Out for Blood

Xcor

-His left hand gripped the scythe midway to the blade, a stained soft cloth wrapped around the fingers of his right. His lover had served him well this eve. Her blade had been thirsting for the blood of the enemy. That stinking, midnight flow brought him a near orgasmic rush the instant his girl had loosed it from the neck of the lesser he'd faced. Carefully wiping her clean, meticulously inspecting her edges for dulling or damage, his steady fingers worked her back to shining, deadly glory. His eyes shifted toward the door as his senses registered the presence of one of his own. Bent over his labor of love, he snarled to the empty room.- Tell me you've found what you were sent for, or pray that you'll make it back before sunrise. I'll have ye tossed out on your ass if you've returned empty handed.

Throe

[He knew Xcor would be waiting and was not surprised to hear him. Leaning into the wood of the door, he dared not open it without proper permission] no..I did not find the females I sought but I did find one you might be interested in. Can I come in? [He knew the games the son of the Bloodletter played and he knew if he wanted to gain audience, he would have to play them so he waited.]

Xcor

-Uttering a curse beneath his breath, he turned his beloved slowly in his palm, her brilliant steel reflecting the dim light back to him. Hearing that Throe had failed to procure the females grated hard against his temper. Twasn't as though his countenance had been featured to deter the dealings. Shaking his head as he brought his lips to his blade, thanking her for another night's performance of perfection, before drawing his body up from the chair to rest her against the wall. This did not bode well. He and his Bastards grew restless with hunger and the need for a release that wasn't of the killing variety.- Make it worth my while, or you'll find you've run afoul with my temper. -He raked his large hand back through tangled hair, dismissing the disappointment as though it were unimportant.

Wolves Among the Sheep

Jodi

*I took a deep breath of the Caldwell air, the winter chill lingering in the night wind though the calendar insisted that spring had come to New York.  Yeah, right. I bundled Sahv tightly in a blanket to ward off the cold, a futile attempt as chubby hands tugged the fleece back from his face and smacked at my cheek* Hey! That’s no way to treat your mahmen on your first night on the town. *I chuckled and kissed his fingers, anxiously watching the passing cars for any sign of Fritz. I should have waited in the lobby. The visit had been a welcome break, finally escaping the pit for a few hours to visit friends downtown while my hellren was on patrol, assuring the doggen that I would at least not leave in the daylight in case I needed Vishous. Not that I told my hellren I was going. He’d found reasons enough to keep us home since Sahvage’s birth, the days adding up to weeks and finally months that even the seemingly endless bustle of life at the compound couldn’t fill. I had to leave. And it had been wonderful. The couple had been happy to have us, having long been promised a visit and I finally delivered but the time had started to weigh heavily watching their loving glances and fleeting touches, longing promises spoken with their eyes. Fuck, I missed Vishous but it felt selfish to ask him to take time from the war. I’d reached my limit, my dour mood worsening until I excused myself, assuring my friends that the old Doggen would be waiting downstairs already and I would stay within sight of the lobby doorman. Anytime now, Fritz… I kissed Sahv’s cheek and shifted his weight to tighten my hold on him, my nervousness at being out on the street translating to a soft bounce of my arms that was more for my benefit than my young as I waited*

Throe

[The weeks had proved to be productive. With the bastards settled in, there had been time to effectively eliminate their own share of the enemy. Tonight's mission however had not been to locate members of the lessening society but to find females. Save for Zypher, it had been sometime since any of them had fed. Scouting from his rooftop vantage, he noticed the lone female as she exited. The young she carried was wrapped secure and he noted no male. He frowned at this. Didn't she know there was a lunatic on the loose killing human females? The protective instincts in him had him scattering himself to the wind, only to reform in the shadows of the nearby alley. Stepping out, he approached the mother only to be surprised by the scent lingering about her. Vampire. Blinking, he paused before speaking] Good evening..waiting for someone?

A Gathering Storm

*Standing at the window, I listened to the wind pelt the side of the gate house, relentless gusts launching loose branches from the surrounding trees into the paned glass, rattling it in its frame. I flinched and staggered back, reminding myself that the glass was a half inch thick and bulletproof, something that I'd once thought was excessive and was now grateful for. Around here, overkill was an understatement. I soothed a hand down Sahvage's back, a loud crack of thunder having startled him awake with a keening cry that still had the hair on my nape standing up as I peered outside, my eyes straining in the dark to barely make out the heavy gates that sealed the compound off from the outside world. I followed the line of the horizon to the west, searching for the gauzy glow that marked the neon jungle of Caldwell's night scene. Vishous was on patrol tonight, as he had been the night before, and the night before that. The little time spent together wasn't nearly enough, my heart aching, starved for my male during the hours he left us to scour the rat-infested streets, picking off lessers like the vermin that ran the gutters of those dank alleys. I sighed heavily, grabbing Sahv's hand as he fisted a lock of my hair and tugged, brushing my lips over the dimpled knuckles. The thunderheads rolling in consumed the faint light that I'd always sought on his nights away, the eerie glow comforting in a way, reassuring me that Vishous wasn't so very far from us. But the familiar aura of countless streetlights and marquees was gone, replaced by an ominous blanket of black that seemed to press at the windows...seeking a way in. An uneasiness settled into the pit of my stomach and I swallowed hard. Something just didn't feel right...of course it didn't, he's a soldier and there is a war going on, what's to feel right about? But, that wasn't it. The war with the Lessening Society was always at the forefront and it was impossible not to see the anxious looks that all the shellans fought to hide as we sent our males out, praying that they'd return. We were all determined to stay strong against fears that would strangle us given half a chance. I supposed that made us warriors in our own right. Still, I couldn't help but feel something was waiting on the fringes, a hidden assailant yet to be named, biding its time until it could breach the fortifications of the compound. A shiver rippled through me as I crossed the room to my cell phone, picking it up and firing off a quick text to Vishous. [Be careful and come home to us. Love you.] Watching the clouds build and swallow the few stars that had so valiantly fought to hold on to their place in the velvet black sky, I cuddled our son, arms tightening until he gave a whimper of protest, making me loosen my hold. A bolt of lightning lit the sky for a split second, dividing the storm front in a slice of brilliant white, followed by a deafening crash of thunder that sent Sahv on a fresh round of terrified tears. My hellren was out there... and there was a storm coming.*