Spike sat down abruptly and buried his face in the first book at hand, but the pets, who surreptitiously watched him, noticed that it was a full fifteen minutes before he turned a single page.

*   *   *

The reveling was in full swing on the main floor.  Minions serviced their masters and with fresh blood prohibited at the gathering, liquor flowed profusely in its stead.  Vampires liked alcohol, and had the added advantage of having no reason to abstain or limit their intake.  Angel sat on his chair, legs crossed but leaning to one side, using Spike, who sat on the arm of his chair, as a backrest.  Behind them stood Illyria, naked save for her body piercings and gemmed collar and chain.  The star had been activated, flames flickering at the five points.  The vampires on the floor didn’t cross the perimeter, not because of the fire – these were mystical flames and were not a danger to their kind – but simply out of respect for the majick contained there, which belonged to the House of William the Bloody.  Even had it not been a long-observed convention, no one there was willing to insult that particular vampire in his own lair.

Angel’s eyes were pinned on a threesome not fifteen feet before them, just to the left of the star, where one lusty minion was being fucked both front and back by her Clan Master and his childe.  Spike glanced down and noticed the prevalent bulge at his sire’s crotch, then flicked his head toward the Succubus pet behind him.

“Your Clan Master is in need of your services, ducks,” he commanded.

Angel heard of course, but didn’t protest, instead uncrossing his legs and spreading them wide just as Illyria  She sank to her knees between his thighs, undid the leather trousers and in seconds had his meaty prick in her warm, wet mouth.  Angel cupped her head with his large palm, stroking there absently while he continued to watch the action on the floor.

“Kinky bastard,” the blond snorted, his attention vacillating between the main floor and his sire’s cock in Illyria’s mouth.  Angel smirked and spread his legs wider, giving his childe a better view.

Across the Hall, Wesley and Gunn stood on either side of the door.  They were dressed in fighting leather but appeared unarmed.  They did, however, have various small weapons – blades and stakes – concealed beneath their clothing.  Their real weaponry was hidden behind the black velvet curtains which bracketed the door on either side, where a battle axe and sword resided.  Of course the Hall was full of weapons, gracing three of the four walls, but these were close at hand, and particular favorites of the two pets who stood guard.

The guards watched the room at large, but were always aware of their Clan and House Masters on the Diaz.  At the moment they were particularly interested in the happenings there, watching surreptitiously as their peer serviced the Master of the Order for all to see.  Both of them realized that it could have been them pressed into service, and that that was still a possibility as the evening wore on.  Both were surprised that the thought of such a thing wasn’t anywhere near as disturbing as it would have been a short week before.

“Wesley and Gunn are watching you, peaches,” Spike leaned down to murmur in his sire’s ear.

Angel glanced up to inspect the two pets standing at the other end of the hall.  He could see Wesley’s blush as both quickly glanced away, and his smirk deepened.

“What do you think?” his childe continued.  “Switch off and give them a turn?”

Angel stretched, pushing back more strongly against the solid bulwark of the blonde’s torso.

“Hmm, switching off is an interesting thought,” the older vampire murmured just low enough for his childe’s ears alone.  “Though I think I’d prefer it to be you, boyo, kneeling between my legs, my cock in that talented mouth of yours.”

“Yeah, right, like that’s gonna happen,” Spike snorted sarcastically.

“You’re saying you would deny me if I asked?” Angel said conversationally.

Silence followed for a full three minutes, and Angel’s smirk deepened.  He knew his childe, and therefore knew that right now the blond was envisioning the very image he’d suggested, a part of him getting quite turned on by the idea.

“If you asked, I’d say no,” Spike finally said once he’d found his voice.  “Got my reputation to think of, after all,” he added.

Angel glanced about the room.  Not all of the servicing was being done by the minions.  There were quite a few instances of childer – at least one a Most Favored – servicing their sires.  That wasn’t unusual in their world, as long as the use wasn’t degrading, and he knew that Spike knew that.  He also knew that his childe’s carefully worded response held a significant bit of unspoken information in it; the blond might deny a request, but he wouldn’t disobey a command.  And Angel knew that a part of the blond wished for the command, so that he could deny all responsibility.  Now he just needed to decide if that part of his childe wanted it more than he didn’t.

“True.  You’re William the Bloody, and everyone here takes their cue from you where I’m concerned,” he finally said slowly.

Another minute of silence followed.

“You saying you think I’m afraid?” his childe demanded.  “Nothing wrong with a childe servicing his sire, tosser.  And I’m as good a childe as any bloody vampire in this room – better,” he added heatedly.  “Up, Blue.  Go play with your mates,” he commanded abruptly.

Illyria rose to her feet gracefully, bowed at the two Masters before her, then left the stage, heading for the back wall where Wesley and Gunn watched with a heightened level of interest.

Angel’s wet cock strained up through the opening in his trousers, but he didn’t try to hide it, keeping his legs spread wide.  For a brief instant, as Illyria left them, it was clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.  Spike shook his head, knowing how proud Angelus was of his big prick, and how he liked to show it off.  He waited a few seconds so that his sire could do just that, then slid off the arm of the chair and moved to stand before the dark vampire, blocking the sight from view.

“Tosser,” he said again with a snort, before sinking to his knees.  He inspected the thick cock and tried to ignore how his mouth was suddenly flooded with saliva as his sire’s scent filled his nostrils.  Glancing up he saw the older vampire staring down at him with such an intent gaze that it took his very-unnecessary breath away.

“Everyone’s watching, peaches,” he hissed.

“I know,” the older vampire said, lifting a hand to stroke it through his childe’s pale hair.

“Well try for a little decorum, ponce.  You’re the head of the Order, you know,” the blond chided.

Angel seemed completely unaffected by this bit of chastisement, and continued to gaze down at his childe.  “You’re the very devil himself, Will,” the dark vampire said slowly, unable to withdraw his gaze.  “But ye look like an angel to me.  How is that possible?”

Spike swallowed hard, his gaze locked with his sire’s.  Angel’s hand slipped down the back of the blond’s neck, capturing and holding him a minute before he leaned down and kissed him.  Unlike a few hours ago, this kiss was long and leisurely, his tongue tracing the taste of his childe along every inch of the younger vampire’s pallet.  When he finally finished, he sat back, but left his hand on the blond crown.

“Well, what are you waiting for, Will.  An engraved invitation?” he teased, sliding down a little so that his prick was a bit closer to the other vampire’s mouth.

Spike stared up at his sire, eyes glassy from the intense kiss.  Without removing his gaze from his sire’s face, he leaned forward and softly kissed the plumy head of the swollen cock, then slowly licked the dripping precum from the slit.  Finally he took the head in just to the rim, sucking gently at the very tip until the liquid there ran in a steady, thin stream down his throat.

“Ah, childe,” Angel hissed, his hips twitching at the delicate touch.  “You’ve got a talented mouth on you.  Wherever did you learn such a thing?” he teased, eyes glinting.

Spike took his mouth away, suddenly all wide-eyed innocence.  “From you, sire,” the blond answered softly, playing the game he knew Angelus had always loved.  “I still remember how you taught me to suck your cock when I was so new.  You had me practice daily, until I got it just right.”

“Aye, lad, and then I had you practice twice a day,” Angel finished.  Both of them smiled, clearly entertained by the memory.

But then Spike leaned forward again, eyes still pinned on the dark vampire’s face, and nipped with blunt human teeth at the sensitive rim where Angel’s foreskin was gathered and Angel completely lost his train of thought, closing his eyes with a hiss.

“Setting a kind of strange example, aren’t you, pet?  Considering what we’re going to do here shortly?” the blond asked, leaning back to enjoy the abandon on his sire’s face.

Angel’s eyes blinked open sleepily, and Spike sucked in a deep breath.  This was as close to the surface as he could recall seeing Angelus since the days of Acathala.

“We’re still vampires, Spike, and when the evening’s over, that’s what we’ll still be.  I’m through pretending I’m something I’m not.  The Powers saw fit to choose a vampire as a champion, and that’s what they’ll get – a vampire.  You think I’ll give this up?” he asked, glancing up briefly to sweep the Hall and all its guests.  “You think I’ll give you up?”  His gaze stopped, pinned sternly on his childe’s face.  Shaking his head slowly, Angel murmured softly; “Not a chance, lad, not a chance.”

Spike smiled, the relief that filled him stronger yet for the unexpectedness of it.  The smile slowly turned to a smirk, and then he leaned down, eyes still pinned on his sire’s face, and slowly took the straining cock deep into his throat, not stopping until his lips were pressed up against the coarse curls at the older vampire’s groin.

Angel groaned, watching his childe through heavy lidded eyes.  “Christ, childe, that’s it.  Don’t stop, Will,” he said, cupping the blonde’s head with a large palm.

Spike managed to smirk up at him, despite the fat, juicy prick filling his mouth, his eyes twinkling merrily.  And then he got serious.

Angel had had thousands of blow jobs from this particular childe during the twenty years they’d lived together, and a few since then, but none compared to the effort his boy put forth now, with the Clan Masters of their Order and their minions all watching.  And despite his early protestations, he seemed in no hurry to get it over with.  On the contrary he seemed to be drawing it out intentionally, and Angel knew that his boy was definitely getting off on the public viewing.  He did have an exhibitionist streak a mile wide, the older vampire mused happily.  Of course most vampires did, with an equal amount of voyeurism thrown in for good measure.  He himself was keenly enjoying being seen by the others milling about the Hall, but right now watching had to top the list; he couldn’t take his eyes off his childe as he worked his big, hard cock with such skill.

Maybe it was Will’s eyes he couldn’t ignore, he revised a few minutes later, his gaze locked with the slender blond kneeling at his feet.  The blue there was so compelling…

His orgasm hit unexpectedly, and with such force that he bit through his bottom lip while stifling the cry in his throat.  He managed to keep it to a growl, though he really wasn’t sure how he’d accomplished that particular feat.  And then he lost track of things for just a second, at least he thought he did – he wasn’t really sure.  But since the next thing he was aware of was Spike sucking on his lower lip to drink in the trickling blood there, he assumed he had.  He blinked hazily and the room came into focus, though he could see very little of it, what with Spike standing before him, leaning down to get at the drops of blood that still flowed lightly.  The growl that rumbled in his chest turned to a low purr as he reached out and pulled the slender vampire down onto his lap.

“Oi!” Spike protested, pushing against the solid wall of his sire’s chest.  The indignation was quite clear, though he managed to keep his voice low enough so as not to be heard by the other vampires on the main floor.  “They’re all watching!”

Angel rolled his eyes.  “They just watched you suck my cock, and you have a problem with sitting on my lap?”

“Course I do, you git.  ‘m not a girl, you know.  Blowin’ your sire’s one thing, especially when he commands it…”

Angel’s eyes twinkled and his lip quirked up in a smirk.  He didn’t have to say a word to remind his childe that he’d done no such thing.

“Fucker,” Spike breathed out, incensed.  “Was gonna tidy you all up, nice and tight,” he said, glancing down at the older vampire’s open trousers and still-exposed cock.  “But now you can do it yourself.”

He tried to push off his sire’s lap once more, but Angel’s arms tightened around him and before he could stop him, his sire was kissing him yet again.  He struggled a bit, although perhaps not as much as he could have, and when Angel finally pulled away, he sat quietly, blinking slowly.

“Fucker,” he whispered again.

But his gaze was locked with his sire’s, and for the moment he seemed unable to move.  A hard length filled his fingers, and he looked down in surprise to see that somehow his hand had found his way to the dark vampire’s lap and that Angel was hard again already.  Damn vampire refraction rate, he thought, staring down at the erection as he stroked it idly.  A second later, he realized what he was doing, and jerked his hand away.

“Gonna have to live with that one for a bit, peaches – already tired you out more than I should have, and you’re gonna need all your energy in a few minutes,” he added, glancing about the Hall quickly, where he found, as he’d suspected, many there watching them.

“I’ll live,” Angel said, giggling abruptly at his own pun.  Spike rolled his eyes, but had to grin himself.  Angelus had always had the oddest sense of humor.  Down-right rollicking he’d been, back in the day, when he wasn’t seriously intent on an artistic kill, of course, then he’d been rather scary, even to a vampire who was scary in his own right.

“Put it away, ponce, before you scare the childer,” he said, trying to inject a note of humor himself, while still keeping the scathing insolence required of his Big Bad persona.  He stood up and this time Angel let him, busying himself with stuffing his hard cock inside the leather fabric and doing up the buttons of his fly.  Spike watched the whole endeavor from his place behind the seated figure, his fingers itching to complete the job, but he managed to hold off by repeating to himself that ‘he had his pride, damn it,’ several times over and keeping his arms securely locked behind his back so that his hands didn’t do what they wanted, despite his brain’s admonishments.

His trousers strained obscenely when they were finally done up, but Angel didn’t seem to care in the least as he stood up to face the power of his Order.

“Aurelians,” he called out, striding down the risers to stand at the center of the activated star.

Calling the Masters to order was hardly necessary, as most of them had been watching him for the past fifteen minutes anyway.  Angel blithely ignored that, though, and waited at the center of the star until all eyes were on him.  He was aware of Spike standing just behind him and to one side, outside the perimeter of the pentagram, and signaled to Illyria, who nodded and left the room.  Gunn and Wesley’s posture straightened a bit more, he noted with approval, as they moved from a defensive at-ease position to a standing at attention one.

“Aurelians,” he repeated.  “Last night you met the newest member of our Order, and tonight you will meet her Clan.

A rumble erupted from the vampires on the floor as they exchanged whispered comments with their Lieutenants and peers.  Angel didn’t say anything else, letting his subjects voice their confusion and displeasure over the Clan they had been forced to accept.

When Illyria returned a minute later, twenty vampires following behind, the rumbling increased.  The Masters backed away as the new members filled the back of the Hall, eyeing them warily.  The cowls of their cloaks were down, so that the Clan Masters of Aurelius could see each clearly, and their inspection was critical, to say the least.  Maria stood in front of the others of her Clan, who had dispersed themselves to stand in line filling the whole back portion of the Hall.  Gunn and Wesley held their positions behind them, at either side of the door, and Illyria moved toward the front, to stand at the other side of the star, across from the Master of her House.  Jardin looked just as wary as the other Masters of their Order, but was trying hard to keep his expression neutral.  He still stood on the lowest step of the risers, behind the star.

Only Spike heard the murmured intonation in Latin from the figure at the center of the pentagram, but everyone saw the result, as a pale blue haze filled the room, and within it thin finger-lines of white light traced from him to each of the Magdala.  The quiet rumbling broke into loud objections as the Masters responded, confused by what they saw, but clearly concerned.  Before they could make any concerted move, however, Angel spoke the final portion of the spell and new lights began to flicker in the blue mist.

The Masters stared about themselves wildly, trying to evade the harmless sparks, and lost the critical moment when they might have been able to at least attempt to overpower some of the members of William’s House.  The sparks built until they filled the haze, and suddenly they exploded outward, lightening strikes of fire shooting to each Master and Lieutenant in the room.  Those few dozen strikes were augmented by hundreds more, which flew outward, obviously connecting to all the other members not in attendance.  The Masters fell to their knees, crying out in distress, while about them the lights flickered on, strengthening a bit, but not yet making an unbroken connection.  The minions, of course, were unaffected, but they milled nervously about, not understanding what was happening, but unable to make a decisive move in the absence of any commands by their masters.

Angel’s features strained, and it was clear that what they’d feared most was indeed true; a greater amount of strength was needed to activate the ensouling spell for the hundreds of members of their Order than had been required for the score of the Magdalans.  At the back of the Hall Maria raised her arms, clearly attempting to add her strength to his, and behind her, the members of her Clan did the same.  The connecting strikes strengthened a little, but continued to flicker.  Around the Hall, one by one, the Masters began to get to their feet.  They were clearly dazed, but their training kicked in and they began to fight the effect with a concerted effort.  They shouted to each other and began to gather, to form a cohesive force.  Their minions rushed to their side, finally called to action.

Spike watched anxiously.  Soon they would go on the attack, and it would be hand-to-hand combat of his House and the Magdala Clan against the Masters, their Lieutenants and minions.  The numbers were in their favor, but that would leave the rest of their Order rudderless, and they would come after the ones who had destroyed their sires and Masters.  It would also effectively end their plan to ensoul the Order, and both of those things ensured the destruction of Angel’s Clan and the end of his rule.  That was unacceptable.  He took a deep breath, stepped over the star’s perimeter and murmured the final spell spoken by his own sire so recently.

The blue haze which filled the room abruptly changed to a pale violet.  The aura surrounding Spike glowed a bright red, and he realized that the manifestation of his soul, which apparently existed in the red portion of the spectrum, had joined with Angel’s blue – the aura surrounding his sire was still clearly that color – to make the haze filling the chamber and beyond the eerie lavender they all saw now.  The sparks flickering went crazy, sparking and sputtering wildly, and suddenly an explosion of white light filled the hall.  Spike fell to his knees, overwhelmed by the light and a rushing sensation he couldn’t come close to comprehending.

A minute later both disappeared.  Spike opened his eyes to find Angel on the floor beside him, with the Masters of Aurelius on their knees throughout the Hall.  The purple haze still remained, with the red and blue auras framing himself and his sire respectively to identify the source and anchor of both preternatural souls, but the lightening strikes within it no longer flickered.  Instead they had become steady streams of light connecting both Angel and Spike to each of the vampires in the room, with hundreds more flying off to link to the others of their Order.  Only their pets and the Magdala still stood, and slowly the latter sank down in obeisance, bowing their heads low.

“It is done,” Maria intoned solemnly.