"So are we making this an everyday thing or what?" Drake asked running his hands through his hair.
"Does it need to be?" Integra retorted. The vampires looked at each other and shrugged. Damn, why didn't she just ask the girls to explain this stuff to her. It would be so much easier.
"Because our fledglings do not have near our knowledge." The vampires said in unison. She wanted to slap them so hard right then. Taking a long drag on her cigar, she willed herself to be calm. After his next call was directed straight to her "secretary", Devinsworth hadn't bothered them in days. She owed them big for that respite. Still, she wished they weren't so absolutely frustrating.
"Ok, so I think we have covered sex enough, what else have you got?" she asked trying to keep the impatience out of the voice.
"But sex is the most fun." Drake said, a smile beaming from his face.
"That may be, but I think you're scraping the bottom of the barrel for information when half the lecture is on why you guys have sex like cats." She stated as calmly as she could.
"We were just trying to be thorough master. " Alucard grinned. He was met by an icy glare.
"Say something or get the hell out."
"Something." They said gleefully. The wooden cane made contact with both faces. It was a heavy oak cane, 4 inches in diameter. A relic of her grandfather. She had been making use of it lately. The little good it did. Both of them just smiled. She had often wondered how their women dealt with them. The smile came when she remembered the answer. She couldn't remember the transgression anymore, but she clearly remembered Mel shooting Alucard's knee out and bashing her master's head into a mirror. That girl sometimes had quite a temper on her.
"Hey I take offense. We did not deserve that kind of abuse." Drake interrupted her thoughts. She looked at them confused for a moment, then the realization had hit. The bastard had read her mind. Again. "If she had worked on her powers like I said, she would have noticed the portal open up below her and drop her into the soldiers' barracks."
"Ok. But did you have to do it while she was naked in the shower?"
"All the more reason she should have been paying attention. "The pair cackled. Honest to goodness cackled.
The girls walked down the hallway idly chatting. They really had no intended goal, just mindlessly exploring. Things had been a little slow the past couple of days and with their masters giving lessons, they had to find ways to be amused. A pair of soldiers passed by.
"Hey baby, how about letting us see that perfect ass of yours again." One called out. Mel froze in mid-sentence. She swerved around and glared. She allowed her eyes to look at the still busted mirror and flick back to the soldiers. They both gulped. They had both been there when she smashed that guy's head into it. Afterwards they had found the drywall behind it had been cracked.
"So a coven is just a random group of people?" she jotted down the question quickly.
"Yeah. Even those that are fucking don't really have much loyalty to each other. You can even see it in how they act. Everyone out for themselves." Drake explained.
"And a colony is a family unit?"
"Like a family unit." Alucard chose to speak up. "They don't have to be blood related. Bonded vampires. They can be mates, or simply very close."
"And you said they tend to be much smaller, yet they are the more dangerous group. Why is that?" It was Drake's turn to answer.
"A coven is a loose band. They are like a school of fish, throw in a spear and they all scatter. Go in and take out enough of them and the rest will flee. But in a colony, the ties run much deeper. They feel each other's emotions, hear each other's thoughts without trying. Sending out their own thoughts without realizing it. To kill one of them, the entire unit will track you down. They aren't stupid. If they are outmatched the rest will flee. However, the coven is content to drift along and let bygones be bygones. But to kill a colony member, you will never sleep for the rest of your life. They will come for you again and again until they wipe you from the face of the earth."
"Um." The normally fluid speaker felt herself tongue tied. The idea of a vampire hell bent on revenge unnerved her. Just a little bit, but she still felt it. Her servants noticed her concern. That infernal grin grew on their lips. Her blood boiled.
"Relax master. Those types of bonds are exceedingly rare. I don't think the freaks are even capable of it. And our own kind, most are too fickle to sustain that type of relationship. Then again that is another problem with the whole mating thing." Drake added.
"So we are back on that again. Eager to say the word fuck to me a few more times?" she sighed. She was surprised when they stayed silent. Looking up, she found them just staring. No grin on their face, just a serious look. "What?"
"You realize we have that bond, right?" Drake asked. Integra let out an impatient sigh.
"No I just thought you mirrored each other and said brother cause you got off on it." She remarked sarcastically. The grin fell back in place.
"Very perceptive master. That gets the beginning out of the way. Now for the middle. We have a strong bond, and that seeps into our fledglings."
"Please get to the point." Integra demanded impatiently. These lessons were making her fall seriously behind on her paperwork.
"The scent of the girls is very very strong." Drake said. Integra lifted her eyebrow as if to repeat her earlier words. "In our species that is an indicator of fertility." Her eyes went wide.
"I see you get the point." Alucard interjected. Without waiting for a replay Drake spoke again.
"It seems our little ones are highly fertile, so the chances of them getting pregnant would be huge."
"And this has to do with the colony why?"
"He is getting to that Master." Alucard replied.
"Thank you brother. In a coven, the females would probably be left to rot if something went down. They get very weak during pregnancy. In a colony, the idea of leaving our females to fend for themselves would be impossible. If they were to get pregnant, both of them would be unable to attend missions for all but the beginning months of the pregnancy. Then you would further lose an operative because at least one of us would always be around to guard them and our offspring."
"What if I were to order you to leave?"
"Master, you seem to fail to grasp the power of our instincts." The vampires chuckled.