Varian
Varian's eyes narrowed to dark slits, "Your pack has declared war on us?" he stepped forward, fists drawn, his expression darkening to one of menace. "You told them."
Pale, green eyes swiveled to where he stood, "I had little choice. You broke the treaty. 'Never betray thy enemy to thy human', remember? My pack may very well ostracize me for my involvement, but nonetheless, as their Alpha, they needed to know."
Lily stepped forward, gently placing her hand on the crook of Varian's arm, that subtle touch assuaging some of his rage. "What happens to you?" she asked.
Lucan was startled by her regard for him and the evident concern that was reflected in her eyes. "It is my burden."
"But not your battle." Blanch declared softly, stepping forward. "Why aid us, vampires, when you risk everything?"
He peered at the beautiful Blanch whose blue eyes, framed in thick, feathery lashes swept him discernibly. He was enthralled by that timeless stare and the slant of her mouth and seemed incapable of peering elsewhere. She was so unlike the others of her kind that she almost portrayed delicate humanity despite being the undead. He was beginning to feel certain stirrings and was aware of the dangers of harboring such feelings for his enemy, but damn if she weren't enchanting to look at.
"Perhaps I seek allies in my enemy." He said, "I have no desire for bloodshed on either side."
"How can I be sure to trust you?"
Lucan smirked, "The same could be said of you." He shifted further into the room, studying its remnants with scant interest, "You can't fight them alone. Whether you like it or not, you need my help." he said with a leveling of cool, pale eyes.
Varian met that stare intensely, "What are you proposing?"
"I have kin in North Carolina."
"Are you suggesting strays?" Varian growled distastefully.
Green eyes narrowed heatedly, "Your numbers are lousy to say the least. You have a handful of fledglings and pregnant mate. What do you suggest?"
Lily tightened her fingers about Varian's arm, "We have to help Talon."
Dark eyes shifted to her and softened, "I will not endanger you or the baby." He reached up and cupped her face gently, rubbing his thumb across her mouth. "Vampire or not, I will kill all that threatens mine." Turning back to Kirov he asked, "Who is this kin you speak of?"
Lucan heaved a breath, "I have a cousin of the same bloodline. He runs a pack in Asheville. I can seek him out."
"I barely trust you, what makes you think I can trust an outsider?"
Lucan's expression hardened, "You're going up against old blood." He growled irritably, "A handful of newbies won't cut it. Ronan has kept his turf clean of vampires. His blood is thick with time. He'll be a worthy ally."
"Listen to him, Varian." Blanch advised, "We don't have a lot of time to debate this. My father is coming along with the others and whoever else he's rallied."
He inhaled a breath, his chest expanding with it as he cast a glance about the room. The damn mutt was right. He was going to need old blood to fight old blood.
"When do you leave?" he said, fixing Kirov with a black stare.
Kirov simply nudged his head and swept from the room.
Blanch stared after his departure.
"What about you?" Lily asked, drawing her gaze from the door. "What will your father do once he learns of your betrayal to him?"
Her expression remained impassive but her eyes darkened to a fathomless blue. "I imagine he already knows." She paused, her eyes falling to Lily's belly. "The child is a beacon of hope for our kind." And the emotion was gone from her eyes as she raised them to Varian, "I will help you as much as I can, make haste in your preparations, I'll not be far."
Lily
Lily sank into a chair once they were alone. She could feel an oppressive weight of an impending danger to come and shuddered.
Varian knelt beside her, taking her hand gently in his. "What is it, love?"
She could feel the sting of tears as she met that warm, dark stare. "I'm scared for you and the others." Her hands nestled about her belly, feeling the slightest of life beneath her fingers. "In three weeks time I've grown to the equivalent of eight months." Her voice broke with her dread. "What happens when the baby comes? What if I don't survive this, like my mother and Blanch's?" she could feel tears trickling her face and incapable of suppressing them, she began to sob.
Varian pulled her against him, wrapping his arms tightly about her. He ran his hand the length of her back to her nape, entangling his fingers within the blonde tresses there.
"You have nothing to fear." He assured gently, "I will keep you and the baby safe."
She pulled back to peer at him more firmly, "What if they get the baby?"
His expression darkened, "They won't." he vowed on a hiss. "I swear it."
Despite his promise, Lily felt a sickening gut feeling. She could feel the peril suspended all around them. Ward was now aiding the elders. Her father knew where to find them.
"We can't stay here." She said, peering warily about the room as if they would materialize any moment. "We have to leave." She started to rise but as she did the room began to spin wildly and she stumbled.
She was caught instantaneously, swept safely into strong, reassuring arms.
Varian moved quickly, crossing with three swift strides to place her on the bed. He was profoundly quiet, those dark eyes assessing her with an intensity that singed. "When last did you feed?" he demanded.
Lily could feel her stomach clench at the mere thought of consuming blood. "I can't stomach it."
She could see that noticeable jaw line grow taut with displeasure, all the while, those velvety eyes peering unyieldingly. "You're pale."
Lily didn't want to alarm him considering the weighty issues currently at hand but she hadn't much of an appetite as of late. Her ravenous thirst had all but vanished and she'd been feeling nauseous. "Aren't all vampires naturally pale?" she teased, attempting humor, not quite liking his darkened visage.
A firm knock came at the door and instinctively she settled a hand to her belly.
"It's me." Ruby called from the parted door.
Varian muttered a growl of admittance, remaining firm at Lily's side.
"How are you feeling?" Ruby asked as she strolled into the room, green eyes alert. "What's the matter?"
"She hasn't fed." Varian snarled dissatisfied.
Ruby stiffened, "Why haven't you eaten?"
Lily suddenly felt beneath a spotlight as two pairs of eyes, one piercing of black shards yet hinting at underlining warmth while the other, glinting of evergreen, pinned her sharply. "I've tried."
Blanch appeared in the doorway, "We can further discuss this at a better time. Please, we should get Lily to a secure location."
"Wait – "Ruby exclaimed suddenly, holding up a hand. "Wouldn't she be safe here?"
Lily shook her head, "No, my father knows this hotel. He'll know to look here."
"Yes, but this hotel is teeming with guests and staff. There is constant traffic. It would be difficult to channel your scent among the others?"
"She's right." Varian said, "It's a sliver of an advantage but it may work in our favor."
Lily started to rise from the bed, feeling a bit more nauseous than she cared to admit and as she did, her legs suddenly buckled from beneath her. She grabbed onto Varian's arm just as he swung around to catch her.
Seve
"I don't think we really have a choice." Blanch affirmed, "She's growing weaker."
"What do you suggest we do?" Ruby demanded, green eyes round with unease.
The sudden clearing of a feminine throat brought everyone around. Varian shifted Lily into his arms as Ruby and Blanch spun about to peer at a much unexpected face.
"I have a thought." Marguerite purred.
"You are proving to be quite useless to me, human." Seve hissed as they traversed Bucharest's boisterous streets. It thrived with the unconstrained and daring, yet its unbridled and wanton night-life went unnoticed as the ignorant and fragile passed them by, unaware of the creatures that slipped among them.
The pathetic human staggered in Alessandro's unyielding grip, shouting vague directions with a hint of fear. The human had every reason to be fearful. He was merely a means to an end. Once they captured the woman and obtained the man's research they would no longer need the scientist.
Pearly trailed at their heels, appearing the ethereal figurine that she was, donned in all her white silk as she peered with yearning eyes, enthralled by the hum of night-life.
Alessandro was an intensely stoic figure among the crowd with an icy resolve that held a sinister, granite stare. He surveyed the humans with undisguised contempt. Seve mirrored that hatred, harboring a deep and maddening envy for the weaker species and their ability to live freely in the daylight.
They were bound by darkness and cursed to be monsters forever damned. So much time has transpired; decades and centuries of living in the shadows, beneath the ground, that he could no longer remember a time of mortality.
And yet, his daughter did not share in his hatred. Blanch infuriated him to no end! His own flesh and blood rebuffed and objected his future contrivances and now this act of betrayal to her kin!
She was every bit Anya.
He'd been such a damned fool during that era. He'd fallen for a human girl. How very beguiled he'd been of her, and she, knowing nothing of the monstrosity that he was had mirrored his attraction.
He had never heard of a vampire conceiving. It was deemed impossible among his kind, yet his beautiful and innocent Anya was carrying. How could that be?
He would later learn that the child she carried was none other than a thrill with another man – a human man.
Foolish indeed! To think he could possibly love a human. She thought she could deceive him! He could never forget that night as Anya withered in pain, the labor strenuous on her body, destroying her and the babe.
Even now he could recall the stark terror that had come over her ashen face as he bared his fangs. She was the one who'd been deceived!
He'd taken her life, draining her rapidly of blood until her heart beat no longer. He'd been consumed with unimaginable rage, fueled by that dying light in her blue eyes that at first he hadn't heard the sharp wailing.
It drew him from his stance even as Anya lay lifeless in his arms, her throat baring the marks of his fury. He was drawn by that cry and was astounded to find the babe at her feet. Anya may have died but she'd given her last breath to push forth her child from her wrought body.
He gathered the infant intending to destroy the epitome of her betrayal but it occurred to him quickly that the child was anything but human. Her eyes had shown of that unnatural gleam, portraying the change in her.
At that time he had no way of wrapping his mind around what had actually occurred. He hadn't believed such a thing possible and yet it happened. He wanted to destroy every bit of Anya, including the babe who somehow, miraculously had turned when he'd bitten her mother.
He should have killed her then but alternately he had raised the child until her growth slowed incredibly until she could age no more. He had claimed Blanch as his own flesh and blood. He had turned her, therefore she was his daughter.
But as fate would have it, she too would deceive him, just as her mother. Blanch had long objected his way of living and now she would prevent the very brink of a new beginning for their kind.
She would aid traitors and coincide with their enemy. She would learn just as her mother did to never betray him.
"Can you sense her?" Seve shifted to Pearly who had fallen in beside him, her uncanny eyes studying the huge structure before them.
"It's the Carol Parc Hotel." Ward stated, "She would be here."
"Pray that she is." Seve warned icily, "For if you are leading me astray, I shall consider our bargain void as well as your use to me."
"Please –" Ward implored as steadily feasible, "I would not trick you. I shall give you whatever you may need, just promise that you'll hold your end of the deal?"
Pearly laughed as she slipped around them, the sound laced of sublime wickedness, "Begging is very unbecoming of you, professor."
Ward shifted uneasily beneath that unearthly stare, "I'm simply reassuring our agreement." He said rigidly.
"Lily is currently your collateral lifeline." Seve advised warningly. "And my patience is thinning."
"Varian will not go down easily." Alessandro noted as they proceeded to the entrance of the hotel.
"I anticipate nothing else." Seve replied. "He is the reaper of our kind. He will protect the woman at any length and when we find him, we find her."
"And what of the wolves?"
"What of them?" Seve snapped, his eyes flashing daggers. "Old blood thickens your veins and you fret over canines?"
Alessandro straightened beneath that penetrating, obsidian stare. "I'm merely suggesting that we be cautious. This will surely unleash a chain of events."
Seve chuckled, "Let it be so, and you forget, Aless that I have an entire coven at my beck and call. There are others coming."
"And what will you do with the woman?"
"We can use the research obtained by the professor and harvest her blood. She is the key factor in all this. In all my centuries of living, I've never encountered a half-vampire, half-human. Blanch is the first of her kind to be born but that has now changed. This child is the root to a new beginning for us. We may very well discover a way to counteract our genetics and possibly find a way to live in the sunlight."
"Is that even possible? We don't even know if the child can bear the sun."
Seve pinned his lesser with a sharp, intense stare. "What is impossible anymore?" he demanded, "We have an eternity to discover it and by damn, I will have it."
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