Chapter 7.5

A little musical fun

 

 Merrick emerged from the footlocker in front of him. “Hey, I found this buried in Bane’s closet. Shall we find out what it is?” he taunted before his younger brother. He waved it in front of Bane and then jaunted toward the DVD player. He popped the disc in and turned around just in time to dodge a hardback copy of Dante’s Inferno being thrown at his head.

 

Bane sat back, not daring to let them see the inner turmoil underneath as the movie filled the screen. He never should have done it. He knew it, he knew it! But that didn't change the fact that what was done was done. For some reason he could not fathom, his brother enjoyed this little Hollywood adaptation of a way of life that seemed second nature to them all.

 

Merrick grinned in triumph as the opening strains of a violin wafted from the surround sound. Truth was he loved this movie. He loved Anne Rice, but any chance to bug his little brother was a great one. He knew how Bane felt about Hollywood vampire movies. Books were one thing, but movies were quite another entirely. Books tried to look at their world from a different angle, a chance for both reader and writer to comprehend and accept a secret, hidden world, even if only for so long as between the jacket covers.

 

 Kris sat back, glass of brandy in one hand, and a sardonic smile on his face. Somehow, past all of the bullshit and betrayal between them, these guys, this trio of brothers, were more trustworthy and meant more to him than anyone in his real life had ever. It did not matter that he had been a lover of Katerina's. It did not matter that he secretly adored Devlyn either. These brothers knew not to hold a grudge against a man for sex. They were better than that. They knew if you put who a person fucked as a peg against them, the entire universe would be damned, and the only ones left were entirely too righteous to be trusted to anything.

 

The brothers shared a grin as Merrick whooped as Akasha herself swayed into the shot, surrounded by goth wannabe vampires. He had to admit that the actress was stunning, and her movements were as graceful as any queens should be, and Kris would know, having met quite a few in his time.

The movie faded to the background for them. Merrick was watching happily as Bane cringed inwardly in the corner. It was so cliche for them to watch this movie, it really was, especially for Kris.

 

Watching a distorted version of a reality he had lived... though they all knew Lestat had nothing on the likes of his beloved Ana. Beauty and cruelty blended so finely into that woman that it was difficult to tell the difference between the two. Both attracted both men and women alike to her, like moths to a flame. A flame that would surely consume them, but it felt as though that were the price one should pay to behold that kind of heat, even for the shortest about of time.

 

"I'm bored!" Merrick declared suddenly, waving a hand at the entertainment center-shutting everything down as he leapt to his feet. His attention span could vary from a staring contest that was known to last for days on end, then barely contained as he watched a movie or listened to the radio. He had patience when it counted. Or at least when it could piss someone off or come in handy. But he preferred to save it, for when it was needed, rather than waste it on something mundane, like television.  "Come on let’s find some trouble to cause on these mortals!"

 

 "Oh bloody hell," Kris cursed under his breath. Merrick may have been the closest thing to friend he had on this whole earth but that still didn't make the trouble he got them into any less...well, troubling. Thing usually ended with them having to sneak out of jail, or worse.

 

"And what did you have in mind?" Bane drawled slowly uncurling himself out of his black leather chair.

Merrick's wicked smile would have gotten him molested by nuns was all Kris had time to think before everything blinked out.

 

 "Holy evolutionary F**k!" Kris yelled. "Warn me before you did that s**t, ya hear?"

 

Merrick tossed his head back and roared with mirth. "Sorry I forget,” he replied with a noncommittal shrug of his shoulders.  “Well lads what think you?"

 

 Kris looked around and barely managed to keep his jaw hinged. It took an extraordinary amount of balls to brazenly walk into this bar. Temptation was owned by Devlyn and Katia, and it was well-known in their world that Merrick and the Muse had not spoken in centuries. Damn. This was not just asking for trouble, this was poking it with a stick. A very big, pointy stick.

 

It was difficult to describe just what kind of bar Temptation was. You could find just about any kind of person in there, from biker to leather-clad to redneck. The pool tables and dart boards offered competition and the possibility of a quick hustle, the juke box kept good tunes going throughout the entire building unless a band was up on stage. The place was made out of wood, both stories, with a large dance floor in the middle. The bar itself was towards the back, an island of sorts, with the sound booth behind it, allowing customers to order from three sides. There were always at least three bar tenders working at any given time after ten to accommodate the large crowds.

 

Tonight, however, the bar seemed quite a bit less crowded. There were a few people lounging around the bar, a few sitting at the tables on the second floor section, including two women whose alluring beauty could drop any man to his knees, but other than that, the place seemed almost dead.

 

Obviously, the crowd just wasn’t feeling tempted tonight, Merrick thought wryly. Well, he would just have to change that.

 

Merrick sauntered to the bar and spoke a few words to the man wiping down the bar with a white rag. The man was tall, almost as tall as Merrick, at around 6’3, with dirty blonde hair that seemed to have every shade in it, though the lighter was the strongest. He had an aura of danger around him. That was what made him such a great manager of the place, no one wanted to mess with him, much less even try to swindle him. Gabe was good like that.

 

 "What in f**k is your brother thinking?" Kris hissed at Bane. He knew Muse would be furious when she found out they had stepped foot in her bar. Each man on his own, she might have only asked them to leave…maybe. But the three of them? Thank goodness the third brother, Errie was not here too. Their only saving grace, ironically enough, would be Devlyn. She loved Merrick and adored Kris, even if Bane was not her favorite person. He doubted she would kick him out of her establishment. He wondered which of the two would have her way.    

 

Bane merely shook his head. He had no earthly clue. But either way, it was bound to be something at least mildly amusing. And guaranteed to get them laid. In a city like New Orleans, where alcohol and the salt in the air mixed with enchanting and wicked tails that led even the most chaste of woman to lose her inhibitions for the night, chances were very high.

 

 Merrick hailed one of the few humans that knew who and what he was in this realm. Well, “human” would be stretching the term a bit.  As a were, he shared both a human and animal side. Weres and gods did not typically mix, but after Gabe’s entire pack had been massacred, including his life mate Kyra, Merrick had stepped in after hearing his cry of revenge and helped him to pay back the pillagers with interest. It hadn’t been pretty, and Gabe had never really recovered, despite that it had been a few centuries. Weres lived more than ten times as long as humans did.

 

"Gabe, what's on the roster for the night? Any house bands?" Merrick asked, since the jukebox was currently playing some Johnny Cash.

 

 "Nope, nothing at all tonight. I’m not really sure what’s in the air, but I just haven’t had the same pull the last couple of nights,” he said, handing Merrick a beer.

 

 The smile that curled Merrick's lips could drop a woman's panties from a hundred yards. "Then you won’t mind if we fiddle around onstage then, eh?"

 

"Not at all. I'm afraid we don’t have a house set of instruments. You've got your own, though, I take it?"

 

Merrick smiled. "But of course. When have you ever known me to use the house instruments? I have my own set that is modified to my precise wants.”

 

 Merrick turned and gestured to the other two. They wandered over like they expected him to spring some sort of trap on them. But then again, Gabe thought, he was the god of revenge. One did not exactly know what to expect when around him, so the best idea was to always be on guard. Not that that really could help or prepare you for whatever he had planned.

 

 Gabe didn't realize he had invited a vampire and the god of the night into his bar. Had he known, he might not have been so quick to grant Merrick's request. Then again... he might have been quicker.

Merrick splayed his arms wide, showing off the glistening but quiet bar. "Well boys, it's ours for the night, let's make some noise!"

 

 Bane gave him a quirk of the brows. "Umm, older brother, might I inquire as to what we're going to use as a drummer since our little brother is missing?" On a typical outing such as this, the Brothers Three would team up together, with Bane on the bass, Merrick on the guitar, and Errie on the drums, and alternating over who sang. Death playing the drums, kick a*s though he was, was a site to see.

 

Merrick grinned and looked pointedly at Kris."Well I was thinking since Errie bailed, we could use our wonderfully multi-talented little blood-sucking buddy..."

 

Bane looked over at Kris. "Well, what do ya say?"

 

 Kris merely shook his head. "I've never confessed to being a very good musician. But I'll give it a whack,” he said before climbing up to the make-shift stage.

 

Merrick smiled smugly; it was no hidden thing that he loved music, might even be why he coveted the Muse so much, but in any case as he held his fist out to Bane there was nothing hidden beneath the surface other than  the desire to play some good music.

 

Bane pounded the offered fist, and returned the smile as they turned to the stage and turned the entire bar into something magnificent. The entire lighting of the bar changed to frame the stage better, turned the wood into a glossy, freshly-polished oak, the bar stools became new again, the entire bar was fully stocked... the entire place was transformed better than even Cinderella could have ever imagined.

 

The bar tender stood back in wild-eyed amazement as his bar was brought back to neon life. He wondered in the recesses of his mind if it would turn at midnight too. Then he recalled that it was way past twelve.

 

 Bane turned and nodded to the bar keep, dignity one moment and then wild and grinning the next. It must run in the family, he supposed, because each brother had a passion for music. It was why he loved this era, if the only reason. The music was great.

 

There was an unspoken moment between the brothers and then they raced to the stage; the stakes only known to them but Bane got there first, grabbing the mic stand and raising it over his head with a yell. Triumphantly, he held the mic in his hand.

 

"Well damn,” Merrick said. “All right little man, it's yours tonight."

 

"Why do you insist on calling me little?"

 

 "Because you'll always be my wittle baby brother!" Merrick said mockingly, taking an affectionate swing at Bane.

 

Bane swung right back. "And you will always be the one who goes bald first."

 

Merrick ducked and sat on the stage swinging his legs as he tuned a guitar that hadn't been there a moment ago. "If you would ever pay attention to the science of this world, the baldness gene comes from the mother’s side of the family. And My grandfather has a full luscious head of hair, thank you."

 

"Yes, and what a wonderful shade of gray it is."

 

"Dude, that's just wrong," Merrick sulked and then blasted a crazy riff sans amp, filling the bar and echoing out onto the street.'

 

 Bane rolled his eyes. "Show off." He then turned around to Kris who was perched on a drum kit, just waiting for Bane's signal. "You ready there, Kris?"

 

"Anytime, Bane."

 

 "Then let's get to it."

 

 "Let’s rock!" Merrick crowed, jumping to his feet and taking off.

 

With a nod of Bane's head, Kris counted off, the non-existent amp hummed as Merrick pounded the opening notes from the Fender hanging from his shoulder. Bane adjusted the bass in his hands as he crooned the opening rift along with them to an up-tempo version of "Wicked Game.”

 

Merrick leaned forward, hair hanging artfully in his eyes as he awaited the smooth richness of Bane's voice. Damn but the man could sing. They each had their own talent at music. He supposed it came from his father's side. All the brothers shared that talent. Their voices were rich but distinctive from each other. Their little sister Jinx’s voice carried as well, soft and delicate as a rose petal. But she was also half nymph. Of course she sang.

 

The timbre of his voice was thick, like a heavy elixir running down one's throat. Tonal, rich and rough at the same time. The kind of voice that would stop someone dead in their tracks and make them listen, hang on every word and hunger for more. And the longing in Bane's voice was enough to bring someone to their knees

 

 In the back of the dark bar, on the second floor balcony with a perfect view of the stage, sat two women, drinking vodka and cranberry juice. They had been pleasantly enjoying the quiet of the bar until the men had walked in.

 

“You know, Dev, hun, I think he's thinking about you...” Katerina teased.

 

“He could just as well be thinking of someone else. Or no one in particular. D****t, I liked this place until they walked in. I guess we're lucky they haven't noticed us yet.”

 

Katia smirked as she locked her gaze on the heavy lidded god of vengeance. She was fairly certain that he couldn't sense her, but Kris knew she was there. He always knew when she was near. Devlyn was fooling herself if she thought the men were unaware as to their presence. But then again, one of Devlyn's favorite pastimes was fooling herself or someone just like her.

 

“Wicked Game” closed out, as six or seven mortals drifted in, wondering at the great cover- calling and texting friends, ordering them to meet them at that one bar on Fleet St. Merrick played a few notes of “The Kill” testing the waters of his brother's mood and that of the crowd. The song was a beautiful mix of skill, full of pain and agony, two emotions that any of the brothers could put into music, most especially Merrick and Bane, both for two entirely different reasons.

 

 Devlyn sat back quietly, not sure if she could catch her breath or if she should forget the feat and let the breath run off without her as she caught the intensity of his glare. Gods, when he looked at her like that, looked up to her at the table, as though he were seeing right through her, to her inner core, it was all she could do to remember why she did not want him. Suddenly, she really couldn’t remember to save her life.

 

Merrick leaned against Bane's shoulder as he played, offering both support and giving the lady viewers quite the show as he played with an intensity that would have put most guitarists on the floor. Eddie Van Halen, Slash, Stevie Ray Vaughn, they had nothing on the electric intensity steaming out of his fingertips, and he was perfectly aware of the sensation he caused.

 

 As the song played out, Bane let Merrick take over mic duties while he sat back with his bass. He gave a sardonic smile as Merrick crooned out a wonderfully Manson rendition of “Sweet Dreams.” Most people couldn't handle lead guitar and vocals at the same time; they were a different kind of lolintense, requiring different thought processes. But both sucked the audience in and made them feel what you felt. Merrick had long ago mastered multitasking. That he was a god had little to nothing to do with it. His ease with guitar and vocals was no problem, just a natural ability.

 The song captured their life like so few songs written by mortals could. Some of them want to use you, some of them want to get used by you, some of them want to abuse you, some of them want to be abused. The most important question was figuring out which category most people fell into.

Merrick growled, even yelled- he drew the crowd that only anger can draw. He drew them in with a scream, took their rage and gave them back acceptance. Life sucked, but you had to move on anyway. Always keep moving...

 

The crowd was going wild at the impromptu band of musicians. Little did they know that the energy from the crowd only surged the gods’ powers, including the two that were sitting quietly in the corner. “Shall we go dance with the crowd, Dev?” Katerina asked slyly.

Devlyn shook her head. “I’m not quite sure.”

 

“Oh, come on. They already know we’re here. They feel us. All of them do. We have a special bond with them. No amount of shielding is going to penetrate that. I don’t know if they are playing for us or not, but the point is they’re damn good, Dev. Let’s enjoy it.”

 

Devlyn shivered as the music filled her ears, filled her body. If he could do this to her with just his voice… she got up from the table and followed both Katerina and that voice through the crowd towards the front so that she could get a better view. The acoustics were better here too, she reasoned with herself, unwilling to admit that he had her mesmerized.

 

Once at the front, her gaze followed his fingers on the bass, as he strummed his long fingers graceful yet swiftly, fast as lighting, it seemed. Those fingers…she imagined how they would feel as they caressed across her silky skin. The song closed to an end, with a long rift from Merrick on guitar that had the crowd going wild.

 

“I hope you don’t mind, but we’re going to slow it down for a bit here,” Bane said into the microphone while switching instruments with Merrick. The strings began to hum a quiet melody before Bane’s sexy raspy voice filled the bar. She was more like a beauty queen from a movie screen. I said don’t mind, but what do you mean that I am the one who would dance on the floor and around. The crowd howled in delight as a sultry version of the Michael Jackson song rippled in the air. The crowd began to sway in rhythm, with some couples even beginning to dance.

 

Perspiration glistened along Devlyn’s skin as she watched him, his fingers, his lips, his eyes as he closed them, then opened only to look right at her. The words, really, had nothing to do with them, but that didn’t matter. It was the soul behind them, the emotion, the combination that made it shattering, startling.

 

When the song ended, he gave the guitar back to his brother. They thanked the audience and encouraged them to buy another round before last call. With that, he jumped off the stage, landing right in front of Devlyn. She did not even blink, much less step back from him. She simply stared at him, eyes round.

 

He looked at her in with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. She looked stoned, almost. Drugged. Hypnotized, even. He lightly traced his index finger along her jaw line, causing her to let out a sharp but not painful hiss. A distraction just long enough as he brought his lips down to capture hers. It amazed him still that she let him kiss her, did not even pull back.

 

It was he who withdrew first. He was not sure what had come over her, but he was not going to take advantage of her. He’d never gain her trust that way, and he knew it. “Whatever is the matter with you, little one?” he asked, head cocked slightly to the side in curiosity.

 

Suddenly, her eyes darkened as she seemed to recall her whereabouts. “I…I’m not sure,” she stammered awkwardly. She had the strongest urge to devour him right then and there. To love him in front of everyone, if only he would sing to her again. And yet, the same old resentment towards him was there too, fighting the other side of her longing to have him.

 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Katerina was debating on berating Merrick for his gall to just show up in her club and perform, simply on his whim. On the other hand, he had sounded incredible and was so damn sexy he made her mouth drool to just look at him. When he played...well, that was another thing entirely. Each time he plucked a string on that guitar felt like he was strumming some part of her.

 

He infuriated her, really he did, with the way he waltz around, his debonair attitude, looking broody, dark, mysterious. She hated to see all the females in the room paw at him, bat their eyelashes, some more provoking than others. Some of them, well, Katerina had to fight something primitive in her to keep from pulling them out of there by the hair on their heads.

 

“I’m glad you were here tonight, Muse,” she heard breathed into her ear, sending shivers of sensations pooling down her neck to her shoulders. She felt his hands on her shoulders from behind, his chest pressed into her back. Gods, she had missed the closeness and contact with him. Just being able to breathe in his scent added a strength to her energy she had been missing. She knew he filled a void in her that no one else could fill. Unfortunately, every ounce of pleasure with him was met by another ounce of pain. For a woman who had had more pain, both pain she had inflicted and pain that had been inflicted upon her, that was asking too much.

 

“Really?” she whispered back, suddenly a bit breathless as she yielded to him. Their love came with so many consequences and stipulations, but it was only after the pain came that she was reminded of the double-edged blade that their relationship was. She had been more than willing to give up anything and everything for him, and when it came to the point of her life over their love, he always blamed her for that weakness, a weakness she could not control. She was a muse of love, love was where she drew her power, and she needed it to survive. He had figured their love would be enough to sustain her, and in a way it had been. But it had merely sustained her, left her so feeble. She had vowed to herself once, long ago, that no man would ever make her weak again. He was no exception to that.

 

“You look beautiful tonight, Muse,” he said tenderly, soft yet so deep that it made her shiver. She turned around to look at him. She soaked in the site of him. She had not even seen him in so long that she ate him up with her eyes. He was as handsome as he ever was with a day’s worth of stubble that only made him look gruff but hot. With his eyes so golden that she felt like she was falling in a pool of them. He was tall, almost a head taller than she was, so she had to look up at him, but that did not matter to her in the least. She was near him, could feel the heat off his skin.

 

He looked down at her and wanted to devour her. She had not planned to go out tonight, he could tell. Chances were, she had probably had a charm on the place so that it would not be so crowded as she and Devlyn sipped their drinks and listened to the jukebox. He had always thought she looked more beautiful when she didn’t try, like tonight. Her makeup was only to accentuate, since her vanity rarely let her leave the loft without a bit of rouge, even before rouge was popular or accepted. Unlike Devlyn, she did not mind standing out. Her hair was a mass of curls, light curls that flowed down her back and her shoulders. The only time she ever looked better to him was when she was in full Muse form, hair a flowing silver, skin illuminated as though soaked in pale moonlight. And then there had been her true human form that he had only seen once. Long, long ago.

 

As the emotions in the room subsided, she felt herself being drawn back to reality, no longer caught in the entrapment of his gaze. “I can’t do this, Merrick. We hurt each other, that’s all we do. And I’m not going to get hurt tonight.”

 

“You’re weak,” he said.

 

She glared at him, her mind going to that night, centuries ago, when he had called her weak. Once, just once. “I beg your f*****g pardon?” she thundered.

 

“You haven’t used your power to feed in too long.”

 

“Oh.” That deflated her for a moment. He was not referring to the fine print of her power, at least not how she had taken her. He was referring to her power, not to her character. In a way, that made all the difference. “I haven’t really played matchmaker in some time.”

 

“You keep the club going, using the hormone level of the club to feed you,” he stated. He could not figure out why she would do that, though. It made no sense to drain herself as she was. She was a muse, d****t. In her glory, she had been an all-powerful muse. One of the strongest he had ever seen. For one reason or another, perhaps because of her past, her power base was slightly different than the rest of Eros’ harem.

 

“Yes. Lately, I just… I don’t know, haven’t felt like—”

 

“D****t, Muse, stop being foolish! If we hope to stop the wars, you need your resources. Stop being so damn careless!” he growled.

 

“Careless?! I am not being careless. And what wars are you talking about?”

 

He wanted to shake her, really he did. But he did not trust himself to touch her just then. He might shake her, might throttle her, might just rip her clothes off right there. And this was not the time to go screwing down memory lane. “The wars between the gods.” Together with Bane and Errie, they were the Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Actually, they were the Three Gods of the Apocalypse, but myths have a way of changing through the ages. It was destined that their offspring would be most powerful gods in the universe, with Bane’s children reigning supreme. But the entire balance hung on those offspring. Bane and Devlyn were given a specific amount of time in which to procreate. That time was running out, and the rest of the gods were getting restless, including the other pantheons. They were all starting to attack one another. They had only a limited time remaining before their world was wiped out. Not only their world, but all of existence. Devlyn had no clue.

 

“I thought that was just a myth,” Katerina said uncertainly. “A legend, from my time.” She swallowed hard. In her lifetime, her people actually did worship Merrick, Bane, and Devlyn’s pantheon, thus the reason their world was not quite so daunting to her, and why she had summoned Merrick when she was stoned to death, because he was the god of vengeance to her people. According to their legend, the gods would one day rise against one another in chaos, the balance between their powers having gone out of alignment. While bent on destroying one another for fight of power, the entire human world was blown out of existence as well. The story was similar to the Norse version of the end of the world, though her people roamed the earth long before the Norse had their first kill.

 

Merrick shook his head. “No, it is very real, and it is happening now. Both our worlds will be obliterated unless those two come together,” he said, pointing to Devlyn and Bane across the room. “And we need you to use your power and manipulation to help them realize the truth, both of them.

My brother knows how dire the situation is, but she is his weakness. She will be his strength, but she must accept him first.”

 

“We need the Three, and her, to fight.”

 

“To win.”

 

She looked over at Devlyn, coming out of her euphoric thrall of the music. She had seen the kiss between them, had watched as Devlyn’s body had responded to his touch. It was only when that spell was broken did she recall every reason she had to deny him. They just needed a stretch of time for Devlyn to not remember. They needed something to get Devlyn off her guard.

 

Katerina looked back up at Merrick. “OK. I can do that. I need some time to gather more resources. But I can do it.”

 

Merrick smiled. “I thought you’d say that.”

Author's Note

I know there are gaps in the story. They will be evened out eventually...