Changing Fortunes

Part 15

At first it was good.

Very good.

Cam was instantly swept away as he was carried high on the crest of Balint's euphoria that was more intoxicating than the best drug and more satisfying than the best sex.

But only for a moment.

The wave of ecstasy abruptly became a tide of agony that pulled Cam into its undertow; causing him to nearly drown in Balint's pain before he was assaulted with a blast of pure animal need and devastating starvation.

From both Balint and Angelo.

Almost instinctively, Cam threw up his shielding and tried to ignore Angelo's hot, hungry eyes that were burning a hole in his neck. But he could not ignore his partner's tight, drawn face.

Balint glared at Cam and must have said something because Weasel told him, "Take a breath Balint, Cam can't hear you if you don't."

Balint gave Weasel a look of disbelief but took a deep breath anyway. "You just had to follow me, didn't you, Cameron," he said with quiet anger. "If you want me to kill you so badly, come closer."

"Shhh," Angelo soothed, his arms encircling Balint. "Don't worry about him, sweet one."

"This is almost as bad as Maturity," Balint snapped at Angelo, his entire body shaking from the rapid changes it was going through.

Angelo held the trembling Balint in his arms. "I never said it was easy, love. Or painless."

He comforted Balint, stroking his hair and kissing away the tears of Balint's torment. Then after a while, Angelo released him. "I need to juice for the both of us. It'll be the last time you have to do it through me."

Angelo turned to Weasel. "Keep him away from the Breather, I don't want Balint getting sick on his blood."

Weasel nodded. "Done. Now you better get something in you before you go feral, Angel Boy."

"Now don't you do anything stupid while I'm gone, you idiot," Angelo warned Cam before he took off so quickly that Cam wasn't even aware of it until he saw that Angelo wasn't there.

Balint let out a grunt, his face contorting in gut wrenching pain. Then he was staring at Cam but he had the uneasy feeling that his partner wasn't really seeing him because those hazel eyes were looking through him, glazed with a lust that had nothing to do with sex, his tongue running over his lips hungrily. As if he was under a spell, he slowly moved towards Cam….

Only for Weasel to seize Cam and pull him out of Balint's way before letting him go. "He's fixed on you," he whispered in Cam's ear even though Cam was damned sure Balint could probably hear him.

"Which means what?" Cam whispered back.

"His blood is locked onto yours, sort of the same way a missile locks onto its target. And kind of like how you track your prey," Weasel explained.

Oh. Cam hadn't even realized he was doing that, but now that he thought about it, he knew that Weasel was right. No wonder Sangsue made such great hunters.

"So what are you saying, he's hunting me?"

"Balint isn't in control of himself, the craving is and Angelo's blood cells are decimating his; changing his blood cells into something completely different. The craving is driving Balint into a frenzy but the proteins haven't fully developed yet so if Balint juices up for himself, it'll make him just as sick as it did before Angelo Sired him. Angelo went to juice up again so he could mama-bird Balint for his first meal."

Mama-bird?

Now that Cam thought about it, he recognized that Angelo had been acting like a mother with a newborn. Everything from when Angelo fed him to when he Changed Balint; consoling him when the agony was too much and even keeping Balint away from what wasn't good for him. And now the mother had gone to find food for the both of them.

Tears burned Cam's eyes at the realization that Angelo had shown more concern for Balint in two nights than Cam had in all the time they'd been together. No wonder Balint was drawn to the dark-eyed boy. Balint was getting something that Cam wasn't giving him. Something Cam didn't know if he was capable of giving him.

Balint seemed to snap out of it, his eyes losing their glassiness. "You don't have to protect him from me, Weasel," he said wearily.

"Who are you protecting, Baptiste?" Cam suddenly heard Radu taunt. Fuck, he'd forgotten about that arrogant bastard.

Radu stepped in front of Weasel, smirking. "Are you protecting Szabo or the mutt?"

"Both," Weasel growled.

"Perhaps the mutt needs to be protected from me," Radu murmured, drawing closer to Cam and Weasel.

Cam had enough of Radu's bullshit. He was even worse than Angelo, if that was possible. He wished he could smack the asshole upside his head but Weasel was in the way. "You can fucking have sex with me, you jerkoff but you can't even insult me directly?"

Radu sneered and muttered something Cam couldn't understand.

Apparently Balint could because he spat something back that made Radu's eyes gleam with cold amusement. Cam had never noticed Radu's eyes before. Pure yellow. They had no whites at all.

"Perhaps you want to translate for your vache lover," Radu mocked.

"Perhaps you want to shut your filthy odogi mouth," Balint snarled.

"That's fucking enough!" Angelo said angrily, appearing out of nowhere and taking Balint into his arms. "Gone a few minutes and what happens? You get into a dominance fight!"

Balint glowered at Radu. "He started it."

A dominance fight? Radu was threatened by Balint, Cam realized. The idea amused the hell out of him.

Angelo's eyes glowed fluorescent red. "Keep the fuck away from my pigeon," he hissed at Radu through fully exposed fangs.

Radu snorted. "Spare me the misplaced chivalry, Sangsue. "

Sangsue? Cam was quickly getting the feeling that Radu was not Sangsue. His eyes looked different. He didn't quite feel the same. The pull was there but it was not the same… but yet it was the same. He glowered at Radu. "What the fuck are you, you yellow eyed freak?" Cam demanded.

"Odogi," Balint answered in disgust. " Pureblood. Ionescu. A Shifter. Distant relative of Sangsue."

And an obvious enemy.

But for some reason, not to Angelo, whose hand was now pushing Balint's head down to his throat.

Cam didn't want to but he couldn't help but watch in complete fascination and mortification as his partner drank Angelo's blood.

"Get used to it," Weasel told Cam, "he's gonna have to do this every night."

Cam knew Weasel didn't mean with Angelo. "How much will Balint need?"

"That'll depend on Balint. Besides," Weasel's lips quirked into a wicked smile, "need is one thing. Want is something else."

Cam remembered all of those bodies and shuddered. "The three of you killed all of those Black Guards?"

Weasel laughed at the look on Cam's face. "That's want, Cam." Then he snickered. "You can tell which ones Radu killed."

"Oh?" Cam didn't really want to know but he also didn't want it to look like he was backing away from this obvious challenge Weasel was throwing at him. "How?"

"He left more than he usually does."

Oh yeah, Weasel was definitely challenging him. Another fucking head game.

And Balint must have finished because he was raising his head and Angelo was licking his lips clean….

Radu grumbled, "Such a bloody waste. Angelo thought leaving several half eaten kills would up the ante more than if I ate just one vache and left nothing over. At least he helped with one of them."

That was right. Angelo had mentioned that Radu preferred flesh. Cam felt his gorge rise. "And how about you, Weasel? Did you 'help?'"

"You're judging again, Cameron." Weasel warned. "Don't."

Angelo and Balint were now kissing hungrily, grinding into each other….

Radu moved closer, his breath growing heavier, watching them with voyeuristic excitement. But jealousy momentarily flickered across Radu's ferally pretty features before he managed to squelch it.

He wasn't the only one. "Doesn't it bother you, Weasel? Your lover is practically fucking mine through his clothes and what is Radu to Angelo? How can you put up with the fact that the same boy who is fucking around with Angelo is hanging out with you?"

"Angelo needs to bind Balint to him and sex cements that bond. They're not gonna Share pleasure now but we will by the end of the night. Whether or not you stick around for it is entirely up to you but when I said that blood gets us hot and bothered I wasn't joking, Cam.

"And as for Radu," Weasel sighed, "he and I have an unspoken agreement. I tolerate that Angelo goes there when he wants an escape and gives in to his more feral nature. In return, Radu tolerates the fact that I get the rest of Angelo. We tolerate each other and Share kills and pleasure once in a while. Usually with Angelo but not always."

Cam understood what Weasel was really saying: Balint would be Sharing as well and would never just be Cam's again. With all the sleeping around Cam did, he supposed it was karmic justice but he hated it. Hated the whole thing with a passion that burned like boiling acid.

This was a test, Cam suddenly realized. Balint was testing him. They all were. Even Radu.

This is what we are. Can you handle it, vache?

Well could he? Cam honestly didn't know.

No, that was a lie, he did know.

None of that shit really mattered. It didn't mean Cam was comfortable with what Balint was. It didn't mean that Cam wasn't still pissed that the Gypsy hadn't been entirely truthful with him up until now. It didn't mean he was thrilled about the fact that Balint would be connected to Angelo in a way that Cam would never be.

Not in the fucking slightest. But the thought of being without Balint made Cam feel emptier than any dislike he had for the world that the four boys were forcibly immersing him in.

Yeah. As long as Balint was with him, Cam could handle anything they could dish out.

Angelo and Balint suddenly broke apart and to Cam's shock, Balint ran over to Cam hugging him tightly. Cam couldn't help but notice that his partner's body had grown a lot colder. Not quite as icy as Weasel and Angelo but Cam knew it was only a matter of time. "You're still here," Balint remarked in amazement.

"Did you really think I wouldn't be?"

"I wasn't sure," Balint admitted.

"You should know I don't give up that easy," Cam grinned. "Especially when it comes to something I want."

"Or someone?" Balint asked so quietly Cam almost didn't hear him.

"Definitely someone," Cam affirmed, answering the question Balint wouldn't ask him.

Balint pressed against him and Cam felt both want and need. He kissed Balint, reclaiming him, tasting Angelo's blood on his lips but at this point Cam didn't care. Balint still wanted him. That was all he cared about.

Cam's tongue slipped into Balint's mouth showing his acceptance and lack of fear. He purposely probed for what he knew he'd find and saw that they were retractable.

Only they weren't retracting now and Balint broke the kiss. "Baby, we better stop."

Cam recalled what Balint had said about Angelo's blood being absorbed too fast. "You're getting … hungry again?" It was the first time he'd really thought about how Balint felt.

The first time he was truly concerned with anyone other than himself.

Balint nodded. "It'll pass, it's not like before but if we take this any farther the craving will get stronger."

Cam stared at him. "You mean sex makes you hungry?"

Balint nodded again.

"So what happens, " Cam asked bitterly, "We can't…"

"Cammie," Balint said softly, cutting Cam off, "what do you think I've been doing for the past three years?"

Cam understood. If Balint could control himself then, he could definitely do it now.

Radu glared at them, his eyes glinting with impatience. "As touching as this scene is, I'll take my leave of all of you now. After all, I've gotten what I've come for. And who." Radu stalked over to Angelo, his fingers lightly brushing Angelo's crotch. "Until we meet again." He kissed Angelo's mouth hard.

Angelo grabbed his fingers, kissing them. "Indeed."

Then Radu turned to Weasel. "It's always a pleasure, Jacques."

"That's one word for it, Radu," Weasel said with amusement at the Shifter's obvious irritation at Cam and Balint's display of affection.

An animal had no use for anything but food and sex. The concept of love was worthless to it.

Radu stood before Balint, meeting his gaze. "We're not done, Szabo."

Balint gave a slight nod of acknowledgment but didn't flinch.

"I look forward to it." Radu kissed Balint on both cheeks but Cam had the feeling that it was a kiss of death.

Then he left so fast that Cam only caught a flash of black.

If Cam didn't know better, he'd say that it was fur.

Shifter. Shape shifter. Of course. It all fit. Cam could have kicked himself for being so stupid.

Angelo suddenly froze, becoming almost deathly still. "Do you hear them yet, kaloz mou?" he asked Weasel.

"No, your hearing is sharper than mine," Weasel replied. "What is it?"

"Apparently Sarin is done playing around and is sending in the big guns." Angelo smiled ferally, his voice turning into a sing-song, "I'm gonna get to play."

"I hear them now," Weasel murmured, "and they're headed right for us."

"Well the timing couldn't be better," Angelo remarked. "Wouldn't you agree, Balint?"

The timing was perfect. Too fucking perfect. Cam came to the eerie realization that Angelo had purposely set this trap and was now waiting….

Waiting for the chance for Angelo and his newborn to feast upon the men that were coming to kill them.

<< Chapter 14 Chapter 16 >>

Last updated 2/13/03

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