Clouded Heart 13 The Black Circle

Chapter Three

The car seats of the vehicle Raven was in were uncomfortable to say the least. He felt like he spent the whole ride just trying to find a spot where he was safe from getting sucked in and lost.

It was pointless and was happy to be let out when they arrived at the destination he was meeting Ebony.

With a huff and a quick straightening of his jacket, he looked around for the vampire.

He saw her a few yards away in a pinstriped suit. He felt his heart nearly stop in his chest because she was so gorgeous.

She was leaning up against a wall like a model in a magazine, her arms crossed under her chest. The action made her already large b.r.e.a.s.t.s look larger, and Raven found himself staring. He didn't even realize he was until he looked up and saw a smirk on her face.

"See something you like, Aleksandr?" she teased and straightened from the wall.

Raven blushed and looked down at his feet as she walked over to him. She placed a hand under his chin and lifted his face to meet hers.

"Don't be ashamed of what you want," she said and leaned in and gently kissed him on the cheek. "I'm glad you could come today. I hope that we can find something."

Raven took a step back and nodded. He took a few quiet breaths to collect himself.

"So, where exactly are we going?" he asked, and subtly looked around.

Ebony smiled. "Well, I have someone meeting us nearby." She looked at the watch on her wrist. "Actually, he should be there now. Lets go~"

She took Raven's arm and walked with him to the meeting site, which Raven learned from Ebony was an alley a few blocks away.

As they walked, Raven scanned the area for potential threats. Finding none, he carefully kept an eye out until they reached the alley that Ebony had spoken of.

About halfway down the narrow alleyway, he saw a figure standing in the shadows of the building. They were leaning against the wall and spoke casually to them when Ebony and Raven got close enough.

"Kept me waiting long enough," the man called out with irritation and stepped out of the shadows.

Ebony laughed. "I'm sorry. How long did you wait, five minutes?"

The man scowled at her sarcasm. Raven took note that the man had similar white blond hair and pale skin like Ebony's. He had a red eye like hers as well, but curiously the other was pale green.

"Aleksandr, this is my brother, Aloys," she introduced, "Brother, this is Aleksandr. He's going to be helping me today."

Raven and Aloys seemed to size each other up for a long moment.

"He's from the church. I can smell it all over him," Aloys said. His lip curled up in disgust, revealing his fangs.

Raven just stood there with no reply. He wasn't intimidated or impressed.

Ebony just tucked some hair behind her ear. "Darling, can we go now if you're done? I don't have a lot of time with Aleksandr."

Aloys huffed and rolled his eyes as he reached into his pocket.

Raven tensed and started to reach for his talismans when Ebony subtly shook her head, gently took his hand and held it.

Aloys had a black blindfold in his hands. He held it out to Ebony. She took it.

"Do you trust me?" She asked, turning toward Raven.

Raven was tense. He didn't know what was really going to happen if he went along with them, but rationally he knew that if anything did happen to him, the church was well aware he was going out to meet Ebony today. He sighed and closed his eyes.

Raven didn't see Ebonys smile, but he felt it in her voice when she praised him.

"Thank you, Aleksandr. It will only be for a moment."

Raven felt himself blush at her words."Whatever.  Just get on with it."

Ebony chuckled and then he felt the blindfold placed over his gla.s.ses.

She patted his shoulder. "Alright, brother. Your turn."

All Raven could hear was a grumble and a m.u.f.fled slap before he felt a strange sensation.

Nausea hit him like a punch to the gut and he felt himself breathing heavily in an effort to not throw up.

Raven felt someone beside him and in a moment the blind fold was off.

He blinked his eyes open in confusion. It had only been a few minutes at most, but they were in what appeared to be a living room.

Obviously the blind fold had been to hide whatever magic was used, and Raven had enough sense to not ask questions.

"Are you alright?" Ebony asked with a smile. Aloys was rubbing the back of his head with a deeper scowl than before. "Sometimes people get sick."

"I'm alright," he stated and fixed his gla.s.ses. Indeed, the sick feeling in his stomach was already subsided, so he felt fine. "I presume we are here to do the research that you need?" Raven asked vaguely.

"Yes. This place is secure, so we may speak freely. Aloys, thank you for your help," Ebony said as she turned and pinched Aloys' cheek.

Her brother slapped her hand away. "Don't ask for it again. And you," the vampire turned to Raven and pointed a long white finger, "Don't you dare go anywhere else but my library, and you are only allowed to touch the books I have set out. I'll know if you do, and unlike my sister, I will kill you."

Raven nodded but didn't show any other reaction towards the threat. He was used to it, and frankly Aloys' words were on the nicer side.

Ebony sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, darling. I will watch him. Don't worry your pretty little head. How is your pet, by the way? Still having trouble getting him to behave?"

Aloys huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. His tattooed sleeves rippled with the movement. "Ace. Acting strange as usual but healthy all the same."

The words Aloys spoke didn't match the tone of his voice, Raven noticed. They sounded strained and a little frustrated, but also a little worried.

He didn't care enough to spend anymore time on it so he addressed Ebony. "Can we get started? I don't have all day."

She nodded. "Alright. Follow me."

She led him up a flight of stairs, and then down a long hallway before finally coming to the double doors of the library, opening them to reveal the large s.p.a.ce that had a rosewood table in front of a dark leather couch. There were chairs on either side, part of a set, and there were books set out for the two on the table.

Raven looked around at the library, taking in the shelves that spanned at least three floors as Ebony pulled him to the couch and had him sit down. He just went along with it, knowing she'd whine if he resisted.

"So, get started with this," Ebony hummed as she handed him a book, leaning against him with an innocent grin. She wanted to see how far she could push him today without the interference of the church being around.

He couldn't help but notice again the outfit she was wearing, blushing as he realized she was wearing a top that showed quite a bit of cleavage the way she was pressed against him.

"Alright," he said quietly, trying to ignore his physical reactions as he took the book, though he didn't push her off as he opened the leather cover and began to leaf through the pages.

"What exactly am I looking for?" He asked after he started to quickly skim through each page. It seemed that the book was a manifest. It appeared that each entry consisted of a week's worth of events. Most likely collected and compiled to refer back to in case the need arose.

"Please mark mention of any unnamed man, the name Fabian, or Fabiano," Ebony instructed. "Also any mentions of unusual events; missing persons, sudden deaths, or anything of the like."

Raven paused and then asked with some hesitance, "That will take a long time, don't you think?" He looked over to the large stack of tomes on the desk. From cover to cover, that many would take at least a week, possibly longer. Plus, he could safely a.s.sume that all of the manifests were all hand written. He could easily miss something if he wasn't careful...

"It will, but after every book I'll give you a reward. Here, I'll even give you a taste right now to give you a bit more incentive," Ebony smiled coyly, taking the book and setting it aside to straddle Raven's lap teasingly.

She then started to unb.u.t.ton her shirt slowly to give him a show and to reveal that she hadn't had a bra on for the time that they were together. "Are you feeling inspired yet?" She asked, pushing out her chest a bit to make her b.r.e.a.s.t.s look larger.

His eyes were drawn to the revealed skin as she pulled her top open, unable to look away as he followed the skin of her stomach up to the soft curve of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

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"That's not the point here," he breathed, " I can't. I've told you before, it goes against the church."

"Darling, the church doesn't matter as much as you think it does," She murmured and leaned forward so that her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were closer to him. She pressed against his growing bulge. "People come and go and things fade away. I'm a big believer in taking what you want while you can and your body is reacting, so I know you want it too."

Raven tried to appear cool and collected.He and Ebony had messed around a little here and there; they had known each other for a while, so he knew she knew what she could do to get him riled up. Ebony did it all the time. He couldn't just let her have her way, no matter how much he wanted to.

"I… suppose, but still," Raven said as he tried to resist his urges. His body felt hot and his pants felt tight. "I knew that my help with research wasn't all you wanted."

Ebony gave him a coy smile. "I don't know what you mean, darling~ I'm taking this moment to teach you about positive reinforcement."

"I'm sure," he retorted, unconvinced. "Your brother would not be happy to know that you are trying to seduce me in his home," Raven added to distract himself from the feeling of her grinding down into his lap.

"Only trying?" She asked.

Ebony leaned forward, putting her hands on the back of the chair by either side of his head. The action made sure her milky white b.r.e.a.s.t.s were right in front of his face.

Seeing his stubbornness, Ebony then gently caressed the skin across the side of his neck with her index finger. Raven couldn't help but look up at her with lidded eyes. He was fighting his instincts with all his might, and she thought it was so cute.

She took Raven's hand and put it to one of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Her soft skin felt so nice under his large calloused hand he involuntarily squeezed it.

Ebony let out a small whimper and before he could stop himself, leaned forward to take one of her nipples into his mouth. He started to suck on it lightly, the cold feeling of her skin nice against his own.

Ebony let out a soft moan, tangling her hands in his dark blond hair gently and pulling him closer. "That's a good boy, Aleksandr," She praised softly, grinding against him gently to tease him.

"Are you happy now that you've gotten what you wanted?" Raven asked after he had pulled away slightly.

"Very," she chirped and petted his head. "Although, I do wonder if your d.i.c.k is as big as your feet…"

"-sandr? Aleksandr, are you listening?"

Raven was snapped out of his delusion by Ebony calling his name. "Um, sorry. What did you say?"

"I said, 'I will have you work on as many as you can, but do not become overwhelmed.' I plan on working on this myself, as well as finding a wizard or witch that may be able to help. Unfortunately,  until I can find someone I trust, it will just be the two of us." She cleared her throat and sat at the desk. "What had you so lost in thought? Were you thinking of something dirty?"

He glared at her.

"Don't look at me like that, Aleksandr~" she trilled.

Ebony tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, making her white gold and sapphire earrings glimmer in the low light of the room as they swung slightly. His honey colored eyes seemed to follow her every movement like they could determine something significant, but he shook himself mentally to get a grip.

Raven looked at her another long moment before turning his head to look out the window. He could see outside, but it seemed sort of distorted. "Are we in another dimension?" He asked, comprehending what it was almost immediately.

"Yes. Aloys' home is in between the human world and the Otherworld. You are so clever, Aleksandr," she praised. "It's a sort of a pocket dimension but only the house is in it. The only way out is through the front door."

"That's interesting. I knew that homes like this existed, but I had never seen one myself," he said to distract himself from Ebony's heavy gaze.

"Oh yes. And we could do whatever we wanted here, and no one would be able to hear a thing," she added with a mischievous grin.

A flashback to his day dream had him clearing his throat with embarra.s.sment and he chose to ignore her. He went back to the book in his lap, adjusted his a.s.s, and got to work.

"So what, exactly, is the deal with this guy? Do you think he's affiliated with the Black Circle?" Raven after he leafed through several pages with no sucess.

"I think that he is leading the cult, or at least, running it in place of the real head. He goes by Fabian, or when I knew him, Fabiano. He's a powerful necromancer, and a warlock to boot. He's very skilled as well; and much older then most. He has had time to perfect his craft," she responded absently as she looked through a book of her own. "I don't know what he goes by these days, but I will find out."

Raven glanced up and saw the look of determination on her face.

"What makes you think it's him?"

"I... well, it's complicated. But I am one hundred percent certain. One evening, a few months ago, I was browsing through my old dairies and notebooks from when I was still human and I came across a strange section my youngerself mentioning a man. He was a guest at the castle for a while apparently.

"Now, I realize that the older I get, the more of my memories from human years fades away, but I found it strange that I had no recollection of this man at all. And my younger self made note that he was strange, had a dangerous aura, and was eerily intrested in Aloys."

As Raven listened to her speak, he had to admit that even to him he could agree that it was odd, so he kept listening.

"So, to put my curiosity aside, I sought out Aloys. He remembered nothing of the man either. It was at this point I became suspicious, so I went to a witch and he told me that a curse to block and erase parts of ones memories had been placed on Aloys and I. He was able to break the curse, but instead of answers, I had more questions."

As Raven stipped reading all together so that Ebony's srory could have his full attention. "And? What did you remember?"

"Absolutely nothing! And I still can't remember anything regarding him, either. All I have is his name, and the bits I've told you already I learned from a spy I captured and managed to interrogate before he killed himself."

Ebony seemed alittle distraught as she spoke, but perked up when she noticed Raven watching her. "But now I have you to help me, Aleksandr! I have a feeling that if I wrote about him, there is bound to be record of him in these manifests as well. My parents were meticulous in keeping records of everything. Unfortunately I can't have these brought to my castle since its under surveillance from the cult and the church. I can't have too many other people knowing about these, lest Fabiano finds out and tries to cover up the mess."

Raven was quiet as he observed Ebony and realized that as beautiful as she was, she was also just as smart. He felt ashamed for having such s.e.xual thoughts about her earlier. She really needed his help this time so he steeled his resolve to do his best.

He would help Ebony and the church find this warlock named Fabian, and help put an end to the terror that they had been spreading through the streets. He swore on his father's grave that he would.