Nightwalker Fan Fiction ❯ Equilibrium ❯ Equilibrium Part 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Equilibrium

By: Lotus-chan

 

Part 2

 

Shido stirred. He woke slowly, recognizing first the bed beneath him… he hadn't slept in a bed since…

 

Shido sat bolt upright and searched his surroundings. He was in the middle of a large, lavishly furnished bedroom. White drapes hung from the four posts of the bed in tasteful swirls. The bed sheets were also white; silk.

 

He noticed the last remnants of daylight streaming in through the window and falling on his bed. Instinctively, he scooted away from that light. Sometimes Shido was able to withstand the light of day due to his power - so long as it wasn't direct sunlight but… he had not fed today. He would be vulnerable until he did and his only source of willing food, Yayoi, had gone off on an assignment out of the country, taking Guni with her.

 

“Ah! Master Shido, you're awake.” He turned and noticed the girl at the door for the first time. He must really be weak to not have sensed her coming… She was a young thing, wearing a black and white maid uniform. Blonde with her hair in a pony tail and green eyed she couldn't be over twenty years old at best, but… there was something about her that didn't feel quite right.

 

Even through his weakened senses he knew something was off and immediately his thoughts shifted to Nightbreed. “Who are you? And what is this place? Why am I here?”

 

Her charming smile widened and she bowed gracefully in greeting. “My name is Rika and I am the personal servant of the Master of the house. You are a guest here.” She then noticed the light streaming onto the bed. Her eyes widened and she ran to the window to close the curtain and shut out the light.

 

Shido scrutinized her in the welcomed darkness. She knew what he was… “Is this Cain's home?”

 

She turned, “Oh, no,” and chuckled. “Heaven knows where Master Cain lives. This is Daemon-sama's manor. You and Master Cain are both my Master's guests.” She said cheerfully. `Guests?' `Daemon?' What the hell was going on? Shido groaned and held his head in his hands. With the pounding in his head, he couldn`t think to make much sense of what she was saying.

 

She apparently didn`t notice his confusion. “I came to check up on you,” she began walking toward the bed. “You were quite weak when you arrived, what with the unfortunate death of your daughter of darkness and all. Yours and my Master have been waiting for you to awak...” She stopped cold when the end of Shido's blood sword appeared beneath her chin.

 

Shido glared at her from a crouching stance on the bed. “What are you? A Nightbreed?”

 

She looked at him calmly, “I am no `Nightbreed'. Vampires despise that particular taste. I was a gift to my Master and his gift; his hospitality, to his guests. I am human but carry my Master's bites.” Shido sneered at the way she kept saying `my master'.

 

It was as if this vampire, as he now took it, expressed ownership over her and she was perfectly ok with that. Shido's vision swam suddenly and he lost control of his sword. It liquefied in his grip and splashed onto the silk sheets. He brought his hand back to his temple as he swayed and Rika rushed up to help steady him. She was all that kept him from falling back onto the bed and that was the only reason he let her touch him.

 

“W-what did you mean by `hospitality'?” She smiled again, leaning her head away, exposing her neck.

 

She placed cool fingers under his chin and brought his gaze to the offering, “you've been without feeding for too long, Master Shido… it's disorienting you. Daemon-sama will not accept that a guest of his goes hungry. Drink.” With that final word she moved the hand that was not steadying him behind his head and pushed his lips against her pulse.

 

Shido's eyes bled to amber as his lips caressed the milky soft skin of her exposed neck. It was so tempting… he gritted his teeth and pulled back, “I refuse. You were most likely ordered to do this. I take nothing from the unwilling.”

 

She blinked, stunned. His eyes were still that startling amber that she recognized from all vampires but he seemed to be fighting that power; that hunger; trying to swallow it back. “Cain-sama was right. He said you might deny me… I didn't believe it then but…”

 

Shido growled something feral at the name and she gasped, jumping back. His expression softened, “See? You fear me. You don't want to do this.”

 

She managed to smile at him. “I like doing this. I'm as willing as you're going to get, Shido-sama. It's true that my Master ordered me to but he didn't have to. I would do anything to please him. I am here but to ease your hunger Shido-sama. I want to help you. You would know it if I was lying to you.” She added the last at his unbelieving expression. The shocking thing was that she was right. He could sense the truth in her words and he was shocked by them.

 

She smiled serenely, “My Master and Cain-sama wish that you be fed and have your strength returned before you leave the room and I'm only happy to oblige. I would do anything for Daemon-sama.” She said it eagerly and the look on her face was almost dreamy.

 

That's when he knew why she was so willing… she was in love with her Master. He shook his head. Her smile fell. “I hear rumors that the famous Shido, only child of darkness of the great Master Cain, has… a kind heart.” She spoke as if she were saying something blasphemous and her gaze kept shifting from his face to the ground and back.

 

“That he is sympathetic to humans and actually helps them sometimes… sometimes through eliminating more and more of the Nightbreed and that is why they are beginning to fear Tokyo as a stalking ground…” she continued.

 

He frowned at her through the dizzying haze in his eyes, “What are you getting at?”

 

She looked off to the side, “If you will not drink of me because you are convinced I'm not willing enough… then do so in order to help me.” Both eyebrows rose on that one. “My Master will be upset with me if I was unable to carry out an order of his… it doesn't matter what the circumstance. I don't want to upset or disappoint him,” she looked up at him then, into his eyes and said, “please?”

 

Being able to meet his gaze without falling into it wasn't what surprised him… she was asking, almost begging to be bitten by him. A little voice in the back of his mind screamed that she was willing enough, that he couldn't fight the hunger forever, and that was all it took.

 

With all control gone Shido leaned in and pulled her head back to one side almost violently. Exposing his fangs he bit into the skin of her neck and drank as if he hadn't done so since he died. A blush crept over the maid's cheeks and she held onto him as he fed.

 

As his power rushed over her, growing steadily stronger second by second she arched her back slightly, pressing into him. The sensation of being bitten was almost sexual and very intoxicating; a rush that was almost addictive…

 

Shido reveled in the sensation of being filled again. Not just with blood but with power, with life. Drinking of her life restored every last of his senses and with their renewed strength, he finally felt the presence that had been hiding just outside the door.

 

He snapped his head up from her neck. Blood stained the side of his mouth from the movement that was so quick it was almost violent. Rika cried out but Shido ignored her. His amber eyes flashed as he glared through the wall next to the door. “Stop playing with me and show yourself.”

 

Cain stepped into the door frame and leaned only slightly against it, grinning at Shido from the other side of the room. Shido growled at him, “You were there all this time…”

 

Rika blinked slightly dazed eyes at the vampire that held her and brought a hand to Shido's cheek, cocking her neck to the side. She looked at him as if wondering what was wrong or why he had stopped. Cain frowned at her, “Your job is done, human. Return to your Master and leave us alone.”

 

Shido snapped, “her name is Rika, not `human'.” Rika's eyes widened as she witnessed his display of disrespect. She drew away from him by herself slowly, as if Shido were something dangerous that might explode at any moment. “You really do defy your Master…”

 

Shido's anger turned to her, “he is NOT my Master!” She gasped and brought a hand over her mouth as if she hadn't meant to. She bowed quickly and almost ran from the room. Shido was about to apologize when she disappeared through the doorway. He hadn't meant to snap at her.

 

When he looked at Cain, he expected to find Cain angry but the expression he wore was very amused. Cain looked at Shido out of the corner of his eye, relaxing against the doorframe with his arms crossed. Other vampires might've leaned more or even slouched but there was something Shido had always acknowledged about Cain, no matter how grudgingly, and that was that Cain could give even the slightest of movements grace.

 

He swept the thought aside. This was no time to admire his casual grace... or his irritating smirk, or that annoying perpetual air of superiority… he smirked inwardly at the direction his thoughts were taking, `much better…'

 

“Others in the vampire community are not accustomed to seeing a lesser vampire show such rudeness to his Master, Shido. You should display a little more respect towards me.”

 

Shido scoffed, “I give respect where it's earned.”

 

Cain raised his eyebrows slightly, “and after all that I have done for you, have I not earned it yet?”

 

Shido's eyes widened, “`all that you have done for me'?? How about all that you have done to me?? Respect is the last thing you've earned from me, Cain!” Cain stepped into the room suddenly and the door slammed closed behind him.

 

Shido quickly got off the bed and raised his guard for what was to come. Cain's smile was completely gone by the time he walked up to stand in front of Shido. Shido struggled not to take a step back once he was so close. Cain noted Shido's tension. Breathing in, he captured the very faint, underlying sent of hesitation, anger, fear.

 

It made him lose grip on his anger and he sighed internally, “Why, Shido? Why do you continue to deny me? What have I done that is so horrible; so unforgivable?”

 

Shido's eyes were wide with indignant disbelief. “You actually have the nerve to ask?? You ruined my life, Cain! You stole everything from me that made me a worthwhile human being and turned me into a monster! It is because of you that I have become a parasite of human kind; that I have to steal from them the very life that I wanted to preserve. All just to keep myself from becoming the vision of a nightmarish corpse!”

 

Cain's eyes flashed, “We are far from parasites. We are gods! Human beings are here only to serve our purposes and to be given the gift of new life as our kind if they are deemed so worthy of it.”

 

“Is that what I was to you back then as well, Cain?” Shido was speaking with a low, dangerous voice. Cain could feel the anger in his words but there was an undercurrent of some repressed emotion in his voice that he couldn't discern. “Were you merely playing with your food? Until, of course, you thought of me as amusing enough to be deemed `worthy' of your `gift'?” he spat.

 

Cain's frown deepened. He knew mockery when he heard it… but there was more to this than what was on the surface. “I gave you this gift out of love, Shido.”

 

Shido laughed, and it was dark and bitter. “This is hardly the sort of thing you do to someone you love, Cain.” He glared into those amber eyes he had learned to hate and growled, “You are inhuman. I am sick of seeing you, sick of being chased by you and hearing your bullshit time and again. I am sick of your arrogance, of your lack of compassion, your… ungh!”

 

Cain reached out and grabbed Shido's throat, silencing him. Shido glared defiantly back. He could have called a weapon of blood to him at any moment but he didn't. He merely waited to see what Cain's next move would be. For long moments, Cain seemed unable to do anything but glare at his only child of darkness. Feeling the smooth alabaster skin beneath his tight grip; skin paled by centuries deprived of the sun.

 

Cain's hand relaxed, and the grip that could've crushed Shido's neck with a flick of his wrist eased into something resembling a caress. Shido was thrown by the sudden change and caught completely off-guard when Cain leaned in and licked the forgotten trail of blood from the side of his mouth, then moved to place a gentle kiss over his lips.

 

Shido panicked and pushed him away with enough force to put a normal human being through a wall. Cain let him and merely took a step back, perfectly composed. “I can see we will get nowhere at the moment. You are far too excited to continue this conversation.”

 

He turned around and began walking towards the door. “Do not worry, we are safe here. This place will buy us time but I would suggest you at least go downstairs and meet with your host. He was generous enough to offer his home despite the danger we pose to him. What you think of me is irrelevant.”

 

Shido huffed. He did not like being treated like a child. “You talk like you actually expect me to stay.”

 

Cain paused at the door without turning to look at him. He frowned to himself, gripped the door handle tightly and forced the words out. “I have never stolen anything from you. Those characteristics of yours, those that made you so very human, they were what I hoped to preserve by giving you the gift of eternity.”

 

He walked a little ways out and glanced at Shido over his shoulder, “You remember your past now, do you not?” Shido's eyes were widening and Cain nodded. “Then you should remember that I gave you a choice. You cannot blame me for the decision you made. As much as I love you, I will not play the thief so that your conscience can rest easy.”

 

As the door slowly closed behind him, Shido stood there in the rapidly increasing darkness, struck not only by Cain's words but by the difference in Cain's entire demeanor. He collapsed to the floor, and stared wordlessly at the ground. Several hours passed before Shido would emerge from his room.

 

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As Cain walked down the halls of the old manor, he took in nothing of his odd surroundings. The western style manor on the outskirts of Tokyo was an old relic of post Meiji Reconstruction but Daemon had never told him how he'd come to acquire it. Despite how nostalgic it made him feel, it could no longer distract him from the reason he'd taken refuge in it's ancient walls.

 

No… his thoughts were on the vampire he'd just spoken to. That one dark angel that had forever captured his love, his mind, his obsession. That one object of his desire he could no longer allow replace him with the company of humans. He should've never allowed it to happen in the first place. He should've never let him leave. But a moments weakness born of a secret guilt had betrayed him… had he really driven Shido away? He sighed and this time, he did so openly. “I'll try love first, oneesama… but if that doesn't work…”

 

“Talking to yourself again, Cain?” Cain turned his head and faced the owner of that voice. Without realizing it, he'd wondered down the stairs and into the lounge where his host sat before a lit fireplace, petting a rather large crow. Daemon looked at him with his strikingly deep blue eyes and smiled secretively. He spoke with Cain's accent and was a rather young vampire who'd apparently died somewhere around sixteen. His was the palest skin Cain had ever seen and it drew a striking contrast with his short black hair.

 

The boy was the epitome of vampiric beauty, and just as powerful despite being only fifty years older than Shido himself. He was going to be a power to be reckoned with once he became a Master. Cain's attention however, was not drawn to that ethereal beauty but to the crow on his lap. His face twisted into something resembling dignified disgust, “Must you insist on bringing them into the house?” He asked casually, implying that despite his curiosity, the answer wasn't all that important.

 

The crow's bright red eyes flashed in Cain's direction and it's anger was evident in the light growl that shook it's small body. Daemon turned to it with that same smile and shushed it, petting it gently. It calmed quickly and leaned into the caress. Daemon's smile widened just slightly and he brushed aside the bangs that had fallen into his face. “The nightbreed serve their purpose for me. There's no reason I can't show them a little gratitude.”

 

“Hn,” was Cain's only reply. Daemon looked up and the too-long bangs shifted back into his eyes.

 

“So, will I be meeting the love of your life soon? Or do you think he is plotting his escape as we speak.”

 

Cain shook his head slightly and looked back up the stairs, “not unless he's a fool. No… if I know him well, he'll be down soon enough.”

 

He turned to leave and Daemon watched him but just as the blond vampire was at the door, “Cain.” Cain turned and addressed him by raising a single delicate eyebrow. Daemon smiled gently, “I'm glad I was finally able to help you in return.”

 

Cain felt a frown tug at the edges of his face but he masked them with a casual indifference. `You shouldn't smile like that', he thought. `It doesn't suit you'. Instead of speaking his mind however, Cain nodded graciously, and left. Daemon's smile crumbled once the other vampire was out of sight.

 

The crow shook it's feathers and glared after the blonde Master. “Shall I kill him for you?” it said expectantly.

 

Daemon took the crow's cheeks into his hands and carefully pulled its gaze upward. The blue-eyed vampire's face was unreadable and his voice gentle but the threat in it was unmistakable. “Ask me again, and it will be you who dies.”

 

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A few hours later Shido walked silently down the hall outside his room until the curtains of an open window brushed against him. He let the cool late summer breeze pull him closer and looked out of the window to the cityscape before him. Tokyo gleamed in the distance. Thousands of tiny lights sparkling in the modernized jewel of Japan. It was a city he'd grown to love… and he should've known better.

 

With Cain rapt up in his life again it was likely he'd be forced to leave. To run again and leave all of the places and people, however few, that he'd developed a fondness for. Yayoi and Guni… “Riho…” He leaned against the window sill and buried his face in his hand. If only he hadn't let her leave. If only he'd insisted she stay indoors… He choked back a sob and his body trembled with the force of his grief.

 

She was yet another innocent death he was responsible for … and he couldn't bare the thought of it. He wiped at his eyes with his hand before any tears could fall and tried to compose himself. It wouldn't due to get caught showing such weakness… especially by Cain. He would mourn her properly once he was free of all of this again. Free of him. He looked out the window again and this time his gaze was on the grounds of the manor.

 

He squinted and from his second floor vantage point, he could see a garden in the darkness. His human eyes weren't as good as his vampiric ones but he never called to his darkness unless he had to. The garden was large and empty and seemed like as good a place as any to be alone. Shido moved away from the window and down a flight of stairs to the first floor. He entered what appeared to be a lounge and saw, on the other side of a set of ornate glass double doors, the garden.

 

Before he could head towards them, a voice called out to him. Shido turned and saw a dark haired boy sitting on one of the sofas in the lounge. Rika was standing next to him with a small bandage on her neck, holding a serving dish with two wine glasses. The boy smiled and beckoned him over. “You must be Shido, I was expecting you.”

 

Shido frowned slightly. He hadn't noticed him… He darted one last glance towards the garden but decided to accept the boy's invitation. The boy stood and bowed politely. “My name is Daemon, I'm pleased to finally meet you.”

 

Shido bowed back. “Tatsuhiko Shido.”

 

Daemon smiled and gestured to the sofa in front of him, “please sit.”

 

Shido sat and took the offered glass from Rika. She smiled at him and bowed herself out, the former misunderstanding between them apparently forgotten. Shido looked back at the boy and asked, “How did you know I was coming?”

 

Daemon swirled the small amount of what was obviously blood in his glass as if it were a fine wine and said, “You might say I could sense it,” he looked up, “don't tell me you've never been able to sense the presence of other creatures like yourself.”

 

Shido didn't blink. He could certainly `sense' where this was headed. “Only the nightbreed. I'm not all that accustomed to what other vampires feel like yet… other than Cain.” He didn't mind admitting it. Besides, he knew that if he could smell a lie, it was likely that so could his host.

 

Daemon nodded, “So it's true. You really weren't aware that more of us existed.”

 

“If you don't mind,” Shido began before the conversation could go anywhere else, “would you explain to me what's going on and why I am here?” Daemon nodded and Shido took a sip of his drink, drawing back almost immediately when he realized the blood was still warm.

 

He looked back to his host, who had noticed his reaction. Daemon only smiled, “Cain brought you here because I offered my home as a safe place for the two of you to hide until things could be sorted out. You're basically here however, because every vampire in Tokyo will be after your blood.”

 

Shido frowned, “why?”

 

“Because you have defied our laws.” Daemon answered as if it should be the most obvious thing in the world. “You have abandoned and disrespected your Master. You have denied his attempts to call you back to him. You're basically out of control and must either be forced back under your Master's power or put to death.”

 

Shido glared, “You say that as if I were no more important than a dog.”

 

Daemon chuckled, “well, unless Cain says otherwise, you're exactly right. A vampire is nothing nor can he do anything without his Master's permission.”

 

“Cain is not my Master.” Shido said warningly. He was growing quite tired of having to repeat it.

 

Daemon raised an eyebrow, “I think were you any other vampire and Cain any other Master, you would die just for saying that. Cain has been very merciful and very generous with his patience to tolerate that sort of behavior from you.”

 

“Cain is not my Master,” Shido repeated slowly, enunciating every word carefully as if Daemon was particularly dim or hard of hearing. “He is a thorn in my side, one I want nothing more than to be rid of.”

 

Daemon's expression at that point was decidedly unreadable. His gaze almost seemed distant when he next spoke; his voice soft. “Then you would have to kill him.”

 

Shido frowned slowly. He didn't like where this conversation had ended up and decided to tread cautiously. “Why do you say so?”

 

Something flickered in his expression, too fast for Shido to catch. The aura of Daemon's power was changing… Daemon was uncomfortable for some reason, and that aura of unease was beginning to slip through the blue-eyed vampire's control. “Because Cain will not stop pursuing you until the day you are his again.”

 

Daemon's gaze refocused on his guest and he said, “That day may very well be today, or tomorrow. You see, Cain won't allow the others to harm you. He may give you the illusion of choice but the truth is that there is no time left for him to risk you running from him again. You will either return to him by choice, or by force. It is not a question of if, merely how.”

 

Shido glared venomously, “The hell it is. I will not have my life run for me.”

 

Daemon smiled condescendingly and shook his head. “You are not powerful enough to make decisions like that yet and until you are, your Master, Cain,” he emphasized, “will indeed be doing with you as he pleases. A lesser vampire simply cannot go gallivanting about, pretending to be his own Master. It's a good way to get both you and Cain killed.”

 

Shido's glare weakened somewhat in confusion. `A lesser vampire?' Now, he may not have had much practice gauging another vampire's power but over a hundred years in Cain's company had taught him to read the older vampire well. If Shido was correctly applying what he'd learned with Cain to Daemon then…

 

Daemon couldn't possibly be any older than Shido himself. Shido felt that power that leaked from him brushing along his skin and he breathed it in, rolling it in his mind. The little hypocrite was talking like he was a Master when he and Shido were on about the same level. If what he was saying was true, then Daemon had to be playing servant to a Master himself.

 

“Where's your Master then,” Shido retorted.

 

“Dead.” Daemon answered simply. “Speaking of which, I must express my condolences on behalf of your own vampire. I understand she was killed only a few hours ago.”

 

Shido was not impressed by his false sentiments. “Cain tell you about that?”

 

“Naturally,” he replied casually.

 

Shido watched Daemon sip his drink, his glare intensifying. He could feel the air of confidence and indifference surrounding the other boy like a physical weight on his senses and it irritated him. “How do you know Cain?”

 

That made Daemon smile. “We go back quite a long way... After the death of my Master, Cain was kind enough to assume that position over me and instruct me in our ways.” Daemon was smiling to himself and Shido raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

 

“Oh?”

 

Daemon glanced at him over the rim of his wine glass, grinning. “Yes, we spent a great deal of time together. This would have been after you abandoned him about 200 years ago.” Shido's frown intensified. Daemon paused to take a sip and said almost to himself, “A lesser vampire abandoning his Master…” he shook his head, “Such a thing is unheard of.”

 

Daemon returned his gaze to Shido and his perpetual smile was curiously absent. “There are vampires who would kill and worse to have a Master of Cain's greatness, power, beauty…” He was shaking his head, “really, I'm surprised … you should be dead.” Shido was getting so upset he thought he might break the glass in his hand. For no more reason than to avoid making a mess, he set the wine glass on the table between them.

 

Ignoring the previous comment, he decided to get back to the matter at hand, “I'm still not quite sure I understand what's happening. Why should anyone else care what I do?” Shido was forcing himself to be polite. He really wanted nothing more than to get up and leave… that or throttle the little brat, but as long as they were pretending to be civil with each other, he might as well squeeze as much information out of the kid as possible.

 

Daemon sighed slightly, “The laws we follow are ancient. We do not question them, we merely obey and police our own. Without this, there would be chaos. It has always been this way.”

Shido raised an eyebrow, “and yet you don't seem to be following these laws, as I understand them, either.” Daemon gave him an innocent look. It almost made Shido laugh. “If your laws say that I should be killed for leaving Cain, then why aren't you trying to kill me too? What do you have to gain from helping me?”

 

The expression his host gave him, was a bored one. “Who ever said I was doing this for you?” Shido blinked, suddenly taken aback. Daemon took another sip and his gaze lingered on the blood in his glass as he spoke. “I owe Cain a debt of gratitude for what he did for me. If he hadn't taken me in when he did … Well, I am grateful enough to take any risk for him, even bending our laws if necessary to please him.”

 

Daemon stopped and gave Shido a sidelong glare, “Your insolence has placed Cain in danger. Those who hunt you will hunt him as well. Helping him now, during such an important time, is my way of repaying him. Although I could never hope to match his greatness, it is the least I could do.”

 

Shido crossed his arms and returned the glare. “That doesn't answer my first question. You may feel obligated to help Cain, but I have no guarantee for my safety in this place because you don't owe me anything. I can't know that you won't take advantage of a prime opportunity to get me out of your way…”

 

Shido placed emphasis on last few words. He was getting a sinking suspicion about Daemon and wanted to see if he would take the bait.

 

His host sighed heavily and put his glass down. When Daemon's gaze returned to him it was the bored blankness he had seen before but something had flashed behind Daemon's eyes a moment before they made eye contact. Something, Shido was shocked to realize, that closely resembled defeat.

 

“Cain's favor and happiness is all that matters to me but, unfortunately, all of that lies within you. Securing even a fraction of that means having to protect him and all that he loves ...” Daemon's gaze narrowed and Shido could feel the intensity of the power in that gaze pressing into the back of his mind. He expected a threat, a warning, anything from his host except the words he spoke next. “As long as you remain within this house, Shido, I swear no harm will come to you.”

 

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Collin stood over a pile of rubble outside the front door to Shido's detective agency. His eyes were closed, ignoring the sobs of the other vampire at his feet. His senses spread through the building, coating every wall in an invisible cloud of dark energy. He could not yet become the shadows, but with concentration it was still possible to sense them and obtain the knowledge they offered.

 

Body after body met his senses and the bloodied remains of the building's occupants reassured him that he and his coven were alone. “You make yourself vulnerable doing that, Collin.” The owner of that voice stopped a few feet behind him, her footsteps as quiet as only those of the truly old dead could be.

 

Collin opened his eyes and addressed Callista without turning around. “Would you prefer I risk blindly trusting these bumbling idiots to do their job and then have the human authorities rain down on us like a pack of ravening wolves because we missed somebody?”

 

Callista crossed her arms and stepped up beside him, “You know, you could've just asked me.” She said with a slight frown and glanced down at the mess at her feet.

 

One of the vampires that had attacked Cain was still there. The blood that seeped from the head wound soaked the wood and plaster red and still managed to create a large pool around the body. Some ironic twist of fate had caused the vampire to land on a splintered piece of wood. The vampire lay impaled over it; accidentally staked.

 

The sobbing was coming from another member of the coven, crouching over the body, mourning the loss of her companion.

 

A chunk of plaster falling away from the cracks drew Callista's gaze upward. The hole in the wall was impressive and she realized that this had been done almost negligibly. Cain had barely wasted any effort, brushing their vampires aside like so much garbage, and it had done this much damage. She felt the beginnings of fear stir in the pit of her stomach. Their young vampires were no more than gnats bating at the face of a god.

 

Collin noticed the subtle change in her aura as her gaze moved over the carnage. “This was a freak accident, Callista. The other one was fine after he fed. We are not about to be defeated by such a small show of power.”

 

“That is exactly what worries me, my love. That this was only a fraction of what a Master like Cain is capable of.” Callista found his gaze and held it. “Are you sure you know what you're doing?”

 

It happened so fast she didn't realize what hit her until her body slammed into the opposite wall. Callista felt the blood trickling from the cut on her lip and brought a hand to her face. The little bastard had smacked her! She felt the growing hostility in the air and she answered it with a flare of white hot anger that filled the hallway and matched that of her Master's.

 

The sobbing vampire choked back her cries and clutched at her throat like it was suddenly difficult to breathe. She got up awkwardly, and stumbled away from them as quickly as she could.

 

Collin's eyes were glowing a brilliant amber and his rage filled his voice when he spoke. “Don't you dare assume that you can question my decisions!” Callista got up slowly, growling. Her hand twitched and her finger nails shot forward, growing long and dagger-like in anticipation of battle.

 

“Collin!”

 

The voice was young. It came down the hall along with a flurry of loud footsteps and Collin straightened but his gaze stayed with Callista.

 

Quinlan stopped a few feet away, breathing like he'd just run a marathon. It was so unlike him that Collin's anger quieted and he raised an eyebrow. Quinlan looked from one to the other and smiled sheepishly, “I didn't interrupt anything did I?”

 

Callista straightened, her claws retracting, and smiled inwardly. The crafty little brat had broken up their fight on purpose. Said `little brat' looked at Callista and smiled with that little boy charm she knew he'd lost 200 years ago. At least he was doing his job… but the innocent mask might've been too much. She glanced at Collin out of the corner of her eye and realized he hadn't noticed. Her smile turned sinister.

 

“What is it? Have you dealt with the girl?” Collin asked. Quinlan grinned and raised what was in his hand. The long red pony-tail bounced in his grip, still giving off that healthy shine that came with a lifetime of care. It was splashed in places with deeper red stains, rapidly drying to a crusty brown. Bits of scalp still clung to the roots.

 

“Can I keep it?” he asked enthusiastically.

 

Collin grinned at his subordinate and his trophy. “If you like. Did you learn anything of value from the girl before she died?”

 

At this Quinlan frowned. “She was stubborn, more than I thought she'd be, but there wasn't much information to be had. She was Shido's only daughter of darkness. That is all I know.”

 

Collin reached out a hand and touched the boy's cheek, smearing the blood on it. Quinlan was completely drenched in Riho's blood. Collin kneeled and leaned in until he was an inch away from Quinlan's other cheek, close enough to kiss. He breathed in the scent of the girl's blood, recognizing Cain's and another alien scent that could only be Shido's. He smirked secretively and pulled back. “You have done well, today.”

 

Callista wrinkled her nose at the display. “Go clean up, Quinlan. You'll draw attention to yourself if you go walking around, drenched in that weakling's blood.”

 

Quinlan was about to go when Collin's voice stopped him, “No Quinlan, I was counting on your violent streak for this. I want you just like that a little while longer.” He got up and turned so that Quinlan noticed the mess on the floor for the first time.

 

The boy raised an eyebrow, “Why did you send Zoran after them? He was only 90 years dead. There was no question who would win.”

 

Collin smirked down at the body after hearing that. “No there was no question what the outcome would be but Zoran was disposable. The important thing is that Cain came to Shido's rescue.”

 

Callista didn't try hiding her confusion, “You do not trust me, my love. Otherwise you would've explained what is going on.” Collin laughed.

 

“Of course I don't trust you. If I did, I'd likely be dead by now.” He grinned at her, “but that is part of your attraction.” She grinned back and it was honest. Collin moved his gaze towards the inside of Shido's office/apartment. He watched as his vampires pulled Shido's coffin from it's hiding place, smashing it and whatever else they found to bits. “I know you are worried that our vampires are too young to face a Master of Cain's caliber but do not fear.

 

“Once we have Shido, we'll have all we need to cripple Cain enough so that even the newly dead would be a match for him...” His eyes began to glow again but this time it was excitement and anticipation that filled them. “… and now I know where they are.”

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A/N: Hi there! I'm very happy with how this last update turned out, though I thought I should tell anyone reading that the next update may not happen for a couple weeks. There are some things I gotta take care of that will get in the way of my writing. But! No worries, this fic is my baby and I will see it through to the end.