Ziek once more paced the clouds of heaven, this time in anger. Again, the teleporter gave a loud rumble of thunder before being engulfed in black smoke and revealing Darkheart's human form. As usual, the surrounding angels left the area with disgusted expressions fixed on their faces. The dragon king looked livid today, and Ziek almost regretted calling him here. Almost, but not quite.
Darkheart made his way over to Ziek and fixed him with a glare cold enough to knock most people dead. "What do you want?" he hissed, his voice more of a snarl than usual. Ziek glared in response to the question, more irritable than he'd been in quite some time.
"I'm sure you know what." He replied. "Your Destroyer turned a boy with no more reason than for his own amusement. How dare he throw the responsibility of another vampire and a young girl into the hands of his brother? My Creator has enough to worry about!"
Darkheart's eyes narrowed at Ziek; he was clearly displeased about the Lord of Light so openly cursing his most trusted ally. "He is unwise. I will speak to him. It shall not occur in the future."
"In the future?" Ziek hissed. "It's too late for that! Even if it does not occur again, a boy's life has already been ruined!"
"Ruined?" Darkheart asked in disgust. "Most honourable Creator, you know that the girl will be much happier in the company of the Hawthorn coven. Not to mention Mr. Castel will now have an opportunity at a life he never would have."
"True, but the life is not one he would choose." Ziek said.
The Lord of Darkness shook his head and spat on the ground. His saliva was practically lava from the fire that constantly churned in his stomach, ready for use whenever he chose to reveal his dragon form. The spit burned straight through the cloud. "There is nothing that can be done for the boy or the girl now. Learn to live with it angel boy, or suffer like the rest of us because it cannot be changed."
Ziek was ready to kill the man before him; he was livid with fury at the injustice of Luke Castel's changing; not to mention the fact that Darkheart seemed almost indifferent towards the incident altogether.
"Control that boy of yours, or I will begin the battle of light and dark early and have him killed myself." Ziek snarled, angrier than he ever had been. The usually peaceful man was beyond anger by this point. Damon Hawthorn was out of control, and Ziek meant his threat.
Darkheart's expression went from stony to enraged in a fraction of a second. "You would not dare." He hissed.
Ziek stood his ground even through Darkheart stood a good three or four inches taller than him. His golden eyes glared up at cold amber ones and his lips turned into a sneer. "I would." He replied coldly. "I would dare. I do not think that you understand my fury Destroyer, so allow me to explain it." Ziek stepped forwards, closing the already-cramped gap between the two, and spoke in an icier tone than he could ever remember using. "If Damon Hawthorn dares turn another being with no reasonable explanation, I will have him slaughtered. There will be no mercy. That is your warning."
With those words, Ziek stepped away from the King of Dragons and spoke once more. "Be gone from Heaven. Do not dare return."
Darkheart's cold eyes met Ziek's, but he didn't respond. He turned and entered the teleporter and once the light breeze blew through and cleared the smoke, there was nothing more than Ziek's fury to prove that the incident had ever occurred.
+++++
The Hawthorn coven had quickly gathered in the infirmary after hearing that Luke was awake and able to control his thirst enough to prevent attacking them all. The only one who was not present was Damon, but that made the tension in the room seem lesser as he would certainly done nothing to help the situation at hand. The members were congratulating Luke on his flawless transformation, and welcoming him into their "family."
Jasper had business to attend to, so he pulled Luna off to the corner to speak with her. "I must step out for a few minutes. I've spoken to Brandon and Evan and assured that they will not leave you and Luke alone in the infirmary. Also, they've fed. Though Luke has his own elven blood that remains in his veins, the two should be more than a match for him if anything goes wrong."
Luna nodded. "Sure, sounds good!"
Jasper smiled and then left the room.
"So," Brandon began, feeling almost obliged to inform Luke about the way things were run, "you'll learn how to 'track' soon. Everyone has his or her own scent, so you'll be able to tell who has been with whom. It's quite useful, but takes some getting used to. There aren't too many rules around here; Jazz is pretty laid back. But remember no matter how laid back he is, Jasper's boss around here. He tells you to do something and you do it...no questions asked. Got it?"
"Sure." Replied Luke. "Man, this is weird. It's like my senses have been switched with someone else's."
The coven chuckled and Evan stepped in on the conversation. "The only rules we really have are Jasper is the boss, we have training seven days of the week unless instructed otherwise, and you never hunt without permission. Jazz goes with us because some of us still have trouble with controlling the thirst. For the first few months, you'll be hunting with at least two other vampires for safety...or one if it's Jazz."
Luke nodded again as the coven stepped out leaving Brandon, Evan, Luna and himself alone.
Luna carefully sat down on the side of Luke's bed. "The others left." She said quietly and Luke nodded, gripping one of her hands in both of his.
"I know. I heard as I was changing. I feel like it's my fault."
"No. It's not your fault; it's Damon's." Luna said angrily and Luke patted her hand in encouragement.
"Don't get upset over stuff you can't change Luna. I'm fine...really."
Luna smiled sadly and then leaned in, giving Luke a soft kiss. Brandon made a sound of protest, but she didn't care. However as she pulled away, Luke's new fangs caught on her lip and drew a few drops of blood.
Luna sat back and then gasped as Evan whipped her out of the way. She didn't understand what the big deal was. Vampires kissed all the time. However the reaction that Luke gave her was enough to eliminate all hesitation of her thoughts. Yes, vampires kissed all the time...but only with other vampires, only other beings that didn't have blood. A few seconds passed and then Luke's tongue slid out and swept away the crimson staining his fangs.
"Luke," Brandon said warningly, but it was as if the word had triggered a bomb. Luke's eyes flared into the bright crimson of a thirsty vampire, and then he launched himself out of the bed, straight towards Luna.
Brandon tackled Luke out of midair and within seconds the two of them were fighting on the ground. Brandon had the technique, but Luke had the strength, his elven blood still remaining in his system. In an instant, the latter had gained the upper hand and sunk fangs into Brandon's shoulder. Brandon struggled and Evan released Luna, rushing to his brother's aid. However the new vampire was more than a match for the two brothers, and Evan was thrown to the side as if he were nothing more than a rag doll. His head hit the side of a bed and he moved feebly before going still.
"It's no use!" Brandon yelled from his defensive position on the floor. He was talking and somehow avoiding razor sharp fangs at the same time, but he couldn't keep it up for much longer. "We need a stronger vampire!"
"But Jasper's out!" screamed Luna. "He said you two had fed and would have been a match for Luke's strength!"
"We lied!" Brandon yelled again. "We lied because we wanted to give him some time! We never would have expected this!"
Suddenly Brandon gave a shout of alarm and Luna was thrown into the wall. She slid down it, the breath knocked out of her, and looked up at Luke who was quickly advancing. Luna was bleeding more profoundly now; she had fallen in the shards of the bed Jasper had broken in the argument with Chase. She flinched as Luke reared back, and closed her eyes as he struck at her.
The blow never came. There was a lot of hissing and Luna opened her eyes. The first person she saw was Brandon, who lifted her carefully from the shards of the bed and set her down on an undestroyed one. Like Luke, his eyes were now red from thirst, but Brandon could control his instinct. He had been a member of the Hawthorn coven for nearly fourteen hundred years, and his thirst was now easily controllable. Evan, who had regained consciousness only seconds ago, came and helped his brother prop Luna up with pillows before the two took defensive stances on either side of the bed. However Luna wasn't focusing on the brothers' protective positions. Her eyes were glued to the battle when she realized who was locked in combat with Luke.
Damon easily had a good few inches on the other vampire and although he was thinner, he was faster and also stronger. He was between Luna and Luke, his back to her, and his body sunk into a crouch that would cause quite a bit of damage to his opponent if he sprung. "Don't do this Castel; I'm warning you." Damon hissed and Luke's eyes widened, scarlet eyes fading as he realized what was happening.
The boy sunk to the floor, shaking in terror at the events he just realized had occurred. He was nearly crying, Luna could see that much, but his crouched position hid his face from view. Damon straightened up and rolled his eyes. "Damn it, stand up." He yanked Luke to his feet and shoved him none too gently onto one of the nearby beds. "Get yourself under control." He hissed. "Trust me, if my brother comes back and sees you like this, he'll rethink your position in his coven."
"He will not!" Evan snapped. "Jazz isn't like that."
"Trust me," Damon replied, "I've know him way longer than you. He doesn't trust vampires who have such violent reactions to a few drops of blood."
"What about you?" Brandon glared and Damon flashed them a cocky grin.
"Nah, he doesn't like me just because I'm a jerk." Damon said and smiled as if this was a fond thought. "Anyways, Angel boy's back now. Have fun explaining yourself." The dark haired vampire winked at Luke before beginning to exit the infirmary.
"Wait!" Luna gasped and Damon turned. "Why...why did you save us?"
Damon paused, a peculiar look on his face but then he regained his flawless composure and shrugged. "No particular reason. Just don't expect me to be saving you again." With these final words, Damon left the infirmary leaving Luna wondering if there could possibly some good in the eldest Hawthorn brother after all.
Jasper stepped in seconds later, which cut off Luna's train of thought, and his eyes surveyed the scene before him. His face was expressionless, and Luna couldn't tell if he was displeased or not. He made his way over to her and carefully inspected her wounds, making sure that no metal was stuck in her cuts before cleaning them with soap and water and healing them with his talent. "I though you two had fed." He said as he worked and Brandon and Evan looked down at the floor.
Brandon started. "We're sorry, we were trying to give you a break from all the chaos and stuff and..."
"We lied." Evan finished. "We're really sorry Jazz."
"I see. I suppose I should have been more careful when I checked your scents."
"You shouldn't have to be." Brandon said quietly and Jasper gave them a small smile.
"Do not fret. We cannot change the past and these types of accidents rarely occur. Your hearts were in the right place. I assure you however, that I do not mind being busy."
The coven leader then turned to face the newest addition to the coven. Luke still appeared torn between crying and trying to appear manlier about the situation. Jasper's tawny eyes softened at the sight of the new vampire before him and sat down on the end of Luke's bed.
"Care to discuss what happened?" he asked, but everyone knew it wasn't really a question; it was an order. Luke took a few deep breaths and then retold the chilling tale of what had just occurred.
Jasper listened, his face remaining impassive throughout the story, but when Luke finished he did speak up. "I am not trying to limit you Luke, but I must suggest that you leave the kissing until you have better control of your thirst. Currently, it is unsafe for both you and Luna to have that kind of contact."
Luke's eyes showed anger and he replied coldly. "Why do you care?"
Jasper's eyes flashed before the mask of calm returned to his features. "Luke, if you do something that reckless again it could result in Luna's injury or even death. If you kill a human without reason, the vampire hunters of Helia will hunt you down and kill you for breaking the peace law. One action could result in both of your deaths. Are you willing to risk that for a kiss?"
Luke sighed. "Yeah, I guess not. I'm sorry for everything. I...I'm losing control of my emotions."
Jasper nodded in agreement. "That is perfectly normal for a newly turned vampire. We all go through the stages. I am simply here to make sure your transition between your elf and vampire lives is as safe and painless as possible."
Luke nodded. "I know, but it's hard."
Jasper looked at the other boy and nodded gravely. "You have to be prepared to work for this goal. Are you ready to leave nearly everything you know behind?"
Luke's expression hardened into seriousness before he answered. "I am. Bring it on vampire life."