Dead Men Tell No Tales

by a8csock (ladysockalot)

Summary:

As a necromancer Merlin had a duty to the dead, as much as he avoided it. However, Merlin wasn't sure if he was lucky or not to have met a vampire in a cemetery, especially when he was investigating murders perpetrated by a vampire.

Notes:

Many thanks to analise010 for answering my pleas for a beta. The help was much appreciated.

Merlin hated graveyards. Not in an aesthetic way but for what they were - resting places of the dead. Except when Merlin was around the dead didn't do much resting, hence why he avoided graveyards, cemeteries, places of the dead. Day or night he preferred to give them a wide berth.

If only he'd thought of that when he had been ten years old. If only he had decided not to take Will up on his dare and climb over the sharp stone wall surrounding Ealdor's graveyard. His hand had been cut deeply on the palm, but it was so dark Merlin hadn't seen the blood well up, though he had felt an odd sort of wetness on his hand with the sting of a fresh hurt.

They had sneaked past the imposing shadow of the church, a dark silhouette against a dark sky. There hadn't been much light from anything except the old battered security light near the church door. Will had set it off deliberately and the verger had appeared with a torch looking for trespassers.

They had hidden, crouched down behind a gravestone. Merlin had been able read the name sketched clearly on the stone: Joseph Thomas, recently deceased. There had been the smell of rotting flowers underfoot, tributes to a beloved grandfather whose grave had been neglected in the weeks since he'd been laid to rest.

The footsteps of the verger across the damp grass had come closer and Merlin had put his hand onto the ground to steady himself as he and Will had jostled for position behind the headstone. The damp grass had seemed to soothe his hand but he had almost felt something tugging at him, something pulling at him.

Then another louder noise had been heard, a strange sort of sound coming from the ground. It had sounded like digging, like the sound of nails clawing it at soil. Merlin had not been able to move, he had been frozen to the spot. Beside him Will had been scared, the whites of his eyes had showed in the darkness.

Then a hand had burst forth from the ground, it had scattered soil about as it reached for Merlin, and had tried to tug at the material of his trousers. The hand had been followed by an arm and then another arm. There had been the smell of death and flesh that shouldn't have been out in the air.

Then the head had come up out of the ground, the head of a man Merlin had known in life but which had been twisted and changed through the process of death. It had looked like Mr Thomas, and yet it hadn't been. The corpse had lacked something that Mr Thomas had had in life.

Will had screamed and run but Merlin hadn't been able to look away. He had looked in almost horror as Mr Thomas had hauled himself out of the grave in which he had been so carefully placed. Then the man’s lips had started moving, although Merlin never heard the voice as at that point he had fainted.

When he had awoke he had found himself in the Vicar’s home with his Uncle Gaius tending him. The Vicar had made the sign of the cross and muttered prayers, the verger had been there, his face ashen white. In the corner Will had whimpered apologies.

Necromancer. That was the word Merlin had been labelled with that night. At ten years old he had found out he had the power to literally raise the dead.

It wasn't a power he had wanted.

He had been lucky that his uncle had coaxed Mr Thomas back to his rest. Merlin’s fainting had luckily stopped the process before it had become too powerful for Gaius to reverse.

Although Merlin had told Gaius he hadn't meant to do it Gaius had told him he was gifted, special. Merlin hadn't thought so. He hadn't seen anything good coming from bringing back the dead, Mr Thomas's face haunted him every night for months.

Once a heart stopped beating that was where it ended as far as Merlin was concerned. So for the next sixteen years of this life he had avoided the dead. He had avoided graveyards, cemeteries, hospitals and morgues. He didn’t go looking for dead people. He couldn’t even keep pets so afraid was he that he might raise them once they had died.

When he moved to the city, to Camelot, he kept up this approach. He had a nice normal office job, far away for a supernatural world inhabited by zombies, vampires and werewolves. Gaius had spent years attempting to train him but by the time Merlin was twenty one Gaius had realised Merlin was not prepared to follow such a calling and had let him go to Camelot.

Although Merlin didn't go looking for the dead three nights ago it had felt as if the dead were looking for him.

The chances of Merlin stumbling upon a corpse were slim but Merlin's luck had finally run out.

Gwaine had invited him to a seedy bar in a part of Camelot Merlin rarely frequented. The neon sign outside had partly broken and 'h ri ng sun' did not give the impression of a respectful establishment. The man behind the bar had looked as if he would be more at home behind metal bars. Merlin would have felt safer that way.

On Gwaine's fifth pint and his second Merlin had felt exhausted. He had decided to go out and get some air. The crowded bar had been full of warm bodies and the noise had become too much to be drowned out by alcohol.

In the night air Merlin had explored the area the back of the bar. There were large bins off to one side, the rubbish practically overflowing. The light outside had been dim, and the area poorly lit so it took a moment for Merlin to have noticed the bright, white trainers sticking out from between the bins.

He had gone for a closer look, and then he had seen that the trainers were attached to legs. His mouth had felt dry as he went closer. He found a young man and he had looked pale, his skin lifeless. There had been the smell of death but so close to the bins Merlin hadn't picked it out.

Merlin should have gone inside before he had foolishly decided to check for a pulse. But he didn't.

The tip of one finger had suffered a paper cut earlier that day and as soon as Merlin had put it to the man’s neck to check for a pulse he had felt the cut opening up again, had felt a tiny trickle of blood flowing out. He had snatched his hand back but he had known it had already been too late, the eyes of the corpse had flickered open.

It had said two words' 'Help me.'

Despite his feet itching to get away Merlin had not been able to ignore the plea. He hadrecalled the haunted face of Mr Thomas, and he had been someone who had been cared for in death. This man hadn't and the only one who could help him was Merlin.

“Who are you?” Merlin had asked.

The corpse had looked relived and began to speak.

After years of running away from the dead Merlin had spent the next half hour talking to one of them.

The man, the corpse, had been named James Collins. Aged a mere twenty four, younger than Merlin. When Merlin had asked about his death James had pointed to his neck. There had been two clean puncture holes. Then James had turned around to show that the back of his head had been smashed in, his hair had been matted with dried blood.

He had been fed on and then kill by a vampire, Merlin had had no doubt about that.

Merlin knew about vampires, Gaius had been very thorough in his education. He had also known that the authorities would never believe it. They would dismiss the death as simple human murder, or an accident. Yet they hadn't been the ones who had to look the victim in the eye and face him asking for help.

He could have just put James Collins back to rest, gone into the bar, got spectacularly drunk and that would have been the end of it. He hadn't though. James's face had haunted him more than Mr Thomas's ever had. He hadn't been able to lay James back to rest without helping find the real killer.

He had always been told he had his gift for a reason, maybe he had found one.

“I'll help you,” Merlin had told the dead man.

James Collins had smiled as Merlin performed the ritual to lay him to rest. He had looked happier in death afterwards, as if the assurance of help was enough for him.

Back in the bar he had been tempted to drink several shots of vodka. Instead he had rung the police. The bar owner hadn't been exactly pleased but Gwaine's half drunken swagger had been enough to shut the man up until the police arrived.

They hadn't questioned Merlin too deeply, it had been obvious that James Collins had been dead for at least a day. They had seen the head wound but ignored the puncture wounds. Merlin had heard them discussing the possibility of the dead man falling over in a drunken stupor and hitting his head. They were never going to look too deeply Nor could they get a statement from the victim.

This was not a job for the police. This was a job for Merlin. He had promised the victim he would help, he had no choice. He had to find the vampire responsible.

Of course Merlin had no idea how to find vampires, at least not without risking exposing himself. He didn't want to alert them to the presence of a necromancer in the city, not if he could help it. Vampires generally did not like necromancers in their territory. Although he couldn't talk to suspects there were still some Merlin could talk to though and that was why he had ended up in the local cemetery.

Over the past week he'd raised seven corpses. Some had died naturally and had little to tell but two had suffered the same fate as James Collins. They were willing to talk, to offer details about their deaths. It was never pleasant to hear but they recalled some details that James Collins hadn't, location, the method is which they were surprised.

It wasn't much but it was a start.

Merlin had found another recently interred grave now and carefully brought out his knife, ready to cut himself and let his blood help bring the corpse to life for questioning. The blade glinted the moonlight and Merlin was about to press it to is skin when he felt he wasn't alone.

Looking around he couldn't see much. His torch wasn't very powerful and currently lay on the ground. All around him were the dark, imposing shapes of gravestones. Merlin had hoped he would be relatively safe in a graveyard, vampires couldn't feed on the corpses that lay beneath the soil.

Still, there was something out there. Merlin squinted, trying to pick up any movement. Then there was a sudden blur. Merlin dropped the knife as something whirled past him. He stopped himself falling over before he found himself face to face with a vampire.

It was funny really to be so sure that it was a vampire in front of him. In life the man must have been attractive, for he was in death. Still he had that pale quality, that slight otherworldliness that picked out vampires from normal humans. He didn't need to drop the carefully crafted mask of humanity either. Merlin knew from the slightly glinting eyes. The man smiled and flashed his fangs.

A show off vampire then it seemed.

“I wouldn't raise that one if I were you,” the vampire said, startling Merlin.

Picking up the knife Merlin gave the vampire a defiant look. “Why do you think I'd raise him?”

“You're a necromancer, I doubt you were using your knife to carve him a memorial in the ground.”

“I might have been.”

“And once you had he would have sprung to life again.”

Merlin was already suspicious of a vampire who crept about among the resting places of the dead. Unless he was checking on a newly sired vampire there was no reason for him to be there. “Why does it matter to you?”

“Because in life that corpse was a man called Cenred and he wasn't what you would call an upstanding citizen.”

“You knew him then?”

“We weren't on speaking terms but yes, I knew him,” the vampire said, looking down at the grave.

“And you would be? Other than a vampire of course.”

“I'm Arthur Pendragon.” The vampire spoke the name cockily.

“Okay, Arthur Pendragon, I'm Merlin and I was at this grave first.”

The vampire, Arthur, was frowning. “You don't know who I am?”

“Should I?”

“For someone who can speak to the dead you don’t seem very well informed.”

“About what?”

“I'm the Master Vampire around here, surely you must have heard of me?”

“I tend to avoid walking blood sucking corpses,” Merlin said.

“That's a bit harsh. Corpses aren't as charming as I am.”

“And not as egotistical.”

“You’re a strange one.”

“Says a member of the walking dead.”

“Most people don't insult Master Vampires.”

Merlin smiled tightly. “I'm not most people.”

“I know that. Most people don't raise the dead.”

“Why are you here anyway? You can’t feed off a corpse.”

“No, but I knew someone had been raising the dead. You're really not very careful, are you?”

“Careful enough.”

“Not enough to want to raise Cenred. He's probably try and kill you.”

Merlin sighed, did all Master Vampires come with such big egos? “I can take care of myself.”

Arthur didn't look as if he believed him.

“Anyway do you know how he died?”

Arthur shuffled his feet. “Yes. He was the human servant of one of the council vampires. Rumour is he got... ideas.”

“So he was killed by a vampire.”

“I suspect so. Not because of the same reasons the ones you've raised were killed.”

“You know about them?”

“Why do you think I'm here?”

“You have a gravestone fetish?” Merlin asked. If the vampire had wanted to kill him he would have done so without engaging in conversation and there was something about Arthur. Merlin was pretty good at reading the dead, and though at the moment Arthur wasn't dead per se, Merlin could still tell he was different.

“No. I came looking for you. I need your help.”

“You need my help?” Merlin repeated. “For what?”

“To help me find the rogue vampire going around killing humans. I'm the Master Vampire, this is my territory. Contrary to popular mythology dead humans aren't good for vampire business. I want to find the killer as much as you do.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Do you know anything about the vampire community?”

Arthur had a point. In the last week Merlin’s investigations hadn't exactly given him that many leads.

Even if he managed to get a description of the vampire he wouldn't know who to ask or where to look. “If I help you, you won't start ordering me around? If we do this we're working together. I'm not taking the orders of a vampire, I don't care who you are.”

There was a thoughtful look on Arthur's face, which Merlin tried not to see as attractive, and failed. “Very well then. I give you my word we shall be equals in this investigation.” He offered his hand.

With a quick intake of breath Merlin took Arthur’s hand and shook it. “Deal,” he said.

He'd just made a deal with a vampire.

“You won’t regret it, Merlin,” Arthur said.

“I hope not,” Merlin replied.

For a moment they just stood there, ending the handshake and then just looking at each other as if each was trying to size the other up. Merlin wasn’t sure what Arthur was thinking. This was the closest he had come to a vampire since he'd been fourteen and that vampire hadn't been anything like Arthur.

Arthur licked his lips.

“This deal doesn't involve biting me, you know that?”

“If I did bite you it would only beneficial,” Arthur said, casually running a tongue across his right fang.

Merlin shuddered. They were not there to discuss the benefits of vampire bites. And he was not thinking about letting a member of the walking dead he had just met bite him, even as the image of Arthur's fang flashed in his mind.

“Well, it wasn't beneficial to the murder victims so can we see if we can find any new graves?”

“There aren’t any more here. The latest victim is still in the morgue.”

“We can't go to the morgue.”

“Why not?”

“I think someone would notice if I raised someone in the morgue.”

Arthur smiled. “Trust me, they won't.”

“Are vampires running the morgues now?”

“Not all of them,” Arthur replied. “But we have to make sure any newborn vampires are properly looked after.”

“You just don't want them biting any pathologists.”

“Of course not. And we don’t want them breaking out of the freezers either.”

“All right let's go.”

“We'll take my car,” Arthur said, leading the way to the cemetery car park.

There was only one car parked there, an Aston Martin that Merlin could only have afforded if he had saved his wages up for a couple of decades and hadn't eaten or paid rent.

“Are you sure you're a vampire and not an underworld criminal?” Merlin asked as Arthur unlocked the car.

“Who said they had to be exclusive?”

Merlin must have looked shocked as Arthur then cleared his throat.

“I'm not actually a criminal, Merlin. It's safe to get in the car.”

“Safe to get in a car with a vampire who craves my blood.”

“Why would I crave your blood? You don't look as if you'd be much of a meal.”

For some reason the idea of not being a vampire's dinner disappointed Merlin. He blamed some weird aura of Arthur's, if he even had one. Looking into Arthur's eyes he did feel a little strange. Shaking his head he managed to gather his thoughts. “I would make an excellent meal,” Merlin said. “You don't know what you're missing.”

“I fed before I came out,” Arthur said.

“What was her name?”

“His name was Lancelot,” Arthur corrected. “He's a werepanther.”

“Is that a fetish thing?”

Arthur sighed. “They heal quicker. I have several I can call on. I feed from different ones each time.”

“How thoughtful of you.”

“Merlin, I know that recent events have probably given you a low opinion of vampires, but you can trust me. I'm the Master Vampire of this city and I try to make sure no human or animal gets hurt because of my people.”

Arthur's words were so heartfelt that Merlin could actually believe them. He hadn't met any vampires but he had studied them and Arthur was very different to the vampires he had read about in Gaius's musty old textbooks. He voiced this out loud. “You're nothing like the vampires in the books.”

“I probably am. I have the same heightened senses, speed, strength... “

“Ego,” Merlin interrupted. “I meant you care.”

“I do. And you care, Merlin, or you wouldn’t be raising the dead. So, will you get in the car now?”

Merlin nodded and climbed in. The car smelt new and the seat was comfortable. He watched Arthur get in. The vampire, Arthur, practically glided into his seat. Merlin gave a snort at the elegance of vampires before Arthur started the car and they headed off to the morgue.

 

Merlin couldn't suppress a little shudder as they approached the morgue. He had been avoiding these places for years, and now he was going into a place specifically designed to hold dead people. For some reason it was worse than a cemetery. At least there the poor people had some rest, here they were in a kind of limbo.

“We're not going in the front door,” Arthur said.

He led the way around the building to the back, where the bodies were delivered.

“Do you come here often?” Merlin asked.

“Someone has to keep an eye on any newly risen,” Arthur said. “As Master Vampire it is part of my job.”

Arthur knocked loudly on the door, far louder than Merlin thought was necessary.

“Are they deaf?” Merlin asked.

“There's nothing wrong with announcing your presence,” Arthur said.

Merlin was about to make a remark about Master Vampires and their almost royal entitlement when the door slowly creaked open.

Standing in front of them was a very well dressed porter in crisp blue overalls. Merlin knew he was a vampire from looking at him. The male had pale skin and no expression on his face. His stance was that of a butler rather than a morgue porter.

“Hello, George,” Arthur said.

He bowed. “Master Pendragon. I wasn't expecting you. We have no newly risen, nor any that will be. Unless of course you know of one that we've missed?”

“George, we're here to inspect the latest unfortunate victim of the rogue.”

George's gaze turned to Merlin and Merlin felt a bit odd. Arthur's gaze had been warm but George's was as cold as the corpses Merlin raised. “He's a Necromancer.”

“Do I have some sort of sign on my forehead?” Merlin asked. He was starting to wonder.

“Your power is quite distinct. I am sure every preternatural within a mile radius knows there's a necromancer about,” George said.

“And I thought I was being careful.”

Arthur interrupted. “Have you got somewhere suitable for a raising?”

There was a hint of a smile on George's face. “Just the place, Master Pendragon. Follow me.”

George led them to a room in the back of the morgue used for storing the newly arrived bodies. It was small, quiet and eerie, and Merlin could practically feel death seeping out of the walls. He shivered.

“Are you all right, Merlin?” Arthur asked, his hand on Merlin's shoulder.

Merlin turned to look into Arthur's eyes and he had that funny feeling again. “This is why I avoid morgues,” Merlin replied.

He kept looking into Arthur's eyes. Part of him felt like he should stop staring but he couldn't. There was just something compelling about Arthur. It was as if something odd was passing between them. He no longer could sense the death in the room, all he could sense was Arthur. Arthur whose hand on his shoulder felt warm, even though it shouldn’t.

Then the moment passed as Arthur blinked and Merlin felt as if he was coming out of a dream. The death surrounding them no longer bothered him.

“I have brought the unfortunate,” George announced, pushing a trolley in. The body was covered by a sheet. It was clinical, sterile, a version of death with the ugliness hidden beneath a thin sheet and the smell of disinfectant.

“Do you have the personal effects?” Arthur asked.

“I shall get them,” George replied.

Merlin stared at the sheet.

“Nervous, Merlin?”

“I'm about to raise a dead person, Arthur. I have to look into their eyes and know they aren't alive. I can never bring them back. What do you think?” Merlin was nervous, nervous of what he could do, and what he wasn't able to do.

“I think if you weren't nervous you wouldn't be as talented as you are.”

Taking that as a complement Merlin breathed slowly and lifted the sheet up. Another young man. That was the only thing close to a pattern Merlin had found. He only uncovered half of the body but it was enough to see the stab wound in the chest. The cause of death was plain for all to see.

George bustled in with various bags. “The deceased's personal effects,” he said.

Arthur took them from George and placed them on the trolley next to the body. “Thank you, George, you may go.”

“Sir?”

“Leave us.”

Merlin recognised a command when he heard one and so did George. He scurried out without a word.

“How do you want to do it?” Arthur asked.

Merlin was looking at his index finger.” It should only take a couple of drops,” he said. “I mean he's there, it's not like the blood has to go through soil.” It was much easier raising a corpse who wasn't buried, it required less blood and less effort.

Rummaging in his pocket Merlin pulled out a needle. “This should do it,” he said. “Are you going to watch?”

“I've never seen a Necromancer work before,” Arthur murmured. “And we are working together.”

“It's not a pretty sight,” Merlin warned.

“I've seen worse,” Arthur replied. His tone left Merlin in doubt he had.

Taking a deep breath Merlin concentrated as he brought the needle close to his finger and then pricked it. He felt the sting as a drop of blood welled up. Merlin let his finger hover over the corpse and then waited.

The blood on his finger welled up more until a single drop fell onto the corpse’s face. Pulling his finger back Merlin waited for a moment. It didn't take long before the corpse's eyelids fluttered open. The gaze of a dead man stared back.

Slowly the corpse sat up. At first its face was vacant until it seemed as if gradually the memories came back and the corpse frowned.

“What's your name?” Arthur asked.

The dead man looked at Arthur as if he wasn't really there, just a noise.

“What's your name?” Merlin repeated.

“John Davis,” the corpse replied, looking at Merlin. The only recognition on its face was that Merlin was there.

“Can you tell us how you died?” Merlin asked.

“I was walking out of a bar,” John said. “There was a noise. I went to look. I saw something. Then there was a pain in my neck. They were wearing black, a cloak and then they hissed. A pain in my chest.”

The corpse looked down at the wound that had killed him.

“Which bar?” Arthur asked.

John continued to stare at the stab wound. It was unnerving.

“Which bar was it?” Merlin asked.

“'The Rising Sun',” John answered, looking at Merlin. “Help me.”

Reaching out Merlin placed a hand on John's shoulder. “We will,” he promised, as he gently encouraged John to lay back down.

“Thank you,” the dead man whispered.

Nodding Merlin closed his eyes and drew back the power that had temporarily animated the dead man John simply closed his eyes and returned to the state they had first seen him in.

“Did it hurt?” Arthur asked, as Merlin drew his hand back.

“No, he doesn't feel anything now,” Merlin replied.

“I meant does it hurt you?”

Merlin shook his head. “I was born like this,” he answered. “It's...” Merlin didn't want to say natural because in his mind there was nothing natural about raising the dead. “Normal for me,” he said, finally.

“He didn't seem to know I was here,” Arthur said, sounding a little hurt.

“He knew you were here,” Merlin replied. “But he would only answer a necromancer, not a vampire. The dead don't talk to the walking dead.”

“Why?” Arthur asked.

“They don't have a reason too,” Merlin shrugged. “He only talks to me because I raised him, animated him.”

“Hmmmm,” Arthur looked thoughtful and then he began to go through the bags of personal effects.

“Driving licence in the name of John Davis,” he said, going through the wallet.

“Dead men don’t lie,” Merlin pointed out.

“And a bar receipt,” Arthur said, ignoring Merlin's comment. “He was at 'The Rising Sun'.”

Merlin sighed. “I told you, dead men don’t lie.”

“It doesn’t hurt to check, Merlin,” Arthur replied.

“So, are we going to 'The Rising Sun'?”

Arthur looked at his watch. “We have time.”

 

Merlin recognised the bar as the same one Gwaine had taken him to. Here was where he'd found the first dead body, left to rot among the bins. The place held little appeal.

“There's something you should know before we go in,” Arthur said. “I own this bar.”

Merlin looked at Arthur, a well dressed vampire who drove a car probably worth more than the wreck of a building masquerading as a bar. “You own this bar? Since when?”

“It's a recent acquisition.”

“Don't you think it's a bit weird for a vampire to own a bar called 'The Rising Sun'?”

“With any luck that will throw the tax man off.”

“You need a new sign,” Merlin said, pointing the broken neon letters.

“I don't know 'h ris g s ' has its charm.”

“What does a vampire know about running a bar?”

“Quite a lot, actually. I own two bars, a nightclub and a pub,” Arthur said.

“Why? I mean...”

“Vampires like a good night-life. Come on.”

Stepping across the threshold Merlin remembered how the interior of the bar was not much better than the exterior. Except whereas before he had had a few disgusted looks from the locals this time he saw them look at Arthur almost reverently.

“How did you do that?” Merlin whispered.

“As a Master Vampire I have many talents, Merlin.”

Arthur led them to the bar. Merlin didn't recognise the barmaid but Arthur clearly did. He gave her a warm smile. “Ah, Mary,” he said. “Do you have the customer lists in the office?”

“Yes, Master Pendragon, all laid out on the desk as usual.”

“Thank you,” Arthur said.

The noise in the bar was still far quieter than Merlin was accustomed to and he was grateful as Arthur led him to a door at the back of the bar labelled 'Office. Private'. He didn't want to stay out in the bar on his own.

“What's a customer list?”Merlin asked.

“We keep lists of all the customers that come in here,” Arthur replied, taking out a key to unlock an inner door.

“Everyone?”

“Everyone who buys a drink, yes.”

“What if they pay by cash?”

“We have our ways,” was Arthur's cryptic response.

The office was as dark and dingy as the rest of the building. Arthur flicked on a light but the sole light bulb was poor and didn't illuminate much. Then Merlin remembered that as a vampire Arthur didn't exactly need bright lights to see.

“Here they are,” Arthur said, as he picked up a pile of papers from the desk. “Do you remember the names of the victims you raised?”

Merlin nodded. He never forgot anyone he raised. He couldn't.

“I need you to find them in these lists, confirm when they were at the bar. What day and roughly the time.” Arthur handed him a thick pile of paper.

Merlin leafed through it. “There must be hundreds of names on here.”

“Most will be repeats,” Arthur said. “When you find one put it to one side.”

“And what are you going to do?”

“I have to check the accounts while we're here,” Arthur said. “This bar doesn't run itself.”

It took Merlin well over an hour to go through all the names but eventually he had neat pile of papers with the dates and rough time the victims entered the bar.

“Did you find all of them?” Arthur asked.

Merlin nodded. “Every victim came here in the last month. Sometimes more than once.”

Arthur smiled. “That's good work, Merlin.”

Merlin yawned. “We were supposed to be working together but so far I've done all the work.”

“Don't worry, Merlin, I'll help tomorrow.” Arthur picked up the papers. “I am grateful.”

“Well if you're grateful you can give me a lift home.”

“Of course.”

 

Merlin felt exhausted by the strain of a raising and the close work of reading lists by dim light. All he wanted to do was get home, get to bed and fall asleep. He wasn't even aware of walking to Arthur's car, his mind was already dreaming.

It was only when he realised Arthur had been driving in the direction away from Merlin's flat that he managed to wake himself up a bit.

“Arthur? Where are we going?”

“Back to my house.”

“Your house? I can't...” Merlin looked outside at the unfamiliar scenery. It seemed they were leaving the city. “You need to drop me off at my flat.”

“I can't, Merlin. It's too close or sunrise and we don't have time.”

“I can't come back to your house!”

“Why not?”

“Because...”

“I have a spare bed for you.”

“Not a coffin?” Merlin joked. He liked Arthur but he wasn't sure if going home with him was a wise idea. He was still a vampire.

“I have a bed too,” Arthur said. “Coffins are nice but you can't really do much in them.”

Merlin tried not to conjure up the image of Arthur's bed and what exactly he could do in it. “I'll stay,” Merlin said. “But just tonight. I mean today.”

Arthur smiled. “You'll be fine, Merlin. I promise.”

Merlin believed him. He was slightly worried that Arthur could say anything and he would believe him, but he hoped not.

 

The sky was starting to lighten as they pulled up outside what Merlin could only describe as a mansion. It looked old but not aged. The stone façade wasn’t crumbling or damaged. It was also quite modern; there were no gargoyles or spooky cravings on the exterior.

“There's lot of money in running bars then?” Merlin asked as he got out of the car. The fresh air hit him and woke him up a little.

“I've had five hundred years to make money, Merlin, this seemed a good way to spend it.”

“You're five hundred years old?”

Arthur nodded. “A bit older but I haven't celebrated a birthday since I was turned so I can't be sure.”

If Merlin had just met Arthur he would have guessed that he as abut his own age. Of course he knew Arthur would have been older, he was a vampire but the actual figure was surprising. “You don't look a day over eighty,” Merlin said.

“Thank you, Merlin,” Arthur said as he knocked on the door. The sound nearly broke Merlin’s eardrums

“Don't you have a key?”

“I do but this way is easier.”

“Or lazier.”

The door creaked open, loudly, and a dark skinned man looked out at them. Merlin immediately knew he had to be a vampire. Probably as fangs were still slightly visible as he spoke.

“Master Pendragon.”

“I've brought a guest, Elyan,” Arthur said, putting an arm around Merlin and bringing him close. “We'll be going straight up to my suite.”

“We were worried you wouldn't make it back before dawn,” Elyan said, glancing at Merlin.

“We've had a very productive evening,” Arthur said. He glanced at Merlin and then at Elyan.

Merlin wasn't sure what was going on as something seemed to pass between the two vampires. He had heard that some vampires were telepathic but evidence was scarce.

“I'm Merlin,” Merlin said in order to break the silence.

“Nice to meet you,” Elyan said. He didn't offer a handshake.

Arthur looked outside and then pulled Merlin inside with him. “Hey!” Merlin said as Arthur manhandled him. Not that he really minded but he at least had to act offended.

“I'm sorry, Merlin but it is nearly daylight,” Arthur whispered.

Inside the mansion Merlin could see all the windows were shuttered and blocked against any sunlight peaking in. Before them was a large staircase but there was little light to make our details. Obviously the rest of the vampires had gone to bed and they wouldn't have any need to see anyway. Presumably it saved on their electric bill.

“Come on,” Arthur said, leading Merlin up the stairs. He still had an arm around him for which Merlin was grateful. He didn't want to trip on the unfamiliar stairs.

“It was nice meeting you,” Merlin called to Elyan. The vampire nodded back.

“Is everyone else in bed?” Merlin asked as they reached the top of the stairs.

“They should be by now,” Arthur replied. “My suite is just along here.

Merlin could pick out picture frames along the walls but not the subjects in them. It was so strange to be walking through a house this dark this so close to dawn. Part of him wished he could get a better look at things. It might be only his chance.

Eventually they came to a heavy door and Arthur opened it. The room was dark but Arthur put in the light so at least Merlin could see that the suite was probably the most sumptuous he had ever seen. Not even five star hotels had suites this opulent.

The carpet was plush and soft, the furniture expensive, rich mahogany and gilded. The wall paper was old fashioned flock, and the red curtains heavily embroidered with gold thread. There were marble statues and a marble fireplace. It was ridiculous.

“A fortune in running bars then?” Merlin said.

“I'll give you a quick tour,” Arthur said, glancing at his watch. “This is the living area.”

“A vampire with a living area,” Merlin said, the irony not lost on him.

Arthur led the way through the double doors and through into what was obviously the bedroom. There was a large wooden four poster bed with rich red silk hangings. Merlin himself picturing Arthur and his pale skin against the sheets wondering how they would feel.

“And this will be your room,” Arthur said, breaking Merlin thoughts as he led them into another room.

This bedroom wasn't as large as Arthur's. The bed was a still a four poster but it lacked the delicate carving of Arthur's. The hangings were still expensive but green and not silk. It was simpler and made Merlin relieved. He wasn't sure he could sleep in a bed like Arthur's.

“Whose bed is this?” Merlin asked.

“Yours.”

“What about before?”

Arthur looked away. “I've never had a use for it before,” he said.

Guessing he wasn't going to get a straight answer Merlin yawned.

“I'll leave you to it,” Arthur said. “There are spare clothes in the drawers over there that might fit you and the bathroom is through that door.”

“Thank you, Arthur,” Merlin said.

Arthur nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him, leaving Merlin alone in the strange bedroom. In the vampire’s lair, Merlin mused.

He found pyjamas to fit him in the drawers and there was a new toothbrush and toothpaste in the bathroom. It was almost as if Arthur had been expecting a guest. Maybe he was just prepared. Although deep down Merlin knew there something more to it than that.

He climbed into bed and tired to sleep but his mind was filled with thoughts of the evening and Arthur, always Arthur. His body felt dead tired but although the bed was comfortable his mind kept racing and he just couldn't sleep. Glancing at the clock on the bedside table Merlin realised it had to be dawn. Normal people would be waking up soon, but Merlin was not normal.

Although it was rude Merlin got out of bed and moved his leaden limbs to the door connecting to Arthur's room. He knew he shouldn't but every time he closed his eyes he thought of Arthur. There was some desire in Merlin to check up on Arthur, see if he was all right, that he hadn't turned to ashes.

Merlin padded over to the bed, the room was as dark as night but the room was sparsely furnished. He came close to Arthur's bed and flicked on the bedside light to see Arthur lying in his bed. To most people Arthur would seem asleep but not to Merlin.

It wasn’t sleep really, just controlled death. Looking down Arthur was a corpse. A corpse that would waken at first light when his soul returned, but until then he was a dead body like those in the ground, or the morgue. Except he wasn't, not to Merlin.

It was a funny feeling to know that he could place a drop of blood on Arthur skin and control Arthur's body. But it wouldn't be Arthur any more than the dead men he raised were who they had been in life. There would be something missing. Something that Merlin would miss.

Gently Merlin reached out and touched Arthur's pale, technically dead, cheek. Then he snatched his hand away as he realised he had touched Arthur with the finger that had the paper cut. He checked there was no bleeding and sighed in relief that there wasn't. He had no desire to raise Arthur. Arthur could do that himself.

Feeling relieved Merlin went back to his own bed and fell asleep almost instantly. His dreams were filled with dark cemeteries at night and a certain vampire smiling at him, fangs catching the moonlight.

Merlin wasn’t sure how long he slept. Arthur faded in and out of dreams. Sometimes he was near, sometimes he was far away. Sometimes they were back in the bar, or Arthur's room, other times in a forest or a castle. Just before Merlin woke up he saw flames dancing in his eyes. They didn't burn but he looked through them and saw the world through the dancing flames.

“Merlin?”

He could hear Arthur and then he felt a touch to his shoulder, a gentle nudge. “Merlin? Wake up.”

Merlin opened his eyes to see Arthur, already dressed and ready, standing over the bed. At least that's what he thought he saw, he was still seeing the world though flames. He blinked and his vision cleared.

“You're awake,” Merlin said.

“The sun set an hour ago,” Arthur replied. “Come on, we've got things to do.”

Yawning a little Merlin stretched to wake himself up. He got out of bed and went to the bathroom. The shower was warm and the spray woke him up. As he got out he noticed fresh towels. He wondered if vampires needed to shower. Gaius's books hadn't mentioned their hygiene habits. Those books were more preoccupied with how to defeat them.

He changed into his own clothes in the bedroom and wandered out to find Arthur seated at a table laden with food.

“I thought you might want breakfast,” Arthur said, indicating the spread before him.

“I can't eat all that,” Merlin said. There literally piles of food in front of him; fruit, bread, meat, jams, spreads, toast, eggs, bacon, sausages; like a hotel buffet.

“Well, eat what you can,” Arthur said.

Merlin took a seat opposite and began to heap food onto his plate. “You're not going to eat,” Merlin said, more as a statement of fact than a question.

“No,” Arthur replied.

Merlin bit into an apple. “Do you miss it? Eating?”

Arthur eyed the food Merlin was putting onto his plate. “I do, yes.”

“Oh.” Merlin hadn't thought about that. There were of course downsides to being a vampire, which was why some of the infected chose a quick death upon rising rather and than having to 'live' as one.

“It's all right, Merlin, I've survived hundreds of years without food.”

“I didn't mean....”

“I know, but you’re an open book. You don’t need to feel sorry for me just because I can't eat. I'm happy being a vampire.”

“Not like in those Gothic romance novels then? Where the vampire is a tortured and lost soul?”

Arthur snorted. “Do I look like a tortured soul?”

Looking at Arthur, attractive, confident, and smiling Merlin had to admit he was about as far form a tortured soul as he could imagine. “No,” Merlin said. “You'd probably look all right as broody vampire though.”

“I could try it and you could give me your verdict,” Arthur said.

Merlin nearly choked on the piece of toast he'd just bit into. Arthur was at his side patting his back immediately.

“Sorry,” Merlin coughed. He just wasn't used to happy, attractive vampires flirting with him. Assuming that was what it was.

“It was my fault. I forget my charms are pretty powerful.”

“And your ego so small,” Merlin countered, he could breathe again. Although for some reason when Arthur took his hand away Merlin missed it.

“We should get to work,” Arthur said, going over to a desk. “We need to go through the vampires who were present when all the victims were killed.”

“One of them will be the rogue?” Merlin ventured.

“Yes. Unfortunately we get a lot of repeat visitors. There's several vampires here who were present at the time' Cedric, Sophia, Aulfric, Morg...” Arthur stopped and became completely still. If he were human he would have probably paled.

“What is it?”

“Morgana. She was there each time,” Arthur said, flicking through the papers.

“You know her?”

“We need to speak with her,” Arthur said, getting up and pacing the room.

Merlin shoved the rest of this toast in his mouth, grabbed another apple and followed Arthur to the door.

Arthur was silent on the walk to the car, he remained silent as they drove away from his mansion. Now he was looking more like a tortured vampire form a Gothic novel, his face was set with worry.

“Arthur? Are you all right?”

Arthur kept his eyes looking front, not sparing Merlin a glance. “Fine.”

“You're worried about this Morgana,” Merlin guessed. It hadn't been that hard to notice Arthur's strange withdrawn behaviour had started when he'd read her name on the list.

“I know her very well. She's dangerous.”

“How do you know her?”

“She was, is, my sister.”

Merlin knew vampires sometimes turned several humans but he had no idea if they had family. “Vampires have siblings?”

“We were siblings as humans. We were sired by different vampires within a year of each other.”

“Does that happen a lot?”

“No. But both our Sires liked to pick attractive young men and women to turn. Our family had good genes.”

“And not a lot of modesty,” Merlin muttered.

Now Arthur turned to look at him with the barest hint of a smile. “Are you saying I'm not attractive?”

“Do you want me to?”

The hint of a smile died away. “Anyway be careful around Morgana. She might seem friendly but she's capable of terrible things.”

“She's killed people?” Merlin guessed the answer was yes by the way Arthur was looking so concerned.

“She killed our father.”

Merlin hadn’t expected that. He wasn't sure how to reply. It was not as if he had any idea what it was like to be a vampire and have your once human sibling kill your human father. “So you don’t talk much to her then?”

“No. Turning changes you, Merlin, and Morgana...” Arthur paused. “I should have helped her but I didn't.”

“Could you have?”

“I don't know.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Merlin...” Arthur smiled. “I appreciate what you're trying to do but it was a long time ago.”

“Well if you want to talk about it...” Merlin shrugged. “I don't even know why I'm offering.”

“You're a good person, Merlin.”

Merlin felt a little flush in his cheeks. “Thank you.” Merlin couldn’t help his curiosity. “Who was your Sire?”

“Her name is Nimueh, she's very old and very powerful, and she's on the council. Morgana's Sire is Morgause and hopefully you won't have to meet her.”

“Why?”

“She's worse than Morgana.”

Merlin frowned.

“You'll see when you meet my sister,” Arthur explained.

Merlin wasn't sure how long they had been driving for but they were definitely out of Camelot itself. The houses had thinned and looking outside Merlin could see wide open spaces, fields and hedges. It was odd that he was able to pick out so much detail even in the darkness.

“Morgana doesn't live in Camelot then?” he asked.

“No. That's her choice.”

Eventually Arthur pulled off the main road and onto a slightly uneven track. They were surrounded by trees that Merlin thought would probably look spooky and forbidding even in daylight. He suspected that was intentional. When the trees cleared he saw a house. Not a mansion like Arthur's but still larger than average.

It didn't have statues or carvings on it but it felt forboding. The door was oak and a large iron door knocker with the face of a witch stared out at Merlin. Arthur picked it up and banged on the door once, twice, three times.

“Do vampires not like doorbells?” Merlin asked, his ears feeling as if they had been blasted with noise.

Arthur just gave him a look.

The door was opened by a pale looking woman, well, vampire, dressed in a black gown. It looked old, as if it had been woven from thick fibre. There was no colour to it at all, it was Merlin, thought, clichéd vampire clothing.

“Arthur,” the vampire smiled coldly.

“Morgana.”

Merlin felt uncomfortable as he felt Morgana's gaze flicker onto him. “Who's this?” she asked.

Before Merlin could answer Arthur did it for him. “This is Merlin. He's helping me investigate the rogue.”

Morgan swung the door right open. “You should come in.”

Arthur walked in and Merlin followed. They stood in the entrance and Arthur made no move to go any deeper into the house. Merlin was grateful. He was sure he could see images of snakes on the walls.

“I'm sorry to have to ask you this, Morgana,”Arthur began.

“You don't think I'm the rogue, Arthur?” she said, her voice sounding innocent.

“You were there on each night the victim was killed.”

“So were other vampires and I'm sure you have their names,” Morgana said, coming up and standing toe to toe with her brother. “Arthur, if I was going to go and kill humans, do you think I'd be that stupid?”

“I don’t really know what to think, Morgana. I thought I knew you once.”

For a moment it seemed to Merlin that Morgana looked a little sad. “We did know each other once but your Sire and mine have never been friendly, have they?”

“No. And I'm sorry. I have to know, Morgana, the truth.”

Morgana looked down and turned away from Arthur, walking away slightly. “I don't know who the rogue is, Arthur, it’s not me.”

“Can I trust your word?”

“Can you afford not to?”

“Morgana...”

Arthur wasn't able to finish as suddenly Morgana appeared in front of Merlin. He felt like he was a mouse being looked over by a cat.

“So, Merlin, how did you and Arthur meet?”

There was something in Morgana's tone that had Merlin feel a little bit threatened. She was gazing at him with as much intensity as Arthur had the night they met, but whereas Arthur’s gaze had given him a feeling of warmth Morgana's sent a slightly icy chill down his spine. “In a cemetery,” Merlin said.

“He meets a lot of people like that,” Morgan said, her gaze wavering a little. “Very few of them are alive though.”

“I must have been one of the lucky ones then,” Merlin replied. He thought of Arthur and the contrast between Arthur and his once sister. They were so different.

Morgana started to frown. “Yes, you are.” She glanced at Arthur.

“Do you have anything helpful to tell us, Morgana?” Arthur asked.

“Telling you I am not your rogue is helpful.”

“Helpful to our investigation,” Arthur said, his voice sounding slightly annoyed.

“I think that's all the help I can give you,” Morgana replied.

“Then we should go. Merlin?”

“Nice to meet you,” Merlin said.

Morgana gave a slight smiled. “Yes. I didn’t think you the type to pick a necromancer for a servant, Arthur.”

Servant? Merlin knew the word. Vampires had human servants, humans they fed upon, humans who were marked. Four marks to make a human a vampire servant; a deep gaze, a deeper gaze, the offering of blood and the giving of it was the poetical way it was described. In truth the first two were more mental links, the offering of blood allowed the sharing of thoughts and the giving of blood by the vampire gave immortality and a bond to the vampire for eternity. Surely Arthur hadn't... ?

Looking across Merlin could see guilt on his face. Morgana was smiling.

“It was nice to see you, Arthur,” she said, giving Merlin a look.

“I wish I could say the same,” Arthur replied, and turned his back to Morgana, walking out of the room and to the door. Merlin scrambled to follow him.

“Arthur!” he called as they left the house behind. Arthur didn't turn to look at him. “Arthur!”

As he got to the car Arthur stopped and looked back at Merlin. “We're leaving,” he said.

“Arthur, we need to talk.”

“About what?” Arthur asked, already opening the door.

“About what your sister said! You've marked me, haven't you?”

Arthur didn’t say anything but the guilt on his face told Merlin everything he needed to know.

“You have. I should have known. The first mark you did in the mortuary, the deep gaze, and the second you did when I woke up, that's why I saw flames.” Merlin recalled the chapter on human servants from the old books of Gaius's. He was kicking himself he hadn't recognised the signs earlier, it had been so obvious, Arthur hadn’t even tried to really hide what he was doing. The marks weren't literal, they were mental, burned onto the soul, but clear enough if you knew how to look for them.“Why? Why did you mark me?”

“I marked you to try and help keep you safe,” Arthur said.

“That's it? You didn't want to make me your slave?”

“Merlin, human servants aren't the slaves of vampires. They're cherished.”

“And walking blood banks. Subject to a vampire's needs and wants.”

“They are given gifts in return for what they do. You must have noticed your senses have improved. And you were immune to the mind tricks Morgana was trying.”

“How do you know she was trying mind tricks?” Merlin remembered the way she’d looked at him.

“I know my sister. She only realised you were marked when they failed.”

“You're not telling me everything, are you?”

“I know you're angry, I know you're upset, but we need to get away from here.”

“Morgana?”

“She's watching,” Arthur said.

Looking back the house Merlin couldn't see her in any of the windows but he guessed that if she didn't want to be seen she wouldn't be. “We still need to talk,” Merlin said, opening the car door.

Arthur looked relieved. “We will.”

 

When they got back to Arthur's mansion they headed up to his suite. There were few vampires about but they said nothing and kept their heads bowed. Merlin guessed that was the advantage Arthur had as Master Vampire, no-one would ever question him out of curiosity. Except Merlin was going to, he needed to.

As soon as Arthur closed the door to his suite Merlin spoke. “You marked me.”

“I am sorry, Merlin, I realise that this is...”

“A violation of trust,” Merlin interrupted. “I trusted you, Arthur. I thought we were supposed to be equals.”

Arthur looked surprised. “You trusted me?”

Merlin threw his hands up. How could Arthur not have known? “Of course I trusted you. I climbed into a car with a vampire, stayed in a mansion full of vampires, of course I trusted you.”

“I'm not used to people trusting me,” Arthur said, quietly, sitting down in a chair.

Taking the chair opposite Merlin was confused. “What about the other vampires?” he asked.

“Most of them fear me, Merlin. That's not trust.”

Merlin recalled the bowed heads and quietness. “I don't fear you,” he said.

“I noticed,” Arthur said with a half smile.

“So why didn't you tell what you were doing?”

“I thought if I did you'd run away screaming.”

“So you didn't trust me.”

Arthur sighed. “It's not about trusting you, Merlin.”

“You didn't trust me to not run away screaming. Do you think I would scream?”

“I don't know.”

“Arthur, I didn't scream when I was jumped on in a cemetery by a vampire.”

“You may have had a point if you had.”

Merlin had had the silent car journey back to sort out his feelings but he found that with Arthur in front of him they had become more muddied than ever. “I'm still angry, Arthur, but I can understand. I know what it's like to keep secrets because you don't want to lose someone.”

“Who says I didn't want to lose you?”Arthur asked, not making eye contact.

“You didn't want me to run away screaming.”

“All right but how do you know I just didn’t want to lose your expertise?”

“Because if you wanted to you could have forced me with your magic vampire mind control powers.”

Arthur looked at Merlin. “I don’t want to control you, Merlin.”

“Even though you marked me?” Merlin couldn't think of what other reason Arthur had other than the fact on some level he didn’t trust him.

“It's not about control. I honestly thought I was giving you a gift. I knew it would help you.”

“You still should have told me.”

“Yes, I should.”

With Arthur admitting held made a mistake Merlin felt his anger lessen. He couldn't blame Arthur entirely. Arthur wasn’t human, human behaviours and emotions probably didn’t mean much to him any more.

“I don't think your intentions were evil.”

“Perhaps a little misguided?”

Merlin nodded. That was perhaps the word. “Yeah. Just don't mark me again unless I ask.”

“I swear, Merlin. I give you my word.” Arthur offered his hand out, as he had in the cemetery and, just as he had in the cemetery, Merlin took it.

“I still trust you. I probably shouldn't. My mother would say I shouldn't trust vampires who marked me as their servant without me knowing.” Arthur hand felt warmed by his and Merlin found he didn't want to let go, not yet. He could feel something between them.

“Merlin, I should probably tell you that I don't have a human servant but if I did I'd want it to be you.”

It wasn't reassuring of Arthur to say that, but it did touch Merlin. “I did wonder what it would be like if you bit me,” he admitted.

“Would you want me to bite you?” Arthur asked, fangs dropping.

Merlin shuddered slightly at the sight of them, and it wasn’t out of fear. He still held Arthur's hand. “Are you doing that vampire mind control thing?”

“No, Merlin, why?” Arthur said, leaning forward.

“No reason,” Merlin mumbled, his gaze drawn from Arthur's fangs to his lips.

It was as if every feeling Merlin had had been replaced by a desire to kiss Arthur. He didn't know where it had come from. He had been angry with the vampire for marking him but somehow he managed to forget that.

The touch of Arthur's lips on his wasn't the shock Merlin had thought it would be. He kissed Arthur, pressing his tongue against razor sharp and feeling a slight pain as the taste of blood filled the kiss. He should have been worried but he didn't care.

He knew his tongue was bleeding and he was pretty sure that Arthur's fangs had nicked his lips as well. The blood ran out of his mouth into Arthur's, he could feel his pulse in his lips and tongue, his heart beating even as he fed Arthur blood through the intimacy of their kiss.

It was then that things started to get more intimate. Merlin had closed his eyes but now images began to flash before them, and he was sure he could hear Arthur speaking to him, but of course he couldn't be. Unless...

Merlin pulled back from the kiss and looked wide eyed at Arthur. He could feel blood dripping down his chin. “The third mark,” he whispered.

Arthur was licking his lips and nodded. “I didn’t have time to ask,” he said. “You just... did it.”

Merlin remembered exactly what he had done, he had broken his tongue open on a vampire’s fangs. He had offered Arthur his blood. “I didn’t think it would be enough to actually be a mark,” he said. “The books said the vampire had to drink from the human.”

“The amount of blood doesn't matter, Merlin. A drop can be drinking.”

Then Merlin could hear Arthur's voice in his head. Don't be afraid.

“I'm not going to run off screaming,” Merlin said. “But could you just talk out loud?”

“I will, Merlin.”

Merlin breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay so I just kissed a member of the walking dead and accidentally got the third mark.”

“Are you sure you're not panicking?” Arthur asked.

“No,” Merlin squeaked.

Arthur took his hand again. “Merlin, I know this is probably a shock to you but just relax.”

Merlin could feel a brush in his mind. “Arthur, no vampire mind control,” he said, pushing back.

“Are you calm?”

Merlin took a few deep breaths, acutely aware he was close to having bound himself to a vampire forever. “Yeah. I think so.”

“Good,” Arthur smiled.

For some reason that put Merlin at ease. He wasn't convinced Arthur wasn't using vampire mind tricks but he couldn't sense anything from Arthur other than soothing thoughts. That should have disturbed him but he felt comforted.

“This isn't too weird for you?” Arthur asked.

“I'm a necromancer, Arthur. I raise dead people, weird is normal for me.”

“Do you want to rest before we go out again?” Arthur asked.

Merlin wasn’t sure he wanted to be alone in a room with Arthur and their thoughts. He wasn’t sure where it would lead, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to find out. “No, who's next on the list?”

Arthur made a face. “Sophia,” he said, before Merlin caught the tail end of his thoughts. More annoying than Morgana.

Merlin, despite himself, laughed.

They met Sophia the car park of the cemetery. She stood lazing next to the wall, looking relaxed. She didn't acknowledge their presence, even though Merlin was sure she must have noticed them.

“Why are we meeting her here?” Merlin asked.

“Because Sophia doesn't actually have a fixed address,” Arthur said. “It's a long story.”

Merlin decided he'd have to remember to ask why later. At least he now knew that not all vampires lived in vast mansions and big country houses. Some vampires were apparently homeless.

Sophia seemed to toss her head as she greeted them. “Hello, Arthur Pendragon.”

“Hello, Sophia,” Arthur said. “We need to talk to you.”

“We?”

Merlin felt Sophia’s gaze on him and now recognised the signs of a vampire trying to probe at the edges of his mind. This time though it was simple enough to block the attempt consciously. Arthur's protection ran deep.

“This is Merlin, he's a necromancer and he's helping me with this enquiry.”

“You mean the rogue vampire. News gets around, Arthur,” Sophia said, turning away from Merlin and studying her nails.

“Apparently it does. Morgana, was it?”

Sophia gave a cold hearted smiled. “Cedric, actually. I hope you're not going to accuse me of being your rogue.”

“You were present when all the victims were killed.”

“I couldn't have killed all three. Someone would have noticed.”

“Did you kill any of them?” Merlin asked, not feeling the least bit intimidated by Sophia.

“No. But it doesn't mean we haven't all been tempted to kill a human now and then.” Sophia gave a predatory glare.

Merlin still didn’t feel intimidated. He had Arthur by his side and three of Arthur's marks. It was going to take more than one pouty vampire to make him feel scared.

“Speak for yourself, Sophia,” Arthur said.

“I said tempted, Arthur, and you’re the one making a necromancer your servant.”

“I'm not his servant,” Merlin said. It's okay, Arthur, he whispered in his mind.

“Interesting. Marking necromancers for fun then, Arthur?”

Arthur looked annoyed. “Do you have anyone who can corroborate you not killing the humans?”

“My Sire and I'm sure he's on your suspect list too.”

“Aulfric, yes, he is. Why should we believe him? You could have been working together. You have before.”

Sophia was stony faced. “That was well over a century ago, and in case you don’t remember my Sire took the blame for that. My involvement was never proved.”

“If I find out you've been lying...” Arthur said, beginning to let his veil of humanity drop.

He was interrupted by the voice of man, well male vampire. “Sophia is not lying, Arthur Pendragon.”

Merlin looked behind to see an older looking vampire walk toward them. That was something of a surprise. He had never seen a vampire with grey hair before, they all looked eternally young. This one did not. He was intimidating and although Merlin hadn’t felt threatened by Sophia this vampire did send a brief chill up his spine.

“Aulfric.”

“I had heard you were looking for the rogue. Rest assured after my previous treatment from the council I have no wish to incur their wrath again. I know the consequences. And Sophia is the same,” Aulfric said, putting an arm around her.

Arthur stared at them for a moment. “All right, but if I find out you've been involved you know the price.”

Aulfric bowed his head. “I will tell you that you may not be looking for one.”

“Are you going to tell me any more?”

“I don't know anything more,” Aulfric said, smiling. “I only know that the vampire you're looking for is clever and clever vampires don't make themselves so obvious.”

“You think someone's helping them.”

Aulfric glanced down at Sophia. “I think you should leave now. I wouldn't want to inform Nimueh that you're harassing innocent members of the community.”

“I have the full support of my Sire,” Arthur said, his tone sounding dangerous.

“Do you?”

Merlin could feel the tension in the air, Arthur's hurt pride at the reference to his Sire. Merlin decided enough was enough. He had no desire to see Arthur get into a fight.

“Arthur, I think we've found out enough,” he said. Please.

That got Arthur's attention. “All right. I am sure I'll be seeing you again. Sophia, Aulfric.”

“Until then,” Aulfric said.

As Arthur and Merlin walked away they could hear Sophia call after them. “Nice to see you.”

Arthur just scowled and Merlin put a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Are there any nice vampires?” Merlin asked as they drove home. “Apart from you?”

“I'm sorry you've been meeting the less pleasant members of my community.”

Merlin shrugged. “It's all right, we're investigating murders. If we were talking to humans we wouldn't be talking to the nice ones. But are they all like that?”

“A vampire sometimes brings over aspects of their personality into their new life. From what I hear Aulfric was never a particularly charitable human and Sophia was the same. She's the only one he's ever Sired.”

“What he do? He said he was in trouble with the council.”

Arthur sighed. “He did... experiments. Ones that the council who never allow him to do. Sophia helped him find victims but she's right they never proved it. His punishment was to be starved for three decades.”

“He didn't have any blood?” Merlin had read about he effects of starvation on vampires, it was brutal. Perhaps that was why Aulfric looked so old.

“No. He's lucky he survived as well as he did. If he hadn't had Sophia he probably would have ended up begging for death.”

“Is that what will happen to this rogue? When we find them?” Merlin asked. The rogue had been an abstract concept before, but they were a vampire, they had a 'life', undead as it was.

“That's up the council, Merlin. I can make recommendations to them but the ultimate decision is theirs.”

“And they'll listen to you?”

“Master Vampire is an important position, Merlin,” Arthur said. You know that.

“I believe you.”

“We should make it home before dawn,” Arthur said.

“Do you need to feed?” Merlin asked.

“I can survive one more night,” Arthur replied, letting his fangs drop. “Why?”

“I'm not going to be your blood bank,” Merlin said, even as he imagined those pointed fangs sinking into his throat and shuddering from the thought of it. Of course he then realised he was probably thinking so loud Arthur had probably caught the image.

The smile Arthur gave proved he had. “We won’t do anything you're not comfortable with,” he said.

“Maybe one day,” Merlin replied. He suspected eventually he would give in but he was going to attempt a little resistance. His stomach growled.

“I think though you need to feed,” Arthur said.

“You just want to fatten me up,” Merlin said.

“If you don't have any objections.”

Merlin couldn’t think of any.

 

As soon as they got back into Arthur’s suite Merlin noticed a fresh spread of food on the table.

“Do you have servants for this?” he asked.

“I am a Master Vampire, Merlin. I have employees,” Arthur replied.

Merlin sat down and took in the feast before him. There were a variety of cooked dishes, rice, pastas as well as bread, fruit and what looked like chocolate and cake.

“I can't eat all this,” Merlin said.

“You don’t have to eat all of it,” Arthur replied. “I just didn’t know what you’d like so I asked Gwen to give you a selection.”

“Who’s Gwen?”

“Elyan's sister.”

“Actual sister or turned sister?”

“Both. They were turned just a few years ago so she still remembers how to cook.”

Merlin tested a forkful of one of the pasta dishes' tomato and cheese. “It's good,” he said, before he noticed Arthur staring.

“What?”

Arthur had his mouth open. “I can taste it,” he said.

“That's what the third mark does, right? It means you can taste things through me?”

Arthur nodded. “I didn't expect it to be this... powerful,” he replied.

“Is it okay?” Merlin asked. Arthur hadn't eaten in centuries so Merlin was slightly concerned about overwhelming Arthur's senses.

Arthur smacked his lips. “It is good,” he replied.

Feeling Arthur's satisfaction Merlin tried another bite. Arthur had his eyes closed and seemed to be savouring it far more than Merlin was. But then Merlin’s primary occupation was to feed his stomach pangs rather than indulge in culinary tasting.

He went through and tasted each dish. He decided to stay away from the more spicy looking ones, he wasn't sure Arthur was ready for chilli or curry yet. Not after he had even found taste in the blandness of rice.

Merlin was starting to feel full but he didn't stop. He took small bites of the fruit and small spoonfuls of the cake, which nearly sent Arthur into spasms of ecstasy. Part of him felt guilty for the obvious waste of food but then part of him didn't care when Arthur was so clearly enjoying himself.

Maybe being bound to a vampire wasn't all bad.

“You should stop now, Merlin,” Arthur said. Merlin felt very definitely sick and he wondered if Arthur had noticed.

He nodded. “Yeah, I think I should.”

“Thank you,” Arthur said. “I appreciate what you've done for me, Merlin.”

“It's all right,” Merlin said. “You marked me because you wanted to keep me safe. Now I can use those marks to help you enjoy eating.”

“It's a fair trade off,” Arthur said. He looked at the clock. “It's nearly dawn. We should sleep.”

Merlin was aware they were in Arthur's room, with one double bed. “Arthur, I can't... not in the same bed. Not yet.” Soon. Maybe.

“It's all right, Merlin.” I am immortal. Waiting is fine.

Merlin smiled and got up. “I'll see you tomorrow then?”

“Good night, Merlin,” Arthur replied.

Before Merlin had had chance to blink Arthur had stood up, kissed him and sat back down. “Okay, that was...” Too quick to appreciate.

“Wait until tomorrow,” Arthur replied.

As he got ready for bed Merlin was still aware of Arthur’s presence in his mind. It wasn’t an intrusion; it felt like Arthur was meant to be there, like part of the natural background hum of Merlin's thoughts. As Merlin got into bed he felt that mental comfort of Arthur.

The he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, with thoughts of Arthur running through his mind it wasn't easy. He was just feeling as if he was dropping off when he felt a void in his head. He could no longer feel Arthur, hear him. It was as if he had suddenly vanished and left a gaping hole in his place.

Adrenaline rushed through Merlin's body. He was fully awake, desperately trying to seek Arthur out but he couldn't find him. He wasn’t aware he was even heading to Arthur's room before he'd reached there. He was at Arthur's bedside looking down at Arthur sleeping.

If Merlin had thought it was disconcerting seeing Arthur lie there when he was 'asleep' before now it was worse. He reached out and felt nothing, just an empty place devoid of feeling and thought. He recoiled from it. Arthur was a shell, he wasn't there. He was, to all intents and purposes, dead.

“No,” Merlin breathed. “No.”

He knew what happened to vampires when they slept but now he was feeling it. Feeling the lack of a soul. To him Arthur was as empty as the shells of humanity Merlin briefly raised from the dead. Merlin didn't like it. He hated it.

Laying down next to Arthur he pressed his ear against Arthur's chest. He could hear a very dull thud. A single, solitary heartbeat, the only proof that Arthur wasn't really dead, that he was going to come back. Merlin waited for the next one.

Each moment he waited felt an age. He didn’t even know how long it had been before he again heard a dull thud. He breathed a sigh of relief., clinging onto that one sign. Eventually, as time passed, Merlin found himself falling asleep as he heard another dull thud.

The next night he woke up to find Arthur wasn't in bed. His panicked eyes searched around, newly enhanced senses allowing him to see even in the darkness of Arthur's suite. He couldn’t see him anywhere and his heart began to pound.

“Merlin? Are you all right?” Arthur asked as Merlin felt a touch on his shoulder.

Merlin flung his arms around Arthur and felt him, solid and real and maybe not alive, but not dead either. “You're back. You're back.” Thoguhtyouweredead. Worried. Couldn'tsleep.

“I'm sorry, Merlin, I should have warned you,” Arthur said, rubbing Merlin's back. “I didn't know how disconcerting would be.” Sorry. I'm Sorry.

“Neither did I,” Merlin said. I'm okay now. “Next time maybe I should sleep in your bed to begin with,” he joked.

Arthur kissed his ear. “I wouldn't complain.”

 

After a very interesting breakfast, if a meal at night could be called breakfast, during which Merlin introduced Arthur to the delights of scrambled egg, they set off to find the final vampire on the list.

“Who is Cedric?” Merlin asked.

“Not a law abiding citizen. He's one of the few vampires I've met that actually takes pleasure in stealing material goods.”

Arthur pulled the car into the car park of 'The Rising Sun'.

“Do you think he'll be here?” Merlin asked, peering out and seeing several vampires already wandering into the bar.

“He's here every night trying to pickpocket his fellow patrons. He'll be here.”

“Are we waiting in the car?” Merlin asked, noticing Arthur was making no move to get out.

“Yes. We don't want to attract any attention.”

“We're going to follow him.”

“Yes. Cedric could be the rogue but he's not the most intelligent vampire you'd ever meet.”

“You think someone is behind him?”

“Yes. Another more powerful vampire is behind this but they might be using Cedric. If we follow him he should lead us to them.”

“Do you think this is safe?”

“We don't have any other leads.”

Arthur had a point. It seemed to Merlin that getting vampires to reveal any information, useful or not, was difficult, if Sophia and her Sire were anything to go by.

“I think they knew more than they were letting on,” Arthur said.

“I don’t know if I am ever going to get used to you reading my mind,” Merlin said.

“I hope you don't,” Arthur said.

The mental images that Merlin was suddenly picking up were a bit too distracting when they were meant to be keeping an eye out for a vampire suspect.

“Sorry,” Arthur said, pulling his mind back a little. “You're right, Merlin, we should stay focused.”

“We should,” Merlin replied, but not before casually thinking of Arthur kissing him.

It seemed an age before they eventually saw Cedric stumble out of the bar. Thanks to his link with Arthur, Merlin was able to recognise him just as quickly as Arthur had.

“What do we do?” he asked.

“We see what direction he's going and then follow,” Arthur said with his hand on the car door. “Quietly.”

Merlin nodded.

They waited until they were certain which street and direction Cedric was going in. South away from the bar, was Arthur's opinion. Carefully they got out of the car, making sure to close the doors as silently as possible. Cedric might have been a lesser vampire than Arthur but he was still a vampire, with the senses to match.

Walking behind him they kept the shadows as much as possible, a broken street lamp aiding them. Then Cedric seemed to turn down an alleyway in front of them.

Where is he going? Merlin wondered.

Good question, Arthur replied.

They followed him to the mouth of the alleyway and peered into the darkness.

“Hello, boys,” Cedric said. “I wondered when you'd get here.”

Merlin caught the tail end of Arthur's thought, it's a trap! before he felt a blow to the back of his head and he collapsed in darkness.

When Merlin came to the first thing he noticed was that he and Arthur were no longer in an alleyway but some kind of darkened room, probably a basement of some sort.

“Arthur?” Arthur?

Merlin's thoughts echoed his speech.

Arthur had been lying next to him but now he slowly opened his eyes. “Merlin?”

“It was a trap,” Merlin said. “I think Cedric was working with rogue.” He rubbed the back of his head where there was a slight throbbing.

Then he heard the door open and, looking up, he saw a blond haired female vampire standing in the doorway. “For a human you're very perceptive,” she said.

Even in the darkness Merlin could feel her icy gaze. It reminded him in a strange way of the way Morgana had looked at him.

“Morgause,” Arthur said, sounding bitter.

“Morgana's Sire?” Merlin asked.

“Yes, I am.”

Arthur staggered to his feet and Merlin forced himself to follow. His head was throbbing and he felt a little nauseous but he wasn't going to let Arthur face danger alone. With a smile Morgause held out a glass bottle.

“Don't try anything, Arthur Pendragon. I have a bottle with holy water in it and armed guards outside. If you are thinking of escaping, you can't.”

“You're the rogue. You killed those humans,” Arthur said. “But you weren't at the bar...”

“Of course not. It was much easier to have willing helpers bring victims to me. It wasn't hard.”

“You used more than one,” Arthur said.

Suddenly the pieces started to fit together.

“Of course. Do you really think that I would stupid enough to have the same vampire bring me a victim each time? The only trouble was using Cedric, he was there each night and I thought you'd get suspicious of him.”

The casual way in which Morgause said victim made Merlin's anger rise. “Why did you kill them?”

Morgause didn't answer.

“Why did you kill them?” Arthur repeated. “We have a right to know.”

“Why not? I never agreed with your appointment as Master Vampire, Arthur. The role should be Morgana's. And it soon will be.”

“You're going to blame me for the deaths.”

Morgause smiled. “Of course. Now before I announce your fate I have a few things to take of. But I'll be back. I suggest you use the time wisely.”

She turned her back and immediately Arthur leapt forward to catch her, but not even his vampire reflexes were quick enough, and the door had closed after Morgause before he had a chance to even touch her. Arthur then pounded on the door. There was no handle; it had been locked from the outside.

“Morgause seems to have reinforced with something. I can't break it,” Arthur said, punching it in frustration. Not even his vampire strength could dent it.

“Arthur.” You'll hurt yourself.

“I'm sorry, Merlin, I just don't want to just sit here and wait for our demise.”

“She can't just kill us,” Merlin said. Although Morgause's coldness meant that, in reality, he knew Arthur was right. Morgause was exactly the type of vampire he had read about; cruel, unnatural, and a killer.

“She probably has a plan to blame the human deaths on me,” Arthur said, pacing. “She'll tell the council that I was the rogue or I was killed by the rogue themselves.”

“And they'll believe her?”

“Merlin, she's a powerful vampire many centuries old. The only other vampire close to her power is Nimueh. My Sire.”

“Oh.” Merlin hadn't missed the implication. If Arthur's Sire and Morgause were rivals all the more reason for her to kill Arthur.

“And what she might do to you...” Merlin felt waves of complex emotion from Arthur; fear, love, protection, hurt. “If she gives you the fourth mark...”

“I'd be bound to her,” Merlin finished. The link was not complete until the fourth mark. Whichever gave it gained the human as their servant. “Do you think she would?”

“If it meant hurting me, yes,” Arthur replied. Merlin knew immediately what Arthur was going to say. “Merlin, I know you don’t agree with human servants...”

“Do it,” Merlin said, without hesitation.

“Are you sure, Merlin, really sure you want the fourth mark?” Arthur came close and Merlin could feel Arthur's breath. Not that Arthur needed to breathe but he kept the illusion of some humanity.

“Arthur, if I had to be bound to any vampire I'd choose you. And not just because every other vampire I've met has been a homicidal maniac.” Merlin laughed nervously.

“You can change your mind,” Arthur offered.

Never. The thought echoed strongly in Merlin's mind.

Arthur brought his wrist up to his mouth, extending his fangs and then biting down hard, tearing at the flesh just enough so blood welled up. It was the same colour as human blood, a dark rich red. He held it up to Merlin's lips and looked hopeful.

Tasting blood wasn't something Merlin considered normal, but after the last few days he wasn't sure that that was any more, if it had ever meant anything. Closing his eyes he lowered his mouth to Arthur's wrist and pressed it against Arthur's blood.

He could feel the metallic taste of the blood enter his mouth as he gently lapped at it. It didn't taste like human blood, but seemed to feel him with a warmth. It was nice, pleasant, and it didn’t feel as weird as Merlin thought it would.

Not knowing how much blood vampires had to spare as soon as he was sure he had ingested some Merlin pulled back and licked his lips. Looking down he could see Arthur's wrist was already healing, the blood he had taken now gone from sight.

“Thank you,”Arthur said.

“I don't have to call you 'Master', do I?” Merlin asked.

“No, Arthur's fine.”

Feeling a little strange Merlin sat down, his back against the wall. Arthur joined him, taking hold of his hand and the two of them sat together, just absorbing their new situation and wondering how long it would last.

Merlin thought they might have their answer when Morgause returned some hours later.

“How touching,” Morgause said. “The great Arthur Pendragon who said he would never take a human servant has bound one to him.”

“I chose this,” Merlin said. “You should know that.”

“We know why you're here, Morgause,” Arthur said. “So what are you going to do to us?”

“Now you’ve foolishly bound yourselves together you've given me plenty of options. Whatever I do to one will affect the other. A touching death really.” Morgause smiled.

“I think someone will notice my death, Morgause.”

“They will but they won't question it,” Morgause replied, clapping her hands once. “Like they won't question this one.”

Merlin was dimly aware of two large vampires entering, carrying something. He wasn't sure what the something was until the body of Cedric, who had been alive just a few hours earlier, was thrown into the room with them. A large stake had been driven through his heart. Not even an undead vampire could survive that.

“Cedric. You killed him?” Merlin asked.

For once Morgause answered him. “He had served his purpose.”

“Like Cenred did?” Arthur asked.

“Cenred got ideas. He had the gifts because I gave them to him. I chose to give him immortality but he foolishly thought it was his to do with as he pleased.”

“Does life mean so little to you, Morgause?”

“Life and death, Arthur, two sides of the same coin.”

“And how are you going to kill us?” Arthur asked, standing up. He might not be as old as Morgause but he was powerful in his own right. Merlin scrambled to his feet as he realised they were captives but not restrained.

“I'm not going to make it as quick and painless as it was for Cedric. You deserve a much more painful death.” With a wave of her hand the shutters for the basement windows suddenly lifted. Despite being a basement the windows were large. It was still night so no sunlight could creep in, but that would not be the case in the morning.

“By the time dawn comes this room will be flooded with sunlight. You will burn, Arthur, burn slowly and painfully and your servant will die with you. And Cedric's evidence will burn up with you.”

“You can't do this,” Arthur said stepping forward, but then froze, as if he had met a barrier.

Merlin tried to push forward but he too met resistance. It felt as if he was pushing against a glass window.

“I can. And I have. There’s just one more thing.” Morgause clapped her hands again and the two large vampire that had been standing outside the room entered.

Before Merlin could do anything one had him restrained, with a knife to his throat, whilst the other bound his wrists with some sort of chain.

“Don’t try anything, Arthur, or your servant will die,” Morgause said.

“His name is Merlin,” Arthur said, loudly.

The vampires then bound Merlin’s ankles together and, unable to balance, Merlin fell to the floor, at least managing to sit up, even though the position was awkward. As Arthur rushed forward to help the two large vampires grabbed him and restrained him in the same way. Arthur too was bound with chain at the wrists and ankles. Then the two of them were bound together at the wrists as Morgause uttered some words that seemed to make the chains tighten.

“I'm going to leave the door open,” she said. “There's a natural sunlight lamp outside, timed to come on when dawn breaks. It means this room will be completely flooded with sunlight. Just in case you thought you might be able to hide in corners. Say your goodbyes. Sunrise is only two hours away.”

She turned and left the room, the two large male vampires followed her. Hench vampires, Merlin thought and caught a mental smile from Arthur, despite their predicament.

As soon as they were alone Merlin could feel and hear Arthur straining to break the chains that tied them together. “She must have enchanted them,” Arthur said, sounding strained. Merlin could feel Arthur slump against him. “I'm sorry, Merlin.”

“It's not your fault, Arthur.”

“I should have seen this.”

“You're a vampire, you're not psychic.” Even if you can read my mind.

“I still should have known.”

Merlin could feel Arthur's guilt so strongly he wondered if it was his own.

“We are going to get out of this,” he said, firmly.

“How? I can't break these bonds.”

Looking around the room Merlin noted the only object in the room with them; the body of Cedric. All they had to help was a dead vampire with a stake through his heart. But perhaps that would be enough.

“But someone could untie them.”

“Who? There's only the two of us here.”

“Cedrics's body,” Merlin said, indicating the dead vampire lying just a metre away. He shuffled closer, dragging Arthur with him.

“What about it?”

“We can use it. Use him.”

“How? He's dead, Merlin. Dead twice over.”

“And I'm a necromancer, remember?” Although Merlin had never actually raised a vampire he was sure the principle would be roughly the same.

“Merlin you can't raise a dead vampire.”

“I'm going to try,” Merlin said firmly, already using his fingers to find a sharp edge to the chain to cut himself. “I need your help,” he said. “I don't know if my blood will be enough.”

Raising a human it worked perfectly well but Cedric was a vampire and Merlin reasoned it might take a vampire's blood as well to raise him. He could sense Arthur had strong doubts.

“Please, Arthur, we don't have another choice.”

I know. Arthur nodded and began to move his finger against his own chains. If they were strong enough to restrain a vampire they should have been able to cut vampire skin.

Merlin shuffled over to Cedric’s body. It was difficult to get close enough to touch his cut finger to Cedrics's skin, especially as he and Arthur were bound together. Eventually they manoeuvred so Merlin was in position. Merlin let his finger hover Cedric's neck. Arthur?

Done.

Arthur shuffled as close as he could. Even bound up he still had vampire grace and speed, at least compared to Merlin. Ready.

“Okay, “Merlin took a deep breath. Now.

He touched his finger to Cedric’s skin and immediately felt his power flare, but it was different this time. It felt stronger, richer, as if he was drawing on a vast well. It was still his own, it felt completely his own, but it was as if his bond with Arthur had suddenly taken his power and extended it as much as his life.

So absorbed was he that he barely noticed Cedric’s body start to move.

Merlin!

Realising what was going on Merlin was pulled back from revelling in his power and looked at the newly raised vampire. Cedric looked even more vacant than the corpses Merlin had raised. Here there would be no residual memories to draw upon, those would have gone when Cedric became a vampire. All there was was a body, one that Merlin could use.

“Sit up,” he said, but Cedric made no move.

“I don't think telling him is how it's going to work,” Arthur said. “Control him with your mind.”

Closing his eyes Merlin blocked everything out but Arthur and his power. It felt almost as if Arthur was gently guiding Merlin as he wove strands of power into mental commands and directed them outward. He didn't open his eyes but he could hear shuffling.

He tried to picture Cedric sitting up, then standing, then kneeling to untie the bondings that held he and Arthur trapped.

Open your eyes.

Merlin opened one eye first, and then the other. He slowly let in each of his senses. He turned and saw Cedric's body working the bindings on his wrists. His concentration slipped a little and Cedric's hands stilled. Closing his eyes again Merlin repeated the technique and Cedric began to move again.

It took longer than Merlin had hoped for he and Arthur to be untied. Once he was free he helped untie Arthur but the chains were enchanted and his fingers hurt from the strength needed to simply unwind them. As a dead body Cedric had no feelings, and as a vampire he was strong so suffered no pain or ill effect.

As soon as he was free Arthur looked at the window. Merlin could see red sky as the sun was clearly starting to peek above the horizon.

“We need to get out of here,” he said.

Arthur nodded.

In the doorway were the natural sunlight lamps, blocking their way, waiting to come on as soon as the sun appeared.

“I'm going to send Cedric first,” Merlin said.

“You think Morgause has booby trapped those lamps,” Arthur said, picking up on the thought Merlin had just had.

“Wouldn't you?”

“If I was Morgause I probably would,” Arthur admitted.

“Stand behind the door, out of the way,” Merlin said. “Where the light won't reach.”

“Bossing me around already, Merlin?” Arthur asked, even as he went to stand behind the door, where hopefully the lamplight wouldn’t reach.

“For your own good,” Merlin said. “Ready?”

Arthur was positioned with his back flat to the wall. He nodded. “Ready, Merlin.”

Cedric’s body had slumped down, nearly collapsed, but Merlin reached inside himself, drew on his power and forced the dead vampire to stand up properly. He took a deep breath and stood behind Cedric, pushing the vampire forward. Cedric's steps were slow but steady.

When Cedric was less than a metre from the doorway Merlin had him pause. He looked over at Arthur who nodded. Ready.

Merlin pushed Cedric forward. As they had suspected as soon as Cedric came within a step of the doorway the sunlight lamp came on. Merlin had to shield his eyes from the light. He could smell burning vampire flesh but he knew Cedric was dead. With a final huge push he sent the rapidly disintegrating body of Cedric into the lamp.

There was a crash and then everything was dark again.

“You did it,” Arthur murmured.

Merlin realised he still had his arm over his eyes. He lowered it, some spots of light still dancing in his vision. He could see the charred remains of Cedric's body, there wasn't much left, among the shattered parts of the lamp.

“You must be the most powerful necromancer in at least three centuries. I've never heard of one being able to raise a vampire before. Control us when we're asleep, yes, but raising one is beyond that. And controlling a dead vampire is unheard of,” Arthur said. He had stepped forward out of the corner.

“We can save the praise for later,” Merlin said. “We need to get out of here.”

The sky was already getting lighter. It wouldn’t be long before the encroaching dawn let sunlight into the basement they were in.

“Come in,” Arthur said, making his way to the door.

Merlin followed, picking his way through glass and the sticky residue of Cedric’s body. They stepped into a dark stairwell.

“I'll go first,” Merlin said, going up the stairs.

Merlin!

“I'm immune to sunlight, remember? I'll go first and make sure Morgause didn’t leave any more booby traps.”

Be careful.

Merlin smiled and made his way up the stairs. His cautiousness was well served. As soon as he opened the door at the top of the stairs he found a room bathed in light from sunlight lamps with the windows completely uncovered. It was clearly an insurance plan in case Arthur had made it this far.

Carefully Merlin turned off all the lamps, unplugged them and broke them by knocking them onto the floor. He then pulled the curtains tight shut, the sun now starting to make its presence felt. Then Merlin investigated the rest of the house. In a few rooms he found sunlight lamps but they weren’t plugged in. It seemed Morgause was confident enough in the traps she’d left.

Only when Merlin was sure that no light was going to enter did he call for Arthur.

Merlin.

Arthur sounded weak and Merlin belatedly realised of course he would, it was dawn and Arthur should be safely tucked up in bed. Being 'awake' or the vampire equivalent at this time wasn't natural. He was surprised Arthur was still conscious. He went back down the stairs.

“Can you walk to the top?”

“I can try,” Arthur relied. Speaking seemed too much of an effort.

With Merlin’s support Arthur made it to the top of the stairs but it was clear he couldn't carry on for much longer. Merlin carefully guided him to a sofa and helped him lie down.

“Sleep here,” Merlin said. “I'll take care of you.”

“You don't have to.”

“I want to.”

“What about you?”

“I'll sleep when the sun's up and I know it's safe,” Merlin said, giving Arthur a kiss. “Sleep.”

Merlin felt the exact moment that Arthur fell into the death of sleep. An empty void. At least this time he was prepared for it. It still unsettled him, well it did more than that, but he and Arthur were alive, relatively, they were safe for now and that comforted Merlin.

He made one last rounds of checks, making sure the house was secure, before he let himself lie down next to the sofa and fall asleep.

 

As soon as the sun set and Arthur woke Merlin could feel his agitation. In fact that agitation was what woke Merlin up.

“We need to get out of here,” Arthur said, before Merlin had barely had time to really get his bearings. “Morgause will have called a council meeting by now.”

“We need to stop her.”

“Yes!” Arthur shouted and then softened his tone. “Sorry, Merlin.”

“It's okay,” Merlin replied. I can feel you're angry. “You look pale. I mean more than usual.”

“I haven't fed in a couple of days,” Arthur said. He was paler than usual and his skin didn’t have the same vibrancy to it.

Merlin's heart beat harder. “Feed now then,” he said. Carefully he bared his neck, angling it at Arthur

“We don't have...” Arthur stopped and stared at Merlin.

“It's no good if you go the council hungry. You need your strength.” Please.

Arthur dropped down beside Merlin. “Well, maybe a little,” he conceded. “If you don't mind.”

“Does it look as if I mind?” Merlin asked. He should have felt vulnerable but he didn't. He saw Arthur fangs drop and there was nothing but desire to have Arthur bite him.

“It won't hurt,” Arthur said.

I know.

Merlin felt Arthur's breath on his neck and felt the fangs lightly graze his skin before there was a sharp pain and then nothing but pleasure. He could feel his warm blood flowing out and into Arthur where it was needed. He felt a little light headed but it wasn’t because of blood loss.

Arthur was doing more than simply drinking Merlin's blood. He could feel Arthur touching his mind, filling it with thoughts of writhing naked bodies. Merlin was growing hard, his blood diverting to his groin even as Arthur took his share. And it was a share, Merlin’s blood was for both for them.

He didn't feel Arthur's fangs let go as the intimacy pushed him over the edge. He came in a wave of orgasmic pleasure and thoughts of what he and Arthur could do. He nearly passed out but not quite, though he was sure he had seen stars.

Arthur licked the wound closed, the warm swipe of his tongue grounding Merlin in reality. “All right?” he asked, his cheeks now flushing, slightly rosy.

“Is it always going to be like that?” Merlin asked.

“Next time it will be better,” Arthur said, getting to his feet and offering Merlin a hand.

“Better?” Merlin wasn’t sure he could take better.

I'll take care of you, Arthur's mind whispered as Arthur gently kissed him. He withdrew and smiled sheepishly. “We really should get to the council.”

“How?”

“I thought I saw a phone. I'll call Elyan and have him bring a car,” Arthur said.

“You know where we are?” Merlin asked.

“I'm the Master Vampire of the city, I've kept a close eye on Morgause. I know she had an isolated safe house about ten miles from Camelot.” Arthur sent over to the window and pulled back the curtains, letting in moonlight. “This is it,” he said, looking outside at the landmarks.

“And when the car comes?”

“We go straight to the council to stop Morgause,” Arthur said, already walking to where the phone was on a nearby table.

“So we're going to walk into a room full of powerful vampires?” Merlin asked.

“Yes.” Arthur picked up the receiver and began to dial.

Merlin put a hand on Arthur's shoulder. “I have a better idea.”

“A better idea? Merlin...” Arthur's hand hovered over the keypad.

“What if you brought proof with you?”

“Why would I need proof?”

“It's your word against Morgause's. And she's more powerful than you.”

“What proof could we bring? I don't think Cedric’s remains count, if there's anything left.”

There was of course a proof Arthur had forgotten, a human proof, the sort of proof that could haunt even a vampire. “We need to visit the morgue and maybe the cemetery.”

“Merlin?” Arthur looked puzzled, even though he had to be aware of the idea running through Merlin's mind.

“I can make your proof walk and talk, at least for a little while.”

“You can do that? For all of them?”

Remembering the vast well of power he now had, that he had barely tapped into, Merlin smiled. “Oh yes.”

Arthur began to dial.

 

Speeding laws did not apply to vampires, Merlin decided. He'd never travelled in a car this fast in his life, but then vampires had little to dear from a car crash compared to humans and their mission was an important one. Arthur let Elyan drive. Their first stop was the morgue and George was more than happy to help them. He even found suitable transportation for the 'witnesses' an old ambulance used for taking the bodies to the funeral directors.

Merlin found raising the first one was far easier than it had been before. His blood had barely touched the skin of the dead man before his eyes flickered into vacant animation. The dead man needed no persuasion to come with them. Even the dead wanted their justice.

At the cemetery Merlin went from grave to grave, raising Morgause's victims. No more than a single drop of blood was required and Merlin did not feel tired at keeping all the dead animated. Before it had seemed such effort to even raise one but now Merlin felt he could raise the entire cemetery and create an army of the dead.

“Not tonight, Merlin,” Arthur said.

Along with Morgause's human victims there was one more Merlin suggested they raise. “Cenred,” he said. “He's a witness.” He could tell Arthur was uneasy. “Morgause did kill him.”

“All right but if I think he's starting to become a threat you put him back immediately,” Arthur said.

Merlin took Arthur’s concerns seriously and as Cenred hauled himself out of his grave Merlin could see why. He had never thought he' see a dead man with the gleam of evil in his eyes. Cenred stared at him in a way that made Merlin feel uncomfortable.

“We need your help,” Merlin said.

“Why should I help you?” Cenred practically snarled.

“Because we're about to stop Morgause,” Arthur said.

Cenred tried to spit but his dead mouth was too dry. Still, the reflex said much. “Morgause. She promised me gifts and then she just used me. I was nothing to her.”

“So you will help us?” Merlin asked.

“I'll avenge myself,” Cenred replied.

Best we can hope for, Arthur thought.

Looking at Cenred, Merlin was forced to agree. Some traits you carried through from life to death and Cenred appeared to have only negative ones.

 

When they arrived at the council headquarters Merlin was surprised to discover it was an ordinary looking sky scraper. It was like any other office block, though the architecture had subtle touches that, had anyone bothered to look, gave away another subtle purpose; windows that didn't seem to reflect light properly, odd symbols that were more than decoration, the odd shape of the doorway.

They unloaded their witnesses from the borrowed ambulance, Merlin keeping them quiet until they were needed. It wouldn't do to simply barge into the council chamber with the newly raised dead. Their witnesses would be brought in at the proper moment.

The council chamber was on the top floor. It took several trips to get everyone up there and ready. Cenred was the most difficult but Merlin managed to keep him under control, impressing Arthur.

“I don’t remember anyone managing that when he was alive,” Arthur said. “You'll probably make Morgause jealous.”

Merlin smiled, though he was nervous. He had already met Morgause and she hadn't been very welcoming. If she was representative of what the elder vampires were like Merlin was not looking forward to meeting them.

“I won’t let them hurt you,” Arthur said.

“I know,” Merlin replied. “I won't let them hurt you either. And,” he said, glancing at their witness, “I won't let Cenred hurt you either.”

Ready?

Merlin nodded.

They opened to the door to the foyer outside the council chamber. There were two guards stood outside the door who were wearing black and were very obviously large vampires, like the henchmen Morgause had.

“What is your business here?” one asked.

“We've come to present evidence to the council,” Arthur said.

“Are you expected?”

“I am.”

Merlin tried not to look surprised at Arthur's lie.

“I think you should let us in,” Arthur said. “Unless you want my Sire to be told you obstructed the Master Vampire of Camelot giving an important report to the council?”

The large vampires looked at each other briefly before stepping aside.

“Our witnesses will come in when we call for them,” Arthur said.

Merlin noticed the looks of surprise on the guards' faces as they observed the small crowd of corpses. Some of the dead were starting to rot and the smell was not pleasant.

“You can't just leave us out here,” Cenred said.

Merlin turned to him. “You will stay our here until we call for you, he said, drawing on his power.

Cendred went quiet and became still.

“Let's go, Merlin,” Arthur said. He stepped forward and opened the door to the sanctum of the council chamber.

As they stepped inside Merlin had time to note the room was large and ornate. The floor was marble and there were patterns on it he didn’t recognise. Facing him were a small semi-circle of around half a dozen vampires. He recognised Morgause but the others were a mystery to him. None of them looked particularly friendly. All looked like they could kill with a thought.

“Arthur?” a dark haired female vampire stood up. “We were just informed of your demise at the hands of the rogue Cedric.” She glanced at Morgause.

“I am afraid reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” Arthur said, giving Morgause a look.

“We were told you were dead Arthur,” the dark haired vampire said. “It is a relief to see you are not.”

“I was close to it, Nimueh,” Arthur said. Merlin realising she was his Sire. “I was lucky. My partner helped prevent my early demise.” Arthur indicated Merlin.

“Partner?” Nimueh stepped forward a little and Merlin felt a shiver as she looked at him. Again he could feel a probing in his mind and though he knew his defences were strong he was sure the intruder got a sense of something. “He's marked,” Nimueh said. “By you.”

“Yes. He's also been vital in helping me find my witnesses.”

“Witnesses to what?” one of the male vampires asked.

“To the murders committed by the rogue vampire. The murders of humans in Camelot committed by Morgause.”

“Morgause?” Nimueh sounded surprised.

All the vampires in the room turned to look at their fellow council member.

Morgause now stood up, her face looking hard and set firm. “These are just accusations from a Master Vampire who has always been jealous of my position on this council. Perhaps he was working with the rogue”

“Arthur's accusations are ones that we as a council should look into,” Nimueh said, pointedly. She looked at Arthur. “You said you had witnesses.”

“We do. Merlin?”

Reaching out with his power Merlin could feel the dead waiting outside. Pushing them a little he gave the command for them to enter, all except one. They were not stopped by the guards and freely came into the chamber one by one. In shuffled the walking dead, the corpse of every human that Morgause had brutally fed on and then slain.

“How are you doing this?” Morgause asked, looking surprised at seeing her victims lined up.

“Did I mention Merlin is probably the most powerful necromancer of the century?” Arthur said.

Morgause looked even more shocked. Nimueh looked oddly pleased.

Feeling confident Merlin felt able to speak up. “You said the last three centuries at least.”

“Yes, at least,” Arthur agreed. “He kindly raised these people for me. I am sure you recognise them, Morgause.”

“And what motive did Morgause having for killing them?” a male vampire, still seated, spoke up.

“She wished to discredit me so that my position would be filled by a vampire Sired from her own line; Morgana.”

“These are all lies. You have no proof,” Morgause said.

Merlin wasn't sure that the victims would agree with that.

“Can you witnesses identify Morgause as their killer?” Nimueh asked.

“No, however...”

“Then these witnesses serve no purpose,” Morgause said.

Merlin coughed, feeling awkward at drawing attention to himself. “We have another witness,” he said.

“Bring them in.”

He and Arthur had agreed that their star witness would be left until last. Feeling for Cenred's presence Merlin commanded him to come inside. Cendred, still retaining the lust for revenge, needed little pushing. All it took was a little power from Merlin to animate him.

As soon as he entered things changed. Morgause had regained her composure but it broke again once she caught sight of Cenred.

“I will testify against her,” Cenred said, again needing little prompting from Merlin to speak.

“Cenred? You're dead,” Morgause said, her voice sounding more fragile.

“Killed by your hand, my lady,” Cenred said, mock bowing.

“You killed your own servant?” Nimueh asked.

The other vampires began to whisper to each other.

“I had my reasons,” Morgause said. “Cenred betrayed me.”

The dead man gave a hollow laugh. “I betrayed you? I wasn't the one who staked me in the heart, Morgause,” he said, pulling back his shirt to reveal the fatal wound. It was dark and stained with dried blood, a hole where flesh should be. “You did it because I knew your plan for the humans. I knew what you were going to do.”

Morgause turned to her peers. “He's lying.”

She knew he wasn't and Merlin knew he wasn't. “Dead men can't lie,” he said.

“The necromancer is right. What motive would he had for lying to us?” one of the other male vampires, who had not spoken, before said.

“Because I killed him. He wants revenge,” Morgause said.

She was partially right, Cenred wanted revenge but the truth was where it lay.

“And no vampire should kill their servant without very good reason,” Nimueh said, looking at Arthur just briefly.

“He was blackmailing me!” Morgause said. “I had to!”

It was now that Arthur stepped firmly forward. “And why was he blackmailing you? Because he knew what your plans were. He knew too much. You weren't prepared to pay the blackmail so you killed him. He meant nothing to you even though he was your servant.”

“And what do you know of servants?” Morgause sneered.

Arthur looked at Merlin and Merlin felt love and affection wash over him. “I know that I could never hurt Merlin. He could betray me and put a stake through my heart but I would never wish to kill him.”

“Your sentiment is nice but impractical,” Morgause said, looking at Merlin as if he were nothing more than dirt.

“Impractical?” Nimueh sounded angry. “Are you suggesting Arthur’s loyalty to the servant whom he created, who serves him, is wrong?”

“Humans should serve us. We are superior,” Morgause replied.

“We need their blood, Morgause. Human servants perform a most valuable service to us as they have for many years. Without them our kind would have withered away long ago or debased themselves in the blood lust,” said the male council member wearing red robes.

“They are not important! No human is!”

Arthur spoke. “I think, Morgause you have proved my point. You saw these humans as tools and you used them. You instilled fear in the human population, you risked exposing our kind and for what? So Morgana could become Mistress of Camelot?”

Seeing that the argument was lost Morgause now looked furious. “It is her right! I turned her, I made her into the vampire she is. It was one of mine who was destined to rule this city.”

Nimueh came and stood to face Morgause. “Are you challenging my authority, Morgause? Are you challenging the decision of this council?”

“Your choice was wrong.”

“I think it's clear where your loyalties now lie and it is not with the council, or your people,” Nimueh said. “I find you guilty. What about you others?”

One by one each gave their reply. “Guilty.” Some looked disappointed, others reluctant but they all passed their votes.

“You are found guilty, Morgause and expelled from the council. You are to wait our final judgement,” Nimueh said. She turned to Arthur, smiling a little in what Merlin thought might be pride. “Thank you for drawing our attention to this matter, Arthur Pendragon. I wish you and your new servant luck. A powerful necromancer makes a good ally. I may yet need to call on you.”

Arthur bowed. “Nimueh.”

Merlin bowed as well, not wanting to show Arthur up.

“You may go,” Nimueh said.

Arthur nodded and he and Merlin left Morgause to her fate.

 

Merlin didn’t speak to Arthur much on the way home. He didn't need to. They were both relived and happy. He put back to rest those who he had raised, although Cenred showed a reluctance and took a little more 'persuading' than the others. Still Merlin found he could manage it. It was exhilarating to know he had barely scratched the surface of his gifts and that was what they were now; gifts.

He felt he owed Arthur for that realisation.

Once they got back to Arthur's suite Merlin felt tired, the excitement catching up with him. He lay down on Arthur's bed and Arthur immediately joined him. It was comfortable, just the two of them.

“What will happen to Morgause?” Merlin asked as Arthur stroked his hair. He burrowed in closer.

“The council will decide what to do with her.”

“Will they kill her?”

“Morgause is an ancient vampire. She may find a way to survive but she won't have any influence with the council any more.”

“And Morgana?”

Arthur looked sad. “She'll probably leave Camelot for awhile. She loved Morgause, they were close.”

“You don't love your Sire,” Merlin said, remembering the reaction Arthur had had to Nimueh. It had been surprisingly cold.

“Nimueh and I have a complicated relationship,” Arthur said. “She turned my mother not long after I was born. They grew to love each other, but my father thought Nimueh had turned my mother into a monster. He killed her.”

“But you didn't hurt him,” Merlin said, remembering Arthur's words.

“He was still my father and I didn't find out he was responsible for my mother's death until after we were turned and Morgana had killed him. Morgause had told her the truth Nimueh kept from me.” Arthur sounded bitter. “Morgana was so filled with hatred to what my father had done to our kind that she murdered him.”

“I'm sorry, Arthur.”

“It was a long time ago, Merlin. And the dead are too long gone to be raised.”

“I know,” Merlin said. Even with all this powers he couldn’t change that. “I'm still sorry.”

“Thank you. I couldn't have done this without you.”

Merlin kissed him. “You'll never need to.”

“Merlin do you want...” Arthur didn't need to finish the question. Merlin could feel the spike of lust from him.

“I think I'm ready,” he said. “But something simple.”

Arthur dropped his fangs. “I think we can so that,” he said.

The sight of Arthur's fangs made Merlin shiver in anticipation as he remembered the effect Arthur's feeding had had on him earlier. He still remembered the pain of the puncture and the immense pleasure that had followed.

“Hungry again are you?” he asked.

“For you? Always,” Arthur replied.

Merlin laughed. “Five hundred years old and you still have cheesy chat up lines,” he giggled.

“In five hundred years,” Arthur said, whispering close to Merlin’s skin, “there's never been anyone but you.”

Merlin could really give a response to that in words instead he decided to think of the dirtiest thoughts he could imagine, only to find them changing in his mind to even more intimate ones. It seemed five hundred years had given Arthur quite an imagination.

“I think we need to get naked,” Merlin said.

Vampire speed and skill was legendary and it seemed Merlin had barely said anything before he was naked with an equally naked Arthur and his fangs looming with intent in top of him. He pulled Arthur down for a kiss, letting those fangs graze his tongue.

Arthur lightly nipped at Merlin's skin, working his way down his body. Each nip drew a little blood but it soon healed and each bite didn't actually hurt Merlin, it was like a tiny prick of pleasure. He ran his finger through Arthur’s hair. He was a little worried what Arthur was going to do when he reached Merlin's cock. He wasn't sure if he was ready for that.

Of course as soon as he thought it Arthur came up to kiss him again. It was amazing having a lover who could read your mind and act accordingly. Merlin caught Arthur's thoughts and carefully he bared his neck, arching it slightly, offering what he knew Arthur wanted.

Arthur nuzzled Merlin's neck for a moment before sinking in his fangs. Merlin arched up, touching his hard cock to Arthur's. He wrapped his legs around the vampire, pulling Arthur closer. He could feel that Arthur wasn’t feeding; he was tasting and savouring Merlin.

Then came that intimate swirling of thoughts and Merlin almost felt as if the reactions of his body were secondary. He could feel everything, Arthur's touch and Arthur’s skin and then his own taste on Arthur's tongue. Every sensation was magnified as his senses seemed to turn inward and gild swirled before his eyes.

He came hard and held Arthur close. He was sure he had mumbled something about love but he couldn't be sure. He felt a little dazed, high on sex and exhaustion. It was a potent combination and he relaxed as he felt Arthur’s arms around him. He wondered if vampires felt this tired after sex.

If we slept like you we would, Arthur said in his mind.

Merlin woke to find Arthur gently touching the area of the bite. “It's healed,” he said.

His cheeks were flushed that attractive pink again.

“I hope I didn't take too much.”

Merlin felt a bit light headed but he put that down to a lack of food. “No. I'm fine being your living buffet,” Merlin said.

Arthur gave him a kiss. “I'll get Elyan to bring some food up,” Arthur said. “We can eat in our bed.”

“Our bed?”

If Arthur could have blushed Merlin suspected he would have. “Yes. Unless you want a separate bed? Some servants have their own quarters.”

Merlin shook his head. “No, your bed's comfier than mine,” he said. “And it has you in it.”

“You're not upset?”

Merlin smiled. It was as if he could picture a small frightened boy in a graveyard, scared of his potential, of what he was. It was another lifetime ago. Merlin was no longer afraid of who and what he was. He had a place, a home, a lover. He fit in with Arthur like he hadn't fitted in anywhere else.

“I'm home,” he said, simply.

It wasn't going to be easy, it would probably be a dangerous life but it was one that he would share with Arthur, for eternity, and that made it more than worth it.