Lincoln's P.O.V

I narrow my eyes marginally as I study Malcolm, not quite able to put my finger on what about him was stranger than usual.

Malcolm slides onto one of the stools surrounding the kitchen island Kalem and I converted into our breakfast table. His eyes darted around the space, taking in the lack of dust that still managed to shock even me whenever I wandered around this old castle.

But I guess that was one of the benefits of having a beautiful Kalem around.

"So you came here to talk about Diablos?" I ask tentatively, watching him closely as his eyes drift back to me.

"Well, it's a problem we can't afford to let slip into the background." He replies, fingers tapping rapidly against the black, marble top. "You know how he works better than anyone, silence is his biggest weapon."

"I am aware," I reply calmly, watching his now shaking leg with a frown. "Malcolm, what on earth has that elf done to you?"

"What?" He exclaims, eyes going wide as he stares at me with a somehow blank as well as revealing expression. "Nothing, Aias did nothing wrong."

"Of course not," I reply lethargically. "What's changed since the last time I've seen you? You're acting weird."

"No am not."

"You just did it." I accuse.

"No, I didn't." He protests immediately. 

"I don't want the details, I just want to know that you're okay." I offer instead.

He watches me for a while, deliberating with himself whether to divulge something he clearly didn't want to. Which was admittedly strange for a man who shared everything, often too much.

This weird switch making me more curious than I liked to admit to being.

"I'm fine." He replies unsurely. "I'm fine, I'm happy... very happy. But Aias... I know nothing about him."

"Expand."

"I know all the little things." He fills in quickly. "I know everything detail that makes him Aias but I don't know a single thing about him. He only lets me know what he wants me to see and I'm... it makes me scared."

"You think he's going to leave," I reply, voicing the fear I knew he was hiding from.

"Eventually." He says in almost a whine as he looks up at me. "I do everything right but I know it won't be enough and he'll leave one day."

At that moment, I wanted to kill Aias. He'd done no wrong at the moment but the fact that just the thought of his departure made Malcolm wilt like a sad flower made me want to rid the elf from the planet.

If only to prevent the eventual heartbreak that was to come because of him.

"It'll work out," I tell him with the kindest tone I could muster. "It'll all work out and if he leaves, he'll come back. Trust me."

Malcolm looks at me unsurely, wringing his hands in front of him with clear anxiety that I wanted to force out of him. He shakes his head before slapping his cheeks and smiling at me.

"No more about that." He says firmly. "I prefer dealing with your shit because then my life doesn't' look so bad. So Diablos?"

I  bite back any further comments on the topic, knowing he needed me to leave it alone now. Even though I didn't want to and it clearly still plagued him, continuing when he didn't want to would only make things worse.

So I forced myself to drop it, for now.

"I've already started putting measures in place, Wequie helped secure the castle with a few materials that won't let what happened last time come again," I explain as he visibly redirects his full attention to the issue. "As for Diablos, finding him is impossible. We won't see him until he wants us to, the only thing I can do for now is draw him out. I've already tainted his reputation by taking down his main base, if we do the same to every little one that spawns in its place, it'll annoy him enough to come to us."

"You know him," Malcolm starts as he watches me seriously, "but he knows you just as well."

My jaw ticks slightly at the clear doubt in his tone, the audible warning in his tone scraping itself against my pride. 

"You don't think it'll be enough," I respond knowing we both knew the statement to be true.

Malcolm studies me. His grey eyes analyzing every inch of me in that manner he'd been doing since the moment he met me, a fledgling vamp that all thought wouldn't make it more than a decade. 

Yet here he was. Further than most with those penetrative grey eyes that faced any display of power on head-on.

"Before Kalem, you tried to break down the servitude part of our lifestyle," Malcolm states, eyes still locked to mine with an unwavering gaze. "Throughout the generations, you've attacked many of his auction houses and others like his. But it's never worked, never brought it all to stop no matter how many you killed or burned to the floor, the result is always the same."

"This time the purpose is not the same," I argue and he nods quickly.

"But the result will be the same," Malcolm replies with a shrug. "He'll keep escaping you and two more will replace whatever you manage to destroy."

Malcolm was right.

He was always right whenever he decided to actually think, his intelligence greater than he was often given credit for. That aspect of him buried deep within the humor of his personality, a trait I often wondered was done purposefully or unconsciously.

"So what would you have me do?" I ask with a sigh as I sink down into the seat Kalem had curled in earlier.

"You need to face the truth." Malcolm manages, voice quieting at the prospect of the topic he knew I detested more than anything in this world. "Everyone already knows you're the first, they know you're the strongest, not him. But they follow him because you let them, if you just started a clan th-"

"No." I dismiss.

"It's wired into to us to follow structure, the strongest." Malcolm continues. "It's how they fucking made us to be, if you were Plyen and not just a Plyen, but the Plyen.... then they'd turn on him. They'd listen to you."

"No," I repeat, eyes piercing his as a sliver of my power escaped with my budding frustration.

Malcolm lips shut, his finding their way to the floor with forced submission while his jaws clenched with frustration. I force myself to reel in my emotions, hating that the effects left him wordless and barred.

"I'm sorry," I grumble as I stand to my feet, desperate to escape the rush of strength that was pumping its way through my veins.

Taking a few steps away from him, I try to gather myself, taking the effort to silence that addictive feeling that came right back whenever I used the power that was embedded into my blood. 

The one that could bring any vampire to their knees.

"Linc," Malcolm manages after a moment. 

I turn back to face my friend when I'm sure that I wouldn't silence him again in such a deplorable manner that was all too similar to the one we knew.

"I'm sorry," I repeat and Malcolm only smiles.

"You hate it more than any of us do." He replies with a shrug. "I've left this topic alone for all these years cause I know how you feel about it, but Linc... if you want to keep him safe, then you can't ignore it anymore."

Kalem.

Just the thought of him threatened to break every part of me as rage mixed with fear at the prospect of him being anything other than safe. My fingers wrap their way around themselves as my chest tightened to the point where breathing was an unfavorable task.

My illogical infatuation with the beautiful boy left me incapable of performing any task that ensured his safety. Every action I made was now composed with the intention of ensuring that he was happy, content, treasured and adored... smiling.

"Master!" Kalem calls as he rushes to me, beaming at me with an irreplaceable innocence I never wanted to leave him. "Master, can I show Aias the library?!"

I nod without hesitation as he crashes into me, squeezing me tight at my easy approval before kissing my cheeks the same way he had earlier. The perfect display of affection sending my dead heart into overdrive. 

Then he was off again. Running back to his friend without a single clue of what we had to face just to have this, to have what I knew I couldn't live without.

I knew then that I'd do it. Think about it at the very least if it provided the chance at a better life for him. 

"You're obsessed with him," Malcolm mutters making me laugh humourlessly.

"As you are with the elf." I retort, loving the way his mouth clamped shut at the truth. "Who would've thought it'd be a damn elf to scratch that... 'itch' of yours."

As Malcolm turned as red as a bloody lantern, my thoughts redirected themselves to his earlier words and my boy.

It was no longer a question of what I wanted anymore, that didn't matter.

Kalem mattered.

------------------

"A-And then, I showed Aias The Hobbit." Kalem relates, stumbling over his words with such forced that he was panting. "And I read for him and Master, I got through three of the first paragraphs before he had to help me!"

"That is fantastic Kalem," I reply, smiling proudly at him as his cheeks grew red at the praise. "I told you it'd just take some time and effort. I am so proud of you."

"Thank you, Master." Kalem beams, squirming slightly in his place in my lap under the weight of my praise.

"Soon, you'll be reading it all without a single fault, I can see it now." I encourage, Kalem shakes his head with a laugh.

"I don't know." He replies shyly. 

I tuck a finger beneath his chin and lift his head so those golden, hazel eyes met mine once more.

"You'll get there, I know it," I assure him before leaning forward to press a quick kiss to his lips. 

When I pull away, my smile only grows at the sight of the cute pout Kalem was sporting as he folded his arms and looked at me.

"What's the matter, love?" I ask, knowing Kalem would never speak his mind without a bit of a push. 

"Nothing Master," Kalem replies respectfully, struggling and failing to try and blanket his clear frustration.

"Do you not like my kisses?" I ask, an unintended smirk tugging at my lips as I rose a brow in question. "Should I stop?"

Kalem's face morphed into one of complete horror and fear as the words left my mouth. 

"No!" He protests immediately, "I love Masters kisses! I want more!"

When his own words finally make their way back around to his ears, Kalem's mouth immediately shuts as he slaps his hands over it with wide, fearful eyes. I tug at his wrists to stop him from hiding from me before I press gentle kisses up his palm.

"There's nothing wrong with wanting more," I assure him, not wanting him to ever take it back. 

"But Master said we had to wait for more stuff a-after kisses," Kalem replies as he watches me worship from with my lips. "More kisses m-make things....happen, s-so no more. I'll die w-with more."

I couldn't hold back the chuckle at his last words, the sheer virtue behind his less than virtuous desires was a contradiction I adored.

"I think I've made you wait long enough," I admit once I've composed myself. "I told you I wouldn't further that aspect of our relationship without ensuring that you knew what that meant and what it meant to be with me. Are you ready to talk about that now?"

Kalem's neck faced the risk of snapping with how vigorously he nodded his approval, smiling widely once more as he shifted until he was facing me directly with wide, impatient eyes.

"If we're going to pursue a relationship Kalem, it won't be as Master and Slave." I start, the words immediately extinguishing the excitement from his eyes. "You are not an item to be owned or used, I could never treat you as such. You shouldn't live by a set of rules that circulate around my pleasure, making one another happy should come naturally not in a structured setting."

The frown on Kalem's face told me one of two things; he didn't understand or he didn't agree with a single word.

"But I like that." Kalem manages softly, fearful to even share his opinion. "I like that I'm yours Master and I like to do things to make you happy, the rules make it easier for me."

"Rules that result in punishment when you break them?" I question in opposition. "You want me to hurt you when you do something wrong? I don't want to, I would never inflict pain on you, ever."

Kalem stays silent at this. 

I could tell that he didn't like punishments and couldn't argue against that, the small hole in his wrongfully wired brain making him stuck on what he wanted.

"But I like rules." Kalem reiterates after several moments of silence. 

I study him for a moment, knowing him well enough now to know that he was telling the truth. His truth, it differed from the things he thought to be true because he was told to believe that they were. 

I'd come to recognize the difference between the two after Wequie's visit where he assured me that Kalem liked me and not the Master he saw me as.

"So you want to keep rules between us?" I ask unsurely, Kalem nods quickly. "I don't like the thought of forcing you into a box like that."

Kalem thinks for a moment, nibbling on the end of his index fingers as he stares at my chest.

"Master can make his own rules." Kalem offers after a moment. "The trainers said that some Masters may have their own rules that weren't like the ones we know. So my Master can make his own rules, I'll listen to all of them."

As if becoming more fond of the idea as he thought about it, Kalem's smile grew by the second before he began nodding again and shifting closer to me.

"I want Master's rules." Kalem reiterates. "Rules for just me that are only Master's."

I smile helplessly at his enthusiasm, rubbing the dips of his hips with my thumb as I thought over his suggestion. He didn't have to say it for me to know that the real appeal to him was having rules that no other 'slave' had but him. 

It was something I could adjust to knowing it meant a lot to him, and this way I could stripe away the preposterous regiment he'd molded himself to follow.

 "Okay," I relent making him squeal just a little before he was hugging me with his warm frame. "We'll discuss those at a later date, but do you understand that just because you have rules doesn't make you my slave."

"Is it because I'm a bad slave?" Kalem asks into my shoulder, his voice too soft to be heard by the naked ear.

"It's because nobody should have a slave." I correct as I rub his back gently. "Nobody should own another being the way you were taught to believe, with time you'll see that. It's not right, what my kind do. The ownership and servitude, at least the manner, it's wrong."

I pull Kalem back enough to meet his slightly downcasted eyes as he looked at me with a weak smile.

"Okay, Master." He manages after a moment but I could tell that he didn't mean it. 

"Kalem," I start as I palm his smooth, creamy skin. "Until you're ready to believe what I'm telling you, please try to believe me when I say that if for some reason I wanted a slave, I'd choose you."

"Really?" Kalem asks with a sparkle in his eyes that broke my heart to see.

"Really," I reply. "If there was ever one, it'd be you. Okay?"

"Okay Master," Kalem says, his ready smile returning to his lips with this reassurance. 

"When I spend time with you Kalem, it's because I want to," I reveal as I continue to caress his narrow hips. "I like you Kalem because of everything that makes you perfect, not because you're property."

"I like you too Master," Kalem says with a returning blush. "I-I like Master a lot."

"Do you?" I question teasingly.

Kalem nods, looking down before facing me head-on with eyes full of determination.

"I-I like Master m-more than I should... more t-than a slave should." He admits, his words carrying a greater strength than I think he even realized.

He was admitting at this moment that he was someone outside of a slave, a person with wants and preferences. He was growing outside of the shell he'd be forced into.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing that I like you more than a 'Master' should," I reply before leaning in to take his lips the way I'd been stopping myself from doing for far too long.

Kalem moans against me as I caress his lips with my own, the soft full ones I was quickly growing an obsession with moving earnestly against mine. I wrap my arms around Kalem's waist, pulling him tight against me forcing another moan from him.

His heart thumping was like a perfectly tuned drummed, ringing within my sensitive ears to share his excitement while making me feel alive within this moment as my own heart swoll with joy.

Smiling against his lips, I let my tongue tease his bottom lip as I swipe across it, wetting his plump lips before letting my teeth capture it for a single moment. Kalem's sounds were both torturous and glorious, encouraging me to go further when I knew I'd have to take things in steps with him.

"Master," Kalem whimpers making my cock thicken immediately as his fingers run across the nape of my neck sending a shiver down my spine.

"Hmmm?" I question, not wanting to stop for anything.

"I'm hungry."

I immediately pull away with wide eyes full of disbelief. Kalem was never hungry, never.

We'd gotten him to three meals a day, but at least one of those bowls was mush and another was always fruits. I wanted to encourage more for him but was wary of pushing him past what he was ready to consume.

Now he was here, saying he was hungry.

"Like... for food?" I question, still a little doubtful.

He nods with one of those infectious giggles that managed to make my entire world slip off its axis without even trying.

"Okay, let's get you some food," I reply, humming my contentment when he pecks me several times before pulling himself from my legs.

I follow without hesitation as I knew I would with anything when it came to Kalem.

I was his for life, even if he didn't know that.

-------------------------------------------------------

I honestly adore Lincoln.

Thoughts???????

What did you think about Malc x Linc convo??? If you didn't understand parts about Plyen and Clans read Vampire 101 in Forever Ever After Tales. 

Vote up and comment if you did enjoy, I finally got some free time and started writing. It's now 1AM.

It's been a hectic, chaotic last two weeks and I'm about to sleep all weekend I think. 

Until next time,

Byeeeeeeeeeee Humansssssssssssss