Bloodshed

Chapter Seven: Heart to Heart (Duke's POV)

Watching Audrey being whisked away, feeling the connection between our minds severed, was like a gut punch. For a moment, I felt all the breath leave my body, and I was grateful that I was Vampire. If not, I might have died from lack of air. 

"You boys play a dangerous game with our queen, Duke." Dr. Hadley came up from behind, not sounding disapproving, but sagely. "It is going to end in bloodshed." 

"I appreciate your concern, Gwen," I started, my tone a friendly warning. "However, our relationship with Audrey is none of your business."

She arched a perfectly trimmed eyebrow. "Is it not? Last I checked, she is queen of all vampires, not just you and the rest of her ragtag harem."

The doctor, Gwen Hadley, had been thinking this for months. Luckily, Audrey's constant churn of thoughts had made it easier to block out Dr. Hadley's mind when she was here. But now that she wasn't, the doctor's judgement crashed into me like a tidal wave, nearly drowning me in negativity. 

"You are not the only one who loves her." Gwen whispered, sounding almost motherly. "We all feel for her the way that you do. You want to be everything for her--a friend, a lover, a protector, a sanctuary when the world is just too much for her. But you can't do it all. Not while five other people are competing for the same goal."

"Too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the broth." I mumbled as the words flitted through her mind. 

She nodded without speaking.

I turned away from her with a huff, rubbing a hand down my face. "She went so long without affection, Gwen. Spent her whole life without anyone getting the chance to love her. She deserves love! Gods, she deserves the fucking moon and stars, and all the love that this life has to offer. So why shouldn't we give it to her? What's so bad about more than one man loving her?"

"Because you all love her." Gwen spoke barely above a whisper. "Eventually that love will outweigh reason. You've seen what it has already done to Gabriel.  How long do you think it will take before the rest of you start turning on each other?"

The night when Lucius and I first tried to send Audrey away, the night that it was us against Aiden and Gabriel, came to mind. Never in my life had I thought Aiden and I would sit on opposing sides. He was my best friend, as good as my brother, but that night had turned us into enemies. 

And things between us hadn't been right ever since. 

Sure, we still joked and bantered like we always had before. But there was an undercurrent of resentment, of distrust, bubbling in the very recesses of Aiden's mind. He felt it between us, too, otherwise he wouldn't have been trying so hard to hide it from me. 

"What would you suggest we do, then?" I asked, a little harsher than I intended.

"Exactly what you're doing now." She said, unfazed by my tone.

I cocked a brow, letting her thoughts filter into my head. 

Give her space. Space without you in it. 

I felt my face twist with incredulity. "So, essentially, I should do nothing. Huh, such a simple yet eloquent solution. Thank you, doctor, I never would have thought of that."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Don't be a weisenheimer, Duke. Audrey needs this distance away from your...intensity." 

I opened my mouth to argue only to be cut short by Gwen's thoughts. And you need time away from Audrey's purity.

I just knew Audrey would have protested against anyone claiming she was innocent, but she truly was. There was so much about the world she didn't know, so much evil and heartache and depravity.