It had been a few nights since Nemesis had obtained a letter from another noble house, one that he had known for a great while now and kept a friendly tie towards. The Byrkyns were highly known for their infamous brothel but there was also they had their hands in the pockets of some of the most ruthless gangs that preyed on those at the docks and the lower districts. Of course, they kept their faces clean about such matters and only a few individuals truly knew what was going on behind the scenes. One of them was the current madam of the Silver Kiss House, and the woman who had sent for his presence tonight. After making sure his wife would be content for the next few hours, the alpha left the manor and trekked into the inner city. More and more he could see the humans that dared come here, at their own risk of course. It seemed as though over the years, they had come by the droves, flocking to this lovely island despite its citizens’ discomfort. Particularly the wolves of Kurayo weren’t pleased to have the very beings that once ran them off from their previous homes and hunted them down like animals.

But it seemed like things were changing, as they’ve always done but a blood feud that ran that deep wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. He especially wasn’t too thrilled by this growing intrusion but he kept his focus on the lavish establishment that came to view. Smirking to himself, Nemesis entered and soon found the worker at the counter bowing before him as he approached. “Lord Volkov, we have been expecting you. Please wait one moment, and I’ll go get the Lady.” He shooed at her with a hand while he looked around. The interior looked as beautiful as the first time he set foot here hundreds of years ago. Back then, the woman’s great-grandfather had been in charge and this place was a central hangout for the powerful as they met and enjoyed the services offered here. He observed some of heads of lesser vampire clans and a few of the werewolves that could afford the service being whisked away by women and even men draped in silky robes into respective rooms. It didn’t take too long before his hostess had arrived and nodded.

“You wished to see me, Esme? It’s been quite awhile since I’ve seen you.” He wondered if she was in trouble or if she needed anything. As long as it was within reach, he didn’t mind assisting her and her family.

To say that Esme was highly displeased with one of her clients that attempted to not only pay one of her best girls, but to also try and have his way with her right after telling her that was an understatement. Fortunately the attack alerted her guards quick enough to stop him before it was too late and now he sat across her desk with a broken nose and some bruised ribs. Despite looking very young, her eyes bore right through him as anger seeped through her chest with every exhale and inhale. “Please, let me explain!”, he cried out for the umpteenth time but just like the rest, those words fell on deaf ears. “You think I’m going to let you simply get away with what you did?” Her tone was hushed but didn’t lack the rage she was trying to contain as her slender fingers drummed across the surface of her desk. It seemed like more and more of her clients were getting too tempted by lust to learn that there was a line that shouldn’t be crossed.

“Let’s see, you broke…oh I don’t know…about four to five rules easily.” Her eyes went to the two guards that stood closely by him should he try anything stupid before rising up to her feet and took out a pair of daggers from the drawer. “Please, you don’t have to do this…” Esme circled around and gave the signal for the men to restrain his hands and place them onto the desk. She ignored his cries as she plunged one of the daggers into the back of his hands; the damning screams that pour from his gaping mouth didn’t deter her as she used the other one to start flaying his fingers. “You forced yourself on Vicky. You refused to pay. You made me waste time on you, and you expect mercy?” She pounded the crimes he committed on her turf over and over as she continued to torture him right to the point where Darla came in. “My lady, Lord Volkov is here”, she said, ignoring the scene and turned away when Esme ceased the punishment. “Give him to the boys in the back. They’ll have some fun with him… “ She headed off while that bastard was dragged to a fate worse than death.

Arriving in the grand hall, her anger gave way and she smiled at Nemesis. “It has been, Nemesis.” She stood up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek before leading him to a private room. Along the way, she instructed the help for some drinks to come their way and showed him to his seat before taking hers. “I pray that you and yours are doing well. I wouldn’t have called you if I could handle this myself. But it’s about my brother, Gabriel. He’s in town but he has refused to see me and I can’t find him.” It bothered her since their big fight so many moons ago that her dear old brother had strayed away from his duties. He was suppose to be the next in line of controlling the family, but now that title and power fell onto her lap. Still, Gabe was very important to have around and even more, a liability for their enemies should they learn that he was out on those streets, doing who knew what or whom.

Nemesis could tell that he had come at an interesting time from just observing her right before he pointed at her cheek after she kissed his. There was some blood on her face, and he was sure that it wasn’t hers. Esme was young but very vicious, even by werewolf standards and part of that was his own doing for helping to teach her from a young age. She was like a granddaughter to him, perhaps even more like a daughter in some ways. He followed the madam into another room where they could discuss the matter she had had further.

The drinks arrived shortly after she revealed his reason for coming here and at the mentioning of her brother’s name, he gave a somewhat dramatic sigh. “I see…but does that really surprise you that he still didn’t come home?” For all his gifts and advantages in life, Gabriel knew exactly how to squander them all for short term pursuits of women and quick ways to establish wealth. Patience was not the young man’s strong suit and that was proven many times. Nemesis couldn’t understand what motivated him to be such a screw up but at least their father left his business in the hands of the girl.

“You are right to call me, the boy will get himself killed, especially in these parts. He still has a few enemies from the times he found himself in some of their daughters’ beds”, he started to chuckle before sipping at the wine brought to them. “If not with their wives…Regardless, it is bad for business to keep him off his leash. Do you have any sort of idea of why he is back?” He had hoped that it wasn’t to spite his own flesh and blood- the fallout between the siblings had shook some of the city to its core and now after all these years, he had returned. Obviously something had changed and he had a feeling that Esme wanted him to find out.

Esme smiled before wiping the blood away from her face; she knew that he personally didn’t mind the sort of mischief she had been up to. As far as she cared, she could faintly hear the boys in the back having their way with the fool. His corpse would soon be discarded into the the waters of the port and no one would find his fishbait tail again. It had been a practice that’s been done for many years now and she would make sure it wasn’t traced back to her hands. But her mind went into other matters and despite being annoyed by the question, she knew that Nemesis was right. She and Gabe had been butting heads for so long ever since he was suppose to take the mantle of Head of the Byrkyns but he didn’t want the responsibility.

The damn fool- all he wanted to do was fuck around and be carefree like a druid.

No one could quite understand his logic but to say that their father wasn’t pleased was an understatement. She had to pick up the pieces while the jackass ran around and did absolutely nothing with his life. Well, now that he returned to Kurayo, that was going to cease.

“No, but I’ve had enough of his antics. My brother will learn one way or another. Even if I have to make him an eunuch to get my point across.” Crossing her leg, she contemplated what she wanted him to do- Nemesis could very easily drag his sorry ass back home and she could take it from there but there was another matter that she’s been hearing from those that had witnessed him already. “Yes, there has been no forgiveness. Rickon and Klaus have yet to forgive him for laying down with their wife and daughter respectively and I have them breathing down my neck ever since. If they learn that he is out on his own, then they will seek to get him first. At least if I have him, they’d be less willing to go after him in a house that supports yours, Father Volkov.” She used his title in respect since she greatly needed his assistance in this ordeal and she prayed that he would be able to do it soon.

A soft sigh rolled from her lips before sipping at her drink. “No”, she said flatly but then leaned forward and smiled, showing her canines a bit. “But from what I’ve been hearing, he has some woman with him. In fact, she’s been with him longer than any I’ve ever heard. I think he is housing her somewhere and if you could bring in both of them, then I can handle the rest. So, may I inquire your services? We can discuss terms of your reward in the meanwhile.”

She pulled back and her plump lips curled up, “Though I have a feeling it's nothing that can be sought out here. I know how loyal you are with your mates, after all.”

“A bit harsh, no?” As intriguing as her idea was, Nemesis had to speak his peace against her determination. It was perhaps a bit too extreme. “I understand how you must feel about him, but you can’t cripple your family’s future by taking his manhood.” But the thought still made him chuckle. Perhaps there were other ways of making the boy see the light, and he was sure that Esme would be able to do that. She was a bright girl after all.

“Those fools won’t touch him, you or anything that belongs to your family. I will see them burn myself if necessary but first thing’s first, Gabriel must be found.” Nemesis finished his drink and and thought for a few moments. There were some safe houses that were established by her family, but perhaps there were some that only the boy knew of. It was very possible and then he started to think of some of the hideouts that he had used when he was a boy. There were plenty of times where he would listen to his father complain about how rowdy and disobedient he could be as a boy and ran away from home. Of course he would be found and punished. The vaewolf could once recall accompanying him in searching for Gabriel one time and he was found in an abandoned home. The tricky part was that it was deep in the city and its entrance was difficult to pinpoint.

Nemesis frowned a bit when she mentioned his mates before standing up and petting the top of her head. It was soon replaced with a little smile however. “No charge, think of it as a gift. I’ll be back soon.”

Leaving the establishment, he took to the innermost part of the city and laid and wait before he spotted someone of Gabe’s appearance accompanied by a smaller woman. Keeping his distance, he watched them until they indeed went to the very house that he suspected and waited until they got cozy enough before he made his presence known…

—-

It wasn’t long before both of them were in his custody and were at the Byrkyn Manor. Despite the pleas of his captive, Nemesis led the two inside where his sister was waiting for them with crossed arms and her personal guards on either side.

Perhaps he should have been safer and more cautious but that wasn’t Gabe’s style. Had he known what was going to happen though, he would have considered it more. But the last few weeks of being in Kurayo felt good. All he had to do all day was eat, sleep and spent time with Paulina. Seemed like the easy life for him, especially when she raked in all the coin they could have. It was perfect for him since he didn’t want to return home, not that she knew anything about it. It was a dreadful experience to even think about home, his family or his sister.

Gods helped them if she found them.

They spent the day in the marketplace, buying more supplies while he kept a wary eye every once and awhile as if he was being watched or something. His reputation had irked a few powerful men around these parts but to be fair, he didn’t receive a “no” from the females of their families so what was the big deal? Aside from that, he was his charming self as he accompanied her getting more supplies and food and such. When they were done, they headed back to his hideout by going through the alleyway before slipping into the entrance that camouflaged with the rest of it.

“Well, that was promising.”, he said as he fell onto the couch with the large pouch of silver they had yet to spend. “The markets around here are great for finding a lot of things you needed. That and they have the best meats.” He was feeling hungry but he would throw the deer steaks onto the fire in a little bit. Right now he wanted to enjoy a little nap first. But then someone cleared his throat and Gabe peeked with one eye before he was thrown into pure shock.


“Ne…me…sis…” His face froze as he saw that damn devil come into the house and before he could warn Paulina to run, the vaewolf pounced and took him by the scruff of his neck, painfully. “Can we talk about this? What did I do?”, he said in the middle of his ‘ows’. Nemesis shook his head before his eyes darted over Paulina. “I’d suggest you come with us. Esme wants to see the two of you.”

“No! To hell with that!” There was no way he was going back home, especially if she was there. The realization came to him of why Nemesis came- she had asked for him to do this. That meant…she knew that he was here and that Paulina was with him.

Shit.

“Let’s go…and no funny business, girl.”

He led Gabe out of the house and took the two of them to the house, dragging him as he attempted to flee the closer they got. Inside, he was tossed over towards Esme’s direction and he tried to give her a grin. “Hello sis! What’s going on…” She cut him off with a vicious slap across his face. “Take her to the room upstairs. I’ll be seeing her shortly.” Her guards escorted her up to the second floor into a room prepared for her. “What are you going to do with her?”, he asked as he felt the burning pain of his cheek.

“Depends on you, dear brother. You know where you belong…just accept it.”

“No!”, he bellowed, “I’m not dealing with this crap…” Gabe wouldn’t be pulled back into this life- not when he was at his happiest. “You’ll have to kill me, Esme. And we both know you won’t.”

“No…but I have no qualm killing that whore of yours”, she shrugged, which angered him. He went to charge at her, but Esme quickly pulled out a dagger from her back and cut his arm. The blade itself hurt but there was a seething burning sensation that followed behind it and it was enough to make him groan in pain and hold his arm as it slowly intensified. “Thank you Nemesis”, she offered and the vaewolf smiled and bowed before taking his leave.

“What’s wrong, brother? It’s only a teeny bit of wolfsbane…”, she said as she wanted the pitiful display he put on. Gabe cursed his luck, knowing that he should have expected this foul play from her. She learned too much from Father, after all. “Now if you want to see her again, preferably with skin attached, then you will stay here. She can to as far as I care. Now hurry up and choose…”

Gabriel would have spat out a no, but the burning continued and he could see the wound not healing. Dammit. If he didn’t give Esme her sought for answer, then he was sure that she would kill Paulina and then what? He wouldn’t really have a reason to continue on with his merry life and would be stuck here regardless. “Damn you. You promise me that no harm will come to her then.”

Esme circled around her brother and placed both hands on top of his shoulders, and even now he could barely feel her dagger pressed onto him. “Fine. go and see her. She’s up in Georgina’s room.”

As soon as she said that, he cursed his luck- she wasn’t planning on hurting her after all. It was all a fucking ruse.

He rose up and felt the pain subside for now and he made the journey up to the room she was in. In there, he could see his youngest sister playing dolls with her. The girl was around five with pretty blonde curls and bright blue eyes. “Gabbie!”, she said when she caught sight of him. Dropping whatever they were doing, she charged right at him and he caught her in a hug. “How are you doing, Georgina?” “Fine! I made a new friend!”, she squealed, pointing at Paulina. “Aye, she’s a good person to have as one”, he admitted before putting her back down. “Now you go and see Esme. Think she has some sweets for you!” At the sound of that, she was off in a hurry and he closed the door before leaning against it.

“You okay?”, he asked, losing the enthusiasm from before. “That wicked witch down there was my other sister, Esme. Charming isn’t she?”

If there’s one thing that Gabriel had learned from their time together it was how to make Paulina happy. At first, he had gotten her jewelry, dresses, and other things of that nature. Stuff that would make any woman be wooed on sight but not Paulina. She would tilt her head at it, be appreciative of it, and set it down in a pile that he had gotten. It took him a while to realize that she was happiest when she had ingredients and spellbooks. However, everything he had gotten her still had the ribbons attached to it if she hadn’t used it. It wasn’t dusty either which meant that Paulina took care of the things he got her. She just didn’t know how to process them. She wasn’t used to new dresses or jewelry. She was hardly used to freedom.

“They had lots of good things in the market today,” she plopped herself on the floor in front of an arcane circle. Her black hair was tied up with red ribbon keeping it off her shoulders. Her dress was thicker than most but she came from a warmer climate. She had a canopic jar tied to her waist belt and her dagger sheathed next to it. She opened some of the books that Gabe had bought her and was quiet. Paulina was always sort of the quiet type. She never really had much to say until something caught her eye.

She was pouring blood into the circle when Nemesis cleared his throat her hand immediately went to the canopic jar and dagger but by the time she had reacted the vaewolf had Gabriel in his hands like a puppy. When she realized she was in a tight position and Gabriel was struggling she weighed her chances of winning against an opponent like Nemesis. She figured she had a very low chance from the aura that came from the man. The way he held himself wasn’t like the rabble that she dealt with on the regular. So she decided to cooperate. She flashed Gabe a frown as she knew she couldn’t really do anything about it.

Once they got to the manor she flinched as Gabriel was slapped. It had to be the first time she ever saw someone get the better of Gabe. Paulina made a face and utter a few words as the guards came. It was an ancient language of the Fey. A phrase that Gabe would probably have known well by now. “I am not afraid.” After all of the things that Paulina had been through this was hardly even on her list of top moments.

She found herself in a room with a child. “Who are you?” The girl approached her and asked. It made Paulina back up but she found the door against her back. She had a thing about children. Maybe it was the nightmares she had from the days of living with the Baba Yaga but she couldn’t deal with children well. However, right now her main priority was making sure that Gabriel would be alright. If she just dealt with this and behaved then he would have better chances.

“Paulina,” her name left her lips. Soon the child was getting her to play with her. It was different and interesting all at the same time. Paulina had never had a childhood. She had never had toys or anything of that nature. She had been a living voodoo doll since the day she was born. It was weird at first but eventually, she asked the little one to show her how to play. The girl looked at her weird. Who didn’t know how to play with dolls?

“Didn’t your mother and father get you dolls?”

“No… Never.” It looked like it shocked the little girl at first as she showed Paulina how to play.

Once Gabe opened the door Paulina shot up but the little one managed to beat her to Gabriel. She waited until she was gone before running over. She turned him all around and checked out his wound. “I’m fine. Just…” She looked at the child’s room. “You know how it makes me.” She sat him down on the bed and pulled something out of the satchel on her side. “I can smell wolfsbane are you alright?” She began to apply something into his wound. “It’s going to sting but it should neutralize it.”

After a moment to breathe that he was alright she pushed his hair back and put her forehead against hers. “Don’t scare me like that. For future reference, it would be nice to know you have a crazy family so I don’t get blindsided.” There was a smile and a laugh but it was all to lighten the mood as she hugged herself to him. “I am fine by the way… I have dealt with much worse… Nothing anyone could do to me will ever be on the level of what they did to me. You know this.” She kissed his forehead again.

At least Paulina was safe, that was the good news. The bad news just happened to be everything else. He watched her come up to him and apply the medicine, which made him wince like the dickens, but in time it would help assist him healing from what his sister did. Gabe frowned when she reminded him about her deal with his sister’s room. He couldn’t blame her after what her mother and the other ugly hobbits did to her since birth.

“I’ll be fine. She barely coated any on that dagger. She wasn’t going to kill either of us. I should have called her bluff.” Think back though, she only wanted him alive. Paulina would have just been a casualty to make that happen should he had continued to refuse. The thought alone made him take back what he just said. “Trust me, the last thing I expected was to be back here, and under the same roof as her.” Sighing, he kept quiet for a long time in thought as he had to come to terms with what all of this meant. There was no escape from this- if Esme didn’t contain him, Nemesis would get him again. And if he didn’t, the enemies he had made in this city would make sure he didn’t leave alive. On all sides, he was royally screwed. “Don’t be too sure of that. Her royal highness down there is crafty and have too much of a vivid imagination when it comes to punishment. I’ve seen too many fools flayed by her hands alone. I don’t want to swim in that head of hers when she thinks of these things.” He shuddered just thinking about it while leaning his head against her. “She knew that by making me think you were in danger, she played me right into her hands.”

He groaned again, “She was always smarter and a couple of moves ahead of me. I would have thought everyone would have been happy when she was in charge of it al.” Gabe took a sharp sigh at it before he looked to Paulina’s eyes, it was better if she knew what kind of situation he got her into this time. “Crazy family doesn’t describe the half of it. You are looking at the former heir of the Byrkyn family and its many fun and exciting enterprises, including the Silver Kiss brothel house and more dangerous things. He gave her a sad smile, “And that man that carried us here was Nemesis Volkov. He’s even worse than Esme. Probably worse than anyone in this forsaken city. Carries both vampire and werewolf blood in him and his family’s not to be trifled with either. Right now we are in the middle of the ocean in a canoe without a paddle and sharks all around us…”

Paulina frowned a bit and looked up at him. “What those witches did to me will never be topped… and I’ve only top you a scratch of the surface to my suffering.” She held onto him but her voice was oddly calm despite discussing her pain. But still she kept him close and she chuckled. “I didn’t think you cared about me in such a way.” They had never really discussed how he felt about her. He doted on her but she never really had much of any kindness before so she wasn’t understanding it. “I would think that you could just get another witch.”

Her bi-colored eyes watched his as he explained his family to her. “So you are much like me.” Not that she would have ever gotten to lead the clan of witches but she was the daughter of the leader. “I may not know what a brother is but I know dangerous things.” She listened about Nemesis and nodded. “I felt the power off of him its why I didn’t cast any spells. It would have been pointless on a man like that.” She pushed her head into his chest where she often found an odd comfort.

–

A few days had passed since their imprisonment had begun and finally, Esme let them out to collect their things. They had supervision of course because Gabriel was already planning his escape. They were watched by hawk visioned men as they loaded up all these belongings to bring back. Paulina was by far the weirdest as she shooed off the house help. “You don’t know.” Her bare feet pushed up as she grabbed all the still brand new things Gabriel had got her and brought it to their room. It was spacious and big enough that she could remake her pile.

She did it meticulously and Gabriel didn’t bother to stop her. She had fancy dresses, high-end jewelry, everything a woman could want in that pile but still, she wore something a little bit better than rags. She just didn’t understand. Her hair was still dreadlocked but she kept herself clean. She put golden brushes and combs into the pile not knowing what they were. All of the things that Gabriel had doted on her with were special to her even if she didn’t know what they were.

Putting her spellbooks up on the shelf she paused to take a look at her pile once it was done. She wondered if everyone had a pile like she did.

She knew next to nothing about the woman that accompanied her brother, but she knew him quite well. Gabriel didn’t like to be cooped up for long long and would try to break out. But she outsmarted him in every way and blocked any and all exits with guards constantly on alert. Really, if he just accepted the situation he was in, this would have been all the more easier. But as the days went by, he didn’t seem too shaken up so Esme thought of the next big thing- Paulina. She was very important to him, even more than any other woman he would have a minor fling with. It looked as though she could use her to keep the leash tight on him then. Wearing a simple green dress, the lady of the house watched from the window as the two were lead back to their little hideout to collect their things. She watched while drinking a glass of wine as she schemed on how to best try advantage of his weakness.

When they returned, Paulina took it upon herself to take her things and start stacking it by the time Esme came inside. “Leave us”, she said, the command thrown out at Gabriel who looked at her like she was crazy before yielding and looked to his witch before leaving the room. She knew that he wouldn’t go far without her so there was no worry about him.

She moved over to the pile of things Paulina assembled before looking at it rather strangely. She figured that Gabe had got her all these things, yet they looked as though they hadn’t been used ever. Dresses, jewelry and accessories, hair products…they all looked brand new still. “Paulina, was it? Why do you have all these things gathered like that?” She looked back to the woman and really got a good look at her for once. She was pretty, but she could see that some of it was hidden away. The first thing was her hair before she singled out a comb from the pile. “Do you know what a comb is?”, she asked, not out of spite but out of genuine curiosity as she gestured for her to sit on the bed and she got behind her and started to work on getting rid of the matting hair, starting at the ends of her locks. “This might hurt a bit…gods your hair so tangled…” She tried to fix it as painlessly as she could try, but the hair was too much for her and then before she knew it, she went through a few of the combs and was just now working on the next one.