Hey Everyone! I'm sorry that it has been such a long time; I would like to explain. First, I'm still sooo interested in this story, I even drafted out a sequel once I bring this one to an end. :)

First, in late march/early april my dog, a wonderful two year old Border Collie/Black Lab mix named Knight got sick. He had gotten exposed to canine influenza in early March, and got a secondary infection. He never seemed to really get better. In late march/early april he started having some discharge from his nose that we assumed was just from his allergies and recovering from the secondary infection.

It was much worse than that, he started having bad nose bleeds. I took my wonderful brat to emergency services twice in one week due to nose bleeds. After a stay in the hospital for testing, the culprit was revealed. My bundle of joy, my fur baby, had a large tumor in his nasal cavity that was destroying bone in his face. Surgery was not an option, and radiation was expensive plus would only prolong his life for a year; not save his life.

I found this out about three weeks before my spring semester finals in my second year of law school. I pushed myself to make it through finals first, cherish my puppy while I had him, and feed him meds to help with the nasal discharge. Knight struggled to breathe sometimes and being outside seemed to agitate his nose only more. Often he just wanted to curl up with me and sleep, til it got too hot.

May 2, 2017 I laid my best friend and most loyal companion to rest, I watched as the doctors injected him with meds that made him sleep and then stopped his heart. I never felt such pain, and I never want to again. I have been trying to deal with the new absence in my life, and this is the first time since all this started that I have felt like writing.

I appreciate every single one of you; everyone who viewed my story, who read a few chapters, who read every chapter, who favorited the story, who left a review, who alerted the story, and everyone else in between. I'm doing my best to deal with my grief, but I wanted to get a chapter out while I felt my muse calling and knew you all deserved an explanation. I cherish you all! Now let the show go on!

As always reviews are appreciated and I have no Beta so forgive grammatical errors. All Anita Blake characters are creation of Laurel Hamiliton.

Alexandra POV

I could feel the anger vibrating off Jean-Claude. It seemed as if he was trying to suppress growling at me for mentioning Anita. What else was I supposed to say? Hey, the girl you wanted before my friend declared you my mate might get hurt, might want to go make her feel better. Saying that seemed a bit petty for me. I was royalty, I knew how to act proper every now and then.

"Ugh! We have to save that tramp after that stunt she just pulled. The rats are not going to like this." Claudia said quickly. I snickered at her comment.

Jean-Claude was still kneeling before me. His deep blue eyes seemed like a siren song, trying to lullaby me to my death; though I doubt death was where he wanted to take me. He was making sure that our eyes were on the same level. He was fuming. "You will not run simply because she is threatened." He stated firmly gripping my hands, trying to convey other emotions by pushing them into our fledging bond. "You want hide to accommodate her whims." He said more forcefully, even as I still wonder at the creation of our bond.

"You can't command me." I said bowing my head letting my hair shield my face from him. It was hard to break eye contact with him when his eyes spoke of things I wasn't ready to even dream of.

He slowly moved my hair behind my ear. The tenderness of it catching me so off card, I was frozen in place both wanting his touch and repulsing at it. He placed a finger under my chin raising my eyes to his. Those damn blue eyes, that looked like the underwater taverns and caves I used to play in, the deep valleys under the sea I use to explore. "There are some things worth fighting for, ma petite." He said repeating his words from before.

I smiled slowly at him, and he nodded knowing that for now I would not hide or run simply because of Anita being threatened.

"They are probably going to try and override the human servant bond, in order to show power and gain her necromancy." Asher noted.

"Anita could be swayed to their favor, after the behavior she just showed." Truth added. I could tell it was odd hearing so much from the pair for Jean-Claude and Asher, they were known almost revered for their silence. Around me they seemed to let go a little, and I was glad they were letting go in front of those I had introduced as my inner circle.

Claudia quickly spoke. "If she betrays us, I will kill her Alexandra." I sighed knowing that Claudia would not hesitate if she did. It wasn't worth it to kill Anita though, and I knew I would have to save her life later.

Wicked growled. "I would torture her first, speaking to my hurricane as if some common concubine on the street."

I love Wicked right now, definitely my favorite Twin at the moment. If we get dibs on time with favorites, I'm calling Wicked as my adopted favorite twin. You can have Truth. James spoke into my mind, I forgot he was still so deep in our connection. I chuckled hearing him.

You would break Ras heart replacing him. We are triplets, kind of, just think of it as he came out three minutes before us. James snickered and nearly started coughing. The Twins are just the ones born a few years ahead of us.

Truth touched his brother's shoulder who seemed to calm almost instantly at the movement.

I sighed trying to think but it was difficult there were too many players and pawns that were blocking me from seeing a strategy through. Jean-Claude had moved himself and me, so that my feet were back in his hands. He wasn't even rubbing them but touching me and not having me pull away seemed to calm him.

I would deal with whatever was going in that area of my life later. Right now, there were more important things occurring like an extremely old vampire after the city.

I stopped going down that avenue of thought and tried to calm my mind. "Wait, if they do try to get Anita as their human servant? Would she have bonds with both?"

Truth smirked. "No, little hurricane. I believe it would cancel out. You can't serve two masters."

"Maybe we should let that happen then." I said looking at Jean-Claude.

Claudia smiled devilishly. "I'm liking this plan already."

"Would that not make Jean-Claude look weak and vulnerable to attack though?" Asher noted.

"I think that is our hurricane's point." Wicked said smirking as well; I always found it funny that when you got sneaky, vampires get very happy.

"If her bond with you is cancelled one, well that's one thing off our plates for later. Even further it has the possibility of making them sloppy, because they will be over confident that they were able to take your servant." I said looking at JC.

"Even though, in actually they are providing me a favor." Jean-Claude said with a sparkle in his eyes. He was pushing so much hope into the bond it felt like a burning flame in my blood.

James gripped my hand happily. "Plus, it will get her allies on our side against the threat because they will see her being injured. Anita will also play the part perfect cause she'll fight back and then want to betray us because of the what just happened."

"It's a great play, that we would have to navigate carefully." Ras said softly. "No one can know of the plan we have just discussed. There can be no leaks."

"I'll keep security informed of only the necessities, nothing more." Claudia said in her general tone.

Ma petite might actually be providing me a chance to have her as my Queen. I heard JC say, but I don't think he was speaking to me. I doubt he could even communicate with me, since the bond seemed so faint. I looked at him shocked and felt myself tense. James was sending me curiosity, basically asking what was up?

Jean-Claude felt my burst of emotion too and looked at me raising an eyebrow. I sighed and took a deep breath. I looked at Claudia and she caught on quickly, gotta love best friends. She had learned me rather quickly, not everything needed to be spoken to be understood.

"Everyone out, James keep the connection open. Ras we need to make her another batch of seaweed for Lexa and food for the rest of us. Vampire's need blood too." She gave commands quickly. "Twins, we need to discuss the night security plan. Asher, if you could help Ras with food for her, and compiling list of weres that are without a group." She said ushering everyone out of the room.

I let my hair cover my face, because I was so nervous of telling Jean-Claude that I heard him.

Jean-Claude POV

I nodded at Asher, who understood that I wanted him to follow Claudia's orders. They were orders, she had took one look at ma petite's face and immediately got rid of everyone with actual usual tasks. I felt Alexandra's shock and she looked at me as if I caused it, but what could I have done.

Claudia was definitely a good fit for my Alexandra. She was firm with her when necessary, like the rule that Anita could not be around her without others present. However, she was also understanding which was obvious by the non-verbal communication between them.

I touched her hand gently rubbing the soft, sun-touched skin. "Alexandra?" I made her name a question tucking her hair behind her ear. "What is it?"

She didn't move or actually look at me. She seemed to shy away from eye contact with me after a moment. Yet, I always wanted to stare into her eyes. They were brownish blue, and the blue seemed to sparkle. Even her eyes were a perfect blend much like herself.

"I heard you." She whispered. The advantage of vampire hearing was that I didn't have to make her repeat it. The words were soft but still clear, for one of my age.

"What did you hear, Alexandra?" I asked turning her face towards me. I would not be denied her eyes a second longer.

She looked at me, finally, but I could see the nerves even in her eyes. "I heard your thought. It was like with James and our connection. When the bond is at its strongest, we can read thoughts and emotions though we give each other privacy."

"I imagine that the thought concerning a chance with my Queen was what came through." I said quickly figuring out what caused her shock.

"Yes." She said looking away again.

"Oh, Alexandra the thought does not lose its validity simply because you heard it." I said turning her face back to me once more.

"I don't know how this bond is progressing or working. I promise I'm not trying to strengthen it." She said softly. This side of her was almost unnerving, she was always so confident and strong.

"We should speak to Truth and Taras about the progression of it then, but I am not adverse to it be strengthened. I believe I have made my intentions clear."

She laughed. "Maybe with Anita, you still got a lot to learn old man." She said stronger.

"I look forward to it." I said rising and bringing her with me. "I believe Claudia has ordered that you eat."

She smirked. "Can't disobey Claudia now."

I chuckled and pushed my thoughts towards her, like I would my influence. I imagine not, since she would greet us both with violence.

Her shock was immediate but then moved to humor. She would kick your butt first. She added back to me and she ran from the room her laughter filling the halls.

I would win this battle because I wanted to hear that for the rest of eternity.