Currently, however, Simeon was obviously agitated and concerned, whereas Rylan lay stretched out next to him on the wide couch in their lodgings, happily flicking through the latest holo-zine issue of Playmates from the Outer Beyond.

His brother, Simeon knew without even needing to scan his mind, didn't have a care in the world. He had no such concerns for their sire's safety, even without any form of contact, telepathic or not, for over two months.

"I really don't think you're taking this seriously enough...bro."

Simeon tried to inject as much muted frustration into his voice at his younger brother as possible, but somehow, as always, his sarcasm and worry barely affected his sibling. Simeon sighed.

He knew his twin cared for him, their elder brother Michael, as well as their father, and he could feel the close bond between the two of them in particular any time he stretched his mind in Rylan's direction. Yet Rylan always seemed so relaxed Michael often teased he was perpetually horizontal.

Which was also frequently true.

"You don't think not having heard from him in nearly ten weeks is strange in the slightest?" Simeon tried to be logical to his twin. "Come on, Ry, even for Gav over two months is suspicious. And it's obvious that his mind is shut off to us for some reason. What if he needs our help?"

When Rylan looked up, their identical dark brown eyes met and Simeon could tell some of his worry had finally penetrated his younger sibling's mind.

"It's not as if he can't contact us, Si," Rylan said comfortingly, lowering his holo-zine slightly. "I know he's never been gone anywhere for so long without some form of contact, but honestly? I can't see Gav in any kind of trouble, can you? The man is obsessed with rare books and knowledge. It's not as if he's out trying to fight battles, take over planets or laser beam the bad guys. The man is an academic, through and through."

Simeon s.n.a.t.c.hed the holo-zine from Rylan's lax hands and tossed it away from them both. He grinned as he maneuvered himself into a position where he could wrestle his brother to make him listen more closely and make his point hit home.

"The old man might be an academic, but remember Tigmona?" Simeon returned as he waited for his twin to attempt retrieval of his precious holo-zine. "He only wanted to look at the excavations out there, and ended up in a Brukas jail cell for three weeks before he could reach us. How do we know wherever the five h.e.l.ls he's traveled hasn't got anti-telepathic screening in their cells just like the Brukonians did? Gav's blockage of us might not be at all voluntary, and you know it!"

"You know, big brother," Rylan replied calmly, but Simeon could detect the glint in his twin's eyes and kept his guard up. "With you around to fret like an old lady about our safety, none of us would dare get into serious strife."

Simeon, able to read his brother's intent as if he had declared it aloud, gracefully ducked Rylan's return attempt at a headlock. Without a pause for breath and hardly even needing to think about it, he had reversed his twin's momentum and in the blink of an eye had him squirming under his own irreversible lock.

"Now, little brother," he said more cheerily, "you will listen to me. Gav knows I would worry about him, so if there were any way for him to contact me he would have. I think we should talk to Michael and go find Gav."

"Well, I think we should go down to Scooper's Pub and you should ask that pretty little blonde escort, Lea, to do unspeakable acts upon your body instead. I bet if you got laid properly you wouldn't be so uptight and such a nagging mother figure to the rest of us."

Simeon didn't notice his hold slacken somewhat at the mention of the very pretty, but fairly young escort he had been casually flirting with at their local pub. Lea had indeed become one of the casual pole dancers after her almost perfect tryouts.

Simeon admittedly felt more attracted to Lea's decent and coherent conversation than her eye-catching cleavage and well-toned body, but a bit of casual flirting never hurt anyone. Even though he felt no real s.e.xual pull for the young blonde, the thought of her doing unspeakable acts to his body did divert his mind somewhat.

"Lea?" he questioned curiously, "But she's supposedly only twenty-two! You do remember that we turned two hundred and thirty on our last birthday? I know you enjoy cradle s.n.a.t.c.hing, but do you understand how young that seems to me? G.o.ddess, she was asking me advice on which college she should apply to the other day!"

Simeon grunted as Rylan broke his hold and tried to wrestle him. Simeon grimaced and acknowledged the point his brother had scored with distracting his mind, even for a few seconds.

Young as he might find the delectable Lea, with her long legs, teensy pleated skirt and luscious blonde hair, the thought of her had moved his train of thought enough for his twin to attempt to gain the upper hand.

With them both silently locked in their only semi-playful battle, Simeon refused to let his mind wander again. As hard as he was concentrating, he barely felt the floor hit him in the side, as they both fell from the couch and continued to roll on the thick carpet, still locked in their fight as they grappled with each other.

As neither had their fangs bared, Simeon knew they weren't taking this fight seriously, but rather just expending some energy. So engrossed were they both in their struggle, that neither heard the door to the room opening. If Rylan had noticed it, his awareness would have pa.s.sed on instantly to Simeon as they were physically and mentally locked in their scuffle.

So they both paused in their fight and were more than a bit shocked when a familiar voice echoed through the large room.

"You know, watching the two of you try to wrestle was rather entertaining for the first fifty years or so of your lives, but it's really getting old now, don't you think?"

Both Simeon and Rylan turned to look at Michael, neither relaxing their grip on the other.

"Just because you're getting to be an ancient relic at close to four hundred-"

Michael interrupted Rylan with a scathing glance, "Three hundred and eighty-five, you insolent brat."

Simeon grinned as Rylan simply shrugged, at both the insult and the menacing tone of their brother's voice. "I seem to recall the last time you tried to take on the two of us you ended up eating the dirt in the middle of the rec-park."

Simeon watched as Michael's dark blue eyes flashed in remembrance. Agitated now, he ran a hand through his scruffy hair. Simeon, usually the peacemaker in the family, enjoyed the rare sight of the faintest flush of red on their elder brother's cheekbones.

"Why, you little whelp. I should let your brother thrash you alive. I simply heard an almighty thump from up here while I was trying to peruse the holo-news and decided to come in and see what monster was trying to eat you alive. Next time I won't bother."

"Oh, we are both so very grateful for your attempt at rescue," Rylan said blithely and with more than a hint of sarcasm, "but Si here seems to think Gav is in trouble."

Simeon looked inquiringly at his twin. There was no way Rylan would have mentioned his private worries unless he, too, held some concerns for their sire. Quickly, Simeon cast his glance back to Michael, wanting to gauge his initial reaction. He felt a trickle of relief as he saw Michael's shoulders tense up and his flush of embarra.s.sment quickly recede.

His dark blue eyes, utterly unlike either of theirs or Gavreel's, seemed clouded for a moment, troubled. "Gav hasn't been in contact with either of you?" Michael said carefully. The complete lack of inflection in his voice spoke volumes to Simeon.

Though the twins were especially close, both brothers loved their elder sibling and had a special bond with him as well. It didn't take a rocket scientist for them to realize Michael also held concerns, and likely hadn't heard from their father either.

Simeon wrenched himself from his brother's hold and stood up. He had the strongest urge to pace. He refused to label his feelings as fretting, but silently to himself he acknowledged he did have a tendency to worry like an old woman, particularly when the safety of his beloved family was at stake.

What Rylan had stated was true, Gav was exceedingly unlikely to join in a war, or insurrection, and so the chance he had been killed on some remote, tiny planet was very slim. Neither was Gav likely to upset any galaxy governments, or be seen as stealing secrets. He had no affiliation with any of the more politically motivated governments, nothing anyone would declare cla.s.sified as "dangerous", yet Gav had a different set of rules and values.

His curiosity and thirst for knowledge had virtually no limits. He would happily enter where any sane individual would fear to tread, all in the name of "gaining knowledge".

More than once Gav had found himself in a tight spot, and although as an exceedingly old and intelligent vampire, there were few individuals who would dare cross him, and he could more than defend himself, Simeon could count half a dozen times the three brothers had needed to come bail him out and rescue his a.s.s over the last couple of centuries.

Admittedly, half the time Gavreel had had no knowledge of the unrest or potential for trouble, but his sire was by no means above being surprised or caught in a bad moment.

Simeon just knew it was highly unusual for Gav not to contact any of the brothers for more than a month, as he knew they would worry for him.

When Rylan stood up to cross the room, re-pick up his holo-zine and settle himself back on the couch, Simeon sighed and replied to Michael's inquiry.

"No, Mike, Gav hasn't been in touch with either of us. I was going to check with you next. You don't think he might have left word with Vasili, do you?"

Rylan snorted, a wicked glint in his dark brown eyes. He looked up and, catching Simeon's eyes, mentally conveyed a perfectly clear image of Vasili puking his guts up in his own chambers along their private telepathic link. Simeon could tell it was a very recent occurrence his twin had witnessed, one which he had been ribbing their best friend mercilessly about for a few days now.

Obviously Vasili had enjoyed himself more than Simeon had realized the other night at the Desperate and Dateless ball. While vampires physically were able to eat and drink, because they lived from the energy of strong emotions there was no need to indulge themselves in either form of sustenance.

It did, however, give a wonderful, comforting sensation when one ate or drank a small amount to give that warm, heavy sensation in the stomach. But overindulgence of either or both food and drink had serious consequences roughly twenty-four hours afterwards-particularly the overconsumption of alcohol. The effects, depending on the level of overindulgence, could last for two or three days.

The problem was, after a few gla.s.ses of almost any alcoholic substance, one got the very human buzz of happiness, carefree and inebriated judgment. If one wasn't careful, or didn't have close friends nearby to give a warning, one simply carried along, partying and drinking up a storm, and totally forgot all rational trains of thought.

Rational thoughts, such as to stop drinking before one spent the rest of the week puking the entirety of one's stomach up to get the alcohol out of your overtaxed system.

"Vasili?" Rylan said aloud, nearly choking on his laughter, "I do believe he is still seriously hungover from having too fun a time at the Vamp D and D Ball."

Michael looked askance at Rylan. "You are a brilliant friend, Ry. I can see how sympathetic you are for his plight and how you must have bent over backwards attempting to help and console your supposed best friend."

Rylan merely shrugged. "I lost track of him rather early in the evening. Before I left he seemed rather buzzed, and I reminded him not to go too far. He certainly didn't seem seriously inebriated or I'd have carted him home myself."

Simeon could hear the truth in his twin's words and knew his brother wouldn't have left their very good friend alone if he had thought he was overimbibing.

"He insisted he was fine," Rylan continued, "practically growled at me to stop treating him like a virgin on his first night on the town, and so I let him be. When I stopped over late the next morning he was just saying goodbye to a particularly lovely looking redhead. Twenty minutes later he began to puke his guts up and he threw me from the lodgings. He hasn't been answering my comms since no matter what the provocation."

Simeon shrugged. He felt a large pang of pity for his good friend, but he himself had been dealing with a number of issues of his own. He had taken home two very appealing vampiresses, had indulged in an evening of s.e.x unlike any other, and still not found the true comfort and satisfaction he had been searching for lately.

He hadn't wanted to share his troubles with his twin, or even Vasili, excellent friend that he was. Since Simeon himself couldn't put his finger on exactly what was nagging him he didn't want to worry his siblings or friend. Nor did he particularly relish the thought of their ribbing, either.

He pushed the worry and thoughts he no longer wanted to mull over anymore from his head. He focused more on the tasks at hand. It certainly beat attempting to search his soul for the cause of his restlessness. Months hadn't helped so it could wait at least a few more weeks while he searched for his father.

"Well, it's been nearly a week now-that's how long it usually takes him to recover from the few binges I've been privy to," Simeon replied briskly. "Should we check in with him? Or start this search for Gav ourselves?" he questioned, looking from Rylan to Michael.

When Rylan also stood up, the brothers unconsciously all began to circle together, drawing strength from one another, and began to brainstorm to consider the situation more seriously.

"So you don't know where Gav was heading, Si?" Michael said carefully, "I just find it odd. I mean, the old man usually leaves word with you-he knows how much you fret over him."

Simeon rolled his eyes, amused and annoyed simultaneously.

"Oh please! And like Gav doesn't talk to you just as frequently."

Michael nodded his head curtly, acknowledging the truth of his words.

"Well, you know he is usually out of communication when he goes on one of his hunts," Michael continued logically. "You know what he's like when he has some idea or is following a thread of something."

"For more than two months?" Simeon challenged, tilting his head at an angle.

Michael raised his eyebrow and merely leaned casually against the wall.

"He really hasn't sent any messages or communicated along the family links to either of you? I thought he was p.i.s.sy with me for the last rhetorical argument we had. I didn't realize he'd blocked the entire family line."

When both brothers shook their heads, Michael took a deep breath and stood up straight.

"Well then, I think we should get in touch with Vasili, just to be certain Gav hasn't contacted him recently either. I can't think why the old man would contact Vas and not one of us, but we would look like complete fools if he had left word with Vas and our dear friend has simply been too hungover to let us know. I don't care how unlikely it is, that really should be our first port of call."

"What I want to know," Rylan piped up, "is where should we look? It's not as if we can traipse around the galaxy searching randomly for him."

Simeon blinked. Sure, he had been worried, and certainly he had wanted to knock some sense into his twin and ask Michael for his opinion. But he hadn't thought far enough ahead to have a decent suggestion as to what they should do and where they should begin their search.

"I'll go comm Vas," he said as the three of them merely looked blankly at one another. "I'll see if he's amongst the living again and whether Gav has left word with him. You guys hash out what we can do."

Heading out the door and down the corridor, Simeon smiled to himself. He had no idea what wild ideas his brothers would come up with, but between Rylan and Michael he knew it would almost certainly prove to be interesting.

Chapter Five.

"This had better be b.l.o.o.d.y-oh, it's you, Si. I thought you were Rylan, ha.s.sling me again. What's up, mate?"

Simeon schooled his features into what he hoped resembled his normal, merely casual interest. He had an awful time not howling with laughter. Vasili usually was an incredibly tidy man. His black hair, even when he rose from bed in the mornings, was always impeccably groomed, running in dark waves to his shoulders, each and every curl ruthlessly tamed and looking neat.

Simeon couldn't remember the last time Vas' dark green eyes hadn't held a twinkle of mischief in them. The man always seemed to be holding a joke inside him.

Today, however, even though it was early afternoon, his good friend had obviously been roused from his bed by the comm, and his hair was a curly mess, strands frizzing out in every direction. The green eyes, although clear, seemed drawn and tired and not at all the usually happy color Si had become used to over the many years of friendship.

"Wow, Vas," Simeon teased his friend, "Ry warned me you had been on a bender. Do you want me to come over and hold your hand? You look like s.h.i.t, mate."

"I've heard more than enough from your twin," Vasili replied grouchily. "I thought you were the nicer one? It must be b.l.o.o.d.y important for you to be ha.s.sling me. I wanted at least another six hours' sleep to recuperate before I faced the world, and any of you Montagues particularly."

"Sorry, Vas," Simeon apologized with only a small level of contrition. "But this really is important. We haven't heard from Gav, not since he told us he was heading out over two months ago. Neither Ry nor Mike have heard anything from him. We were hoping maybe he contacted you just before the D and D Ball and in your...err...recuperation had merely forgotten to mention it?"

Pale and exhausted as his friend looked, Simeon could easily tell his words worried Vasili. He felt his heart sinking. Obviously their father had not contacted Vasili sometime in the last few days or weeks.

"s.h.i.t. No, Si," Vas stammered. "If I had heard anything I would have commed you, even puking my guts up as I have been. There's really been no word at all? That's not like Gav. He knows how you fret."

Simeon made a rude noise of impatience.

"I don't think it's particularly nagging or fretting of me to wish to have contact with my father once every month or so, especially when he's off gallivanting around the galaxy doing heaven knows what. I don't know why you and the guys make such a big deal about it. If I didn't ask for some form of contact the rest of you would be just as worried."

"I know, Si," Vasili hastened to placate him. "Geesh, I was just teasing you, man, settle down. It's just so easy to spike your temper it becomes almost a compulsion. Truly. And you get so self-righteous as well. Tell me you got laid with those hot vampiresses I saw you with before you left the D and D ball. A night or two of rampaging vampiress s.e.x and you really should be a whole lot calmer now."

Simeon ignored the teasing as if it were beneath him. Besides, he knew that rising to the bait again would only make Vasili tease him worse. Instead, he decided to tease his old friend back.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stop in later this afternoon and help you out? I bet you haven't fed in a few days..."

He watched as Vasili shrugged, barely able to conceal his wince as his babying hit home. "I had some emergency blood stored away. I'll go down to a pub, maybe even Scooper's, later tonight and get a fix. Scooper's always has a heap of exuberance and l.u.s.t down there, especially with that new pole up. I'll be fine, Si. Tell you what," Simeon raised an eyebrow as a distinctly teasing note came into Vasili's voice. "I'll even check in with you before I crash again tonight, just to be safe and so you won't have to fret for me."

Simeon smiled wryly, shook his head and laughed.

"Okay, well...you know how to contact me if you need help."

He laughed again, much happier as Vasili cheekily saluted him and severed the comm connection. Simeon sat back and reviewed his options.

Heading back into the main rec room, he felt no surprise whatsoever to hear Michael and Rylan arguing.

"There's no need for you to chase after her like a dog in heat!" Michael seemed to be shouting at Rylan. "G.o.ddess! It's not as if you don't have a thousand other women hanging from your body, ready to fulfill your every whim!"

"What would you know, Mike?" came the heated retort from Simeon's twin. "You're as bad as Si! At least he came to the ball and got laid, you wouldn't even lower yourself to do that. Don't you ever feel the need for a particular woman and none other? Or have you managed to find a way to dispense with your body's needs all together?"

Simeon winced. He somehow felt his twin had just given him a very backhanded compliment, in his own bizarre fashion.

"Children," he chided as he walked into the room, much like Gav would have had he been present to hear the last few comments. "I take it Ry is still hot to go and ask Ruthie for some help?"

When Rylan merely glared at Michael, who snorted and crossed his arms over his chest while keeping his lips pressed firmly shut, Simeon truly felt as if his brothers were in their early twenties and acting like bickering children once more.