A/N: What's up guys! Lavender here, this is just a story I came up with that I'll be working on periodically. I've also posted it to my fandom blog on tumblr thewheezingwyvern . Go check it out and follow me if you would like! This story was rated M for language, violence, darker themes, sexual situations and abuse. (More may be added) This story may be triggering. I will do my best to give warnings about certain triggers as they occur but this is a heads up in case I miss something.

I also don't have any ships or anything yet for Cora so I'm just going to wing it and see how it progresses.

It was nearly dusk by the time Cora had arrived at Sakamaki manor, the steadily dying sun wreathing the wrought iron gates in fiery reds and oranges. It was an ornate gate, engraved with elaborate embellishments but even a gilded cage was still a cage. A gust of wind rasped through the trees and sifted through her hair, a dusky rose that gleamed in the light of the fading sun. Daunted, she hefted one of her bags higher up on her shoulder and fixed her dark eyes on the crest above the gates.

'This is a mistake.' She thought with dread, 'Maybe I should just call back the driver or something.'

Cora touched the squirt bottle of holy water resting against her hip in her jacket pocket for reassurance. It was a flimsy defense against six vampires but her options were limited given the situation. The rosette ground her teeth as she felt a traitorous voice in her head urge her to leave. She could disappear, leave and if she was careful no one would be able to find her. It was so tempting because she knew that however long she had to stay here, it would be hell for her.

'Pull yourself together!' Cora snapped at herself, 'You can do this! You are Cora Fuller, a witch of the Court of Oak and Ash coven! This isn't just about you so just get your ass in there!'

With a deep breath she pushed open the gates. They groaned as they parted to admit her and she hauled her luggage up to the front door. There was no turning back so she squared her shoulders and knocked on the door. Cora immediately began kicking herself mentally when she noted that the knock was feeble and lacking in volume. She knocked again, harder this time and the door swung open slowly to admit her. The entrance way was grandiose, sprawling in elegant marble. A golden chandelier, artfully crafted dangled from the ceiling and an imperial staircase waited at the end of the great hall.

'Of course they would have a red carpet.' she noted dryly.

There was no one at the door when she stepped inside but she was not alone in the entrance hall. He was a composed individual, impeccably dressed with a crisp, white button down shirt. Cora suspected that it had been pressed to perfection and it paired nicely with the simple black coat. He was a stern figure and his eyes surveyed her apathetically behind his glasses. But his hair…his hair was a dark purple grey and Cora found that it reminded her of a storm. That was the only thing about him that made her feel comfortable.

"Cora Fuller?"

She nodded mutely in response to his question.

"You are early." He noted cordially, "I was not expecting such punctuality from one of your kind."

Cora bristled, "Funny. I was thinking the same thing of yours."

'You leech.' She added cantankerously in her thoughts.

"Your manners, however, are precisely what I expected: deplorable."

The witch narrowed her dark eyes into a glare. She hardly thought that was fair since he was the one who greeted her with such a back-handed compliment. Cora wanted to pursue the argument, insist that he was the one who started all of this but she decided that the argument "you started it" sounded distinctly childish. And definitely not worth it so she dropped it.

"Not to worry. I'll do my best to live down to your expectations."

If he was at all bothered by her behavior, he didn't show it. His face was one of stony indifference and he regarded her coolly. Inwardly, she squirmed because something about his gaze unnerved her but she refused to give any more control to him than he already had. So she met his wine eyes with her dark ones, trying her best to maintain a defiant expression.

"Fufufufu, well what do we have here?"

Cora jerked her head over to the side to see yet another vampire of the manor. His hair was a rich red and it tumbled past his jawline to dust just above his shoulders. But his eyes were striking, an acidic green that made her think of the toxic plants the herbalist witches would work with in her coven. The stranger was dressed casual enough, his button down shirt untucked with a loose fitting tie and a fedora on his head.

The witch narrowed her eyes in a glare when she noticed how he was leering at her, poisonous eyes slithering across her skin. She felt grimy just by the way he was looking at her and found herself really wanting a shower. If Cora hadn't been so burdened with luggage, she would have folded her arms over her chest in a further show of displeasure. But her arms were occupied and it was that moment that she realized that while she may be able to touch the squirt bottle in her jacket pocket, it would be a lot harder to fish it out quickly should she need it. The witch decided she could put her stuff, or at least one bag, down.

"Take care of her luggage." Ordered the stranger who had first greeted her, his face still devoid of emotion.

The rosette had no idea who he was talking to since she had not seen anyone else in the room. But she was quickly informed when a cold set of hands took the bag from her shoulder. An undignified squeak of surprise escaped her since she did not hear or see the servant until he was right on top of her. But Cora didn't want strangers handling her stuff, she had carried a lot of personal ingredients and tools with her and she didn't trust other people with it.

"H-hey wait a minute!" she protested.

But the servant had already vanished with her stuff. She deflated but was once again startled when she felt a cold body press firmly against her from behind. Cora quickly noticed that the red-head was no longer off to the left where she had first seen him and concluded that it must be him behind her. Icy hands caressed up her arms and she felt his cold breath pool onto her neck.

"I knew we had a witch bitch coming to stay with us but I didn't expect she'd be so adorable."

Not at all appreciating the intrusion and the uninvited touching, Cora whipped around, pulling the squirt bottle from her pocket. The red-head tightened his hold on her left arm, thinking that she was trying to pull away but he could not stop her from spraying him directly in the face. The vampire yelped and released her instantly, rubbing his face with his sleeve to clear away the holy water. However, once the faint hissing stopped and his face was dry, he gave her a dirty look. Cora squared her jaw, feeling the cold bite of fear sink deep into her heart as she watched his still smiling face.

'I see you're already making friends, Cora.' She thought to herself.

"Now what was that for, witch bitch?"

"If you're going to act like a dog, I'm going to treat you like one." She retorted sharply.

"Laito…" Sighed the man in glasses, "It is highly inappropriate to lay your hands upon a woman you just met."

Laito chuckled, but she could hear the dark edge that laced his tone, "But how could I possibly resist something so delectable, Reiji?"

"Oi! Don't tell me you tried to bite her without Ore-sama!"

'For the love of Artemis, am I going to meet every one of these leeches at once?! Can't we space this out over a week?' Cora lamented inwardly.

Yet another red-head appeared but he was closer to the staircase near Reiji. His hair was a lot shorter than Laito's but it was boyishly messy and his eyes were a lighter green. Cora cocked a brow at his choice of wearing a ribbon around his neck that trailed down his chest to disappear into his shirt, which was barely buttoned at all.

"Ore-sama gets first bite of our prey…" he said lowly, suddenly appearing before Cora.

The witch in question lifted the squirt bottle in a threatening manner towards the newcomer and narrowed her eyes, "I will use this…"

"Psh is that supposed to mean something to me?" He scoffed leaning in to intimidate her.

"Careful, Ayato." Laito advised, "Witch bitch has holy water in that bottle."

A cocky smirk crossed Cora's lips for a moment and she sloshed the water for good measure, "He's right. Laito already got a taste."

Ayato narrowed his eyes, angrily, "Wipe that look off your face. All I have to do is take that bottle from you and then you have nothing."

'Don't hex him, don't hex him, don't hex him, don't hex him…' Cora thought, reigning in her urge to prove him wrong.

"You're nothing but prey. A blood bag like any other human to feed on."

'Oh he did NOT just…fuck it.'

Cora pulled the trigger on the bottle, giving Ayato a face full of holy water. The water hissed when it came in contact with his skin and he reeled back, snarling.

"Let's get one thing straight here, leech. I am not your prey and I am certainly not like any human you've come across. I am a witch of the Court of Oak and Ash and you will not talk to me that way." She lifted her chin proudly.

"I will talk to you any way I like!" He roared, advancing blindly towards her as he continued to rub away the holy water, "And just you wait until I get my hands on you!"

"Touch me and I will curse you into the next millennia. Your GRANDCHILDREN will be cursed when I'm done!"

"That's enough." Reiji cut in coolly, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Ayato, step back from our guest. She is not a bride offered up to us. She is a diplomatic emissary, despite how unruly her behavior is and she will be remaining here for the rest of the negotiations." He flicked his piercing eyes over to Cora, "And you. Your attitude is a disgrace. Unless you desire for me to discipline you later then you will correct it immediately."

Cora's breath caught in her throat. Something about Reiji, perfection aside, really put her on edge. And she had no doubt in her mind that not only would he discipline her without hesitation that he would even enjoy it. She took his words to heart but not just because of his threat. Cora had less room to work with the vampires than they did with her. As much as she wished it were not true, witches have mostly been the aggressors within their long history of fighting each other.

She could defend herself safely if she felt her life was in danger but that was about it. Anything else would be called into question so there wasn't a lot of open attack magic she could do here. And if she continually acted aggressive towards the brothers with her magic then she would be forced to wear a seal to limit her power. That thought alone made her feel like she was trapped within the jaws of a wolf, teeth bearing down on her neck.

Cora dropped her gaze from Reiji's, "I understand…" she sighed.

"So this is what all of the fuss was about. I thought the witch would be cuter, Teddy. And that ugly mouth is so noisy….maybe we should kill her so we don't have to hear her anymore."

Out of all the things she had expected to see, a three hundred year old vampire with purple hair, plaid leggings, holding a teddy bear with an eye patch was definitely not one of them. She opened her mouth to say something to him but quickly closed it. The air was echoing softly with distant whispering. Whispering that had not been present until he had arrived. Cora's eyes widened when she realized that the indistinct whispering was coming from Teddy.

'Looks like Teddy has a passenger. Now the question is: did this boy summon it or did the spirit come by the bear on its own?'

He advanced towards the witch, his eyes glinting with madness, a wide grin across his mouth.

"Kanato stop." Reiji ordered, "We already discussed this, she is here for the peace talks and she is not to be killed."

Cora noticed that he said "killed" and not "harmed". She warily watched Kanato, who sulked at the news and hugged his bear tighter to his chest.

"But I want to kill her." He repeated more firmly, his voice rising.

'Note to self: avoid Kanato. He might not honor the treaties at all.'

"We are under orders from him to not kill her. She must be kept alive. "

Cora was assuming by "him" Reiji was referring to Karl Heinz. While it was comforting to know that he had given his sons orders not to kill her, she still couldn't trust Karl any further than she could throw him. But Cora felt that way about all vampires.

"I don't understand why. She doesn't look special."

A scowl crossed her face at that. In her opinion Kanato wasn't that great looking either but Cora kept her opinions to herself. Faint whispering shuddered in her ears again and she rubbed her arms to try and stave off the chill. There were plenty of witches in her coven that delved into spirit work but she had never been one of them. Spirits always creeped her out.

"Well I suppose it was a good thing I wasn't brought here for my looks then." Cora said evenly, making sure to keep her displeasure off her face, "But I am not a diplomat. Even a blind person could tell that curbing my tongue is not a great forte of mine."

"Hmmm? Then what are you, witch bitch?"

She eyed him warily, "I'm…insurance. We recognize that a lot of us can become overzealous and gung ho about fighting with you vamps. But we look after our own. I'm here because it will help keep some of the more hot-headed spell casters from being stupid."

Laito's smirk widened considerably, "Look after your own? How cute. They brought you here as a scapegoat. Like a lamb to the slaughter." He laughed, "And you still think they are looking out for you? You might as well accept that you are our prey now."

"Ore-sama's prey." Ayato corrected advancing on her again.

Cora laughed then, "A scapegoat? Not at all, I volunteered to be the one to come here."

"What?"

The witch gave Laito a triumphant smirk. There would likely be many moments in this house that she did not come out on top so she was going to take this victory while it was still there. She found it very satisfying that his attempt at trying to make her feel abandoned failed.

'Well now I have his number. He's going to make it his goal to try and break me down and make me feel alone.' Cora noted, 'I can take you, fang face.'

"I volunteered. Someone had to come or else the negotiations would stop. But no one was stepping up so someone had to."

Ayato snickered, "And so you came to us." His smirk widened, "You want to feel someone's fangs really badly, huh?"

There was a shift in the energy in the air as he drew close to her and Cora tensed. She already was hyper aware of how they were eyeing her like she was a walking blood bag but now Ayato was leaning in towards her with a sly smirk, licking his lips slowly. It was so tempting to summon some lightning and knock him flat on his back. If she did maybe he would stop looking at her like only prey.

'But I can't.' She thought begrudgingly, 'Using my magic to attack them repeatedly outside of a life threatening situation could make them put a seal on me.'

Ayato dropped his voice, "I've heard that Witch blood is something special. And rare to taste…"

"Really?" drawled Kanato, "I want to taste too!"

"Really now, Ayato, we can all share."

Laito began to advance forward too along with Kanato. Cora could feel the jaws of the trap closing in, their eyes a light with hunger. But it disturbed her to see how they were looking at her as a food source and not as a person. She knew that this would not be an easy task to do for her coven but not once had she imagined it would feel like this.

'Three of them and only one squirt bottle…' Cora realized, 'Shit. This was stupid. The holy water is great for one on one but if they gang up on me I can't do anything.'

But she wasn't ready to just give up. Cora moved to squirt Ayato in the face but Kanato snatched her wrist first and gave it a harsh twist. The witch yelped and the bottle was wrenched from her hand and tossed aside. This was happening, she realized with dread as Laito looped an arm around her waist from behind, heaving a shuddering breath into her ear.

"Mmmmm, you smell so divine witch bitch…"

"Get the fuck- eep!"

Kanato had swiped his tongue across the delicate skin of her wrist, startling Cora and she yanked it free of his grip. He widened his eyes at first in surprise before he laughed, his grin razor sharp and filled with ravenous intentions.

"Oh that's right, I forgot." Kanato took Cora's wrist in harder grip and yanked it towards him cruelly in a harsh twist.

"Ow!"

"You witches are a bit stronger than humans…" He licked again, "Mmmm, I can taste the power…"

Ayato took her chin in his hands and forced her to look back at him, "Hey, eyes on me. Ore-sama is the only one you should care about."

Her heart was hammering in her chest and she began to thrash within their grip. Laito laughed and merely tightened his grip.

"Why so frightened? You already heard Reiji, we can't kill you." He asked her, pressing his face against the side of her head in a faux tender gesture before he tugged sharply on her hair, "Hmmm I do still have to punish you for that holy water."

"Oh yeah…" Ayato laughed, "Isn't it taboo or something for you witches to get bitten? You think it is a violation of your magic? Your bodies?" His voice slipped down into a low timbre, "That we corrupt you?"

Cora felt herself trembling, felt her heart rate continue to rise as they closed in on her. But the more she stayed like this, the more she knew that she was giving them power. So she fought the fear with another emotion: anger.

"If you three don't get the fuck off of me, I swear by Artemis, I am going to curse you!"

Ayato laughed and tightened his grip on her jaw, "Shut your mouth and just give in."

'That's it. I'm done playing by the rules.'

Magic was a learned skill that took hard work and study. But every witch had at least one type that came to them naturally as if it their bones were made and shaped from it. For Cora that was weather magic. Particularly storms. She had not only wanted to play by her Coven's rules while in this treaty but she also wanted to keep her skills a secret. Should things fall through with the peace talks her life would be in danger and it would be far easier to get away if they didn't know what she was capable of. It would be easier if they underestimated her.

But Cora was not going to be bitten and especially not on the first day she stepped into the mansion. She flicked her eyes closed and focused in wards. And then she called to the power coursing in her blood and she could feel it rising to the surface, crackling with energy. Her heartbeat began to rumble in her ears, a distant roll of thunder, the tempest rising from her bones. Higher and higher it came to her skin, her ears, her eyes ready to be unleashed and-

"That's enough you three. Unhand her at once."

Cora still could not move her head so she slid her eyes over to peer at Reiji who was behind Ayato. While his face still seemed to be indifferent, his eyes had taken on a new degree of sharpness to them that showed his displeasure. Kanato pouted but released her wrist, making a soft disappointed sound in the back of his throat. Laito pulled away but made sure to run his fingers through her wind tossed hair with a soft laugh.

"This isn't over, witch bitch."

Ayato turned his face back to her and drew in really close. For one fearful moment she thought he was going to try and kiss her but he stopped short. Cora felt she had spent enough time with a fearful expression in front of him. So she twisted into a look of defiance, glaring up into his green eyes.

"Don't get too comfortable." He purred, "Ore-sama is going to be the first to take your blood. To take everything."

'Like hell you will.' She thought venomously.

He let go of her then and shoved his hands in his jacket pockets, "This is boring, now. I'm done with this."

Ayato left then and as did the other two who ganged up on Cora. Laito made sure to pass her a sly wink before leaving as well. It made her feel even more grimy and she really wanted to take a long hot shower. Suspiciously she watched Kanato who stopped to stare at her, clutching his bear to his chest.

"Don't worry, Teddy." He assured his friend, "We'll get to taste her. I'll bet she tastes delicious. Just like her soft skin."

She hardened her glare and he slipped out of the room. Now she was left with Reiji and her embarrassment that she had been seen so weak. Cora should be thanking him, he saved her without her having to pull out her magic. But when she brought her dark eyes to meet his own wine colored ones, the words just would not leave her. They turned sour, bitter on her tongue and she just couldn't bring herself to be grateful. She had it under control.

'And besides, you watched and let it get to that point anyways.' She thought waspishly, 'You could have said something from the beginning and it wouldn't have got that far.'

Anger and shame brought her fists to clench tightly by her sides. She could still feel Kanato's tongue on her wrist, Laito against her back and Ayato's icy fingers on her jaw. Cora looked away, no longer able to meet his gaze. Because as angry at him as she was, there was still something about Reiji that unsettled her and she wanted to flee from his presence. Resolutely she set her jaw, inwardly scolding herself for feeling that way.

"Honestly now." He sighed, "I expected such poor manners from those three but I had higher expectations for the emissary of your kind. I suppose that was foolish of me to expect proper etiquette and manners from a witch. It is customary to thank the person who saved you."

Cora glared at him, "Why should I? It is also customary for the one responsible for the house to not let things advance that far with your guest. So I guess we are both in the wrong here."

Reiji narrowed his eyes slightly, "Careful, witch. Your political significance will only get you so far."

"And I'll carry myself the rest of the way with my own two legs." She snatched up the discarded bottle of holy water, "I'm more than capable."

"Capable? Not moments ago you were a quivering in a pathetic display." He chuckled then, "How foolish that you thought that little bottle would be enough to protect you." A cruel smirk crossed his lips, "But it was nice to see you learn your place. You are just barely above the status of a human. Treaties are not, you and your kind are still food. Now behave yourself and I will show you to the room you will be staying in."

'I am not your prey…I am the storm that will tear your world apart if you cross me.'