really rather not be alone.”





He nodded. “I can stay as long as you want me to. Besides, I’ve got a score to settle with your Ba’ali friends now, so you can count me in for taking them on whenever you’re ready.”





She looked up and smiled, and Beckett felt his long-ago stilled heart skip a beat. “Thank you,” she whispered, and kissed him softly. A wave of emotion crashed over him as he deepened the kiss and cupped her breast with his hand, reveling in how she trembled at his touch. It’s the blood, it’s got to be the blood, his thoughts raced wildly. I can’t possibly be falling for her…that doesn’t happen to vampires. I can’t actually be starting to care for her, could I? He found his thoughts to be a distraction, and pushed them aside as best he could, focusing instead on the taste of her mouth on his and the softness of her body pressed against him.





Antigone whispered, “We only have an hour or so until sunrise. I’d love it if you’d just lie down with me and hold me.”





He kissed her once more and smiled. “I’d like that as well. Last night, I more or less passed out as soon as I hit the bed.”





“Me too; it was a hell of a night,” she said.





Beckett nodded and stood, helping her to her feet. She took his hand and he followed her down the hallway to the bedroom.





Antigone sat on the edge of the bed, suddenly shy. Not needing the light to see anyway, Beckett flicked off the switch and crouched before her, taking her hands in his. “Aside from last night, I haven’t trusted another Kindred enough to sleep in the same room as them for a very long time.” Despite the darkness, he saw her nod. “I never imagined I’d find one I trusted enough to want to fall asleep in her arms.” A smile so bright it could have lit the room rewarded him, and he felt a warmth that started in his chest and spread throughout his body. He leaned forward and brushed his lips across hers, and when she pulled him close and kissed him, parting her lips and flicking the tip of her tongue across his, the warmth became a wave of heat that filled him. He eased her back onto the bed and got in beside her; she pulled him to her and wound her hands through his hair as his tongue explored her mouth. Sliding his hands beneath her shirt, he thrilled to the feel of her bare skin and broke the kiss long enough to draw the shirt over her head and toss it on the floor. His shirt soon followed, and she trailed her fingers lightly in patterns over the skin of his chest, almost-tickling him and inciting further sensations he thought forever gone from him. He coaxed one breast free from the confines of her brassiere and gently, ever so gently, flicked a fingertip across the nipple, and was rewarded with her gasp of pleasured surprise.





Antigone could scarcely believe the sensations flooding her being; of course, there had been men she’d been attracted to when she was a living woman, but she’d passed from living to undead never having known a lover’s touch. She’d been promised in marriage, but before a wedding could come to pass, her world had fallen apart. With trembling hands, she reached for Beckett and brushed her fingers across his cheek. He pulled her close and kissed her again, and she reveled in the taste of his kiss and drank in his scent hungrily, burning them into her memory. Whether the emotions that gripped her were the result of drinking his blood or not, she cared little; all she knew is that she never wanted this night to end.





Beckett trailed kisses down her neck, desperately fighting the insistent urge to pierce the tender skin there with his fangs and drink deeply of her blood. He opened his eyes briefly and to his delight and wonder saw a look of pure rapture on her face, and knew that this was an image he’d carry with him forever, come what may. He kissed her lips once more and leaned back, smiling at her.





Her eyes fluttered open. “What’s wrong?”





“Nothing at all,” he replied, twining his fingers in her hair. “I just wanted to look at you.”





“It’s pitch black in here,” she said matter-of-factly. "Unless you haven't noticed."





Beckett chuckled. “I can see in the dark. Goes with the blood, same as your healing does for you.”





“Ah,” she replied. “Another trick I’d like to learn.”





He kissed her cheek with a smile. “Well, if you’re serious about wanting to learn shapeshifting, darksight is part of the Protean discipline as well, so we may be able to make that happen for you. It’s not easy to learn an Outclan discipline; I’ve done it myself, it is possible, but it does take time and work.”





She nodded. “I understand. It took me a while to learn Animalism from Uskanova, but once I got the basics, the rest came more easily.” She sighed as she felt the lassitude that came with the sunrise fill her.





Beckett kissed her once more and pulled her to him so that her head was pillowed on his chest, and wrapped his arms around her. As consciousness faded, she thought she heard him whisper, “Sleep well, love…”, and then she knew no more.