I sat opposite Mika. The cruel smile he was showing just looked plain wrong to me. The expression didn't belong on that face and I shifted in my chair as I tried to resolve my feelings of revulsion towards the personality sitting in front of me and the love I felt for the man behind that look. I couldn't see any evidence of Zass in his eyes and yet his real smile reminded me so much of the man I desired. Yes, still. Even though it wasn't my Zass looking at me from across the table. Could I take his life if there was no hope of Zass ever returning? In that moment I wasn't sure. I still believed that Zass was in there somewhere and I really wanted to focus on reading him, but it was pretty much all I could do to just sit there without giving anything away in my expression. I knew far too well how good at reading people Zass was it would only follow that Mika was as well. Iris said I had time. I wondered how much I actually had left.
"So Blondie, what do you want to talk about?" He asked me.
I grimaced. I really was starting to detest that name. He smiled briefly and then raised his eyebrows.
"Actually," he said, "Just tell me how come you're not dead." He pointed to his head, tapped it and said, "Inquiring minds want to know."
I looked closely at him, looking for any hint that there was someone else still in there, and when I didn't find any evidence of Zass, said shortly, "Vampire blood."
"Oh." Mika frowned, his smile dimming and I wondered why.
......
The struggle against the walls of the sphere was harder than Zass had imagined. Although Zeus had enlarged it to the point two people could fit inside, making it bigger and the walls thinner was more of a struggle than he had anticipated. Building the sphere in the first place had been easy but it seemed almost impossible to change it now. Was it too late? Had Mika won simply because Zass had left it too late to challenge him? No, Zeus would have told him. Zass struggled on, sweat running down his forehead and his muscles straining, pushing against the shell with his mind was taking it out of him.
Zass fought his way back, forcing his self-imposed prison larger until he was able to see and hear his surroundings again. Keeping his presence from Mika was another thing that was taking it out of him. He needed something... he needed Scott, he needed his blood.
He heard Scott's answer to Mika's question and wondered why Mika had wanted to know why Scott wasn't dead. It wasn't like Mika wanted to do anything but kill him. Or did he? Mika was so intent on his own thoughts, he hadn't noticed that Zass was no longer curled up in a small ball locked deep in his mind. He hadn't seen Zass's mighty struggle to break free of the darkness, the conversation with his Father, the hope flare and his newly refreshed determination to regain himself and reclaim Scott. Mika assumed Zass was no longer a problem and so, was ignoring him. Much to his folly.
When Zass heard that Scott had been saved once again by Vampire blood he was concerned. It wouldn't change their relationship, but it really depended on who the Vampire was that had helped. Someone less savoury might try to use the blood running through Scott to control him. Scott was bonded to Zass, but the current state of that bond was in question. Zass couldn't test it or Mika would know he was 'waking up'. He really needed to reclaim Scott for himself, drink him down again and give Scott his own blood again. Zass waited for the conversation to continue, biding his time and gathering his strength for the fight that would come when he demanded control over his body again.
It would take all he had to hide out and allow Mika control. He wanted to badly to show Scott there was hope. Because from Scott's expression and the way he was fingering the empty sheath where a large knife had been, Zass began to worry Scott had given up.
........
"Who fed you?" Mika asked.
"Cerberus." I replied shortly.
"Tank's pet?" He said mockingly and I saw his expression lighten.
"I didn't think you remembered your friends anymore." I said from between clenched teeth.
Mika made a noise that could have meant anything and shook his head. "I can recall some things that are to my benefit." He assured me. "It's a good thing it wasn't Tank that fed you, I might have had more of a problem." He said then flashed over to me and pulled me from the chair, looking into my eyes. I was so startled that I just hung from his hands, my feet not seeming to work or touch the ground as he held me up to his face. I couldn't breathe, I just stared into his face as he tilted his head to the side and stared into my eyes.
"What does he see in you?" Mika whispered. "What is it about you that has his little heart all a flutter?" He frowned and said in a louder tone, "Why can't I seem to get you out of my head? Why does the fact that another Vampire fed you make me crazy with jealousy?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but Mika pressed one finger against my mouth and whispered "Shhhhhhhhhh."
He turned to look over his shoulder and I had a quick glimpse of someone peeking round the doorway before Mika turned and faced the door with me in front of him. He stepped to the side and said, "Come out, come out, whoever you are."
Kevin peered around the corner again and raised his hands before walking inside the room. "Scott." He said shortly then stared at Mika before slowly lowering his arms. "You two need to wrap up whatever you're doing in here. The Police are about to send in the heavy artillery. After Jezebel carried James out and Avi and Bright Eyes made sure Susan called the body in, they sent reinforcements."
"What?" Mika said and went to the window to look down into the street. Flashing red and blue lights lit the night and Police Officers in riot gear were loading up, ready to come in.
"Shit." He said and stepped back allowing me to look down.
"Well," I said carefully. "James did leave in a really bad way, and that Officer you killed was a Dick, but he was still an Officer. I imagine those Cops out there are pretty pissed at you right now." I said holding my hands up reminding Mika I was unarmed apart from my words.
"Well I can go and kill them all or offer a distraction." Mika said smiling in a way that made my gut clench. But he didn't come near me, instead he flashed over to Kevin, picked him up by both arms and then threw him through the window.
One second Kevin was standing near the door, the next he was crashing through the glass and falling through the air. I saw the look of horror on his face as he fell and I rushed to the window, only to hear his body landing on the pavement below. The Police below erupted into action, some moving to see if Kevin was alive, others falling in behind their leader and rushing the entrance of the building. I counted at least eight more victims rushing in to their doom if we remained there.
I looked back at Mika and then took a step backwards, closer to the hole Kevin's body had made in the glass. He stepped forward, holding out his hand towards me, I could see he didn't want me to jump. Maybe there was still hope after all.
"Those officers will be up here shortly. Do you want to finish this here or elsewhere?" I asked.
His sneer made my fingers itch. I needed him to leave so no more people got killed. I turned towards the window and made a move as if I was going to leap out of it before his hand on my arm stopped me. "No." He said sternly. I hid my smile as I unclipped my vest and let it fall to the floor. His expression of confusion as he watched the vest fall, the only thing I'd counted on as I unfurled my wings and then pulled him into my chest, grabbing him tightly and jumping out the window.
I went full supernatural and extended my wings to their full breadth. It felt amazing, that moment of weightlessness as we fell towards the ground before my wings caught enough air and we were flying. Carrying Mika with me as if he weighed nothing at all was invigorating. His hands clutched together behind my back and he pressed full length against me while I held on to him with one arm and looked for an advantageous landing site. Zass hadn't seen how big my wings really were now, so Mika gasped when he saw them from over my shoulders. He held onto me tightly as I flew over the cars below and soared up towards the roof of an adjoining building. The lights were dark in the windows as I landed on the balcony. Mika stumbled away from my embrace and turned to the building before he opened the closest window, forcibly. He stepped inside, finding the closest light switch and turned it on. I followed as the light revealed a hotel room, one with a decent rating from the looks and it was unoccupied.
I let out a breath of relief and walked back to the window, looking over towards the building we had just come from, I frowned as I saw the still body on the ground, with the milling emergency services personnel around it. Sadness overtook my body, I hadn't known him very well, but I knew he was one of the most important people in Zass's life as far as the business went. Also he was a friend and that was important if you were a Vampire living a modern life. So to have Mika be the cause of his death would be heartbreaking for Zass if he came back.
Mika moved to stand next to me and took a deep breath. "Wait for it." He said softly and we stared at the still body.
"What are we waiting for?" I whispered, glancing sideways at his face and frowning before refocusing on the scene across the street.
"How long has it been since he hit the sidewalk?" Mika asked.
"I don't know, maybe 4-5 minutes?" I said shortly.
"A bit longer then." He said and stared intently at the milling humans across the street. What seemed like hours later but was probably more like 20 minutes, the Cops who had been sweeping the other building came back outside. There was an air of disappointment hanging over them as they had found no one else inside the building. All the rest of my companions had left the building before Kevin had returned. I didn't know where they were, but I guessed they were hanging around close by somewhere to see the results of this particular confrontation.
I looked at him again and he snorted and used the closest hand to me to push my face towards the window again. What the heck? Then he giggled and said, "Here we go!"
That giggle...
I flicked the light switch and the lights went off instantly. I looked intently at his profile and for a second I thought I saw a flicker of blue. I bit my lip, I wasn't going to get my hopes up, but Mika was behaving more like Zass every second. "Scotty." He said exasperatedly and I redirected my eyes to the view from the window, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye until something caught my attention from across the road.
Under the sheet, Kevin moved.