With this Blood…….

Rated PG-13

Disclaimers: Mick, Josef, Beth and Coraline belong to CBS and Warner Brothers. All other characters are the property of the author. No copyright infringement intended.

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"Tell me you're kidding," was the only thing that Mick St. John could think of saying. He stared incredulously over the top of the Ferrari F430 Spider as Josef Konstantin exited the vehicle on the other side.

Josef laughed heartily as he answered, "Why would you think that I'm kidding, my friend?" Giving Mick a pitying smile, he continued, "I haven't given up on you, Mick."

Mick closed the car door, possibly with more force than was truly needed as he spun away from his ancient friend. He walked toward the entrance of the ultra-stylish house and waited for Josef to join him. Turning then, Mick was more than a little annoyed to see the smirk still plastered on Josef's face.

"Oh, don't look at me that way," Josef almost laughed. "I didn't say you had to do anything with them. I just said that they were interested." Shrugging a shoulder, he continued, "What you do about it is your decision."

Sighing heavily, Mick closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. The truth was that he knew that Josef meant no harm. On more than one occasion, his friend had been almost a savior to him, saving him sometimes even from himself. Still, there were times when he didn't appreciate Josef's meddling ways. Manipulating stocks and funds had honed his over-zealous desire to control. Mick, however, was no fool. He knew too that Josef still hoped that Mick would renounce his changed ways and revert to the old days of seemingly endless parties and hordes of more than willing women. Even through his haze of annoyance, Mick had to admit that there had been more than a few times over the last twenty years when he had been sorely tempted to do just that. Which brought Mick back to this moment's problem; Josef had arranged for Mick to have some "company" for an upcoming celebration. Two redheads, Mick noted with more than passing interest. Redheads……no blondes….no brunettes. Coincidence? He didn't think so.

Deciding to drop the problem for the moment, Mick asked, "So what is this party for anyway?" It wasn't the first time he'd asked, and he had yet to receive any sort of discernable answer.

Josef hesitated but a moment as he opened the front door, threw his friend a wry smile and continued on as if he hadn't heard the question. Mick shook his head and quietly laughed. Some things never changed, and some mysteries, perhaps, were meant to go unsolved.

The two strolled through the foyer toward the expansive living are, when Josef suddenly and rather abruptly stopped. His head snapped up, eyes wide as he stood frozen in place.

"Josef?" Mick stared at his friend with more than a little concern because it almost appeared as if Josef was in pain. He could have sworn any color had drained from his face and a look of complete shock registered all over his features. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, something caught the corner of his eye. That's when he noticed that they weren't alone.

Not fifteen feet behind where Josef was now riveted to the spot, a woman stood, head tilted to one side, arms elegantly draped out across the chest on which she leaned, one ankle crossed over the other. Mick's first impression was that she resembled a bird of prey with wings outstretched. An extremely stylish bird of prey. The woman was wearing a deep forest green skirted suit. Each inch of fabric appeared to have been form fitted to her every line and curve. Although not up-to-date on women's fashion, Mick couldn't help but realize that what she wore had to be straight off a runway of Milan or Paris. Her upswept auburn hair was pinned back with a jeweled clip leaving just a small sweep of hair to gently caress one cheek. Every inch of her screamed elegance and sophistication and, Mick noted, deadly cunning. Perhaps it was her eyes, now transfixed on Josef's back that gave that impression. Mick wasn't sure, but he did know that at that moment, he was glad that he wasn't in her cross-hairs.

"Hello, Josef," the woman purred, her voice a lulling pitch of seduction and control. The accent, Mick couldn't place immediately, somewhere in eastern Europe perhaps, maybe even Russian. He switched his attention to his friend and noticed a slight tremor ripple through his body as his eyes briefly closed and then opened again, a look passing over his face that Mick was hard pressed to read.

Mick watched then as Josef slowly turned to face his visitor. Once their eyes met, Mick watched a sensuous smile spread across the woman's face, her eyes alight and almost glowing.

"Have you missed me?" she asked as she slowly pulled herself fully upright. Mick watched in amazement as she almost effortlessly glided across the floor to the object of her unwavering attention. He'd never seen anyone move quite like her. It was almost akin to watching a leopard slowly stalk its prey, head held perfectly steady, legs moving only as much as needed. She stopped only when she was directly in front of Josef, her body practically flush with his. She then reached her exceptionally manicured hands up and ran the backs of her fingers first up the sides of his face and then down again. Her hands then came to rest, one at the nape of his neck and the other against his chest. And the whole time, Mick watched, almost as spellbound as Josef himself. There was a palpable tension in the air, almost giving the impression of electricity freely flowing everywhere. If he could feel it some seven feet away, he could only imagine what Josef was experiencing at that moment. His friend was indeed mesmerized by this woman, Mick noted. He watched as Josef's breathing seemed to be erratic, his eyes locked onto the face of the creature whose body was now molded to his.

The woman's eyes quickly shifted then, peering over Josef's shoulder, she looked at Mick for the first time. Her eyes held his and Mick could have sworn he could feel a tremor race through his body. From the moment he had seen her leaning against the chest behind them, he, of course, had known that she was a fellow vampire. The question now, as he gazed into her fathomless eyes was how old this being was. Her eyes held such depth and primeval knowledge, that she had to have easily been the oldest vamp he'd ever seen.

Still addressing Josef, she asked, "And who is this?" Her eyes, however, never left Mick's.

Some semblance of intelligent thought returned to Josef, and he was able to respond in a slightly weakened voice. "Elena Yadviga Korzha……meet Mick St. John."

Mick's eyes widened slightly as Josef introduced the two. Everything had been explained in that one moment. He understood now why Josef had reacted the way he did. He also realized now why he'd gotten the impression that he had of this woman. She was indeed old…….ancient even. Older than any vampire that either Mick or Josef had ever come in contact with. But more importantly and much more significantly…….

……she was Josef's sire.

To be continued…….

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