Hefting his bags easily with a single hand, Raven stood and walked to the private jet’s boarding hatch. He opened it with his free hand and just as quickly there was a rush of air that sent his bright crimson locks rustling in the suddenly oppressive breeze. Likewise the old leather duster he wore shifted with she sound of a snake slithering on its belly, a slight whispery sound that was in reality well broken in leather against leather. The duster in question had been repaired a hundred times. Actually that only looked the case. Indeed this coat was a replacement for Raven’s last.

The last had met a rather untimely fate against a rather powerful ancient and yet this “new one” for its benefit had already been through Raven’s on brand of customization. Meaning it had served to protect his skin in a few skirmishes here and there; much like he once might have worn leather armor into battle, but mostly it was serving its ultimate purpose, to carry a share of weapons. Mostly blades. Knives, a few swords, daggers, stilettos, and yet surprisingly enough, also twin hand guns. Two military issue Desert Eagles were at either side of Raven’s waist; holstered and yet at the read in a moment’s time theoretically. Truly Raven didn’t like firearms. Usually he preferred a warrior’s fight and yet considering the very nature of his visit, ah well the very nature spoke of a lack of honor and a need for caution and deadly measures. And so he bore the guns; weapons he was no less efficient with than any sword.

Besides, with Alexandra at his side Raven wasn’t taking chances. He would kill any and everything he considered a threat and do so by any means necessary. The high caliber handguns could be rather effective even against other vampires. Beheading not being so very difficult if one knew how.

Besides his duster and his weapons, Raven wore dark red jeans. The color combined with his hair and his jacket made him look like a flash of blood against the darkness of his shirt and the likewise flawless ebony of the night pressing in about him.

Standing in the hatch, Raven checked the darkness with keen eyes the color of summer grass. When he was done, those eyes fell on Alexandra once again.

And an expression that had been pure intimidation a moment before was suddenly soft. Soft and pleased despite himself. Even if Raven was being careful of things, he couldn’t help but feel good at Alex’s involvement in this current mission of his. She had once again agreed to step foot with him into an Ishak coven again. But more than that, she had agreed to come with him on behalf of his master. And together the two of them were to set things right.

Or rather as Kie had bid, to square all accounts. And so Raven would as Alexandra helped him. More than that it was a chance for Raven’s love to really understand he own power. Raven knew she underestimated her own greatness so very often, away from Dematire and it’s thick concentration of vampires of extraordinary status and power, it was time that she became aware of what she could do.

Besides Raven trusted her with his life and he knew most assuredly that he would have no one else to trust. Indeed not for quite sometime.

Looking back again, into Kie’s jet that had brought them all the way from Canada, Raven searched Alex’s eyes.

“Shall we then?” He asked, this time offering his free hand to the woman that had become his goddess of love and beauty.

Outside was an airstrip. A hidden airstrip, there would be a car waiting to take them into New York City proper. No one was supposed to be aware of their exact day of arrival and yet Raven felt himself unsure about that. Indeed he would be searching for betrayal until they were safely home. But for the time being he wanted nothing more than to guide Alexandra down the plane’s stairs and find a hotel that they both could agree on before morning.

She'd always wanted to go to New York, even since before she'd been turned she'd wanted to see the city.

But now... Now it was probably the last place she wanted to be. She just had a bad feeling that this whole thing was going to go wrong and something would happen to either her or Raven. She'd wanted to try to change his mind about coming... Tried to get him to stay...

But she knew that because Kie had asked it of him, because Kie wanted him to do this, he would and she wouldn't have been able to convince him to stay. So the next best thing was to go with him, even if something was screaming at her like it was now, stepping off the plane.

Her reddish-blond hair (for she had dyed it recently for a change) was pulled back into a braid, her blue eyes glancing about sharply. But because she didn't know what was normal, she couldn't look for anything unusual. She'd sworn that she would keep him safe... Sworn that she would do anything at all to keep him alive. Kie had told them, or rather her, about the powerful vampires in the city.

But the ride here, which she had spent mostly in silence, she'd come to realize that she was weak... If one of those vampires tried to hurt Raven, there was nothing that she would be able to do. Nothing that would keep them from killing her too. She'd had to control her fear, her near terror about it, because she didn't want Raven to worry about her, or think her weak. But as she had shut her mind to him, he probably knew just what was going on.

Alex took his hand though as they moved down the steps. "No... But it's a little too late to turn back now..." She murmured. But after all, she had no proof that her fear would come true, she wasn't clairvoyant or anything. But she worried like hell. Her healed boots made a clicking sound as they moved from the steps to the asphalt of the runway, and again she looked around.

"We should find a hotel in the middle of the city..." She murmured. "They'll probably expect us to try and stay away from the city unless we have to... So they might not look for us in a hotel right in the middle of them." Alex bit her lip slightly, because of course they could always think that they were hiding amongst them because it would be the least-expected thing to do. The powerful vampires couldn't all be stupid as well.

Emerald eyes flashed fire in the all consuming darkness that seemed a cool nexus about them. Raven's eyes threatened crimson for a moment, anger shifting restlessly beneath the surface of his skin and mind alike. Yes, perhaps Raven couldn't feel Alexandra's mind, couldn't reach out and caress gently along the link they shared to sooth her. And yet he was not so dense as to not realize that she needed soothing.

Indeed Alexandra had been uneasy about this trip from the start. That much Raven knew and while he would have gone alone, he knew also that such would only have upset her more. And so she'd come along with him; to protect him and while such a thing seemed almost funny to him, it didn't change the fact that Alexandra would be a very useful ally to have in this place that he had not seen in years now, at least not since the death of the city's previous Ishak master. Indeed it seemed ironic to Raven now that he'd left his city at the behest of the very being whose death he was now sent to investigate.

Raven had no doubt that he would be both remembered and loathed. After all he had served a rather cruel beast in his time here and yet perhaps that was another reason to have Alex with him. She could talk to those that would never speak to him. She could learn more than he could, simply because she was a new variable to this world and not an old one such as himself.

And yet even as Raven considered these things, he had eyes only for Alexandra. Her concern was a palpable thing, a taste like acid and copper in the back of his throat and yet what could he say to her that had not already been said?

What more could he say of the strength he knew she possessed?

Hers was a strength that she would realize if only she allowed herself the understand that it was there. But so long as she doubted her abilities, then they would be just that; in doubt. Only being assured would change things. And this was the perfect time and place for such a realization and perhaps that was the reason Raven most treasured her presence here with him. Well perhaps not the only reason.

Taking Alex's hand, Raven sighed softly at her words. They were both cryptic and unsettling, a touch of old world belief made him consider the seer’s gift. Perhaps Alexandra might not have talent in that regard, or at least so she thought but then again she also thought she was weak, so their was no certainty in him that she was not gifted with foreknowledge. Or at least that sense of foreboding, of instinct that he as a soldier knew all too well to be fact over fiction and which had indeed saved his life more than once. But even if Alex had some gift that neither of them understood, Raven knew he could take no heed of her words now. Indeed he never could have.

But now, with Alexandra at his side, well now they would protect each other. And may the gods help any that tried standing in their way.


"No, my fledgling, there is no turning back now." The crimson haired vampire muttered.

Giving Alex's hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance or at least he hoped it was reassuring, Raven walked with her.

His green eyes taking her in despite the situation. As always she was lovely and as always he felt the warmth in his blood that marked her nearness. Her hair had changed, dyed, and while he would never say such, he found her new color both intriguing and lovely, even as he mourned the tawny loveliness that he’d so enjoyed taking measure of as he awoke or during the rapturous heights of their love making.

Raven’s combat boots tapped out a similar clicking to Alex’s heeled ones as the moved together down the stairs leaving the plane and yet even so Raven fell silent as they dropped to asphalt.

Only the occasional sound of steel on concrete marking both their steel toed nature and the special adaptation that Raven had inset within the sole of his boots. The bottoms of his feet felt the heat of the crosses like a phantom threat or perhaps a promise. A promise of violence for which he'd come well equipped. A single kick from these boots on vampires harmed by the holy relic and it could do massive amounts of damage, could be torturous and brutal. Which was just the idea. Raven had never been kind when it came to battle. And now that he was once again Guidid. Ah, well he’d remembered just how very unkind he could be.

Alexandra spoke then and Raven listened. He could hear the thoughtfulness as well as the uncertainty in her voice. He could also still smell that thick cloying scent of concern, but he pushed it away, saying that he noticed only because he was extra sensitive where Alexandra was concerned. Besides he had faith in her. She would not disappoint him and certainly not disappoint herself.

“We need not bother Alexandra…” Raven found himself saying then. Something caught his attention and almost instantly he felt his muscles tense.

There.

“Your logic is sound, but there is no need. Indeed a few of our hosts have found us already…”

Raven paused a moment, his senses taking in the night. His eyes slowly bled to crimson and he frowned, feeling his fangs growing even longer in his displeasure.

“Come out Lucas! If I must come find you, you shall not like the gratitude that I show.”

There was a laugh then, a chuckle that rose from a mere whisper to a throaty purr. It was flowing and seductive. Almost lovely and yet it held just the slightest touch of distain, a sentiment shared if Raven’s sudden expression was anything by which to judge.

“I was wondering when you’d notice me down wind…” A voice murmured then and a moment later a figure seemed to simply appear.

Raven didn’t even blink. Lucas’s sire had been Nephim. The shadow walk skill was simply something he’d inherited, he way a few others inherited touches of what their sire had been before them or in some cases it seemed random mutation was something that became of them and their blood.

A moment later two women appeared at Lucas’s side. Twins, they seemed a striking contrast to their master who was tall and pale of skin and even paler still of hair. Lucas's platinum blond hair was artfully styled as always. It accented attractive features that at once instantly seemed just a touch too radiant to be true. Mostly because it was. Another of Lucas's gifts, a limited skill for illusion.

At least where his own apperance was concerned.

It was a skill that was much more limited than perhaps it should have been. After all Lucas was old; old Rome old. Much older than even Raven. Indeed he had the age that he might very well could have been coven leader, that was except most of those years of his were empty.

That is to say that Lucas had survived, but not done much else. He wasn’t very powerful despite his years though because of them he was surprisingly clever; but also he had become cold, vicious of word and deed. Even where his allies were concrened, even his coven brothers and sisters.

In short Lucas was not one to be trusted. Perhaps more of a pest than a threat and yet he was always plotting, always ambitious. He had been the lover of Raven’s former master. The master had been fond of the blond’s ferocious spirit while Lucas had been fond of the master’s power.

So far as Raven went though the two of them had never gotten along well; especially given Lucas's love of young girls. Young girls that he turned mostly to be his eternal victims. Little more than slaves and toys. If he'd done it to any younger than the two at his back, The Amman no doubt would have had his head, but then Lucas was too clever for that. Besides, not all he turned stayed his slaves.

Indeed more than a few of those that made up the New York coven were those that had managed to break free of him and his oppressive control. And yet even freed none of them felt confident enough to make a permanent enemy of him or actually standing up to his continued cruelty on their behalfs. Raven was different of course and as such he would always be hated by Lucas.

Of that the Pict vampire had no illusions.

As for Lucas's companions. The twins were Chinese in origin, the two girls were the product of China’s Boxer rebellion and couldn’t have been more than fifteen years in age.

Of course now as vampires their eyes shown with knowledge far beyond their years and Raven took both of them in and immediately knew that both were armed and quite capable of combat. One of them actually smiled at him. Bold and defiant. Most definately one of Lucas's creations.

“What do you want Lucas…” Raven growled then at his former coven brother.

The blond for his part smiled then.

“Dear Raven, who is your friend?" For a moment eyes the pale-pale blue of an arctic sky, assessed Alexandra. When those eyes flowed along her body, paying special attention to the interesting bits, it quirked the vampire's lips wryly. Raven could feel his own frown deepen at that expression.

"Is this the great Kie that we’ve all heard so much about? The ruler of the capital city? Is she here about the old master’s death then? Will she be the one to sit me on the throne?”

Lucas asked each and every one of those questions with a smugness that said he knew the answers to each and every one, but at the same time there was something playful and analytical in his gaze. For just a moment Raven knew he was testing something. But the question was what. Was it Alexandra? Was it him? Or both? Or perhaps it was something else all together. One could never tell with Lucas and yet he'd claimed the seat of New York's leader with that one little boast.

Raven wondered if he was really out for the leadership seat. The Lucas he'd known wasn't powerful enough to hold the position. Not by half. He would be challenged and probably killed in combat within the night of his sitting at the coven head.

Was Lucas playing games? Or was he up to something? Well that last actually went without saying. Lucas was always up to something and yet Raven found he didn't like the way the man regarded Alexandra. His eyes were cool and attentive, even as he practically undressed her with his mind. Raven wondered if Lucas had really mistaken her for Kie. If so, was he planning some sort of seduction. If that was the case Raven was pretty sure he'd behead the man right here and now. Perhaps his bad blood with the current regime would be forgotten then.

A funny and pretty dream that was. He would never be forgiven. Never. The old master had been sure of that. After all Raven had served him faithfully, even after he'd learned what he was. Even after he'd forced him to forsake Alexandra, forced him to move clear across the country to help him try to keep together what was effectively two empires run by a single ruler.

She had walked behind him, the wooden stillletos of her boots and Raven's firm hand her only reassurances at the moment. She'd been reading a series o books and had picked up this wonderful little idea from it. After all, stakes affected far more vampires than Raven's crosses. And her shoes wouldn't really cause all that much of a fuss. But one shove or kick into a vampire would be highly effective.

As he stopped, Alex froze, not sensing the same things that he could. There was someone with them? Where? Her head whipped around and she saw him, her breath catching in her throat. He was handsome to her eyes. Tall, pale with age and obviously strong, he stood before them almost glaring his displeasure at their arrival.

When the vampire looked her over she felt... A tug. A pull of something from him, but her hold on Raven's hand never slackened, helping her to resist that urge. The fake desire. But his gaze still didn't leave her and she had to repress the urge to run, to hide herself because even the clothing she was wearing felt as if it would not hide her body from him.

She felt something poking at her mind... Raven or this Lucas Alex didn't care at the moment, she shut her mind tightly against the probe. Raven would understand her reasoning for doing so after all, so he wouldn't feel slighted.

"Kie? No... And I do not believe you are so foolish to think so." She said coolly. "Besides. She would have removed your eyes for looking at me the way you are now... And I would be careful before Raven or I do the same." But she doubted that the vampire would take her warning seriously.

"I serve only one person. And it is for that person that I am here. But do believe me when I say that I doubt Kie would want you to be leading the coven here." A small smile slipped to her face despite everything. "We would have to be back here all too soon to sort out the coven after the ever unfortunate death of yet another leader." Perhaps it was going to far... But he needed to know that even though she was young, she was not one to be toyed with.

Eyes the color of an Antarctic sky took Alexandra in slowly. At first they were teasing, playful, and wry; almost ogling, but indeed most assuredly set upon unsettling. Those eyes mocked the red-blond tart on Raven’s arm. Then a moment later they were suddenly set ablaze. Unlike Raven’s they didn’t change in their fury, at least not genuinely and physically change. Nothing quite so dramatic, and yet there was a difference just the same in the very pit of that gaze. There was suddenly something murderous in those depths, something cruel and merciless and something that facilitated the flash of fangs that were suddenly bared and the flash of pale hand that would have torn the insolent strumpet’s little head off of her shoulders.

Or at least it might have if it had been faster and perhaps stronger as a grip like iron incased that hand’s wrist and a moment later the blond vampire hissed as he felt the bones beneath skin and muscle pulverized by inhuman strength.

Of course the source of that inhuman strength didn’t even blink. Indeed any watching would have been hard pressed to realize when exactly he had moved a simple two steps to put his free hand’s reach between Alexandra and Lucas and yet Raven was there. He didn’t move, he didn’t blink, even as the twins moved forward in an effortless demonstration of coordination and both drew weapons.

Raven caught the glint of steel out of one eye and the silhouette of a Taoist’s slender blade. Of course the other woman he was able to see fully well, she’d drawn a gun. 9mm. Automatic. She’d aimed it at Alexandra’s head and that alone was enough to have Raven baring fangs.

“Attack and he dies…” The words were casual and yet there was steel in Raven’s voice and there was no doubt of his seriousness. And if there was, another squeeze of Lucas’s wrist and another hiss of pain was enough to get the dark eyed women’s attention.

Of course before they could react one way or another, a look passed Lucas’s features, a look as if he’d been listening to something and then he sneered as he shook his free hand.

“Enough you two. Stand down.”

Then light blue eyes met dark crimson.

“I apologize.” The words were said with all the spite that the blond vampire could manage. Raven wasn’t fooled for a moment and yet he released Lucas’s wrist. Raven couldn’t see them, couldn’t sense them, but just like that he knew someone else was directing Lucas’s actions.

Raven had seen the look in his eyes, the anger at Alexandra, or rather not so much anger at her as the truth that had been in her words. Not only the truth about his inability as leader; but the truth about his knowledge as well. As always Lucas was playing at some game. He’d been listening to another’s thoughts or more likely he’d been the recipient of a message. Even those without the mind gift have ways of knowing when it is used and Raven knew then and it made him suspicious. He reached for the link he and Alexandra shared and it was only then that he realized that his fledgling had closed her mind to him. And that suddenly worried him. Not because she had done so. But rather because she’d felt the need to do so.

Was this some sort of ambush?

Lucas’s mood was clearly fowl then and he growled a bit as he shifted the bones in his arms beneath his fingers like grains of sand. The pain of it was enough to draw another snarl from him, but his gaze was only for Alexandra.

“This is not over child.”

Raven restrained himself. To attack again would be to provoke a useless battle, besides Alexandra was hardly a child. He trusted her to keep herself safe. Perhaps he would worry, but he would trust her and besides he would dissect Lucas alive if he touched her. And of that there was a perfect understanding between them as their eyes met once more.

“You will show the proper respect…” Raven was saying then, glaring at Lucas. “To my master’s proxy. Since I know you are dying to know…indeed it is no doubt you and whomever is yet backing you’s wish. Know now that Alexandra is here as my master’s proxy. While she’s already informed you that she is not Kie, let it be known that you will treat her as if she were as is our custom. Otherwise my master may take it as a sound of disrespect…”

Raven smiled then, he didn’t have to explain what it was to breed a leader’s wrath. Indeed Lucas had bred that wrath often enough of his own master. And yet it was not the same to breed wrath of the master of the capital city.

Lucas actually paled. His look of hot distain and rage suddenly cooled. Of course being old, he had too much pride to degrade himself with apologies. Instead he simply bowed his head as did the twins at his back.

All three kneeled then.

“Forgive our offense master.”

Raven leaned into Alexandra then.

“Forgive me love. But you shall be safer with the title of proxy on your side.”

Alex bared her fangs, her nails lengthening slightly as tensions rose rather sharply and quickly. Her focus was on the child pointing the gun at her head. She might not be quick enough to dodge bullets, but she might be able to get out of the way if she sensed the woman was about to shoot. But then again... The bullet would hit Raven more than likely, and that wasn't something she could live with.

But she let Raven take care of talking them out of this mess... Showing once more how inept she was for coven life... She truly was best left to her own devices and left to fend for herself so long as Raven was by her side.

It seemed though, that they did not know who the master she served was. Apparently they thought it was Kie and well, Raven seemed to use that to their advantage. She held back her confusion as he claimed she was Kie's proxy... What was that? Like she was the one who had come to deal with things? Or perhaps Kie's protoge?

Her face was stiff, stern as she assumed her new role. And as the three bowed to her and Raven moved close she dropped her wall slightly. Lucas' mind probe was gone...

"He was trying to entrance me... Call me to him." She told Raven with a slight growl, not knowing if he had sensed her mind closed or not. "But what's a Proxy? You know I don't know how covens work outside of our little group. Certainly not when dealing with other covens." She nearly hissed in a whisper to his mind, as if she were still afraid of being overheard.

For a moment Raven was thoughtful. However unlike Lucas before him; Raven gave no clue as to the sound of Alexandra’s voice echoing in the depth of his mind. Indeed Raven took extra measures to ensure that theirs was a private conversation. The link between him and Alexandra was not simply a mental thing; it wasn’t simply the use of the mind gift or the two of them simply picking up on each other’s thoughts. Or at least that wasn’t all there was to it, so Raven took the distance between them with an artful step and taking Alex’s hand, he pressed a kiss to the back of it.

Skin to skin contact helped to strengthen their link and Raven spoke into Alexandra’s mind (shielding as he did) meanwhile his eyes turned on Lucas and his progeny.

“Perhaps he did…my fledgling...” Raven whispered into Alex’s psyche. “Indeed I’ve no doubt of it. Such a thing reeks of him and yet…I do not believe he is alone. Or at least that he is the only one seeking to touch your mind. After all, his mind gifts are limited.”

Even as Raven spoke to Alexandra mentally, he spoke to Lucas physically, voice little more than an annoyed snarl.

“Enough of this Lucas. Don’t embarrass yourself so. Especially when we know you don’t mean a single word of that sudden deference...being blatant is beneath you.”

Raven’s voice only for Alexandra continued in the same instant.

“A proxy is, well the word and concept both are a very old thing indeed my fledgling, used often enough among mortals though perhaps those days have gone by in this ‘modern age’. But in short a proxy is a leader’s representative. In this case as Kie’s proxy, then you wield all of her power in this situation.”

Raven’s voice mental voice was soft then, as if unsure of what her reaction might be.

“I named you proxy, which was within my right considering my master put the task upon me. However this means that the final decision on this city’s fate is in your hands Alexandra. There are those that will seek to influence you in this, but I have faith in you. So for now you are master, and despite the rage Lucas might feel, he is beneath your authority. The whole city belongs to you until you pick its rightful owner amongst those of the coven here.”

Lucas sneered then, though he made sure to point it only in Raven’s direction. He rose with all the grace of a cresting wave and that grace continued over into the bow that sent golden hair strafing his shoulders.

A laugh spilled from his lips then.

“Well, this has been interesting…” He said, daring a look in Alexandra’s direction. That amusement was back in his gaze, a thin covering for the rage that still blazed there. “More interesting than I’d ever imagined. However my girls and I shall take our leave for now. Pardon our manners in our greeting my lady. And forgive my temper…”

His gaze studied Raven then.

“May you and your guardian forgive me…”

Lucas didn’t wait for a response; instead he was simply gone a moment later. Even Raven’s keen sense failed to pick him up and that more than anything else worried Raven, even if he refused to allow Alexandra to see that worry.

Something was going on in this city; indeed Raven had a feeling that Lucas and perhaps whomever he was working with, were probably only one of the challenges they’d face. Lucas wouldn’t forget what had happened here and perhaps it wasn’t smart to enrage Alexandra right now, but there was always something up his sleeve.

They were limited? Then... Who had been calling her? Someone had been telling her to go to him, to leave Raven and go to him...

She pushed the thought from her mind. She'd figure it out later, because right now there were more pressing matters. "Power? Me? Why did you do that? I have no clue what's going on here Raven!" She was almost angry with him. But in truth she was more panicked than anything, though she kept that to herself.

Just because it gave her protection didn't mean anything! She didn't really know what was going on here, she didn't know how to solve problems or anything else like that. Did he honestly thing she could do something like this? Or was he planning to wield her power to make it look as if she were the one in control?

That would probably be best for the both of them and the outcome of this whole fiasco.

"Forgiveness?" Alex questioned. After all, she might as well play the part right? "That will depend on your future behavior. If you think you are the one who should be left to run this coven, I would expect more from you Lucas." She said stiffly.

But as he left with the two girls, a wave of relief made her tremble for a second before she moved closer to Raven. But she knew that it wouldn't be the end of it... The vampire knew that Raven had pulled a fast one, the way he had responded showed her that he knew the truth. Raven had named her proxy instead of him, leaving himself open for attack.

"He knows Raven..." She whispered. "He knows that it was a pitch to save me... And now you've left yourself open to danger..." She said with a frown. "I don't think that was a good idea Raven... And I don't know if this is going to work out the way you wanted..."

Raven nodded then to Alexandra's words.

"Of that I've no doubt my feldgling..." His voice was cool and even, there was not a touch of the slight worry he felt and yet Raven could not help but feel unease. There was much going on here, he understood. And yet exactly what, that Raven could not understand. He knew that it was a picture that he was yet too new to proceedings to understand. But in time. And if there is anything a vampire has an abundant amount of...it is time.

Raven smiled.

"That is to say that I've no doubt that he knows what I did. No doubt the one that tried to compel you knows as well. But that doesn't matter Alexandra. All that matters is that they can make no overt move against you without risking complete and utter extermination."

Raven's eyes were cold then.

"Indeed if they touched you, I'd do it myself. No trace of their bloodlines would remain in my wake..."

Taloned fingers flexed then and slowly but surely those vicious nails retracted as did fangs. Bloody crimson bled from Raven's eyes only to leave solid untouchable emerald in its wake. Green eyes as solid as precious gems turned then to take Alex in. They checked her for injuries with a simple sweep. When there wasn't immediately anything wrong, Raven's expression softened. His arm slipped about Alexandra's waist then and he pulled her closer, a gentle embrace and yet one that also strengthened their link and solidified it against outside observation.

"You might be right." Raven whispered into her mind. "Perhaps my idea will not turn out the way I'd hoped, but don't dare believe that I do not have faith in your decision. I trust you to make this decision as so much as I trust myself."

A smile appeared on his face then.

"As for having a clue as to what's going on here, we are both in the dark dear heart. We are outsiders. Perhaps I was not always an outiser here, but I have been gone long and there is no doubt a much hatred for me in this city as there is for Lucas. Perhaps the reasons are different, but the truth is just that, truth."

Raven looked thoughtful then.

"Indeed I've no doubt that you will learn the truth of things much more readily than I. After all there is no hatred for you. You are an X factor that none of those here will know how to consider. Besides meeting Lucas once again has assured me of one thing...the coven leader's death was no accident. He was no doubt murdered."

Raven's expression turned to one of mild disgust.

"Someone did not think that could best him in a challenge, so it seems that they went to other measures. And now Alexandra, it falls on us to find who is responsible and decide on who shall rule this city. But do not be troubled, I've no doubt that all those looking to sit upon the throne shall fine us. Or rather find you, for that part alone I am sorry, but this will keep you safer than I can. But I am in no more danger than I was from the start. I can take care of myself, my fledgling."

Raven's eyes searched the darkness once again then. He searched and it was then that he found the car waiting for them.

All things considered, he would have opted for something a little less conspicious than a limo and yet his master had provided them transport and so Raven would not argue.

Instead he spoke aloud.

"Let us go, Alexandra. We've a hotel to find...unless you'd prefer something else."

But if they could nearly call her from another, would she be able to resist them when they were there in the flesh? When this vampire showed up, would she be able to resist him? She was strong for her age, she knew that much. But when she spent her time around vampires older than herself, it tended to make her feel weak.

Alex wanted to purr in contentment as he spoke to her mind, loving the feeling of his consciousness against hers. She moved closer as he pulled her into his arms, her head resting at the crook of his neck, nuzzling, nipping at his skin. And despite the fact she continued her showers of affection, she listened closely to Raven's words. She'd process them later... Let them sink in when she could handle it.

"Raven.... I don't want anything to happen to you. I... I only came because... Because if something happened to you, if I failed to protect you... there would be vampires here who would willing send me to be with you still." She admitted. "I refuse to live without you... It wouldn't mean anything to me anymore."

She was kissing at his neck, her arms slipping about his waist. "I love you so much Raven..." She whispered into his hair.

But she nodded as he said they should get going... Standing here only invited more trouble. "I want some sort of suite... Jacuzzi... Good view... Nice, big, soft bed... I'll pay if you don't want to." She offered. Sure she'd be paying thousands of dollars for the time they would be here... But she didn't care at the moment. "And we could always say we're here on a honeymoon." She grinned. "You always get extra perks that way."

'Do not worry yourself, nor think such thoughts...Alexandra. We are more than enough to overcome anything that this city might throw our way. Indeed you are more. Even more than you believe." Raven was suddenly saying, his eyes closing a moment as his body was savoring Alex's attentions. Even as it silently cried out for more.

Alexandra, his Alexandra; her scent alone was more than enough to intoxicate him, this Raven knew, and yet he drew it in dutifully almost tasting her skin, caressing it beneath teasing fingertips and he was suddenly aching to do these things once again.

The stir of her breath swept through his hair then and Raven smiled. It was an expression touched with warm affection and his reply was more of the same.

“I love you too Alexandra, I always have…I always shall...no matter what may come. However you should live my love. Indeed I would lay down my life for that purpose. And so while I tell you that I shall be fine, I tell you as well that I will not have you die for any reason. Ever.”

There was something fierce in Raven’s gaze then, something that burned like fire and yet in the same instance threatened to devour more than any blaze ever could. A few moments later and that blaze was gone as if it had never existed and yet it had, it was there, would always be there, the same as the love and affection Raven felt for his fledgling. As ever lasting was his urge to protect her. There was but for one other did he feel such fierce emotion…

Raven laughed then. It was as full of affection as before, but with it swirled was genuine amusement. A amusement that set Raven’s eyes alight and his voice melodious in its chuckle.

“My master’s wish is my command…” He said to her lightly, still smiling. “In case you’ve forgotten, Alexandra. As proxy I am bound to obey your orders, as so much as any other within this city is.”

He met her gaze then and his smile was suddenly seductive if slightly chagrinned.

“Besides, I would relent gladly; especially where that big soft bed you spoke of is concerned.”

His gaze was suddenly more amused then.

“However there shall be no paying upon your part…I’ve had more than a millennium to amass wealth my love. It goes without saying that I can pay for our room. Indeed Kie would pay for everything during this trip if I allowed it. Paying is not an issue. You’ll find that money is rarely an issue for most immortals. Time makes the most mundane of things precious.”

Precious and sometimes priceless.

Raven took Alexandra’s hand then and pressed a simple kiss to it. His smile was teasing and then he was using the arm about Alex’s waist to steer her toward the waiting limo. Soon the two of them would find a place of rest and for once Raven’s contentment was almost palpable.

He needed Alexandra’s safety if only for the night and for at least that blessing he was thankful to all the gods that would listen.

It didn't matter what he wanted. Now that she had him again, nothing would tear her away from him, not even death. She would join him in a heartbeat if he were to be killed. Even Kie would not be able to stop her unless she created some illusion where in her mind Raven was still alive. But even then, if she ever found out the truth she wouldn't see the point in living.

"I won't live without you." She whispered resolutely into his crimson mane, and after all, if he did die, who would stop her from joining him?

But she smiled then, her fingers brushing his hair. "Obey me? Hmm... That is an interesting concept." She said with a playful growl. "First off... You are under no circumstance to put your life on the line for me. Ever. I don't want anything happening to you because of my weakness or stupidity." She hoped that her 'power' would last even after they left here, but she wasn't going to hold her breath... After all, they really weren't wanted in Canada... And if it weren't for this whole dead-leader thing, they wouldn't be noticed here.

"Secondly... You will ravage me in the limo, and if by the time we get to the hotel I am not fully satisfied... I will make you suffer like no man has ever suffered." She purred the threat into his ear as they moved to the limo.

And truth be told... She'd never had sex in a limo before, despite all the rock stars she'd done before. But then again, a lot of those were from before they were stars. But it was one of her fantasies. Besides, weren't the back part of most limos sound proof with one-way glass?

Not that it mattered to her if it did or not. But then it would be bad to have a driver, vampire or human, distracted while driving.

"I think that'll be it for now... But I'm sure that I'll think of some more for you to do." She said, nodding officially as if she'd actually made a real order. Hell, it wasn't like he wouldn't do the whole limo thing. If she had suggested it he would have done it.

Raven chuckled once again and again it was musical and seductive. The kind of sound that had a way of touching more than the air it vibrated to become sound. Of course Raven only nodded at Alexandra’s list of demands. Perhaps he was honor bound to obey her as proxy, but that wouldn’t matter, no not really. Not if she were ever truly in danger while they were here and he could do anything to rescue her. After all the words of moments ago had not been hollow he would give his very life gladly for her.

“Your weakness and stupidity?” He asked her, expression darkening slightly. “Your weakness comes only with your lack of understanding…as for stupidity. I’ve never known you to be stupid my fledgling. Perhaps stubborn and impetuous, but never stupid.”

The dark expression evaporated then and Raven laughed.

“Your second order however I have no complaints over, my mistress.”

That last part became a purr of Raven’s own, low and sultry, as much a term of endearment as any other he’d used for Alexandra his love. He had before called her his goddess of love and beauty and she was just that, lovely to his eyes and senses, a light to his heart, indeed the mender of his soul. Guidid was proof enough of that. Or rather the fact that he remembered that name to be his own.

Raven opened the limo door for his fledgling then and the scent of fine leather and polished wood blossomed on the night air, of course before she could move he captured her lips with his, fingers interlacing and he kissed her slow and savoring.

Fingertips caressing her cheek then, Raven gave Alexandra another kiss then along the line of her jaw. He moved up to claim her lips once again, but then he stopped, eyes meeting hers in a silent promise.

“If by the time we reach the hotel you are not satisfied, then I deserve to suffer.”

His smile was wry then, and he gestured toward the limo interior.

“Let the ravishing begin…” He teased her, his eyes suddenly alight with lasciviousness.

"Don't laugh Raven." She said simply, seriously. "It's important, really. I don't want you covering for me, I don't want you taking the all or getting yourself killed because of me!" She said almost shrilly. "It's something I wouldn't ever live with, and you know it!" Couldn't he understand how important it was?

But she wasn't serious for long...

How could she be with his growl like that? His voice calling to her body, making her very being thrill with the delight of being with him.

Alex kissed him eagerly, almost viciously as he tempted her, knowing well what was coming up and simply wanting to skip the crap in between. Tender, seductive kisses and caresses or not. As if proving her eagerness, as he spoke about deserving punishment, her lips trapped his fingers, caressing them with her tongue.

With a growl she just about tumbled into the limo, pulling raven in with her, down on top of her.

So what if they missed the seat? Alex kissed him eagerly, pulling his lips to her, one leg wrapping around his waist. She was trembling ever so slightly with excitement as the door shut behind them and the limo began to move. She could actually hardly tell that they were moving.

"Now... This is where you begin." She growled, licking and nipping at his ear.

Perhaps he did laugh, but to Raven none of it was particularly funny. If anything he felt Alexandra's worry as keenly as anyone ever could. After all did she think his feeling lesser than her own? Did she think him any less devoted? Perhaps there was duality where his heart was concerened, perhaps in that regard he was terribly selfish, but did she really believe that he would not do all within his power to keep her safe? Really? When he'd done just as much for masters that were far less worthy of his devotion than she his lover and his heart.

Raven would give his life for Alexandra. A life that had last more than a thousand years; a life that he would choose to see go on into eternity, and yet he'd give it up for her in an instant.

Did she not know how very precious she was?

And yet he understood the inverse. He understood her desire to protect him as well, a desire that he knew was there despite the fact that he had not needed protection in a very long time indeed.

Perhaps his power was not as obvious as those that came to face them; he'd never been strong in the mind gifts, he'd never walked in shadow, or gained the abiltity of flight. He couldn't turn into fog or lift things with his mind. He couldn't pull the blood from one's veins and what he was didn't seem to be lorded over those lesser than him and yet among a coven with such gifts as these, he was feared.

There was a reason for that...

Of course Raven couldn't and wouldn't dwell on such things; especially not with Alexandra kissing him eagerly. Raven knew his eyes had gone crimson the moment that her lips had captured his fingers and her tongue flicked in a skillful caress across skin that suddenly felt like it was attached to things much more intimate.

Another growl slipped between his lips then and just in time to meet a similar sound from Alex. It was rare that Raven lost his balance, if ever it had happened, and yet he suddenly didn't mind so very much as he and Alexandra all but tumbled into the back of the limo.

Missing the seat entirely they ended up a tangle of limbs on the floor. Not that it mattered much as Alexandra was suddenly kissing him and her leg slipped about his waist. That single movement sparked a down right feral smile on Raven's sharp features and his crimson eyes seemed to almost burn; something that seemed oddly appropriate with the desire that turned boiled his blood in his veins.

That little shutter of excitement caught his attention then, indeed it meant the world to him even as he barely noticed the closing of the door behind them and the limo's movement.

Alexandra's words were a scorch against his skin then and yet even so he savored them, laughing lightly despite himself as his breath caught a moment as her tongue licked its way across his ear and the nip afterward became a satisfying pain-pleasure cocktail that had his gaze sharp and predatory.

He gave a dark humored smile then and slowly Raven shook his head.

'No, my love, this is were I begin." Even as he spoke a single talon extended from Raven's index finger.

For a moment it's sharp edge traced Alexandra's cheek in a gentle caress, a phantom of touch, but just enough not to draw blood and then at her collar the sharp edge slipped.

Ah, well was it a slip if it was so very intentional?

The slip for its part however was careful; it slashed, but not skin, only fabric. Raven would owe Alexandra a new shirt when this was all over, but for now he just couldn't seem to care.

Opening the garment in question, Raven slipped his hand inside. Fingertips tracing, it was Raven's turn to kiss Alexandra and he did just that, kissing her slow and deep, the heady taste of her mingling with the sensation of him peeling away the fabric he'd begun to cut from her body.

So it was settled then... If one died, the other wouldn't be far behind... Or that seemed to be the circle that they were going in now about taking bullets for one another. They would gladly give their lives for each other, but neither one was willing to live without the other. It was a conundrum really... One that would probably only be solved with the death of one of them, so Alexandra for her part was in no hurry to try and solve it.

There was more than enough room in the limo for them really, even laying in a heap on the floor.

But they sorted themselves out and Raven hardly waisted any time. And it was times like these that she was glad that two were now one. Raven before wouldn't not have been so aggressive and straightforward. But his other half? She had the best of both worlds now... A Raven more connected and balanced than before. And where he had never been a bad lover, new doors had certainly been opened.

---------------- A quick jump to more... Relavent matters ^.~ ----------------

Needless to say, she was quite content as they rolled up to the hotel, even when she realized the fact that the clothing she'd been wearing had been destroyed. But she simply told the driver to fetch a small bag from the trunk and pass it through the inner window between the cab and the rest of the limo.

With a quick change the driver opened the door, letting them out at the entrance to what had to have been the largest hotel that Alexandra had seen. She hadn't been to LA in so long... And this was far larger than anything Demaitre could boast. It was certainly luxurious, and there for expensive. But if Raven was footing the bill, what did she care?

"This will do nicely." She said nodding with approval. She scanned about with a frown, but she couldn't sense anything. She'd been to preoccupied to notice if anyone had been following them, but she couldn't scent or sense anyone. But things probably wouldn't stay this quiet for too long. No, like Raven mentioned. They would be found soon enough no matter where they went.

"I would hope for decent security here, but I doubt that company would be bothered by guards and cameras." She muttered slightly, wishing that there were more that had come, simply to keep an eye on things when Alex and Raven were... preoccupied.

"I would think a balcony would be best... So we can have visitors without being to obvious about it. I would say an indoor room for more protection. But in a place like this, it's really a moot point right." She said rolling her eyes as the chauffeur began to take their bags from the limo.

To say the least, Raven was rather glad at Alexandra's contentment. After all her contentment invariably mingled with his own. Still that didn't stop a little consideration at exactly how she had planned to make him suffer. What could he say? He was a masochist after all And that showed in the wry smile plastered on his face. Of course that smile slid away the moment that Alexandra had changed and the door opened for them to once again slip out into the night that stretched onward before them.

Raven saw the hotel only in passing. It was true that he hadn't been here in a while, but then again the hotel wasn't his main concern. No. It was the shadows about it that interested him. Shadows that could very well be hiding Lucas and his get or worst yet; whomever he was working with.

However after a while, Raven relaxed. Relaxed about a hair, but relaxed all the same.

Next his smile returned. It was not the expression touched with inquistive lascivousness that it had been, instead it was a pleased expression. One that said Raven was well and truly pleased. And the source of which, well he turn that smile on her and nodded.

"Just so Alexandra..." He said in response to her analysis.

"Mortal guards would be nothing more than cannon fodder or worst, potential tools for those with the mind gift."

Raven looked annoyed then.

"As for vampire guards, that would insult our hosts, saying that we do not trust the city to keep its word or imply that they are too weak to protect you. It would not go over well..."

There was something akin to regret then in his eyes. Raven didn't regret coming. He simply regreated not coming alone. That was not to say that he didn't have utter faith in his fledgling, not to say that he did not think her capable of defending herself (even if she argued to the otherwise), it was simply regret for putting her in danger at all. But what was done, was done.

Raven nodded again.

"The balcony would be best." He replied. "A moot point is an understatement. If those that would come after us, come after us, then they will likely be those with enough power to claim the throne of New York. Such powerful beings will be undaunted by a hotel's inhabitants nor would they care. A whole sale slaughter might very well attract undo attention. So I vote for the balcony."

Raven's now green eyes met hers then, he smiled and it was again that pleased smile.

"However the choice is yours," He gave a slight bow. "What we do is your whim my mistress."


Indeed my presence might not go along well, but then I've been a coven leader's enforcer before. It wouldn't surprise them that I am again or that said leader would ask me to accompany her proxy."

"Well I don't trust them. Or at least not Lucas and whoever he's serving. But as for the humans, cannon fodder or not, it would at least give us some warning as to attackers. I would hate to be caught with our pants down... Well, clothes off, you get my point." She said waving a hand.

"I don't like this Raven... I wish sometimes that Kei didn't trust you so. But equally I know she would not send you on some fools errand that would only get you killed. She cares for you too much to send you to your death." She said simply. That was her only little hope there. But of course it was a bitter point or Alex too, having to share her heart with another.

But he was all hers now... They were here together and alone.

With a sigh they moved into the building, but it wasn't until they were up in the room that Alex even begun to relax. Having been a troublemaker on her own for so long, or at least relatively to her life, she felt as if she were back in those days. Even though right now she was probably furthest from that possible. But she was still wary of meeting any more contenders this evening.

Lucas had been more than enough, but still, she could only wonder who he was here for.

As Raven suggested his actions had not been entirely his own. And if he had weak mental powers, that still begged the question who'd been calling to her?

The room was large, richly decorated and luxurious. Half of the outer wall was window, with a pair of French doors at one end that opened up to a large balcony. A Jacuzzi sat in a corner, away from the bathroom, but even the bathroom was large, a bathtub covered the far end and there were two free standing showers in a large stall. But of course, stall was a deceptive term for the elaborate pieces.

"I could really get use to this..." She murmured.

"Raven... Perhaps when we go home, could we buy a place like this?" She asked with a purr as she sank on to the bed, reveling in the smoothness of it. A water-top bed... Delightful. "A nice little penthouse high up in the cityscape for you and me." She murmured.

Raven nodded at Alexandra's statement, adding rather quickly.

"And we shouldn't. We should not trust anyone or anything in this city to be as it appears my fledgling. These sorts of allowances are only diplomatic in nature, not pragmatic."

Raven laughed then, his eyes tracing the oh so lovely lines of Alexandra's form. There was an unusual mixture of lasciviousness and contentment then and of course what was merely the male appreciation of a beautiful woman. Of course it was also tempered with an edge of possession that spoke of the annoyance Raven felt at knowing another had tried to draw his love and lover away.

The red haired vampire nodded again, the laugh had melted away with his thoughts, but it was still in his eyes and his smile as he spoke.

"Yes Alexandra, I most assuredly get your point." And it was a good one, a very good one. And one that he'd considered himself, however the thought of humans, guards or otherwise rankled him. Perhaps not just because of his Ishak sensibilities, which were most assuredly there, but also because while he might not mind cannon fodder himself, he would most assuredly mind tools to be wielded by his enemy.

Raven knew for a fact that it was easier to manipulate the minds of most humans far easier than that of vampires. Add to that the fact that there were those of such considerable mental gifts that they could literally control others of immortal blood and well what did that say of mortal men?

What would stop one of their guards from trying to kill them both in their slumber or easier still, opening a widow to let sunlight accomplish the feat? That was just the more mundane of dangers. What about suicide bombers? Or one willing to become a human pyre in order to spell there end?

Death was not a very fickle mistress. She comes in many and varied forms, indeed some that it boggles the mind to even consider until they happened. And yet having lived as long as he had, Raven had avoided her final fatal caress more times than he cared to count. Indeed it seemed that much of his own years and power were dedicated to that very purpose. Raven had survived and endured things that even he was sure that no other immortal could have.

While that was fine for him, there was no guarntee that Alexandra had inherited this gift of his for survival or healing or whatever name one might assign it. And so for that reason alone; Raven would let his survival instincts, indeed the instinct to protect that which he cared for, rule his decisions.

No mortals.

Not one aside from the hotel servants and even then he would be at the ready.

"There is not much to like." Raven agreed with Alex then. But of course he just couldn't help a little smile at Alex's words.

"I believe you mean that she did not trust 'us' so." Raven corrected. "My master knew you would be accompanying me Alexandra. She knew before I knew, before you said as such. And she did not read your mind or invade your privacy. Indeed such a thing would only further anger you and I'll have you know that she does not like your anger. Indeed she would prefer..."

Raven stopped himself there. Some things need not be said and others still, well others simply should not be said.

"You're right." He said then. "Perhaps not about the caring...I care for her Alexandra...but that is not the same as her caring for me. But you are right that she would not gladly send me to my death. Indeed normally there would be no need for a visit such as this. When a new leader takes power it is usually by besting the former in challenge, the winner of the challenge would then inform Kie of his victory and new status. They would also no doubt try to endear themself with her. But..."

Raven's expression changed to thoughtful then, the single word seeming to pause, indeed almost as if trapped in amber upon his lips.

"In this case it is said that the current leader died in an accident. As such, we must come to the proper conclusion that it was an accident. If not, well then if not we must bring those responsible to justice. One way or another. A similar thing happened to this city only a few years ago. Back when I served the previous master, there was a revolt. He was killed. However there were no punishments. He was proven post mortem to be a fit leader. That however is not the case here. And so we must find truth and sit a new leader in place over this city's Ishak."

Raven fell silent then and he was silent for a while. Indeed as long as it took them to enter the building and make their way into their room. Even as things settled down, Raven was quite. His gaze was both cool and thoughtful, but his body was also tense. Expecting almost, as if at any moment a new threat might present itself and that was the truth of it. Such might happen at any moment.

It was only when Alexandra's murmur reached his ears that Raven felt himself relax at all. He found himself suddenly pleased that she liked the accommodations. They hadn't been all that expensive either. A few thousand dollars a night was hardly a trifle. He'd expected more and so the debit/credit card in his pocket seemed to have a much higher limit than they needed.

As the saying goes, it is better to have too much than not enough.

Raven watched Alexandra then. He watched as she slipped to the bed and he put down the bags that he had kept the driver or even bellhops from handling. They were the bags with his weapons and Raven sat them down gingerly as he considered the lovely view before him. And he wasn't looking out the partial wall of a window either.

Alexandra was always lovely. Her new hair color was still something he was getting used to and yet still he had no complaints. He took her in, tracing with eyes what he'd oh so recently traced with hands, with lips, kisses, and bites. Uhm, she always affected him so and yet he also looked at the room, carefully committing it all to careful memory.

Knowledge is as much a weapon as a sword. And knowing one's surrounding only bettered one's chances of survival. Of course Raven had eyes only for Alex as he considered her latest murmur. Her idea was, well while interesting, Raven wasn't especially sure.

And no it wasn't for any of those paltry human or mortal reasons like fear of commitment or realizing the degree to which a relationship had developed, indeed Raven's hesitation had nothing to do with Alexandra at all. Instead he spoke and he was honest with her about his feelings, which surprisingly enough came easier than one might expect.

"If that is your wish, then I've no interest in saying no. However, Alexandra. Such a place could not be my only home, indeed it could not only be our home. It would be penthouse of a building packed with mortals. I mistrust the dealings of mortals. While I am content to dwell for a time around them, I cannot say that I trust them always at my back. Just as with the guards, I simply do not trust them or their motivations."

That said Raven took a seat on the bed. For a moment he nearly jumped back off of it. Looking down he blinked. What in the realms of Dis? While he was not about to call what was obviously technology of some sort, sorcery, it was a very close thing. What was with this bed that was like water?

“Of course she would know that she’ll send both of us to our death if this turns out to be some… Well disaster.” She said shortly. “And she would be stupid beyond belief if she thinks she can send you somewhere without me. She knows that I don’t obey her, that I don’t have to and won’t listen to her. And I don’t care if you’re told to go alone because I would follow you no matter what.” It was really that simple to her. She didn’t care what Kie said, she listened only to Raven, her heart and her instincts. In that order of course, because without Raven she had no heart. And if she lost her heart, what good would instincts be?

It was a good thing that Kie accepted this part of her, otherwise she could very well be dead by her hand. Or even Raven’s

“And Raven… I don’t know exactly how old Kie is… But this vampire is powerful… Very powerful. If he can control me through another? From so far away?” She shook her head, chasing off a shiver, a cloud over her mind. “I don’t know if even she would be strong enough to take care of this one.” She said with a murmur as she began to listen to his explanation about the coven rules, how one ascended to the rule of a coven.

“What if… What if You were to become the leader here? What if I said that none were suitable for the job, and we could not find the murderer so you were placed at the head of the coven…” But she had spoken before she’d actually thought it through. “Kie would not be happy at all… And you would be in grave danger… But we’ll see what plays out I suppose.” She added with a shrug.

She smiled as he said that he wouldn’t mind a penthouse. But… “Raven… Humans aren’t all that bad… I mean they go about their lives, we go about ours.” She said simply. “I’ve gotten along with them for almost half a century and I’ve not had a real problem yet. They’re just as content as we are to pretend other people don’t exist, that they are the only ones who matter. Besides… If you’re that paranoid… for our own place we can have as much security as you’d like. Infrared cameras, motion sensors and what not.” She said with a shrug.

“What I want…” She murmured as she sat up, looking at him with a little smirk. “Is for you and I to live in style… Comfort where we can simply ravage each other senseless or whatever else our hearts desire.” She grinned, standing up and looked out to the window.

But she turned sharply as she felt a jolt of surprise and suspicion shake her.

“What? Oh…” She nearly laughed.

“Yeah… And we can get a nice little water-top mattress… They’re probably the most comfortable things around you know.” She chuckled, knowing that he would like the bed later on.

“So… How many do you think will find us? And what will be expected of me?” She asked, knowing that now, their job would depend on her.

Raven felt Alexandra's anger and again he couldn't help but lament it. After all he knew Kie well. While they were not lovers, perhaps a part of him might want that, but it was not true and he knew it. Still they had been bed partners and on multiple occasions, she was his master along with all that such a title implied, and on a fundamental level, she was someone that he both respected and admired. She and Alexandra had more in common than his plucky fledgling knew or would acknowledge and yet even more. Raven knew a secret about her. A secret that he had not and would not tell a soul. Indeed he had met another Kie; an older Kie, for Raven’s master was even more than even she knew. And it was that woman, this shy being that had an almost laughable response about a nude man in her bed, him being that man, and yet she had been so much more powerful than he had ever imagined. More so it had been startling to see Kie, with some of the very aspects he held oh so dearly in his Alexandra.

If Alexandra was his goddess of love and beauty, then Kie was his goddess of wrath and kindness, two so very different aspects and yet those that had shone so brightly in the same eyes that belonged to two oh so very different individuals.

Raven realized that Kie was as he had been. Torn. Halfed. And yet even so those two halfs had been magnificent. A beacon that he would gladly follow, especially with Alexandra at his side.

Could she not see that Kie meant her no harm? Could she not see the love for her in the woman’s heart? It reflected back at Raven, much like his own, and for that he was grateful to his master beyond words. She was like no other he had served. And with some that he had served, that was a blessing from all the gods that would listen and more.

It was for this reason that Raven trusted in her and always would. Kie could be cruel, but she was never cruel to her allies, had she not already proved this. Much the same as Raven himself had proved it. The world was nothing to him; all that dwelled in it was nothing, but for his heart one need not look farther than Raven’s love and lover Alexandra and his coven.

Raven nodded then, responding to what Alexandra had said about the other’s power.

“I’ve no doubt that what we deal with here has great power Alexandra. However even if we didn’t feel anything, didn’t sense anything, I am not convinced that what called to you was so very far away or so all mighty.”

Raven wasn’t sure; actually he didn’t have a clue. Perhaps it was simply wishful thinking, hoping that whatever they faced was not oh so very powerful. But then if it was something so powerful, so powerful that even Kie would be no match. Or at least the Kie that all others were aware of. Then why did it not defeat the previous master of this city? If it was so powerful why did he die in an accident instead of direct challenge? Was all of this merely a ruse to give the feeling of power? Or was it something else, some long thought out plan of which the goal was not easily understood? After all a vampire so power as to out match Kie would have no doubt already done so. Kie’s position could be taken as well as she had done to her predecessor. So why not? And why New York of all places would such a thing hide?

There were many questions and not enough answers for Raven’s liking. Then there was yet another question, though this one took him aback.

He listened then, still not sure where to begin to assess Alexandra’s idea. He could not be leader in New York. Both because he did not want the post, but also, also because he was hated. Hated and rightfully so. He supported the old leader, even after the rebellion had began.

Of course his loyalty to his master had been absolute as it always was. Perhaps he had chosen badly with his choice of masters, but he had made the choice. It had been his choice to make and so. It was as it was.

“It would not play out.” He answered then, suddenly, perhaps more harshly than he had intended. “I have no ambitions of leadership Alexandra. Indeed I’ve no intention of staying in this city any longer than I must. I shall not be bound to it. Nor will I fight a challenge toward its control. And if I am leader that is exactly what would happen. Even the weakest amongst them would challenge me and die by my hand rather than bow their knees to me.”

Those words were not said in speculation. Indeed there was a surety to them that was almost vehement.

Raven calmed himself then. Calmed. And calmed some more.

When next he looked at Alexandra it was with the feel of water shifting beneath his body as he moved with an almost feline grace. It was awkward to move on the bed’s surface, but he managed rather skillfully even if it was his first time.

He moved until he was able to press a simple and surprisingly chaste kiss to her lips.

“I will discuss the dwelling with you when all of this is over, as well as my unease of mortals.”

Yet another kiss was pressed to her lips then.

“And we’ll talk about the very mixed feelings I have over the idea of a bed like this in my home or even part time home, but first let me explain the best I can about what is to come.”

Raven looked thoughtful then.

“All of them will find us. As for what will be expected of you; ah well the obvious is that you will choose he that you think is the best fit for the coven’s leadership. Nothing more will be expected of you, though your handling of Lucas was fine. And yes I do mean that. You are proxy, if you say so, then he is beneath your notice and must except as such. However know that all that we meet interested in leadership will try to sway your vote toward them. They will seek to seduce, to engage, to enrapture and to intimidate. They will seem too good to be true and will be. They will lie and they will steal, and well in a sense I suppose it is not too different than the mortals’ idea of politics.”

And while that could have been a joke, Raven’s expression was much too neutral to tell.

"You like the bed." She said simply with a smirk as Raven kissed her. And she very nearly rolled over him to pin him to it and give him a few more reasons to like it. "So give up. Even if you live in the boneyard you'll want one." She chuckled. Maybe it wasn't true, but it could be, and it would make her laugh all the more if it was true.

Alex sighed, leaning back against a mound of pillows as he explained what was to come.

So... She'd done well as a proxy when she dealt with Lucas? Hmm... Maybe her stubborn attitude would be helpful here. She'd been taught as a human to think of no one as her superior until it had been firmly established. And well, there was only one person she would fully obey, and one that she might, but only if the need arose.

"Well good... So it should set a good tone with the others then? Show them what to expect? After all, he's probably going to get the word out that we're here and all. I suppose we should be ready for guests tomorrow night." She sighed, brushing her hair out of her face.

"You know... I'm glad I didn't use the permanent dye... I like the color... But it just looks... I dunno... Off. It'll be gone by the time we get home for sure. Well unless we find someone in two weeks, which I'm sure won't be the case." She muttered slightly.

"But anyway... You don't have to worry about me falling for those kinds of traps. After all, It's only because I can see your mind that I believe you when you say you think I'm beautiful." She said with a wink. That was a lie of course, she knew she was beautiful without him telling her. After all, that had been her one goal as a human. Had been what drew him to her anyway.

"And since they can't do shit to me, they sure as hell can't intimidate me because they can't use you to bully or threaten me either. So those tactics are no good. As for Seduction, as long as you're near me and I hear your voice, catch your scent.... I'll be just fine." She said surely.

"Do you know any of the big players in this thing? Any idea what might have happened to the last leader?"

Again Raven laughed, though this time the expression was more than slightly chagrinned and it slipped into his eyes to become flustered amusement. After all Raven knew he was silly for his reaction to the bed, knew that after all his time, knowledge, and study that it was foolish to be...well...to be wary of the new and different and yet that didn't change the fact that the bed was strange to him. A bit like being on the sea in a boat and yet without the boat and without being able to slide beneath the waves.

Obviously a bit or mortal technology that he hadn't come across, but then again Alexandra had been introducing him to more and more of these of late. Of course some of them Raven had known of their existence and yet still the experience was far more than what he had expected or rather made up in his mind to expect.

Still he was not yet fond of this bed just the same.

"That is not true." He said evenly, voice somewhere between annoyed and amused. "If ever I return to my coven room and find one of these I'm not sure that I could be held responsible for my actions." He said it jokingly and perhaps it was a joke, but Raven eyed the bed as it moved beneath him and it was indeed disconcerting.

"However I like you in it." He added then, his eyes suddenly moving from the bed to her now once again in the bed.

He explained then and nodded softly at Alex's reply.

"Just so." He agreed with a nod. "You're right about all of it. Lucas will no doubt spread the news, if only to watch the reactions that it inspires. He is rather clever Lucas and I wouldn't be surprised if he were looking to use so of the potential candidates against one another. If he can cause enough unrest, I've no doubt that he would love watching his enemies or potential rivals devour one another or alienate themselves from you so utterly and completely that they would never be considered."

Raven shrugged then. He didn't know if that was Lucas's plan or even if he might have a plan, though odds were that he did. As for whomever might be helping him. Well there was a complete and utter unknown factor. And an unknown meant that they shouldn't dwell on it too long. At least not with very real and solid considerations before them. He allowed himself to be distracted then.

"I like it." Raven said, though adding. "Do don't like it more than your natural color, but then I believe I've proved how much I love you just as you are."

As if to make a point he ran a finger along the length of a bit of fabric she was wearing. His expression was a faux look of distaste, clearly teasing, and yet he couldn't help a little smirk as he added.

"Indeed you know I prefer you all natural."

That smirk disappeared then and Raven nodded once again, of course said smirk returned for at least a moment at Alex's wink. But it didn't matter. Raven knew that she knew she was beautiful and yet it was all he'd wanted for her. He wanted the confidence and self-esteem of a goddess, for she that was just that his goddess.

His goddess of love and beauty.

She was beautiful, but also she was his heart. His passion, his addiction, and his control. Indeed Alexandra was a great many things to her sire and yet she also did on important job that only three others had done in his life. And that was make him better.

And only two others had done so in all his time with an immortal's blood. The first had been his first master. She that had slowly but surely put his mind back together in the first place after near endless years of torture. And second was the master to which now he owed his current allegiance. Few had ever touched him as she touched him. He was also so very proud of her.

"Good." Raven was saying to Alexandra's replies to his words. "Of course still they will try and so long as you are ready then I trust you my fledgling."

Raven's expression turned thoughtful then. He wasn't sure how much he should share and yet if he did not...well he could not keep things to himself. He'd seen how such a thing could turn and seen it so very many times indeed.

"I do not. At least not without see who is making a bid and who is not. There are those that I know of and yet it would be pointless to explain them to you if they wish us no harm or care nothing for leadership."

He gave another shrug then.

"And I've no doubt that others have joined this coven since I left. However when I left it was after a true rebellion against the leader. I was injured severely and he was killed. There were a great many that were involved and one of them was the leader's own son.

Valkirin. He was my fellow enforcer for his father. He also helped make the rebellion happen where I had refused and would have crushed it underfoot as ordered."

Raven's expression darkened then at that.

"However Valkirin had no interest in power, indeed he even gave it up to another candidate, which is the leader that was killed. But he helped kill his own father. His sire in more ways than one. And he is most definitely a big player. I think he shall find us first. We were-are-friends, brothers, allies. I am not sure where we stand, but he should know more than I. Also I suppose I should tell you my fledgling that it was Valkirin's father that made me vow to leave you. His former lover was the ruler here before him.

He challenged and defeated him, leaving him the leader of both the New York and Los Angeles covens. After he died, LA gained a new leader as well. And so here we are once again in New York."

Those last words were without emotion, mostly because Raven wasn't sure how Alexandra would take the news. After all he'd had the opportunity to stop the being responsible for their separation and yet Raven had been loyal to him all the way up until the end. Indeed afterward as well, he had kept his promise never to search for her after all.

Alex moved back to the bed as he praised her, but agreed with the act her natural color was better. Well the reddish color was a nice little change, but the dark gold would be back soon enough.

She curled against his back, her face buried at the base of his neck in his hair. The scent of him was enough to make her eager for more than simply being close, even though he'd already given her fare share of pleasure for the night.

Her eyes were closed as he spoke about this Valkirin. He seemed as if he would be one man to trust in the current situations that were going on at the moment. But she froze as he told her just who he was.

Her body tensed and a tremor of rage and anger ran through her.

He was the fledgling of the man who'd condemned her to madness for so long...

Letting out a soft hiss she took a deep breath and sighed it out. "The son should not be damned for the sins of the father... Unless it was him that put the idea in to your masters mind, I wish nothing bad on him." But if he had... She would do everything in her power to make him suffer.

"I'll leave it to you though to decide if we can truly trust this one. One could say he was simply following orders for the rebellion... But just what hand did he happen to play in it... And I would assume that he would recognize me as the girl you saved?' She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Needless to say she was far to tense for any of her previous thoughts of pleasure to scratch at the surface now. Her skin was tingling with nervousness. Not fear nessicarily, but rather... Would she be able to hold to what she'd said before? That she wouldn't hold him accountable for his father's cruelty?

She didn't know. So long had she wanted to make someone suffer for what had been done to her, what she had been without for so long...

Raven was silent for a while. Indeed the entirety of his thoughts was consumed by Alexandra's questions. Raven once again wondered how much to tell and how honest to be. But always it went without saying that he knew he shouldn't keep anything from her. If nothing else, Guidid Orrea Veniconis had learned his lesson and learned it well. He would always be blunt with Alexandra.

"No my fledgling. Valkirin had nothing to do with his father's decisions. Indeed he was one of the few that could say the old master's ill temper and decisions. He was a good friend despite all that happened. Indeed when I first left you...it was Valkirin that watched over you. He could not directly let you know of his presence, but he kept 'predators' amongst our kind from you. Or rather he did until his father found out and threaded to kill you."

Raven paused, meeting Alex's gaze. He wanted her to know the whole story and yet he knew it could not be easy for her. Revisiting the past rarely was. At least as so far as immortals were concerned, to live long was to accrue experiences and not all of those were pleasant.

"He looked out for you without my knowledge Alex. I cannot say that I was happy with him. I thought he'd cost you, your life. I wanted nothing more than to kill him and might have..."

Raven's eyes looked dark then.

"The master allowed us to fight. And enraged and illogical I was not at my best, but still I almost tore his throat out before his father put an end to it."

Raven actually looked ashamed then.

"The master loved it and as such changed his ruling. He would not kill you, but Valkirin had to come with us to his new kingdom in New York and so we where until Valkirin helped put an end to him."

He nodded at Alex's decision then. He would try with Valkirin, there was much between them, but he would try to make the best decision that he could.

Raven shook his head then.

"He was not following orders my fledgling. He was recruited, but I know that he had already planned to kill his father. If the rebellion hadn't happened, he was willing to challenge him and risk death at his father's hand and he would have done just that. He was convinced his father was mad. And well if he had the power to truly challenge his father, then Valkirin was more powerful than I realized."

Or Raven hoped it was true, but it was also possible that he'd meant suicide at his father's hands. Raven didn't know what to believe. After their fight he and Val as he was so fond of being called, had been distanced. Yes, they were still friends, still brothers, but things had changed and Raven had known it. Had regretted it. Perhaps that was one of two great regrets in his life.

"As so far as the rebellion went, he was responsible for the assassins getting close to his father. Also well he was the one to stop me from coming to his defense. I managed to kill three of the assassins and would have finished the final three, only Valkirin was there and so the day was lost."

Raven decided he wouldn't mention the fact that he and Val had both come rather close to killing one another, and that their battle had ended with Raven himself very eviscerated and nearly torn in half. Val wouldn't have done such, especially after the death of his father was already assured, but those three assassins interrupted their battle and so it had ended badly, being blindsided by three vampires strong enough to kill a coven leader.

"He will." Raven said finally answering Alexandra's final question. "I cannot say how he will react."

Alex nodded, slightly comforted by the fact that not only had he not been a part of the decision, but had watched over her, protected her when Raven was unable to. Sure it could have ended with her own death, but Raven had kept her from that. "So... Perhaps I owe him my thanks as well then? Even if it nearly cost me everything... He still kept me safe. He could have just killed me or let his father or someone else kill me, but he didn't." She said softly, running her fingers through his hair.

"And... Well maybe you should thank him too. Especially because you nearly killed him because of it." She kissed his cheek softly, her fingers still running along the red strands.

She rolled him from his side and onto his back, leaning onto his chest.

"But he sounds like a man that we can trust with the situation, and his opinions. You seem to have a high regard for him despite your lack of seeing eye to eye on certain things." She said with a smile, leaning in to kiss him softly.

"Besides... If he hadn't been watching over me at first... You could have lost me for good darling. I... I was a monster then. I couldn't control myself and I should sometimes sense others around me. Not nice ones." She leaned in, kissing him longer, more eagerly this time. "I would have been killed... Would have killed myself..." Her kiss trailed down his jaw to his neck.

"So I've hoped you let go of that one part of the past... And start enjoying the present. They won't find us tonight... So we can relax until we start getting birdies knocking on our balcony." She said with a little grin. "As long as you promise not to destroy any more clothing."

Raven knew that Alex was right. All in all he owed Valkirin his thanks, indeed he owed the man his friendship, and more. And yet even if they had been friends, things between them were conplex to say the least. They had clashed swords many times, sometimes as friends and rivals, but also as genuine enemies. They'd chosen different sides in a rebellion and had waged their own personal war. Actually complex failed completely and utterly to explain things between them...and then Raven hadn't seen him since the death of his father, since the rebellion.

It was hard to know a man's heart after all that time. Indeed for all Raven knew his old friend hated him as much as some of the others did for refusing to turn his back on his vow to the old master. Val had set aside a similar vow; as much as he'd set aside the link of blood, twice over.

Raven's thoughts presisted even as Alexandra ran her fingers through his hair and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Again Raven knew she was right. And again he was still so very unsure of things, yet he listened as Alex spoke, expression thoughtful.

Though it became a little less thoughtful as she was suddenly rolling him onto his back and leaning down on his chest. In that moment Raven's expression slipped and suddenly all the neutral thoughtfulness slipped out of him and was replaced with a warm gaze that studied those lovely eyes he'd come to see in his dearest dreams.

Her words came to him again then and he accepted them and her lips gingerly, before she spoke again and for the first time he felt a chill slip up his spine, a chill that was a true appreciation for the things that Alexandra had lived through, had survived. Having met her he realized it was easy to imagine that her survival had been assured, but deep down he knew better than that. He knew because once the same had been ture of himself.

Perhaps he didn't have a conventinal sire or even know what he was for the first stretch of his run at eternity, but then neither had he had anything but pain and suffering. It shattered his mind, fractured him, and yet when it had mattered he'd had someone to watch over him, to protect him, to put his shattered pieces back together and yet Alexandra had never had that.

Once the vision of Valkirin with sword in hand had enraged him, set him on guard and awakened that battle instinct that could turn his eyes to blood and his nails to talons; it would have had a blade in his hand a moment later and bloodlust flooding his veins with adrenaline and his body prepared to take away as much battle damage as it could as fast as it could, but now, just this once he saw that vision of his old friend and rival knew that it was all that had saved what was most precious to him.

Val was not so old as Raven, but he was powerful; and more than that he had come from one of the darkest periods of warfare that Europe could boast. Raven had no doubt that he'd made sure to mark Alexandra's status as one he protected.

Even after that was no longer true, Val's warning would not have been easily forgotten. Perhaps he was not his father, but he'd still learned the lesson of cruelty as kindess and learned it well.

Her kiss was longer this time, lingering, eager and Raven relented to it completely and utterly. His arm slipped familarly about Alex's waist and his body relaxed against the touch of hers; it was a taughtness that Raven hadn't even noticed until it was gone. Until Alexandra had taken it away with words and lips, lips that were suddenly traveling down his jaw to his neck.

"I'll speak to him tomorrow Alexandra. You're right. I owe him much, even an apology as loath as I am to give it. He protected you and that is worth more to me than all the battles that we've ever fought."

Raven whispered then, his voice becoming breathy as the feel of her lips slipped along the curve of his neck.

"And you're right we can trust his judgement and knowledge. If there is any here that would be wholly honest with us then it is him."

Raven laughed then and he just couldn't help the crimson flash of his eyes as he smiled a wry and decidedly unagreeable smile.

"That last I cannot agree to my fledgling...after all I do so enjoy the results of destroying your clothing. But I promise to try."

She had unbuttoned the shirt he was wearing, exposing his chest to her touch, her kiss.

Smiling, Alex moved back up to his lips as he said that Val protecting her was more important than their little squabbles. "Good... We don't need to make any more enemies while we're here. And it would make things a lot easier if we had someone on the down low here who could tell us what's going on."

Her nails still caressed at his chest, her lips taking his eagerly.

"But you can get me naked without ruining fabric. You've done it before after all." She Said with a growl as she sat up, deciding to take off at least the shirt herself before he destroyed two outfits in one night.

"But you know... I still have to punish you for that..." She said in a growling purr, her nails curling into his stomach. "You might have satisfied me... But I should still make you suffer the way my clothes did." She chuckled darkly, her tongue then tracing down his neck.

Her hands moved down to his pants, undoing the fastens roughly, tugging his pants down. "And maybe you'll remember to keep your claws to yourself."

Once she had freed him, her hands caressed up and down his length at first, grinning with delight. She took him then working slowly, thoroughly so he would be sure to enjoy. After all, if he didn't enjoy it now... What would be the point of the punishment?

Raven smiled and the smile was genuine and gentle, it made his emerald eyes shine bright and then that color bled away as crimson moved to the surface and the bloody pigment seemed to blossom at once with the sound in his chest as he gasped, not really simply at the feel of Alexandra's hands on his bare chest, but rather the feel of her lips as well.

For a moment Raven couldn't think and didn't.

Then he caught his breath and he almost laughed at his own flustered state. Alexandra did such splended, if embarassing things to him and his control.

"You're right..." He said then. "If anything we need all the allies that we can gain; at least all that we can gain without delivering this city into their hands."

Another sound from his throat then. Not exactly a moan, but close. A just thing. It wasn't as if Raven was ashamed of the things that Alex did to hi, indeed he loved them very much. Especially the feel of her nails caressing slowly and dare he hope, dangerously alongst his skin. Though her lips were just as distracting.

When Alexandra sat up, Raven found himself suddenly disappointed. Well disappointed and predatory. His crimson eyes followed her, followed the progress of her fingers as she opened and slipped off her shirt. He almost laughed then, though obviously not at the magnificence that was his feldgling's body.

No, his laugh came at her words. And they made him smile as well, a smile that was easily more of a predatory and decidedly masculine smirk.

"I have," He agreed, turning the full weight of that expression on her as his voice went low and sultry. "But then again ruining fabric was much more enjoyable than I'd thought it'd be. Maybe not the same as skin, but close. Oh so close. And then I have your lovely skin underneath, warm against my hands, salty against my lips..."

He paused then, expression unchanged or perhaps even more sultry as he spoke, even as she curled nails in his abdomen with a growl that drew a rather similar response from his own lips, one that rattled deeper as her tongue slipped down his neck.

Next his lips parted it was in a gasp. And Alexandra suddenly had hands moveing down to his pants, undoing the fastens roughly and tugging his pants down.

Raven laughed again and he met Alex's gaze, his eyes were hard and defiant, they were also lusty and anticipating.

"Make me then." He said. "Punish me to your heart's content, I have endured far worst...and yet I am at your mercy, my mistress."

It was with those words however that she touched him, caressed him, began to work him and Raven felt that familar rise of lust and bloodlust that meant there was truly no turning back. He licked his lips. He could almost taste her; his fledgling, his lover, his love.

By all the gods that would listen, he knew now that she would make him suffer. Pleasure was just the beginning he knew adn yet even so he gave himself over to it, completely and fully, there were only two beings to which he yeilded and one was now very intent on punishing him. Raven was slightly afraid, even as he couldn't wait.

She worked him, knowing his body just as well as he did, all of her learning and studying of him had paid off.

And well, she knew just how to torture him too. Just how to make him suffer for what he'd done to her shirt and what he wanted to do to the clothing she was wearing now even. Her wardrobe for the trip was limited and even though their funds seemed not to be, she wasn't in the mood or shopping.

Though her mind seemed to wander, her actions never did. She could feel his body's need rising, near peaking... The way the muscles tensed and shivered as she caressed his thighs, between his legs and along his waist.

She could feel when a shiver of pleasure, a shock of ecstasy went through him and was doing all in her power to keep herself from grinning.

Alex kept pushing him further and further to that edge, the cliff that would send him reeling into a pit of pleasure, but was making sure she knew just where he was the whole while. And as she felt him come to that edge, as if his toes were hanging just over and he was beginning to teeder...

She pulled away.

A harsh laugh coming from her quickly as she slipped off of the bed and to their luggage.

"If you want anymore... You have to promise you won't tear a thread on anymore clothing at least while we're here. Or no more sex." She said raising her eyebrows. "And I doubt any other woman will satisfy you like you know I can." She laughed again licking her lips as she savored at least this little triumph.

"So very cruel Alexandra..." Raven's voice was light, almost breathy as he turned crimson eyes on Alex. And indeed Raven’s voice was filled with breath or rather breathless. Vampires might not need breath to live, but they needed it to speak; needed it for all those soft sounds that slipped from between lips as pleasure arched and crackled like electric current through synapses and nerves. And Raven had used a lot of breath. Alexandra did know him so very well and he found himself baring fangs as he gritted his teeth against suddenly frustration and rage.

Her laugh echoed in his ears even after it was done and crimson eyes studied her carefully, even as Raven found himself at a lost. After all he’d known that this would be Alex’s tact or at least he’d suspected and feared. Of course there was nothing he could do; indeed there was only one thing he wanted to do. Crimson eyes flared as they studied Alexandra, watched her as she spoke, watched the emotions that flittered over her features and after a while Raven found that he could only smile.

No, not only smile, he also laughed and it was a dark and melodic sound. It was lovely and it was also proud and also bitter. That laugh let so very much of Raven onto the air and he nodded.

“You win my fledgling, you have my word. While we are here I will not tear a single thread of your attire.”

Raven sat up then as he bent his body over on itself and used his hands to slide his feet off of the bed. Still his eyes were on Alex, his expression becoming a considering smirk.

“You are all I want my mistress…” He whispered then. “But that will not stop me from avenging this particular slight. This I promise.” His eyes glittered then; feral and dangerous, but also hungry. Oh yes, oh so very hungry. He actually licked his lips as he watched her as a wolf watches prey.

“You are so very cruel, my love…but then that is one of the reasons I love you so.” He spoke then, but there was amusement in those eyes; amusement and lust. “But I can be so much more cruel.”

"Yes... I can be cruel can't I?" She chuckled, almost darkly. It was part of the deamon that had been in her not so long ago, and it was just as Raven's had been, though her mind was torn in more ways.

Leo she had called herself. Taking pride in her viciousness and prowess. The ease with which she seduced men.

How many human lovers had been her prey...? The numbers were untold.

Or so they had been.

Now her mind was one, and not only within herself but with Raven's as well, she did not feel that urge to fuck... To kill... At least not senselessly anymore. She only killed those who deserved death, and there was only one man who fired such a passion in her these days.

"You? Avenge the slight I have given? Raven my love... Do not make idle threats... Because I know that the moment I whimper softly for you... I will have you." She purred. Granted he probably knew she was bluffing though. Because it was the same for him. A whisper, a touch... She would go to him willingly, do anything for him even if it meant the worst for her.

"You think you could actually punish me? Torture me? You couldn't bear to hurt me before no matter what pleasure was wrought from it. Even when I begged for it, unless you were your other half, you wouldn't dare be harsh with me." She grinned. After all, he had been rejoined for some time, but she still had yet to explore the very depths of the now converged mind that was Raven and Guidid together. But she wondered if even she could explore all if it.

Alex wanted to though... She wanted to know everything, no matter how minute. To know him inside and out, to know him better than she knew herself.

"Unless you've been holding back from me my dearest heart... You've nothing new to bring me to my knees." She said rasing her eyebrows in challenge.

Raven listened to that dark laugh and it made him shiver. No, not in pain or fear, but simply unadultrated pleasure. Oh yes, Alexandra could be so very cruel and yet he did love that about her. It did things to him for which he had no name, no words, only emotion and of course that ever present fierceness that was his love for her.

Raven remembered Alex's Leo. Remembered her, only as a symptom to a disease or malody; at the time he remembered it had saddened him deeply to know that Alexandra was divided as he was. That she too could not find cohesion and peace within her own mind had not only filled him with sorrow, but a sense that he'd failed her. After all had such a thing not been in his blood? It had been the only explination he'd found at the time and that was saying more than most knew.

But now. Now that he was cured, cured by Alexandra, his love and lover, Raven knew just what it meant to be full and whole. And it was this feeling that sparked the look in his eyes that flashed over her as he grinned at her purring words. By all the gods that would listen, he so loved that tone of voice as it slipped sultry and molten from between her lips.

Of course as much as Raven loved that sound of voice, as much truth as there was in Alexandra's words...well...

"My threats are never idle..." He replied, crimson eyes suddenly seeming to devour the very image of her. A little laugh then, a very wicket little laugh.

"Of course you're right." He admitted then, slipping his shirt off. "The moment you whimpered softly you would have me. I would want you more than my next breath. And no I couldn't bare to harm you, my love. Once I treated you like glass, afraid that my slightest movement might shatter you, mind and body, taking you from me forever. I realize now that I was a fool, but I was frightened for you, frightened of what I might do to you."

Raven's expression changed then, it suddenly looked decidedly serious and his lust was nowhere to be seen.

"I was afraid my love, but I am afraid no longer..."

Raven smiled then.

"I have been holding back and for that I am sorry. But let us say now that punishment, torment, these things are in the eyes of the beholder. Besides, I never promised troment, I only promised vengence."

He picked up his shirt then.

"I also promised only to not shread your clothing. I never said anything about my own."

Raven tore the shirt then, tore it, into three thick lenghts of fabric. He moved toward Alex then, caressed careful finger tips along her cheek and he kissed her, deep and slow. But even so that made it easy to capture Alexandra's hands and adeptly Raven bound them together. The binding was biting, but obviously nothing that would hold Alex if she didn't want to be held.

Still he whispered to her, against her soft lips.

"Do you trust me my fledgling? Do you trust that my vengence is not so horrible? Do you trust that I have more than a few things to bring you to your knees?"

Moving back, Raven slipped around behind Alexandra. He raised a stip of cloth then, holding it like a blindfold about her eyes and that was just what it was. So long as he had her trust.

She laughed again as he said that she mentioned nothing of his clothing. Which was true, but then again, she had a reason for it.

"You my love... My handsome warrior... Can go as naked as a baby for all I care." She raised an eyebrow in amusement. "After all, you have nothing to be ashamed of, nor do you have anyone that you need to impress at the moment."

But then again, her words gave her an idea....

That idea though would have to wait for later, for as he kissed her she abandoned all thoughts and other senses than what she needed to feel his kiss. She hissed though as he pulled away and she found her hands bound.

The fabric was tight, but it was still only fabric after all. She could have torn it easily if she so chose. But well... "I know you are not horrible... But just like me you can be if you wish... You can be just as cruel and cold." She said with a smirk.

"But bring me to my knees... You cannot Raven." If there was ever an obvious lie, this would be a good example. "My will is stronger than whatever you can do to me, terrible or wonderful." She whispered as she leaned back, letting him tie the blindfold.

Oh, he could do many many things that could bring her too her knees. And it wasn't as if they only worked once and then never again. It wasn't as if she became immune to his touch, his fire. Which was of course a good thing. If that had been the case, she would have gotten bored with him long ago.

"Do your best... Your worst... What ever you have to to make me beg." She said with another smirk.

curious amusement flashed behind the crimson depths of rather feral eyes and likewise sparked a rather feral and amused smile just below those eyes. Raven looked at Alexandra then and he actually could not help but laugh.

"So very cruel, my Alexandra..." He teased her lightly, a sultry whisper that was almost as amused as the laugh had been.

"But you're wrong..." He added. "There is one person I need to impress."

That said Raven looked at her long and longingly, for a moment he wanted nothing more than to capture her lips with his. Wanted to press her against the nearest wall and drink her down like an elixir to cure all the world and life's ills. For that was what she was, was she not? His Alexandra, both elixir and poison, harm and salvation, pain and pleasure, satisfaction and frustration. She was all these things and more.

He kissed her then and laughed as he pulled away taking in her smirk and listening to her words.

"So very arrogant..." He whispered in her ear as he finished tying the blindfold, teeth clenching on that ear's lobe a moment later before his lips started to suck carefully, tongue a teasing force.

"I love that arrogance." Raven said then, moving his hands and the last of the strips of fabric about Alex's neck. "Of course loving it doesn't mean that I don't view it as complete and utter impertinence."

His breath was warm and his voice almost a throaty purr on her throat then.

“And impertinence will not be permitted my love. Indeed I suggest holding as still as possible. After all if I nick you with my claws, I want it to be on purpose. Otherwise I’ll be keeping my claws to myself.”

He laughed at that.

“Well…at least keep them to myself as so much as I am able, my fledgling.”

Raven’s left hand moved to the fastening of Alexandra’s pants then. He unclasped it, carefully, slowly, almost savoring. And then they were pulled down to her ankles and Raven used them as yet another binding as he didn’t allow Alex to step out of them. If she wanted more freedom of motion, she would have to tear them herself.

Otherwise, she was at his mercy. Or lack there of.

Raven removed the rest of her clothes then, or as much as he could removed them with Alexandra all but bound tight. But of course half removed clothing only seemed to make Alexandra more appealing, not less and he kissed her suddenly, fiercely then and he drank her down as so much as he was able. He didn’t push her against a wall or do anything at all except press his lips close to hers, even as he kept his body from her.

Breaking away from the kiss once again, Raven licked his lips And then he truly did have claws once again. They weren’t talons though. At least not yet. Instead they were little more than fingernails, lengthened slightly, but still obviously sharp. Those nails scoured Alex’s skin then, or rather more accurately, her thighs. They moved light and carefully, a sharp threat and yet not breaking skin or spilling blood. Simply teasing, caressing, and finally coaxing.

Raven coaxed Alexandra’s thighs open, or at least as so much as she could manage in the slight restriction of her clothing. And then those fingers, tipped with their nails, they started to tease much more intimate and tender things. Soon enough they would tease even more sensitive things and as such Raven was careful, exceedingly so. If he cut her, it would be on purpose.

"My best and my worst..." He whispered, promising her.

((Bah... You always make it so hard to follow you with your magnificent posts :-P ))

“If’ I’m so very cruel my love… Then why do you drive to impress me? What makes you want me so if nothing but cruelty comes of it?” Alex nearly purred as his lips seemed to brush his words across her neck. The softest of moans escaped as he kissed her. She wanted more… So much more than what he was giving her right now. What she wouldn’t give to just feel his hands, gripping her hips as he let all his passion and desire run rampant over her… But why waste the night?

Why rush eternity?

Why not savor every moment because there simply would be so many more to come.

“Arrogance… It seems to attract you like a moth to a flame darling… And… It will one day wi-” But her word finished as a soft little gasp and sigh as he bit at her ear, tugging, sucking on the sensitive skin.

“You bastard…” She muttered as he pulled away, once more leaving her wanting.

As he removed her clothing, she enjoyed the caress of his skin against hers, giving soft little moans of appreciation. After all, she could simply feel him run his hands over her skin for all eternity and never grow tired of the sensations. It was what she had longed for all of her life, even her mortal one, though she hadn’t known it at the time. And perhaps… Perhaps it was the gift of time that was the greatest a vampire could give.

Time to live, time to discover and explore. Time to learn…. Time to love without hesitations, without fear.

A thrill went up her spine as his nails caressed her thighs and she gave a little moan. “Raven.” She murmured, her body responding quickly and eagerly to his attentions. She leaned back against him as his fingers worked their magic and made her body ignore all reason. Alex could only bite her lip, trying to keep her body still as she felt the sharp edges of his claws dancing. She knew her body would heal just fine, but she didn’t want to give in.

But a sudden caress made her body tense and shiver, and she gave a sharp whimper as she realized that the slight scent of blood on the air was her blood.

“Try me…” She whispered.

((Bah, I don't think I've ever written anything magnificent in my life. But if it's hard to follow, sorry about that. Still you always do a good job of it. And now I've gotta give that great post of yours my best.))

Raven laughed. He laughed suddenly and sharply as he been taking in Alexandra and her words; listening to them keenly, even as he silently went about his machinations toward the vulnerable paradise that was her each and every inch. He laughed and it wasn’t just any laugh; no. The sound that slipped from between his lips was cool, heady, and dark; flowing like ebony silk caressed intimately against the skin. It was a sensation as much as a sound, amused, haughty, and bemused all in one. And ever so seductive as it danced up and down a sultry timbre less than inches from tender, sensitive bits.


“Oh you know me so very well dear heart…” He whispered next, musing thoughtfulness as evident in his tone as the fierce passion that was like a torch at its core.

His fingers were still careful; but they were suddenly less gentle. At the same time Raven removed all traced of his body from Alexandra’s all except one. All except the penetration of sharp nails and fingers into her body.

Of course even as careful as he could manage; still he cut her. Still the scent of her blood bloomed on and thrilled the air. And that scent became overpowering as Raven moved closer, as he allowed his nose to trace a supple path along the inside of one of his lover’s thighs before his lips parted and his tongue tripped its way over crimson ichor that began to slip warm and sticky down his fingers, down his wrist, and he started there, drinking in Alex’s blood, but rather quickly his tongue followed the path back to its source and be began to drink her down even as he pleasured her, even as his nails now intentionally “slipped” and he nicked her, before soothing the injury with a quick tongue or even quicker lips.

Raven milked both pain and pleasure from his fledgling for a while and then when he knew her to be on the brink he pulled away, smiling.

“I adore your cruelty my fledgling; your arrogance rouses things in my blood; indeed it is because I am a bastard that I enjoy these things in you oh so very much, my mistress.” His voice wasn’t cool anymore. It had gained in warmth until now it was like flame. The words were scorching hot and yet at the same instance, reserved, thoughtful, and planning.

Another smile.

“However make no doubt…I plan to try you my fledgling. I plan to sample you in every form and fashion. To make you say my name just as it befell your lips moments ago. I plan to give you pain and mold it with my will into a pleasure to make your knees weak.”

That said he took her hips in his hands gripping them. He held her just like that a moment, lightly as if at any moment she might break and then his gripped tighten to just short of being painful and it was then that he let all his passion and desire run rampant over her. He was merciless. Then he was gone suddenly; before he’d returned split seconds later, this time the stolen warmth of his body coming from a completely different direction as he captured her lips with his, kissed her slow and deep even as his fingers slipped to the junction of her thighs.

When finally Raven was done; dawn was close and he held Alexandra in his arms on the strange bed. He had given her his all and worked to stratify them both; but now it was time to rest, for he knew come nightfall they would have more problems than satisfactions.

Her knees were weak before he even promised to make them so. His lips and tongue caressing her deeply hungrily as if he needed her to sustain him. But in truth it was she who needed him. It was only her pride that kept her standing, only her stubbornness that refused to let him win. But Alex couldn't resist him for long. The way he simply worshiped her body. The way he knew how to pleasure her so intimately and just how to touch her to make her gasp his name breathlessly. There was no shame in relenting. Not to this master of pleasure who seemed to know her body even better than she did.

Alex hadn't realized just how stressed she had been, how tight her body was from the happenings of the night, but his touch made her forget everything. It made her forget what they had come for, made her forget even that they weren't even in the same country. All that mattered was him.

It was only what seemed like days later, but was probably hours, that she moaned softly, rolling away from Ravens arms and into an unfamiliar pillow. It didn't smell like her or Raven, and it was rather off-setting as she sat up, alarmed, her hair tussled and knotted from their romp.

But as Alex looked around, her ocean blue eyes rimmed with blood red, things came flooding back to her and she fell with a groan back on to the bed.

She was sore... For once her body was aching and hurting... Almost like the night she ran into that fiend in the alley and she had gladly let him do what he wanted to her body. Or even better, the night that Raven's mind had been melded into one, where he had nearly torn her apart quite literally. Oh, but this was far more delicious than either of those times. And less dangerous as the one tending to her needs and wants was sane and in control of himself. At least for the time being

Since being turned, there had yet to be a time Alex was utter worn out, spent and not wanting for more. Until this night anyway. "You really are a bastard..." She muttered with a little smile. Her exhaustion and weakness was obvious in her shallow voice. "Holding out on me like that. If it doesn't feel like that from here on out, I'm gonna be royally pissed. You understand me Ra-" But she didn't get to finish his name as her young body was called to sleep by the sun, her pale and seemingly delicate body laying prone on the covers.

Sure she hadn't finished his name then, but she'd whimpered, screamed, whispered and said his name in just about every vocalization that she could have possible made. That should have satisfied him.

A dark chuckle came from the balcony. But it wasn't threatening, simply amused. "Do be sure," The voice said for Raven's ears only, leaving the fledgling still asleep. "That your mistress is not so... occupied the next time she has a visitor. Though anyone wanting to speak with her would have probably been more delighted to see that grand display. Such fierce passion... Such hungry love." The voice mocked slightly. But then the voice was gone, as was the vampire to whom it belonged.

Raven chuckled, what else could he do. After all he was a bastard; through and through, but he was a bastard with a goddess by his side and so let her magnificence make up for his own shortcomings. Or so Raven would have said had he been asked on the matter. Since he wasn't, as it were, the sanguine haired vampire only laughed. He laughed a deep, dark, seductive laugh that for but a single note seemed completely and utterly contented at its core. And it seemed such; no doubt because it was true. Raven was content beyond all reason but for a single flaw in the etch of his happiness.

And that flaw had nothing at all to do with the woman that sat up beside him only to flop back down. Or the fact that the sun claimed her before she could utter the single word most precious of all to him coming from her supple lips.

That of course didn't matter. No. She was his love, his heart, his all. And so long as she desired him at her side; there he would be.

It was then however that he felt it. So very faint as if to be none existant at all, a presence. A being. Another. And the laugh carried to his ears and Raven felt his talons extend even as he fangs did likewise. Like liquid mercury he slipped to his feet as the words trilled through his psyche.

Senses flaring and crimson eyes a hazy feral glow in the room darkened against the coming dawn; Raven let everything within him narrow down into a single searching force. Touch, smell, sight, hearing, taste, even the touch of the metaphysical that always jumped into a vampire's awareness. But of course none of it found anything. Nothing. Much to Raven's increased and fiery fury.

And if not finding the source of the words wasn't enough. Oh, those words. Raven would make someone eat those words fully and utterly. He would not have his mistress mocked.

Still.

"Vistors announce themselves..." Raven spoke, voice unshaken, hard despite the confusion he felt at another immortal getting to them and in this place of all places. Still there was no fear. "You are nothing but a voyeur and a fool. And I do not suffer fools lightly. Pray to whatever gods you have that we do not meet face to face."

That said; Raven rose from the defensive croutch that he had not even realized he'd taken. Standing to his full height, the red haired vampire remidied himself of his talons, extended fangs, and crimson bled eyes. Soon enough he looked simply to be a man; a man of unmatchable resolve, but a man nonetheless.

"I will always protect her." He said then, but if for the voice's benefit or his own, it wasn't immediately apparent. Instead he moved back to the bed he would share with Alexandra and wrapped his arms about her. He wanted to make his body a shield over hers just in case. But he knew how foolish that was. If anything this other would seek to take his love; not kill her.

That didn't alleviate his thoughts however. Indeed, as he went to sleep, it was with the fear of attack slithering up and down his spine. But eventually even he could no longer resist the urge to sleep that was the sun's.

When next night fell; it was another voice in the either that woke him. A voice he recognized, and then another that he did not.

"Valkirin." He whispered.

"Well met?" The voice asked suddenly from the otherside of the hotel door.

Raven realized then that Val was outside the door. The Valkirin he'd known could have easily been sitting at their table taking his leasure. But it seemed he wasn't sure of his welcome and he was no doubt even more unsure of them.

Raven didn't blame him.

But in the end he nodded to himself in the dim room.

"Well met...old friend." He said then, getting to his feet.

Raven hoped that Alexandra had noticed their guests; but just incase he added.

"Alexandra, we have more guests."


And indeed it was guests. Raven heard two sets of footsteps outside of the door. One obviously Val, the other. The other he didn't know, but it was a woman. Of that much he was sure.

Even as she stirred into wakefulness, she refused to move, playng dead so that Raven wouldn't leave her. He was agitated by something, though she didn't know what. So she figured he probably needed the time holding her.

But as he left anyway, she pushed herself up from the bed, her copper hair tousled and knotted, still naked from the night before.

"Raven?" She murmured still dozy. "What's wrong?"

She frowned slightly, but couldn't ind the energy to stand just yet. "Valkirin? Are you sure my dear?" But of course, why would she ever doubt him? "Well... you agreed that he would be our strongest ally here... Let him in." She murmured, forcing herself up to at least put one of the silk robes on. Oh how she loved this place... It was a delightful set up.

She had been wanting to ask him what was really wrong, whatever it was that she'd felt as she woke up. But even if he would tell her, he probably wouldn't think now was the best time. Something had scared him. Or rather should have scared her, something he felt he needed to protect her from.

"I haven't had a proper shower or anything..." She muttered slightly, catching a glimpse of herself in a mirror. "I look horrid... And pale after last night. I'll have to feed... Maybe we should order Pizza tonight?" She said with a slight chuckle as she attempted to pull back her mane into something that was more manageable. q