"What do you do with all this space?" Soph asked, craning her head back to look at the high-vaulted ceiling with pendant lights of the entry hall. The inside of the house was a stark contrast to the majestic exterior facade. Oh, it was still bloody huge, but inside it was all white walls and simple furniture with a houseplant placed here and there for greenery. "You must have a lot of parties."

Eli touched the small of her back and guided her down the hall to the kitchen. "No parties," he told her. "Though Chase comes around for a drink every now and again."

"Chase Rickon?" Soph turned from the granite benchtops and open garden views of the kitchen to look at Eli. "You guys didn't seem like friends."

Eli shrugged. "He's not so bad when he's not doing that stupid voice of his."

"He doesn't talk like that all the time? No kidding." Soph turned back to look at the kitchen. It had an open plan and beyond it she could see an entertainment area with lounge, TV and fireplace as well as a wall of bi-fold doors that opened onto a deck beside the pool. She didn't even know where to start. It didn't matter. With another small touch, Eli pressed her from the room and into another.

They toured through his study, a bathroom, a library and several guest rooms before stopping at the master bedroom. It was sparsely furnished like the other rooms, with only a king-sized bed on a low wood base and adorned with a grey doona. But beyond the bed was a vista view of Hamilton bay. Soph's breath caught in her throat. Imagine waking up to that every morning.

"No basement?" she joked weakly. She could feel the tension building now that they were staring at Eli's bed. He was right behind her and as she waited, his hand that had been sitting on her back slid around to her stomach.

"No basement," he murmured, pulling her back against his chest to kiss her neck. Soph closed her eyes briefly, feeling that hot tug of longing in the pit of her stomach as she always did when he touched her, but now it didn't feel like some guilty pleasure. Now it felt right.

Suddenly he shifted. His free arm came across her chest to pin her against him while his other hand flicked open the button on her jeans and disappeared into her underwear.

"Oh fuck," Soph gasped, gripping the arm across her chest and rocking back as his fingers slid inside her. She groaned. Eli tilted her head back to kiss her lips. Hot fire jolted through her and her knees wanted to give out and buckle her to the floor, but he held her upright, unable to move.

His hand worked her into a wet mess while his lips trailed feverish kisses from her lips down her neck. She wondered briefly if he'd bite her today.

"Please," she whispered, her fingernails digging into his arm. It was what he wanted. He released his grip on her, and she turned to face him. He was smiling, and she wasn't quite sure if she wanted to smack him or kiss him. He kissed her instead; briefly and very gently before lifting her shirt over her head, unclipping her bra as he went.

For a moment they both stood shirtless before each other. Their eyes met. Eli seemed to contemplate her for a long moment, then he stepped forward to close the small gap between them and circle his arms about her waist. He kissed her again and it wasn't lust driven, rather it filled her with a warmth and softness that put her in mind of their kiss on her balcony during the storm. She melted against him, submitting to the kiss, drowning beneath whatever spell he had her captivated in.

"Come on, Witchling," he whispered against her lips, voice husky as he steered her towards the bed. "Let me fuck you."

***

Soph lay on the bed, feeling the softness of the grey doona beneath her. She scrunched her hands in the material. She was on Eli's bed. In his mansion. The entire afternoon was so surreal.

She turned her head to look at Eli beside her. He had his arms tucked behind his head and he stared up at the ceiling, a small frown creasing his brows.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked against her better judgement, suddenly wondering if he'd changed his mind on how he felt about her. It had been a few months since she'd last seen him, after all.

He didn't look at her as he replied, "there's something I need to tell you before this goes any further."

Shit. He really had changed his mind, or he'd gotten a girlfriend or something, Soph thought, her stomach sinking. He turned his head to look at her, freeing a hand to reach out and tuck her hair behind her ear.

"It's not something I'd normally bring up, but you've mentioned it twice now, so I think it needs addressing before we talk about anything else."

Soph waited with bated breath. Was he a gang lord? Did he run an illegal drug ring? Eli looked back towards the ceiling, drawing in a nervous breath.

"Soph, I can have children if I want."

She stared at him, working through his words. They made no sense in the context of who - or what - he was, but one implication became very apparent, very quickly.

"WHAT?" she exploded, rolling from the bed to stand. "We just fucked. You couldn't tell me this beforehand?" Her hands rose briefly to tangle in her hair, then she whirled to look for her clothes. "I'm not on the pill or anything!" She found her jeans by the wall and yanked them on. "Fuck! How many times have we fucked already and you couldn't just follow normal hook-up etiquette and say: Soph, I'm a fucking fertile vampire, if you're not on the pill then I need to wear a fucking rubber!"

She found her shirt next, thankfully in one piece, and pulled it over her head. Eli had sat up to watch her, but he didn't interrupt her tirade.

"All you men are the fucking same," she muttered then left the room, slamming the door as she went. She wasn't sure where she was headed; home to vent to her mother, or the closest bar, or maybe even a family planning clinic. In any case, she got to the front door of the mansion, then stopped.

No, she told herself. She needed answers. Fertile vampires were just not a thing. She whirled around and marched back to the bedroom.

Eli had put his tracksuit pants back on but was sitting on the edge of the bed, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. When she opened the door he peered at her through his fingers.

"Not even going to follow me and stop me from leaving? Some feelings you have for me."

He sat a little straighter, dropping his hands to his lap. "Soph, an hour ago I was trying to convince myself that I hated you, and then you just showed up on my doorstep. There are things I have to tell you before I - and you for that matter - even start talking about what we are to each other."

"Yeah well you better start talking," Soph growled, attempting to keep hold of her anger in the face of Eli's serious tone. "I might be a pretty ignorant witch but I'm not stupid. Vampire's can't have children. It's not possible."

"I'm not a vampire. Well, not completely."

Soph didn't know what to say. She stood where she was, her hand still on the door handle, and stared at Eli. He stared right back, waiting.

"So what are you then?" she prompted.

"I'm a witch."

Once more there was silence. Eli stood and went to the windows that overlooked the bay. She stared at his back and tried to decide what she should do. She knew this was a pivotal moment. What he was telling her was very serious, and possibly he'd never told anyone else. She could leave now without the baggage or she could find out more. She stepped further into the room.

"I think you better keep explaining." she moved closer, and he turned to face her, leaning on the windowsill.

"I need to know the trust is still there," he said somberly and Soph knew he was finally verbalising the unspoken agreement they'd kept each time they'd crossed paths prior to this. "Whether you walk out the door after this, or if we were to part ways years down the track. I need to know that what I tell you will be safe."

"The trust is still there," she whispered. She was close enough now that she could see the tense set of his shoulders and the reservations in his eyes. "What sort of witch are you? Light or black?"

"Neither. I'm a gaian witch." He looked down. "The gaian witch, actually. There are no others."

Soph swallowed, her heart suddenly thumping unevenly. "You're a Founder?"

Still not looking up, he nodded.

"I don't understand. How did you get vampire powers then?"

His foot scuffed against the carpet. "I already told you, I took them."

Soph moved closer again, reaching up to tilt his chin so he had to look at her. "I think you better tell me again. And in detail this time."

She could tell he didn't want to, but when he lifted his own hand to take hers from his face, he didn't look away.

"The powers Ethereal gifted the Founders weren't hers to give. She took them from someone else, then dished them out to five mortals to hide them. I don't know if she knew the magic could be passed on through procreation - or recreation in the case of the vampires - but it worked in her favour that the Founders could hide among their own."

"Five Founders?" Soph queried "You told me there were six."

"My powers didn't come from Ethereal. I was gifted mine by someone else."

"The same someone that Ethereal stole the original powers from?"

Eli stared at her for a long moment before nodding, as if he weren't sure that it was a good thing for her to make such a connection.

"So you're collecting vampire powers because...?"

"I'm going to use them to put Ethereal back in her place, then give them back to their owner. I'll do the same with the Light and Black witch powers when I can track them down. The Light Witch and I have an agreement... one more lifetime and she'll seek me out, but the Black Witch is elusive."

"Is it Adriana?" It had to be, Soph decided. Who else would drug a hoard of witches and set them on Eli's tail? Eli shrugged, however.

"I don't know. It could be. Or Adriana could be a pawn in a grander scheme. I'll only know who it is when I meet her face-to-face. There's this... familiarity bond that we all have where we recognise a kindred spirit, no matter the lifetime."

Soph looked past Eli and out the window towards the bay. It was a massive bomb to drop on her. It made Marco's secrecy around Jacob pale in comparison, and yet she didn't feel panicked at all. She wasn't ready to run yet. There were still so many questions to ask, too. She braced herself on the windowsill and looked down at the garden.

"It sort of pales in comparison to everything you've told me, but do I need to go to a family planning clinic and get a morning after pill?"

Finally Eli cracked a smile. He turned to face the window as well, his arm brushing against hers. "No. I said I could have children if I wanted."

Soph snorted. "What, you just turn your fertility on and off?"

"Yes."

She looked once more towards the bay and sighed. "I think you better offer me a drink."