#redacted Alexis

[grilledcheezy92]

[arrowfleur]

Sam & Darlin HC’s: ft Alexis and Quinn below the cut

Every time they’re in season, Darlin’ buys Sam bouquets of sunflowers

Sam is unsuspectingly good at plaiting hair, and everytime he does it, whether it’s for himself, them or a friend, Darlin’ suspiciously asks where he learnt that from 🤨.

He learnt for his grandmother.

Darlin’ has on multiple occasions bribed workers to keep places open late so that Sam can experience things with them. Aquariums, bowling alleys, you name it.

Whenever Darlin’ can’t sleep, Sam inconspicuously suggests they go sit on the porch swing cause ‘fresh air’s good for the soul’. Works like a charm.

Despite what people might think, Sam is the jealous one in the relationship. Not in an insecure way, juuuust don’t touch what’s his.

Lovely came over to Sam’s most nights Vincent went back on watch duty, after their turning. They’d bring over skincare (face masks etc) for him and Darlin’ everytime. Both of them were equally confused what the fuck an ice roller was and how it was of any use.

Darlin’ is obsessed with Sam’s fireplace and they use it often in winter. Meticulously stacking up the wood, creasing up old news paper pages and using half a pack of matches to get it lit. Sam technically could conjure up enough magic to light it in about three seconds but he doesn’t have the heart to tell them.

The entire time Sam was trapped during the inversion, he kept getting a fuzzy feeling in his chest. He thought it was his magic stores running low but didn’t have time to focus on it.

The entire time Sam was trapped during the inversion, Darlin whispered the word ‘Mate’ to themselves so they’d know he was okay.

TW: the usual violence when it comes to Quinn stuff, below ⬇️

William and Sam are the only ones In the Solaire clan that know about Alexis’ past. The first time Alexis realised Sam didn’t feel the same way she did was after she’d cried to him about it. He comforted her and she’d asked him about the scars on his back in return. Sam just gently shook his head. He didn’t want to share those parts of himself with her.

Every single one of Quinn’s Victims after he ran away looked like Darlin’ in some way. All of them had at least the same eye and hair colour and each time they failed to sate him the way Darlin’ could that’s when he’d …

Darlin’ doesn’t know the first part, Sweetheart and David do.

[aimedis]

(semi) controversial redacted take !!

people are only fans of alexis the way that they are because she’s a woman WHO SAID THAT!!!!

i’m being deadass though, you don’t see people idolizing quinn for saying he would’ve turned darlin’ but i've seen that people are defending alexis for actually turning a man who said numerous times not to

and for me, it’s not necessarily a matter of “oh she turned him without his concent” because people do bad things when they’re panicking and maybe i could have left it at that. it’s the way she acted and continues to act afterwards. downplaying her actions, trash-talking sam’s mate who has nothing to do with her, and just overall being a bad person.

i understand that quinn is much worse considering that he kills, abuses, and tortures innocent people but genuinely, if he was a woman, i don’t think people would be as hateful of his character.

this isn't supposed to be man vs woman, if the roles were reversed argument btw

and that’s okay, because people have said they want to see deranged women characters and that’s fine, i totally agree 😭😭 but the people who are genuinely defending her and her attitude… please check yourself..

because it’s also disrespectful to sam and what he went through. it’s disregarding the years of still unhealed trauma and negative emotions that came from someone else’s actions.

(disrespectful to a fiction character, it’s insane i know lmfao)

i don’t know, to me it’s giving those people who fangirl over serial killers and abusers to say “oh they’re misunderstood! they’re just traumatized, it’s okay! they’re so hot btw, wish they would do that to me!”

and that’s frankly disgusting to me lol

I AM NOT SAYING YOU CANT SIMP FOR ALEXIS’ VOICE OR HER COMPLEX CHARACTER!!! BECAUSE BOTH ARE QUITE NICE!! IM JUST SAYING THIS IN THE CONTEXT OF PEOPLE DEFENDING HER!!! AND IDOLIZING HER!! THATS IT, DONT COME FOR ME 🙆🙆

[sainthowlzon]

[slushiepizza]

Characters : Sam, Darlin', Alexis Tags : Grief, Main Character Death, Heavy Angst No Comfort, Gendered Listener (Fem Darlin')

For maximum experience, listen to this while reading

Author's Note : I've always liked the idea that if Sam and Darlin' were ever to have a conversation on whether Darlin' would ever be a vampire and live an eternal life with Sam; they'd decline.

Because I think that it'd make a nice resolution to the conflict that Alexis brings. I for one, love Alexis as a character. Her actions are cruel and unjustified, but she does have quite the tragic narrative in my opinion. Sam having to live a temporary life with Darlin' would show his difference in character and attitude towards love. Alexis once mentioned in the Monarchial Summit that she turned Sam because she wanted him, and I would like to see Sam experience that same "want" over someone but dealing with it in a different way; relishing his time with Darlin' instead of subjecting them to eternal life like Alexis did with him. It's a "breaking of a cycle" of sorts, I guess.

And that's also why I added Alexis in this comic, because I also want her to be the person witnessing this decision that Sam made and the grief he's had to live with as a result. Because I think she has the mindset that if you love someone, that you do whatever it takes to make them stay, while with Sam, he's willing to go through the grief and pain precisely BECAUSE he loves Darlin'.

Also the comet is Halley's comet, that passes by earth every 79 or so years!

[stars4krios]

I'm sorry but ppl have been DEFENDING ALEXIS!? Like people have been genuinely upset at Sam for calling her a bitch???? I'm sorry but who in their right mind could defend Alexis turning Sam AFTER HE SAID NO? HE TOLD HER TO STOP! HE WAS PUSHING HER OFF HIM UNTIL SHE FORCED HIM TO OPEN HIS EYES AND TRANCED HIM

Y'all are fucking insane for excusing Alexis' actions because "she's hot.", Sam had all the right in the world to call her a bitch and honestly he could've (and should've) called her worse because she is.

She assaulted Sam. End of story. AND she's not even sorry, she said it herself!! Now I'd get if y'all we're mad at Sam for calling her a bitch after she tried to apologize and if she was actually sorry and trying to make up for her actions but she wasn't, and I doubt she ever will.

Y'all have taken pretty privilege way too far.

[stupd000]

hey guys friendly reminder that alexis is a raging cunt and you should not admire her

[mintygreencake]

Sam after he asked William what he'd do if he's wrong and he pulls out the "I won't be." Even though he fucked up with Vincent's turning, Adam torturing Lovely and Alexis turning Sam against his will. UNDER HIS SUPERVISION.

[24kaicy]

Headcanons of the vampire of Solaire Clan

I feel that Vincent has baby face and he uses he bangs to hide how young he is. Porter only really found out in that conversation before summit.

Alexis cried her eyes out after Sam turned because she felt his anger and sadness about what had happened. Alexis had no idea even feelings from progeny could do that to someone.

Bright Eyes is taller and bigger than Fred. Part of the reason they became friends is that Fred hid behind them when someone was chasing him.

Fred grew his hair to hide his injury on his eye. Bright has a scar on their neck and a small one on their chin.

Sam, over two years after their turning to them, how he was turned. They were in shock to say the least.

Cause of porter absence from the clan he has slowly been gaining a new friend. Lovely still keeps in contact with their friends at DAMN they make sure plan events at night for them.

Bright after their fight with fred talk to Sam why doesn't like them. They get their answer but not the answer they like.

Porter and sam are two oldest members in the clan(biologically outside of william).

William still have his oldest crown that got made centuries ago.

Sam still has his award for best healer he got before being turn. He looks at it with somber remembrance.

[6-atlas-6]

Hey guys so I know I said I'd come back in January and then ended up disappearing again... A lot of stuff has been going on I'm so sorry 😭

As an apology, I bring you all more redacted tweets 🙏

Guys I have not listened to a single redacted audio since the first part of the summit came out so cut me some slack if anything I post is inaccurate for a little bit

I'll catch up I promise

GUYS I FORGOT THE TAG LIST MB it's been too long

🎀Tags: @capitalisticveins @vilf-lover @plutobutartsy @vampiriceclipse @morgansplace @epsi-l0n @kitheking @randomhoneybee @messenger-of-stupidity @shawslut @samlizdavis @betta-phish @darlin-collins @verbal-static @puffin-smoke @cyc-chilla

[damascus-crowned-king]

Incase context needs to be added

Dalmatians are the stereotypical firefighter dog

Beagles are dogs that hunt truffles which requires digging underground

Bats are up in the air (air Elemental and vampire 👀)

James is a telepath and people think that dogs can easily read humans emotions

I'm assuming the sharp needles thing is self-explanatory

Huxley is probably as big as a bear

[my-redacted-thoughts]

you know that bitch is a solarie cause his fucking logo is basically the tesla symbol and only a solarie would pull that shit

[spookybeandoodle]

If they aren’t gonna throw hands might as well make them dance-

Another Alexis drawing??? With Darlin??? Wowie!

[grilledcheezy92]

I can't stop thinking about what Alexis said at the Summit.

"And if I hadn’t [turned Sam], you never would have known him. So how about you get off your high horse and put on a smile like the rest of us."

And like.... not necessarily true. He would have been 32-33 when Darlin was 18-ish (assuming they were born the same year as the boys) and while there were a number of circumstances that led to them meeting. They could have had a chance encounter at any point.

All I'm saying is DILF Sam could have been an option if Alexis weren't such a selfish bitch.

[slushiepizza]

what do u mean there's already a vampire otome game where they're all red flags and are fighting over you

[us3rnam3-r3dact3d]

remembering again the full extent of what forever is

Ao3 | 3.6k Words | William's POV

TW: Blood and injury, angst, hurt no comfort, self deprication and hatred, intimidation and threats of harm/death.

“Solaire.” David Shaw’s voice was steady on the other end of the line, even as William heard the not so muffled sounds of rowdy wolves in the background. “This is a courtesy call. Doesn’t have to be anything more.”

"Alpha Shaw," William replied, "what can I do for you?"

“I just kicked the shit out of one of yours.”

_

Alexis makes another play for Sam after finding out he is leaving the House of Solaire. David intercepts. William cleans up his mess, fifteen years late.

William Solaire is not a kind man.

William had a cellphone, but he rarely ever used it. It was mostly for the purpose of reaching his few, non-clan contacts. His most common calls were to the Department, hour long affairs of waiting on hold, talking in circles, and nearly pulling his hair out trying to get even the simplest things done. 

So, when he heard the insistent buzz of his phone somewhere in his office while taking his morning (evening) coffee, he was surprised. Most people didn’t call him. He had clan members who vetted and handled most communication coming in to him, sorting out what was pointless, what could be handled by lower ranking members of the House, and what actually needed to go to him. There were only a few people who had his direct phone number. His progeny, both of whom were avoiding him. Samuel, who was avoiding him even more than Vincent and Alexis were.  Porter, who would only call if he were in a situation he truly couldn’t get himself out of, which was unlikely, seeing as he was in Skyside for a short vacation after the business at the Summit. 

He had fumbled with his coffee, opening every drawer in his desk before finally finding it under a stack of file folders on the bottom right. He huffed and answered the call just as it was about to be sent to voicemail. 

“Solaire.” David Shaw’s voice was steady on the other end of the line, even as William heard the not so muffled sounds of rowdy wolves in the background. Will didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of this particular outcome. Most likely because he and Shaw rarely if ever communicated directly. Their territory agreements were initially set in place by Shaw’s father, whom William had known professionally for many years before his death. It was out of respect for Gabriel Shaw that William made no move to encroach on Shaw territory after he died. It would have been too easy. Such a young alpha, so inexperienced, and riddled with grief. He had instead allowed David Shaw the time to grow into an alpha in his own right, subsisting off of more than just his father’s memory. It was a wise investment. The Shaws were a valuable ally to have, even if that allyship was becoming tenuous due to his actions at the summit. They were valuable, but fatally mortal. Shaw and his pack were not built to understand William’s thoughts and actions. He thought that a kindness of sorts. “This is a courtesy call. Doesn’t have to be anything more.” 

“Alpha Shaw.” William spoke to David Shaw with respect, just as he had his father, just as he did during their first meeting. Even that broken, snappy young man had always been called ‘Alpha’ in William’s presence. “What can I do for you?” He checked his watch, a beautiful, green faced thing that Vincent had bought for him. He had forgotten that. He blinked and refocused. It was nearing midnight. Too late for the Shaws to be incredibly active. 

“I just kicked the shit out of one of yours.” 

While they didn’t speak frequently, William had had his fair share of conversations with Shaw over the years. He had never heard him speak like this, or indeed sound so angry, so outraged. 

Will’s cold heart seized in his chest. 

“Samuel?” William breathed, but felt foolish as soon as the name left his lips. Shaw audibly scoffed. Of course not. For one thing, Samuel was no longer a member of his clan. For another, he was the mate of one of Shaw’s wolves. If he did anything to hurt his mate, William could see Shaw protecting his own over Samuel, but from what he knew about the man, Shaw wasn’t the punishment type. 

“No.” Shaw snapped. “Alexis.” 

“Ah.” William sighed. That pounding of fear and pain in his chest from an hour or so prior. Alexis got into trouble often, and his connection to her pain had distanced over the last fifty years. It certainly wasn’t as present as Vincent’s still was, as the echoes of his own progeny’s emotions were. Betrayal, sweet and cloying, still sat heavily in his throat. “That, I will admit, makes more sense.” 

“She’s drunk.” Shaw replied. “At least… Sam says she’s drunk. I don’t know how it works for vampires.” 

“It’s possible.” William confirmed. “She must have fed from another vampire.” 

“Yeah.” Shaw ground out. “She certainly did. She stepped foot on my territory. I’m entitled to defend it and my pack.” 

“Absolutely.” William said. He ran his hand over his face and fought not to sigh straight into the phone’s receiver. Stupid. She was now his only heir and she was encroaching on tenuous ally’s territory. She would be the death of him. 

“If you’d like to collect her, I’m looking right at her. Or I can hand her over to D.U.M.P..” 

“I’ll be there momentarily.” 

The Shaw den was well known to him. He had never been inside himself, but most of Dahlia was split between their two groups in terms of territory. The den was familiar to him as he was sure Wonder World was familiar to David. He carried a healthy level of suspicion and respect about the place, just like he did the people who inhabited it. Power respects power. Like calls to like. 

He knocked. It felt silly to knock. He entered every room with the certainty of his presence. He rarely had occasion to knock, but it would most likely be uncouth to appear inside of the den unannounced when they’d been attacked by someone bearing his blood mere hours earlier. Shaw’s Beta answered. He’d met the man once before, but was embarrassed to say that he couldn’t remember his name. The wolf grinned and stepped aside, ushering him in. 

“She’s healing already.” The Beta reported. “I’m sure she’ll be good by sunrise, given how much blood Sammy says she must have drunk.” 

It was uncomfortable to hear the endearment on the wolf’s lips. He shook off the instinct to demand respect for his Duke. Samuel wasn’t his Duke anymore. 

“I have no doubt that she’ll recover.” William smiled politely. The Beta had a casual air about him, but William could feel the raised hackles of every wolf they passed on the way to the Alpha’s office. It wasn’t an unusual sensation for William. He was, more often than not, the most powerful being in any room.

They rounded a corner to a small corridor of open offices, and Will spotted Samuel on a plush leather couch, bent over his knees and taking exaggerated breaths. His mate was sat next to him, blood dried over their mouth, rubbing small circles into Samuel’s back. 

Will moved before he even thought. He was knelt before Samuel in an instant, searching for his eyes. He heard the heart rate of every wolf in the room pick up. The Beta stilled and held out a hand. Everyone froze. The only sounds were the hammering of half a dozen hearts and the snarls and growls of Sam’s mate, startled into a defensive position by his sudden movement. 

William didn’t touch. He knew that this wolf’s claim to Samuel was more powerful, more sacred than any he’d ever had. Still, seeing him shake, struggle to breathe, made Will’s throat tight. 

“Samuel,” he said softly. Sam didn’t look up. He could see better from this vantage point. Samuel’s knuckles were bloody but long healed over. There was a mess of red on the side of his neck. 

Alexis had bitten him. 

William felt anger boil in his stomach like acid. He hadn’t felt like this in fifteen years, since the night he’d carried a shaking newborn from Alexis’s house. 

“Oh my boy,” he said softly. He looked up to Sam’s mate, who was swallowing growls and trying not to flash teeth. He could smell Alexis’s- his- blood on them. He shook his head. “I am so sorry. I will deal with her.” 

“You should have already dealt with her.” Samuel’s mate sneered. Sam stiffened. “She fucking bit him.” 

Will didn’t reply to the disrespect. He owed them this. He owed Samuel this moment. He wouldn’t let his damned pride take that from him. 

He stood, let his hand grace over Sam’s hair as his mate’s growls subsided. 

He knocked gently, unnaturally on the Alpha’s office door. 

Shaw was sat at his desk, his face and hair splattered with blood, inspecting his battered knuckles as he stared down Alexis. She was sat across from him in one of the plush, maroon chairs for visitors. William could almost convince himself that she was having a civil meeting, sitting politely with her back to him. As he stepped closer, though, he could see the strange tilt to her head, he could hear her ragged breathing. 

“Solaire.” Shaw nodded, his face grave. He indicated lazily towards Alexis. “She’s fucked up but she’ll live.” 

William rounded the chair and got a good look at Alexis. Most of the minor damage had healed, leaving behind smudges and splatters of blood and dirt where there were once cuts and scrapes. The worst of it, though, was still healing. Someone, most likely Samuel’s mate, had taken a bite out of her neck and shoulder. The meat of her shoulder was oozing blood down her front, staining her torn dress from blood red to black. Her throat was pried open like a clam, the pearl of her exposed trachea fluttering as it tried to maintain its structure. Her blackened eyes were hazy as they glared back at Shaw. Her arms twitched, her inch long, sharpened nails digging into the crushed velvet arm of the chair. Will imagined that, if she had the strength, she’d be biting for anything with a pulse, Shaw included. One of her hands jerked towards him as he came into her line of sight. He took it gently in his own. 

“Your kindness does not go unnoticed.” William replied to Shaw. “And it will not be forgotten. If I may, what exactly happened?” David nodded slowly and ran his fingers through his hair, which had begun to go stiff with blood. 

“Sam was attending a pack meeting.” He said after a moment. “That’s his right. His mate is a member of this pack, so he is too. Your progeny-“ he sneered as he looked at her, “-invited herself. My Beta and I met her at the door and barred her from stepping foot in our den. She was… unsteady. Sam asked for privacy and stepped out to take care of it. His mate followed. By the time I smelled blood she was already on the ground. It took three of us to get my wolf off of her.” 

Alexis coughed and squeezed his hand, her lips curling up in disgust or anger. William couldn’t keep his attention on her face for very long. He didn’t know if it was the echoes of her pain or his own that filled him up when he did. 

“I apologize for my clan’s intrusion on your territory.” 

“And-“ Shaw raised his hand, his face twisting, as though apologizing for the interruption. “-and the intrusion on my pack. Sam is the mate of one of my wolves. That makes him a full fledged member of this pack.” 

William’s brow furrowed. He was well acquainted with vampires’ sometimes antiquated ideas about shifters and other mortal empowered races. The idea that a vampire would lower themself so much as to identify as part of a pack above their own Clan of origin was shameful to many older beings like himself. He couldn’t help the shiver of prideful objection that tried to overtake him. It was his blood in Samuel’s veins. That part of him screamed to draw him back, to collect him away from harm, to have him and understand him and protect him in a way that Shaw never could in his last fifty-odd years on this earth. 

But that was the same instinct that screamed in Alexis to cross territory lines. That was the same instinct inside of her that turned Sam, even when he begged her not to. That possession before love, before respect, before care. That ugly part of her that William punished so readily came from him. 

So he swallowed it down like blood in his throat. Hot and bitter and unkind. Samuel did not belong to him.

“I want to be very clear to you, William.” Shaw continued, his voice teetering on the edge of control. William imagined that it was only the mutual respect the two of them had cultivated that kept Shaw from losing his grasp in decorum entirely at this point. “Sam is mine. He is a member of my pack. He belongs to his mate. And he belongs to me. She touched what is mine . Sam asked me to keep her alive, so I did. But if he had allowed it, I would have killed her, regardless of any allyship.”

“You openly admit your willingness to kill my progeny?” William asked. His voice was purposefully blank of anything that would give away his position on this issue. Shaw was treading on dangerous ground. Many kings had killed for less.

“Yes.” Shaw replied easily, as though he were unaware that that word alone could be the punctuation on his life. Shaw knew it. William could see it in those dark, steady eyes. “In order to make this next part stick in her brain.” Those dark eyes shifted to Alexis, who was struggling to sit up properly in her chair. Her neck was fluttering closed, healing slowly. “If you come onto my territory again, if you hurt a member of my pack, if you so much as look at Sam in a way that displeases me, I won’t take his wishes into consideration. He wants you left alive out of some sense of Maker loyalty? That’s fine. But I won’t let the opinions of a single pack member revoke my right to protect what is mine. Do that shit again, and you’ll meet your end between my teeth. Do you understand?” 

Alexis bared her bloody teeth, gasping down air and blood. 

“He’s mine.” She gasped, voice ragged and popping. “In a way he can never be yours. When you’re dead and gone, he and I will still be here. And when I’m ruling monarch of the House of Solaire, I’ll do what I please with him.” 

Silence rang through the room. William swore he could see Shaw’s teeth grow and sharpen in his mouth. Heat bubbled up in his own chest. Shame burned through him in a way it never had before. 

Will’s hand snaked to the back of Alexis’ neck, cradled her nape in a gentle hold. He had made the decision before she even finished talking. 

“Alexis will never have her invocation rights returned to her.” William said softly. Two sets of predator’s eyes snapped to him. “I will give my own ability to invoke her to Vincent.” 

“ Vincent ?” Alexis screached, jerking under his hand. He held fast, his nails digging into the tender flesh. 

“He is a closer ally to the Shaw pack than he is to me, now.” A rueful smile curled around his elongated fangs. “Should something happen to me and Alexis become monarch of the House, someone outside of her control will hold her invocation rights. Vincent is a kind man, and will not abuse that ability over her. And he loves Sam. More and better than I was ever capable of.” William cut his gaze to Shaw. “Is this satisfactory?” Shaw stared him down, unblinking, and unafraid of a trance or threat. It was rare for another empowered person to meet his eye. He supposed that was why he had always liked Shaw so much. He was unafraid of William’s power, but not ignorant of it. 

“That’s a big thing to give up.” Shaw sighed, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “I find it hard to believe that you would hand over any power, let alone something so… useful.” His lips curled around the word with disgust. Shaw was far from the first mortal to find invocations distasteful. Wolves. They so valued their freedom, their democracy. Short sighted, fast fading, mortal creatures. William had seen Shaw’s father pass through life in the blink of an eye. Shaw would do the same. Already, his brow was creased with premature worry lines. The quiet, twenty-year-old Beta had become the intimidating, thirty-year-old Alpha would become an old man would become a body in the ground. He aged, and he would die. He could not protect Sam, not in any meaningful way. In the long run, it would fall to William. This was the least he could do for Sam, who he had failed in so many ways, so many times. 

“I care for Sam more than I value this power.” He admitted softly. “And… I am more ashamed of my progeny’s actions than words can describe.” He folded his hand over his chest and bowed his head. William had not bowed to anyone in centuries, not since his Maker had forced him to. William knew with a frightful certainty when his Maker’s blood had adorned his body like a brand new, tailored suit that he would bow to no one ever again. And yet here he was, his head inclined, his back bending under the weight of his progeny’s actions, his actions. Shaw sucked in a breath as Alexis jerked. He knew how rare this was. “I beg the forgiveness of your pack and its Alpha.” Shaw bristled under the formality. 

“Yeah well…” he huffed. “Get her off of my land and keep her off.” 

“Happily.” 

Shaw left the office to move Samuel away before William and Alexis made their leave. Sam didn’t deserve to hear her screeching as she spat venom into Will’s face, into the face of his only ally left in this town. WillIan’s gaze froze her in her spot even as she craned to catch sight of Samuel through the door as Shaw left. The shadow of Shaw’s imposing figure blocked his pack from their view. 

“I think,” William said softly, his voice stilling Alexis’ frantic movements, “that it is time to reorder my Court.” 

Alexis finally fell into silence. She blinked up at him owlishly, her blackened eyes brimming with… something. Anger, perhaps. Or grief. 

“What?” She breathed. He brushed his knuckles against her throat and let what little magic he could externalize flow into her. His magic knew hers, had known hers for fifty years now, as well as it knew himself. It was his blood in her veins, afterall. Everything that she was he had been, he was. 

Her wounds closed over slowly. She winced at the sting of his magic, rarely ever used to heal. Samuel would have made easy work of those injuries. William wondered if someone had stopped him from healing her. He doubted that Sam would have let an injury lie unless under direct order from his mate or his Alpha. 

He was so good. And it was Alexis’s blood in him. It was William’s.  

“You do not want to rule a House.” He replied. “Not truly. You want power over those around you. And you want the freedom to do what you please. But you cannot have both. To carry power over others is to be tied to them, to belong to them. That is something you have never understood.” 

“Will-“

“It would be a kindness, I think,” he said, “to save you from the burden of the crown.” He bent to lift her up into his arms, cradled her head until it rested, limply, against his shoulder. She spasmed for a moment but eventually gave in to his hold. He was reminded of a night decades ago, holding a slight, bloody thing in his arms in the woods outside of his territory. She fought his every touch, his every kindness. He remembered, even then, even in the dying tilt of her, the hunger that rang through every bone. That was there before him, but it was so familiar she might have inherited it. Perhaps that was why he had turned her. Perhaps that was why he had allowed her to live after what she did to Samuel. Perhaps that was why she had remained on his court, in his line of succession. 

No more. William Solaire was not a kind man, least of all to himself. The parts of him that had bled for Alexis stopped here, in this room, in an unfamiliar office in the territory of the only ally he had left, an ally he might have strengthened or lost tonight. 

“You are my progeny.” He said softly, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head through her blood-matted hair. “I will care for you for the rest of your life.” He closed his eyes to his next words, let them wash over her unobserved. He owed her this, at least this. “But if you touch Samuel again, Shaw won’t have to kill you. I will do it myself.” 

He carried her home, tucked into his arms and weeping. He prayed that, come morning, his progeny would still be his, that the ache in his chest- her chest- would ease. He prayed that, one day, he would pay back all that he owed. 

For all of his riches, he doubted he would ever wrap his hands around enough. That, William thought, had always been his problem.