Now that they knew they could trust Claire, or at the very least could make steps to getting there, the group decided that they could afford to get separate rooms for themselves. After all it wasn’t like they were staying at the Ritz-Carlton, they were at a dead-end motel in the middle of the country, the only other things passing through were chicken farmers and tumbleweeds.

Most importantly, it had been sometime since the couples had been able to spend their time alone. They had made an exception for Liam and Skylar, and that had only been possible because the rest of the group was otherwise not using the room. But now that they had an injured newcomer with them they couldn’t exactly ask everyone to vacate the room for a few hours while they got reacquainted, that would only make her condition worse. So Michael decided to take the initiative and pay for the rest of the rooms that were available, it was better that no other people came to stay anyway considering exactly what they were planning and, knowing how… Active some of them could get, it would eliminate the possibility of noise complaints.

Hayley sighed gratefully as she opened the door to her and Michael’s room, as much as she loved her friends she had to admit that spending days on end crammed into the same room very quickly lost its appeal. It was fine once in a while but… The two of them hadn’t been intimate since the night before they left Boulder Junction, and that just wouldn’t do. Of course, before they could get around to that they had to process the last few days for themselves, too much had happened just to brush away easily.

“So…” Michael started, “Our group is getting a lot more… Varied, isn’t it?”

“You can say that again,” Hayley laughed, “When we started on this journey I didn’t think that we would be picking up a vampire and another hunter, or another Enenra for that matter. What do you think of them?”

“Iggy… He’s young, impulsive, just like the rest of us honestly, I think that with time he’ll probably outgrow that and become a real force to be reckoned with.” He inclined his head, counting off with his hands. “Then there’s Claire, who I’m still not sure what to think about but she seems more or less trustworthy. It’s all just a matter of whether or not her and Iggy can decide to get along, that’s the biggest obstacle right now.”

“And Leila?”

Michael sat down on the bed, kicking off his shoes and laying back with a groan. “I’ve gotta say that I was wrong about her, I thought she was just some other person taking advantage of Sky for her own goals. I love Sky but that big heart of hers is going to backfire on her one day… But I guess that day isn’t today. Leila actually cares about her.”

“Yeah…” Hayley cuddled up next to him, arms wrapping around his neck and her head resting on his shoulder. “After everything that’s happened, everything she’s been through, it’s nice to know that Sky still has some family left. Apart from us of course.”

“We’ll always be there for her but… I know that’s not exactly the same as having someone exactly like you, who knows what you’re going through and can guide you through it every step of the way. We tried, but we didn’t know the first thing about how to help her through her changes, all we could do was stand there and hope she was going to be alright.”

“And now she is.” Hayley leaned in, pecking his lips and looking deep into his eyes. “I think we all are now.”

Michael ran his hand through her hair, marveling at her beauty for the hundredth time that day. “I still can’t believe that you’re real, that this is real. How did someone like you end up with someone like me?”

“Well, there’s a lot of reasons,” She said, smirking while she pressed a kiss to his chest. “You’re kind, once you get through that tough shell that you show to all your enemies, you’re smart, a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for...” She reached down, palming him through his pants and giggling when he shuddered. “And I don’t know if you’ve seen yourself naked, but oh boy, is that ever a sight that is hard to forget.”

“Hard to forget huh?” He said, reaching around and lifting her onto his stomach. “I don’t suppose you’d want a refresher then?”

“Oh, I think I’d like that very much.” Hayley grabbed his collar, pulling him up towards her and crashing her lips against his, her teeth sinking into his bottom lip and pulling while he groaned. Michael ran his hands along her thighs, squeezing lightly before moving them up her body, her shirt lifting up her torso and exposing the soft skin underneath.

“All you have to do is ask Michael,” She said, tossing her shirt off to the side and descending on him. “Be a good boy and say please.”

“Oh really?” His eyes glinted, hands hooking underneath her arms and spinning her to the side, Hayley yelping when she found herself under him. “And what if I don’t want to say please?”

She blushed, legs rubbing together at his display of power. “I don’t know...” She breathed, lips ghosting against his. “Why don’t you show me?”

Her next sentence was merely a moan, his knee pushing between her legs and grinding against her core, his mouth marking her chest while he bit and sucked at the tender skin underneath him. She held him close, grinding herself against him and moaning into his hair, his scent like a forest in the springtime.

Michael broke up his words with a kiss to each breast. “I think… You should… Say please...” Running a finger down her stomach, he stopped just short of her waistline, fingertips dancing at the edge of salvation. “I think that you should be the one begging tonight.”

Hooking his fingers under her waistband, he pulled her pants down to her ankles, underwear dragging down with it and leaving her completely bare. She yelped as the cold air hit her body, knees crossing instinctively before he pushed them apart again, lips dragging down her stomach before he levelled himself with her mound.

“Oh, would you look at that...” He leaned his head on her thigh, each breath he took ghosting against her skin and making her shiver. “What do you think? Are you going to say please?”

“N-no...” She groaned when he pressed a lingering kiss to her wetness, tongue flicking out to flick away a bead of her arousal before he pulled back. “Oh, fuck it, please...”

Grinning to himself, Michael dove back in, spreading her open with his fingers before dragging his tongue against her, lips sealing around the button of her clit before he plunged his fingers into her. Hayley almost leapt off the mattress, back arching while she wound her hands into his hair, pulling him deeper into her while she groaned at the top of her voice.

“Oh my god!” She said, panting when she lost herself between strokes. “Michael I… Oh god right there!”

Pulling her legs up over his shoulders, Michael could go even deeper into her, hands on her backside and digging into the taut muscle, each stroke of his tongue or squeeze of his fingertips sending ripples through the skin. In mere minutes she was panting and moaning, legs squeezing around his head and hand digging into his hair, her free hand palming at her chest and pinching her nipple.

Right as she was starting to crest, Michael stopped moving, each knowing chuckle of his sending a shockwave through her body. When she was able to form words again, she asked, “Why… Did you… Stop?”

“What, you didn’t think you were the only one that was going to get off, did you?” Sitting back, he undid his fly, pulling his pants down and freeing himself from the straining fabric. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from his revealed form, licking her lips in anticipation of them meeting once more.

Michael shuffled up towards her, stopping just as he started to brush her chin with his hardness. “Do I get a kiss? Or can’t you wait anymore?”

Though she desperately wanted to feel him inside of her, she wasn’t one to refuse a request like that. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to his swollen head, opening her mouth and taking the first two inches while she gazed up at him. He shuddered, her tongue flat along the underside of his shaft, before she started to bob her head back and forth, her position awkward but the feeling incredible for him.

Hayley smirked around him, hand teasing the underside of his sac while she worked herself along him, relishing being able to feel him fall apart in her hands. Eventually however, her position won out over her, neck starting to cramp up and forcing her to pull off of him with a pop. “Do you think you’re ready now?” She said, resting her cheek against him. “Or do you need me to keep going?”

“You do have a mouth on you, don’t you?” He grinned, leaning down and claiming her lips as his own. “Normally I love that, but tonight I think I might have to teach you a little lesson.”

“Go ahead Michael, give me your worst. We’ll see if you have what it takes.”

Rather than replying, he hooked his hands underneath her backside again, hefting her up and thrusting into her in one smooth movement. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, the sudden sensation of being filled with him combined with her lingering arousal from before was almost enough to push her over the edge right then and there. He didn’t give her time to get used to his size, thrusting in and out of her with reckless abandon, her body turning to jelly in his hands.

“P-Please, Michael I…” Another broken moan, his length slamming in to the hilt and his body shaking with want, her legs dropping from his grip and falling back to the mattress. He placed his hands on either side of her, leaning down and biting at her neck while he continued to slam himself true, her nails trailing down his back and leaving tiny scratches in the skin.

“God Hayley, you feel so good…” Their lips met again in a clumsy kiss, hips grinding against each other and driving them both quickly to the edge.

“Oh god…” She said, “Michael I… I...”

Michael gasped, her walls tightening around him while she threw her head back and howled, both of them thankful once more that they had rented out all of the rooms. He didn’t let up his relentless pace, his hardness pistoning in and out of her with enough force to rock the entire bed, drawing her climax out until she was afraid she was going to pass out from it. Luckily for her however, he found his end not long after hers, his hips snapping into her once more just before he flooded her with his seed, the build up from a week of no intimacy pulsing out from him and finding a home inside of her.

Hayley moaned, lips pressed against his temple while she felt him fill her up, their bodies collapsing against one another once she squeezed the last drop from him. Even though he hadn’t pulled out yet, she could already feel him dripping out of her, staining the sheets with his spend and glistening the skin of her backside, but neither of them could bring themselves to care. For now, being here, like this with one another, that was enough for them.

“I love you Hayley.”

She smiled lazily against his cheek, holding him close and breathing deeply. “I love you too Michael.”

“Heh, have we said that to each other before?”

“You know, I can’t really remember,” She replied, “Maybe once or twice when we were… In the heat of the moment, but I’m not sure it’s been like this.”

“Well then…” Michael pushed up onto his elbows, staring down at her with every ounce of intensity he could muster. “I love you Hayley. So, so much.”

Cupping his cheeks, she pressed another kiss to his lips, lingering softly and smiling to herself. “And I you Michael, I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

“How do you think our groups are going to react to it? We haven’t exactly… Been that open about everything.”

She laughed, “Michael they’re not blind, they know exactly what’s going on between us. They probably realized how we felt before we did.”

“Really?” He tilted his head in thought. “Actually, now that you say that it does explain a few things, especially some of the looks I’ve been getting from the pack.”

“Oh? Nothing bad I hope.”

“No, more like… I don’t want to say envy but… Well, envy I guess.”

“Well, lucky you then,” She said, “It’s not like I was the only available witch in the coven, they can get their own.”

“I’m sure it’s already happened, by the time we left I’m almost certain they couldn’t control themselves any longer. I’ll be shocked if they’re actually guarding each other like Liam said and not underneath the covers.”

The mood abruptly sobered, the reminder of the potential danger their groups were in putting frowns on their faces and a cloud over their good moods. “Do you think they’ll be ok?” Michael asked, “Without us to be there for them I mean.”

“We might be important to them, but they’re far from defenseless. Anyone who thinks that they’ll be an easy target just because we’re away is in for a very rude surprise.” Hayley placed a hand on his shoulder, hoping her touch would calm his nerves. “What we’re doing is important, everyone knows that. They wouldn’t want to let us down by losing a fight, would they?”

“I suppose not.” He pulled her in, chuckling against her hair, “Sorry about that, it’s just hard not to worry about them.”

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for, and nothing to worry about.” Hayley ran a hand through his hair, scratching behind his ears and laughing at his shuddering moan. “Wasn’t it you who told me that our groups were joined together now? That a link like that would make them almost unbeatable? Don’t tell me that you lost that confidence all of a sudden.”

“I guess I did say that huh? Don’t know how I could forget that, I’m usually right when it comes to how strong we are.”

“Exactly, so don’t worry.” She fisted her hand in his hair, pulling him back up and looking into his eyes. “Now, instead of worrying about this anymore, what do you say we find some… Other way to work out stress?”

He growled hungrily, hand already trailing back down her body. “I think you just read my mind...”

---

Leila however was in the middle of grumbling to Skylar, having been woken up from her sleep by Cassandra and Leah, saying that her daughter had something that she wanted to show her. “I don’t know what it is that couldn’t wait until tomorrow morning,” She said, “You know how rarely it is that I sleep.”

“I just realized something really important,” Skylar whispered while she pushed the door to her room open. “Even though we’ve been here for a week now, I never introduced you to one of the most important people in my life.”

She pointed across the room to the chair in the corner, where Liam was sitting cradling Abigail in his arms. He looked up, putting his finger to his lips and shushing gently, beckoning them over softly. “She’s still asleep...”

Skylar and Leila approached him slowly, footsteps light against the carpet as they stepped closer. Little by little, her face was revealed, soft in sleep and breathing gently, her tiny legs kicking from her dreams. Leila marveled at the sight, having seen her around the group but never being formally introduced, never seeing her in a moment of complete peace like this before.

“She’s beautiful…” Leila reached out, pulling her hand back at the last moment. “Can… Can I touch her?”

“Of course,” Skylar said, “She’s your granddaughter after all.”

“My granddaughter…” She said the words with sheer revenance, reaching out gently to take her in her hands. Abigail weighed so little, yet she was the most precious thing she had ever held in her life. She wasn’t disturbed at all when she was handed from Liam’s arms to Leila’s, her tiny chest rising and falling softly with gentle breaths.

“My god…” Leila smiled, speaking quietly, “I can’t believe you made something so precious… I can’t believe I’m here to see it.”

“But you are.” Skylar stepped closer to her, wrapping an arm around her side and holding her close. “Despite everything, despite what you’ve faced and what you’ve done, you’re here with your daughter holding the next generation of your family. That’s amazing, don’t you think?”

“It is. I’m not sure that I deserve this if I’m being honest, not after the life I’ve led.” Leila chuckled, “But I’m not going to say no to a chance like this, I always wondered how long my family would last. It’s nice to see a generation with parents that aren’t criminals.”

“Well, I’m not sure what we’re doing now is completely legal…” Liam shrugged. “Actually, you know what? I’m not going to ruin the moment.”

“I guess we’re destined to not be upstanding citizens then,” Leila cooed, rubbing Abigail’s nose. “That doesn’t make us bad parents though, does it?”

“No, no it doesn’t.”

Liam and Skylar held Leila close, looking down at their daughter together. “Welcome to the family Leila.”

---

After a few days of being unconscious, Claire just couldn’t find it in herself to sleep any longer. Not for lack of trying of course, but every time she closed her eyes she found herself opening them again a few minutes later, the stitches in her stomach the only thing stopping her from tossing restlessly.

Well, that and the vampire that had spent hours watching over her without so much as blinking.

“You know,” She said, “This would probably be a lot more bearable for the both of us if you decided to get some sleep as well.”

“I don’t need sleep. Besides, someone needs to keep an eye on you, just in case.”

“I am laying here with a hole in my stomach, in my shoulder, probably three cracked ribs and the after effects of a concussion. Oh, and despite the food that your friends gave me before, I’m still half starved.” She let her head fall back against the pillow, groaning to herself, “What the fuck will it take for you to trust me? You want me to give you my blood or something?”

“I wouldn’t say no to that, but it probably wouldn’t help you.” The vampire shrugged, looking off to the side. “I already gave people the benefit of the doubt before, and it got someone I cared about killed. I don’t want to make that mistake again, regardless of how much the others trust you.”

“You lost someone?” Iggy looked back at her, only seeing genuine curiosity on her face. “Would… Would you mind telling me about them?”

“Why? What benefit is there to doing that?”

“They were obviously important to you, if their loss is still affecting you now. I figure they deserve to be remembered by more people if they mattered that much to you.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, searching for any ulterior motive before sighing, deciding that she was being genuine in her interest. “Fine, if you’ll drop that puppy dog look you have in your eyes.”

“I do not have a puppy dog look!” She put a hand to her face, scowling at him. “I’m sorry you can’t understand someone wanting to know more about their prison guard.”

“I’m not-” He stopped, taking a few seconds to think before conceding the point. “Alright, I suppose I’m acting that way yeah. So, what did you want to know about them?”

“Well, what was their name? That’s always an important step, don’t you think?”

“Heh, suppose I deserved that.” Iggy settled back in his chair, ready to delve into his past once more. “His name was Reggie, he was about… Thirtyish, I mean he looked that old, he was waaaaaaay older than that.”

“What do you me-” Her eyes widened in realization. “Oh, you mean he was a vampire like you?”

He snapped his fingers. “Look at you, I can see why you were one of Christian’s top people.”

“You know just because I’m injured doesn’t mean I won’t leap out of this bed and kick your ass. Just try and test me.”

That got a genuine laugh from him, Claire’s face lighting up in response. “There you go, it’s not that hard to drop the tough guy act around me, is it?”

He nodded, not quite able to wipe the smile from his lips. “I’ll give you a few minutes, then I’m going back to acting tough, how about that?”

“That’s acceptable.” She scooted herself up the bed, wincing when she tugged on her stitches but wanting to be in a comfortable position to listen. “So come on, keep going. I want to know more about Reggie.”

“Alright, alright. Well I’ve told Sky this before, but I was going from town to town, making my own way across the country to find somewhere I belonged, which meant that I came across a lot of hippies and bohemians. They were definitely my kind of people.”

“Yeah…” She looked him up and down, mismatched clothing that varied in fit and color combining into a look that couldn’t really be described as anything other than ‘Iggy’. “I can definitely see you getting along with those groups.”

“Anyway, I joined in a lot of parties, bonfires, things like that. Met a lot of people, hookups, party favors, things like that, just a good connection to make with someone before I moved onto the next town and the next group of people.”

“That sounds kind of lonely.” She frowned. “Not sure I could do that, spend all that time alone.”

“You don’t have to be alone to be lonely, I get the feeling that you know that pretty well.”

Claire didn’t answer, but it didn’t much matter, her silence spoke volumes. For as many empty hookups she had after missions, all the nights of wild drinking and camaraderie, she couldn’t recall a genuine moment companionship that she shared with any of the other hunters. The closest she had was her sister and Christian, and those had soured just like all the others. Maybe she was more similar to Iggy than she thought.

“I met him at one of the last parties that I would actually go to, hanging out in the back trying to avoid everyone’s gaze. Don’t know how he wasn’t surrounded by people, he just had one of those presences you know?” He waved his hand in dismissal. “Anyway, we got to talking and got out of there, I figured something interesting could happen with a guy like that. And it did, I woke up the next morning… Like this, and the rest is history.”

“And you weren’t… I dunno, angry about that? I feel like I’d be a little annoyed at someone taking me and morphing me into something completely different.”

“Well yeah, I mean I freaked out at first, he was too, but eventually I just thought, ‘Hey, things could be worse.’”

“Things could be worse?” She raised an eyebrow, speaking slowly, “You wake up with fangs and a need to drink blood, and you think that things could be worse?”

“I’m an optimist, don’t judge me. Anyway, after that I’m sure you know how it goes with vampires, he was my master so I couldn’t just abandon him, not without at least making sure that we would both be alright.”

“And how did that work out?”

“Good, at first. We went from town to town, cruising the roads and seeing the sights, doing the whole tourist bit. It was nice to not have to do it alone anymore…” His grin died, that emptiness returning to his eyes as his voice softened. “Then we made the wrong stop.”

Claire leaned forward, sensing that something very wrong was about to happen in the story, stopping just short of taking his hand as she said, “If it’s too painful you don’t have to say anything, I’m sorry I brought it up.”

“No, it’s… It’s fine. I’ve just been trying not to think about it, that’s all.” He cleared his throat, “We stopped in some Podunk town for a night to get our energy back, we’d been driving nonstop for a few days by that point. What we didn’t know was that we had passed right by a hunter outpost, and they had our number from the moment we entered town.”

“Oh no…” She closed her eyes, bowing her head in anticipation.

“Yeah, they grabbed us while we weren’t looking, they really were pretty good. Christian trained them well. When we woke up we were chained up in the outpost, and they spent the next few weeks working us both over.”

Iggy reached over to the side table, taking a drink of water to soothe his throat. He didn’t mind admitting to himself that he was stalling to prepare himself for the next part of the story.

“Eventually it was too much for Reggie and he just… Didn’t wake up. They kept him with me for a few days before they dumped him somewhere, I don’t know where. Eventually Liam and Cayden found me and that was that, I was free. But Reggie was gone, and there was nothing I could do about that.”

Claire sniffled, wiping at her eyes and brushing tears away that she hadn’t realized she had started to shed. “And you… You hadn’t even done anything? They just… Grabbed you out of nowhere for no reason at all?”

He shook his head sadly. “Nope. We were just two paranormals passing through, that was all the reason they needed. Since you left them so dramatically a few days ago, I’m guessing you found that out for yourself.”

“I just… How many people must there have been like you? How many people were just so callously killed by the people I knew, by… By me?”

“Hundreds, thousands even. I don’t know how much your group did this, but you were far from the only ones. It’s not like you knew.”

“But that’s no excuse.” She trailed off, looking up at him through bleary eyes. “Not even you think it is, do you?”

“No. No I don’t. Not knowing what something is isn’t an excuse to destroy it.” He shrugged. “Maybe I was just trying to make you feel better.”

“I don’t know why you’d do that, I’m one of the people who spent my life killing people like you, Jesus how can you even stand to look at me?” She stared at him with wide eyes. “No wonder you hate me so much, I took what was one of the worst things to happen to you and I made it my job.”

He put his hand on her shoulder, pushing her back lightly against the mattress and rolling his eyes. “Oh stop that, come on. There’s a reason that my fangs aren’t in your neck and your heart isn’t in my hands.”

“Really? What is that?”

“You’re doing something about it, you’ve realized what you were a part of and you’ve decided not to be a part of it anymore. There’s a pile of bodies out in the forest that can confess to that.” He slid his hand down her arm, ending on her hand and squeezing it reassuringly. “So maybe I was being a bit too aggressive before, but I can actually see you trying to change. That means something, trust me.”

“You really think so? I just… If I had of done something sooner…”

“If you had of done something sooner maybe things would be better. Maybe if I’d been faster Reggie would still be here, but I wasn’t. There’s no point thinking about how you can change the past, only how you can change the present.”

She smiled, eyes still red but crinkling with humor. “How’d you learn to say something like that?”

“It must have been all the hippies that I was partying with, they got philosophical.” He grinned. “My point is stop beating yourself up so much, even just talking with you for twenty minutes has shown me how genuine you are about all this. If someone like me can see that then you should be able to as well.”

“Wow, you really know how to break down my world view and then put it back up again huh?” She laughed, cutting herself off when she glanced down and saw their interlinked hands. “Uh…”

Iggy blushed, quickly removing his hand from hers and placing it in his lap. He wasn’t sure what to say either, other than meaningless stammering and murmured apologies. “I’m… sorry about that, didn’t mean to embarrass you or anything…”

“Oh no! No you didn’t I… I’m just being weird, don’t worry about me.” Claire laughed nervously, laying back down in bed and pulling the covers up. “You know I think I’m going to give sleep another go, nothing heals you better than that.”

“Yeah, yeah that’s true. I can… I can go over there if you need to sleep.” Iggy stood, freezing when she grabbed his wrist again.

“No, don’t worry. You’re… You’re fine sitting there, it doesn’t bother me.”

Slowly, he nodded, sitting back down and resuming his watch. “For the record, I don’t think you’re going to betray us anymore.”

Under the covers, Claire smiled to herself, turning over and facing the wall. “Good night Iggy.”

“Yeah… Good night Claire…”

---

“Idiots… Each one of them is an idiot of the highest order,” Christian muttered to himself, hands crossed behind his back as he watched the recruits training, their work ethic increasing tenfold ever since he executed their old trainer and installed a new one, but their abilities still left something to be desired.

As annoying as it was, he had to admit that fear only did so much as a teaching agent.

“You can kill someone for losing in chess, but if they didn’t know the rules to begin with all you’ve done is wasted time and a bullet.” He clicked his tongue, walking towards the nearest recruit and extending his hands. “You, you haven’t managed to hit the target yet. Give it here.”

Handing off the gun with shaking hands, the recruit bowed his head and waited for the shot. After Christian’s public execution of the instructor, he quite understandably assumed that his ticket had come up as well. What he didn’t expect was a scarred hand to strike him across the cheek and an annoyed voice to bark, “Don’t close your eyes, watch.”

Christian shouldered the rifle, firing one rapid shot after another, keeping the gun steady and the bullets slamming into the center of the target until it clicked empty. He looked at the recruit with a raised eyebrow, shoving the gun back into his arms and saying, “You need to keep a good hold on it, and stop flinching. If you flinch with every shot you’ll never hit what you were aiming at. If all of you were doing that it’s no wonder Claire managed to get away.”

“I… T-Thank you sir!”

“Yeah, whatever.” Christian waved him off, turning and walking back towards his office. “If you don’t improve after that then I’ll be speaking to you again. Make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Slamming the door behind him, he marched over to his desk and collapsed into his chair, head in his hands as he groaned to an empty room. Though a few survivors of the hunting group had come back, their numbers were few and far between. All that could be confirmed was that Claire was much more capable than any of them had given her credit for, a mistake that they wouldn’t be making again.

If circumstances permitted it, he would have been on the lead car looking for her, by now he would have captured her or at the very least killed her. The fact that he couldn’t leave was likely the major reason she had gotten away, but even he wasn’t foolhardy enough to think that he was able to go anywhere in his condition. You couldn’t just shrug off losing an eye, no matter how angered you were by it.

So he would have to be content with his current circumstances, yelling at recruits too scared to even hit a target while he tried and failed to wince whenever he looked into a mirror. He had to give her that, she didn’t hold back when her life was in danger. If it had happened to someone else he probably would have been celebrating her, maybe even pardoned her when they got her back. He supposed that would be incredibly insulting for the person she maimed, and given how he felt having to see the results of her work every time he came across something reflective he’d suddenly gained a lot of empathy for people he otherwise never thought of.

“There’s celebrating strength, and then there is just plain insulting those that you work with. I don’t think I’ll be insulting myself or any of my people any time soon.”

Another pain that he only now was fully realizing the extent of was that most of the more competent intelligence gatherers had gone off as part of the hunting party. And given that they were either spread across a road or their brains were decorating a tree somewhere, that left the home base woefully understaffed when it came to actually sorting through the chaff to find the wheat that they so depended on. A well lubricated, highly calibrated weapon was only useful when it was pointed at the right target after all.

And much to his pride, and chagrin, Christian was now the only person competent and intelligent enough to actually take on the job. Which meant that his desk was covered in piles of paper almost as tall as he was, ninety-nine-percent of which were likely useless and would lead to nothing except a dead end and an empty gas tank.

“God, what a thankless job,” He said, “Next person that takes this on I’m going to have to give some benefits too. Maybe their own room at this rate.”

Tossing aside another picture of Laura, he got to work, already determining that at least three pieces of information were clear traps. He felt insulted that someone actually thought it would work, but he supposed that was the point of his job, to make absolutely certain that it wouldn’t. And for better or worse, Christian took his duties seriously, which meant that he was going to sit and determine what was useful and what was not even if it killed him with boredom.

So focused on his work, he didn’t notice the way that the temperature seemingly dropped by twenty degrees, the atmosphere seeming to darken at the same time a guard outside gave a small yelp of surprise. Christian only looked up when four slow, deep knocks were slammed into the door, not even having the chance to ask for an identification before the door swung open on its hinges, tapping lightly against the wall as his intruder walked inside.

“Who the fuck are…” He trailed off, just now noticing the changes that the room was going through with every step they took. He shivered, frost forming on the glass on his desk and his head swimming, forced to place his hand against the wood just to keep from falling to the ground.

“I assume that you’re the one in charge of this… Monkey den.” The intruder, a man with an undeniable and intimidating presence about him, spoke with all the authority of someone who knew they could easily crush whatever obstacle came into their path. Christian found himself hoping that he wasn’t such an object, though with the way his luck had been he wasn’t ruling out the possibility. “I heard that you may be having troubles within your ranks.”

“I don’t know… How you would have heard about that.” Christian rubbed at his temple, feeling like an uncomfortable growth was forming under the skin. “But… Yes. We had someone leave us pretty… Violently last week.”

He didn’t know why he was telling all of this to a complete stranger, but something about him compelled him to tell the truth. That was cause enough for alarm, but the way that his skin kept crawling with every second they spent together was another level entirely.

“It just so happens that my interests and yours may… Intersect, so to speak.” The man walked towards him, extending his hand in expectation. “I’m skilled in the art of solving problems, and you can provide a modicum of support, as… Flawed as your men may be.”

“Yeah, you’re really convincing me right now. Why should I even consider helping you?” Christian shook his head to clear the fog, straightening up to his full height. “You come in here unannounced, you insult my men, and to top it all off you assume that I’m so stupid that I don’t realize what you are?”

“Oh?” The man looked at him with barely registrable interest, eyebrow raising a few millimeters. “And what do you presume that I am?”

“An abomination, something that shouldn’t be. I’ve felt things like you before, and you’re all the same.” He barely restrained himself from spitting on the ground as he snarled, “So I ask again, why should I even think about helping you?”

“Because I have the means to take back the person who betrayed you, who tore the flesh on your face and defaced your command in front of so many. I have the ability to bring her to her knees and have her beg for your forgiveness.” His eyes lit with something that Christian couldn’t recognize, a flash that disappeared so quickly he assumed that he imagined it. “I am familiar with betrayal, and I aim to avenge my own at this time as well.”

Christian knew what he was, he had spent his life tearing the grip of the night away from them and terrorizing their ranks. He had come across beings who demanded respect and put them into the ground alongside their comrades, leaving them as a message to the rest of their bloodlines. Yet even as he thought about this, considered pulling his weapon and adding another body to that pile, his mind travelled to thoughts of Claire, her body underneath him writhing in ecstasy and twisting above him in rage, the final image seared into a ruined eye.

As much as Christian liked to consider himself a man of great personal belief, ultimately the chance for vengeance was too tempting even for the most dedicated of men. He walked forward slowly, even as his mind was made up his hand shook, body still torn between shaking his guest’s hand or clutching his weapon.

The man smirked when Christian extended his hand, taking it and shaking it twice before letting it drop between them. “I am glad that we see eye to eye on this, I assure you that you will not regret this partnership.”

“Assuming that you can deliver to me what I desire, then I won’t. I will not betray my morals for a grasp at some straws, if you say that you can grab Claire then you will grab her for me, that comes before anything else.”

He chuckled, “Don’t worry, I take my morals very seriously. And part of that is I never break a promise once I make one. You will have the girl brought to you, of that you have my guarantee.”

“Then we have a deal.” Christian grinned, teeth shining and his eyes twisting in glee. “I can’t wait to see what you can do.”