Early Morning Riser [Harmony]

[Selena Torres]

Selena's eyes snapped open just as they did ever morning at the exact same time, moments before sunrise. She loved the sun, loved greeting it in the morning, and loved watching it set at night, and she even loved those strange days when it would rain and the sun would still be shining. Slipping out from under the blanket, she glanced over at Julian before laughing aloud spotting him still completely passed out. She could have herded wild wildebeest while they kicked and ran through their room and he would not have moved. Stepping up to the window, she pulled the curtain back just enough to peek outside. The sun was just rising above the horizon, it's rays lighting up the dark sky turning it purple to mix with a deep blue until the sky was ablaze at the edge of the sky.

Quickly going to the closet, her fingers brushed across the single costume she had mistakenly picked up before leaving the Isla. It was brand new, she should have worn it to the wedding of Prince Henry and Lady Elina, but that was a story for another day. The delicate material hung so innocently in the closet, whispering to be pulled on just for a moment. It might not have been a smart idea to run around in such a skimpy outfit, it was an invite for trouble, but after trying so hard to bite her tongue around the vampires in the mansion, Selena needed an outlet. Licking her lips, she threw a cautionary look to her mate just to make sure he was still asleep before stripping out of her night clothes and into the belly dancing outfit. A quick hunt through her suitcase and she had her bangles around her wrist and tiny bells around her ankles.

The beads rustled together as she walked over to the portable IPod dock and picking it up. With her goods in hand, she left the room but paused in the hallway. It was quiet and the shadows clinging to the walls almost sent her back into the room to curl up at Julian's side. Instead, she took a deep breath in before letting it out?and ran down the hall. Ok, maybe running was a bit of an overreaction but the young woman was barely coming to terms with how life worked around the vampire coven. Her bells chimed while she took the stairs up to the roof two at a time. Her thighs easily pushing her forward after all her dancing and the stair climbing she'd done at the palace.

On the roof top, she took in the cool morning air pleased to see the sun still wasn't completely over the horizon. Placing the dock station on the concrete, she shuffled through her Ipod trying to locate a good song. She just needed to lose herself in the music, needed to forget for a moment. A faint smile formed across her lips spotting a song that would be fun and just upbeat enough for her to get lost in it. Pressing play after also making sure the device was on shuffle for the next song, she shook her head to loosen up her neck muscles while standing in the center of the roof top.

Counting to ten, just long enough for the lyrics to start, Selena thrusted her hip from side to side in time with the music before throwing a hand in front of her as if beckoning to an invisible partner. Her fingers curled in on themselves before they skimmed up her sides to tangle in her mess of hair. Turning on her heels, she slapped her feet against the ground as the beat picked up, causing her bells to clang. Throwing her head back, her curls bounced behind her as she twisted her hips in a steady hypnotic motion. Blocking out everything, she forgot about the vampires. She forgot her name, her reason for being at a vampire coven, everything. Shutting her eyes, she focused on her body, the music and the feel of the rays from the sun as it continued to creep past the horizon.

[Harmony Ferguson]

Harmony couldn't sleep. Devon was fast asleep. She studied the man she loved for a few minutes, fingers running through his hair tenderly before she quietly slipped out of the bed. She replaced herself with a pillow. Sometimes he didn't sleep well if she wasn't present and she wanted him to get some rest. He needed his rest. She looked to her windows, making sure the black out blinds and curtains were all tightly closed. It would be dawn soon. And Devon would spend most of the day sleeping. Until the sun set. Harmony usually snuggled up close to him and slept through most of the day with him. She was still used to the much more human sleep schedule she developed. During his absence, she spent most of her days up and nights sleeping. Now that he was back, she was going to have to get used to sleeping through the days.

Harmony would come back in a bit to check on him and take a nap to try and get herself back into her and Devon's usual schedule. For now she dressed into some pajamas. She didn't usually wear pajamas, but she would need to get to sleep after her little adventure up to the roof. She liked to watch the sunrise when she couldn't sleep. She rummaged around her closet for a minute to find something to keep her from getting cold in the morning air. It was spring in New York. It was still quite cold. Not as cold, but New York was known to get snow flurries in the early spring. It was cold. She found her winter house shoes and slipped them on before she picked up her sweater and very quietly slipped out of the bedroom, pulling her sweater on once the door was closed behind her.

She wound her way through the upstairs hall till she found the staircase that led up to the roof. She slowly climbed them, frowning when she heard music. There were not many who went to the roof top. Especially not during this time of day. It obviously had to be a human up here. She quietly opened the door and poked her head out, finding Selena dancing about in a very provocative manner.

Harmony watched her, her head tilting slightly as she watched curiously. Harmony had heard of belly dancing, but she never actually saw a real belly dancer. Blue eyes watched her with intrigue, following the movements of her hips and body. Harmony had always known it to be a very sensual dance. To swing and shakes your hips like that. And it had to have taken a lot of time to learn. Especially to grow so well at it as she was.

Harmony slipped out from behind the door and watched the woman move, taking in her choice in wardrobe. Oh, that was a very unwise choose in garb. She was lucky she was walking around in that in the day time. If she wore that in the middle of the night, she would literally be eaten alive. Tristan would probably have been the first to do so. She stepped into the woman's line of view, clearing her throat over the sound of the music. Harmony had her suspicions about this outsider. She was certainly not someone from the coven. No doubt this was Julian's mate that he brought from Isla De Los Lobos.

[Selena Torres]

The morning air held a bite to it but as Selena let go of all her emotions, to throw them behind her dancing, her body began to heat up under the vigorous exercise that dancing was. Beats of sweat formed along her hair line to roll down her neck and over her shoulder blades, cooling her off when someone might have complained about the cold air. Her ears locked onto the pulse of the music and translated each word and beat into a twist of her hip or a swirl of an arm in the air. There was no real chorography to the dance, just her letting go and having fun. If she had really wanted to impress someone, she would have thought of something that flowed and transitioned smoother but for a woman just dancing, she was normally pretty good. Panting softly under her breath, her feet brushed against the roof top, barely ever fully resting her whole foot down before she was turning or side stepping.

Blocking out the world, she could have gone on like that for the rest of the day or until her body grew tired and needed to stop. She could spend hours getting lost in music, dancing her heart out. It had been the only way to get the days cleaning around the palace to speed up when she was going out of her mind. Try as she might, the memories wouldn’t stay away no matter how hard she tried to bury herself in the dancing. She saw her mother, her father, her siblings around the old wooden table hand carved with details of lycans and the moon alongside the edges. Her heart ached for the heat and humidity that use to torment her hair until it felt like a cotton ball on her head. She missed her home. Tears began to fill up the rims of her eyes, the more she danced, the more she was confronted with every little thing she had left behind to go with Julian until the tears were falling down her cheeks to sparkle like pearls on her cheeks under the sun’s light.

It wasn’t until someone cleared their throat caused the young woman to snap out of her trance, freezing on the tips of her toes with her arms slightly raised up to the rising sun. Her dark brown eyes fell upon the newcomer who had forced her back into reality. Her arms fell to her sides while she fought to get her breathing under control. Pressing the stop button, she wiped her forehead of the couple drops of sweat before turning once more to the woman. Human instantly flashed through her mind. “Good morning.” What an awkward way to start off her day. Licking her lips, she tried to find something to say that wouldn’t make her sound like a complete nut job. Because honestly? What sensible woman would leave her warm bed and sexy mate to come dance under the sun light? No one she knew. “Um…this looks odd doesn’t it?” There was no holding back her strange self. Oh well, she couldn’t pretend to be normal for too long without slipping up.

[Harmony Ferguson]

It took the belly dancer a moment to realize she was no longer alone. That made Harmony smile a little. She was enjoying the show. Blue eyes just watched in thought. She wondered what Devon would think if she started doing belly dance lessons. Not that Harmony thought she would be much good at it. She only thought it would be kind of fun.

She gave the belly dancer a welcoming smile. Harmony was one of the more friendly slaves. Harmony was pretty much a social little butterfly. Even after the several breakings Devon put her through. Harmony usually kept quite among other vampires, but when she was among her own kind, other slaves, they all ended up talking about goings ons among the mansion. If you wanted to learn some juicy gossip or news, you talked to the slaves. They knew everything. They were the talking walls of the mansion. "Morning. You must be Julian's human. I'm Harmony. " She gave a friendly greeting. When someone said you must be someone's human, it wasn't necessarily a statement of possession. It was just a way of saying that said human was off limits. With the exception of Tristan.

Harmony hated that Tristan could have whoever he wanted without any sort of repercussions. It wasn't fair. Not to mention, it pissed a lot of people off. She knew it pissed Devon off. Especially when he learned what Tristan had been doing with with Harmony while Devon was gone. She almost wished she hadn't said anything. And she didn't know if Devon said anything yet. She worried that Devon was anger Tristan if he told him to keep away from Harmony. She was only a blood slave. It would not look good if Devon was defending his slave when many happily shared their slaves with Tristan.

Harmony lifted a pale brow and smirked a little at her comment. Clearly she hadn't seen the odd things that can happen around this mansion. She glanced out at the the city of New York, glowing in the light of the rising sun before she looked back to Selena. "Just a little, but I've seen worse things since coming here." She said gently as she studied Selena thoughtfully. Oh yes, she was going to have to change out of those very skimpy clothes. "You need to change... " She stated calmly, studying her for a moment. " Especially before sunset... that costume screams 'bite me.'" She studied Selena a moment longer before she at back.

[Selena Torres]

The small interruption might have gone unnoticed by Selena if she was back home where she was confident she didn’t need to watch her back all the time. There had only been a few minor problems for her there, but at the vampire coven she was starting to learn to grow aware of her surroundings. Maybe she had completely blocked everything out while dancing but at least she hadn’t kept dancing like nothing was wrong. No matter how tempting the thought was.

Skimming her eyes over the young woman, she noted how beautiful she was and how well she carried herself for being in a vampire mansion. It made her wonder if she held some sort of power around the place or if she was just imaging things. Smiling back, the expression feel off her face while she pursed her lips as if about to get into a fight.“I’m not his -” Selena’s mouth hung open for a moment before she slowly closed it. She wasn’t on the Isla anymore. The rules in the vampire coven were different and even words held different meaning around here. The more she thought about, the clearer it was that being a vampire’s human was much safer than being outside of one’s protection. But Luna, it dug at her will to resort to being someone’s anything. Then again, she’d claimed Julian as her mate, wasn’t that a form of possession too? But she’d learned the hard way calling herself his mate around Tristan had gotten a violent reaction from the older vampire. She refused to allow someone to change the way she thought of her lover but she would be more careful about when it slipped from her mouth. “I’m Selena.”It was probably best she didn’t really reply to behind his human or not right then. She was too torn between knowing she needed Julian’s protection and needing to stand on her own.

Shaking her head, she walked over to the edge of the roof and peeked over it to see the ground hundreds of yards below. The sun still hadn’t touched the grass below, leaving it in shadows but she thought she saw blurs of movement rushing into the doors of the mansion. “I mean odd by human standards.” Turning back around, she sized the woman up before her eyes lingered on the bite marks. It wasn’t just one either, but multiple ones up the column of her neck. It was hard to tell if it was the doing of one vampire…or different ones. “Forgive me, but are you someone’s as well?” Raising her hand, her fingers touched her own neck clearly indicating the varies number of bites.

Her hand fell back to her side while she turned to watch the sun finish coming up. “I have a good ten hours before anyone bothers getting up. I think I can keep it on for a little longer.” The last bit was said almost in a hopeless whisper. Because Selena was in need for a small bit of her home to keep her calm. Being in the sunlight was enough protection for the moment, it was why she’d pulled it out in the early morning instead of late at night. She wasn’t as dense as she might look or come off when her mouth ran away instead of thinking things through. “And I fear for any vampire that can’t smell Julian on me and tries to bite me.” Her mate was possessive to the point of using violence to keep her safe and as far away from harm as possible, which in itself was pretty ironic. Lifting a hand, she raised it so the silver bangles clanked together and sparkled in the sunlight. The glint of a gold chain around her neck held a gold cross she kept tucked between her breast for safety. It was gold instead of silver incase Julian mistakenly touched it, the necklace rarely came off since she’d arrived at the mansion.

[Harmony Ferguson]

She quirked an eyebrow at her attempt to not accept what she was. Harmony knew how hard it was to get used to people calling you someone's human. When Devon first bought her, she despised the very idea of being thought of as someone's human, but she quickly realized it was for her own protection. It was for the best to accept that she was Devon's. At least then, Tristan was the only one who could touch without permission. "You learn to accept it after a while. Especially when you live among them. Don't consider it as a statement of possession. Consider it protection of sorts. As long as Julian claims you, only he may touch you." She thought it best for now to not mention that the one person who could touch her was Tristan. She wasn't sure that was a subject that she should discuss with her without the presence of Julian to help her better understand.

Harmony smiled warmly as Selena introduced herself. Harmony always enjoyed meeting new people. It was the closest thing she got to actually getting out of the mansion. "It's nice to meet you, Selena." She nodded her head softly as blue eyes took in the woman before her. The rumors going around were that Julian's human was from Isla de los Lobos. The Island of the Wolves. Harmony only knew of the island because of reading after she over heard a conversation with Devon and Tristan on the matter. She went and did a little research after that and discovered some interesting things about the island. And her curiosity was even fuller after hearing someone from the island was in their midst.

She grew weary at Selena's inquiry and reached a hand up to her neck, where there were several bites on each side. In the beginning, Harmony tried to hide the bites as best s She nodded her head softly, studying Selena for a moment, wondering just how much Julian had explained to her about the coven society. Harmony was thinking there wasn't much he taught his mate about a vampire coven. Blue eyes looked out over the roof top to the rising sun as the sky began to give way from pinks and purples to blues and golds. She couldn't say she blamed Julian. Vampire society was a different thing than the human society. Much more different. "I am Council Member Soulstrick's blood slave." She answered calmly, looking to Selena. Harmony thought she would probably have to explain what a blood slave was, but she didn't mind. She would have to talk to Julian about Selena's education. It was not smart to bring a human into vampire territory without first teaching her the ways.

She looked to him and chuckled softly, studying the outfit for a moment. It was a lovely outfit. Harmony couldn't deny that. And at least Selena had the sense to wear it during the day. "Just be sure to change before sunset." She said calmly, smiling at Selena sheepishly. The smile fell away though at Selena's next words. She would be wise to not think like that. "Just because his scent is all over you doesn't mean they won't touch you. Unless Julian makes it clear you're his, they can do whatever they please with you." And they would. Blue eyes looked over Selena thoughtfully for a moment before she looked out over the sky line, sighing softly. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be ... morbid... I just... can't believe Julian has not educated you on the coven and its ways..." She turned back to Selena for a moment, crossing her arms over her chest while one hand fingered and worried the white gold key that hung around her neck.

Her eyes fell to the jewelry. Smart woman. Silver and a cross. Very smart woman. As long as she wore those, they couldn't touch her. Very smart indeed.

[Selena Torres]

Pursing her lips, Selena didn’t want to talk about ‘accepting’ someone claiming her like some possession. As if she was a pet instead of a living breathing being that could think and speak for herself. And oh how she could speak for herself. No matter how much protection it might bring her, the idea was disgusting and degrading. She had a feeling, if anything was going to set her blood boiling and cause some issues between her and Julian, it would be him claiming her like she was at an auction. Something in her voice told Selena the woman wasn’t really telling her the full truth. Her mind went back to the late morning breakfast she’d had in the kitchen just the other day, Tristan and Logan nagged at the hidden message the woman wasn’t telling her. If there was one thing she did know about the vampire society it was, Tristan answered to no one but himself. The coven was his. The mansion, the members, and the slaves were his. “My gut tells me that sweet little comfort you find in that thought doesn’t apply to Tristan.”

Placing her palms on the stone railing, she pushed herself up on to it so she as standing looking over the edge. It might have looked like she was contemplating suicide, but her purposes were of less harmful ones. Turning so she was standing as if to walk on the railing, her arms spread apart to maintain her balance on the half foot wide stone wall. She wobbled for a second making her glare down at her own feet knowing she was starting to get out of practice if she could keeping her balance without an audience watching. But the more she thought about the audiences she use to dance for back home, the more that hole in her heart grew. “A pleasure, Harmony.” Glancing over at her, she gave the woman a weak smile before walking across the railing with complete confidence.

Blood slave? Why did she not like the sound of that? It might have been the slave attachment at the end. “What’s a blood slave?” Stopping in her steps, she knelt down before sitting on the stone with her back to the rising sun. Julian had really kept her blind to other things which took place around the mansion. Then again, there hadn’t been a lot of time to ask every single little question she wanted about the different people in the house.

As she sat on the stone wall, she swung her legs causing the bells to jingle around her ankles. Arching an eyebrow, she watched the frown take over the smile wondering what she had said now to upset someone. “Not if they want to stay alive they won’t.” Something dark came over Selena’s face while she fingered her bangles. Anyone that dreamed of touching her, who was a vampire, would be in for a very rude awakening. Shaking her head to clear away any violent thoughts, she smiled back over at Harmony. “I’m going to have to say I’m pretty confident about him having put a claim to me. Otherwise, what would you call your man stating you’re his mate to his father’s face?” If the mansion servants were anything like the ones back on the Isla that fun event would have already spread around the halls a few times. Her only hope was the strange glowing her body had undergone hadn’t been mentioned. Looking back, she had no explanation for it and it bugged her not knowing what had happened to her own body. “Coming here was a last minute decision.” She still hadn’t gotten the full story out of Julian about why he’d wanted to come back. It had to do with Kacey and something along the lines of sticking to his home would be the last place she’d look for him. It had made sense at the time. Now looking back, she wondered if she should have taken one of the thousands of chances he gave her to leave him. “Besides, I grew up with wolves and a sister who converted to be a vampire for her mate, the rules aren’t so different.” She wasn’t saying both societies were identical, but they held their similarities and after toeing the line on the Isla, she could handle some vampires.

[Harmony Ferguson]

Very intuitive of her. Harmony studied Selena for a moment, watching her on the stone railing thoughtfully as she tucked her hands into her pajama bottom pockets, warming them up a little. She nodded her head softly and sighed, rubbing a hand over her face for a moment. "Tristan is the one person that particular rule does not apply to. He can do whatever he pleases to whoever's slave without any consequence." Harmony hated to admit that to Selena, but she needed to know what she was getting herself into.

She looked away from Selena when she asked what a blood slave was. Julian really didn't teach her anything, did he? She sighed and shifted uncomfortably for a moment before looking back to the rising sun. "Blood slaves are... slaves specifically for feeding. They have a special bond between them, which means the slave has to be willing to .... swap blood with the vampire." She said gently, blue eyes studying Selena for a moment. She knew the woman wouldn't approve of the situation. No human who has never experienced what Harmony has in the last fifty years would understand. How could someone be willing to do such a thing, right? She remembered that first time, and only time, she ever drank from Devon. It was like a drug. But the down turn was the bond. If Devon were to ever die... Harmony would die. It was a way of survival you could say.

Harmony shook her head softly at Selena's words. " That may be, but up here, it is a totally different world, Selena... Your sister and brother-in-laws' beliefs about humans are very frowned upon by most of the vampire community. Vampire covens are far more dangerous for humans than the Lycan court." Harmony stated the words calmly and in a neutral tone. She knew before Selena could say another word that Selena was going to get herself into a lot of trouble during her stay here. And trouble with Tristan was not something she would want. It would be in her best interest and all involved parties if she learned her place as a human and at least accepted that she was indeed Julian's human. She would make her life and her friends and family's life much easier if she did.

[Selena Torres]

As she had figured as much, still hearing those words annoyed Selena more than if Harmony had simply lied to her about it. Hearing the truth in the air almost made it more tangible and real. It almost made it seem like Tristan would pop up behind Harmony or out of the shadows, laugh diabolically before swopping down on one of them. And since she had dared to stand up to the ‘great and powerful’ vampire master, her money was placed on her blood being spilled. “I’m no slave. Cualquiera que piense lo contrario, alimenta de plata.” Covering her mouth, she laughed realizing she had switched languages without thinking. “Perdóname. I’m far too use to Julian being around so I tend to flip from English to Spanish when I get mad.” It had gotten to the point that Julian knew almost everything she said in Spanish, especially after the trip to Spain where she couldn’t stop rambling and gushing at everything and everywhere they went. She had pointed out objects, spoke about them in her second language, and then spoken to other Spaniards about places to go and what was best to see. “I suppose its best Tristan doesn’t know what I do say in Spanish, might keep me out of trouble in those times I do slip.” Because she knew she would. She was a practical woman, she knew herself very well.

Keeping quiet, she turned to watch the sun continue its climb over the horizon to pain the sky in breathtaking colors she thought she wouldn’t see over the New York sky. What came out of Harmony’s voice had the young Hispanic woman ready to say something completely rude and impolite. Instead, she held back her tongue before anything could slip out. She reminded herself of where she was and why she was there. “Out of love…or a need to survive?” Selena was grasping at straws to understand this world Julian had opened the door to. Reluctantly opened to her. Was blood slavery any different from what she allowed Julian to do by drinking from her? The idea of slavery wasn’t usually one of volunteers hopping aboard the blood donating train. It implied something negative. And from what she had seen of Logan and Tristan in the kitchen, she wondered if vampires aside from the few she knew were descent to their ‘slaves’.

Instead of commenting, she nodded in no mood to disagree with the statement. There were dangerous everywhere, Harmony thought the vampire coven was more dangerous? Then she clearly hadn’t been side the mansion walls or even to a real lycan court. They weren’t a walk in the park unless you knew the right people or how to handle a full grown werewolf trying to attack you on your way home at night. But the talk of her sister and brother in law had her thinking. “I haven’t been home in five months, four days, and six hours.” Smiling up at the sun, she realized how that might sound. Like she didn’t want to be there but it was hard to not be homesick after growing up on the island for twenty eight years straight without ever leaving. Tears began to build up around the rims of Selena’s eyes and it took her a second to realize they were slipping down her cheeks before she reached up to wipe away at them. “I never thought I might actually miss the Isla.” It had been far too easy at first to slip off the island alongside Julian but being at the vampire coven struck home since she could see the slivers of family connections laying around the mansion.

Turning away from the sun, she walked over to the IPod and its dock. Her finger twirled through the playlist, not sure what she was looking for but needing something. “Do you dance, Harmony?”

Translation: Anyone that thinks otherwise will eat silver.
Forgive me.

[Harmony Ferguson]

Both of Harmony's eyebrows rose at the Spanish outburst. She chuckled a little at Selena's explanation. She could understand that a bit. Tristan was an infuriating man. Of course, Harmony would never have the courage to say that to anyone. Tristan scared the hell right out of Harmony. He had all that power. She did her best to avoid him, but the last couple of weeks, he made her life miserable. She could not convey how utterly relieved she had been when Devon came home. If she spent one more day curled up naked at the foot of Tristan's bed or reluctantly in his arms one more night... she would have gone insane. She could not convey how much of a comfort it had been to sleep in Devon's arms that day.

Harmony sighed and stared out to New York City, thinking. Love. It was a complicated ordeal. And Harmony certainly never would have thought she'd willingly give herself to a vampire the way she did Devon. There were many hunters who would call her traitor for giving in so easily. Harmony saw it another way. It saved her ass. That's how she saw it in the beginning anyways. In the beginning when there was only hate for him. Now things were different. Fifty years of servitude changed people. She wondered if Selena picked up on what was going on with Harmony and Devon. Not that she would know. She hasn't been here long enough to hear all the juicy gossip, and though Devon and Harmony were a hot topic on the gossip carousel, she knew they weren't the top news. No... Julian and his human were at the top right now.

"It's not unusual for a vampire to take a blood slave as a lover. Blood and sex often go together during feedings for some vampires. But very rarely does it begin with love. " She looked back to Selena thoughtfully. Love amongst humans and vampires was a myth. It was so frowned upon for vampires to treat humans as anything other than food. To love a human was practically traitorous. There had been no love between Devon and Harmony in the beginning. None at all. Her bonding to be a blood slave had only been out of necessity. She despised Devon and every other vampire on earth in the beginning. She certainly tried a few times to take him out those first few weeks. She was no match without some sort of upper hand though. Not in a house full vampires. She looked back to the city, thinking. " I allowed myself to bond with him in that way because it was a necessity. He was looking for a blood slave, and as much as I despised the very idea, I knew someone worse would come along if I didn't become his. There was nothing but hate between me and Devon in the beginning. I despised vampires. They destroyed my family. They took everything I ever cared about from me. " Protection. That's what Harmony was thinking of that day Devon came upon her in the slave market.

Blue eyes watched the city in thought, calculatingly. A part of the huntress was still in Harmony. It showed itself in her defiance towards Devon. In the way she thought about how easy it would be to get rid of Eden. Just a little slip of holy water in a cup of blood. That's all it would take. Thoughts like that entered her mind all the time. Never about Devon. She loved him. And that wasn't the blood slave bond talking. She really did love him. If he would only release her from that bond or change her, he could see how she meant it when she said it.

"There are worst masters than Devon. I knew that. Becoming his blood slave would protect me from the others, with the exception of Tristan, of course." She lifted her gaze back to Selena. Blue eyes studied her thoughtfully, pondering her outburst of Spanish earlier. This was an intriguing woman. She was good though. Harmony could tell just by looking her over and having this conversation. Julian always had good taste in women as long as Harmony could remember. She watched Selena, pondering things over in her head as she went to iPod and the dock it sat on.

A blond eyebrow quirked upwards at her question. She eyed the woman wearily, pondering how to answer that question. Harmony knew how to dance well enough to get by. Not that she needed them since she became a slave. Devon never took her out. Never took her dancing or to the theater or anywhere. It was always sex and feeding. Not that the sex was bad. Nor was the feeding. But it got boring. "I know well enough to get by. Nothing fancy or anything." She answered matter of factly as she hoisted herself up to sit on the stone ledge, studying Selena thoughtfully. "Why do you ask?"

[Julian Holt]

Sleeping was something that the young hybrid enjoyed greatly, but it seemed that today, sleeping in wasn’t an option. When Selena had initially left, Julian was completely passed out lost in the land of dreams. To say that he could sleep through the end of the world was an understatement. Nothing could really get him up when he finally passed out. Many have tried and failed in their attempts to wake him up before he needed to be up. It was just something about mornings that usually made Julian roll over and go back to sleep. He knew that everyone else was sleeping and he didn’t have to really worry, yet at the same time, he would be out doing whatever he wanted at the same time. Often he figured that his need to sleep was due to his vampire side hunkering down for the day. At least that was how he explained it to anyone who decided to complain about his sleeping habits.

Rolling over on the bed, Julian stayed in a deep sleep unaware for the time being that Selena was already up and about. He had always found that to be odd, for her to be up with the sun and moon. There was just something off with it but he never really minded. He simply acted like he did because it usually got Selena back into bed. With the curtains being open, it didn’t take long for the sun to finally come up over the mansion, the light streaming fully into his room disturbing his sleep. The rays blinded the man as he turned over again, groaning and discovering that not only was there light in his room, but his mate was gone. Blinking one eye open, Julian glanced at the clock on his bedside table, making at face at the time. The sun had just got up and it was far too early to even be thinking about getting out of bed. At least that was what was going through his mind.

Sitting up, he pushed his hand through his bed ridden hair listening for sounds of anyone being in the bathroom. Realizing Selena wasn’t anywhere nearby, Julian threw the covers off himself, half stumbling out of bed. It really was far too early for him to be up and around right now. Sleep was still trying to bring him back under its spell as he shuffled through the room. Wearing nothing but the boxers and wife beater he had gone to sleep in, Julian scratched his head as he walked out of his room trying to find Selena. One good thing was he could smell where the woman had gone. The half conscious search for his mate ended up taking Julian to the roof, a place he had not expected to find himself. When he first ended up on the roof, he looked around quite confused thinking that his lack of consciousness was what had brought him up here by accident.

It wasn’t until he heard voices that Julian knew he was in the right place. Still half asleep, he made his way to where Harmony and Selena were. “You really are loco luna. Sun’s barely up and you’re on the roof dancing..” he muttered having heard her last question about whether or not Harmony danced.

[Selena Torres]

The knowledge that vampires didn’t usually take a blood slave out of love was understandable and at the same time, sad. Maybe she was just blinded by all the love she had grown up with on the Isla. To her, she could never have done what Harmony had. She couldn’t have trusted someone with her body in hopes they might protect her from other vampires. Not if she had grown up in the position Harmony had been placed in. “Protection…” She mumbled the word more to herself than Harmony while her eyes watched the sun, feeling the warmth of it’s heat tickle over her chilled skin. But her words of vampires having destroyed her family caused Selena to turn her eyes back to the young woman. She couldn’t imagine what that might have been like. She loved her family with all her heart and would do anything for any of her siblings or her parents. Next to Julian, they were the most important thing in her life. It was why being at the mansion was so tough on her. The sudden loss of her family’s constant chatter and jokes was starting to weigh heavy on her heart. But as much as she needed them, Julian needed her more. At least, she thought he did. “I’m sorry for your family. I can’t even bear the thought of something happening to mine.”

Her nail swirled over the concrete railing on the roof, drawing random images over the cold stone before nodding at Harmony’s words about having worse vampires than Devon take her. She didn’t know who Devon was but somewhere in the back of her mind, the name sounded familiar. Was it one that Julian had said to her late at night? They had a lot of late night moments where they would watch a movie and just talk over it, cracking jokes about the scene or ramble on about their life. She had learned more about her mate in those moments than any other time. “You’re far braver than I could ever be. All I do is let my mouth get ahead of my brain and land me in hot water.” Sighing softly, she shrugged.

Swirling through the IPod’s very long list of music, she smiled at the suspicious tone in Harmony’s voice at the very innocent question. It was a completely harmless question without any other meanings behind it. “Dancing is a good way to spice up your life. Trust me, it adds…a spark when you do it for someone you love in your room. Care to learn a few moves?” Standing up after pausing a song, she beckoned for Harmony to come over away from the railing. “I swear, it’s not as hard as it looks. It just takes a little patience to perfect it after you know the basic moves.” Maybe that statement was a little bias because she had been dancing since she could walk across the floor and her mother had played music around the house to liven it up when her siblings were at school.

Hearing her mate’s voice, Selena’s head snapped up and over in his direction, surprised at first to see him awake before a large smile formed over her face. The surprise had been there because she knew of his love for sleep, amazing her to see him awake at this hour. While she loved getting up to watch the sun rise or the moon and stars at night, he happily went to bed and passed out cold. She sometimes wondered if anything bad truly happened while he was sleeping if he’d even wake up to protect her. “Would you love me if I was anything but loca?” Teasing him, she twisted her body around causing her costume to sparkle under the sun’s rays, reflecting off the shiny beads around the bra and skirt. Eyeing his bed hair along with his choice in boxers and a white beater, she couldn’t help but laugh softly. “You should go back to bed. You look like hell.”

[Harmony Ferguson]

Her head shook, shrugging off Selena's words. Harmony learned long ago not to take people's pity. They had nothing to be sorry about. It's not like they could control what happened to her parents and sister. "You would find a way to cope eventually. A way to comfort yourself over your loss." She said it softly, staring out over the city thoughtfully as she hugged her sweater close to herself. Her comfort had been her time as a hunter. At least for her parents. At the news of her sister's death. Well, Harmony became much more willing in the sex department for Devon. That was how she managed to survive all these years. Eventually, Devon became more than a comfort to her though.

Her gaze turned to Selena and she smiled a little at Selena's words. "You remind me of myself when Devon first bought me." The smile faded though as she thought over those first few years. "It would be wise, however, to learn how to hold your tongue." She said gently, studying Selena. Harmony got many a slaves in trouble with her short temper and quick mouth. Not just herself. "Around here, you could get one of us slaves in trouble with the wrong words." She informed calmly. Harmony wasn't trying to be rude or anything. She just wanted Selena to understand. There were some things best left unsaid for the sake of the human inhabitants of the mansion. She was the only free human in the entire mansion after all, but there were still some things that she needed to understand and enforce on herself.

Harmony blushed a little at the turn of conversation. She wasn't so used to speaking about her relationship with someone she could be casual with. But no one else was here. It was just her and Selena. A little blush wouldn't call any attention to her like it would among the vampires. She studied Selena for a moment and shook her head lightly. "No thank you. Devon and I have plenty of spice in our love life." She smiled softly. At least that's what she thought for the moment. Maybe if she felt like it in the future, she would ask Selena to teach her.

Blue eyes lifted to Julian as he made his presence known. Harmony smirked softly, studying him for a moment. He looked absolutely sleep rumpled, but Harmony didn't mind. He was a fine man to look at that was for certain, but she still enjoyed looking at Devon more. "Lord Holt." She murmured softly, bowing a little in greeting. Harmony seldom took on a more casual tone with anyone other than Devon. Even in private. Julian had indeed helped her a couple of times since his and Selena's arrival back to the coven, but even then, Harmony did not get very casual with him.

[Julian Holt]

Despite his long journey through the mansion seeking out his mate, Julian did not seem to wake up out of his sleep like state. For the most part, it seemed like he was falling further into a sleep instead of actually waking up like most people. Having to deal with his so called family and the vampires that resided within the mansion really was taking a toll out of the young hybrid. Not on a way that he was actually tired but he felt the need to sleep in order to get away from some of their nagging and annoying voices. It wasn’t the best solution he could think of but Julian did enjoy sleeping and according to his mate, he could apparently sleep through a nuclear disaster. Unless it was needed the young man didn’t see any point in getting out of bed. Especially not when he had his mate there with him. Something that he was now trying resolve since he had woken up to find her missing.

After this long the young man had gotten used to her sleeping habits or lack thereof in this case. Always being up at the crack of dawn and when the moon was up. Finding Selena on the roof really was a surprise yet not at the same time. He knew she liked being out in the sun, and being in nature and dancing. It wasn’t that uncommon to find her there on the roof of all places. The look on his face once he found his mate was an interesting one. It was a mixture of curious, puzzled and still deep in a sleep like state. Standing there, he rubbed his face part of him wondering why in the world he was actually up at this time. His brain told him to go to bed but he was far too stubborn to go alone.

Even with him being half asleep the young man was able to pick up some of the conversation that the two women were having. He arched an eyebrow at one particular statement as he rubbed his face again looking over at Harmony. ”I appreciate you helping Selena, but I happen to enjoy her not biting her tongue. Even if it stirs up a bit of trouble.” he pointed out rubbing the back of his neck a small smirk on his face as he looked at the two woman. Wrinkling his nose, he sighed and pretended to think about her question as to whether or not he’d love her if she wasn’t crazy. “Hmm I’ll have to get back to you on that one when I’ve had my sleep.” he added. The fact that he was standing there in nothing but a pair of boxers and a wife beater really didn’t faze the man at all. “I intend to.” he muttered grinning when she told him to go back to bed because he looked like hell. Walking over to where Selena was, he bent down putting the young woman over his shoulder. “Good night Harmony.” he nodded at the younger woman before smacking Selena’s ass as he headed off the roof and towards their room.