Tales Of An Ancient Vampire free porn video

We stand outside the house, altogether there’s six of us, me and five of my nest. I look around at my people, “you all remember the plan?” I ask not bothering to keep my voice too quiet as I can hear the rapid thump of drum n bass from within the house. All of my followers either nod their head or make a noise in confirmation.

I try the handle on the door and finding it unlocked I slowly pull the door open. The house must have some form of sound proofing because as I step inside the house I’m deafened by the volume of the music, I grimace at the cacophony of noise assaulting my ears, I love music but not this kind and definitely not at this volume, being a Vampire means my senses are extremely sensitive including my hearing so every beat of the bass feels like a hammer being slammed into my head.

The house is filthy and there are stains everywhere, I don’t need to take a deep sniff to pick up on the dominant scents, tobacco, beer and pizza are the more innocent smells but my nose tells me that the things that have been happening in this house are far from innocent, I take a breath and can’t help but bare my fangs, I smell fear, pain, piss, shit, sex and cum.

I sweep the room with my eyes, all I can see is an vacant sofa covered in empty pizza boxes and beer cans so I move further into the house. The next room has a small old style TV in the corner and two sofas that face away from me because I can’t see if anyone is on them I take a deep breath, the smell in this room is worse than the last and I can practically taste the fear and desperation.

Rage burns through me and I leap over the one sofa and land so I can see the front of them, one sofa is covered in stains and empty beer cans, the other is a different story. The second sofa is covered in stains and mostly empty except that at one end is a small body curled up in the foetal position.

The body is obviously a girl and she looks very young, I walk slowly over towards her and when I’m in front of the sofa I crouch down and put myself lower than her, she probably wouldn’t realise it but by putting myself lower than her I’m putting her in the dominant position.

I reach out and place a hand on her neck to check for a pulse and as I touch her she flinches and whimpers, “please no more, I can’t take...” her voice trails off as she starts to cry.

“Don’t worry I’m not here to hurt you.” I tell her keeping my voice soft and quiet but just loud enough that she can hear me over the music, “I’m going to get you out of here, I just need you to stay here and stay quiet, can you do that?”

“Y-yes.” She stammers.

“Good, I just need to go and deal with the things that did this to you.” I tell her, I wont call the things that did this to a poor young girl human because they aren’t they are nothing but monsters.

I stand to walk into the next room and have only taken a couple of steps when a man walks into the room, he’s tall, middle aged and balding with a rather large beer belly. “Ready for another round darling.” He laughs and I see his hand snake down to his trousers and pull down his zipper.

He looks up and sees me, his eyes go wide and I rush him, I move much quicker than a human can and I’m on him before he can react. I punch him in the face and he drops to his knees on the floor blood streaming out of his nose, I lean over and punch him again and again, I don’t punch him at full strength if I did that he would be dead in one punch and I want him to suffer. I keep punching him over and over again even when I hear his heart stop beating I continue to punch him until his head is just a mush of skull fragments blood and tissue.

I stand and move through to the kitchen and as soon as I enter I hear the sound of a gun being cocked, I turn and see a young man point the gun at me and fire, I can see the trajectory of the bullet and make a quick micro adjustment to my body and the bullet flies past me. I rush the man avoiding another bullet, I rip the gun out of his hand and crush it before throwing it to the floor. I grab the man by the throat and lift him off the floor.

“You and your friends are fucking abominations.” I snarl at him, “every one of you will die a painful death.” I tell him as I slowly close my hand around his throat and crush his windpipe before I drop him to the floor and leave him there to slowly suffocate.

I walk out of the kitchen and satisfied that I had searched the entirety of the lower floor I walk back to the open front door.

“Emma.” I quietly called out, Emma is the most gentle of my followers and has immense control over a Vampires more base instincts plus after what had happened to the poor girls here I thought they wouldn’t want to see another man for the rest if their lives.

“Yes sir.” Emma says as she appears by my side, while I am the oldest and strongest Vampire and leader of our nest I have asked them all to call me by name instead of sir or master but some of them Emma included find it comforting to have a master, to have that source of control.

“There’s a young girl in there on the sofa in the second room, I don’t know exactly what those bastards did to her nor do I wish to know, all I know is she needs someone to comfort and protect her while I finish with the rest of them.” I tell Emma who nods and moves to enter the house but before she does I speak again, “Emma remember to keep control in there, the smells are quite...” I pause trying to think of the correct word, “strong.” I finish.

Emma shoots off inside and as I again enter the house I can hear Emma making soft comforting noises in the other room. I head up the stairs near the door and as I reach the top I hear noises, a man grunting and a girl whimpering. I open the door to the first room and see the furniture a chair, table and a mattress on the floor, on the mattress is a man naked and balls deep in a very young looking girl.

I silently walk over to the mattress and wait until he’s just about to thrust back into the girl when I grab him by the back of his neck and lift him up off the girl, he has just enough time to cry out in shock before I throw him at the wall. I only meant to throw him into the wall but my rage makes me misjudge my strength and the man crashes straight through the wall into the next room.

I leap through the hole left behind and see the man sprawled on the floor looking broken, to make certain I walk over lift his head up and slam it back into the floor. I look around the room, it looks identical to the last room and on the mattress is another man oblivious to what is happening with his face buried between the legs of a girl who looks barely old enough to be a teenager.

I walk over and pick the man up by his hair and drag him off the girl, I look down at her battered and bruised body, “close your eyes.” I order her and she does as I say and closes her eyes, I spin and turn away from her, the man is struggling in my grasp and shouting curses so I use my free hand to push down on his shoulders and with the hand grasping his hair I pull and rip his head off his body.

“Keep you’re eyes closed.” I tell the girl as I help her to her feet, I lead her through the hole in the wall into the first room I entered. The girl in the first room is still lying on the bed where I left her.

“You can open your eyes now.” I tell the girl from the second room, I don’t check to see if she listens to me, “I need you both to go downstairs into the room with the TV, I have a friend in there she will look after you.”

I open the door and lead them to the top of the stairs then make sure they head round into the house instead of outside before I head into the remaining two rooms. I open the one door and it leads into a bathroom it’s empty and I have to shut the door behind me because the smell emanating from the room is beyond vile.

I continue on to the last door and push it open. The room is furnished pleasantly like an actual bedroom. On the far side of the room I see a young man sitting at a table using an automated money counter which makes me realise the men I killed were all punters and this man sitting before me has been whoring out young girls, letting men beat them, rape them, scar them for life just so he can earn a bit of cash.

I look down and see that underneath the table is a young naked girl with her face buried in the mans crotch. The man jumps to his feet causing the girl to smack her head into the bottom of the table, the man grabs the gun lying on the table and fires at me, I dodge the bullet and run at him, I grab the barrel of the gun and crush it before smacking the man in the side of the head with it, he falls to the floor unconscious.

I lift up the table and move it away from the girl, “come on you’re safe now.” I tell her and extend a hand down to help her up, she takes my hand and I can’t help but notice how small hers is compared to mine. She rises to her feet and looks down at the man and then spits on him, I laugh and she looks at me puzzled, I just smile and pick the man up in a fireman’s lift before turning back to the girl, “come with me.” She follows me without a question.

I walk down the stairs and back towards the room with the TV and if the mans head or one of his other limb is smacked against a wall then so be it. I lead the girl through into the room where Emma is sat with the other three girls. I see that Emma has moved the body of the man I left in this room and has covered the puddle of blood with a piece of one of the sofas.

The girl I brought downstairs sits with the other three on the sofa, all four of them sit there naked their tiny abused forms look fragile. I feel so bad for them, no person should have to go through what they have.

“I’ll be back in a moment.” I tell them as I drop the man, their pimp onto the floor.

I walk outside, “Jonathan, clothes please.”

Jonathan is one of the newer Vampires to my nest and I brought him along tonight to show him how we differ from other nests. Jonathan approaches with a bag of clothes, I take them from him, thank him and walk back inside to Emma and the girls.

I drop the bag in front of the girls and open the zip, “please pick out some clothes and get dressed.” The girls all look at me like I’m speaking a foreign language and for all I know to them I am. I’m about to try a different language maybe French when the last girl I saved stands up and starts to look through the bag of clothes, we didn’t know what we were walking into when we came here so we brought a mix of clothing and underwear for girls and boys along with some dresses, track suit trousers and plain T shirts all of them in either black or white.

The girls have just finished dressing when the man I had knocked unconscious starts to stir, I look over at Emma and she frowns obviously knowing what I was about to do. I had seen potential in one of the girls and was willing to turn her into one of us if she passed the test and wanted to become like us.

“Girls.” I raise my voice to grab and hold their attention, “this man you see lying here is the cause of all the bad things that have happened since you arrived in this house maybe even before that.” I pause to let my words register with them, I see anger take hold of the girl I think could join us but the rest just look terrified, “I ask you girls now what do you think should happen to him?”

“Kill him.” The one girl says, that was exactly what I thought she would say and I smile as the other three nod their heads in agreement.

I smile showing my fangs but before I could say anything Emma speaks up, “Sir is this a good idea?”

“I believe she could be a good addition to our family but in the end it is entirely her choice.” I prefer to think of my nest as a family calling us a nest feels too animalistic.

“If you really thing he should die then why don’t you do it?” I sweep my eyes over the girls and watch their reactions.

“How?” The girl who I was considering changing asks.

“Anyway you choose.” I tell her.

The girl smiles and l can’t help but smile back at her, she is going to do it isn’t she. I watch as she wraps her tiny hands around the pimps throat and squeezes, he must have been closer to consciousness than I realised because a second later he starts to struggle.

“If you want I can hold him for you.” I tell her as the man lashes out with his fist almost connecting with her face.

“Please.” She just manages to say as she fights to keep her grip on his throat.

I walk behind the pimp and wrench his arms behind his back, “you need to use all of your strength.” I tell her, I watch her face scrunch with concentration and her arms start to shake as she uses every last drop of strength in her small body.

“Do you need a weapon?” I ask her worried that she wont be able to kill him with her bare hands.

“No.” She stammers her words not coming easy because of her efforts, “have to feel it.”

I know what she means, she needs to feel him die to know that it’s all over, that he will never hit her again, never force himself or anyone else onto her again. At the minute all I think is how brave and strong she is, she looks like an avenging angel smiting the wicked. I really hope she doesn’t refuse my offer to become part of our family, it would be an honour to have her as one of our own.

It takes a couple of minutes until eventually the man falls still but she continues to grip his throat. I release his arms, he collapses to the floor and the girl follows him down her hands still wrapped around his throat.

I pull a small blade off my belt and look down at the girl, “drive this through his heart to make sure.”

She looks up at me, releases the mans throat, takes the blade from me and drives it into his heart with all her strength. I nod to Emma and she understands because she leads the other girls outside and leaves me alone with the last.

The girl looks up at me again, I can see tears in her eyes but when she speaks her voice is steady, “what happens to us now?” she asks.

“The others will be taken to a shelter we work with.” I pause and I see her unspoken question, “I want to give you a choice.”

“A choice?” Her voice is soft as she questions me.

“Yes I see potential in you and would like for you to join us.” She looks confused but I continue, “would you like to become a Vampire?”

She takes a step backwards away from me at my words, Vampires have been public knowledge since the nineteenth century and haven’t always been portrayed in the best way which isn’t hard to do against a race that feeds on the blood of humans.

“Y-you’re a Vampire?” Her words seem to trip over themselves as she speaks.

I can’t help but laugh, “what did you think we were?” I ask before I smile and elongate my fangs, I continue to speak before she can answer, “people need a certain darkness to be a Vampire, some are born with it some have it because of life experiences.”

I take a moment to make a decision and decide if I tell her my story it might make this easier for her to understand, I walk over to the one stained sofa and sit down before I continue to speak.

“You might want to sit this story is a little long.” I tell her, she walks over and sits at the other end of the sofa.

“I was born about two thousand five hundred years ago, give or take a hundred years, I was born to a tribe of vicious warriors but I was weak and frail. My parents decide the best way to toughen me up was to beat me mercilessly for hours every day.”



I watch as different emotions flash across her face from surprise to anger to sympathy.

“This went on for years, right up until the day they died. The people in the tribe looked down on me because of my weakness and would push me around and beat me as well.”

I take a deep breath to steady myself, this next part hurts me even to this day.

“There was one man, an excellent hunter, he asked the chief if he could take me along for a hunt to see if I could do any better at hunting than I did in my warrior training, the chief agreed and we left the village the next day, just me, the hunter and three others. We set up camp at the end of the day and the others told me to sleep and they would take turns sleeping to guard us from bears, wolves and other predators.”

I have to pause to take another deep breath before I can continue again.

“I was woke up in the middle of the night by the lead hunter who told me that we were under attack and I needed to run, so that’s what I did. I ran as fast as I could, the whole time I could hear people chasing me shouting war cries. I had never been so scared in my life. I had just jumped to get across a stream and in mid air I felt something slam into the back of my head, when I landed I lost my balance and collapsed to the floor. I must have been knocked unconscious because the next thing I know I’m back at the camp tied up and unable to move. I can hear laughing and talking but I recognised the voices and laughter to be the rest of the hunting party. The main hunter who had asked the chief if he could bring me along walked over and stood in front of me.”

I pause and put on a deep voice with a slight accent, “this trip wasn’t for us to hunt any animals it was for us to strengthen the tribe and get rid of the weak.”

I stop using the accent and let my voice return to normal, “They had set up the hunting trip as an excuse to kill me and not be punished by the chief. They had me tied to a branch, naked and lying stretched out, next thing I know they lift the branch up and start walking with it towards the fire.”

I can feel panic welling up inside me as I relive the memory within my head whilst I talk about it. “They had built a couple of structures at either end of the fire like they would to cook that’s when I realised what they were about to do. I fought them, I fought as hard as I could, I begged and screamed at them not to do it but it didn’t seem to bother them. They put each end of the branch I was tied to on top of the structures, so I was laid out above the fire.”

I could see the look of horror on the girls face and I couldn’t blame her, my life has been filled with horrors that would destroy an average person.

“I can still remember the smell of my burning hair and flesh, the feeling of my skin being burnt.” I stop speaking and realise my whole body is shaking, I feel a hand gently rest on my shoulder, I know without looking up who it is and I feel myself start to relax a little.

“The sounds of my screams must have attracted him to us because next thing I know something slams into me knocking me away from the fire and a wet fur is thrown over me. I was on the edge of passing out and my vision was all black but I could hear the hunters shouting and the sound of bones snapping. The noise stopped and a voice told me to drink I opened my mouth and drank, I suddenly felt like I could take on the world, I felt strong like I was invincible. The same voice that had told me to drink said that he could save me, make me into something else, something strong so that I would never have to fear people again. There was nothing I wanted more than that, he told me he required one thing of me first.”

I smile, my fangs elongating as I remembered what happened next, “He told me that he want me to kill the hunters who had tried to kill me, he told me he had given me the strength to do so but if I didn’t or couldn’t do it then there was nothing else he could do for me. By this point I could see again and I saw that the hunters were lying around the camp with their legs bent at horrible angles and obviously broken. I heard something land next to me and I looked over to see a knife made of stone. I took it and stumbled my way over to one of the hunters, I plunged the knife into his throat before I moved to the next and did the same. The blade broke off inside the third hunter, the final one was the one that had asked for me to join them, I beat him to death with my own hands. The Vampire made good on his promise and turned me right there and then.”

I sit there for a moment still reliving the horrific memories, unable to look at the young girl. I feel small arms wrap around me and I can hear her crying, “I’m so sorry.” She says, her voice quiet and sad.

“Don’t pity me, I’ve done things since that day that make me more of a monster than those hunters.” I don’t want her to feel sorry for me, yes bad shit happened to me but the things I have done since then are truly horrific.

I stand up, I need to move. I have to ask her if she wants to become one of us, I need absolute consent and that is only the first step, it isn’t until I open my mouth to ask that I realise I don’t even know her name, “I have two questions, first question, what is your name?”

“April, my names April.” The fact that she doesn't use a surname tells me a lot.

“The second question is do you want to become a Vampire?” She looks frightened by my words but she nods her head anyway.

“That’s not enough I need to hear you say it.” I tell her as I help her to her feet ready to lead her outside.

“I want you to make me a Vampire.” She tells me her voice is hard and steady, laced with determination.

“Come with me then.” I tell her as I lead her outside.

I look around at my Vampires that remain outside, Emma had taken Jesse and the SUV to transport the girls to the shelter we worked with which left Jonathan, Alex and Samantha.

“Alex, Samantha would you both stay here and sort this place out, Jonathan you come with me and April we’re going home.” I look at the cars that are left, I will take the Mercedes and leave the Toyota for Alex and Samantha.

“Immolation?” Alex asks with a smile on his face.

“Just make sure it doesn’t spread to the surrounding buildings.” I tell him, “come on we will take the Mercedes, April I want you to ride shotgun.”

I stride off towards the car with April by my side, the car ride is uneventful April asks me a few of the more common questions about Vampires.

“Can you turn into bats?”

“No.”

“Do you show up on cameras?”

“Yes but they don’t like our fast small movements.”

“Can you go out in the sun?”

“Yes but only for short amounts of time and even then it’s uncomfortable and requires a lot of sun block, without sun block and any more time than a few minutes is pretty much a death sentence for most vampires especially young ones and anything more than thirty seconds is excruciatingly painful and can leave you in a very weakened state for days.”

“Are there other supernatural beings?”

“Yes, pretty much everything in fairy tales and myths exist or did exist at one point but most are rare or stay away from people, the most common supernatural beings you will encounter are Vampires, Werewolves and the Fair Folk, the Fair Folk are beings that have been chronicled in myths, legends and fairy tales, they are creatures of magic. The trait that makes a being a Fair Folk is that they use magic to make themselves look human. They are weak to metals like iron and steel but not others like silver and gold.”

I hear April gasp as we pull into the driveway for the nests house, I had the house specially built when I moved to this area. The house is a few miles outside of the city and looks like a gothic castle, there are twenty one of us in the nest including myself and there are enough bedrooms for all of us plus spares for anyone who needs a safe place whether they are Vampires or not.

I drive around past the house and pull into the purpose built garage, I see the cars that belong to the rest of the nest, they range from beat up old junkers to brand new luxury sports cars. I park the car, we get out and Jonathan quickly moves off towards the house, April slowly follows me into the house, as we walk I explain a little bit about the process of being turned.

“I need my second, third and a one of the top three from another nest to witness the process to ensure that you are willing and I’m not doing this against your will.”

I lead her through the back door and keeping my pace slow so she can keep up as I walk towards my study.

“I will explain the good and bad of being a Vampire and then I will ask you if you still want to be turned and if you do I will then explain how I will turn you.”

April looks sacred which isn’t helped by the fact that the majority of the nest had come out to gawk at her. On the way to my study we are joined by Martin, my third, Martin is very strong and had risen through the ranks of the nest quickly and has been my faithful third in command for over a hundred years.

“May I ask why you have brought a young girl home?” Martin didn’t question my actions often.

“If you could fetch Sophie and meet me in the study I will explain everything.” I tell him not wanting to explain myself more than once. Martin salutes and walks quickly off to find and retrieve Sophie.

April doesn’t speak the rest of the walk to my study and when we arrive outside the study I open the door and usher her inside.

When most people think of a study they think of an average sized room with a desk and lots of bookshelves filled with old tomes, my study is much the same with an old oak desk and many bookshelves filled with everything from ancient texts to modern bestsellers, the only difference between most studies and mine was the size. The study is the size of about three rooms put together and apart from the bookshelves and desk contains many objects from my life or objects of power and magic.

April looks around the study her mouth open and her eyes wide, she looks across my collection of books and stops at one, “Twilight?” she asks sounding surprised and amused.

I laugh, “I’m a romantic.” I tell her.

She dismisses the rest of the books and walks over to my rather large collection of swords, I watch as she trails her eyes over the different types of swords, I become concerned when her eyes linger on a black sword with a short jagged black blade, a confused expression falls over her face and my unease sky rockets as I feel the familiar tingle of magic shoot across my skin like a static electric shock.

Her hand starts to reach out towards the black blade and I race over to her as fast as I can, wrap an arm around her and pull her away from the sword. April cries out in shock because of my movement, she starts trying to claw at me and break out of my grasp, screaming about how the sword needs her that it needs her blood. I change my grip on her, pick her up and march her over to one of the chairs in front of the desk, I gently place her in the chair and summon up some of the magic we Vampires can use.

“Stay there.” I tell her using the most common Vampire magic, her whole body goes limp and she sags into the chair. I rush over to the sword and pick it up intending to lock it in a special built safe that nullifies magic but as soon as I touch it everything changes, I want to hunt, I want to relive the old days. I want to rip through the country tearing anything that crosses my path limb from limb, I want to feel their skin tear under my fangs, I want to feel blood drench my face and body, I want to feel the power as their blood rushes down my throat.

“Larten.” I hear a soft voice from the doorway to my study, I vaguely recognise the spoken word as being the name I have been using for about one thousand five hundred years. I spin around to see the source of the voice and see a woman, she’s young and beautiful with long platinum blonde hair and piercing icy blue eyes, something in the back of my mind tells me her name is Sophie but I ignore it, I realise she is a Vampire and I want her to join me on the hunt, I want her to smell the fear of the masses to revel in the bloodshed.

“I think you should put that sword in the safe sir.” Says a man who steps through the study door to stand next to the female Vampire, I realise he’s a Vampire as well and I snarl at him, they both drop to their knees putting themselves in a submissive position, I don’t need a mirror to show me that my eyes are bright red and my fangs are fully extended.

Something in the back of my head tells me that these thoughts aren’t my own, that the sword is putting thoughts into my head. I growl, nothing and no one put thoughts into my head, I leap at the anti magic safe and throw the door open then drop the sword inside and slam the door closed.

All thoughts of mass murder instantly leave my head the moment the safe door closes and I drop to my knees, I feel like every drop of energy has been drained out of me. Sophie walks slowly over to me and holds out a blood bag, I tear into it like a wild animal and drain it in a matter of seconds.

“Thank you.” I tell Sophie, she smiles and it completely changes her face making her look soft and gentle.

“That was the Blood Fiend, wasn’t it?” Martin asks looking worried.

I nod my head in confirmation, the Blood Fiend was made specifically for me by one of the most powerful of the Fair Folk out of an unknown type of metal that holds onto magic and emotions. The sword was created to be semi sentient and was made while I was going through a very bad time and was interested only in death and destruction. The sword had been asleep for hundreds of years why had it woken up now and how had April awoken it. I look over and see April crying softly in the chair I placed her in, I start to wonder about her, is there more to her than I originally thought.

Before I could tell them anything about April Sophie spoke. “You have a visitor, we left him out in the hallway should we call him in?” Sophie informed me, I was curious about who the visitor was because I hadn’t sensed anyone from outside the nest when I had walked through the house.

I nod at Sophie and walk over to April, “it’s ok, everything is ok.” I tell her keeping my voice soft and quiet to try and comfort her.

I hear the study door open and Sophie say “come in.” I don’t look up to see who it is because as soon as they walk through the door I can smell them, I smile truly happy now because I know this visiting Vampire. I stand, wipe the smile off of my face and turn to face the visitor.

Standing just inside the study is a short, skinny man with scruffy short black hair, I know he was originally from India this fact is advertised by his skin colour and the accent he had purposefully kept all this years despite living here in the UK, his name is Ashish Patel.

Ashish is young by Vampire standards being only three hundred and twenty five years old but he is very powerful which is evident by the fact that he is the master of the sole nest in Bristol which is one of the largest nests in the country while I am the master of the smallest of three nests in Birmingham. I have been friends with Ashish for over a hundred years now and was always happy to see him.

“Ash.” I boom, calling him by his nickname. I stride over to him and hold out my hand for a handshake.

“The fuck is that.” He says smiling before he wraps me in a tight hug. “It has been too long old friend.” His accent is thick but his words are clear.

“That it has.” I smile, I take a couple of steps backward, “I’m glad you’re here but I take it this isn’t just a friendly visit.” I say reading his body language.

“Kind of.” He frowns, “I’m on my way to Scotland, The Council are sending me up there. It seems there are some rogues roaming around causing trouble for a couple of the nests up there, so I thought I would stop and see an old friend and hopefully he would give me a room for the day.”

“I would come with you but I’m needed here for now. I will happily give you a room for the day” I pause and look toward April, “but if you want I could send one or two of my people with you.”

“I'm supposed to be meeting up with Clark Germaine so I should be alright.” He follows my eyes towards April and looks interested, “who is that? I don’t recognise her.” He takes a deep breath through his nose, “she’s human.”

“She is why I’m glad you’re here.” I tell him, “come all of you sit.”

Sophie takes the seat closest to April obviously sensing her discomfort, Martin sits on the other side of Sophie with Ashish furthest from April.

“This is April.” I tell them all waving my hand towards her, “she was in the place we raided tonight.” I see a few emotions flash across Sophie’s face the main emotions being sympathy and anger, Ashish looks confused but I don’t explain it to him, “She has expressed interest in becoming one of us and I do believe she would be a very good Vampire.”

“She looks young, how old is she?” Ashish asks looking April over.

“I’m eighteen.” April says quietly.

“The Council would not usually allow it they prefer to wait until at least twenty one.” Ashish laughs humourlessly, “but we all know that they won’t say anything about it after all it is you.”

The Council is like the ruling Vampires, apart from me they are the five oldest and strongest sane Vampires in the western world and control pretty much every nest west of Turkey including Scandinavia, The UK, Ireland and the whole of Europe. They usually have the final say in anything big any nest does, like turning people.

“Why twenty one?” April asks sounding genuinely curious.

“Because they believe that is when a person is mentally and physically mature enough to be turned.” I explain, “Once you are turned you won’t grow anymore, your hair and nails will continue to grow as they normally do but the rest of you stops aging.”

“I must say I’m not too pleased about someone of your age being turned.” Ashish says looking at April, “but if you are certain and consenting then I don’t see any problem.”

“I want this.” April says louder than needed like she thinks it will convince us of her conviction.

“Sophie, Martin, what do you both think?” I ask.

“I’m with Ashish, I think she is a little bit too young but she wants it and is consenting so I’m ok with it.” Martin says.

“I can’t wait to have another woman in the family.” Sophie says smiling at April.

“So my second and third have both given approval and so has the master of another nest.” I look toward April, “As we have the necessary people here tonight I can turn you now, if you want to wait though that is also ok.” I inform her not wanting her to feel pressured.

“Can we do it now please.” April says nervously.

I can’t help but smile, I am happy because I could see a change in her, a few hours ago she had shown no confidence and had spoke in a whisper and now she looked confident and was speaking louder.

“Ok we can do that, I just need to explain a few things to you first.” I tell her before going on to explain that we only feed from willing people and blood bags, that we don’t hunt people, anymore. I also explain that I will have to teach her how to fight because there are supernatural creatures out there that like to attack Vampires and that other Vampires will try and fight her to establish dominance and their position in the nest hierarchy.

I feel bad about the next part because to turn her I have to drain at least half of the blood in her body but that isn’t what I feel bad about, what I feel bad about is that when a person is bitten by a Vampire they don’t feel pain like you would expect, instead they feel pleasure. I have had many people describe it as feeling a lot like a long lasting orgasm and with what she had been through in her short life I know this had the potential to be traumatic and bring up some very bad memories.

I explain this to her and watch as she blushes a bit and looks at the floor in what I think was probably embarrassment.

“It’s-It’s ok.” She stammers, “I-I can do this.”

“This is your last chance to back out.” I tell her, I don’t think she will back out but I want to give her the option to if she wants to.

“No, I want this” her voice is strong and confident, letting me know she has truly made up her mind.

“Ok.” I stand up and walk around my desk to her, I take her hands and help her to her feet, “are you ready?”

“Yes.” She whispers breathily.

I let my fangs elongate and quickly sink them into her neck, my fangs sink into her flesh with ease and I feel her blood rush into my mouth. She lets out a moan of pure pleasure, pushing herself hard against me then wrapping her arms around me, her blood is delicious, it is salty but sweet and feels slightly spicy. After a moment her hair falls into my face and I gently brush it back so it is behind her head, she shivers before letting out another moan dripping with pleasure and sexuality.

I can tell that I am getting close to draining enough of her blood when her arms slide down my back and fall away from my body, I feel her body go weak and she almost collapses before I wrap my arms around her and hold her steady. When I have drained enough blood from her I lower April into the chair she had sat in earlier, her skin is extremely pale and she is on the verge of unconsciousness so I quickly bite into my arm and hold it to her mouth.

“Drink.” I tell her and then smile when I feel her mouth lock around the wound and she starts drinking.

After a short while I can see her body return to her previous soft pink colour and a moment later I feel her teeth elongate into fangs and bite into my flesh, I groan in pleasure, what people say is true the sensation of her biting into my flesh is intense and more pleasurable than anything I have ever felt in my life. I have turned many people in my long life but none of them have grown their fangs this quickly usually they grow their fangs in the sleep that follows the turning process and I have never been bitten by another vampire before, not like this.

A short time after April has bitten me she pulls her head away from my arm, she smiles up at me her lips stained with my blood, she licks her lips slowly and I can’t help but watch the movement of her tongue.

“Thank you.” She whispers before she closes her eyes and falls asleep.

Everyone is silent for a moment until Sophie stands up, reaches into her jacket pocket, pulls out a blood bag and hands it to me, “you should drink.” She tells me a second before I tear into it and quickly drain the blood bag.

“Thank you.” I say to Sophie, “Martin could you show Ash to one of the spare rooms please.” I feel tired and a bit weak even after draining the blood bag.

Martin and Ashish stand up and without saying a word walk out of the room.

Sophie stands and looks down at April, “I think she is going to be very powerful.” She smiles and looks at me, “some of the nest won’t be happy about you turning her and it could cause her problems.” She frowns, “I know you will look after her, so will I and I’m sure Martin will as well but she will need more friends to protect her from those who might want to hurt her.”

“I will not let anyone hurt her.” I tell her my voice becoming almost a growl.

“I know but it won’t stop them trying.” She says sadly as she stands up, “goodnight.” She says with a little chuckle before walking off.

I look down at April and brush a lock of her hair away from her face before I gently pick her up to take her to a bed. Sophie’s words stick with me and I am worried, I don’t want to leave April alone so I gently carry her to my bedroom and softly lay her on my bed before moving the quilt up around her, she looks so peaceful and I smile, I am glad I had saved her from that place and even more glad that I have turned her. I walk to the door and lock it before I move over to the sofa set up in the corner of my large bedroom and collapse on it, falling asleep almost instantly.

2.

It has been three months since the night I had turned April and it seems that Sophie had been right when she said that April would gain enemies within the nest. Most of the Vampires that hate April are older male Vampires, older vampires find it hard to adapt to change and I had turned a beautiful young girl who is more powerful than most of the nest. Some of the female Vampires don’t like her either and I’m not exactly sure why but I think it could be because of how powerful she is although most of the female and young Vampires like her.

April’s biggest hater though is Jonathan who will make vile derogatory and sexual remarks about her which upset her and anger me and a majority of the female Vampires, on more than one occasion I have almost attacked him but always hold myself back until one time he goes too far,

“I wish we hadn’t saved you that night and if I get the chance I would be more than happy to send you back to a shithole like where we found you.” Jonathan snarls at April.

I feel my legs tense as I ready to launch myself at him but then April steps in front of me and speaks, “if I ever do go back to a hellhole like the one I was saved from I will take you with me.” She pauses and in a calm, steady voice continues, “because they would prefer you over me, I only have a small pussy but you, you’re all pussy.”

Most of the room bursts out laughing, me included. Johnathan launches himself at April but he is slow, too slow, I step in front of April and stop him by grabbing his throat. I hold him in the air by his throat and snarl at him, “if I ever hear you say anything like that to anyone ever again, I’ll make you wish you were dead.”

I drop him on the floor and decide it is time to get back to training April. We stand on a mat in the middle of the gym and bow to each other before we start training. April launches herself at me like she is about to hit me with her Bo staff but just before she would have swung it she drops her weight to one side and spins around me trying to hit the back of my legs with the staff, I jump over the staff and land facing her.

“You’re getting faster.” I smile and she hops back a couple of steps, “you need to watch how you shift your weight you’re advertising your moves before you make them.”

April spins the staff in her hands and advances towards me smiling. She slips her hands down the staff so she is holding it in the middle and as she gets closer she jabs the staff out towards my head and I lean back a little to avoid her strike but at the very last second she pulls the attack and hooks her leg around mine forcing me off balance just as she slams into me with her whole body.

I drop to the floor and April follows me down landing on top of me, “Hi there.” She whispers, I open my mouth to say hi back when she quickly kisses me. Her lips are soft but the kiss is hard and before I can react she leaps backwards off of me landing with a perfect bow.

I just lie there for a moment looking up at her and can’t help but admire her, she’s short and would be described as petite, her dark black hair has grown since we saved her and now hangs down below her shoulder blades. I trail my eyes up her body to her soft round face and see her deep blue eyes slowly looking over my body. I smile and jump to my feet without using my arms. I’d noticed April’s attraction to me, at first I thought it was a side effect of me turning her which is common and usually passes within a week or two but over the past months her attraction to me has only increased and I have found myself feeling attracted to her as well.

“You’re getting better.” I tell her smiling and feeling proud of her progress.

“Well if I can beat you...” she let’s her voice trail off.

I decide to go on the offensive this time and swing the staff at her but make it obvious enough for her to block it with her own staff and that is exactly what she does, when she blocks my staff with her own I quickly push forward grab her staff, rip it out of her hands and throw it across the room. I continue to strike at her with the staff forcing her to either block with her hands or take the hits. Fights between Vampires are over quickly because of the extreme speeds we can move at and this one is no different and a couple of seconds after taking away her staff April starts to take more hits and I can see her hands look red and raw from blocking the hits so I decide to finish the fight quickly. I pretend to jab the staff at her left hand side and she shifts her body to block the jab, as she shifts her body weight I do the same and let the staff slip through my fingers so I can grab the opposite end then I swing the staff and hit her legs knocking her to the floor. As she falls she reaches behind herself and uses her arms to steady herself and then pushes her feet between my legs she kicks out, before I realise it I am falling forward towards her.

I stretch my arms out to avoid landing on April full force, the momentum of the force buckles my arms and I land with my face millimetres from hers.

“Hi there.” I whisper causing her to burst out in laughter. Her laughter is like music to my ears and I can’t help but smile widely.

April stops laughing and her face changes, she looks serious and a split second later she leans forward and kisses me. Unlike last time the kiss isn’t quick but long and filled with passion, I return the kiss and as I do she wraps her arms and legs around me and using all her power she flips me over. I land on my back with April straddling my waist her knees either side of my hip and her hands palms down either side of my shoulder.

Having broken the kiss when she flipped me over she leans forward and whispers into my ear, “got you now.” She kisses me again a deep passionate kiss that feels possessive. I lose myself in her natural smell and the smell of her sweat and arousal, I deepen the kiss and can feel myself getting aroused as our tongues dance across each others.

I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I do her right now.

I trail my hands along her sides, grab her hips and pull her down against me causing her to gasp into my mouth as we continue to kiss. Still holding onto her hips I flip her over so that I’m on top of her again and as I do so she wraps her legs around my waist. Having broken the kiss with my actions I take a moment to look at her, her face glistening from sweat, her breathing is shallow and I can feel her body rise and fall beneath me in time with her breath, her eyes are wide and shining. I don’t think I would be able to tear my eyes away from her even if I wanted to, she is just so beautiful. I lean down and kiss her again.

A moment into our kiss I hear footsteps and then a voice say, “dirty fucking whore.” At the sound of the words April unwraps her legs from around my waist, her whole body seems to go limp and her eyes glaze over. I break the kiss and look up to see Jonathan standing in the doorway to the training room. I see tears form in April’s eyes and wipe them away as they roll down her face.

“He’s wrong that’s not what you are, never has been and never will be.” I tell her softly.

I stand up and glare at Jonathan, “I took you in so the council wouldn’t kill you because I believe everyone deserves a second chance and what have you done?” I pause and try to calm myself but when I can’t I continue, “you have fought me at every turn, you have verbal assaulted many valuable members of this nest, myself included.” My voice had steadily rose so I was shouting by the time I finish my rant.

I often take in problem Vampires at either the request of the master of the nest the problem Vampire belonged to or at the request of the council, being one of the oldest and strongest Vampires in the world they trust that I will be able to rehabilitate them or if needed execute them. Jonathan had been sent to me by the master of his previous nest because he is sadistic and likes to hunt and torture those he feeds from. He especially likes young women.

“Because you’re weak, you’ve grown old and pathetic to the point where you are defeated and being seduced by a dirty little fucking whore and somehow you still cling to power.” I feel rage burning through my body at his words and I want nothing more than to rush him and tear his head from his shoulders but he still hadn’t finished speaking, “but not anymore.” He laughs a vicious, humourless laugh, “I Jonathan Harvey challenge you for the position of master of this nest.”

His challenge is serious and insane, a fight for master is a fight to the death even if I spared him when I defeat him, as I’m sure I will, the Vampire who takes on the role as Master of Ceremonies would be forced to execute him.

“I act as witness to this declaration of challenge to the right of master of this nest and will accept the burden of Master of Ceremonies if the participating parties wish it.” Speaks a voice from behind Jonathan and without seeing the Vampire that the voice belongs to I know it is Warrel.

“You don’t want to do this Jonathan, you know it’s suicide.” I look at him hoping he will realise the foolishness of this challenge, “I don’t want this nest to be weakened by your foolishness.”

“The only things weakening this nest is you and that.” He motions towards April and out of the corner of my eye I see that she has pulled her knees up to her chin and is hugging her legs, she looks broken and terrified. I have the sudden and massive urge to protect her.

“I accept your challenge with one condition.” I pause partially hoping he would refuse but when he nods his head I speak again, “I want the whole of the nest here to witness the fight.”

Jonathan laughs, “yes I would like for them to see how far you have fallen.” He smiles at me, “just know that when I win that thing will be following you in death.” He jerks his head towards April and I snarl at him very close to killing him right this second.

We Vampires don’t posses much magic but we have enough to influence peoples minds and to contact others in our nest so I draw on the latter of these magics to mentally contact the whole nest and summon them to the training room. It takes just over a minute for the whole nest to gather in the basement, when they have I address them out loud.

“Jonathan here has challenged me to a fight for master of this nest.” I tell them making myself heard over their quiet conversations.

Most of the nest laugh at this until they realise that I’m being serious and they look at him with a mixture of anger and pity.

“Warrel was witness and has offered to take on the burden of Master of Ceremonies unless anyone objects.” I wait a moment for anyone to voice any objection they might have but when no one does I speak again, “The rules state we each have one minute to prepare.”

Jonathan snarls at me, “I don’t need it.” He snaps.

“Ok.” I say and quickly in my head I contact Sophie and ask her if she would protect April during the fight, what I didn’t say was that I didn’t trust a couple of members of the nest not to take this opportunity to hurt her, Sophie agrees and I thank her.

I kneel next to April and smelling the fear radiating from her I softly speak to her, “Don’t worry everything is ok, he isn’t anywhere near the same level of strength as me.” I don’t bother to whisper because I know that even if I had the whole nest would have heard me anyway. I stand and stride to the mat.

“Rules are no hurting any that aren’t involved in the fight, if any body part touches anything off the mat then you are considered forfeit and shall be executed immediately, none may get involved with the fight in any way except for shouting encouragement or insults. Are the rules understood?” Warrel speaks like a professional.

When he is met by a universal silence he speaks again, “Choose your weapons fighters.”

Jonathan chooses a curved sword while I just stand there ready to fight bare handed, Johnathan takes this how it is meant, as an insult, I am showing him that even though he has a weapon I don’t need one to fight him, he snarls at me in rage.

“Begin!” Warrel booms.

I take a couple of steps backwards and drop my guard practically begging Jonathan to attack me and that’s exactly what he does, he lunges at me, he is fast but not fast enough, I step to the side and avoid the sword blade then kick out at his legs, he spins and barely avoids my strike. Facing each other again Jonathan snarls at me but I just smile back at him, he roars and lunges at me again, I know he would be expecting me to sidestep around his attack so instead I step towards him and the oncoming blade. I slap the flat of the blade so it points at floor instead of me and then punch Jonathan in the shoulder, he spins away to lessen the impact.

I frown, I had hit further along the flat of the sword than I had planned, maybe he was right and training with just April had caused me to slow down even if it had training with her had taught me one thing, an untrained fighter is unpredictable and doesn’t fight in the established ways, linking together strikes that shouldn’t work but catch the opponent off guard so end up actually working. I decide to use that knowledge and when Jonathan swings the sword at me I do the unexpected, I lower my head and charge him like a bull. The move catches him unaware and his forward momentum combines with my own causing him to double over when my head connects with his stomach.

While he is doubled over I move quickly and snatch the sword from his grasp then kick his legs causing him to fall to his knees, I spin so I stand behind him and drive the sword in a downward angle between his shoulder blades straight into his heart.

The nest roars as the blade plunges into Jonathan’s heart.



“Shit.” I hear Jonathan say with a gurgle to his voice.

“I told you it was suicide.” I speak sadly I didn’t want to kill him no matter how much he pissed me off, “just know that as you pass into the next life I didn’t want this.”

I pull the sword out of him and spin spraying blood over the crowd, the collected Vampires roar again as my spin ends with the sword cutting clean through Jonathan’s neck severing his head from his body, the wound erupts like a geyser and showers me in blood, I lick my lips then sink down to one knee and offer a quick prayer to the old Gods that he would find peace in death.

“To no ones surprise the victor is Larten.” Warrel booms his voice filling the room.

The fight had lasted less than a minute and left everyone splattered with blood, I watch as the nest descend on Jonathan’s corpse and proceed to drink his remaining blood, the act is gruesome but serves a purpose, drinking the blood of someone freshly deceased or draining someone has an old magic to it and their memories and experiences would be passed onto those who drink their blood. Not drinking from him is disrespectful but right now I don’t care, I rush to April using magic to telepathically thank Sophie for keeping her safe, I don’t get a reply as Sophie is too caught up in what had devolved into a feeding frenzy.

I drop to my knees in front of April who is sat with her knees still pulled up to her chin but her arms are now by her sides, she has a look of shock and horror on her face but it was combined with what I think is awe and respect.

“I... That... You...” She stops takes a deep breath and when she speaks again her voice is quiet, “That was terrifying.” I must have looked a little hurt because she quickly adds, “but amazing.”



I smile at her and she smiles back before licking her lips and then biting her lower lip. I watched her tongue mesmerised as she licks her lips and I curse silently, I had promised long ago that I would never love anyone properly, it is too dangerous and painful for someone who outlives pretty much everyone but here I was falling deeply in love. April yawns deeply and I can’t help but notice I am tired as well but l can’t leave because the feeding frenzy could easily become something much more violent and dangerous.

‘Go, I’ll take care of things here.’ I hear Sophie’s voice in my head, I thank her and smile.

“Come on lets get something to eat and then sleep.” I say to April while still smiling.

“Ok.” April whispers. When she tries to stand up she collapses against me, I gently pick her up and she buries her head into my neck.

I carry her in my arms to the kitchen where two willing donors are waiting for us, I gently place her in a chair and she smiles up at me, “My hero.” She giggles.

“Is she ok?” Asks one of the donors looking concerned.

“Yeah it’s just been a long rough day.” I reply.

“We heard the fight and thought it was best we all stayed away.” The other donor says before moaning in pleasure as April sinks her fangs into their neck.

“That was wise, I wouldn’t have been able to ensure your safety.” I say before sinking my own fangs into the other donor who only just manages to suppress a moan.

When we have finished feeding April tries to stand up but sinks back into the chair. I walk over to her and pick her up, holding her in my arms I softly kiss her on the neck and she make a noise close to a cats purr. I hadn’t trusted some of the nest not to hurt April while she slept so I had set a second bed up in my bedroom and she had been sleeping there. I was about to gently place her in her bed thinking she was asleep when she whispers directly into my ear, “can I sleep in your bed tonight.” She pauses and I tilt my head to see her face and I see she is blushing, “with you.” She finishes.

I turn around with her still in my arms, walk over to my bed and gently place her in my bed, “Thank you.” She whispers.

I smile and walk over to my chest of draws and take out a pair of soft silky pyjama trousers, I get changed into the pyjamas trousers and take off my T shirt, I turn around and see April lying on the bed watching me, I smile and see on the floor next to the bed is a bra and a pair of black jeans she had stripped out of, I look back up to see she had pulled back the quilt to reveal her lying there in the same black T shirt that she had worn all day, it had ridden up and was bunched up just below her belly button. My eyes trail down her soft pale stomach to see a pair of lacy black panties, I lick my lips and can feel myself getting very aroused, I take a second to admire her long smooth legs before raising my eyes and drinking in the whole of her form.

I see that April is doing the same, I watch her eyes slowly sweep over my body resting for a moment on my crotch and obvious erection. I walk slowly over to the bed making eye contact with her the whole time. April rolls over and frees up some space for me to climb into the bed, I get into the bed and she shuffles backwards pressing herself against me, her scent wraps around me and I smile. I feel her hand reach round and stroke across my hip before trailing towards my crotch. I place my hand over hers to stop her, “not tonight, I’m tired.” I tell her a yawn escaping my lips, “maybe in the morning.” I whisper.

I brush a lock of her black hair away from her cheek and softly kiss her cheek, “goodnight beautiful.” I whisper as I rest my arm across her stomach. I fall asleep happily with her in my arms.

I wake as night falls with April still in my arms, I smile as I feel the soft rise and fall of her chest, she rolls over so we are face to face and kisses me deeply. I hear a phone ringing and initially think that it is in another room until I pay more attention and realise that it is in this room in a draw in the small desk I keep in one corner. I break our kiss and roll out of bed.

April makes a sound of disappointment, “Can’t you ignore it.” She moans unhappily.

“Not many people have that number and those that do would only use it if things were bad.” I frown, worried about what this phone call means.

I open the drawer, take out the phone and answer, “Larten speaking.”

“Its Detective Jones we need your help.” Detective Jones is in the supernatural crimes division of the cities police force that I had worked with a few times in the past when supernatural beings had been causing trouble for people.

“What’s the problem?” I ask, I turn around and lightly lean against the desk. I see April watching me with a worried look on her face, Vampires have extra sensitive hearing so she had heard that it is a police detective on the phone.

‘Don’t worry, I’ve worked with him before.’ I tell her telepathically.

“We were called to a scene earlier today by a witch associated with us who had been contact by a ghost and told where she could find upwards of fifteen bodies all killed by a species of the Fair Folk. She called us and we went with her to investigate we found a body that was under a day old, at the insistence of the witch we continued to dig in the surrounding area and at this point we have found twenty three bodies all less than a year old, the number is still climbing.” I can hear the anger and fear in the detectives voice.

“I would like to bring a couple of my nest with me, if you don’t mind.” I make eye contact with April and speak to her telepathically, ‘I want you to come along if you think you can.’ She nods her head, ‘I can do it, whatever it is needs to be stopped.’ She replies in my head, I like hearing her voice in my head something about it is so intimate.

“Yes of course.” Comes the detectives voice from the phone, “just please hurry this monster needs to be stopped quickly.”

“Yes, yes it does.” I mutter, ashamed that something had been in my territory killing people and I hadn’t even realised. I think for a moment about how I hadn’t felt any unusual strong powers in the city and if this thing was out there I should have, it wasn’t a Vampire I would definitely have felt them, the fact that he said bodies instead of remains made me discount Werewolves, if a Werewolf had been killing people it would have been eating them as well plus the main Alpha who rules over all the Werewolves in the UK would consider them rabid and have them put down but it sounds like this killer is still active.

“You said your witch thought it was one of the Fair Folk who did it.” I say making the statement sound like a question.

“That is what she said the spirit told her but we are yet to find any evidence of it.” He grunts annoyed, “if we don’t find any evidence that the killer is supernatural by mid day tomorrow then my team gets pulled from the case and we have to hand it over to homicide.” I hear a voice in the back ground shout, “We’ve got another body here.”

The detective kicks something hard, “Fuck.” He swears loudly, “We have to find this bastard.”



I wholeheartedly agree, the body they had just recovered put the body count at twenty four and that was twenty four too many. I could feel rage flare through me, I feel a soft hand rest on my shoulder and I relax, it isn’t from just her touch it is more than that, the last time I had felt anything close to it was when I was mated to a werewolf many centuries ago, the magic of the mating bond meant we could talk telepathically, feel each others emotions and even influence each others emotions to a degree, apparently the Werewolves pack bond is much the same just stronger and less personal. The sensation makes me wonder about April I had thought before that there was something more about her but couldn’t put my finger on it even then.

I turn my head to the side and gently kiss her hand before speaking to the detective again, “what’s the address?” he takes a moment to give me the address and explain that we will have to walk across a couple of fields to get to the scene, “we’ll be there within an hour.” I tell him before hanging up.

I turn to April and pull her to me and into a hard possessive embrace, I know my emotions are getting the better of me but at that second I don’t care, April gasps and then moans softly under her breath making me smile.

“Why an hour? Shouldn’t we be going after this thing now?” April looks concerned and I can’t stop myself from kissing her.

“Because I need to decide on who else to take with us and we need to get something to eat.” I smile at her, “But first we need to shower.”

She looks at me blushing with a small grin on her face, “We?” She asks, “T-together?” She trips over the word.

My smile broadens, “If that is what the lady wishes.” I say playfully.

“Mmm.” She moans, “I do wish.” She smiles and strips off her T shirt leaving her in nothing but her lacy black panties.



I lick my lips hungrily and see April do exactly the same as she sees the lust in my eyes. She is beautiful, skinny enough that you can see her ribs, but it doesn’t look unhealthy on her petite frame, her breasts are small but fit her body perfectly, It takes everything in me to not pounce on her right that second.



I wrap my arms around her and lift her off of the ground, she squeals in surprise and wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck, further pressing her naked body against me. Her skin is soft and the touch of her body against me is turning me on but before I act on that feeling I start to walk towards my ensuite bathroom. April squeals again as I start to walk but her squeal quickly devolves into giggles. I try to put her down in the bathroom so I can turn the shower on but she just clings to me, when the shower has warmed up I look at her.

“You need to let me put you down so I can take these off.” I say motioning towards my pyjama trousers, “and you need to take those off.” I say changing my motion to indicate her panties.

She bites her lip seductively but I can smell fear on her, “it’s ok, it’s just a shower.” I tell her trying to reassure her.

She leans into me and rests her head on my shoulder, “I know.” She whispers her voice sounding small. It takes a moment but she leans back, kisses me and unwraps her legs from around my waist.



I start to pull down my trousers and April quickly slips out of her panties, my cock sprang up mostly hard when I slip my trousers over it and down my legs, I suddenly smell overwhelming fear and panic, I look at April and see that her eyes are wide with fear, she is starting to hyperventilate and looks about ready to collapse, I know she is having a panic attack, I subtly shift my body weight so that if she does collapse I could rush and catch her.

“It’s ok.” I tell her keeping my voice soft and low, “you’re safe, no one will hurt you.” My mouth quirks up a little, “no one can hurt you.” I put emphasis on the word ‘can’ before adding in a soft growl, “I won’t let them.”

She starts to breathe more normally and I can see a bit of the fear leave her eyes, “I-it’s j-just a sh-shower r-right?” She stutters.



“Only a shower.” I reassure her, I watch her eyes quickly run down my body and stop on my cock and I hear her breathing start to become irregular again, “hey, my eyes are up here.” I say jokingly, trying to relax her.

Her eyes shoot up to look at my own and I see guilt on her face before she sees that I am smiling and she smiles a shaky smile.

“You’re safe.” I tell her, I pause to make sure I have her full attention, “I promise you that while I live I will do everything in my power to protect you.” Vampires are able to tell when someone is lying by the sound of their heartbeat, their body language and smell, it is one of the first things I had taught April.

I watch as tears form in her eyes as she realises that I am telling the truth, I rip off some toilet roll and move to wipe away her tears but she flinches away from me so I hand her the toilet roll and let her do it herself.

“But why?” she whispers, “Jonathan was right I’m just a stupid dirty little whore.” She shouts the insult and breaks into tears.

“No.” I say a little too sharply, I give my self a second to regain some control and speak softer, “Jonathan was a violent misogynistic fool who didn’t know what he was talking about.”

“Yes he did.” She cries, “You saw what I was doing in that place.” She says referring to the house and violent pimp I had saved her and three underage girls from.

She starts to speak and insult herself again but I interrupt her, “You were doing whatever you had to, to survive.” I tell her, “the same thing anyone would have done.”

Streams of tears run down her face now so I grab more toilet roll and start to wipe away her tears, “You are strong and brave.” I say softly, “Not weak, not a coward, not anything like that and that’s why I love you.”

I didn’t realise that I’d said the last part until I see her mouth drop open. I hope that she could tell that it is the truth, over the past few months I had found myself falling in love with her.

“I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” I tell her softly, “it’s just that the nest is fighting me because I think of you as my...” I pause trying to think of the right words to make her understand, “lover maybe. But because we aren’t properly together they don’t acknowledge it and I don’t know how many would try and challenge you to establish dominance if I wasn’t around.”

“I think... I think I might love you too but with everything I’ve been through...” April trails off, I can tell she is being truthful and I know intimacy will be frightening for her because of what she had been put through, that intimacy and sex had been a source of pain and abuse, just another way to control her and because I know this I can try and work around it.

“I want you so badly.” I tilt her chin up so she is looking into my eyes, “If you need me to though I can wait, I know you’ll be worth it.”

“Thank you.” April smiles, I move and turn the shower on.

“You have a shower first and I’ll have one when you’re done.” I hope that this will put her more at ease and make her feel safe.

“No.” She says sharply, “I need to get past this.” She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, “together, just no funny business.” She nods her head towards my crotch.

“Never without your permission.” I reassure her.

April steps into the shower and just as the water hits her body she squeaks and jumps backward away from the stream of water.

“Still cold.” She whispers obviously embarrassed.

I chuckle quietly, “what?” April raises her voice.

“It’s just that sometimes you can be absolutely adorable.” I tell her and she blushes, I lower my voice, “other times, especially when we’re training, you scare me, I get the sense that one day maybe not too far away you would be able to destroy any who oppose you, maybe even myself.”

April just looks at me confused, “I would never.” She says firmly.

“No I don’t think you would, but something is going to try soon and I don’t know how it will end.” I have a feeling.

“How do you know?” April ask.

“I don’t but I have a feeling and unfortunately these kinds of feelings are accurate.” I say sombrely, “It doesn’t matter yet anyway.” I pause for a second, “the shower should be hot now.”

I take a couple of small steps towards April and the shower, she turns and stretches out a hand under the stream of water when she steps in completely I follow. I close the door behind me and I stand out of the water for a moment and just admire April as the water streams down her body. I step into the water and take a bar of soap and start to soap myself up, I start to soap up April’s back but at my touch she shivers, I leave my hands on her back for a second and when I start to remove them thinking my touch isn’t welcome at the minute she speaks.

“No, it’s ok, carry on.”

I soap up the whole of her back stopping above her ass to allow her some privacy.



She turns to face me, “Thank you.” She smiles and places a hand on my shoulder, “turn around.”

I turn and she starts to soap up my back, her hands are small and she uses wide motions, unlike me she doesn’t stop above my ass but trails her hands down over my cheeks before she softly grabs them and it is my turn to shiver. I turn round and look at her my eyes alternating between her eyes and her lips, she quickly kisses me before turning to the side and soaping her ass then her legs, I soap my legs too. I see April run her soapy hands up the inside of her legs, she makes eye contact with me and rests her hand on her crotch, her eyes hold mine and in my peripheral vision I only just see her run her fingers across her pussy once then twice.



I quickly soap my cock and balls then step fully into the stream of water to rinse myself off, April just stands there for a minute her hand still on her pussy, I can smell her arousal and it takes everything in me to not just dive on her and take her right now but I know that if I did that I would most likely cause her more trauma and I don’t want that. I reach out towards her, she takes my hand with her free hand and steps forward into the water but as she does she slips a little and falls against me, her free hand rests against my stomach and her head rests against my chest right above my heart. She looks up at me and as she does her body shifts gently pressing her breasts against me, I look down and see that her one hand is still between her legs.

I kiss her forehead, she smiles and pushes herself harder against me, “You smell different.” She makes a soft ‘mmm’ sound as she finishes her sentence. Because of our closeness I feel it when the hand she has buried between her legs starts to move.

I wonder if I should tell her why I smell different and my body makes the choice for me when my rapidly hardening cock brushes against her leg. “You can smell my arousal.” I tell her.

She takes a step back but I don’t smell fear which I take as a good sign. April’s eyes roll over my body and come to rest on my cock, she bites her lips with a slight smile.

“Maybe we could...” she trails off while still looking at my cock, “while watching each other.”

“Are you sure?” I ask her, I don’t want to cause her another panic attack.

“Yes I can do this.” She says her voice hard with determination, she leans forward and kisses me, while her lips are still on mine I feel her moan. I take my cock in my hand and slowly start stroking.

April steps back with her eyes focused on my hand stroking my cock, I watch her knees weaken as she slips a finger inside her pussy. My eyes keep alternating between the look of pleasure on her face, the rise and fall of her chest as her breathing deepens and her hand that now has two fingers sliding in and out of her pussy. I turn my body when the orgasm hits me hard and shoot my cum at the drain. I hear April cry out as an orgasm rips through her, she collapses against me and I have to hold her up as she continues to orgasm.

As her orgasm subsides April wraps her arms around me, “That was amazing.” She whispers breathlessly, “I’ve never felt like that before.”

“Because you weren’t being used.” I explain, “you had a chance to find out what works for you, what pleases you. Instead of being used by others for their own pleasure with no regard for you.” I growl out the last sentence and can feel anger well up inside me but April’s touch calms me.

“Is this how it would feel with you?” she asks quietly.

“The first time no, it might hurt I’m not sure how much control I would be able to hold onto but any other time I would do my best to make it as pleasurable for both of us as I can.” I tell her as I wash my cock again.

“As long as you don’t treat me like they used to.” She says washing her pussy.

“Never.” I whisper as I squirt a big blob of shampoo into my hands.

I run my hands through her hair and she moans quietly. I massage her scalp with one hand as the other gently runs through her hair spreading the shampoo.

“That felt amazing.” April sighs as I rinse my hands and start to shampoo my own shoulder length dark brown hair.

As we step out of the shower I grab two towels and hand one to April, she starts to dry herself but part way through she speaks quietly, “does this mean we’re together now?”

“In our eyes it can if you want it to but not to the nest they won’t be satisfied until we are joined together.” I explain.

“Maybe later.” I look around at her as she speaks and see that she has a cheeky smile on her face. I look at her hungrily and licked my lips, “Don’t we need to go and see your detective first?” She asks rhetorically.

I groan in frustration, if the body count hadn’t been so high I might have put him off for a while but with such a high body count and one or more of the Fair Folk being involved this couldn’t wait.

“We both need to eat before we leave as well.” I still need to recover some energy from yesterday and my fight with Jonathan, April just needs to feed, newly turned Vampires need to feed every day.

There is a quiet moment as we are getting dressed so I use it to contact the other Vampire I want to bring along, ‘Lawrence, are you home?’ I speak directly with him using telepathy. Lawrence isn’t an especially strong or very capable fighter but he is very old and a scholar so knows a lot about all things supernatural and he is fiercely loyal to me.

‘Aye, I’m here.’ The reply comes quickly.

‘Could you meet us in the kitchen in five.’ I ask him.

‘By us do you mean you and the new girl?’ The tone of his reply is neutral.

‘Yes, is there a problem?’ I am purposefully trying to get a rise out of him to see if he is unhappy.

‘No as long as she doesn’t hurt you or the nest I don’t have a problem.’ His reply assures me that I can trust him.

‘She will make us stronger.’ I tell him before adding, ‘will you meet us then?’

‘Aye I’m already there. I’ll see you when you get here.’ He tells me.

‘Thank you Lawrence.’ I say sincerely.

“What do you think?” April asks, she is wearing black skinny jeans, a dark red T shirt and a black choker necklace.

“I think you look absolutely stunning.” I tell her as I slip on a grey band T shirt emblazoned with the band name Periphery and their latest albums cover art. I am a massive music lover especially when musicians are very talented with their instruments although that could be because off being a musician myself, I was drawn to heavy metal because of the quality of musicians and the aggression of the music.

“How do I look?” I ask April. I am wearing the Periphery band shirt with faded blue jeans, I looked to be in my early twenties with scruffy shoulder length dark brown almost black hair.

“Not over two thousand years old.” She giggles, “you look amazing.” She pauses, “you look like your mine.” Her voice takes on a rough possessive edge.

“If I’m yours that means you’re mine.” I tell her smiling, “and I’m over two thousand five hundred years old.”

“Hmmm we'll talk about that later.” She tells me biting her lip.

“Lawrence is waiting for us in the kitchen, he should be joining us on our trip to meet the detective.” I tell her.



“Is Lawrence the big guy?” April asks as we leave the bedroom and start to walk to the kitchen.

“Yep that’s him.” I answer, Lawrence is indeed a big guy, he stands at over six feet tall and is heavily muscled making him look like a gym addict but his muscles have been formed in battle back when the weapons of choice had been axes and swords, he is good with an axe as long as his opponent is either slow moving or stationary.

When we enter the kitchen there are already four people sat around the big table that dominates the room, only one is a Vampire and it is Lawrence.

“Thought you would be hungry.” He nods towards two of the three humans. He had thought to bring someone for April to feed from as well which puts me further at ease.

“Thank you.” April says to Lawrence before repeating her thanks to the man she quickly sinks her fangs into. When he moans in pleasure I feel a pang of jealousy and I have to remind myself that it is just a side effect of a Vampires bite. I thank the other man before biting into him.

April finishes drinking just as I do, “It still unnerves me that they feel pleasure when we feed from then.” She says looking slightly uncomfortable.

Lawrence smiles, “some of us enjoy it.”

April and Lawrence continue to speak as I walk over to the fridge, take out the orange juice and pour three large glasses before taking a pack of biscuits out of a cupboard and emptying them onto a plate. I place the orange juice in front of the humans and the plate of biscuits into the middle of the table.



“What’s the problem then?” Lawrence asks me.

“Detective Jones called, he said they have found twenty four bodies, he and a witch who works with them claim that the Fair Folk are involved. I thought you might be able to give us more information if you saw the scene.” I explain.

“Yes good chance I could, I know plenty about the Fair Folk.” He says practically boasting.

“Are you both ready?” I ask Lawrence and April. Lawrence nods and April grabs a biscuit before nodding as well.

We take the Mercedes again, it’s my favourite car and only my second and third are allowed to drive it unless I say so. The car journey is tense as Lawrence keeps asking April personal questions she isn’t comfortable answering and so she acts sarcastic and bratty, neither of them will stop until I snap at them both to shut up and then put some music on, I feel myself relax to the furious yet intricate musicianship.

We pull into a gravel road and drive to the end where there are a hell of a lot of police vehicles and ambulances, I park the car and ask Lawrence and April to wait a moment.

As soon as I stepped out of the car I smell it, I spin around and pull the door open, “Lawrence can I trust you?” I ask loudly.

“What?” Lawrence questions me with a nervous laugh.

I lower my voice almost menacingly, “Can I fucking trust you?”

They both look at me confused and concerned because of my tone of voice.

“Of course you can boss.” Lawrence answers obviously smelling my fear and anger.

“What’s wrong?” April asks quietly, “you smell scared.”

“Take April home, go straight to Sophie tell her I sent you home on my own free will and tell her red alert go into lockdown. Do not stop for anyone on the way home, if someone stands in the road trying to stop you then you run them down.” I pause to breath, “Do you understand?”

“Yes boss.” Lawrence pause, “I could smell it too but I don’t recognise it, what could frighten you so much?”

The last sentence he said sounds more like he was thinking out loud than asking an actual question but I answer him anyway.

“I don’t recognise it but it smells very powerful.” I tell him, “Protect April please.” She means everything to me, I want to add the words but I think he gets the idea.

“Of course boss.” Lawrence says as he clambers over the seats and into the drivers seat, “oh boss.” He calls to me as I start to walk away, “don’t get yourself killed, I don’t think some of us could deal with that.” His eyes shoot towards April as he speaks.

“I don’t plan on dying.” I say softly as I walk towards the nearest officer, I hear the car pull away a moment later. I quickly tell Sophie what was happening telepathically before turning my attention back to the Detective and the crime scene.

3.

I am quickly lead to Detective Jones by an uneasy officer, not long after we start walking I start to smell more things, I can smell the corpses, they smell like dead rotting flesh, I can smell the magic of the Fair Folk who had done all these killings, the smell of the Fair Folk dominates everything else and makes me wanted to either sneeze or cough. I can also smell a Werewolf, I think that the Werewolf is still here so assume they are a part of the police force.

“Detective Jones.” I call out as we approach.

The detective turns around and he doesn’t look like he had the last time I saw him, he is pale with bags under his eyes and he reeks off fear. Standing next to him is the Werewolf.

“Larten thank you for coming.” He shakes my hand and even by human standards he feels weak, “This is Special Agent Orton of the DSA.” The detectives voice is filled with disdain and I wonder if it was for the whole of the DSA or just this particular agent.

I can’t help but growl when the agent shakes my hand, the DSA is the Department Of Supernatural Affairs, they claim to protect humans from supernatural beings and supernatural beings from humans but at best the DSA is a breeding ground for people who are scared of and hate all things supernatural so in reality they are more like the anti-supernatural agency. The DSA behave more like the mob than it does an actual government agency, their idea of justice is shakedown all the supernatural beings they can and kill those they can get away with killing. Personally I despise them and I can’t help but notice the irony of a Werewolf working for one of the largest Supernatural hate groups in the UK.

“What’s someone like you doing working for the DSA?” I ask Agent Orton.

“I believe everyone should be held accountable whether they be Human, Werewolf, Fair Folk or Vampire.” He answers rigidly with the air of an ex-military man.

He Is telling the absolute truth, “admirable.” I chuckle, “If only the whole of the agency thought that way.”

Agent Orton growls, “The views of some of my colleagues is rather backwards. I have tried to change their minds but there is only so much one person can do.”

I laugh, warming up to this Werewolf, “yeah don’t I know it.”

“Are you two done?” Detective Jones snaps annoyed at our banter.

I quickly apologise, “The Fair Folk you are looking for is extremely powerful.” I tell the Detective.

“Associated with earth and fire and very old.” Agent Orton adds.

“I could have told you all that, I was hoping you could provide us with a species or a name.” Says a woman’s voice, I had sensed her walking up behind us, she stinks of magic, not Fair Folk magic so that must mean she is the witch that the Detective had referred to.

Agent Orton spins around like he hadn’t smelt the witch coming, he should have though Werewolves have an amazing sense of smell even better than that of a Vampires, only a newly turned Werewolf would have been surprised by the witches appearance, so that means he is young, maybe too young to be out here without a more dominant and older wolf. I look at him and see his eyes are now bright yellow a sure sign that he is close to changing into his wolf, he obviously doesn’t have much control over his wolf half.

“Agent Orton look at me.” I hell him using just a hint of the Vampire mind control magic to ensure he listens but not enough to anger him and bring the wolf fully out, this was going to be very dangerous and I need to be careful and delicate.

Agent Orton snaps his head round to look at me, his movement is very unnatural and I worry that his wolf is closer to emerging than I had first thought. His eyes connect with mine and I hold his gaze, this is the dangerous part, he would see me holding his gaze as a challenge and his response could go either way with him either backing down and acknowledging me as being more dominant which is what I want to happen, the other option is that it could bring his wolf further out and he could end up slaughtering everyone here.

No one makes a sound as I held Agent Orton’s gaze it even feels like everyone holds their breath, it takes a minute but eventually he drops his eyes to the floor.

“I need you to get yourself under control Agent Orton.” I tell him, I really need him to control his wolf.

“I’m ok.” He says his voice still held a bit of a growl to it but I was certain that he had more control over his wolf.

“How long then?” I ask referring to how long he had been a Werewolf.

“Less than a year.” His reply shocks me he shouldn’t be allowed much interaction with people and he definitely shouldn’t be around this amount of dead bodies.

“And your alpha let’s you out around people.” I say it as more of a statement of outrage than as a question.

“I don’t have an alpha.” He tells me surprising me. That can’t be a young wolf has to have to have an alpha for them to stay in control.

“You need one.” I tell him, “An alpha can help you control your wolf, stop outbursts like that, they can protect you from other wolves who would kill a non pack wolf like yourself and so much more.” He really needs an alpha it is dangerous for him without one.

“Are you a local?” I ask him, I know alphas from all over the country so if I know where he’s from I can talk to the alpha closest to where he lives because most alphas wont allow a lone wolf or a wolf from another pack to roam in their territory let alone live in it.

“Yes, born and raised. Why?” He looks puzzled.

“I know the local alpha, he’s a good man, I can introduce you to him, it would be safer than just sending you to him.” The local alpha had helped me out of a few tough situations in the past and I had returned the favour many times over and I know he respects me and trusts my judgement.

“If you think it would help.” He seems reluctant.

“I really do.” I tell him sincerely.

“Can we get back to business now.” The witch snaps impatiently. I don’t like this witch, I had just saved her and possibly everyone else here from her stupidity.

“Yes lets.” I growl, I can hear Agent Orton growling softly next to me. “I need to see the most recent body.”

The Detective leads me over to the body of a girl of around twenty, she has long ginger hair, large breasts, slim body and wide hips. I could see a couple of the other bodies and noticed that they all looked extremely similar to each other. Maybe the Fair Folk is hunting people who look like someone they had once loved or maybe even hated, I know it wasn’t a coincidence that all the victims looked the same.

“Do they all look the same?” I ask the Detective.

“For the most part yes.” He answers me. I explain my theory to him, “we thought that might be the case.”

“Is there anything else I should know?” I snap getting annoyed that he hadn’t told me anything and I kept pointing out things they already know.

“No.” The Detective replies obviously sensing my annoyance he continues, “we prefer you to make your own observations so we know that you aren’t just telling us what we want to hear.”

The logic makes sense but it doesn’t make it any less infuriating.

“What do you think Agent?” I ask not taking my eyes off the young girls corpse.

“I think we could be dealing...” The Agents voice is cut off by a roar.

I know that roar, it sounds like a lions roar just much deeper and the ground vibrates from the roar. The source of the roar emerges from a cluster of trees at the end of the field.

“Fucking Troll.” I spit.

Trolls are dumb creatures barely able to rise above their base instincts but they are vicious and territorial, killing one is no easy feat, bullets are useless as their skin is too thick, bladed weapons are the best way to kill a Troll but even then it’s hit and miss because you have to aim for certain areas on them. The Troll reaches down picks up a clump of dirt that starts to smoke in its hands, the Troll raises the smoking dirt above its head and throws it at us.

Time seems to slow as the earth flies at us and inside the earth I can see in vivid detail a rotting face missing its eye and a single rotting breast. The smouldering earth lands a short distance in front of us, clumps of red hot earth break off on impact and fly towards us barely missing us.

I can hear Agent Orton growling next to me and I know he is close to changing, if he changes he would kill the Troll and then try and kill the rest of us. I need the Troll alive, the bodies may have smelt like the Troll but Trolls don’t kill like this, they kill anyone who wanders into their territory, most of the time they eat them as well and neither it nor the witch explained the magic that I had smelt when I first got here. I don’t want to have to fight Agent Orton because his wolf wouldn’t give up until he was dead or close to death and I won’t let him hurt the rest of the people here.

“Agent Orton.” He ignores me so I step in front of him and face him, “Agent Orton you need to stay here and not change.” I feel guilty because I use my mind control magic to make sure he obeys me.

Agent Orton howls a long loud howl, I still find it slightly disturbing that the sound of a wolf could come out of the mouth of a human. Normal police don’t carry guns but the Supernatural crimes division do, most of the officers on the scene open fire and I have to clamp my hands over my ears to try and block out the deafening cacophony.

“Stop shooting.” I shout, “stop fucking shooting.”

Detective Jones stops shooting and looks around at me, “bullets aren’t going to do anything.” I tell him.

While the Detective uses his walkie to tell his fellow officers to stop shooting I reach down to my belt and chuckle when I feel a short sword strapped to it.

The sword was made by the same Fair Folk who had created The Blood Fiend but unlike The Blood Fiend it had been drenched in the blood of a very strong and heroic Fair Folk to imbue it with magic. The sword is named The Hidden One because it likes to hide in a separate dimension and only appears when it is needed by its master. I draw it from its sheath, slice it through the air and smile, its magic feels stronger than when it was first created.

“Make sure they don’t shoot at it again because if they hit me I will not be happy.” I tell Detective Jones sharply, he nods at me and I turn to the witch, “do you have the power to suppress its magic?” I ask her.

“Yes but it won’t make much difference.” She mutters.

“Just do what you can.” I tell her before I launch myself at the Troll.



The Troll is only around seven feet tall, I had once fought a Troll over double this ones height, the Fair Folk in Scandinavia are different from those in the rest of the world. It is fast but not faster than me and I easily dodge it when it swipes at me with its massively clawed hands, it doesn’t take me long to slice through enough tendons to render the Troll immobile.

I walk around to the Trolls face and start to question it, “where did the bodies come from?”

“The wolf.” The Troll cries its voice sounds like a young child, “The wolf, the wolf.”

“A Werewolf?” I snap, I couldn’t smell a Werewolf around here except for Agent Orton.

“No Werewolf just Wolf.” It shrieks.

There are a few Fair Folk that like to take the form of wolves from time to time but none of them killed like this, most of them like the Troll like to eat their victims and live either on the Continent or in the Americas.

“What wolf?” I shout.

“He brings me the girls.” The Troll giggles like a little girl, “I like the girls, so pretty.”

I punch the Troll breaking its nose. “What fucking Wolf?” I roar which was a bad move as the Troll bursts into tears and won’t be able to speak anymore. I hear the Detective approach from behind and turn to speak to him but as I do I hear April scream my name in my head her voice filled with panic and fear.

I don’t stop to talk to the Detective or Agent Orton who had followed him, I just run, I push myself as fast as I can, it hurts like my legs are on fire but I push myself faster and faster. I have to get home now.

When I get home I see the mess, the house looks like it has been attacked by a bulldozer with several walls broken down and almost all the windows smashed. The whole of the nest is standing outside with the humans who would have been in the house at the time, I look around trying to find April and at first I can’t find her, I feel panic flare up inside me and I can feel myself losing grip and getting frantic. Then I see her sitting a little ways away from everyone else, leaning against a tree, I run to her and when she sees me she shoots to her feet. I gently stroke my hands over her face and through her hair, I need to touch her, I need to make sure she is ok, that she isn’t hurt. I run my hands across her body and when my base instincts are satisfied that she is unharmed I pull her against me and kiss her hard and possessively before wrapping my arms around her.

“You're ok.” I whisper in her ear.

“I’m fine.” April said softly as she returns my hug.

“Thank god.” I say more to myself than to April.

‘Thank you.’ I send telepathically to Sophie.

‘Don’t thank me, I didn’t do anything.’ Sophie sends back followed by, ‘That girl of yours is scary.’

I was about to ask April why Sophie had said she was scary when Lawrence walks over.

Lawrence smiles at April and then at me, “you might want to stay on her good side boss.” He laughs.

I look at him and I feel April’s arms tighten around me, “always.” I say dreamily.

“Good.” He laughs, “If you two got into a real fight I wouldn’t want to put money on it.” When he speaks again it is telepathically, ‘she could easily take second in the nest by force and could possibly take you out.’

I know she is powerful but I didn’t know she was that powerful, it makes me wonder again if she was entirely human before I turned her.

“I wouldn’t have her any other way.” I tell him beaming, I feel April smile with her head still buried against my chest. Lawrence wanders away back towards the rest of the nest leaving me alone with April.

“What happened?” I ask her softly as I reach up with one hand and stroke her hair.

“A wolf, it was massive, it tore through the wall and attacked us all.” Her voice is quiet and scared.

“It’s gone now.” I tell her as her body shivers.

“I heard someone scream, they were in the kitchen fighting it but they were losing.” She pauses, takes a deep breath and with her head still pressed against my chest she continues her explanation, “I picked up a big knife and charged it. I got it a couple of times, gave the others time to get away but it hit me hard broke a couple of ribs.”

I run my hands over her ribs as she speaks and when she flinches I pull my hands away, “I’m sorry.” I say a bit concerned that she hadn’t told me straight away.

“One of the people let me feed from them, it healed nicely but is still a little bit sore.” She tells me.

“I’m just so glad you’re ok.” I tell her. Part of me is scared that if my actions earlier when she screamed inside my head is any indicator I could lose control if she died and I don’t know anyone who has the power to stop a rampaging out of control me.

I lean back a little, cup a hand under her chin and tilt her head back so we’re looking into each others eyes and I kiss her, the kiss is soft yet slightly possessive. We’re both a bit out of breath when we stop kissing, April pulls herself against me again burying her head against my chest. I softly kiss the top of her head and whisper to her, “I love you.”

I could stay like that forever wrapped in her arms, her scent all around me, I was vaguely aware of a phone ringing but I ignore it nothing else mattered at the minute.

“You should probably answer that.” April groans with frustration.

Keeping one arm around her I fish the phone out of my pocket, “Yes.” I say a little sharply.

“It’s Detective Jones, are you alright?” he asks sounding worried.

“My house and nest were attacked by a wolf.” I tell him, “and I don’t mean a Werewolf.”

“Shit.” He spits out a few more expletives, “We interrogated the Troll and it mentioned a wolf.” He pauses and I hear shouting on his end of the line, “fucking hell, we need you back here, Agent Orton is getting... agitated.”

“Ok, I’ll head back as soon as I make sure everyone here is safe.” I tell him.

“Ok.” The Detective says before hanging up the phone.

“Go, Sophie and Martin have everything under control here.” April says looking up at me.

Part of me wants her to come with me because I don’t want to leave her somewhere I can’t protect her, another part of me says I don’t need to protect her, from what I’d heard about the fight today she can take care of herself. I need someone to come with me though because I wasn’t running all the way back there and I wouldn’t be able to drive two cars at the same time.

I kiss April softly on the forehead and then harder on her lips, “Ok, I’m going to take someone with me to drive one of the cars back.” I say as I look over towards where the majority of the nest is, Jamie made eye contact me and I know that I would take him with me, he wasn’t the strongest fighter but his talents are in a different area.

“Please try not to pick a fight with any giant wolves while I’m not here, I need the wolf alive.” I laugh even though I meant it, I knew she was a good fighter from our training sessions and from what I had been told about her fight tonight she was better than she had been in training.

“Is that all you’re worried about?” she asks with an over exaggerated pout.

I reach up and place my hand on her cheek, “not all.” I say softly almost a whisper.

April leans forward and kisses me, usually when she kisses me it is soft and loving but this time her kiss was possessive like she didn’t want me to leave, “Please don’t die.” She whispers, “I need you, I love you.”

I pull her into a hug, “I wont now I have something to live for.” Now I had April I had someone to survive for, “I love you.” I kiss her and turn to walk towards the rest of the nest.

I walk straight over to Jamie, “I need you to come with me, I need your expertise.”

Jamie looks at me with trepidation, “If you need my knowledge I can help but not with any fighting.”

“I don’t need you to fight, I just need your insight and knowledge.” I tell him, “Oh, you can drive, can’t you?” I ask as we walk towards the garage.

“Yeah I can.” He replies.

“Ok I’ll need you to drive the car back when we’re done.” I pick out one of our more modern Volkswagen’s and opt to drive.

On the way back out to the field of bodies I explain everything to Jamie about the Troll and how it was working with the Wolf, I tell him about the witch who claims she had been told about the bodies by a ghost, about the weird magic I couldn’t identify and the DSA Agent who was also a Werewolf.

“Shit that reminds me.” I say more to myself than to Jamie, “Car call Johann Christensen.”

Johann is the Alpha of the Birmingham Werewolf pack, he came over to the UK in the thirteenth century, he was a Viking warrior and was already very strong before becoming a Werewolf.

The phone rang three times before he picked up, “Yes.” Johann snaps.

“It’s Larten.” I tell him.

“I know, what do you need?” He sounds pissed off but I can’t think of anything I had done to annoy him.

“Sorry if I’ve caught you at a bad time but I have a few month old Werewolf who doesn’t have an Alpha.” I explain to him.

“Just a small power struggle within the pack, nothing I didn’t deal with quickly.” He pauses and I hear someone in the background say something along the lines of ‘They wont be bothering us again.’

“What does this wolf have to do with me?” He asks sharply.

“Well he lives in the City and I think that it could have been one of yours that turned him.” I reply trying to keep my voice calm and neutral because if Johann was angry then he was less likely to help me.

“Yes I think I know who did it.” He pauses and when he speaks again his voice is dark and I know his wolf is close to the surface, “They wont be causing anymore problems.”

“I trust your judgement.” I tell him, “I really need you to come and meet this Wolf.” I pause trying to think of how best to say it, “his control is not the best.”

“No it usually isn’t for young Wolves.” He says in a calm loving voice, “can you give me the address and I will meet you there.”

I give him the address and tell him that the Wolf is a DSA Agent this makes him even more interested.

“I can be there in ten.” He tells me.

I was only five minutes away so I arrive before him and the scene I see is pandemonium. The first thing I notice is that the Troll is dead and Agent Orton is in Wolf form standing on top of the Troll and taking big bites out of it. The witch had created a visible barrier around the Troll and Wolf to keep the Wolf from hurting anyone else but it seems to be taking a lot out of her. I get out of the car and I can sense the same weird magic I had when I was here earlier, I hear the passenger side door open and close but then I heard the sound of retching like Jamie was vomiting so I run around the car to him.

“Are you ok?” I ask Jamie when he had seemed to have recovered.

“Yes but that magic, it’s horrible like death and rot and misery.” His voice is quiet like he is having trouble speaking.

“Do you recognise it?” I ask, I can’t tell what it is but it doesn’t feel like Witch or Fair Folk magic.

“No, all I know is it’s very old and very powerful.” He looks up from the floor and into my eyes, “We should stay away from whatever possesses this magic, I don’t think we could survive it even if we teamed up all the Werewolves, Fair Folk and Witches in the city.”

“Shit, you think it’s that powerful?” I trust Jamie and what he says scares the shit out of me.

“I’m not sure if he is correct about us all dying but whatever possesses this magic is very dangerous and has to be destroyed.” I had heard his car pull up so I wasn’t surprised when Johann spoke.

“I agree.” Jamie says.

“Me too.” I agree.

Johann takes a deep breath through his nose and growls, “There is something else we need to speak of but it can wait.” He glances towards the Troll and Agent Orton, “The Wolf is eating a Troll, that is fucking disgusting.”

“I had used magic to keep him away from it but obviously it stopped working.” I’m not sure if it is because of the distance, my distress or just the passage of time but I was pretty sure that the strange magic here had effected mine because usually my mind control lasts until I choose otherwise.

“Fucking mind control.” Johann snaps, he pauses and when he speaks again his voice is softer, “well let’s go sort out this young wolf.”

We stride over to Detective Jones and the Witch.

“Drop the barrier Witch.” Johann growls.

“And who are you?” Asks Detective Jones.

“This is Johann, he can calm that wolf.” I tell the Detective and he looks at me doubtfully.

“How?” He snaps.

I look at Johann wondering if he will be ok with me telling the detective who he actually is but before I can say anything Johann speaks.

“I’m the Alpha of the Wolves in this city.” Johann says and his voice seems to carry physical weight.

“I thought I recognised your power.” The Witch speaks like she is extremely familiar with the power of an Alpha Wolf.

“Now drop the barrier.” Johann growls.

The Witch makes a couple of complicated hand gestures and mutters three words in Latin and the barrier disappears in the blink of an eye.

“You should all stay here.” Johann says before he walks towards the Troll and the Wolf. I hear the wolf that was Agent Orton growl at Johann but Johann doesn’t stop walking he just shouts “Wolf.”

A Shiver runs down my spine when Johann shouts, I can feel the power of the magic in his voice and it worries me, he may be my ally now but relationships between supernatural species is always very uneasy.

I keep my eyes on Johann but speak to the Witch, “What’s your name?”

“You can call me Amy.” She says like she didn’t want anything to do with me.

“Have I done something to annoy you?” I ask her intrigued, I couldn’t think of anything that I had done to annoy any witches, if anything the last time I had anything to do with any witches had left me thinking that me and the coven got along.

“You help the coven.” She spits the word coven like it was poison on her tongue.

The only witches I know that don’t like being in Covens are black witches, the power of black witches comes from pain, despair and death. Jamie must have come to the same conclusion that I had because he took a step back, bares his fangs and snarls.

I put a hand on his chest to hold him back, “You’re a black Witch?” I growl half question and half statement, I wasn’t completely sure because I hadn’t smelt death on her and she didn’t have the rancid smell of black magic clinging to her.

“More grey than black.” She says with a laugh.

I turn to Jamie, “Can you tell?” I ask him.

“Not completely but I can’t smell any black magic on her but I can sense pain and misery.” Jamie speaks but doesn’t take his eyes off of Amy.

“Detective, any insight?” I also don’t take my eyes off Amy as I speak.

“She has helped the whole police force in the past, with murder investigations and missing persons.” He answers me.

“You trust her?” I question the Detective.

“Like I said she has helped us out a few times in the past.” The Detectives words mean a lot but it is the words he doesn’t say that mean even more, I don’t think he trusts Amy and I think that is sensible. I am on edge but I’m not sure if it was because of the witch or the two nearby Werewolves. Agent Orton had stopped growling while we were talking to Amy and Detective Jones and now Johann and Agent Orton were walking towards us.

Everything sorted out?” I ask Johann without taking my eyes off Amy.

“Yes.” He replies shortly, “We are going to the pack house now, he needs to be around more like us.”

“Yes I think that would be best.” I say not liking the way Agent Orton’s wolf is looking at the police officers, he looks hungry.

“He needs food and I rather he not eat anyone here.” He pauses and looks at the witch, “Well maybe.” He laughs a loud, deep booming laugh. I look at Johann with annoyance written across my features.

“Don’t worry I wouldn’t let him.” Johann sounds offended.

“I’d hope not, I’ve heard things about Werewolves who eat human flesh.” The stories I’ve heard usually end with the Werewolf going on a rampage and killing lots of people.

Johann just waves away my comment and turns to walk away, “Thank you for letting me know about him.” Johann nods to Agent Orton’s wolf who is standing patiently beside him, “I owe you one, you need anything call me.”

“Will do.” I say as Johann starts to walk away, “Please look after him.” I shout after Johann, he doesn’t say anything but I hear him chuckle quietly and reach down to touch the wolf on the head.

I turn my eyes to Detective Jones, “Did the Troll say anything else before it died?”

“It kept muttering about a Wolf.” He tells me, “Why did you run off?” He asks looking genuinely concerned.

“My home was attacked by a massive wolf.” I tell him.

His face drops, “You think it’s the wolf the Troll mentioned?”

I feel Jamie tense up next to me in anger, I speak to him telepathically, ‘Calm down, this is a more immediate threat to him.’ I feel him calm a little but I can tell that his rage was still only just under the surface.

“Yes I do and none of my people were hurt too badly either.” I say quickly, trying to keep the anger out of my voice.

“Sorry, I just thought as they’re Vampires they would be fine, you guys are very tough.” He apologises like the thought that a Vampire could get hurt hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“We are but we can still be hurt and die.” I tell him calmly.

“Aren’t you already dead?” Amy mutters.

“Not really, it’s a weird in-between state, it’s very hard to explain.” I tell the witch and she smiles, I don’t like that smile something about it felt sinister.

“Did you find out anything about this wolf?” Asks Detective Jones.

“It’s huge and silver with very big teeth and claws.” Jamie says before I can speak.

I look at Jamie and I can see terror in his eyes, I can also tell that he is holding something back, something he didn’t want either the Detective or the witch to know. ‘Tell me when we leave.’ I say to him telepathically, he doesn’t say anything back but I know he will tell me when we were out of earshot.



“We’ll tell everyone to keep an eye out for it. I’m guessing you would have said if it was a Werewolf?” The Detectives voice is all business.

“Definitely not a Werewolf.” I tell him in a tone that told him I know what I said to be an absolute fact.

“Thank you for your help, if you find out anything else please let me know.” The Detective is truthful with his gratitude.

“Of course.” I tell him, “I would appreciate it if you did the same, this thing attacked my home and my family, justice needs to be served.”

“What kind of justice would that be.” The witch says with more than a little venom.

“The same kind that anyone who had there house and family attacked would ask for.” I tell her, quickly losing my patience with her. The wild thing inside me wants nothing more than to lunge at her and rip her throat out but I control it, this wasn’t the old days and I can’t run around tearing people apart, I had to try and keep up good relations with the humans and all the supernatural species.

‘Boss we need you back home quickly.’ Lawrence’s voice says in my head.

‘I’ll be on my way in a moment.’ I send back to him before turning my attention back to the Detective.

“We have to leave now Detective, thank you for promising to keep me updated.” I tell him truthfully, it was more than he had to do and I was truly grateful.

“I’ll call you if I hear anything.” He says and holds his hand for me to shake.

“As will I.” I take his hand and shake it careful to keep my grip light around his fragile human hand.

‘Take the Toyota.’ I send to Jamie as we walk away, he doesn’t say anything just nod his head, I get into my Mercedes and drive off.

‘On my way now.’ I send to Lawrence as I pull off the dirt track and onto the tarmac road.

‘Hurry please.’ Lawrence sends back and I put my foot down, his voice in my head sounds panicked and slightly angry.

4.

The house looks the same as it had after the attack, I walk inside and can smell the fear of humans, they are all in the kitchen.

‘Boss you need to get here now.’ Lawrence’s voice pretty much shouts in my head.

‘Where is everyone?’ I ask him feeling frantic.

‘Training room!’ This time his voice is a shout and it causes me to flinch.

I run down to the training room, all of the nest are crowded around three Vampires, I can see Tony and Howard standing around someone in the corner, I’m not sure who it was so I take a deep breath and I can smell fear, rage and April.

I rush over to them and stand next to April, “What the fuck is happening here?” I growl as anger runs through.

Howard starts to speak but I hold up a hand to keep him quiet, I look to April, “what’s going on?” I asked her trying to soften my voice.

“Those two cornered me, they said that I was a whore that you had brought back here just to pass around for everyone to have fun with.” Her voice breaks as she speaks and I can see tears welling up in her eyes, I look around at Howard and Tony and snarl baring my fangs.

“I can deal with that because I know it’s not true.” April says quietly, “I told them they were wrong and to leave me alone but they thought it would be a good idea to challenge me to a two on one fight.” She says her voice mostly back to normal but with a hint of anger.

My body is tense with barely controlled rage, “They did what?” I grind out from between clenched teeth.

“I told them I would fight them both but only in one on one fights. They refused.” April tells me and I can tell she is annoyed that they are cowardly enough to fight her two on one but not one on one.

“Well I have a simple answer to this.” I say to April with a slight smile on my face, “I will fight as your partner so it’s a two on two fight.” Tony and Howard take a step back looking scared.

“That wouldn’t be fair though.” Howard snaps.

“And a two on one fight is?” I growl.

“What gives you the right to be her partner?” Tony growls.

“The fact that I’m the Master of this nest.” I pause and look at April, “or maybe the fact that she’s mine.” I tell him calmly.

April leans towards me and kisses my cheek softly, “Thank you.” She whispers.

“Then we will have a couple of one on one fights.” Howard says.

I look at April and she nods her head in agreement, I kiss her deeply feeling even more love for her.

“Get a room.” I hear someone in the crowd say and I look around to see Sophie grinning at me.



“I volunteer to be the Master Of Ceremonies.” Martin says stepping out of the crowd.

“I accept.” Tony says.

“As do I.” Howard says.

“Yeah sure.” April mumbles.

“Larten?” Martin asks me to see if I agree, I nod my head to let him know I agree.

I kiss April, “Don’t you dare die on me.” I tell her.

“Not without taking you with me.” She teases before kissing me.



“Give them hell.” I whisper to her before moving to stand with the rest of my Vampires.

I feel Sophie move and stand next to me as the whole crowd shifts to stand around the mat where the fights will take place, “Don’t worry this will be easy for her.” She pauses and I see her look at me, “They were fools for attempting this and shall pay the price.”

I don’t say anything back to her but just watched as April steps onto the mat and watch as Tony and Howard decide between them who would fight her first.

Martin strides into the centre of the mat, “you all know the rules, the fight is until one is dead or yields, if you step off the mat you are forfeit.”

He looks around the room before speaking again, “Choose your weapons and prepare.”

Howard picks up a Bo Staff and walks onto the mat, April picks up two short swords and stands opposite Howard.

“Begin.” Martin says loudly.

Fights between Vampires are beautiful to watch, this one more so than usual. April moves rapidly and like a ballet dancer, even my supernaturally quick eyesight has trouble seeing her attacks and evidently Howard does as well because after a couple of seconds his Bo Staff has been cut in half and he is using the two halves as batons and there is a deep slash running from his ear to the corner of his mouth. She is so beautiful I can’t take my eyes off of her. I’ve never seen anyone who had recently been turned be so quick and strong, a small part of me was actually starting to get scared of her, she is stronger and faster than any other Vampire I’ve ever met and I am starting to think that includes myself.

April blocks his swing and spins away, Howard catches her on her thigh and she hisses in pain as that half of the staff snaps on impact, I growl and start to move forward but Sophie places a hand on my shoulder.

“She’s got this.” Sophie says quietly but confidently.

Sophie is correct, Howard throws away the destroyed half of the staff and April advances on him. She swings with her left hand and Howard blocks with the remains half of the staff but as he does April stabs with the sword in her right hand, he raises his hand to block her sword but the sword impales his hand. Howard roars in pain and rips his hand away slicing through most of his hand leaving it only just hanging together.

“You should yield.” April says calmly.

Howard doesn’t speak he just lunged at her, April sidesteps around him easily and brings the hilt of her sword down on his back, right over his spine and just under his neck. Howard hits the ground hard.

“Please yield.” April practically begs, “I really don’t want anymore people to die.”

Howard tries to stand but April punches him in the back of the head, “Yield.” She shouts at him.

“I yield.” Howard manages to choke out.

“The young lady wins.” Martin booms.

I can’t keep the smile off of my face, the way she made beating Howard look easy, Tony would be another story though he was older and much stronger than Howard. Tony chooses a pair of Sai, that worry me, Tony and I are the only people in the nest that can fight with those Sai properly and I think that Tony might be better with them than I am.

“Ready?” Martin looks at Tony and Tony nods.

“Ready?” Martin asks again looking at April this time and April nods as well.

I thought April’s leg might have been hurting her after the hit she took in the fight against Howard but it doesn’t seem to bother her as she dances around Tony slipping away from his attacks like water. I feel my attraction for her deepen even more. I smile, I am glad I had chosen to turn her and bring her into the nest but I am even happier that we were practically mated and I could call her mine. I wince as Howard catches her arm as she left herself open after making a lunging attack but the contact doesn’t seem to bother her and she lunges again, Howard ducks to miss her attack and as he does April starts to dance backwards but she isn’t quick enough and Howard slams one Sai down through her foot pinning her foot to the floor. April howls in agony, anger overtakes me and I move to lunge at Howard but Sophie places an arm over my chest to stop me and making me snarl at her.

“If you get involved you will both be forfeit and the world isn’t ready to lose its two strongest Vampires.” She pauses as she senses that her words are getting through to me, “and frankly I don’t want to become a Master yet.”

My snarl turns into a smile, “Thank you.” I tell Sophie.



Sophie smiles back at me, “Like I said I don’t want to be a Master yet.”

I turn my attention back to the fight and see that April has pulled the Sai out of her foot and thrown it away from the mat making sure Howard can only fight with the one while she still had both her swords but April is at a disadvantage because of her foot. April is slower now and she seems to be struggling against Howard but that doesn’t stop her fighting with the ferocity of a wild rabid beast.

Howard advances towards her and points at her with his Sai, “You should have just admitted what you are and did what we wanted.” Howard growls at her.

His words strike me and I realise something, they hadn’t just been mouthing off they had tried to talk her into letting them fuck her, I growl and I know what I was going to do. Howard lunges and extends his arm, April brings one of her swords up to block him, pirouettes and brings the hilt of her other sword down on his arm and breaks the bone with a loud crack. Howard roars as a fragment of bone pushes out through his flesh and April takes the opportunity to sweep Howards legs out from underneath him and aims one sword at his throat and the other at his heart.

“Yield.” April growls.

“I yield.” Howard rumbles.

April limps away from Howard and towards me dropping her swords on the mat as she does, when she reaches me she collapses into my arms, I catch her and hold her close. I was about to speak when I see Howard rush towards us and pick up one of April’s discarded short swords and lunge, I can’t move her out of the way quick enough so I spin and move her a little bit away from me. I feel the sword slice through my back, scrape against my spine and push out through my stomach. I try to speak to tell April I love her, that I was glad to have met her but I couldn’t speak because I’m almost certain I am about to die.

I watch as April’s eyes turn blood red and she howls with rage, I don’t see everything that happens next but from what little I can see and what I am told later I learn that April jumped over me punched Howard in the face and knocked him to the floor, she then put her feet on his shoulders, wrapped her hands around his head and tore it from his body. She held the severed head above her and let the blood flow into her face and into her mouth.

She shouts her voice filled with rage and power, “No one hurts my man.”

Then I black out.

I wake up in agony, I can’t remember why at first but then I remember what had happened I had been stabbed through the stomach by one of my own after he had tried to kill April. I can hear April crying and I feel her lying in the bed beside me.

“Please don’t cry.” I say in a quiet voice and even that made me wince.

“You’re ok.” April cries and throws one arm over my chest. I hiss in pain and she removes her arm, “I’m sorry, sorry.”

I reach out and take her hand, “it’s ok.”



“No it’s not.” April shouts, “You idiot, you could have died.” April’s hand tightens around mine, “Why did you do that?”

“It was aimed at your heart, it would have killed you.” My voice was starting to get stronger again, “I couldn’t let you die.”

“But you can let yourself almost die?” She screams at me.

“I wouldn’t have died from that wound.” I lie to her and turn my head to look at her, my eyes meet hers, “I would take any wound of it meant keeping you safe.”

“Stupid, stupid, stupid.” April cries punching my arm with each word, “don’t you ever do that again.”



“I can’t promise that but I’ve survived two and half thousand years and don’t plan on dying just yet.” I tell her, “not now that I have you.” I whisper.

“You bet not because if you do I will follow you and kill you again.” She half growls half whispers.

I laugh which hurts I am about to speak when April silences me by kissing me, her kiss is hard, possessive and filled with lust and desire. When she breaks the kiss it leaves me breathless and craving more of her touch, I reach out to touch her but pain flares through my body and I almost black out again.

“Don’t move.” April says quickly, “you need to eat, I’ll go and fetch someone.”

She jumps up off of the bed and I see that she is wearing a black T shirt that stops just above her hips and a pair of small, black lace panties.

“You should get dressed first.” I grumble, I don’t want anyone else to see her dressed in so little amount of clothing which sounds possessive but that is just what us Vampires are like.

“Why, do you think the others wouldn’t like it.” She says with a cheeky grin before swaying her hips from side to side while still facing away from me.

I smile, I can’t believe that this was the same girl I had saved and turned those months ago, she had been scared and shy and had done everything she could to avoid confrontations and intimacy which was understandable because of what she had been through. Now here she is after fighting and beating two of the strong members of my nest walking around in just a T shirt and a small pair of panties and teasing me.

When I don’t answer her she looks around at me her face etched with worry, “what’s wrong?” she asks.

“Nothing.” I take a breath, “it’s just I can’t help but notice how amazing you are.”

Her worry washes away and is replace with a smile, “one of us has to be.” She laughs and winks at me, she turns around and takes a couple of steps towards the door purposefully putting more of a sway into her steps.

She puts her hand on the doorknob, “April.” I say as loud as my weakened state would allow which isn’t too much louder than my normal voice, “please get dressed.” I pause for a moment, “for now.” I wink at her.

She smiles and licks her lips. “Fine.” She sighs dramatically. She walks over to a dresser takes out something I can’t see and bends over with her back to me pushing her ass out. She slowly steps into what I can now see is a pair of shorts and slowly pulls them up her legs the whole time wiggling her ass.

“Don’t tease me when I can’t do anything about it.” I growl softly and playfully, “it’s not fair.” I say childishly with an exaggerated pout.

“When you’re better...” Her voice trails off and I can smell her arousal.

I want nothing more than to rush over to her pick her up carry her back to the bed and throw her down on it before ravaging her, making her scream in ecstasy but my body couldn’t do that right now even lying here hurt. I look up and realise April has left the room, it worries me that I hadn’t heard her leave, I feel like my injuries are a lot worse than they actually are.

“Shit.” I growl, I think I know what is wrong.

“What’s wrong?” April asks as she walks back through the door with a person in tow.

“How’s your foot healing?” I ask her to confirm my theory.

“Not very well especially after...” her voice trails off and I get the impression that she isn’t telling me something.

“After what?” I growl getting irritated because I can smell guilt all over April.

“You’ve been unconscious for two days.” She says in a guilty whisper.

I want to explode with anger, I’ve been unconscious for two days, I had suffered worse injuries than this before without blacking out for two days.

“Can you fetch Abraham please April.” I ask her as calmly as I can. Abraham is one of the oldest Vampires in my nest and works as a doctor for humans and the Supernatural.

“Ok.” April jogs out of the room and the human walks over to me.

“Do you want to feed from me now?” He asks.

“I would rather wait until Abraham gets here.” I tell him but I don’t elaborate on why.

April walks back through the door a minute later with Abraham following her.

“Thank you for coming doc.” I like Abraham, he’s a good man and has a gentle soul.

“No problem Larten.” He says with a smile on his face, “what’s the problem?”

“I need you to check my wound for silver.” I tell him gravely.

Silver is a powerful weapon against Vampires and Werewolves, it reacts strangely with our bodies for Vampires it doesn’t allow us to heal as we would usually and it does the same to Werewolves but it burns them as well. Abraham walks over to the bed beside me and pulls back the sheets but leaves them covering the naked bottom half of my body before gently cutting the bandages from around my stomach.

“This is going to hurt like hell.” He tells me.

I nod my head, I knew all too well how much this was going to hurt.

“April do you mind coming over here and comforting him while I do this?” Abraham asks her.

“No I don’t want to accidentally hurt her.” I growl at Abraham.

“You wont hurt me.” April says softly.

She walks over to me and takes my hand, “I’ll be here through it all.” She whispers in my ear.

I watch Abraham put his face near my wound and sniffs, “Fuck.” He growls, “there is silver in your wound but its silver powder.”

“That’s fucking great.” I growl, that isn’t good silver powder is harder to get out than the residue from actual silver.

“Can you get me a bowl of water and a couple of towels for me please.” Abraham asks the human.

“Yes, of course.” The human runs off into my ensuite bathroom to fetch the water and towels. He returns a moment later, places the bowl of water on the bed and the towels next to the bowl.

“You ready?” Abraham asks quietly.

I nod my head I’m not ready but no one could be ready for what is about to happen. Abraham puts one of the towels in a circle around my wound, I watch as he dunks the other towel into the bowl of water and he wrings the towel out over the wound, drops the towel into the bowel and pushes his fingers into my wound. I howl in agony, I had once been tortured for weeks by a black witch who wanted to use my pain to power her magic, this was like one of the ways she tortured me. She would slice me open and sprinkle silver powder into my wounds then let them heal a little before cutting me open again to dig it out.

My hand tightens around April’s and I hear her gasp in pain so I try to loosen my grip on her hand but she grips harder on my hand. She leans towards my head and places a hand on my cheek, I feel my head jerk around to look at her and I know I’m not in control now, the monster inside me is taking over.

“It’s ok.” April whispers to me, “everything’s alright.”

The sound of her voice calms the monster and allows me to start taking back control.

“Almost done.” Abraham says as he wrings out more water into the wound. He explores the wound with his fingers one last time then removes his fingers and wrings more water into the wound before using a third towel that the human had brought in to carefully dry the wound.

“All done.” Abraham says softly.

“It’s all over now.” April whispers and I feel her kiss my forehead.

“Now young lady, if you would sit on the bed and give me your foot so I can get the silver out of it as well.” Abraham is in full in doctor mode and won’t take no for an answer when April tries to argue with him. She lets go of my hand so she can sit on the bed next to me and when she sits I take her hand.

“Can you go and get another person please, they will both need to eat when this is done.” Abraham says to the human who stands up and bounces out of the room.

Abraham cleans out April’s wound quicker than mine he says that there was less silver in her wound and her body has been naturally flushing it out where mine hadn’t been. I almost lose control again because of the mixture of the excruciating pain I am in and the sounds of April screaming in pain but I hold onto my control like it was a wild animal trying to break free. When the doctor is finished April falls backwards onto the bed panting, she shuffles closer to me and presses herself against me.

“You are truly amazing.” I tell her my voice soft and filled with love and adoration.

“You are both pretty damn amazing if I may say so.” Abraham spays like a proud parent.

“Thank you Abraham. For both the compliment and cleaning out our wounds.” I tell him very grateful that the silver was gone and I could now heal properly.

“I’m just sorry that I missed it the first time I dealt with your wound.” He says sounding embarrassed, it sounds like he was beating himself up over it.

“From what I could tell there wasn’t enough to detect it unless you were specifically looking for it, which you had no reason to.” I tell him, he shouldn’t feel bad about it no one would have thought to check for silver. Abraham is about to reply when the human returns with a woman behind him.

“Do you need to feed now?” The male human asks.

“Yes we do.” I tell him and he goes to move around to April.

“No, I want you.” I tell him. I really don’t care which one I feed from but I don’t like hearing men moan in pleasure when April feeds from them, I know I am being stupid and overprotective but I don’t care I have lost and been betrayed by people I love in the past and I was going to do everything in my power to stop that happening again. I feel April sit up to feed from the woman and I try to do the same but my body rebels and I had to stay lying down. I almost take too much from the man but I manage to stop myself before doing any harm.

I feel April release the woman before gasping and then giggling before speaking, “I feel floaty.” Her voice is sing song like and would have been cute if her words weren’t slurred.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” The woman says quickly.

“Why?” I ask barely able to keep the growl out of my voice.

“I’ve had a couple glasses of wine but I didn’t think it would effect her.” The woman says her voice apologetic.

April is muttering something under her breath but I couldn’t make out many words apart from the occasional words ‘wine’ and ‘floaty’.

“Usually a small amount of alcohol like that wouldn’t but she’s new so hasn’t got a tolerance to things like that yet.” I tell her.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” She whimpers like she thought I am going to hurt her.

“Don’t worry, there was no way for you to know, just in the future if one wants to feed from you let then know of you’ve had something to drink.” I tell her not angrily but sternly so she would know what to do in the future.

The man started to lead her from the room so I quickly thank them both for letting us drink their blood, I like to thank people after I feed from them. When everyone has left the room April moves, she throws one leg over my hips and sits on my lap.

She smiles, “look at you, the big bad master of the nest, completely defenceless.” If anyone else had said those words I would have instantly been on edge and ready for a fight but the way April says them is playful and teasing.

“I could do whatever I wanted with you.” Her voice is husky and I can smell arousal coming off of her in waves.

She leans forward and lies on top of me but resting on her elbows so she wasn’t putting her weight on my wound, through the thin material of her T shirt I could feel her slight breasts gently touching me just below my chest. Because of her height her face is inline with where my shoulders met my neck, she leans her head back and looks up at me, she smiles, lowers her head and kisses my throat making me shiver. She lifts one hand and slowly trails it from my shoulder over my chest taking a second to circle around my one nipple before continuing down my body and stopping with her hand resting on my hip. Her touch is electrifying and sends shivers through my body. April tries to push herself up so her face is level with mine but her movement makes her lose her balance and she collapses against me.



Her body slaps against mine causing me to gasp in pain, she tries to move to get up off of me but I have healed quickly since having the silver was removed from my wound so I wrapped my arms around her and pull her tight against me.

“No.” She squeals her body tense, “I’m hurting you.”

“I don’t care.” I tell her my voice deeper than usual, “I just want to feel you against me.”

“Let me make it even better.” She whispers, she is still slurring her words a little bit but not as much as before.

She tries to sit up but I hold onto her, “you need to let me sit up.” She says and seeing the look of displeasure on my face she grins and adds, “only for a second.”

I reluctantly loosen my grip and as April sits up I let my hand gently slide down her back when she has sat up she reaches her arms up and slowly pulls her T shirt up over her head and off, she throws it away onto the floor. I look up at her and admired her bare upper body, she is so beautiful, and I can feel myself becoming aroused.

April starts to stand up and I growl softly, “you said you only needed to sit up.”



“I changed my mind.” She says as she slowly gets to her feet and stands above me.

She hooks her thumbs into the waistline of her shorts and slowly pulls her shorts and panties down in one movement holding eye contact with me the whole time, she lifts one leg out of her clothes and then uses her other foot to kick her shorts and panties off the bed towards where she had thrown her T shirt. She stands above me one foot on either side of my body and I let my eyes slowly travel up her body drinking in her long, skinny, pale, smooth legs, I can just about see her bald pink pussy. I let my eyes continue to travel up her body over her visible hip bones, flat stomach and prominent ribs, over her slight breasts and hard, dark nipples. I trail my eyes up even further over her visible collar bones, up her slender neck, my eyes linger on her soft pink lips and I watch as her tongue darts out to lick her lips. I tear my eyes away from her lips and focus on her deep blue eyes.

“Like what you see?” She asks her voice sultry and filled with arousal.

I try to lean up but April reaches down places her hands on my chest and pushes me down onto the bed, she bends her knees and then sinks down so she is kneeling above me her hands still on my chest. She leans forward and her hands slide up my chest and onto my shoulders as she kisses me, her tongue slips into my mouth and meets mine. As she leans forward I reach up and wrap my arms around her pulling her against me which makes her gasp into my mouth and with her chest pressed against mine I can feel her heart beating rapidly. I slide my one hand down over her back causing her to shiver and I let my hand rest in her on ass cheek and she moans with her lips still locked against mine.

April breaks the kiss and stares deeply into my eyes, “you’re still to hurt to consummate our bond aren’t you?” She whispers.

I nod my head and she makes an unhappy noise, “Doesn’t mean I can’t please you.” I tell her softly.

“What...” She starts to ask as I grab her hips and pull her up my body.

I feel her wet pussy slide up my body as I pull her up to my face and bury my head between her legs. She sits up as I trail my tongue from the bottom of her pussy up to her clit and slowly circle it around her clit, she gasps and then moans loudly. I slowly slip my tongue between her pussy lips and push it inside her. I use my tongue to fuck her as she grinds her pussy into my face her breathing deepens and I feel her body start to tense. I feel her start to climax and remove my tongue from her pussy then use my lips to gently bite down on her clit, as I do she cries out in pleasure and her thighs clamp against the side of my head, she climaxes and I hold her clit in my mouth slowly circling my tongue around it. I continue my tongues circular motion around her clit as her body shakes with a strong orgasm, her orgasm subsides after what feels like a couple of minutes and I can hear her panting.

She slides her body down mine and splays across me her head resting on my chest, I can hear her heavy breathing and feel the rise and fall of her chest. I reach my hand up and slowly start stroking through her hair. April tilts her head back and looks up at me with a big smile on her face.

“That was amazing.” She gasps breathlessly. Her cheeks are flushed red and the sweat on her body makes her skin glisten in the bedrooms light, some people say that is Vampires are monsters but looking down at her now all I see is a beautiful angel. I tilt my head forward and kiss her on the forehead.



“I love you.” I whisper to her.

“I love you too.” She says getting more control back over her breathing.

We lie for ages with April on top of me spread eagle with one leg and one arm on either side of my body and her head on my chest above my heart, I have one arm over her body and the other I use to gently stroke her hair. Her breathing had deepened and I can tell she was falling asleep.

“Sweet dreams my beautiful angel.” I whisper as she falls asleep, I’m not far behind her and fall a minute or two later.



When I wake up I realise that during the day while we were asleep April had rolled off of me and was lying with her chest pressed against my side so my arm was underneath her and had gone numb, one of her legs and one of her arms were on top of me. I smile, I love the feel of her skin against mine it relaxes me and reassures me that she is still with me, that she is safe and that she is mine.

I feel April stir beside me, she yawns and echoing my thoughts she makes a purring noise and says, “I love feeling you against me.”

“Where you reading my thoughts?” I ask her playfully.

“We can do that?” She asks sounding surprised and kind of excited.

“Not really but when we are fully mated we will sometimes be able to sense each others emotions or if one if us is in trouble, we could even sometimes sense where each other are.” I tell her.

She smiles, “So we can keep each other safe.”

“So neither of us ever feel alone ever again.” I smile back at her and she shuffles up the bed and kisses me.

When she breaks the kiss April says, “Oh with all the excitement yesterday I forgot to tell you, your Detective friend called while you were unconscious.” She pauses and I can tell she is trying to remember what he had said so I don’t speak, “He said he thought he had a lead on the wolf that attacked us and to call him back asap.”

“Ok, I want to have a shower first then I need to speak to the whole nest and then I’ll call him.” I say working through what I plan to do during the night.

“Can I join you in the shower?” April asks.

I remember what happened the last time we showered together and smile, “I would like that.” I tell her smiling.

April rolls off of my arm and I sluggishly roll out of bed and to my feet, I look around to see April sitting on the edge of the bed, I walk back over to her crouch down, wrap my arms around her and kiss the side of her neck as I do I stand up picking her up with me. April squeals and wraps her arms and legs around me before burying her head in my neck above my shoulder. I carry her into the bathroom and crouch to gently place her on the toilet so I could go and turn the shower on but she leaves her arms and legs wrapped around me.

“I need you to let go of me so I can turn the shower on.” I tell her.

“Fine.” She grumbles and slowly unwraps herself from around me.

I kiss her on the nose and move to turn the shower on, April stands up after I turn the shower on to let me use the toilet.

“I take it this will be just a shower.” April says her voice a little sad.

“Unfortunately yes, got a lot of things to do tonight.” I tell her with the same kind of sadness in my voice.

We shower together, cleaning each others backs, I spend more time shampooing her hair and massaging her scalp and she does the same for me as I crouch to allow her to do so. When we are finished I grab two towels and wrap one around April while I use the other to dry myself off, I had brought a second hair drier up about a week ago because we both have long hair that is easier to dry with a hair drier rather than towels. We both get dressed in similar clothing blue denim jeans and black T shirts.

‘I need everyone in the meeting room now.’ I send out to the whole nest, I feel the absence of three members, I knew I wouldn’t feel Jonathan or Howard because I knew they were both dead but I didn’t feel Tony either.

I look over at April, “Did you kill Tony as well?” I ask her trying not to sound accusing.

“No, Sophie did she said it would better if she did because she would kill him swiftly where you wouldn’t because of his treatment of me.” What April was saying is correct and I know that Sophie had been right, I would have made his death hurt to teach the rest of the nest a lesson.

The meeting room is what it sounds like a large room dominated with a huge table that can seat more than all the members of my nest, there are three spare seats where Jonathan, Howard and Tony would have sat. I’m pleased to see that everyone has gathered, I walk in with April’s hand in mine and walk up to the head of the table and everyone turns to face me. I look around the table and see Sophie smile and nod at me, I have a feeling she knows what I’m about to do and approves of it.

“You all know April.” I say loudly so everyone can hear my voice and the power of my words, “Even if it isn’t official yet she is my mate.” I pause to gauge everyone’s reactions, I can see a few people who look happy about this but I can also see a few who look unhappy about it, I look at April and see her blushing. “Because of this I will not stand for any of you offending her, hurting her, trying to manipulate her, trying to get her to do something that will hurt her or trying to force her to do something she doesn’t want to and I will definitely not stand for anyone making any sexual advancements towards her.” I give them a minute to let this all sink in before adding, “Any who do any of these things shall be punished.”

I release April’s hand and walk out of the room, I let go of her hand because I don’t want to force her to walk out of the room with me and I think she might be annoyed with me after what I have just done. A moment later April emerges from the room with Sophie just behind her, they both follow me to the kitchen and no one speaks as I pour myself a glass of Dr Pepper and take a bar of chocolate out of a cupboard. I break a strip of chocolate off the bar and fold the packaging over it before placing it on the table, some people think that we can’t eat normal food but that isn’t true we just don’t taste it as much as a human does.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” April says sounding a little annoyed and a little sad.

“No I should have done it weeks ago.” I tell her, “they would keep pushing you and trying to hurt you.” I pause and look her in the eyes, “some of them might have even took it as far as forcing themselves onto you.” Her face drops as I say the last part and I know someone has already tried that.

“Who?” I growl barely able to contain my rage which is made worse when April just shuts down.

“Tony.” Sophie speaks up and my head snaps round to look at her, “that’s what started the confrontation between them that day.” She tells me and I can hear the disdain in her voice, “He grabbed her bottom and tried to put his hand up her T shirt.”

I stand up and slam my hand down on the table almost completely breaking the thick hard wood table, I roar a primal noise of pure rage with no words behind it.

It takes me a minute to calm myself down and when I do I look at Sophie, “I really wish you hadn’t killed him.” I tell her.

“He was always kind to me so I returned that kindness, if I had left him to you then you would have made it slow and painful.” Sophie says with absolute confidence.

“Yes I would have.” I tell her my voice a low growl.

“I can take care of myself.” April snaps at me.

“Yes I know you can but I don’t want you to have to always been on guard around the rest of the nest and this way you wont have to be.” I tell her, most nest masters would have done this as soon as she had agreed to be their mate especially with the level of opposition April face within the nest.

“Most masters wouldn’t have left it this long especially with the way a lot of the nest treats you.” Sophie says giving voice to the thoughts running through my head.

“But.” April starts but I interrupt her.

“This had to be done, I might have been able to do it with more finesse but I am fed up watching you walk around like you’re on eggshells.” My voice had risen as I talked so I stop for a second to control myself, “This is supposed to be a safe place for everyone whether they are Human or Vampire and I could tell that you haven’t felt safe here very often.”

“They’ll just hate me more now.” She says her voice cracking with tears in her eyes.

“No this will have the opposite effect, they thought you were just sleeping with Larten before that’s why they called you a whore.” I growl as Sophie says the word ‘whore’ but she continues anyway, “Now that they know you are mates they will respect you.” Sophie pauses and smiles at April and then me, “It takes a very special person to make our master want to mate with them.”

I look over at April and I see that she is blushing. “She is definitely special.” I say softly and I see her smile.

I hear the phone in my pocket chime, I had sent a text when I was walking to the kitchen and I had just gotten a reply that was positive.

I take a swig of my Dr Pepper and look at April, “Are we ok?” I ask her hesitantly.

“Yes but I’m still a bit annoyed, you should have told me about this first.” April said.

“You didn’t tell her?” Sophie asks like she can’t believe her ears.

“No, she would have argued with me about it and I didn’t want to face them after arguing with her, you all would have sensed it and you know someone would have said something that would’ve made me lose my temper.” I look at April then at Sophie, “I wanted to avoid any bloodshed and pain.”

“I can understand that but I would have like it if you had told me.” April says calmly.

“I’m sorry I didn’t but I didn’t want to take the risk.” I tell her.

“I need a minute alone.” April says softly as she stands up and walks out of the kitchen.

“You know you didn’t annoy her as much as you did make her feel...” she pauses to find the right word, "trapped.” She finally said.

“I know but I didn’t want to risk a repeat of what happened with Howard and Tony.” I tell Sophie, “I don’t mind if they attack me but I don’t want them going after her.”

“I know why you did it but I do think you should have told her first.” She looks at me and smiles, “I think you’re going to have to do something nice to make it up to her.” She tells me.

I smile, “I already have something planned.” I tell her and take out my phone and show her a picture of a dress, “I brought this for her and I was going to ask her to wear it and take her to the restaurant I like.”

“The posh music one?” Sophie asks with a smile on her face.

“The very same.” I says with my smile widening.

“I think she will love the dress, she has a thing for pretty black clothes and I think the restaurant would be the perfect place to take her especially if you tell her about your connection to it.” She says her voice confident.

“I was planning on telling her about the connection on the drive there.” I tell her and she nods her head in approval. I walk off to my bedroom to get changed and prepare for the night out with April.

5.

I set the dress out on the bed with a pair of black tights and her favourite choker necklace before I get dressed in a suit, a white shirt with a black tie and a black dinner jacket and a pair of black suit trousers.

I give her half an hour before I speak to her telepathically, ‘Could you meet me in our bedroom?’ I ask her.

‘Our bedroom?’ I hear her ask and I can tell she has a smile on her face.

‘Yes our bedroom.’ I smile.

‘Ok give me a minute.’ She says.

It was closer to five minutes when she walks through the door, she looks at me in the suit and I see her lips curl up into a smile, “going somewhere nice?” She asks.

I look down at the dress on the bed and she follows my eyes down to it, she walks over to it and picks it up.

“It’s beautiful.” She whispers like she is in awe of it.

“I was hoping you would wear it and accompany me to a place very dear to me.” I say and she looks at me with an expression on her face that I can’t read.

“I need to have a shower first.” She says softly still looking at the dress, “Martin was showing me how to defend against Sai’s better.”

I laugh and say, “Martin is a very good teacher.”

“You’re better, he was going easy on me.” She says with a giggle before running off to the shower.

She doesn’t take long in the shower and when she walks back in I can smell the strawberry shampoo she likes and I can also smell my shower gel which makes me smile. She looks at the dress with the same expression of awe and walks over to a chest of draws and takes out a pair of lacy black panties and a matching bra, she puts them on before walking back over to the bed and sliding the tights up her legs. She gets into the dress and has me tie a bow with the string that holds it together on the back, the back of the dress is almost corset like, the fabric stops below her shoulder blades and a slit runs up the middle starting a respectable length above her ass, the slit has black rope looking material running across it to hold it together. The front of the dress runs across the top of her breasts revealing a small amount of cleavage and leaving her prominent collar bones and shoulders bare and falls to just over halfway down her thighs.

She wraps the choker necklace around her neck and fastens it behind her neck before I can admire her front she walks over to the vanity dresser I had put in the room especially for her and starts to apply makeup, she doesn’t need any makeup and I think she knows it because she doesn’t take long applying it and when she turns around my jaw drops. She has only applied a small amount of makeup, some eye shadow to make her eyes look smoky and some dark matte red lipstick. She is absolutely gorgeous.

“How do I look?” she asks.

I drink in the vision in front of me, the dress hugs her body but doesn’t look tight, it accentuates her body perfectly and the choker is a strip of black material with a sparkly steel love heart that rests over her throat. I am speechless all I can do is stand there my mouth open, she was literally jaw dropping.

“That good?” She asks a cheeky grin playing across her lips.

I can’t help myself and I rush over to her, cup her face in my hands tilt her head back slightly and kiss her deeply and passionately. We are both panting when we break the kiss and I can smell her arousal, she looks at my lips and frowns before turning back to the mirror.

“You messed up my makeup.” She says, “and you have lipstick on your lips now.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.” I tell her and use a baby wipe to get rid of the lipstick as she reapplies some to her own lips.

“Am I really that beautiful?” She asks, I can hear the doubt in her voice.

“You’re the most beautiful person I have ever met.” I tell her and she must be able to tell I was speaking the truth because she blushes and smiles.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here?” she asks with a wink.

“No I want to show you this place, it means a lot to me.” I tell her.

She smiles, “Ok if you’re sure.” She says giving her hips a seductive wiggle.

“I’m sure.” I say as I walk over to a wardrobe, she must understand how much this means to me because when I look back at her, she is smiling but her body language is serious.

I hold out a pair of elegant black flat shoes, “I think this will finish the look off perfectly.” I tell her and her smile widens.

“I wasn’t sure if you could walk in heels so I got these to be safe.” I tell her.

“I’ve never tried walking in heels before.” She tells me, confirming what I thought.

I slip on a pair of black leather shoes and take her arm in mine, “shall we?” I ask.

April doesn’t speak just nods her head, I kiss her quickly and lightly on the cheek before leading her out of our bedroom and then out of the house to the garage and help her into the Mercedes. For the first fifteen minutes of the car ride April keeps asking questions designed to find out where we are going but I won’t answer or give her an answer that would be of any use in figuring out where we are heading, she keeps asking until I rest a hand on her knee, Vampire reactions are that good we can take stupid risks while driving but most of us didn’t like to, she places one hand over mine.

“I’m not going to tell you, I want it to be a surprise.” I tell her and making her sigh.

“Fine.” She grumbles before launching into a speech about how she had shown Martin not to take it easy on her when they sparred.

I smile I love hearing her talk like this, she sounds strong and confident a far cry from the scared shy girl who had been beaten and raped into submission and I just know that this is the real April, she is strong, confident, beautiful and just plain amazing.

“So I spin kicked him in the ribs.” Her excitement drops away a little and I hear guilt enter her voice, “I think I might have hit him a little too hard because I’m sure I heard a rib break.”

“Martin’s a old Vampire, he can take care of himself.” I quickly glance at her, “He’s lucky those are his only injuries.” Another thing to add to the list of what makes her amazing, she’s caring.

“What’s that mean?” She asks.

“It means you have the potential to take out Martin, Sophie and myself then comfortably become the master of the nest.” I tell her seriously.

“Make myself the master, make you all my servants and cater to my every whim.” She says teasing me.

“I’d already do that.” I tell her.

“Please don’t, I don’t want you to do something that would put you or the nest in danger.” She tells me her voice grave.

“Spoken like the best of the masters.” I say absently.



“Co-masters?” She says and I don’t need to look at her to know she is grinning.

Even though I know she is teasing me I answer her seriously, “As my mate you already kind of are.” I hear her gasp lightly, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I tell her.

The rest of the car journey passes quickly as we discuss ways she would improve the nest and I have to admit I like most of her ideas but as I tell her the problem with implementing them would be the Vampires as old Vampires get stuck in their ways and don’t like change. Our conversation comes to a halt as we pull up outside of our destination, I open the car door get out and rush around the car to open the door for April. When she gets out of the car she links her arm with mine and as we walk towards the entrance a valet runs over takes my keys and name then runs off to park my car.

“Fancy.” April whispers looking up at the old stone front of the building.

“Wait until you see the inside.” I tell her with a smile on my face.

The first room we walk into is small and absolutely silent, the walls are panelled with dark wood, a big floor to ceiling mirror runs along the one wall and there are windows facing out onto the streets. There are a couple of leather sofas where people can sit to wait for a table to open up and in front of the door leading into the restaurant is a podium for a greeter to stand behind but there is no one there. The lighting is minimal and leaves the room dull but with no shadows.

“It’s so quiet.” April whispers like she’s afraid to speak normally and ruin the atmosphere.

“It’s a spell to keep the neighbours from complaining.” I tell her.

“Complaining about what?” she asks curious.

“It used to be a live music venue and still has bands come and play occasionally, the first weekend of every month is set aside for local bands.” I say with a smile on my face.

“We should come when they have bands on.” She smiles at me, she knows I’m a huge fan of music.

“I’d like that.” I smile at her, “but tonight this place is completely different.” I tell her.

“ I can smell a lot of people and...” she pauses and takes a deep breath through her nose, “food lots of food.”

I am about to speak when the door to the restaurant bursts open and a short round man with olive skin strides in “Signore Larten.” The man says loudly, he has a thick Italian accent and his voice is filled with warmth and he has a huge smile on his face, “It is good to see you again.” He looks towards April, “And who is this fiore?”

“Fiore?” April asks.

“It means flower.” I tell her and she blushes slightly, “This is April.” I tell him possessively putting a hand on her back, “April this is Mario.”

He smiles at April then me, “I see.” His smile widens, “You are lucky Signora but maybe not as lucky as the boss.”

“The boss?” she asks.

“He did not tell you?” Mario shakes his head at me, “Signore Larten owns this fine establishment.”

April looks at me her mouth wide, “Have done for about one hundred and fifty years or close enough, it started as a small tavern, a place for travellers to rest, eat, drink and listen to the local bards.”

“Bards?” April asks.

“Singers, musicians.” Mario explains and then says the next bit with pride, “Now it is the most popular restaurant for all kinds of supernatural beings and humans, a safe place for meeting, food and music.” He talks about the restaurant like it is his child.

“I leave a lot of the management to Mario and a couple of other people now but I make sure they keep my vision alive, a safe place for everyone where they can enjoy good food and music.” I tell April.

“Shall I take you to your table now?” Mario asks.

I look at April and she nods her head, “Yes please Mario.” I say.

He picks up two sheets of leather bound paper that I know are the menus, steps through the door then holds it open for us to walk through it into the restaurant. As soon as we walk through the door the sounds of the restaurant hit us, the sounds of clinking cutlery and plates, soft chatter of multiple people and piano music. The music is instantly recognisable as being live and not played through speakers, I recognise it as Chopin’s Nocturne Op.9 No.2 in E flat.

“I didn’t know Alex was working tonight.” I say quiet enough for Mario not to hear.

“Alex from home?” April asks obviously hearing my whisper.

“Yeah that’s who is playing the piano, Chopin Nocturne in E flat.” I chuckle quietly, “he claims he helped compose this piece and a few other Chopin pieces, I know they were friends but I don’t know if the composing part is true.”

“It’s beautiful.” April whispers like she is in awe.

“Strange choice, from the feel of the room I would have chosen something a little more upbeat.” I say and as if he had heard my words he finishes Nocturne and transitions into another Chopin piece.

“I’ve heard this one before.” April says as we sit at the table Mario leads us to.

I sigh in relaxation, “Fantaisie Impromptu.” I sit down a big smile on my face, “My favourite Chopin piece.”

“He’s amazing.” April whispers.

“One of the best pianists I have met.” I tell her, “I don’t think he has ever seen a piece of music he can’t play.” Mario handed us menus and explained that one was for drinks one for food.

“You serve blood?” April asks shocked.

“All kinds of nourishment for all kinds of supernatural beings.” Mario says like he had been almost expecting the question, “The types on the menu are a couple of days old but the specials are straight from the source.”

“We drink them here in front of everyone?” April asks stunned.

“That would be rude.” Mario says, “We drain some into a bottle in another room and bring the bottle out.

“I’ll take some B negative please Mario.” I tell him.

“We only have that bottled.” He informs me.

“That’s fine.” I reassure him.

“And for the lady?” He looks to April.

“What would you recommend?” She asks nervously.

“As a human I can’t really recommend any.” He frowns and I get the feeling he is being a little awkward because he could easily recommend what is most popular amongst Vampires.

April looks to me, “let’s start you off with some A positive.”

“Certainly.” Mario says before walking off to fulfil our order.

I look over at Alex who has transitioned into a Mozart piece, he looks at home behind the piano on the slightly raised stage area.

“I think my sense of smell is getting better.” April informed me.

“What makes you say that?” I ask her.

“Well I can tell you that there is four Werewolves, three Fair Folk, seven Vampires and five humans in the room.” She said proudly, “I can also tell you that one of the humans is here alone for the sole purpose of watching Alex play.”

“How do you know that about the last person?” I ask her, I had noticed all the people and four ghosts as well but I hadn’t realised that the single person was here purely for Alex.

“I noticed her watching him since we arrived.” She tells me a cheeky grin on her face.

“So not because of scent then.” I smile, “That’s cheating.” I don’t let her know but I’m proud of her.

“Using all my senses isn’t cheating.” She says proudly.

“It’s smart.” I glance around the room, “Never rely on just one of your senses.”

She nods her head as Mario returns with our drinks, we both thank him and he hands us a different menu, this one is for food. I know exactly what I’m going to have but April just looks at her menu nervously.

“I’ve never tried most of the food on here.” She says quietly and it sounds like there is shame in her voice, “They only ever fed us pizza and takeaway.”

I can smell her fear as she remembers the things that were done to her in that house, the way she was treated. I hear a couple of soft growls and I know that her fear is effecting the Werewolves and other Vampires, fear causes the predator in then to come to the surface. I place my hand on the table facing up holding she will take it and I try to speak to her softly, which takes a lot of effort because I can feel some of the others staring at her hungrily and I want nothing more than to rip them apart and protect April.

“Hey, it’s ok, you’re safe now.” My voice isn’t as soft as I would like it to be but is soft enough.

April had been looking down at her lap but at my words she looks up at me, she notices my hand on the table and she reaches out and places her hand in mine.

“I'm sorry, I don’t know why...” her voice trails off and her hand grips mine.

“No need to apologise, A trauma like what you’ve been through can stay with a person for a long time.” I tell her my voice quiet but firm, I soften my voice and continue, “I just hope that I can help you.”

“You do.” She says quickly, “I feel so fragile sometimes but when you’re around I feel strong and the way you look at me.” She shivers as she speaks and a smile flashes across her face, “makes me feel beautiful and best of all safe.”

“That’s all I want, for you to feel safe and comfortable, with everything else.” She blushes as I say ‘everything else’, “I can wait.” I pause and make sure I hold eye contact with April as I speak again, “I would wait until the end of time for you.”

I see tears sparkle in her eyes but I don’t get the feeling that she is upset, “I love you.” She says quietly and a little breathless.

Before I can tell her I love her as well a hand lands on her shoulder, “I could show you a better time than this boy ever could.” The owner of the hand says his voice suggestive.

Before he can say another word and before April can reply I’m on my feet with my hand around his throat.

“Remove your hand or lose it.” I growl at him and I realise he’s a Werewolf.

His lips pull back over his teeth in a snarl and I mimic his movements and let my fangs grow, “Mine are more impressive.” I say flatly.

“Larten.” I hear April’s voice and feel her hand on my shoulder. I can smell her fear and it fuels my anger because I’m not sure if she is scared of the Werewolf or me.

“Larten?” The Werewolf says my name like it’s a question, “I’ve only ever heard of one Vampire who goes by that name.” His face pales, “The Ancient.” His head drops and he takes his hand off of April’s shoulder. “My apologies.” He says to me.

“I’m not the one who needs apologising to.” I snap as I remove my hand from his throat.

He bows to April, “My deepest apologies ma’am.” He says sincerely, he bows to me and then walks off. I retract my fangs but I stand there for a moment breathing deeply to calm down and regain control.

April’s arms wrap around me and her scent fills my nostrils, “Everything’s ok, I’m alright.” She says quietly and kisses my cheek.

I relax against her all anger gone from my body, “I’m sorry.” I whisper.

April let’s go of me and I sit back down, “How do you do that?” I ask amazed.

“Do what?” April asks confused.

“Bring me back from near murderous rage so easily.” I say in a soft whisper, April blushes then smiles and I’m again struck by her beauty.

Mario returns to take our orders, he doesn’t mention anything about the confrontation with the Werewolf. I order a steak, bloody, April tells Mario that she doesn’t know what any of the food tastes like, he looks at me confused but recommends the lamb and April takes his advice and orders the lamb.

“Why would the wolf do that? Can’t he sense your power?” She asks after Mario leaves.

“I think he just wanted to cause trouble and most people don’t sense my power, I hide it because I don’t like the way people behave around me when they feel my power, so all they see is a young looking Vampire.” I tell her and she looks a little confused about me being able to hide my power but she seems to understand what I mean about my looks, I stand at just under six feet tall with a strong but plain face, dark green eyes and dark reddish brown hair. I look slightly skinny and most people wouldn’t be intimidated by the way I look.

“Can I do that?” She asks about hiding my power.

“No I’m the only Vampire that can do it but you don’t need to, most don’t see past your appearance, they see a skinny young girl and don’t realise your power.” I explain to her.

“Why did he call you The Ancient?” Her voice is slightly concerned.

“Old Vampires, strong Vampires and Vampires that have accomplished great feats are given titles because of my age I was given the title The Ancient, I’m not a fan of it I prefer people call me by my name.” I explain to her, “I’m sure you will end up earning a title.” I smile.

“I don’t know if I would want that.” She tells me with a frown.

“It is a great honour but it’s not for everyone.” I tell her.

We sit in a comfortable silence holding hands across the table and listening to Alex playing a Queen song on the piano. Mario arrives with our food and April looks at the food like she was intimidated by it.

“It wont bite.” I tell her jokingly.

She smiles shyly, “I know it’s just so different from pizza.”

“I'm sure you’ll enjoy it.” I tell her confidently. She cuts a chunk off of the lamb and chews it her face lights up with a big smiles.

“Wow.” She gasps, “That’s delicious.” She starts in on the potato and vegetables making positive noises after every couple of mouthfuls.

I watch her as I slowly eat my bloody steak, I love seeing her so happy, her smile and the shimmer of joy in her eyes, I always think she looks beautiful but when she is happy, like this she is truly spectacular. We had finished eating and were again sitting in a comfortable silence listening to Alex play a fast complex piece on the piano that I don’t recognise it and I think it is one of his creation.

“He’s amazing.” April whispers impressed.

I feel irrationally jealous because I love music and I love playing music but she had never heard me play before. I think Alex must have picked up on my feelings because I hear his voice in my head, ‘After this song the stage is yours.’

I smile, ‘Thank you.’ I say to him, Mario comes to take away our plates, “Do you mind?” I ask him.

“If he is ok with it then I don’t see why not.” He tells me with a smile.

“He is the one who gave me the idea.” I tell Mario with a smile, he nods his head and his smile widens.

“What’s going on?” April asks.

“You’ll see.” I smile at her, Alex finishes the song, looks over at me and I stand up.

“What are you doing?” She asked worried.

“Relax. I hope you enjoy.” I smile at her and walk onto the stage, I walk to the back of the stage and pick up an acoustic guitar and quickly tune it, by the time I have finished tuning most of the people in the restaurant are looking at me.

Alex stands up to sit at one of the tables in the restaurant but I stop him by speaking in his head, ‘Stay, I could do with you behind the keys.’ I tell him and then tell him what songs I plan to perform and I see him smile. I count down in Alex’s head and we both launch into the first song at the same time. We played Hozier’s take me to church, Alex on the piano and me playing the guitar and singing, my voice is a mid range baritone and fits the song perfectly. When we finish the song we receive an applause and I start into the next song, Alex doesn’t accompany me for this one as I play an acoustic cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s simple man. There is applause and a few teary eyes when I finish the song.

“I think we need something a little more upbeat.” I say and get a laugh or two from the diners.

We blaze through Elton John’s Saturday night’s alright for fighting and have most of the diners cheering with their applause.

“Encore.” Shouts the Werewolf from earlier and soon all the people who had been cheering are all chanting for an encore, I look at April and see her beaming up at me chanting with everyone else.

‘This one’s for you.’ I mouth to her before I start playing, I start by playing a couple of simple arpeggio chords and Alex must get the idea that this song is a solo performance because he doesn’t join in. I open my mind to April as I start to sing a soft love song in an ancient Celtic language long lost to time, I leave my mind open to April so she can feel the meaning behind the song.

I see her blush and then a tear roll down her face, the song is a sad tale about a man, who has no one is lonely and contemplating suicide until he meets a woman and they fall in love, I show her the meaning behind the words and don’t translate the lyrics because a translation wouldn’t do the poetic beauty of the song any justice. I make the guitar sing along with me and have it harmonise with my voice, I use it to emphasise the feelings of the protagonist in the lyrics. I open my eyes and see that every single person in the restaurant seems entranced, swaying from side to side, some have their eyes closed, some have tears in their eyes and others have a look of serenity and bliss on their faces.

The reactions of the people shows the power music has because I highly doubt any of them are old enough to understand the language yet all them are here experiencing some form of strong emotion towards the song. I finish the song and stand for a moment with the room in absolute silence, I sweep my eyes across the room and take in all the different emotions I see written across the patrons faces, sadness, joy, longing and a few other emotions I can’t place, I look at April and see a smile on her face and tears rolling down her face. I decide to wait an extra moment before breaking the metaphorical spell on the crowd and walk to the back of the stage and place the guitar back in its stand, when I stand back in centre stage I see that most of the people are still in a daze.

“Thank you for honouring this old bard.” I say my voice raised to carry to the back of the room and bring everyone out of their trances. Their applause is thunderous so I take a bow and thank them all again before stepping off the stage, I walk straight over to April and bend down to kiss her, she returns the kiss with passion and the cheering starts up again, I feel April’s cheeks redden.

“That was beautiful.” She gasps when I break the kiss.

I look into her eyes, “I love you.” I tell her and she blushes a deeper shade of red.

“I love you too.” She says breathlessly making me to smile. We order more blood, I have some B negative again and April decided to try some B negative as well.

“This is nicer than the last one.” She smiles.

“It’s what I like the best.” I tell her, when we finish, I pay the bill and we leave while waiting for the valet to return with the Mercedes I make a quick decision.

“There is somewhere else I want to take you tonight.” I tell April.

She looks at me and sees the serious look on my face, “Ok, where?”

“It’s only a short while away and like this place it means a lot to me.” I tell her as I open the car door for her.

I jump in the drivers seat and start the engine, the AMG V12 roars to life, April asks a couple more questions about where I’m taking her but when I don’t give her any more information she starts on a different topic.

“How can you tell the difference between all the types of magic?” She asks.

“Scent is usually the best way, black witches smell of blood, pain and death so do sorcerers, you want to stay away from both of them they’re nasty fuckers who thrive off of pain and destruction, the only difference between the two is that sorcerers invite demons into themselves, they’re rare and their mere presence causes bad shit to happen. White witches smell of herbs and incense, they aren’t as powerful as black witches but their magic is usual nicer and they don’t have to use pain to power their magic. Witches and sorcerers can only work magic on living beings, animals humans, Werewolves, Vampires and Fair Folk.” I pause to let her take this information in.

“Druids work nature magic and can only work their magic on plants, the earth, water, air and fire, their magic comes from themselves and they smell like nature, some of the powerful Druids back in the day could also work their magic on animals but only animals not people. I like full Druids but there are virtually none left anymore, it’s a shame really the world would be better off with more of them. The Fair Folk have a similar scent to Druids they smell like nature but they also smell like one of the old alchemist elements, fire, earth, air and water, you can tell when they are about to work any magic because it smells like ozone like a lightning storm. Their magic is in their genes, the main thing that makes a magical being a Fair Folk is called glamour and they use it to look human when their actual appearance can be either horrifying or amazing. They’re a mixed bag some enjoy killing things while others are about helping but always treat them all with respect and never, never make a deal with one, you do not want the repercussions from that.”

“Is that everything I should know?” April asks curiously.

“There is one last type of magic user, wizards, their magic only works on man made objects. Telling them apart from normal humans is very difficult and most of the time you can’t but you have to look out for the little things, most of them work making things or repairing things, in factories or garages repairing vehicles so most smell like oil, grease and metal. They aren’t harmless but they also aren’t psychotic murderers, they’re basically just normal people with powers but that doesn’t mean they should be underestimated in a fight.” I explain to her.

“What about Werewolves can they use magic as well?” She asks.

“A little bit they can use telepathy like us except it’s a bit stronger than ours is, their change from human to wolf is also a type of magic and they can use their magic to make people think they’re big dogs instead of werewolves and can create a bubble around them that blocks out noise when they get in a fight with another wolf. There magic isn’t what you should worry about though, what you should worry about if you have to fight a werewolf is their speed, strength, fangs and claws which are very deadly.” I explain to her, “You know what our magic is.”

“Are we there?” April asks with excitement in her voice as I pull off the dual carriageway onto a small side road.

“Pretty much.” I tell her as we drive past a campsite and onto a small drive that leads into a small carpark that’s closed as it’s the middle of the night I park outside the gates.

“Where are we?” She asks a little worry entering her voice as she seems to realise that we are in the middle of nowhere alone.

“This is Broomey Croft Nature Reserve, a small part of Kingsbury Water Park, this one is smaller and doesn’t have as much here as the actual water park but it’s closer to the actual place.” I tell her.

“What place?” April asks.

I get out of the car and walk towards the nearest bench, April follows me and we are both sitting on the bench looking out over the lake before I speak again.

“These lakes weren’t here back then, they were quarries at a much later date.” I pause and I know my face has taken on a dreamy expression, “Sorry, the place I’m on about is over there.” I point off over to my right, “A little closer to the river, the river was safety, too deep and fast for any predators to wade through, it gave us protection, clean water, fish and made the ground fertile that meant we could grow crops and keep livestock.” I laugh, “We were terrible at it but it worked. Sorry I’m getting distracted, this place is where I lived my human life.”

April gasps, “This is where you were born?” She says and I can tell her words are more of a question than a statement.

“Born and raised.” I frown, I have some very bad memories here but it was hard to see this place the same way I had back then, it had changed so much back when I was human it had been flat plains dotted with little wooded areas and now it is all lakes and where there isn’t water there is a few fields, a gravel path and trees.

It is so peaceful here, this place has been a constant source of pain and misery for me but I could sense only happiness and peacefulness. I lie back on the bench and smile looking up at the sky and the stars, the bench shifts slightly as April moves from the seat of the bench and up onto the table, she lies down and her hand drops down and lands on my chest, I place my hand on hers.

“It’s peaceful.” April whispers.

“I hadn’t expected that.” I sigh.

“You haven’t been back here since you were human?” April asks me sounding a little shocked.

“Once, the ghosts still haunt me.” I growl softly, I can’t help the growl but I keep it quiet so I don’t scare April.

“Ghosts are real?” She sounds surprised.

“Yeah, not everyone can see them but they are there, they aren’t anything like the person they were in life more like a shadow of what they used to be.” I explain to her and shiver as I feel a cold inhuman hand touch my face, I ignore it acknowledging ghosts can cause a lot of problems for the one they haunt and the people around them. I take a deep breath through my nose and stand up quickly every nerve in my body screams danger, I can smell something I hadn’t before.

“What’s wrong?” April has concern in her voice.

“Cant you smell that?” I ask her.

She takes a deep breath through her nose and nods her head, “Dead fish and something else, something salty?” April says the last part like a question.

“Seaweed and salt water.” I tell her, “That’s not right though, there can’t be salt water here this is all fresh water.” I take another deep breath, “I know that scent.” I start to walk towards the lake, April jumps off the bench and follows me.

I crouch down next to the lake and place my hand on the water, “That which does not belong, That of the ocean come to me.” My voice is strong and filled with power, “Selkie come to me!” I shout and my voice echoes with power.

“Larten what’s going on?” April asks fear tinting her voice.

There is as large splash in the lake not far from the land and a head pokes out of the water.

“Is that a dog?” April asks me.

“The more mundane version of them have the nickname the dogs of the sea.” I tell her.

We watch as the being walks out of the water starting as a seal and while moving towards us transforms into a nude human with hair covering most of their body.

“Witchborn.” The Being says, “No not just Witchborn but Druid and Undead too.”

“Vampires aren’t undead our heart still beats just extremely slowly.” I tell the Selkie, “I have met your kind before Selkie, you don’t belong here it is dangerous for you.” I may sound like I’m threatening the Selkie but I’m not I’m worried for it, Selkies live in saltwater and living in freshwater isn’t good for them and I think the Selkie realises the real meaning behind my words.

“Your concern for our Tribe is touching but we have magic working to help us survive in the water here.” The Selkies tells me its face goes from happy to sad in a split second, “Evil is coming, the seas and skies are polluted, their inhabitants suffering and dying, we have to find new places to survive.”

The Selkies choice of words has meaning, he said survive not live, which just shows what their existence has become, but I don’t think his comment about evil is referring to what is being done to the planet.

“I might be able to help a little.” I tell him, “I would like to know what evil you refer to though.”

“How do you know an evil is coming?” April had been quiet since the Selkie had made himself know and her voice draws the attention of the Selkie, I step to the side putting myself closer to April and a little between them to show the Selkie that if he makes a move towards her I could stop him but that I also trust that April can defend herself.

“Peace old one, I do not mean you or yours trouble.” The Selkie has a soft smile in his face, “To answer your question, we Selkie are in tune with the changing tides both literal and metaphorical, we know much about change but rarely have the ability to effect it.”

I feel bad for the Selkie by Fair Folk standards they are pretty weak and are hunted by other Fair Folk for sport and food.

“This evil, do you have any idea what it is?” I ask him.

“All we know is that it is very powerful, drenched in blood, misery and death and uses other to do its bidding whether they be Fair Folk, Werewolf, Vampire, Magic user or human the evil can enthral them all.” The Selkie says gravely, “It has already made contact with some of the strongest beings in this country.”

“Anything else you can tell us?” I ask softly.

“Yes, I suggest you find it quickly before it is too late and all is death, look for The Monster Of The River Ván.” The Selkie tells me.

“Tha...” April starts but is cut off by both myself and the Selkie.

“No.” We both the Selkie and I say at the same time.

I don’t say anything else but let the Selkie continue as he seems to want to say more to April.

“Never thank one of the Fair Folk, some of us see thanks as you being indebted to us and trust me you do not want that, even if it is one of the kinder Fair Folk like myself, it can be a death sentence or worse.” The Selkie explains to her.

“I will hold up my end of the bargain and attempt to help you.” I look at the Selkie and then the lake, “You eat the local creatures, yes?” I ask and he nods his head.

“Ok, I hope this still works.” I whisper more to myself than to the Selkie or April.

I walk towards the water, ‘Keep an eye on him for me please.’ I speak telepathically to April and I see her nod from out of the corner of my eye. I continue to the edge of the lake and place my hand on the water again.

My words are ancient and filled with power and when I finish speaking a minute later I know I was successful, the Selkie touches the water and smiles.

“I had heard stories of The Ancient, a Vampire who held the magic of Witches and Druids, I had thought it a myth but here you are and you are stronger than I had ever imagined.” The Selkie looks at me in awe, “You are truly amazing.” He looks at April with the same expression on his face, “And so is your mate. I have lived a long life and have met many beings in those years but never have I met someone with an aura like hers. Fate was wise to pair the two of you together, I am certain you will do great and wonderful things, there will be many tales told of you both separately and together until the end of life itself.” He nods at me and then April, “ I wish you both the best of luck.” He turns and jumps into the lake one moment a person the next he a seal.

6.

“What was he talking about?” April asks, “He called you Witchborn and a Druid. What does that mean?”

“It means that I’m the child of Witch and a Druid and that I’m an oddity because usually I would be either one or the other but for some reason I can use both types of magic.” I tell her a little growl in my voice, I wasn’t proud of the fact I had Witch magic because it is black Witch magic and I need to torture and kill to power it so hardly ever use it.

“You can work both Witch and Druid magic.” She says it more like a statement than a question but I get the idea that it is a question.

“I don’t use my Witch magic, I won’t use it. I won’t torture people for my own power, never again.” I tell her my voice slipping into a full growl.

April grabs my hand, “Then don’t.” She says firmly, “But you shouldn’t reject your Druid side because from what you told me that magic is good and beautiful.” She doesn’t comment about the ‘never again’ just like she didn’t about the ghosts haunting me.

“I'm scared.” I whisper, “ I’m scared that if I use my Druid magic then the Witch magic will fight to be used as well and it wont stop until I do and it will consume me, I can’t live like that.” I feel a tear roll down my cheek, I’ve never told anyone that before, showing fear was showing weakness and showing weakness around the kind of Vampires I have in my nest is a very bad idea a lot of them are in my nest because they are crazy or violent and I’m one of the only Vampires strong enough to keep them in line.

She places her hand against my chest, “I will be here for you, I wont let it consume you.” Her eyes meet mine and I see that they are hard and her face is serious, “Anyway it can’t have you, you’re mine.”

Her possessiveness makes me smile I find it so attractive that she thinks that way, most Vampires who are mated get a little possessive but we weren’t properly mated yet and after everything that had happened to her I didn’t think she would get like that.

“Forever and always.” I tell her pulling her into a hug.

April leans up and kisses me hard and I kiss her back, we are both a bit breathless when we finish kissing.

April pulls away from me just enough to look up into my eyes, “I love you Larten but I need to know about your life the good, the bad and the ugly.”

I sigh and try to cover up my fear, I want to tell her but if I do I’m scared that I could lose her if she knew the things I had done.

“I’m worried that I could scare you away, my life hasn’t been one filled with happiness and sunshine.” I tell her while looking at the floor worried to meet her eyes.

“Neither has mine.” She tells me quietly.

I sit down on the bench we had sat on when we first got here. “opposite ends of the spectrum.” I tell her and sigh again, when April joins me on the bench I speak again. “I told you the story of how I was changed didn’t I?”

April nods and I continue, “I came back here a week after I was turned and killed everyone, man, woman and child. I made it slow so I could harvest their pain and death to fuel my magic. The black magic, my anger and the fact that I was a newly turned Vampire whose creator and then master cared for nothing more than draining anyone he wanted and taking whatever he wanted and used my powers to do so, all of this made me lose myself and I became a vicious creature that was consumed with bloodlust. I killed, torture and raped so many people, I can’t remember how many all I cared about was their fear, they weren’t even people to me they were just play things.”

I see her grimace at my words and I can’t blame her I had been a monster.

“Are you sure you want to hear this?” I ask her.

“Yes.” She whispers but I could smell fear on her, I hope it was fear of what I had been and not fear of me altogether.

“My master was pretty solitary he only kept me around because I was useful, I could influence people to do what my master wanted them to, I could subdue them so they wouldn’t fight or I could make them run screaming.” I feel the monster rise up inside me and I know my eyes have turned red because I could feel my fangs extend, “We preferred it when they ran, the hunt made it fun.” I growl.

April hugs me, I forget who she is and I want nothing more than to sink my teeth into her throat and drain every drop of blood from her body, I bury my face into her neck and I smell her, the monster is instantly pushed back down as her scent fills my nostrils, she is mine and I love her, truly loved her not like how the monster loved to hunt but real passionate love like I hadn’t felt for a very long time.



“I still want to know how you manage that, bring me back to the surface and force the monster down.” I smile at her but quickly turn serious, “Still want me to carry on?”

“If you think you can.” She says softly and not letting me go.

“After a few hundred years of just the two of us he found another Witch, she had been shunned by her village when they found out she had been killing livestock to power her magic, she was angry because even though she had been killing livestock she had been keeping the people of her village safe and healthy and subtly influencing the same livestock to breed more than usual. He made us seem like travelling heroes smiting the wicked and saving the innocent.” I laugh a sharp sarcastic sound.

“She came with us at the idea of doing more good for people but as you can probably guess that’s not what my master had in mind for her. He turned her a couple of days later when she realised we weren’t what we claimed to be. When she was turned she became a monster as well which sometimes makes me wonder if I was already a monster or if my master made me a monster, she wasn’t as cruel nor sadistic as me nor as powerful but we helped each other with the magic we enhanced each others spells to make them stronger.”

I smile at the memory of what came next but it is bittersweet, “We were very alike savage creatures but our master was calculating and still in control of himself. We became like anchors for each other, we were both still aware of what was going on and we tried to comfort each other as much as possible, tried to stop each other going insane. We spent years like that trying to keep each other from losing our humanity while our master made us do gruesome and vile things.”

I growl because this next part hurts even over one thousand years later it hurts and it would in another thousand years if I was still alive.

“He found out what we were doing, I don’t know how but he did.” I pause and I can feel myself crying, “he made me kill her over the period of about a month he made me break her, he forced me to beat her, cut pieces from her body, use spells on her and rape her. He enjoyed it, the pain of making me destroy the one person I cared about, he made me absorb all that pain from both her and myself to fuel my magic. What he didn’t count on was pushing me too far, the black magic was that strong it completely took control of me, it didn’t like being controlled and it wanted more power so it killed him, the magic wanted to take it’s time but he was old and strong so it couldn’t take as much time it wanted to and killed him after two days, I’ve tried to block out what happened next because it went on a rampage and killed everyone around, it wiped out multiple villages before I was saved.”

April looks terrified, she looks at me like she doesn’t know who I am and really she doesn’t, I am a monster and she never knew any of it until now.

“You see why I didn’t want to tell you about my life, I was and still am a fucking monster.” I truly believe that last part, I have spent so many years trying to help others in some kind of attempt to cleanse myself of the evil acts of my past but I know no matter how many people I help I will always be stained with the blood of thousands of people, innocent, good people that I had tortured and killed in the most despicable and depraved ways possible.

“You might have been a monster a long time ago but a monster wouldn’t have saved me, looked after me and taught me how to protect myself.” She looks at me and all I see is love, I had expected her to hate me, to be afraid of me but she doesn’t. “Who saved you?” She asks.

“It was one of the Fair Folk but I don’t know if I will be able to tell you any details, a curse was placed on me so I couldn’t speak about it because they were very, very powerful and very high up in the Fair Folk world and in what was the human government at that time. The curse may have faded over time or he might have died and it could have gone with him, I guess we’re about to find out.”

I open my mouth to speak but it’s like something has gripped my throat stopping me from speaking but not breathing, I try again as I do want to tell April what happened but I can’t speak about it.

“I guess the curse is still on me then, I hope he is still out there somewhere.” I mutter, “I’ll see if I can say this, he saved me and made me myself again and I have repaid him by helping his people out when they need me and by helping other, never surrendering to that black magic again. That’s why I take in the problem Vampires and why I help the defenceless and those in need.”

I smile at April, “One day I want to hear about your life.” She flinches and I can smell her fear, “when it is not so fresh and painful.” I tell her.

“My parents sold me when I was seven.” She speaks quietly, “they said it was because there was something wrong with me, that I scared them and the people they were sending me to could help me, they didn’t tell me they had sold me to these people but the people took great pleasure in seeing how much it hurt me when they told me my parents had sold me to them.”

I see tears in her eyes, I reach out to take her hand and she flinches so I just place my hand on the bench near her letting her know I am there if she needs me.

“They told me that my parents had sold me because they thought of me like an item like a piece of furniture, they called me so many vile things, told me I was worthless. They seemed to be a little scared of me as well but they would wrap me in silver chains and after a while they started to use the same chains to beat me with.”

She is crying now but she had also put her hand on top of mine which tells me she isn’t afraid to touch me even when she is remembering such horrible and traumatic memories.

“Eventually they sold me I was nine maybe ten, the man they sold me to was much more vicious he would beat me until I begged for him to kill me and then he would rape me, this happened day after day after day. Then one day he just said he didn’t want me anymore.” She laughs a soft sarcastic sound filled with pain, “That hurt more than anything he did to me, it made me feel unwanted again and he blamed it all on me.”

Her hand grips mine tightly, it feels like she is on the verge of crushing my hand but I don’t try to stop her, the memories are obviously painful and if this is comforting her then I would let her break every bone in my hand.

“He sold me, I started to believe what the people who brought me from my parents had said that I was just an object to be abused and then sold when they got fed up with me. He sold me to the place where you found me, I was thirteen when he sold me to them. Part of me hoped that they wouldn’t hurt me like he had that they might care for me even a little bit.”

She laughs that pain filled laugh again, “I was so wrong. The broke bones, cut me and would then leave me broken and bleeding on the floor. They would rape me as well every part of me no matter how much I screamed and pleaded with them not to. I just became numb to everything, let them do what they wanted and just shut myself down. They brought in other younger girls and they seemed to look to me for comfort like I was a big sister or something, when things were really bad they would curl up near me for comfort, I can still remember their bruised and broken bodies. I wanted to comfort them but I would have had to feel things again and I couldn’t do that.”

“You’re safe now, they’re safe now.” I look at her, “I’ll get someone to look into the other people, I want to make sure they never hurt anyone again.”

She wraps me in a hug, “thank you.”

“We should go, I need to call Lawrence and see if he knows anything about this Monster Of The River Vàn.” I tell April and we walk to the car. We sit in the car and I call Lawrence with the phone connected to the car.

“Yes boss.” Lawrence’s voice came through the speakers.

“Hi Lawrence.” April says happily.

“Oh hello April.” Lawrence sounds a little confused.

“We’re in the car on speaker.” I tell Lawrence.

“What can I do for you boss?” Lawrence asks.

“We met a Selkie tonight who warned us of a coming evil and he told us to find the Monster Of The River Vàn.” I want to say more but Lawrence interrupts me.

“Oh shit that’s not good, he specifically said that name?” Lawrence asks but before I answer he speaks again, “You met a Selkie? Where are you?”

“We’re at a lake, the Selkie said that he had moved their tribe there because the sea was being polluted and that was the title he used, why? Is that bad?” I had never heard of this monster and I knew a lot of monsters.

“We need to get the Selkies out of there they have to have salt water to survive.” Lawrence says with worry in his voice.

This reminds me why Lawrence was my friend, he cares more about saving the Selkies than he does about the incoming evil.

“Don’t worry I’ve used some magic to help them out.” I tell him calmly.

“Shit was that good idea boss? We’ve all heard the stories.” He says sounding terrified.

“It wasn’t my black magic so don’t worry I’m not going to go crazy any time soon.” I tell him with a slight laugh, “could you tell us about this monster please?”

“The Monster Of The River Vàn, that was one if his lesser known names, you’ve probably heard one of his more well known names, Fenrir.” He whispers the name like it is something to be scared of and as the ancient Norse myths said Fenrir was a god who would help bring about the end of the world so maybe his name was something to fear especially as speaking the names of the very old Fair Folk was meant to be able to attract their attention.

“I’ve heard stories about it.” I tell Lawrence, I look at April, “ it’s a wolf, one of the children of a Norse trickster God and a giantess, he was meant to kill Odin when Ragnarök happens.”

April just looks at me confused, some times I forget she isn’t as old as the rest of us and doesn’t know as much about myths and legends.

“Odin was the king of the old Viking gods and Ragnarök was supposed to be the end of the world.” I tell her.

Her face drops, “gods are real?” she asks and I smell her fear.

“Not really they were just very old and very powerful Fair Folk who ancient people praised as gods. It doesn’t make them any less dangerous though.” Her face brightens a little at my words but I can still smell her fear.

“Can we stop them?” She asks fear etched on her face.

“Last I heard the wolf was trapped on an island wrapped on chains.” Lawrence says sounding frightened now as well.

“He must have gotten free somehow because I’m getting the idea that he is the wolf that attacked our house the other day.” I can hear the worry creeping into my voice now as well.

“Those chains were supposed to hold him until Ragnarök so if he is free then it could be bigger than just us being attacked.” Lawrence says.

“You think it could be Ragnarök?” I ask him.

“I have no idea but if this is the same wolf then we're all fucked.” He growls.

“Do you think Johann would have any more useful information?” I ask Lawrence.

“Possibly but I wouldn’t bet on it.” Lawrence replied.

“Thank you Lawrence.” Both me and April say at the same time, she smiles at me and her smile makes my face light up, I think she’s so beautiful when she smiles.

“No problem boss, see you later.” Lawrence says hanging up.

I lean across the gear stick and kiss April, she kisses me back her tongue meeting mine, it feels like every time we kiss it leaves me breathless and my mind a little bit clouded, I’ve never felt like it before and it worries me because it leaves me vulnerable.

“I love it when you kiss me.” April says sounding breathless as well.

“Maybe I should do it more often then.” I say my voice quiet and husky.

“I think you should.” April says her voice also becoming husky.

I lean forward and kiss her again, the kiss starts soft but quickly gets harder and possessive. When we stop kissing all I can think about is ripping her clothes off and fucking her right now, I take a deep breath to try and clear my head but my nostrils are filled with the smell of April’s arousal and my own.

“I want you so badly.” I growl and I curse myself as I watch April’s eyes widen and I start to smell a little bit of fear on her.

“I... I don’t think I’m ready yet.” She stutters.

“I can wait for you to be ready.” I tell her.

April frowns slightly and softly bites her lower lip, I can smell her arousal creeping back in, “there’s always other things we can do.” Her voice is husky and she pushes herself up on the seat and awkwardly pulls her dress up around her hips, she takes my hand and slides it under her panties.

I can feel how wet her pussy is as I slowly trail my fingers up her pussy and circle one of my fingers around her clit making her moan. I pay attention to her clit letting my fingers dance around and over it, she bucks her hips up into my hand and I reach over with my other hand and push her back down into the seat eliciting a loud guttural groan of pleasure.

I gently hold her down and tease her opening, she moans softly but her moan turns into a loud gasp and then a groan as I slide a finger inside her, I test to see if I can fit a second finger inside her but she is too tight. I curl my finger to slowly stroke the wall of her pussy, I repeat the motion a couple of times before slowly pulling my finger almost all the way out. I slide my finger back inside her teasing her clit with my thumb at the same time, I slowly speed up my actions and April starts to breath heavily.

I push down a little harder on her hips as I feel her pussy muscles clamp down on my finger, I stroke the inside of her pussy and speed up my thumb that is still stroking her clit.

“Ah fuck!” April practically screams as I feel her body start shaking with an orgasm. She stops shaking as her orgasm starts to taper off and as her pussy starts to loosens again around my finger I start to slide it in and out of her again with my thumb still rapidly teasing her clit. Less than a minute later April cries out as a second orgasm rips through her, her hips trying to buck under my hands pressure as I hold her down. Her orgasm lasts almost double the amount of time her last one did and when she finally stops shaking she collapses back into the seat, her mouth wide and panting.

“Oh my God.” April gasps taking panting breaths between each word, “what did you do to me?” She asks with a breathless laugh but I could tell she was seriously asking.

“That was two orgasms one straight after the other.” I tell her as she weakly tries to pull her dress.

“It was amazing.” She says, slightly regaining her breath. She reaches her hand across and places it on my obvious erection, “Can I?” She asks her hands already on my trousers zip.

“If you want to.” I tell her putting emphasis on the word ‘you’ before adding, “you don’t have to.”

“I want to.” April tells me quietly but firmly, “It will help me with my fear.”

“If you’re sure but you don’t have to.” I tell her to make sure she knows that she doesn’t have to do this.

“No I do.” She says as she unzips my trousers, “I have to, it will help me so we can mate.” She says, I think trying to slightly distract herself as she pulls back my underwear and my cock springs out of my trousers. She flinches almost imperceptibly.

“Then everyone will know you’re mine.” She growls possessively, her hand lightly touching my cock and looking at it with wide eyes, she looks a little like a deer in the headlights.

I reach out with my hand and tilt her head up breaking her concentration on my cock and making her meet my eyes, “I’m already yours.” I tell her, her eyes sparkle and she wraps her hand around the shaft of my cock.

She leans forward to kiss me and I meet her halfway and as our lips meet she slowly moves her hand down my cock, her hand is small and only just reaches all the way around my cock, she reaches her other hand down and wraps it around from the other side and slowly starts moving her hands slowly up and down.

“And I’m yours.” She says more confident than she sounded before and her movements have gotten faster as my breath deepens.

“We are each others.” I tell her as I feel myself get close to finishing. She reaches over with her one hand and takes a box of tissues from the glove box and just before I cum she pulls a tissue from the box and as I cum she holds it in front of my cock and collects my cum in the tissue.

When I’m finished she takes another tissue from the box and wipes my cock clean and balls it up around the other. I slip my cock back into my trousers and then zip them up. I take the tissues from April intending to rush them over to the bin but I stop as she moves to put the box of tissues away.

“How did you know they were in there?” I ask her knowing she hadn’t looked in the glove box.

“I smelt the cardboard and took a guess.” She says with a sly smile.

I lean across and kiss her hard, she kisses me back even harder and I lose myself in the kiss.

“You’re fucking amazing.” I growl and she smiles, I place my hand on her cheek and softly stroke her smooth skin, “And so beautiful.” I tell her my voice losing its growl while remaining harsh.

“I love you.” Her voice is almost a growl.

“I love you too.” My voice slips back into a growl.

We sit there for a moment just looking at each other, the lust and arousal is almost a visible thing inside the car. I kiss April softly and quickly before I drag myself away from her and rush to the bin to dump the used tissues, I jump back into the car and see April smiling at me all sweet and innocent looking, I can tell she has something she wants to say and I raise my eyebrows at her trying to encourage her to speak.

“You were supposed to call Detective Jones when you woke up and instead we’ve been out to a fancy meal, talking to a Selkie and well this.” She says slyly and with a little wink at the end.

“I should probably give him a call.” I say as I start the car.

The car rings the Detective and he picks up after a couple of rings, “Larten glad you called me, are you alright?” he asks.

I don’t like seeming weak in front of people, “Perfectly fine.” I reply, “I’m on the car speaker so me and April my mate can hear you.” I tell him.

“Mate that’s like wife?” he says questioningly.

“A little more complex and intimate but yes close enough.” I explain to him.

“Nice to kind of meet you April.” Detective Jones says neutrally.

“Nice to kind of meet you too Detective Jones.” She says with a little laugh at the ‘kind of’ comment.

“Why did you need me to call you?” I ask him keeping my voice calm to try and not let on any of the jealousy I feel at him making April laugh.

“We think we have a lead on that wolf that attacked your home.” He tells me sounding a little excited and April looks at me with excitement all over her face.

“What’s the lead?” I ask calmly so he doesn’t hear my joy at this development.

“Apparently a wolf that sounds like the one that attacked your house and could be connected to the Troll and that whole issue can also look like a human and has been seen at a very seedy Fair Folk owned bar.” He tells me.

“Who gave you the information about the Wolf being able to look like a human as well?” I ask him.

“A half Fair Folk Truthseer that comes highly recommended and has working with multiple police forces and government agencies in the past. He said he liked to visit the club from time to time and said he thought that a strange person who also looks like a massive wolf could be connected to the events with the Troll.” He says with confidence at the Truthseers credentials.

When it comes to any supernatural being credentials like that don’t matter just because they have worked with human police and government before doesn’t mean anything, who’s to say they didn’t feed the humans information that would point away from one of their own if they had been involved. The kind of bar that the half Fair Folk had been visiting didn’t make me trust him much either, it was the kind of place that the violent and slightly unstable visit. I had visited once before on the search for a Vampire that had been draining and killing humans all over the country, I had found him draining a human with a few Werewolves watching him salivating with the hunt in their eyes, I wasn’t sure who was their intended prey, the weakening human or the Vampire. It isn’t a pleasant place, it had made my skin crawl and I had no desire to revisit such a place without reason.

“And he gave you this information for free?” I ask doubtful, Fair Folk loved to make deals and wouldn’t just give away information for free.

“He was paid in silver for his information.” The Detective answers quickly.

“Good, did he have any other information on the Wolf?” I ask what he has said so far isn’t enough for him to want to inform me of it.

“He got talking to the Wolf and it turns out he visits that bar most days.” The Detective tells me with something I recognised as the joy of the hunt, he thought he was closing in on the person who had killed all those women, he thought he was closing in on his prey.

“Have you checked it out?” I ask him.

“We heard that it’s better if humans stay away from there and even if we decided to check it out he can apparently look like a human so we would have a hard time knowing if he was there.” He pauses and I know what he is going to ask next, “We had hoped to bring in someone who would have a better chance at identifying the Wolf in human form and since you were already involved we wondered if you wouldn’t mind taking a look and seeing if you couldn’t find him?”

“Did the Truthseer give you any idea about when this Wolf likes to visit?” I ask the Detective, I don’t want to spend more time in that bar than necessary, an environment like that one can bring out the worst in an ancient being.

“Apparently the bartender he got talking to said the Wolf visits every other night at exactly midnight for an hour and then leaves.” He still sounds like he trusts the Thruthseer completely and I was starting to become wary of the Truthseer.

“When did he tell you this?” I was getting impatient, the sun would be rising soon, we were ten minutes at least from home and the detective was only volunteering information one piece at a time.

“He told us this four days ago now, I tried to call almost as soon as we had received the information but no one was answering your phone, the next day when someone did a rather angry sounding man told me you were indisposed and would call me back in a couple of days when you were able, I heard lots of swearing and the phone was abruptly hung up.” He told me making it sound like it had been a major inconvenience for him.

Fucking Tony and Howard, that Wolf could have killed more people while I was in bed healing and it would have been because of their stupidity. I growl a low inhuman sound that rattles around the inside of the car, I feel April place a hand on my leg and my anger starts to fade as it does every time she touches me.

“Sorry Detective having a sword driven through my stomach usually puts me out of action for a couple of days.” I say to him my voice filled with sarcasm and more than just a hint of anger.

“Holy Shit!” He exclaims all professionalism vanishes making him sound like an excited fanboy, “I knew you guys were tough but a sword through the stomach. Holy Shit!”

April lets out a small laugh and gives my leg a small squeeze, her laugh makes me smile like every time I hear her laugh.

“For one who is not as old or as powerful as me it could have been deadly.” I tell him so he knows not to underestimate me. “I’ll look into the club tomorrow, it’s too late today.”

“Thank you Larten, the quicker we find this bastard the less chance it has to killing more people.” The Detective tells me and I can hear the joy of the hunt creep back into his voice, almost everything inside him wants to stop these killings but a small part of him is loving the chase.

“Yes Detective the quicker the wolf is dealt with the safer we all are.” I hang up without telling him about the possible connection between this Wolf and Fenrir the wolf child of an ancient Viking god.

As if reading my mind April asks, “should we have told him about the Wolf being a god child?” I hear the panic in her voice and place one of my hands on the hand she has rested on my leg.

“I think telling him that would make him panic and he would tell his captain who would tell his higher ups and before we know it the government is killing every Fair Folk and Werewolf because they think they could be the one killing people.” I warn her I’ve seen it happen before for many different reasons and I did not want to see that happen here, I had spent so much time making this city safe for all to live in human and all supernatural beings alike.

“The government would actually do something like that?” April asks stunned.

“I have seen it happen before.” I shudder at the memory, “Just because they are in charge doesn’t make them correct and that is true of all rulers.” I have seen many a ruler toppled because of their belief that everything they are doing is correct.

The rest of the car journey we spend in silence, I’m angry, something keeps whispering to me that I’m being toyed with by Fenrir like there is something bigger at work, something I don’t see right now. I feel a wave of some kind of power pulse out from April and whip my head round to look at her, that felt like magic not any Vampire magic that I recognise but more like Witch magic and even then I don’t recognise its power, it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. It scares me but at the same time I feel myself relax.

I come very close to asking April if she is a Witchborn but surely if she was and she knew it she would have already told me when she told me what had happened to her. I breathe in her scent deeply and relax a little more, this is April, she is mine and I hers, surely I would have noticed if she was a Witchborn before now, just like that all my paranoia comes flooding back. I park the car in the garage and lean towards her and kiss her cheek, April turns her head towards me and kisses me hard on the lips.

“I love you.” She growls, I smile and trail a hand down her cheek and across her bare shoulder.

“I love you too.” I tell her my voice also deep with a growl.

April moves quickly and I fail to track her movements as she twists around and lands on my lap facing me one leg either side of me. I gasp stunned, she was so fast I didn’t see her movements until after she had made them. Her arms reach out and she closes her hands behind my head and pulls us closer to each other and kisses me hard and with one hand she holds me close possessively and her other hand loosens my head and trails lightly down my back over my spine making me shiver. Aprils actions are erotic as she lets her hand slip away from my back, run across my ribs down my stomach and rest on the inside of my thigh. She doesn’t smell of arousal even though her actions tell me otherwise.

I let one of my hands slide down April’s back running across the string that holds her dress together and the soft skin of her back. The other hand I use to play with her hair in a fashion I know she enjoys. April makes a purring sound and practically melts against me and our kiss deepens and becomes more possessive and passionate. I still can’t smell any sense of arousal from April and it makes me wonder, is she doing this because she believes she has to so I stay interested in her, to help her get over her fears so we can be mated properly or does she truly want this?

I pull back from the kiss slightly, “you don’t want this.” I tell her softly.

“I... I don’t know.” She says her voice almost a whisper.

“Take a breath and tell me what you smell.” I instruct her, knowing she will smell what I do.

I watch April take a deep breath, “you smell aroused.” She says firm and confident, “I don’t though.” She says sounding like she is disappointed with herself.

“It just means you don’t want to at the minute and that is fine.” I tell her.

“Is it really ok?” She asks with a frown.

“Yes, I will never force you into anything.” I growl slightly annoyed that she would think otherwise.

“No I know, it’s just sometimes you get this look in your eyes and I feel like I can’t say no. I just want to please you.” She says the last sentence in a shy whisper.

“You can always say no.” I growl, I shake my head lightly and soften my voice when I next speak, “All I want to do is protect you but you quiet the danger inside me, you calm me and it makes it harder for me to protect you.” I laugh, “You don’t need my protection but you look so frail and I feel compelled.”

“I calm you?” April asks surprised.

“You haven’t notice?” I ask stunned, “You can bring me back from a murderous rage by just touching me. It scares me.” I tell her.

“I never realised I’m sorry.” She apologises with a tear.

“Never apologise for who you are.” I tell her firmly, “I like it, I have never felt so in control as I do when I’m around you.”

April kisses me and I kiss her back.

“I wont apologise for being me again, if you promise to stop me when I can’t realise that one of us doesn’t want to take things further.” April’s voice is strong and clear.

“I promise but I want one more thing from you.” I tell her and she looks at me with a question that I can answer before she asks, “I want you to train with me at full strength so you can protect yourself and we can protect each other.”

“I thought you were already doing that.” She says feeling a little betrayed.

“I haven’t gone against anyone with full strength for so many years.” I tell her, “but I will with you because I believe you will be able to stand against me and I need to make sure you can protect yourself if I can’t.”

“When do we start?” April asks with a smile.

“Now if you’re ready.” I offer, she nods her head with enthusiasm.

We head straight to the training room we spar in and I test her with different weapons without breaking the flow of our fight, she blocks my moves and manages to land a few of her own causing minor wounds across my upper body. She is so fast that I don’t even see some of her moves before she lands them, the only advantages I have are brute strength and my height.

I leap away from April but she follows me almost on top of me every step of the way, she lunges at me and I bring up the latest weapon I picked up, an Egyptian Khopesh, I intend to use the curve of the blade to disarm one of her short swords but at the last second she drops her weight and slams one of her swords through my foot and into the floor. I howl in pain and April places he other sword to my throat.

“Yield.” She growls.

I look around the room and realise that most of the nest has gathered and is watching us with extreme interest.

“Never!” I roar, I had managed to slide the curve of the Khopesh under the hilt of the short sword in my foot and I wrench it out and send it flying upwards missing April by millimetres as she jumps backwards away from me. I do the same and skip back a few steps and watch as she raises her one remaining short sword, I swing the Khopesh experimentally and smile at April, she smiles back and rushes for the weapons rack.

I try to stop her reaching the weapons but she is much too fast and when I reach her she spins, she holds a spear but she holds it high on the shaft so the blade is closer to her and there is a length of wood sticking out behind her.

The blade of the spear narrowly misses my stomach and as she continues her spin she drops her whole body down and sweeps at my legs with the length of the shaft that stands out behind her. April uses her momentum to carry herself away from me and to alter her hold on the shaft of the spear so she holds it in a more traditional manner.

I abandon the Khopesh in favour of a spear, I mirror April’s stance but lower my centre of gravity so I stand lower to the ground than she does. I let out an ancient war cry one that has not been heard for centuries, those of the nest present in the crowd meet my war cry with one of their own, dozens of different languages and war cries boom through the house and I watch April falter, the war cry did exactly what I expected it threw her off balance, confused her and allowed me time to strike.

I throw myself at her and she stumbles as she brings her spear up to meet my attack with one of her own and because of her stumble she is too slow. I hit her hand with the shaft of the spear making her loose her own spear, I grab her spear and throw it away before pointing the head of my spear at her heart.

“Yield.” I growl at April.

“Never.” She laughs and jumps at me, in surprise I drop the spear so I don’t impale her and she lands on me hard knocking me to the floor, she pins me with a couple of martial art holds that would usually work but I have more raw strength than she does.

If I let her win then none in the nest would try and hurt her again but then again they might view it as me becoming weak and some would either challenge me it try and convince someone stronger than themselves to challenge me. If I win it might upset her and wouldn’t stop the nest from trying to hurt her but it would show that I’m not weak but could I do that to her.

“Yield.” April growls with a smile.

“I yield.” I say loudly, smiling at April.

Everyone gathered explodes with noise and action, some screaming in outrage and others in celebration, I join them and roar my congratulations and joy at April’s victory.

“She is faster than anything I have ever seen before and so very strong.” Abraham whispers to me his voice filled with awe.

“Truly magnificent.” I say at my normal volume to allow every Vampire gathered to hear my words.

“Quite terrifying for someone so small.” Martin speaks quietly from the other side of me.

“She could be one of the strongest Vampires alive.” I hear Emma’s voice behind me.

“What else would you expect from my mate?” I ask rhetorically, my love for April painted across my face and words.

7.

The last few days have all played out the same, wake up, feed, train with April, get to the Fair Folk club for just before midnight and stay for a couple of hours to try and find Fenrir then return home to train with April even more, I take a couple of hours each day to look into the people from April’s past. I’ve been having no luck with the club and was getting seriously annoyed, Fenrir supposedly visited every other night so should have been their at least twice at the same time as me. I have a couple of my more sane Vampires watching the place constantly, working shifts to one pair worked nights and the other pair days.

I growl as I wake still wound up that we had not found anything to do with Fenrir, April rolls over while still mostly asleep and throws one arm over me, instantly my anger starts to fade. Emma bursts into my bedroom swearing like a seasoned sailor, I pull the covers up further over April to protect her modesty.

“What’s going on?” April yawns before kissing the side of my neck. I roll over to face her and kiss her properly, she shuffled towards me pressing her naked body against mine.

“I have no idea.” I tell her as Emma stops her silent pacing and starts up her tirade of curses again.

“Emma.” I call her name a little louder than needed to get her attention.

Her head snaps round to mine and my eyes meet hers, her eyes are blood red and I see that she is close to losing control, in all the many years I have known Emma I have never seen her get like this.

“What is wrong?” I ask her calmly as she snarls and growls at me.

“Emma, what is it?” April asks her voice soft and quiet, anyone who didn’t know her would think her voice meant she was scared but those who knew her also knew that she had an ability to calm Vampires, as I was practically her mate I was the first to realise her ability but I got her to test it on a few other Vampires and now she is getting better at using it on others. She can relax the bloodthirsty beast that lurks inside us all, she had helped three of what I call the Wild Ones, very old Vampires who are extremely insane, she can bring them under control so they could live mostly sane for a while.

I see Emma start to calm at April’s words but it takes her another minute before she was able speak in coherent sentences.

“The Council have summoned you.” She growls, her eyes flick over to April then back to me, “They also want April there.”

I growl, I don’t like this, I know every member of the Council and they aren’t big fans of me, they don’t like having an older and stronger Vampire running around and not under their control.

April sensing my anger presses herself against me, her body against mine brings with it the usual feeling of calmness, I can feel her calming magic spread throughout me but my mind tells me that it isn’t just her magic at work, I feel calmer because she’s mine, her body fits perfectly against mine like we were made for each other.

“The Vampire Council?” April asks keeping her voice soft.

I swear loudly and feel April stiffen against me, I gently run a hand down her back to try and reassure her, she has gotten a lot better with her fear of people and intimacy and is really coming out of her shell, arguing back at people and not taking much shit from anyone anymore. Her fear of sex and intimacy is taking longer and she is still scared of sex but she was getting better with intimacy and would hug me and kiss me a lot more often, yesterday when I returned from staking out the club she had leapt at me and wrapped her arms and legs around me. Sex was a different matter, she is still scared of it and we still weren’t mated properly yet but she had been pushing herself, masturbating in front of each other and sucking my dick before she let me eat her pussy.

“The very same, I had expected this a little sooner.” I tell April trying not to let my voice fall into a growl, “when do they want us?” I ask Emma.

“As soon as you can get there.” Emma tells me, I know from her tone of voice that what The Council had meant was they wanted me there now.

“Fucks sake.” I growl, April moves and rests a hand on my chest and tries to move her body closer to me even though she was already pressed completely against me.

“Do we have time for some fun first?” April asks me, her voice had become husky and I can smell her arousal.

“Always.” I smile letting the hand I had ran down her back move round to her stomach before trailing it up over her stomach and between her breasts, April makes a sound close to a purr and kisses me.

“I’ll leave you two to it.” Emma says as she strides out of the room without looking over at us.

As soon as Emma has left the room April moves so that she is lying on top of me, her body pressing down on me, I breathe in her scent and move my hands to cup her ass. She sits up, her crotch above mine and I can feel her wetness above my cock, she runs her hands down over my chest and lets them rest on my hips before she leans forward and kisses me, the kiss is full of passion and possession.

April slides down my body and I feel her mouth close around my cock, I gasp as she runs her tongue around the head of my cock, she spends a little time paying attention to only the head of my cock before her head sinks down and she takes my full length inside her mouth. When she comes up for breath I pull her off my cock and dragged her up my body so I can kiss her again.

When I finish kissing her, April tries to slide down my body again but instead I lift her and spin her around so that her face is near my cock and if I fold myself a little I can reach her pussy with my mouth. She takes my cock in her mouth at the same moment my tongue meets her clit. We stay like that for a while, we have found out what works for each other and we are using that knowledge now and there are multiple times when one of us or both of us have to stop to let out moans of pleasure. I feel myself getting close to climax and April speeds up and as my orgasm hits she swallowed the whole length of my cock and lets me cum straight into her throat, she gags a little but holds her head in place. April tries to get off of me when she takes my softening cock out of her mouth but I wrap my arms around her hips and hold her pussy to my face.

“Don’t stop.” She gasps as she sits up making sure her pussy never leaves my mouth. When she is sitting up I reach my hands up and gently caress her nipples, lightly pinching them every couple of seconds eliciting loud moans from her. She reaches her orgasm quickly and her whole body shakes on top of me, when she has stopped shaking she collapses onto the bed next to me panting. She kisses me, licking her juices from around my mouth and then kisses me again.



“I love you.” April whispers.



“I love you too.” I whisper back to her a huge smile on my face.

We lie there just holding each other for a few moments, I don’t want to move, I love this, lying here with her, feeling her skin against mine but if we don’t go to the Council they will send people to collect us and because of my age, strength and the fact that one or more people in my nest will have told the Council about April they would send their strongest to collect us and those Vampires are more than a little unstable.

“We should probably start getting ready to visit The Council.” I tell April as I swing my legs out of the bed.

“Can I join you in the shower?” April asks placing a hand on my spine just below my neck.

“It will be just a shower though.” I say as her arms wrap around me from behind and I place my hands over hers.

“I can’t change your mind?” April asks before kissing the side of my neck.

I want to turn around and pounce on her, to make her scream in ecstasy, for us to lose ourselves in primal lust and pleasure but we can’t I don’t want to bring the Council here and they will come here if we don’t go to them now.

“Unfortunately not.” I grumble, “we really do have to go and see the Council as soon as possible.”

I think April gets the idea because she takes her arms from around me and jumps off the bed and strolls towards the bathroom putting extra away into her steps. I sit on the bed for a moment and consider ignoring the Councils summons for today and spending the day in bed with April but I quickly put it out of my mind. I get off the bed and walk towards the bathroom, the shower is running but April tells me that the water is still cold so I use the toilet first. We don’t spend long in the shower I want to get this day over and done with.

“We need to dress up for the Council they will take offense if we don’t look our best.” I tell her, usually I wouldn’t bother as I have no love for the Council and they are too scared and sane to try and fight me but this is Aprils introduction to the council and we have to do this properly.

“I can wear the dress I wore on our date.” She says her whole face lighting up.

“They wouldn’t like that, they are very old and so are their views on things, they would say the dress is too revealing and would take it as an insult against them, the stuck up, self centred, misogynists that they are.” I tell her letting her hear my disdain.

“I like that dress.” She says a little sadly.

“I like it as well but this is to please the Council.” I tell her picking out a full black suit.

“What about this one?” April asks holding up a long black dress that looks straight out of the nineteen twenties.

I’ve never seen it before and I wondered why it looked really good and I thought it was something she would like.

“Emma gave it to me the day after our date.” She tells me, “She said I might need a less revealing dress for public events but I think she meant this.” April says with a smile on her face.

I watch her as she slips on her black lacy underwear and a pair of tights, I tear my eyes from her and start to get dressed, my suit is all black with dark grey accents, it isn’t impressive but it would keep the Council quiet.

“What do you think?” April asks, I turn to look at her and was stunned.

She is the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, the dress falls to just below her knees, the bottom of the dress looks like someone has taken scissors to it and cut it so the last inch or so is in strips. Strips of the dress itself are made from a more mesh like fabric which allows April’s skin tone to shine through those parts creating a flesh coloured floral pattern. The neckline isn’t deep and reveals no cleavage, she spins on the spot and I see that the same floral design is on the back as well.

“You are the most beautiful person who has ever or will ever live.” I tell her and she blushes.

I can see her about to argue that she isn’t but she has learned not to argue that point with me because I wouldn’t let her win, I think that she truly is the most beautiful person ever.

I finish dressing in my black suit and look around at April who is sitting in front of a mirror applying a small amount of makeup, I had told her before that she didn’t need makeup but she had told me she wanted to wear it because it made her feel like a normal girl and comfortable, I understand that she never had the chance to feel normal. She feels the same kind of way about her choker necklace she says that it makes her think of me and makes her feel safe, like reassurance.

“You look amazing.” April tells me when she looks around at me. I smile and lead the way out of our bedroom down to the kitchen and we have a quick bite to eat, it still makes me uncomfortable when April feeds from a man.

We head out to the garage and April walks over to the Mercedes, I shake my head at her and lead her over to an eighties model Land Rover.

“Doesn’t seem like your style.” April says with a little bit of a frown on her face.

“I brought it brand new and it’s always served me well. We’re going to need it where we are going.” I tell her and her frown deepens.

I jump in the drivers seat and April hops up into the passenger seat next to me, “where are we going?” she asks.

I smile at her, “we are going to a mountain that doesn’t appear on any map or any non Vampire document, the meeting place for the Council.”

“What are the Council like?” She asks.

“There’s five of them but only two maybe three stay at this mountain at one time the others are out in the world, policing Vampires, creating new Vampires or just killing things. Every single one of them is power hungry, vicious and so set in their ways they wouldn’t know a good idea if it beat them over the head and set them on fire. The Council have been there since about one thousand A.D. but the mountain has been a place of power since long before that, even the monster who created me avoided the area.” April looks intrigued by my words.

“There is some kind of magic around the mountain that locks it off from most things but Vampires and animals so because of that the predators that used to roam this country are still alive and well around this mountain, usually they will leave you alone but I made friends with a wolf pack a decade or two ago, I would love to see them again but I doubt they’re still around.” I feel a tear roll down my cheek at the memory of those wolves, I had spent almost a year with them.

“I hope you get to see them again.” April said quietly.

I seriously doubt that they would still be alive, they were young adults when I had met and that was almost thirty years ago now, that is the big problem with being basically immortal everyone and everything you care about dies way before you do. April asks me a few questions about the wolves and their pack and slowly I notice the roads getting rougher and rougher, then before I know it we arrive at the mountain with no name that appears on no map.

I park the car, “we have to walk from here.” I tell April as I climb out of the jeep and take of my shoes and socks.

“What are you doing?” April asks looking truly confused.

“Back in the old days everyone had to make the pilgrimage to the Vampire halls bare foot.” There was a deeper reason to the tradition but it was a bit gory and morbid so I didn’t share it, “You don’t have to now but it’s a tradition I want to uphold.”

April strips off her shoes and stands next to me, “I can tell it means a lot so I want to do it with you.” I smile at her, look at her tights and raise an eyebrow, “Not a chance.” She says firmly, “they’re annoying to get on and off.”

I laugh and kiss her, before taking her hand and starting the trek up the mountain to the Vampire halls. We are only five minutes into the walk and I can already feel my feet bleeding, April swears violently and her hand shoots out and grabs mine.

“Why is this a tradition?” She asks angrily.

“It is to honour the Vampires who made up the original Council.” I tell her as I place my fisted hand over my heart and bow my head in a sign of respect for the dead.

“Why? Isn’t there a better way to honour them?” she asks.

“We have many ways to honour them.” I tell her and pause for a moment, “I could tell you the story and let you decide for yourself if this pain is a suitable way to honour them.”

She nods her head slowly so I start telling her the story the same way I had been told it centuries ago.

“Like all sentient self aware beings Vampires have the capacity to do great good and terrible evil but unlike others our nature, our bloodlust, makes us lean towards evil and that is what most of us were, killers, torturers and other vile things. Some of us were protectors though, they would protect villagers from all the things that go bump in the night, the things that eat children and steal pets that includes other Vampires. The evil Vampires did not approve so they gathered their forces and rounded up the ten strongest good Vampires. The good Vampires were stripped naked and forced to walk to this mountain, they then had to climb it while they were pelted by rocks. These Vampires were strong though and only one perished.”

I shake my head the next part is not pleasant. “The ones who survived were tortured mercilessly, beaten and their skin flayed from their bodies then they were forced to feed so they could heal and the torture was repeated, I was told that this happened for days maybe even weeks until three of them couldn’t heal anymore not even if they drained a person dry so they died. The remaining six were hung from their necks, they wouldn’t die but it would be painful and would teach other Vampires a lesson. What the evil Vampires didn’t know is that one of the good Vampires was also a black witch and all the pain and suffering that had been endured had ramped up his energy levels and when the noose tightened around his neck his magic instinctively reacted by destroying the rope and killing everything it thought was a threat. This black magic Vampire was ancient and had enormous self control so he quickly managed to bring his magic under control and surveyed the damage.”

I smile cruelly, “Every single one of the evil Vampires were dead, only him and the five other good Vampires remained. The black magic Vampire knew that this would happen again in the future so he decided that something needed to be done about it. He got the five others to become a council of good Vampires who would teach other Vampires that they could rise above the bloodlust and be better. The Council would make sure that Vampires lived in harmony with humans, Werewolves and Fair Folk, they would protect Vampires from everything and everyone that meant to do them harm.”

My smile changes from cruelty to an actual happy smile, “That is how the Council and first ever nest was created.”

“What happened to the black magic Vampire?” April asks.

“No one knows for sure, some say he just disappeared, others say he could still be out there, personally I believe he sacrificed himself on top of the mountain to enforce the magic that surrounds it. I can show you the statue of him when we are done with the Council, it’s in the Hall of Fallen Heroes.” I tell her.

“I would like to see the statue.” She smiles at me, “I get the tradition now as well, we shed a small amount of blood and feel a feel a fraction of the pain they felt to remember the sacrifice they made so we can live a better more safe life.”

I stop walking and because April was holding my hand she was dragged to a stop as well, I pull her close and kiss her, “I knew you would get it.”

“It’s actually quite noble and a little romantic.” She says her voice dreamy.

“I’ve always thought it a little morbid and gruesome but now that you’ve said it I’m starting to think you’re right.” She amazes me at every turn and it just makes me love her even more.

We keep walking and are about three quarters of the way up the mountain when there is a deep violent growl in front of us, I quickly step in front of April to place myself between her and what I recognise to be a wolf. I growl back at the wolf and it emerges from a bush a couple of metres in front of us. The wolf is dark grey with patches of brown on its body, those markings are familiar, they aren’t the same but close enough for me to know it’s very likely to be the offspring of the alpha of the wolf pack that I had lived with.

“April follow my lead.” I tell her before slowly dropping to my knees and bowing my head to the wolf, I hear April do the same behind me.

“This isn’t what you want.” I tell the wolf softly, “You know what happens if you attack us and neither of us want that little one.”

“What are you doing?” April whispers almost inaudibly behind me.

“The animals on this mountain know what we are and usually avoid us but sometimes they don’t either because they were caught unaware or because they are old and want to die a warriors death.”

“A warriors death?” She whispers.

“Death by fight.” I explain with a sigh, “I just hope we caught him unaware because he looks like he’s still pretty young and I can’t see any scars which means he’s probably a good fighter.”

“Could we take him.” April asks starting to sound worried.

“If he attacks me you can’t get involved it wouldn’t be fair.” I tell her purposefully not answering her question.

“I wont let you fight alone.” She says quickly.

“Yes you will.” I snap, “This kind of fight is sacred to both the wolves and us Vampires so please don’t get involved April.” I say lowering my voice.

“I will only get involved if I think you are going to lose.” Her voice is hard and I know there’s no point trying to argue with her.

“Hopefully it wont come down to a fight.” I tell her as I stand up and take a step towards the wolf.

The wolf snarled and bares its teeth at me. “come on, don’t do it.” I growl at the wolf who suddenly whines and lowers its tail.

“Thank you young one.” I whisper knowing the wolf is backing down and the confrontation is over, “you’re brave young one, I believe I knew your ancestor.” I walk slowly towards the wolf, “he was brave just like you and he was very strong.”

I reach out and the wolf let’s me touch the side of his face, “your ancestor was my friend, you are just like him.” I laugh quietly under my breath, “go on now, let me and my mate pass.”

The wolf turns and licks my hand before looking back at April and then running off into the woods.

“Was he really the descendant of the wolf you knew?” April asks sounding amazed.

“I’m pretty sure, he had the same colours and markings.” I laugh, “he was as brave and confident as the wolf I knew.”

I walk back over to her and take her hand again, “it’s nice to know that his bloodline lives on.” I smile but feel a tear break out of the corner of my eye at the memory of my time living with the wolf pack here.

We start walking again and it doesn’t take us long to reach a massive mouth of a cave, the entrance to the Vampire halls. The entrance isn’t grand like you would expect but looks just the same as any other large mouth of a cave but there is a certain feeling around it that inspires awe in most who approach it.

“It looks just like a cave but there’s a feeling around it.” April whispers.

“That’s part of the black magic Vampires magic. Strong isn’t it.” I say with a slight chuckle.

“It feels like I have goose bumps all over me, like every hair on my body is standing on end.” Her voice is a dreamy whisper.

The first time any Vampire feels this magic they got overwhelmed by it and I have seen many reactions, I have seen Vampires run screaming or just break down in tears but all of them have had a strong reaction except April, her reaction is the slightest most relaxed reaction I have ever seen, even calmer than mine was.

“It’s like the air is charged with electricity.” She whispers.

“You ready to go inside?” I ask her quietly.

“Yeah I think so.” She says uncertainly.

“Let’s do this then.” I say as I walk ahead of April into the mouth of the cave.

The first room we enter is small and lit by a couple of burning torches, as we walk into the room a white haired old male vampire jogs over to us.

“Larten and April I guess.” He says in a voice that sounds like he had smoked multiple packs of cigarettes for the whole of his life.

“Yes.” Both April and myself say simultaneously.

“Good, good.” He says in a sing song style, his voice quickly drops and becomes dark and slightly violent, “they said to bring you someone to drink.”

“It would be appreciated.” I say keeping my voice soft as I realise this Vampire is a bit unstable, “we need a person each please.”

“One each, yes, yes of course you do.” He says, the way he says it make me re-evaluate my opinion, he’s more than a bit unstable.

‘Be careful this one is more than a little unstable.’ I send my thoughts to April telepathically.

‘I had noticed.’ April sends back.

“Wait here.” The Vampire almost growls before running out of the room.

“The Councils hospitality has dropped it seems.” I say absently.

The Vampire returns quickly almost dragging two people behind him.

“Good food, tasty blood.” The Vampire says in the same sing song style and I could see his fangs extend as he smiled.

I silently curse the Council they had sent this Vampire to meet us on purpose, this Vampire was crazy and the Council expected him to do something that would make me kill him and then the would have cause to execute me, it wasn’t that the Council didn’t like me but they are scared of those more powerful than them and I am more powerful than them all. I thank the Vampire and move the people away from him before me and April feed from them. I thank them like I always do when I finish feeding and I smile when I hear April do the same.

“Take them back to their room.” The Vampire says and I think he is talking to me so I move to walk them out of the room but the Vampire snarls at me, “You stay here I take them.”

I don’t like the idea of leaving the people with this Vampire but this isn’t my territory and I can’t do anything about it without angering this Vampire and possibly the Council so I let the Vampire escort the humans out of the room.

“Was that a good idea?” April asks sounding worried for the humans.

“We couldn’t have done anything without offending him and possibly the Council.” I tell her not happy with any of this. I’m starting to get annoyed and I’m about to try and follow the Vampire and humans when a voice booms through the room.

“We will see you now.” The voice is deep and filled with authority and is one I know.

I smile as I take April by the hand and lead her through a small series of tunnels and into the chamber of the Council.

The chamber is a huge cavern, sunlight is reflected through a series of crystals to filter out the harmful UV rays but allows the sunlight to illuminate the room because it is night there isn’t much light the room is also lit up by burning torches. There are five large throne like chairs set on a raised area at the back of the room, three of the five chairs are occupied. I recognise all three of the Vampires and I’m pleased about two of the three Council members but I’m worried about the third, we have a bit of a history.

“Ah The Ancient and The Youngling, it’s a pleasure.” Speaks one of the Vampires his voice nasally and strangely high compared to his big body shape.

“It is good to see you again Aleister.” I’m not saying that just to be polite but because it really is good to see him again.

“It’s good to meet you sir.” April says like she is speaking to royalty and I suppose in a way she is.

“We aren’t happy with you.” One of the other Vampires says his voice practically a growl.

“Pleasure to see you again Daffyd.” I speak sarcastically, me and Daffyd have a history as well but not in the same way as I do with Aleister, while me and Aleister have been friends, me and Daffyd have always been what I suppose you could call enemies. Daffyd growls and bares his fangs at me but before he answers me the third Vampire speaks up.

“Larten welcome.” The third Vampire known as Aedan says quickly before continuing, “You have put us in an awkward position.”

“It is not awkward he has broken many rules and we have put up with it until now but this is unacceptable.” Daffyd speaks before I can reply and I can hear the venom in his voice. He gestures towards April, “That is wrong. You are not allowed to change anyone under twenty one or without consulting with the Council first.”

“You do not speak of April that way.” I growl holding myself back from launching at him and ripping him to shreds. I feel April’s hand slip into mine and I relax slightly.

“Then you shouldn’t have made her without permission.” Daffyd growls back at me and I can see the growing unease in both Aleister and Aedan’s faces.

“You don’t give me permission to do anything.” My voice slips into a growl.

“You are right.” Aedan quickly interrupts Daffyd’s reply, “You both know we probably couldn’t stop him and he has helped us out countless times.”

“He is one of the only people we can trust with our old and crazy friends.” Aleister backs him up.

“He has made a mockery of our rules too many times and now this he turns an eighteen year old girl and then starts fucking her.” I growl as I feel April flinch at Daffyd’s crude words, “They both need to be executed immediately.”

I try to leap at Daffyd but April wraps her arms around me not in a sign of affection but to stop me from attacking him which I’m very glad for because I know the others will have to put a death sentence on me and April meaning we could never return to our nest or be around any other vampire associated with the Council.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.” April whispers.

“No but it would be so very satisfying.” I tell her my voice half growl and half laugh.

“Yeah it would but it would make them kill us wouldn’t it?” I don’t think she’s asking an actual question but is trying to distract me to help calm me down.

“Yeah it would.” I tell her trying to bring myself under control.

“Shame.” She says her voice almost inaudible.

“Try it old man, we’ll see how weak you’ve gotten.” Daffyd says confidently.

“How’s your arm?” I ask him with a half laugh.

“You’re a dead man.” Daffyd growls his voice thick with the promise of violence.

“No he isn’t.” Aedan booms, “you are allowing your history and emotions to rule your judgement.”

“I’m not a fan of what he has done but he is way to valuable to execute.” Aleister adds.

“If we allow him to break all these rules then others will follow suit and we can’t have that.” Daffyd’s tone is more reasonable now and his words ring true.

“They wont because they can’t stand up to us, the only ones who can are too crazy to do so.” Aedan tells him.

“And Larten has already stated he has no desire to be a part of the Council.” Aleister adds.

“You don’t want to be a part of the Council, do you?” I ask April who quickly shakes her head.

“Her.” Daffyd laughs, “She would have no chance of becoming part of the Council, she would be no match for any of us.”

“Looks can be deceptive.” Aedan says.

“You killed Tony and Howard didn’t you?” Aleister questions April.

“They challenged me, I beat them and spared them but then Howard tried to stab me in the back and got Larten instead.” She pauses and her eyes move from the Council members to me and then back again, “so I tore him apart, Sophie killed Tony.”

“Rightfully so.” Aedan says trying to hide a smile.

“So you’re two Vampires down.” Daffyd snaps.

“Jonathan is gone as well, he challenged me but I’m sure you already knew that.” I growl at him, “with April being new though we are only down two since the last census.”

“We need to bring your numbers back up.” Aleister says obviously changing the topic, “We have a few Wild Ones who could do with a strong master.”

“With the things happening around and to our nest at the minute I don’t think bringing in more Wild Ones would be a good idea.” I tell them forgetting they didn’t know about all the dead women and the Wolf.

“What things?” Daffyd asks quickly.

“Just a little trouble with a lone Fair Folk.” I tell him, my voice making it clear that we could deal with it ourselves.

“I would hope so with your strength and the strength she supposedly has.” Daffyd snaps.

“’She’ has a name. Use it.” I growl my anger starting to rise again.

“Gentlemen, we get it you don’t like each other but can have at least a sense of civility please.” Aedan says with a sly smile.

“If he treats us the same way.” I tell them and Daffyd just grunts.

“Now that’s sorted I would like to make a request of you April.” Aleister looks at April with a smile.

“What’s the request?” She asks suspiciously.

“I would like you to fight one of our Vampires so we can see how strong you really are.” Aleister turns his smile on me as he speaks.

“If neither me or the other fighter get killed or injured then I will agree.” April says confidently making me smile because I think she is starting to believe in her own power.

“I can promise no deaths or serious injuries but some injuries are almost guaranteed.” Aleister tells her.

“I can agree to that.” April tells him with a smile.

“If I think at any point they are going to break these rules I will not hesitate to get involved.” I warn them all including April.

She turns to me with a cheeky smile, “You wont need to.” She says calmly.

“Shall we get back to the matter of increasing your numbers?” Aedan says more loudly than needed.

“Yes lets do that.” I reply.

We spend what must be at least half a hour discussing which Vampires we think would be best suited to my nest and in the end decide upon three Vampires, one Female, Claire and two Males, Aziz and Peter. Peter was apparently a little bit crazy but he wasn’t violent and still seemed to be in control so I agreed to take him in. When we are finished with our discussion Aleister asks April if she is still ok with fighting someone and she tells him she is as long as the same rules are still applied, he guarantees her they did so she agreed.

Aleister started thinking out loud about who he would get to fight April but before he had discarded the third name Daffyd shot to his feet.

“I know the perfect person.” He declared, “I’ll fetch them and head to the training hall.” He rushes off before anyone can question him.

“I guess we should head to the training hall then.” Aedan said seriously.

Aleister walks with April just ahead of us, I had wanted to walk with them but Aedan had held me back telling me he wanted to talk to me on our way to the training hall. I try to listen to Aleister and April’s conversation as well as talk to Aedan.

“I’m really interested in how strong you are.” I hear Aleister say, “You must really be something to have him to claim you as his mate.”

April starts to reply but just as she did Aedan spoke and while I could still hear her voice I couldn’t hear her words.

“Daffyd will fight to have you executed if you keep breaking all these rules.” He tells me, “He really hates you.”

“He will fight to have me executed anyway.” I tell him certain of my words, “Ripping someone’s arm off tends to make them hate you.”

Aedan laughs at my words. I hear April and Aleister laugh ahead of us an jealousy flares through me.

‘She is mine and I am hers.’ I run the chant through my head to calm myself.

“He likes to tell anyone who will listen that he managed to overpower you and that’s why he survived.” Aedan laughs a sharp sarcastic laugh, “anyone who has actually met you or knows about you knows that you let him live but why?”

I smile a cruel smile, “I wanted to send a message to his Master that I knew who he was, who was in his nest and what they had done and if he wanted to live he would stop immediately.” I laugh a cold, cruel sound, “the master tried to flee to one of the colonies either the Americas or Australia but on the ship they found out what he was and they keel hauled him, decapitated him and then dumped his remains in the ocean.”

“I don’t blame him for running, I’ve seen you in a rage.” Aedan’s face was serious.

We enter the training hall a moment after April and Aleister and I growl as I see who Daffyd chosen to fight April.

“Bastard.” I swear.

“This is who I have chosen for you to fight.” Daffyd smiles at me, “This is Vanessa.”

“Larten.” Vanessa purrs her voice dripping with lust, “it’s such a pleasure to see you again.” She puts emphasis on the word ‘pleasure' and licks her lips seductively.

Vanessa had been a part of my nest a while ago and I thought she had seen me as another conquest an extremely powerful Vampire to wrap around her fingers, I hadn’t appreciated that and kicked her out of the nest.

April growls at her, steps closer to me and grabs my hand and squeezes hard, “he’s mine.” She says almost snarling.

I could feel myself getting aroused at her possessiveness, I love hearing her get possessive over me because it shows how much she loved me.

“Well we’ll see about that.” Vanessa bats her eyelashes at me.

“No we wont.” I growl before deeply kissing April, April moans softly at my sudden kiss before quickly kissing me back.

Vanessa growls, “I can’t wait for this.”

I tried not to smile when I speak, “this will be easy.” I tell her absolutely sure she will win this easily.

Vanessa laughs a quick sharp laugh, “that little thing.” She laughs in the same manner again, “I’ll break her with a tap.”

“I’m going to enjoy this.” April growls.

“Remember you can’t kill or seriously injure her, no matter how much you want to.” I tell April with a smile.

“I will regret that rule wont I?” April asks rhetorically.

I laugh and give her a quick, soft kiss, “Have fun?”

April laughs, “oh I will.”

There is a square boxing ring type structure set up in one corner of the hall, Vanessa jumps into one corner and April does the same and jumps in the corner opposite her.

A tall, muscular female Vampire jumps into the centre of the ring, “I'm Elise and I have been chosen to be the Master of Ceremonies because I don’t know either of the competitors or their masters.” She pauses and looks at me, “except by reputation.”

April looks from her to me and back again with a frown, I know she is feeling the same possessive jealousy I felt hearing her and Aleister laughing together.

“The rules are the same as they would be for a normal challenge, leave the ring and you lose, if anyone gets involved on your behalf you lose, the loser is the one who is either knocked unconscious or yields.” Her voice travels through the whole of the hall without her trying, she steps back hops up onto one of the corner posts and perches there on one foot, “begin.” She booms.

Vanessa starts to move around the ring with slow predatory movements while April just stands completely still, not even breathing just watching Vanessa move.

“What is she doing?” Aleister hisses next to me.

“Just watch.” I tell him with a wide smile on my face.

Suddenly Vanessa lunges at April, she’s fast and she aims a kick straight at April’s stomach. I can’t even track April’s movement as she quickly sidesteps away from the kick, grabs Vanessa’s leg spins and launches her across the ring. Vanessa slams into the ropes which bounce her back into the ring and onto the floor.

“Holy shit.” Aleister gasps next to me.

“I didn’t even see her move.” Aedan says standing on the other side of me.

All around the ring I hear gasps and shocked mutterings. Vanessa slowly gets to her feet looking dazed, she shakes herself like a wet dog and snarls at April who just smiles back at her. Vanessa roars and charges at April with her head lowered like a bull, at the last second April jumps over Vanessa and literally kicks her ass, propelling her into the corner post, Vanessa collides with the post with an audible crack and then slumps to the floor not moving. April slowly walks over to her and gives her a gentle kick to makes sure she is unconscious.

Elise hops down off her perch on the opposite side of the ring and walks over to Vanessa, she quickly checks her over before declaring that Vanessa is unconscious, has a minor skull fracture and that April is the victor. A small male Vampire who doesn’t look much older than April picks up Vanessa and carries her out of the ring.

“Is she the best you could throw at me?” April asks her voice calm and steady.

I grimace that could be foolish, Vanessa was obviously one of Daffyd’s Vampires and I don’t think he will respond well to that taunt.

Daffyd jumps into the rings glaring at April, “No but I am.” His voice is hard and I detect a hint of displeasure at how quickly April put Vanessa out of action.

Next to me Aedan mutters, “In his dreams.”

At the same time Aleister says not too quietly, “delusions of grandeur that one.”

I let out a small laugh at their words but quickly frown again when April speaks.

“Bring it on.” She says with boundless confidence.

‘Be careful.’ I quickly send to her telepathically at which she just smiles and nods her head.

Elise steps into the centre of the ring, “Same rules apply.” She tells both Daffyd and April before hopping back onto the corner post she had perched on before, “begin.” She booms.

Daffyd starts the match the same way Vanessa did by making slow predatory movements toward April. Daffyd is strong but slow so I’m sure his tactic will be to get in close to April and try to overwhelm her with his brute force. Without warning Daffyd lunges at April with a punch but the move is too obvious and I know he is going to use it as a distraction from his real move. He does as I predict and as April steps away from his fist his leg shoots out and hits April in the knee, luckily April must have been expecting it because it is just a slight blow and doesn’t even knock her off balance as she spins away from him.

Daffyd advances on April again when she comes to rest in the opposite corner, he aims a kick high at April and she leans backward and lets it sail over her and as she does she kicks out with her foot, catching him off balance she hits his leg that is still on the floor and sends him sprawling. I watch as she decides whether to dive in him and punch him or play it safe and wait, in the end she waits for him to get back in his feet. The rest if the fight continues in much the same manner, Daffyd trying to use brute strength to catch April as she dances away from him and getting some hard hits in when he leaves himself open.

“She’s amazing.” Aedan says his voice dreamy.

“She’s perfect.” I whisper.

Daffyd wraps his arm around April’s leg as she tries to kick him but in return she throws her other foot up and catches him in the chin rocking his head backwards with a loud crack. Daffyd goes limp and drops to the floor bringing April down on top of him, she leaps backwards off him as his grip slackens on her leg. I hear astonished mutters from around the ring about how a fragile looking newly turned eighteen year old girl had just beaten a Council member with relative ease.

“I’m not done yet.” Daffyd says his voice quiet and scratchy as he slowly tries to get to his feet, he slumps to his knees as his legs give out when he tries to stand.

“I think you are.” April says calmly as she walks over to Daffyd, “this is for offending me all night.” She says quietly as she punches him in the face knocking him back to the floor, April grabs Daffyd by the back of the head, “This is for disrespecting my mate since we got here.” April growls as she slams his head into the floor, she then pulls his head back and slams it into the floor again and again and again.

“That’s enough.” Elise says jumping into the ring, April’s head snaps round her eyes red and her fangs extended as she snarls at Elise.

“Stop.” Elise says as April attempts to slam Daffyd’s head into the ground again.

April drops Daffyd and shakes herself like she is a wet dog and her eyes return to their normal blue and her fangs retract.

“I’m sorry.” April says her voice soft, “I lost my temper.”

“That’s ok.” Elise says calmly, “we have a winner.”

April jumps out of the ring and lands next to me, she suddenly wraps her arms around me and kisses me, I kiss her back and she moans softly into my mouth.

“I love you.” April tells me looking into my eyes.

“I love you too.” I tell her smiling.

“You are lucky.” Aleister says to me quietly.

“You two are going to be a force to be reckoned with.” Aedan says seriously, “are you sure neither of you want to join the Council?” he asks equally as serious.

“Aren’t there only supposed to be five members?” April asks.

“Yes but I don’t think Daffyd is long for the Council and I’m sure we could free up another space.” Aedan says his voice cold.

I look at April and wait to hear her response.

“Maybe in a few years time.” April smiles at Aedan, “I’m still getting used to being a Vampire and I’m no where near ready to help lead all Vampires.”

“Whenever you are ready to join us make sure you let us know.” Aedan tells April before speaking to us both, “thank you both for coming tonight but please try not to break more of our rules.”

“You don’t mind if I show April around do you?” I ask.

“No problem.” Aedan smiles.

We thank him and head off so I can show April around the Vampire Halls. I show her around the different halls and end in the Hall of Fallen Heroes. The hall is filled with statues of dead Vampires who had performed extraordinary feats in life, the biggest statue is over twice the size of the rest and is of the Black Magic Vampire.

“He looks kind of frightening.” April whispers.

“I think he probably was, Black Magic tends to do that to us.” I tell her not just referring to the founder of the Council but to me as well.

“He was strong, brave and possibly gave his life to protect the Vampire race, he was a hero.” April says admiringly.

“I’ve heard stories about him and at the end he might have been a hero but before that he was questionable.” I tell her.

“I don’t think it matters really, he was rounded up for being good, he saved all Vampires and countless humans because of his formation of the Council so in the end was he not good and a hero?” April asks, I wonder if she wants an answer or if she just wants to make me think.

I don’t say anything more but think about what she said, could she be right that no matter what your past sins you could still be good? Am I good even though I have a terrible past?

We spend a couple more minutes in the Hall of Fallen Heroes as I show her some of the Vampires I knew and I pay my respects to those I once called friends, enemies or even just acquaintances. When we do leave the Vampire Halls and make our way down the mountain I’m still thinking about what April said, could I still be called good or a hero even though my past is drenched in blood.

8.

The house is quiet when we get back from meeting with the Council, I decide I need to meet with Sophie and Martin soon so I can inform them of the new Vampires who will be here possibly within the week but I can’t sense them in the house, I can’t sense anyone in the house.

“Where is everyone?” April asks starting to sound worried.

“I have no idea.” I tell her getting worried myself.

I was about to reach out to Sophie telepathically when a voice stops me.

“Larten.” A heavily accented voice calls my name and I instinctively put myself between April and the voice because I recognise it as belonging to Kafele one of the Wild Ones.

“Kafele where is everyone?” I ask him concerned.

Kafele gives me a confused look, “I thought they were here.” He violently shakes his head and I can hear him quietly muttering curses in ancient Egyptian, “sorry, my minds not what it once was.”

He frowns and I can see him struggle in concentration, “They went to that club because of a Wolf I think, they left us Wild Ones here with I think three others.”



“I can’t feel anyone else here.” I tell April and Kafele, “I don’t like this, it all feels wrong.”

April looks at me with a frown, “There is something here but it’s not someone from the nest and I don’t think they’re a Vampire.”

I push my senses out to try and feel what April does and after a moment of trying I sense it as well and I curse violently, “The rest if the nest aren’t here but there is something thing else here, a fucking Zombie.”

“Zombies are real?” April almost shouts.

“This is bad.” Kafele says before launching into a tirade of ancient Egyptian curse words.

“Yes Zombies are real and can’t be stopped without finding the object that they’re tied to.” I explain everything to April, how Zombies are made by Black Witches and that their life force is tied to an object which has to remain within a couple hundred metres of the Zombie and unless that object is destroyed the Zombie can’t die no matter what injuries we cause it, it would just keep healing and trying to achieve the task it was made to do which is usually kill someone.

“We should be able to sense it and everyone else though.” Kafele states bluntly.

“A sensory deprivation spell maybe.” I say questioningly.

“The Witch would have to have touched us to work that kind of spell and I know I haven’t come into contact with a Witch for many years now.” Kafele says with absolute confidence.

I try to think what could be going on and I growl as an idea hits me, “The spell is on the Zombie, it’s an area spell so it doesn’t effect the person the spell is on but the area that the person is in.”

Kafele agrees with me with a grim look on his face.

“We need to get to my study now.” I say already moving.

“Your fucking study.” Kafele shouts, “there are members of your nest still here in danger from a Zombie and you only care about getting to your fucking study.” His anger is almost a physical thing coming off him in waves.

“I have many artefacts in there that a Black Witch would love to get their hands on and if they did it would be catastrophic.” I tell him calmly, “I want to make sure the Zombie isn’t a distraction for someone to break in and take those objects, the fact they are using a sensory deprivation spell makes it a high possibility.”

“Fine but if anyone dies it will be in your hands.” Kafele growls at me.

“I know.” I tell him soberly before picking up my pace.

April keeps pace next to me, “you think the Zombie could be a distraction?” she asks without slowing down.

“I don’t know but the sensory deprivation spell makes me think that way so I just want to make sure.” I tell her, “plus we can arm ourselves while there.”

We burst into my study but no one is inside, I sigh in relief and rush around my study locking all the powerful spell books and magic artefacts into a secret vault in the floor under my desk.

“Arm yourselves.” I tell April and Kafele with a savage grin.

Kafele goes straight for an Egyptian Khopesh which makes me smile he claims to be a Medjay, a defender of the Pharaohs that were supposedly abolished in around one thousand BC which would make him much older than me even though I don’t think he is that old. The Khopesh was the weapon of choice for the Medjay, the Khopesh is a sickle sword that is curved at the end and stands at around sixty centimetres in length.

April picks up a pair of double bladed short swords and spins them in her hand to test their weight before smiling at me. I reach down to my hip and draw the Hidden One a Fair Folk blade that appears on my hip whenever I need it, part of me is relieved that it is here now but the other part of me is worried because the blade only appears when their is danger.

“Let's try and find the object sustaining the Zombie.” I say as I open the door to my study, I’ve only taken a couple of steps when I’m slammed against the wall.

“Where is the whore?” A voice growls at me and I choke on the overpowering stench of rot and decay, I know it is the zombie and it is referring to April.

I lift my feet off of the floor as the Zombie holds my shoulders against the wall and I kick it hard in the stomach forcing it backwards away from me and breaking its grip on my shoulders.

“I’ve met a lot of them you’ll have to be more specific.” I growl at the Zombie, the zombie being able to speak doesn’t surprise me because while a zombie doesn’t have the intelligence or ability to speak the witch who created it can speak through it.

“The little girl.” The rotting corpse growled, “she’s mine.”

My eyes flare red and I feel my fangs extend, “I think I know who you mean and she isn’t yours she is mine, she is my mate.” I tell the Zombie with a vicious growl, “and you can not have her.” I punctuate my point by slashing my sword across the Zombies stomach.

I instantly regret my decision as the rotten liquid contents of its stomach spills onto the floor increasing the foul smell of the creature and making me gag, the zombie uses my momentary distraction to its advantage and lunges at my throat, I fight it back and I realise that this Zombie has had extra spells placed on it because it has long fangs and claws.

“What the fuck.” April gasps seeing a Zombie for the first time and I can’t blame her, Zombies are gruesome sights, this one has the body of a man I would have guessed died at around the age of thirty but any semblance of humanity is gone, the creatures skin is a waxy grey and there are patches where the skin has completely decayed away and others where the skin seems to be peeling off of it revealing the bone and decaying muscles inside, the zombies stomach is still healing and its intestines are still slightly visible.

“There you are.” The Zombie growls and lunges at April, it is quick but luckily I am quicker, I grab it by the back of the neck and throw it down the hallway away from April.

“So it’s after you then, good.” Kafele says visibly relaxing.

I turn on him, grab him by the throat and slam him against the wall, “You think it’s good that it’s after my mate?” I snarl at him I can feel my fangs extend and I know my eyes were glowing red.

“No.” He manages to gasp, I release him and order him to explain, “I think it’s good that we know what it’s after that means we can protect her better.” He pauses and looks at April, “she is your mate?” he asks before taking a deep breath in April’s direction and slowly trailing his eyes over her.

I can feel my anger spike with possessiveness and I come close to attacking Kafele.

“She looks so young but smells so powerful.” He smiles, “I thought she was supposed to be newly turned.” He says a little aggressively.

“She is.” I tell him quickly not trusting myself to say more.

“No, no she can’t be not with all that power.” He growls.

“I turned her myself.” I growl back at him.

“Right there in that study.” April whispers.

“Her power though.” Kafele's voice has fallen to a whisper now too, he looks at April, “you feel older than any Vampire I’ve ever met, so much power.” His voice has become dreamy and I can smell the slight smell of his arousal.

April must be able smell it as well because she quickly snaps at him, “I’m Larten’s.” She moves closer to me as Kafele turns to look at her his eyes blazing red.

“Control yourself, now.” I growl at him.

Kafele shakes his head and I watch his eyes dull back to their usual amber colour, “I’m sorry it’s just her power is intoxicating.” He tells me his head lowered.

A growl comes from the end of the hallway as the Zombie starts to climb out of the rubble that had covered it when I threw it.

“Can you pull apart the sensory deprivation spell?” I ask Kafele knowing he has some magic inside him.

“No.” He tells me quickly, “I saw its workings but it’s too strong for me to break.” He sounds ashamed at his lack of power.

“Shit.” I growl, “I can’t do it, I can’t let it have any power.” My voice is still a growl as I launch into a tirade of foul curses.

“We can find another way.” April says softly.

“No we have to get rid of the spell so we can find the object holding the Zombie here with the spell still active we might never find the object.” I tell her.

“I’ll be here, I’ll help you.” April tells me giving me a soft kiss on the cheek.

“I love you.” I tell her before kissing her hard and passionately.

“I love you too.” April says breathlessly when we break the kiss.

I reach inside myself with my magical senses and feel around for the walls I had set up to lock the Black Magic away so it couldn’t take me over again hesitantly I start pulling at the walls to allow little pieces of the magic out so I can break the sensory deprivation spell placed on the Zombie, my druid magic wouldn’t be able to get rid of the spell and the Zombie is moving along the hallway with slow predatory movements.

“Give me the whore and I’ll let the rest of you...” the Zombie gets most of the way through its sentence before it is cut off by high pitched maniacal laughter. Suddenly a shape flies out of one of the conjoining hallways and slams into the Zombie with a loud crack.

I can’t see who it is that has attacked the Zombie because they have put themselves on the other side of the Zombie and are attacking it with staggering speed, I know it isn’t April because she is behind me, I don’t have time to figure out who it is because some of the Black Magic inside me finally breaks free. I feel my consciousness get pushed back as the Black Magic takes over me.

“Larten.” I hear April speak behind me. I try to tell her to run to get away from me but I can’t speak.

I turn around to face her and she gasps, “your eyes.” She whispers, she sounds frightened and I know why, the Black Magic has taken me over and my eyes are now be pitch black.

A gravelly laugh comes from my lips, “beautiful aren’t they?” I hear the words escape my lips in a rough voice much deeper than my own, “Just like you.”

‘No leave her alone.’ I shout at the Black Magic inside my head.

I feel my lips curl up into a cruel smile, “I’ll enjoy taking you, making you scream in agony and torturous ecstasy.” I watch as April flinches away from the words coming from my mouth, “this will be fun.”

“Larten I know you’re in there fight it.” April almost shouts at me.

My body lunges at April and grabs her by the shoulders, I feel it as my tongue licks my lips while stating into April’s eyes, “you smell powerful.” Another cruel laugh escapes my lips, “I hope you try and fight, that always makes it more fun.”

I watch as my hands rip her dress and watch as it fell to the floor leaving her standing there in just her underwear, my eyes travel over her body.

“I know this isn’t you Larten so fight it.” April shouts in my face.

I try to fight it, my mind is like an arena and I fight it in the only way I knew how, I make everything seem real in my head and I fight it with my hands and teeth, I claw and try to rip apart the Black Magic but it is too strong even the small amount I had let out is too powerful for me to beat.

“I love you Larten.” April says just before kissing my lips.

Her kiss seems to shock the Black Magic inside me like it had been electrocuted, it seems to loose a lot of its power and I take advantage of it, I grab hold of it and again I tear at it and it actually rips at my attempts, I throw the scraps of it at the wall that holds back the rest of the Black Magic and watch as it seeped through the wall. I rush over to the wall and started to rebuild it, the bricks just appearing in my hands, when I was finished with the bricks I decide that the wall might need a little something extra to help hold the Black Magic inside, I call upon my Druid magic and watch as another version of me appears by my side, this version of me is cloaked in leaves, vines and flowers, the other me smiles at me and raises its arms and as it does vines started to grow over the wall, flowers sprouting from the vines in all different shapes and colours.

‘You made the right choice having her as your mate.’ A soft gentle voice speaks and I know it is the manifestation of my Druid magic.

‘I know.’ I tell it, ‘she's perfect.’ I smile and feel myself returning to my body.

“You are fucking amazing.” I tell April my voice sounding rough, I wrap my arms around her and I kiss her hard.

I pull back a little and April looks at me, “Larten?” Her voice is shaky and I can smell her fear.

I quickly undo the buttons of my shirt and strip it off before wrapping it around her, “I’m so sorry.” I tell her feeling tears well up in my eyes.

“I knew you could fight it.” She tells me her voice regaining confidence even though her smile is still shaky.

“I wouldn’t have been able to if it wasn’t for you.” I tell her, I kiss before whispering to her, “you saved me.”

I watch as her smile grows more confident and I look her over and seeing her in nothing but her underwear and my shirt turns me on, she is so beautiful and I am extremely lucky to have her. I take a breath and I can smell the familiar smell of April’s arousal but I can also smell Kafele’s arousal as well.

I look at him and he drops his head and looks at the floor.

“I’m sorry, it’s been a long time since I have seen anyone in so little clothing.” Kafele tells me in a quiet voice.

I am about to growl an insult at him but suddenly my senses expanded and I can sense everyone who is inside the house.

“The spell.” April gasps.

I spin around to look at who had been fighting the Zombie but didn’t need to because I hear a voice and instantly knew who it is.

“Yes finally.” The voice shouts and I curse myself for being so stupid, Kafele had said it was only the Wild Ones and maybe a couple of the rest of the nest still here and that sweet French accented voice could only belong to one of my nest a Wild One called Esme.

I watch as Esme ducks under the Zombies arm as it shoots out to try and claw at her, she rushes over to me and stands in front of me bouncing on her heels like a child on a sugar high.

“I did it I didn’t know if I could but I did.” She says rapidly her words almost becoming one long word.

“Thank you Esme, you did brilliantly.” I tell her, her smile widens but her eyes keep flashing between red and her natural light green, that worries me.

“Do I get a prize?” she asks her voice slowing down and practically becoming a purr as she trails her eyes over me.

I hear April growl behind me and I watch as Esme's fangs extend.

“Not the kind you want Esme.” I tell her, “I’m mated now in case you didn’t realise.”

“Yes but look at her she’s so small and ugly.” She pushes her considerable bust further out and pouts her lips, “and I’m beautiful.”

April’s growl becomes more violent and I join in with her growl, “April has more beauty than you could ever hope for.”

I hear April’s growl stop behind me but the look on Esme’s face makes me regret my words and wish I had chosen some calmer less offensive words because Esme looks on the verge of attempting to rip me and April both to shreds.

Before any of us can make a move the stench of rot and decay becomes extremely overpowering and a hand lands on Esme before she is thrown over our heads and down the hall. I reach down to my hip to retrieve the Hidden One blade but nothing is there, before I can make another move April slips around me and starts hacking at the Zombie with the short swords she must have picked back up while Esme was confronting us.

“Give me that.” I snap at Kafele snatching the Khopesh out of his hands, “find the fucking object and destroy it.” I snap at him.

Kafele doesn’t answer but rushes off to hunt the object that was holding this Zombie here and I leap forward to help April fight the Zombie. Fighting along side April makes me truly appreciate how fast and vicious she can be when in a fight for her life, she is so fast she makes it look like the Zombie is moving in slow motion which is impressive because Zombies don’t move slowly like they do in movies, they move as fast as your average Vampire. She slashes and stabs the Zombie all over and if the Zombie had been a human, Magic user or even Werewolf then it would already be dead.

The Zombie wraps an arm around April and I use the curve of the Khopesh to hook it behind the Zombies wrist and rip the arm away from April. April hops away from the Zombie and a split second later she moves back into the fight. We work side by side April slashing and stabbing the Zombie and I keep it from latching back onto her and cut deep gouges into it. Suddenly the Zombie just disintegrates into dust and April lunges through the space where it had been and at the last second she twists to avoid stabbing me with the short swords and barrels into me backwards knocking me to the floor landing on top of me. I wrap my arms around her and she flinches.

“It’s gone.” I tell her, “I don’t think you know how much fighting along you turned me on.” I whisper and I feel her shiver.

“Maybe later.” She says, “right now we should check that everyone is ok.”

“You’re thinking more like a master than I am.” I tell her, actually proud of her.

“I wouldn’t be half the master you are.” She tells me but I can’t help thinking that maybe she would be a better master than I am.

“If you say so.” I kiss her on the side of her neck and take my arms from around her so she can stand up.

Kafele rushes into the hallway just as April gets to her feet, I leap to my feet and face him.

“I destroyed the object.” He tells me proudly, “everyone who was here when it attacked is still with us and perfectly fine.” He smiles at me, “Even the humans.” He adds.

“Good. Who was here?” I ask him.

“Me, Esme, Jamie, Emma and The Shadow.” He tells me frowning when he has to use the title for the other Wild One, out of everyone in the nest I’m the only one to know the name of The Shadow and I wont reveal it to anyone else in the nest not even April because this Vampire needs to be feared and almost every Vampire in the world has heard of The Shadow and they all rightfully fear him so I believe that telling people his name would take away some of that fear.

“I’m going to get go and get dressed.” April tells me before rushing off towards our bedroom.

‘Where are you?’ I ask Sophie telepathically.

‘The Scarlett Chain.’ She replies but she sounds distracted.

‘Get to somewhere you can speak with me, now!’ I shout the last word to convey my anger and the importance of the situation.

‘What’s wrong?’ she asks quickly.

‘The house was just attacked by a fucking Zombie.’ I tell her and growl out loud.

‘Holy shit.’ Sophie’s voice comes through almost at a shout, ‘is everyone ok?’

‘Yes, me, April, Kafele and Esme managed to destroy it.’ I tell her, ‘get everyone back here soon then you can tell me why you’re all at that place.”

‘Yes sir, I’ll do that immediately.’ The way she speaks was all business which told me she was ashamed.

‘Don’t call me that Sophie.’ I say calmly.

‘Sorry Larten.’ She apologises, ‘I’ll get everyone back as soon as possible.’ She tells me her.

I break the connection with her and as I do I hear thunderous bangs on the front door.

April flies into the hallway running at full speed and she almost runs into me but she quickly comes to a stop almost pressed up against me, she looks up at me her eyes wide and filled with fear.

“Is it more Zombies?” she asks terrified.

“No a Zombie would have just knocked the door down.” I tell her as I extend my senses, “Great.” I mutter.

April opens her mouth to speak but is cut off by loud shouting from the front door.

“Larten let me in.” The voice booms, “I swear of you don’t I will break this fucking door down.”

I start to walk down the hallway towards the front door with April following close behind when we enter the foyer I see Emma, Jamie and Kafele standing around everyone but Kafele looks nervous. I open the door and I’m greeted by a huge man with pitch black skin and strong features.

“Hello Nabil.” I say trying to keep my voice calm and measured, “Why are you here?” I ask him.

“Is that any way to greet your brother.” His voice is deep and smooth with more than a hint of his rich Moroccan accent.

“Brother.” I hear April gasp behind me.

Nabil smiles and I remember how good looking he is, “yes his younger, more handsome brother.” He looks at April, “and who are you my darling?” he asks his voice low.

I step between him and April but before I can speak April answers him.

“I’m April.” She smiles at him, “I’m kind of your sister in law.” She tells him jokingly.

Nabil’s gaze snaps back to me, “she is your mate?” He asks sounding surprised.

“Yes I am and it’s starting to annoy me that everyone sounds surprised about it.” April snaps at him as she moves next to me and takes my hand in hers.

“Why are you here?” I growl at him, momentarily letting my eyes flash red.

“Peace brother.” He says calmly, “I felt your Black Magic and feared the worst.” His words sound sincere and that actually touched me we didn’t have the best relationship when we were still under our Creators rule but something tells me he isn’t telling me the whole truth.

“Why are you really here?” I ask him with a slight growl to my voice.

“Can’t I visit my brother without needing an ulterior motive?” Nabil asks sounding a little hurt.

“I suppose so but you know the rules of my nest.” I say my gaze stern.

He draws a silver dagger and drags it across his hand drawing a line of blood, “By my blood I swear that while I am a visitor in your home I will bring no harm to you or yours nor will I attempt any manipulation.” He smiles, “I know how much you hate manipulation.”

“If you break your blood pact I will not hesitate to have you killed.” I tell him.

“I would expect no less brother.” He booms before moving forward and wrapping me in a hug, “I thought I might be too late, I feared the Black Magic had overwhelmed you.”

“April helped save me.” I tell him.

“Your mate saved you?” He asked sounding amazed.

“I didn’t save you.” April says sternly.

“Yes you have, in more than one way.” I tell her and smile at her lovingly.

“So it’s true then you have fallen in love.” Nabil laughs a loud booming laugh, “I never thought I would see the day.”

“Now you have.” I tell him, a slight smile on my face.

“It is good to see.” He says a smile breaking out on his face, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so happy before.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy before.” I tell him, “well apart from things trying to kill us or abduct April.”

“Sounds like you’ve been having fun then.” Nabil says with a small laugh.

“Then there was the meeting with the council and Daffyd made me fight Vanessa and then himself.” April adds with a growl.

“That abn haram.” Nabil growls using the rough Arabic version of bastard.

“What does abn haram mean?” April asks Nabil.

“It means bastard in Arabic.” He tells April, “I could teach you more if you would like.” He says with a sly smile.

“If I wanted to learn another language I’m sure my mate could teach it to me.” April tells Nabil her grip on my hand tightening slightly.

“Fierce, brother I think I like your mate.” He tells me with a smile, “I think we could be good friends.”

“As long as it’s only friendship.” I slightly growl at him.

“He wouldn’t get anything more from me.” April says firmly, “I love you.” She says pulling me down into a kiss.

“I love you too.” I tell her feeling a little light headed.

I’m about to suggest that maybe me and April should continue this in our bedroom when suddenly the door behind Nabil is pushed open and the rest of my nest starts to file into the house with Sophie and Martin at the front. As soon as Sophie and Martin see Nabil the smiles fall from their faces and they quickly move into an attack stance.

“Don’t worry, he is a guest.” I tell them quickly and watch as they slowly start to relax.

“Guest, is that all I am brother.” He says without even looking around at the front door and the rest of my nest now entering the house.

“So this is your brother then.” Sophie says her eyes trailing all over him.

Nabil turns around and I watch his back stiffen as he looks over Sophie, “My name is Nabil.” He says his voice sounding regal, “I would very much like to know your name.”

Sophie looks past him to me and I nod my head at her with a slight smile on my face, Nabil may not show it much but I can see that he was instantly attracted to Sophie and who could blame him she is extremely good looking with long platinum blonde hair, icy blue eyes, full lips and a soft curvy body that hides the strength that made her my second.

“I’m Sophie the second of this nest.” She tells him flatly, her face not revealing how she feels about Nabil’s attention.

“Strong and beautiful.” He says taking her hand and lightly kissing the back of it. Sophie quickly pulls her hand back and looks at him with an expression close to anger.

“I take it this is the rest of your nest then brother.” Nabil sweeps his eyes over the rest of the Vampires with disinterest.

“I have two other Wild Ones who aren’t with us but apart from them, yes this is my nest.” I inform him not telling him that The Shadow is one of the Wild Ones who aren’t with us right now.

“Nice cosy little nest you have here.” Nabil says with a grin, “I’m guessing the Wild Ones were sent to you by The Council so you could keep them under control.”

“I’ll have you know I keep myself under control.” Kafele says sharply from behind me.

“While you are able to Kafele you know the others need a little helping hand.” I tell him without looking around at him.

“The Medjay.” Nabil whispered, “it is an honour.” The way he looked at Kafele could only be describe as wide eyed awe.

“It is good to meet Larten's brother.” Kafele tells him.

“I think I need to tell you about tonight Larten.” Sophie speaks up.

“Yes, in my study, you, Martin and April.” I say and we all start to walk of towards my study.

“Can I join you?” Nabil asks.

I look over at Sophie who just shrugs in response, I looked at Nabil and sigh, “come on then.”

We walk into my study, I sit in the chair behind my desk, Sophie, Martin and Nabil sit in the chairs on the other side of the desk and to my surprise April comes around to my side of the desk, sits on my lap and kisses my cheek. Her actions surprise me, she’s never done anything like this before.

“I love you.” I whisper in her ear and feel a rush of arousal and happiness as her lips twist up into a smile.

“So what happened?” I ask Sophie.

Sophie starts to explain about how Warrel had been staking out the Fair Folk club when he had heard a few people talking about how a weird Wolf Fair Folk had started to visit The Scarlett Chain and had asked them to go there later to meet him. Sophie decided that because she had information that the Wolf we were looking for was going to be at The Scarlett Chain, she would bring in reinforcements and they would capture the Wolf and failing that, they would kill the Wolf in retribution for attacking our home and killing all those girls that Detective Jones had found in the field with the Troll.

“A weird Wolf Fair Folk killing young girls and a Troll is involved too.” Nabil says excitedly, “I thought you lived the peaceful life here with your crazy little nest but all of this.”

“There was also the meeting with the Council and Daffyd trying to have me executed.” I tell him more to inform Sophie and Martin of what had happened to us tonight, “Oh and then the Zombie.”

“Looks like I came at the best time, things seem to be interesting here right now.” He says actually sounding excited.

“More like a pain in the fucking arse.” I tell him, the little growl entering my voice causes April to flinch so I move my arm that was around her so my hand falls from the arm of the chair and onto her leg and start slowly tracing patterns on her legs.

“I would gladly trade you all my problems if it meant I could live the quiet life with my nest and the person I love.” I tell Nabil truthfully with a frown because I know that it will never happen, there will always be something or someone who wants to challenge me to test their strength or an old enemy looking to kill me and the there’s those people who wants to kidnap April and do god knows what to her.

That last thought bothers me the most and I make myself a promise right there, no one will ever take April from me, I will do everything to keep her safe.

April leans down and kisses me, “I love you.” She whispers, her breath on my face and the pressure of her small hand on my chest turns me on and for a moment all I can think about is ripping her clothes off and taking her right here and right now without a care for whoever was watching but I can’t, not only was she still fearful of sex but even if she wasn’t neither of us wants an audience.

“I think that’s enough for tonight I’m tired.” I tell everyone. Everyone stands up and heads out the door with Nabil closing the door on his way.

April moves to stand up but I pull her back down onto me making her gasp, her gasp turns into a giggle and then a moan as I start to explore her body with my hands using soft slow movements.

“I can stop if you want me to.” I tell her before I kiss her neck and then move down to kiss her shoulder.

“Don’t stop.” She whispers breathlessly.

I slide my hands down her side over her ribs feeling every rise and fall of her chest as her breathing deepens and the smell of her arousal fills my nostrils.

“I love your scent, so sweet and fruity like sugar covered strawberries dipped in cream.” I tell her before pulling her loose t shirt off her one shoulder and kissing her shoulder close to her neck and then running my tongue along the rest of her shoulder and at the same time I slide my one hand down over her shorts and onto her bare thigh and massage, I massage her with my other hand too but over her ribs instead.

“Wait a second.” April says moving my hand from her ribs and leaning back she quickly pulls her t shirt off quickly to reveal her beautiful pale flesh and the fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra underneath.

“You’re so beautiful.” I tell her taking in her naked upper body, her prominent collar bones, visible ribs and her slight breasts topped by small pale pink nipples that a single glance tells me are rock hard.

I quickly strip my t shirt off before pulling her against me. The feel of her skin against mine, her deepening breathing and the increased scent of her arousal combined fill me with a powerful lust. I’ve never felt like this about anyone before, I have had sex with many people over my lifetime both male and female but never had I fallen in love before, it worries me because I would do anything for her, if she asked me to conquer a country I would. The scariest thing though was that if she was killed which was the only way she could now die then my grief and anger filled rampage would make my Black Magic rampage look like a child throwing a temper tantrum.

I trailed kisses from her neck, down between her breasts and across her stomach. “I could spend forever doing this.” I whisper into her stomach.

“Is that a promise?” April asks her voice husky, the smell of her arousal overpowering every other smell.

I feel my lips curl up into a smile and my fangs elongate as my arousal heightens, “yes it just might be.” I tell her still trailing kisses across her stomach.

I feel April lift herself up and watch her with rapt attention as she slowly slides her shorts down her legs and let’s them drop to the floor. I wrap my arms around her and pick her up making her squeal in surprise before I lower her so she is sitting on my desk facing me, I quickly tear off my trousers and underwear before moving towards April. She looks down at my erection that stands at the same height as her pussy with only an inch between us. I want nothing more than to bury myself inside her and bring her to a screaming orgasm of pure mind bending ecstasy but I can smell the slight reek of fear take hold.

“We don’t have to if you’re not ready.” I tell her.

“I’m not ready but there is other things we can do.” She tells me her hand trailing down her body coming to rest on her pussy she slowly starts to move her fingers.

I let her continue for a moment but then I take her hand away and slip her fingers into my mouth licking her juices from her fingers before lightly pressing my lips to her pussy, she moans loudly at my touch and I continue to tease her. April’s moans rise in volume and I let myself become rougher as she demands more pleasure from me, It doesn’t take very long for my increased intensity to bring her to a loud and slightly violent orgasm. She leans back on the table panting a little from her powerful orgasm and when she recovers she wraps her arms around me in a tight hug and kisses me hard, her tongue exploring every inch of my mouth before I return the act and let my tongue explore her mouth. We break from the kiss and April looks at me with an expression of pure lust, she pushes me backwards a little and gets to her feet before pushing me more forcefully into my chair.

“Your turn.” She smiles at me and I move to close my mouth around hers wanting to taste her even more but she pushes me back down in the chair before slowly dropping to her knees not taking her eyes off of mine the whole time.

She gently wraps her one hand around my cock and starts to slowly slide her hand up and down before her other hand reaches out and start to tickle my balls, she still doesn’t break eye contact with me.

“Fuck that’s good.” I moan my head tilting back a little and my lips parting to allow me to lick my lips, I look down at her a second later and she looks up at me with a teasing yet loving expression written all over her face.

Without breaking eye contact April slowly lowers her head then gently kisses the tip of my cock, while still making eye contact she wraps her mouth around the head of my cock and starts to tease my length with her tongue. I moan loudly, her tongue and mouth on my cock is exquisite and it doesn’t take much of her actions to bring to the brink of orgasm, I tell her and all she does is speed up and just as my orgasm hits she buries the whole of my cock inside her pushing it down into her throat. I moan loudly as I orgasm and I feel my cum shoot down her throat, I watch as April lifts her head up until just the head of my cock is left inside her mouth, I feel her run her tongue around it before pulling her head completely off my cock with an audible pop.

She stands up in front of me, I reach out and pull her down into my lap making her giggle as I kiss her deeply.

“You are perfection.” I tell her before kissing her again.

“I love you.” April says looking deep into my eyes.

“I love you too.” I tell her returning her gaze.

“I’m actually tired now, are you ready for bed?” I ask her.

“Yeah I’m tired as well.” She tells me with a little smile. I stand up with my arms wrapped around her and she wraps her arms and legs around me while giggling.

“Time for bed then.” I say as I move towards the door, April squeals.

“Stop, stop we're still naked.” She tells me sounding worried.

“Let them see, I’m not ashamed.” I tell her sternly.

“No.” She growls, “you’re mine and no one gets to see all of you but me.” She tells me her tone stops me from arguing but makes me smile, I love her possessiveness it’s just another way for her to show her love and I will take her love in whatever way she chooses to show it.

Still carrying her I walk over to a coat hanger near the door and pick up a huge trench coat and drape it around us so it covers us completely.

“Now it’s time for bed.” April whispers and I carry her out of the door and off to out bedroom.

9.

Waking up with April in my arms is easily one of my favourite things watching her sleep is peaceful and I can’t help but slowly stroke her hair while breathing deeply to take in as much of her scent as possible.

“Are you just going to lie there all night watching me.” April asks sounding a little bit amused.

“Looks like I might have to change plans for the day then.” I tell her, amusement creeping it’s way into my voice now too.

“Why?” She asks rolling over to face me but keeping my arms around her.

“Because I had planned to take you out for a little bit of fun training but if you’re ok with us spending the whole day like this...” I let my voice trail off in suggestion.

“I want to know what you’re training would be before I make a choice.” She tells me with a sly smile, the tempting scent of her arousal starting to make its self known.

“I can’t tell you, the surprise is what makes it fun.” I tell her with a smile falling across my face.

“Will it actually be fun though?” She asks, “last time you said that we ended up with Abraham having to set multiple broken bones so they would heal properly.”

“It will be fun and there shouldn’t be any broken bones.” I tell her as I start to trace small patterns on her back over her spine making her shiver.

“I love it when you do that.” April whispers before leaning forward and kissing me.

“And I love it when you do that.” I whisper back to her when we stop kissing.

“Can we do this a little bit longer then go out to do this training?” April asks leaning her head against my chest.

“Of course we can.” I smile and raise the hand that isn’t underneath April to play with her silky black hair while the hand that is trapped underneath her continues to trace patterns across her spine.

April moans quietly with the smell of arousal coming off her strengthening, I inhale deeply taking in as much of her intoxicating scent as possible. I feel one of April’s arms rise and then fall over my side and she pulls herself harder against me her bare skin pressing against mine, I smell the scent of my own arousal mixing with the smell of April’s. We spend close to an hour just lying there not speaking just holding each other, enjoying the feel of each others bodies and our scents mixing together. I think that if there is a heaven then this would be it.

“Shouldn’t we get up and do this training you had in mind?” April asks me pulling her head away from my chest to look up at me.

I growl softly, “yeah I suppose we should.” I tell her letting the growl slip from my voice.

“Join me in the shower?” April asks me a smile on her face.

“Of course I will.” I tell her kissing her forehead.

“No funny business though.” April says her smile becoming a cheeky grin.

I pull her up my body and lock my lips to hers, our tongues meet each other with a passionate hunger and I come so close to just thrusting inside her but I hold myself back, I know she isn’t ready and I wont force her I love her too much to do anything like that.

“If that’s what you want.” I tell her, I watch as she climbs out of bed seeming to make a show out of it and for a moment I lose control and pounce at her dragging her back into the bed making her giggle but my mouth meeting hers cuts of her giggle.

I hold her on top of me as we slowly explore each others mouths, I take minutes to explore every inch of her mouth and savour her flavour. We break the kiss so we can actually go and shower as we shower I keep wondering to myself why April hasn’t asked why we didn’t seem to need to breath when we kiss for extended periods of time but I don’t mention it, it would only freak her out.

“You should probably wear something suitable for exercising.” I tell April, who thanks me as she slowly slips on her underwear looking over her shoulder at me with a smile.

“Tease.” I mumble softly.

“You love it.” She winks at me with a large smile on her face.

In a split second I’m next to her, my arms around her and my mouth locked against hers.

“I love you so much.” I tell her staring into her eyes with lust and love mixed in equal parts.

“You’re perfect.” April whispers her voice husky and the scent of her arousal overpowering every other smell.

“We should get dressed and go before I throw you onto that bed and make you scream in ecstasy.” I tell her with a small growl in my voice.

“When we get back later.” She tells me laying her hand against my chest, I growl and my eyes turn red as my control starts to slip, I spin around and move away from her.

“What’s wrong?” April asks sounding concerned.

“When you do things like that I start to lose control and I might end up doing something I would regret and you would hate me for.” I tell her my voice still mostly a growl.

“You should have told me sooner.” April tells me sounding annoyed, “I would have stopped. You have done everything to make me feel safe and comfortable, the least I could do is do the same for you.” She says her eyes telling me she means it.

I turn back around and I kiss her softly, her scent becoming her usual scent and all traces of the smell of her arousal fading away.

“I don’t deserve you.” I tell her feeling a tear come to my eye.

“I was just thinking the same thing about me not deserving you.” She tells me and I have to clamp down on my control again.

“Maybe we’re both wrong and we do deserve each other.” I tell her before quickly whispering, “a little light in a life of darkness.”

“We should probably go soon.” April tells me firmly as she adds her usual black choker necklace to her sporty outfit of black Yoga trousers and a loose fitting black t shirt, I quickly pull on one of my usual band t shirts, I really took a shine to this modern music called heavy metal and its many different forms, I match the t shirt with a pair of black tracksuit trousers.

“I’m ready when you are.” I tell her.

“Let’s get going then.” April says quietly.

We leave the house without being interrupted by anyone, part of me had worried that Nabil would try and talk his way into coming along but we make it outside without seeing anyone. A little suspicious that something bad had happened so I extend my senses and to my relief I sense that everyone who should be home is here and I don’t sense anything else like Zombies or Fenrir which is a good sign. April starts to walk toward the garage but stops when she realises I’m not following her.

“I thought we could stretch our legs and get a little warm up.” I tell her.

“How far are we going?” She asks.

“Just a couple of miles into the city.” I tell her and start to jog away backward and April quickly follows.

We run through woodland and across fields until the terrain starts to change into suburbs and housing estates and then we were in the city centre surrounded by high rise apartment complexes, shopping centres and offices.

“Follow me.” I tell April as I jump at the side of the high rise apartment building and using the window ledges I start to swiftly climb the building.

“What the fuck.” I hear April speak when I’m four stories up, I look down and see her still on the ground.

‘Come on.’ I send to her telepathically so as to not draw any attention to myself, most people get a little uneasy when they see someone climbing up the side of an eighteen story apartment building.

‘But how?’ She sends back sounding confused.

‘Use the window ledges as hand and foot holds.’ I tell her. I look over my shoulder and see her start climbing slowly up the building.

After about five floors she starts to get the hang of it and she quickly climbs to the point that she catches up with me a couple of floors below the roof. Once on the roof I look around at April and decide to give her a little test before we start the training I have in mind.

“Three floors down in the apartment below us, what is happening?” I ask her trying to suppress a grin.

I watch as her face scrunches in concentration and I smile she is so beautiful even with her face scrunched up, I’m so lucky to have her.

“He’s singing.” She says before groaning, “He is terrible.” She adds with a smile.

“What about the flat on the ground floor?” I ask her.

“They’re arguing about money.” She tells me sounding sad.

“An all too common problem for many people, human or otherwise.” I tell her sadly before quickly changing the topic, “you see that building over there.” I point way off into the distance, “the one with the red flag.”

I wait for a moment as April stares off into the distance, “yeah, right off in the distance.” She tells me now looking at me.

“We are going to race to it.” I tell her, “but there is one requirement.” I intentionally pause for dramatic effect, “you can’t touch the ground.”

“What? How?” April asks sounding confused.

“We’ll stay on the rooftops.” I tell her, “ready?” I ask.

“I think so.” She says with a smile.

“Let’s go then.” I say and at the same time we both race off across the roof.

We jump from roof to roof and run across the rooftops faster than most eyes can track, April laughs and cries out in joy and amazement and I find myself doing the same. She starts to pull ahead of me but on the jump to the last building everything goes wrong.

I watch as April misjudges the distance of the jump and starts to fall prematurely meaning she would hit the wall and get stunned which would lead to her crashing to the pavement over twenty stories below, I leap off the building and grab her arm throwing her up into the air making her scream in surprise and pain as her arm is jerked up into the air before the rest of her follows. I land hard on the roof and feel my ankle snap but I don’t stop and as April starts to fall out of the sky I jump straight up ignoring the screaming pain in my ankle and catch her in mid-air. I crash down on the roof, my broken ankle gives way under me and I fall to the floor rolling over so April lands on top of me. She must know something is wrong because of my landing and she instantly rolls off of me.

“What happened? Are you ok?” She asks sounding worried.

“Just a broken ankle.” I tell her, “should heal quickly, just give me a moment.”

“I’m sorry, how can I help?” She asks quickly.

I quickly pulled her down to me and kissed her hard, I let my tongue slip in to her mouth and as our tongues meet I feel a shiver run through my body. I jump slowly to my feet a second later and place some of my weight on the ankle, I have healed quickly and there isn’t any sign of the injury.

“Race you back.” I say smiling, “try not to fall this time.”

“I’ll just beat you like I almost did this time.” She tells me with a cheeky grin, “I wont fall that was terrifying.” She adds quickly.

“You’re on.” I tell her as we both shoot off across the rooftops shouting and laughing.

I front flip off the edge of a high rise and land in the perfect form to continue running without losing much speed. I glance over my shoulder and watch April prepare to land her own front flip, her body stays curled for too long and I know when she lands she will stumble and slow down, she does just that and as she lands she stumbles and for a couple of steps she isn’t in control of her movement. I am ready to spin and catch her but I give her a moment to catch herself. April gets her footing and starts to race back towards our high rise finish line, she is so quick that even though she had stumbled she was almost passing me and I decide to play dirty. I need to teach her how to deal with multiple things at the same time like getting to an area while defending herself.



I altered my course and fly at April, I slam into her and send us both crashing into the roof of the nearby building, I roll with her in my arms to lessen the impact but when we come to rest I have her pinned underneath me.

“Time for the next part of the training.” I tell her closing a watch around her wrist, “three minutes to get back to the building we started the night on.” She smiles at me like she was telling me that the task was too easy, “I will be trying to stop you though so you will have to run and defend yourself.” Her smile lessens but mine grows.

“Let’s do this.” April says her voice a soft growl and determination fills her words giving them a certain power or presence.

“You get a five step head start, make it count.” I advise her as I activate the timer on the watch that will count down the three minutes and I jump backwards a small distance, I watch as April leaps away making her first five steps as big as she can, clever but it wont buy her much time.

I count out her steps and as her foot lands on her fifth step I launch myself at her as quickly as I can. I aim a punch at her midsection but she side steps away so quickly I don’t realise until the last second, I pull back on my weight to try and keep myself moving parallel to her, I quickly realise my mistake as her foot connects with my leg shattering my knee. I swear violently as the force from her blow and my already healing but still shattered knee makes me drop my speed and allows April to gain a lead over me and putting her much closer to the finish line.

My knee is still healing but I have to push it so I leap up and race after her as quickly as I could, it takes everything in me to catch up to April and I repeat the same move I had used last time throwing a punch at her stomach she tries to dodge in the same manner as she had last time but this time she is slower and I manage to only just catch her on the ribs but as her foot flashes out to kick me in my still healing knee and that’s when things go wrong for April. I grab her foot and pull making her lose balance and crash to the floor, she quickly rolls away from me and I lunge at her so she rolls away again coming to her knees with her eyes fixed on me.

She lunges at me her black hair trailing behind her, I let her barrel into me and fall to the ground with her in my grasp, she claws at me but I hold onto her, I just need to keep her from the finish line building for less than a minute which is a much harder task than it sounds because she is so very fast and strong. I quickly come to the conclusion that if this was a true fight then she would most likely beat me which scares me a little because she is a new Vampire less than a year old and she was already faster and maybe even stronger than me, the oldest and most powerful Vampire alive.

She fights with a ferocity that makes me proud, she carves deep troughs into my flesh as I attempt to hold her. She must have done more damage than I thought because my vision is starting to darken at the edges and I can feel myself weakening, we Vampires don’t usually pass out but if we were hurt severely enough then we can fall unconscious and that was what was happening now. I don’t think I was out for too long but when I come around I can hear a staccato beeping and the sounds of someone weeping softly, I instantly recognised the sobbing to be coming from April and I roll over to face towards the sounds of her, I see her sitting a little ways away from me her head in her hands.

“Don’t cry.” I try to say but it comes out as just the vowel sounds instead of full words but it was enough to get April’s attention and as soon as she sees me looking at her she dives at me and wraps me in her arms making me wince in pain. She tries to speak to me but either because of my still near unconscious state or because of her sobbing her words were unintelligible but she held onto me like she was scared I would run off.

“You said there would be no broken bones or injuries during training.” She said still weeping softly.

“I didn’t think we would, I hadn’t planned this last part.” I tell her my voice more a croak.

“I thought I’d killed you.” She said bursting into fresh loud sobs.

“It takes more than that to kill one of us.” I tell her trying to reassure her.

She opens her mouth to speak but no words come out instead she just weeps and buries her head against my chest.

“You’re not getting rid of me any time soon.” I tell her struggling to raising my hand to her head so I can run my hands through her hair something it has always seemed like the both of us enjoy.

“Sorry but you’re stuck with me.” I whisper to her.

“I wouldn’t change it.” She whispers just before I press my lips to hers, the kiss is soft but not lacking in passion.

“We should head home.” I tell her, “I need a little time to heal in comfort.”

“I'm sorry.” April says guiltily.

“You have nothing to be sorry about, I put you up to the challenge.” I tell her sternly.

“You broke two bones because of me and I almost ripped you apart so I do have something to be sorry about.” She says sternly her voice a growl.

“I broke one bone because I tried to show off while saving you and the other injuries were because I told you not to hold back.” I tell her, the sternness in my voice matching hers but from the look on her face I know she wont let it go so I quickly say, “I think we might have to agree to disagree.”

“You are so stubborn.” April whispers, “I love you.” She growls.

“I love you too.” I growl as well before kissing her this time the kiss is rougher and as April deepens the kiss it becomes almost painful but I revel in it, I love her touch, her taste, everything about her.

“Should we head home now?” April asks her voice low.

“There's other things we could do.” I say before kissing her neck making her moan and push her body hard against mine.

“Outside, really?” April asks a cheeky smile lighting up her face.

“No one will see us.” I tell her letting a grin take over my face too.

I slowly lean forward and kiss her neck again, I let my fangs extend then softly and gently run them across her neck making her shiver and moan even louder.

“I want you.” April growls and I can smell her arousal stronger than I’ve ever smelt it on her before which turns me on to the point that I can feel me losing control. April sees my eyes glowing red and she gasps, “I want you inside me.” She growls quietly.

“Are you sure?” I ask her, she nods her head, “if you want me to stop at any point just tell me.”

I kiss her again and I let her tongue meet with mine but just as I do a voice fills my head.

‘Larten you’re needed at home.’ The voice belongs to Emma and I can tell she is angry.

‘Can’t it wait.’ I growl at Emma telepathically as I break the kiss with April and curse.

‘It’s important.’ Emma’s voice rings in my head just as April speaks.

“What’s wrong?” she asks looking concerned and a little hurt.

‘This better be life or death.’ I quickly send back to Emma before I speak to April.

“Emma contacted me she says she needs me back home.” I tell her, the annoyance in my tone obvious, “she says its important.”

“If it's important we should go.” April says and I can hear annoyance in her voice as well, “we can finish this later.” She tells me her voice dropping and becoming husky.

“We will.” I tell her. I stand up sweeping April off of her feet into my arms in the same movement making her squeal a little, she wraps her arms around me tighter and lets her face rest against my chest.

“You might want to hold on tight.” I tell her and she looks at me questioningly but when she sees the look in my eyes she wraps her legs around me as well, with her arms and legs and my arms holding us together I start to run toward the edge of the building.

“What are you doing?” April shouts at me as she watches us race toward the edge of the building and a twenty story drop.

April screams as I run off the edge of the building but in mid-air I turn my body so my feet connect with the building opposite the one I just ran off and I run down the building at a speed that means once we reach the bottom I will be able to manoeuvre myself so I can hit the ground running and that is exactly what happens, when my feet hit the ground I pick up speed and race towards home.

“You can put me down, I can run on my own.” April tells me.

I laugh, “I know you can but I prefer it like this.” I tell her tightening my grip slightly.

I smell the blood almost a mile away from the house and instantly quicken my pace, I hear April take a deep breath.

“Human blood.” She says sounding worried.

I don’t answer her I just focus on getting home as fast as possible, if we have been attacked again then I have to be there to fight alongside my nest, to protect them. I slow as I approach the house and put myself on high alert so I can react to any threat that comes my way.

I stop just short of the house and put April down, “stay behind me and if things look like they’re getting bad then run.” I tell her.

“I won’t leave you.” She growls at me.

“Yes you will.” I growl back at her, “if things go bad and you’re here I will be too distracted trying to protect you.”

“No you wont because I can defend myself.” She growls and I can tell she is getting angry.

“Please April I can’t lose you.” I tell her feeling tears form in my eyes.

“You wont lose me.” She tells me sternly, “and I wont leave.”

“Fine but you better not die.” I growl at her before walking towards the house putting myself in front of April so I can intercept any threats to her.

As the house comes into view I see the source of the scent of human blood, standing in front of the house is Emma and a human who’s name I remember as Bella, she used to live with the nest and would basically be a live in meal for most members of the nest.

“Bella.” I say loudly quickening my pace at the scent of her overwhelming terror and the sight of her drenched in dried blood.

“What happened?” I ask her concern and anger competing with each other.

“He attacked me.” She tells me breaking down into tears.

“Who?” I growl, anger turning to thoughts of one of my nest attacking her.

“My Boyfriend.” She cries tears falling down her face.

“Why is she not inside?” I growl at Emma.

“The smell of all her blood was effecting some of us who have less control so I brought her out here after healing her.” Emma tells me.

I looked back at Bella and soften my voice, “can you tell me what happened?” I ask.

“He came home drunk.” She tells me tripping over her words as she sobs, “he tried to sleep with me but I kept telling him no.” She tells me and I instantly knew where this was going.

I reached down and took April’s hand to try and comfort her because I knew what Bella was about to say would bring up bad memories for her.

“He held me down and I tried to fight him but he was too strong, he tore at my clothes.” As Bella speaks I feel April’s grip tighten, “he had his trousers down so I took a chance and tried to kick his junk but I missed and hit his thigh.” Her tears increase as she tries to tell me the rest of what happened.

“He started hitting me everywhere.” She lifts her T shirt up a little to reveal slightly healed bruises which make me even more angry because I know Emma would have used her blood to heal Bella and her bruises should have already healed unless they were extremely bad.

“I must have blacked out because next thing I know he’s inside me waving a knife in front of my face talking about how his when he’s finished he’s going to kill me.” I watch as Emma takes her hand.

“It’s ok.” Emma tells her hard, “I wont let him anywhere near you again.”

“I tried to fight him again but he had the knife.” She descends into heaving sobs unable to speak.

“Do you still live at the same place?” I ask her and she nods her head, “will he still be there?” Again she nods her head, “good.” I growl before letting go of April’s hand and spinning on my heels to go to Bella’s apartment.

“Where are you going?” Emma asks.

“To deal with Bella’s ex.” I growl.

“I’m coming with you.” April tells me.

“Ok.” I say as I pick up speed with April quickly catching up and then keeping pace with me.

“This isn’t going to be pleasant.” I tell her.

“After what he did to her it better not be pleasant.” She tells me and I can hear the barely contained rage in her voice.

We arrive at Bella’s apartment quickly and I look around at April, “ready?” I ask her, she nods her head in reply.

I launch my foot at the door and it flies open with a crack smashing the door and its frame to pieces.

“What the fuck.” The mostly naked drunk slurs as he rises half asleep from the sofa.

“Are you Bella’s boyfriend?” I growl.

“Who the fuck are you?” He slurs.

April lunges at him and grabs him by the throat.

“Get the fuck off me bitch.” He chokes out.

‘Wait.’ I send to April telepathically.

“Did you just offend my wife?” I snarl at him.

“Crazy fucking bitch.” He chokes out.

“Let go of him please darling.” I say to April softly, April looks at me a little confused but let’s him go and takes a couple of steps away from him. I throw myself into him knocking him across the room into the wall hard enough to leave a dent in the wall.

“Offend my wife again and I will torture you nonstop for a hundred years.” I growl at him and April takes my hand and kisses me on the cheek.

“I love you so much.” April says her voice filled with so much love and passion that for a moment it surprises me.

“I love you too.” I tell her my eyes flash red for a second with the amount of passion I feel. I pull her close and lock my lips against hers with a furious need but have to quickly break the kiss when the drunk who used to be Bella’s boyfriend starts to stagger to his feet.

“What the fuck are you?” He has to start the sentence over a couple of times because of being drunk and now probably having a concussion too.

“I’m a Vampire and you seriously hurt one of my friends.” I snarl at him.

“That bitch had it coming.” He snaps.

I was about to lunge at him to attack him but April beats me to it and she lunges at him so quickly I don’t even see her move, one moment she’s standing next to me and then the next she is standing next to him holding his severed hand. I rush over to them and use one of my fangs to slice into my hand and force him to drink my blood to heal him.

“That will stop you from bleeding out.” I growl at him, “there is so much more you have to experience.” I smile a cruel smile.

I see April staring at a spot on the floor not too far from the sofa and I follow her gaze and spot a bloodied knife just lying on the floor.

April wanders over and picks up the knife, “is this the one you used to cut Bella?” she asks her voice vicious and promising pain.

“Fuck you.” He tries to make his voice hard but he can’t because of his pain and April raise the knife and presses it to his throat.

“Don’t kill him yet.” I tell her and she smiles at me.

“I don’t plan on it.” April says in a voice that would be considered sweet if she wasn’t holding a knife to a persons throat but then again this guy deserves it, “I just want him to know what it feels like to be helpless to someone who wants to kill.”

A woman suddenly appears behind the man and I instantly know she’s a ghost but April doesn’t and she jumps backwards into her fighting stance.

‘She’s a ghost.’ I quickly telepathically send to April so she doesn’t try attacking something she would pass straight through.

“He killed me.” The ghost of the woman says, she repeats her words over and over again until I interrupt her.

“What’s your name?” I ask her but the man must think I’m talking to him because he replies.

“Greg.” He replies his voice starting to sound more quiet and afraid.

“Not you.” I growl and he looks around to try and see who I’m talking to.

“Lisa.” She tells me before starting to repeat ‘he killed me’ over and over again.

“So Bella wasn’t the first you have tried to kill.” I growl now seriously considering just killing him. He looks at me stunned by my words, “Lisa.” I growl again rage coursing through me, his face quickly pales and he looks at me stunned and terrified.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He chokes out.

I let my eyes turn red and use my mind control power over him to force him to truthfully answer my questions.

“Did you kill a girl called Lisa?” I ask him trying to stay calm.

“Yes.” He replies his monotone voice a sure sign of the influence of my mind control.

“How many other girls have you killed?” I snarl losing any shred of calm I had.

“Two.” He replies in that same monotone voice.

“How many men have you killed?” I ask him.

“None.” He replies.

“No of course not, you like it when they’re weak and powerless.” I snarl now sure I wont kill him but keep him to torture.

“I liked hearing them scream and beg me to stop.” He says still speaking in that monotone voice like he was answering a question I had asked.

April lunges at him and punches him breaking his nose and turning it into a flattened bloody mess. He doesn’t react as he was still under the power of my mind control and I see April gear up to throw another punch.

“April don’t.” I said quietly, “I want to take him home with us, alive.”

April looks at me her eyes shining red and I saw her fangs were extended. “Why?” she growl at me.

I smile a cruel smile, “so his pain can last for a very, very long time.” I tell her knowing I was going to lock him up and have him tortured for years.

“Good.” She says her eyes returning to their usual deep blue and her fangs retracting.

I throw a punch at the man, the punch is designed to render humans unconscious in one swift move without causing any serious injuries, the punch achieves its purpose and the man slumps to the floor with a loud thud.

I look over at April, “ready to head home?” I ask as I pick the man up and throw him over my shoulder, April nods her head so we leave and run home.

As we step through the front door Nabil walks up to us with a smile in his face as he looks from me to April to the unconscious man over my shoulder and then back to me.

“Brother that’s kinky.” He says with a laugh.

“I’m taking him down to the dungeon can you fetch Richard for me please?” I ask him.

“Oh shit he must have fucked up.” Nabil says without a trace of sympathy.

“Did you meet Bella?” I ask him.

“The girl covered in blood?” He asks.

I nod my head, “this guy did that.” I tell him and watch as his eyes flash red.

“I hope you let me have a turn.” He says his voice filled with hate.

“Richard and Bella have the first rounds that is if she wants to, can you fetch Bella as well please.” I tell him my voice filled with as much hate as his. Nabil nods his head then takes off to fetch Richard and I walk towards the entrance to the dungeon with April following me.

I haven’t had to use the dungeon for a while now, the only times I have used it are for prisoners and the especially violent newly turned Vampires but hadn’t turned a Vampire for decades before April so the dungeon had been empty for a while. I open a door to a cell and drop the man on the floor inside before chaining his legs and arms up to the wall bringing him to a standing position.

“I brought them.” Nabil’s voice speaks from behind me ushering Richard, Bella and Emma into the cell.

I watch as Bella’s face changes into a mask of rage and she spits in the mans face before quickly moving forward as if to attack him.

“Wait.” I say quickly and she stops in her tracks, “wait until he’s awake and if your up to it I want you to work with Richard who is very skilled in the art of pain.” I tell her and watch as her lips turn up into a savage smile.

“Thank you.” Bella says and I look down slightly to see her holding Emma’s hand.

‘Just ask her.’ I telepathically send to Emma before adding, ‘but if she says yes wait a week and then make sure.’ I watch as Emma smiles at my words before looking back at Bella and whispering in her ear, Bella seems to blush before looking at me.

“Is that ok?” She asks knowing I heard Emma’s words.

“The Vampire world needs more women especially those who are strong and fierce.” I tell her as I take April’s hand.

“Thank you.” Bella says and I just smile at her before leaving her, Richard and Emma with the man.

As we leave the dungeon April still holding my hand pushes herself against me even though we can hear Nabil following us.

“Brother I would like to make a request.” He says catching my attention and I nod at him to get him to continue.

“I would like to set up a barbecue for one of the coming evenings to bring your nest and the humans who live here closer together.” He tells me, “plus it will ease some of the recent tension.”

I look at April with a smile, “I think that is a very good idea.” I look back at Nabil with the smile still on my face, “need me to do anything?” I ask him.

“No just spend some quiet time with your mate.” He tells me with a smile.

I look back at April and kiss her hard and possessively pouring all of my passion into the kiss and making her moan.

“I think you should take her to your bedroom.” Nabil says with a laugh.

Without breaking our kiss I slide my hands down April’s back, under her ass and pick her up making her moan as she wraps her legs around me before I carry her off to our bedroom. I drop April onto the bed and peel my T shirt off then watch as April does the same before quickly removing her bra as well.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.” I growl with my arousal. April rolls off the bed and moves towards me, she stands in front of me and wraps me in a tight hug pushing her body against mine.

Her skin is so soft and smooth and I never want to let her go. I feel her hard nipples press against my chest and I can smell the strong smell of arousal on her.

“I love you.” April looks up at me.

I kiss her and let our tongues meet and play with each other as I reach my hands down and slip them into the waistband of her trousers. I break the kiss and April moans slightly in need.

“I love you with every fibre of my soul.” I tell her letting her hear the truth of my words, how much it means for me to say that and how much she actually means to me.

April takes a small step backwards away from me, her eyes are wide and filled with tears but she has a huge smile on her face, she moves my hands out of her trousers and in one quick motion she slides both her trousers and panties down and then off. I let my eyes drink in the vision in front of me and all I can think is that she is perfect and that I love her. I quickly slide my trousers and underwear off and pull April back in for another kiss pulling her body hard against me and as our tongues meet I feel her moan into my mouth.

When we break the kiss I throw April onto the bed making her squeal before she can react I pounce on her and bury my head between her legs and start kissing her all over her thighs and around her pussy making her moan softly, I can feel her juices overflowing and I start to lick and kiss her pussy. I continue to eat her out and I savour the sound of her moans, the taste of her juices and the smell of her arousal and pussy. It doesn’t take long for her to reach orgasm and when she does she screams out in pleasure and her whole body vibrates for what feels like minutes, when she finally comes down from her orgasm she lies on the bed panting.

I move up the bed and kiss her forehead before she moves and kisses me hard making me gasp slightly as I feel her hand grip my erection. She slowly starts to move her hand as her lips still locked against mine. Suddenly April breaks the kiss and slides down the bed her body brushing against mine the whole way, she wraps her lips around the head of my cock. I moan as she quickly starts to bob her head on my cock, it doesn’t take long for me to cum and when I do she swallows every drop before sliding back up the bed and kissing me deeply.

April yawns as I wrap my arms around her and hold her close just loving the feel of her against me, I would spend forever just spooning with her like this.

“You should sleep.” I tell her as she yawns again.

“So should you after today.” She says dreamily and I have to agree with her after getting injured twice during our little training session, dealing with Bella’s murderous ex boyfriend and our pleasurable activities I am running on fumes.

“Yes boss.” I say teasing her which makes her giggle.

“Good thing someone around here knows who the real boss is.” She says her giggling turning into full on laughter. I kiss the back of her neck just over her spine, she shivers and pushes herself further back into me.

“You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me.” I whisper in her ear before kissing her neck and then whispering in her ear again, “I love you.”

“We’re the best thing to happen to each other.” She whispers and I can practically hear her smiling, “I love you too.”

10.

Two days later and the barbecue is in full swing Vampires sit beneath big umbrellas and in the shade and humans lounge everywhere, some are even taking dips in the pool. I sit on a sun lounger underneath a big umbrella with an acoustic guitar in my lap, the whole mood of the day has had me playing some upbeat happy music of my own creation, April sits perched on the arm of the lounger with her arm draped around my back.

“Are they really doing that here?” April asks, I follow her gaze and see Warrel with his hand in the trousers of one of the human women who live with us in the house and then I hear her moan with pleasure.

“Let them have their fun.” I say suppressing a laugh, “they aren’t the only ones.” I tell her and sweep my eyes over the rest of the garden to see the obvious signs of love, lust and fun.

Emma sits in a sun lounger in a summer dress underneath an umbrella and Bella sits in another lounger next to her but just outside the shade in a bikini obviously trying to get a suntan, her hand is reached over into the shade and is gripping Emma’s hand, she giggles at something Emma says. The scene warms my heart, I’m glad that Bella can laugh like that after the trauma she went through only a couple of days ago.

Martin sits next to a blonde human girl who is also wearing a bikini but much more revealing than Bella’s, she has her hand in Martin’s trousers and has a big smile on her face. Jamie and Samantha are alternating between kissing each other and a dark haired human man who looks like he is having the time of his life.

Esme is sitting on the lap of a human with her dress pulled up and slightly grinding on him and I knew that he is inside her, Lawrence is watching them but when he sees me looking at him he quickly tells me telepathically that he is making sure she doesn’t hurt the man as she is more than a little crazy but I have a suspicion that it is more than that.

Everyone else is either relaxing or having fun until my eyes land on my brother and Sophie they are arguing with each other but the smell of arousal coming off of both of them reveals that the argument is just a way for them to not very successfully hide their emotions from each other.

I prop my guitar up against the side of the chair and run my hand up April’s leg before slipping it under her black summer dress and up her thigh making her gasp, I stroke her thigh loving the feel of her skin against my hand. She leans down and kisses me softly before putting her hand on top of her dress over my hand and moves my hand up her thigh towards her panties.

“Here?” I ask her, she gently bites her lower lip and nods her head, “are you sure?” I ask her, she nods her head again and I can now smell that irresistible scent of her arousal. I slowly start to rub her pussy through her panties and just as I do all hell breaks loose.

One of the human women who had been relaxing in the pool screams in agony and I watch as she starts to climb out of the pool but the water seems to be eating away at her flesh like acid and then I smell it sulphur.

I quickly leap to my feet, “Demons!” I roar as I figure out what’s happening, “protect the humans.” I order my nest as the first of the demons start to appear.

The Demons swarm everyone except for me and April, I don’t know if they are here for me or if like with the recent zombie attack they are here for April. I look at April and I know that fear is written all over my face.

“Little Vampires.” A raspy voice growls loudly, “give us the girl and we might let you all live.”

That leaves no question they are after April and that is really bad, Demons are extreme hard to get rid of especially if they are in their physical form and not possessing someone. The only way to kill a Demon is with a Demon weapon and even then they don’t stay dead, it may take them decades but they will be back and Demons hold grudges even then all that only matters is if you are lucky or unlucky enough to get a Demon weapon as most demons who are powerful enough to take physical form without possessing someone would rather use their natural strength as their weapon.

“April please don’t argue with me.” I say wanting to look at her to look her in the eyes and convey to her just how serious this is, “run and don’t stop not even if you hear me telling you to, even if you are one hundred percent sure it is me” I tell her knowing that Demons can easily disguise themselves and mess with peoples senses.

“But.” She starts and I quickly cut her off.

“April please.” I say trying to make sure she hears the fear and desperation in my voice, “run as fast as you can please.” She doesn’t reply to me but instead kisses me quickly and races off.

I watch as April runs and as I do I see a shadow shoot after her, I know from the darkness of the shadow and the power radiating off it that it is the leader of this group of Demons and no doubt the strongest and it is chasing April.

‘The lead demon is chasing my mate please help.’ I send the message telepathically to only two Vampires, the two strongest Vampire here right now who also have experience with Demons, I’m sure one of them will help me he is my brother after all but with the other I’m not so sure all I can do is hope he will help.

I race after them and stop in a wooded are nearby where I see April facing off against the demon, she stands in her usual fighting stance but she looks unsteady, I leap across the clearing and land next to her.

“Why did you stop?” I ask not taking my eyes off the demon who has now taken on a human form, he looks completely average, the kind of person you would never look at twice.

“My leg.” April gasps through gritted teeth, I take a quick glance down at her leg and see that it is bent at a horrible angle and a bone is sticking out of the side of it.

I can’t show any fear or weakness in front of the demon because it would use that against me and I need every advantage I can gain to even have a hope of surviving because now that I’m closer to the demon I realise that it is a very high ranking and powerful demon more powerful than any demon I have every knowingly met. I glance at April expecting to see fear or panic on her face but all I see is pain but most of all rage and I’m struck by how much she has changed since I first met her, when we first met if someone threatened her she would just shut down but now standing here even with her broken leg she looks like an avenging angel ready to cast the demon in front of us back into hell.

A large dark shape flies at us from across the clearing and lands next to April, I swear and turn ready to defend her when I realise I don’t need to, that the shape is Nabil arriving to try and help us.

“Sorry it took me so long.” Nabil says lightly, “just had to make sure everything was under control back at the house.”

Before I can reply a shadow rises up off the ground on the other side of me and starts to take the shape of a person, I swear and get ready to fight whatever this new threat is. The shadow starts to take the shape of a person as soon as it starts to rise from the ground and I realise that this isn’t another threat I need to fight against but is actually help.

“Take these.” A deep gravely voice snaps as a salt shaker flies towards all three of us, I snatch mine out of the air and smile at the newcomer who I know is one of the Wild Ones, the Vampire feared around the globe by all who have heard his name, The Shadow.

“Thank you for coming Shadow.” I say not daring to take my eyes off of the demon but directing my words at The Shadow anyway.

I can hear Nabil gasp as he realises that he is seeing one of the most feared and legendary Vampires to walk the planet and I cant say I blame him because we has heard a lot of the stories about this Vampire like all of us have and they are always filled with this Vampire destroying and kill anything he wants and you can tell how strong he is by just looking at him

“Don’t thank me yet Ancient One, I haven’t done anything so far.” He tells me firmly looking at the three of us and then towards the demon, “this thing is going to be a tough fight Ancient one, this demon is rather powerful.”

“It is after my mate and I will not stand for that.” I tell The Shadow still not taking my eyes off of the demon fearing he will attack us if I look away for even a second.

The demon laughs a deep menacing that makes all of the hair on my body stand on end, this demon terrifies as I know that to beat it we need a demon weapon but I don’t have one and I don’t think that anyone else in my nest has one either so our chances of defeating this demon are practically zero. The best we can hope for is to make ourselves as much of a problem as possible so that the demon will leave us alone.

“Hand over the girl and I will spare you and the rest of your people.” The demon growls with its eyes glowing a deep red that show its intent to attack.

I brace myself ready for the demon to attack but it doesn’t it just looks over the four of us with a kind of vicious smile on its face, I quickly glance at the others fighting alongside me and see that Nabil and The Shadow are both ready to fight but also look wary because they know what this demon can do. April’s leg is still healing but she looks like she is willing to fight even with her handicap but I am scared for her because this demon has the potential to kill all of us with ease.

‘Do either of you have a demon weapon?’ I telepathically ask Nabil and The Shadow, I quickly receive a negative answer from my brother but I don’t get a reply from The Shadow which worries me.

“We don’t have any chance of winning do we?” April asks me, I can hear the fear in her voice and I’m sure that she is ready to give up and let the demon take her because if she does then I might survive.

“I don’t know but I wont let it take you away from me.” I tell her with my voice slipping into a growl as my anger builds, I just want a quiet life to spend my time with my nest and the person I love but the world seems to be conspiring against me.

“You two need to control yourselves, the smell of your fear and love is disgusting and very distracting.” The Shadow growls, out of the corner of my eye I can see him looking at me with a look of violence and I worry that I may have to fight off both him and the demon.

I watch in wonder as The Shadow pulls a blade from a sheath on his hip, my hand shoots to my own hip and I feel the Hidden One blade there, the blade feels more sentient than usual and I worry that it will sense a stronger being nearby and decide to change who its owner is but my fears are quickly swept away when the blade lengthens and both edges become razor sharp.

“Your blade is mighty impressive Ancient One but it is no match for that creature.” The Shadow says pointing towards the demon, “mine on the other hand.” He laughs a wild wicked laugh that sends chills through my body, he definitely deserves to be a part of the Wild Ones.

I look at the blade that The Shadow is holding and my jaw drops, the blade doesn’t look like anything special as it is the same size as a small dagger and looks to be painted entirely black but I’ve seen a blade like this before and I know that it isn’t painted. I know that the material that makes up the blade is naturally black because the blade is made of demon out of a bone from a demon.

The demon facing us hisses and takes two steps backwards away from us, the scent of fear meets my nostrils and I know the demon is scared because The Shadow has just shown it that he has a weapon that can send it back to it’s own realm for at least a couple of decades.

“I will try to hit it with this while you all distract it with the salt.” The Shadows orders us and while I agree with his tactic I growl at him because I can’t let him think he is commanding this fight, if he thinks he has power over me he might try and challenge me and I don’t want to have to fight him and the demon.

“You don’t give the orders around here.” I snap at him letting him know that I am the one in charge here, I am the master of this nest which he is a part of.

“Maybe it is time for a change in this nest.” He growls turning to face me.

“Maybe but first we deal with that thing.” I tell him gesturing towards the demon.

“Fine but only because I want to kill you without having you distracted.” He snarls and launches himself at the demon.

Nabil, April and myself quickly charge after him, removing the lids of the salt shakers and throwing the salt at the demon who hisses and moves away avoiding the salt which would burn him like acid. The Shadow pushes after the demon slashing and stabbing but the demon is faster than him and avoids his attacks, the three of us try and provide back up for The Shadow but we have to stay away from the demon because if it gets a hold of one of us it could kill us as easily as a silver dagger to the heart. The fight seems to be going our way with the powerful demon on the defensive trying to dodge both The Shadows attacks with the demon blade and the salt coming from Nabil, April and me but as every warrior knows one move is enough to change of a battle and that move comes not from the demon in front of us but from behind us.

I hear April cry out and I spin around to see another demon not much weaker than the one we are currently fighting grab her around the waste and pull her in front of itself effectively blocking us from being able to harm him. I realise with a start that the powerful demon was just there as a distraction to fight the most powerful members of my nest while one of his subordinates captures April. I hear The Shadow roar in absolute rage and a second later I know why as the demon he had been fighting flows out of the ground and changes from a black mass into his physical form.

“We have what we came for.” He says with a smile on his face.

I move to lunge at the demon holding April but the powerful demon pulls out a long wicked looking sword and holds it against April’s throat making me stop in my tracks.

“We will be leaving now but rest assured that I will remember all of your faces and next time we meet I will slaughter each and every one of you.” He laughs as they dissolve into black masses and disappear with April.

I roar letting out my anger, I had promised to protect April to never let anyone hurt her, to never let anyone take her away but I’ve failed and I don’t know if I will ever see her again and if I do I don’t know if she will even be alive.

“Good they’re gone, now we are safe.” The Shadow says with a slight laugh.

I lose all sense and let my rage take over as I throw myself at The Shadow knocking him to the ground, I grip his head with a hand either side and slam his head against the ground then again and again, over and over, I want to destroy him I want to pound his head into the ground until all that is left is a bloody paste.

“Brother.” Nabil says softly with obvious fear in his voice.

I stop slamming The Shadows head into the ground and glare up at my brother, I’m not sure what he sees on my face in that moment but it makes his stubble backwards away from me with a look of terror on his face, I smell his intense fear and panic as he falls onto his back, I could kill him so easily right now, he wouldn’t even put up a fight, he is too scared for that. I hear The Shadow groan in pain underneath me and all thoughts of going after Nabil are erased as a voice whispers in my head.

‘This one is the reason April was taken. He didn’t care. He let the demons take her. He needs to die.’

I listen to the voice and start smashing The Shadows head against the ground again and this time I don’t stop until there is nothing left of the head of one of the most feared Vampires to walk the earth.

I roll off of the remains of the Vampire beneath me and collapse to the floor, one of my worst fears has happened and I was powerless to stop it. I feel tears start to pour from my eyes as I think about April and how terrified she must be right now, I use my mind to try and reach out to her using the mating bond bit because we hadn’t properly joined the mating bond isn’t there and I can’t feel anything from her, I can’t feel anything from her even when I use the bonds of being the master of her nest.

I had thought that if something would happen to April then I would fly into a rage and cause destruction the likes of which have never before been seen but while I can feel the rage right there on the surface I don’t think it will spill over and all I want now is to lie here and let the earth swallow me whole because I don’t feel like I can take this pain. I think that maybe it would be better to let the black magic take over and control me so I don’t have to feel this pain, so I don’t have to feel anything at all.

“Brother your nest needs you.” Nabil’s voice breaks through my emotional agony but I cant find the strength to move, “we will find her brother but your nest just went through an attack, they need you now.”

It takes every last bit of my strength for me to get to my feet and Nabil has to support me and help me make my way back to the house and my nest, I stumble through the mansion seeing the stricken and beaten faces of the Vampires and humans of my nest, this attack was a massive blow against us but I cant deal with this right now, I don’t think I can deal with anything.

I reach my bed room that I have been sharing with April and collapse down onto the bed, I pull the pillow that she had rested her head on so many times close to my face and inhale her scent, my tears start to flow uncontrollably as the realisation of what I have lost hits me once again and I’m sure I will never recover from this.

To Be Continued?

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