Bat Country

As Brian walked down the hall with Isabel, his arm gently keeping her close to him, they passed Alexis who had a smile on her face which clearly showed her pride in herself.

"Impressive." Brian told her, as he cracked a grin.

Isabel eyed that smile. She had only seen him smile, genuinely smile, a handful of times and she never got sick of it.

"Why thank you, sir!" Alexis laughed. She had changed into her nightgown and robe again and it swished and trailed behind her as she strut down the hallway. "But the impressive part is how you instigated it."

Brian raised his eyebrows and shrugged before smiling at Alexis one last time before leading Isabel through his bedroom door, Alexis continuing her stride down the hall.

Closing the door behind them both, Brian bolted his door shut with silver and turned to Isabel who was looking up at him. Her eyes held a thousand questions, and he intended to give her the answers tonight.

"Take a seat, Isabel. There's a lot I need to go over with you." Brian told her.

Cautiously, she took a seat on the corner of his bed and she watched him as he sat next to her.

"Do you remember how I told you I shouldn't be able to be attracted to Alexis? Do you remember how I said that I thought some shit was going down?"

Isabel nodded. "You had sex with her, didn't you?" Isabel's voice was frank and matter-of-fact.

Brian's eyes scanned Isabel for a long time before he inhaled deeply. "Yes. I did."

Sighing, Isabel looked down and folded her hands in her lap. "I felt it. The first time was the night you played your guitar, but I didn't want to intrude."

"Isabel," Brian stopped her. "you are not an intrusion. I've not always been here for you, I can admit that. I can understand how you'd feel unwelcome, but you are not at all unwelcome. I don't regret making you. I regret how that happened. I regret that you had no choice, no say at all in where your life went."

There was a silence between them for a moment before Isabel looked up. "If I could choose a path, I'd have chosen this one regardless."

Brian nodded and rubbed her back. "There was shit going on, Isabel. I'm going to tell you some things and once our conversation is over, you can't tell anyone. That's a command. Do you understand?"

A serious shadow formed in Isabel's eyes as she looked up at Brian. It was now about safety, that much was obvious, but it did not need to be quite as apparent as it was.

"When we fought the elves, and Matt went unconscious, he was unconscious for so long that his mating bond to Alexis grew so weak she could fight it. That's when we had sex. She was like...sick, at points, but she could do it anyways. When he raped her, the night we went out to the ravine to get her, she severed the bond completely."

"How could she sever a bond at all? That isn't possible." Isabel's head tilted and her eyes narrowed.

"Her type can. If a bond is no longer...beneficial, to her type, they can sever them unconsciously in order to seek out better ones. Following so far?"

"Now I am." Isabel replied with a nod.

"Okay. Well...since Matt had so much of her blood, she can overpower him. If he had enough, shit could get really weird."

"Weird how?"

"She could command him on very rare occasions, because Matt's blood is more her blood than his own. Eventually that will fade, I believe. But back to the point. Since her mated bond was severed, she was free to find another. From what I could find in the library, they are most attracted to vampires who have tasted their human blood. She found a new mate."

"You...you drank all of her human blood." Isabel said with a confused face. She studied Brian's face who was pressing into her to catch up. Finally, she did. "Brian, no..." her hands clamped over her mouth.

Looking down, Brian exhaled. "Yes."

"That's why he's been really jealous of you. He can tell the bond isn't right anymore." Isabel spoke through her fingers.

"Again, yes. But before he figures it out, we need to leave. All three of us. He is still mated to her and he has no idea...yet."

"Where the hell are we gonna go?!" Isabel blurted.

"Nikki and Andy want to start a nest." Brian said as if his words were explosive.

The look on Isabel's face surprised him. She seemed contented. "They're super ancient, aren't they?" Isabel verified.

"3 and 4 thousand year old, originals. Yes, they are ancient. The most powerful vampires on this hemisphere. We'd need that safety when Matt discovers what has happened, and he's coming close. They are extracting at least me within weeks, probably much less time than that, and on that day, you are coming. Pack up what you can and get it out unnoticed."

"I've missed a lot..." Isabel said with a soft sigh.

"You won't miss anything again." Brian reassured her.

The look on Isabel's face showed that her faith was tenuous, but she would go with him, no matter the cost.