It was hard to believe it had taken so long for Marko to finally get some alone time with these two. If the third one had been here tonight, he wasn't too sure he'd be able to hold back on having another meal. Michael would've gotten over it eventually. Marko licked his lips, enjoying the way it made the fear on little Sammy and Alan waft from their pores like a chicken dinner.

"Didn't think we'd get any gate crashers tonight," Marko remarked, digging his fingers into their shoulders just a little more to ensure neither Sam or Alan tried to weasel out of his grip. He'd let his claws come out if they did, and nobody could say it was his fault. He sort of hoped they would. On cold nights Marko still got a small twinge at the edge of his heart where that stake had nailed him. The month it took to recover from that attempt on his unlife was hell.

Sam swallowed, his throat bobbing temptingly. Oh how Marko would love to sink his fangs in but that wasn't on the menu tonight. "We're not gate crashers." Sam said lamely.

"Oh, just going for a walk, then?" Marko asked, voice as sweet as humanly possible. He'd always been the gentle, quiet charmer in their gang. Marko was, after all, the one who brought home easy meals when the boys just wanted to stay home and relax.

"Well, we were just driving by and saw a bunch of cars and figured, hey, party, might be fun. Didn't expect to run into you." Marko was surprised that Sam actually managed to come up with such a well thought out lie.

"Fun?" Marko repeated, side eyeing the Frog. Looked like the middle aged little bitch was going to have a shit fit any second. Marko's smile grew, "I think there's enough beer and food for a couple more guests. Come on, boys, let's get to know each other." Marko leered at Sam, "after all, we're practically family, right?"

Sam glared at him, "not your family."

Marko shrugged, not-so-gently guiding them both towards the house. "I'm hurt, I really am," he drawled. How the hell had this twerp not figured out his big brother was the only reason he'd managed to live this long? It was like he couldn't quite comprehend that he was an easy meal waiting to be picked off.

Sam and Alan stumbled into the house followed by a grinning Marko. "So, what now? You gonna eat us in front of my brother?" Sam bit out, eyes darting around the room searching for Michael.

Marko was sorely tempted. "Nah," Marko said with more than a hint of malice in his voice, "I'd never take someone else's meal. He's got dibs on you first, Sammy."

Sam blinked at him, "what? Who?"

He shrugged, "I dunno, you piss anyone off lately? Think hard." Marko made it a point to let his eyes trail lazily towards Michael, who was just a little too busy right at that moment to notice them yet, focusing his attention on a chatty girl on the couch surrounded by three or four other vapid teenagers.

"Mike?" Sam's voice went higher than Marko had ever heard.

That did it. Michael jerked up from his half-hearted attempt to seduce a snack and glared daggers at the three of them, "what the fuck?" He demanded in Marko's mind, loud enough to make his ears ring.

"Took you long enough." Marko grinned at him, "caught these two snooping around outside."

"So you brought them inside to annoy me?" Michael asked, not even pretending to care when the girl beside him began to cuddle close.

"They were gonna come in anyway." Marko smirked at him, herding the pair toward the brunette, "little Sammy thinks you got first dibs on eating him."

Michael very patiently refrained from standing up and striding over to them to beat the ever-loving daylights out of all three. Instead, he gave his little brother a pointed glare.

"Sam, why did you drag one of the stink twins into our house?" He said, just loud enough to break through the din of music.

"Your house?" Sam sounded affronted, "you know that I know what happens at these parties. I don't want to see that happen, especially when I could stop it."

"Lighten up, man, it's just a party," a guy said in passing, half of his shirt sloppily tucked into the top of his jeans while the girl on his arm rolled her eyes as she managed to keep him from stumbling.

Michael finally wriggled away from the girl on the couch and stalked over to the trio, "come on. You're going home."

Marko pouted at him, "oh, come on, we can use this in our little game."

"Game?" Alan mouthed the word to Sam as if they couldn't see him.

"You promise you won't break them?" Michael asked, softening a little. Sort of. He didn't seem to dislike the idea of teaching his little brother to mind his own business.

"Hey, we're a team, right? What better way to cock block those two than with these two." Marko grinned widely, squeezing their shoulders tightly.

"Cock block?" This time it was Sam's turn to mouth words at Alan, to which both Michael and Marko rolled their eyes.

"We gotta make sure everyone at this party acts like a fucking saint," Michael explained, glancing back at Dwayne who was still focusing everything on convincing his chick to do something crazy. So far Paul and his efforts had been so forceful, she was huddled by the door confessing all of her bad choices to her grandmother on her cell phone.

"What happened to her? What's this game?" Sam scowled, "why do people need to behave?" Of course little Sammy realized this was way beyond their norm.

"Careful," Michael advised, "don't try too hard to figure it out or you might get caught in the middle."

"But we're gonna stop people from getting hurt?" Sam hissed to his brother.

"We'll try," Michael replied, a little disinterested, "can't make any promises. Kinda hard to clean blood off a white carpet anyway."

"Clarence is quite adept at getting out difficult stains, you need not worry." Donovan said from behind Marko nearly causing him to jump in surprise, he didn't even realize the old bastard was there.

"So you are killing people?" Alan asked, not in a threatening way, but more like a concerned parent. Age seemed to make him forget he was younger than all of them. His limited brain capacity made him forget he was a snack.

Donovan raised an eyebrow, "my dear boy, I've been killing people for far longer than anyone here has been alive."

"He's practically a caveman." Gabriel said, standing beside the ancient bastard.

The elder vampire looked properly affronted, "that's going a little far."

"Right, so remind me if wheels were around when you were still human," Gabriel teased, looking over at the girl with the cell phone, "what are you guys pulling?"

"Keeping things interesting," Michael explained without really explaining.

"I believe I overheard David and Dwayne speaking that there were three disqualified members of our party. Does this have to do with that? Interesting." Donovan glanced at Gabriel, "you're looking a little flush, are you sure you can make it?" He certainly sounded concerned but he had to be a good actor to have lived so long.

"I'm fine. It's good. I'm good." Gabriel said a little too quickly, drawing a smirk from Marko. Didn't seem like it'd take much to push the guy into a kill and get him knocked out of the game.

"So you—you aren't going to kill anyone?" Alan pressed, and Sam quickly elbowed him to keep quiet.

"We aren't going to kill anyone." Marko was sure Donovan meant to sound reassuring but from the looks on Sam and Alan's faces they didn't believe him.

"Come on, Sam," Michael said to his brother, throwing an arm around his shoulder, "why would I let anyone die tonight? I know you'd rat me out to mom if I did."

This elicited a snort from Marko, and a snide remark, "he's a good boy, Sammy. Just like the rest of us. Boy Scouts."

The two humans looked skeptical but it was Sam who spoke, "what do you want us to do?" He asked wearily.

"Just play nice," Marko suggested, side-eying Donovan and Gabriel. Couldn't let them in on their plan.

"That's easy, right?" Alan asked Sam, not nearly as brave with four vampires surrounding them.

Sam nodded, "yeah, ok, alright, we can do that."

"No biting," Michael warned Marko, keeping his smile on his face as he led his brother towards the couch, "but give the other one a good scare."

Marko grinned at him, grasping Alan's shoulder and leading him in the opposite direction, he had just the thing to scare the little shit.

"Should've eaten earlier," Gabriel mumbled under his breath once the other vampires had distracted themselves with their guests. He didn't even bother pretending he didn't know Donovan was listening, but this game was quickly turning into more of a chore than an activity.

"I won't think less of you if you bow out." Donovan said softly, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"So what, it's just you left on our side?" Gabriel asked with more than a little irritation creeping into his tone. He was getting grumpy.

"Yes, I can handle it." He paused, brushing his hair back gently, "you're getting testy. Don't push yourself too hard."

"I wanted to do this," Gabriel insisted, too convinced of his own manliness to admit he was pouting. Hunger was a funny thing.

"I know but your health is more important, you know that."

"You gonna brag if you end up winning and rub it in my face?" He knew Donovan wasn't that petty, but there were more subtle ways he enjoyed reminding Gabriel of his little victories, especially in situations he was right and Gabriel was wrong. The younger vampire found it incredibly irritating that it happened more often than he'd like to think about.

He set his eyes on the two other vampires who hadn't been involved with their newly arrived guests. They didn't really let on to the humans around them, but Gabriel could pick out the hints of anger they were both demonstrating in the aggressive way they tried to go after targets at the party. So far it had almost been boring. Nobody was doing anything crazy. They were even throwing away all of their trash. It wasn't normal.

"No, of course not. Go, eat something."

"That leaves like three of you left in the game," Gabriel said, trying to settle on someone in the house nobody would notice if they went missing.

"Perhaps you can get in on whatever the others are attempting?" He suggested.

"Seems like a weird bargain," Gabriel said, eyeing Donovan, "thought you didn't trust these guys?"

"I don't but maybe you can work it in our favor. You can help me win, it would make it a joint effort." He replied with a smirk.

He was too hungry to press the argument any further, wasn't even sure why he even wanted to. Each thrumming pulse and heartbeat of the surrounding party goers was an infuriating distraction. Gabriel nodded silently, "alright, I'll grab a bite. Just give Clarence a heads-up for me, will you?"

He nodded, "I'll go let him know now." He said, squeezing his shoulder before going to look for their servant.

The Michael guy by now had firmly pushed Sam down to sit on the couch beside a very girl. Gabriel was pretty sure the guy's name was Sam, anyway; he'd been the one renting the place to them, come to think of it. There was a short exchange between the pair before Michael drifted away to focus his attention on a pair sitting on the stairs that led up to the second floor. Gabriel approached them curiously. They hadn't really had a chance to talk, him and this Michael guy.

"You need something?" Michael asked, glancing over at Gabriel suspiciously, trying to keep his eyes focused on the couple. They didn't even glance up.

"Yeah," he sighed heavily, still not really wanting to do this, "I'm out," he paused before clarifying, "of the game." He grumbled.

"Right," Michael nodded, "out." He glanced back at the couple, "they aren't locals, y'know. No relatives here. Easy pickings." He was trying to be social, clearly, but there was an underlying edge. A defensiveness. Gabriel couldn't blame him, feeling the same instinct himself around other vampires not of his own bloodline.

"Want to join me?" He asked, looking at the pair. He could make nice, he'd been doing it with humans, he could do it with other vampires.

A look of surprise flashed across Michael's face, before quickly disappearing. He was at least interested. "Haven't done that outside of the pack before. You won't pull any weird tricks?"

Gabe held his hands up, "no tricks, promise."

He was thoughtful. Guarded. "I guess I could go for another bite," Michael admitted reluctantly, "the last snack I had tonight tasted like shit."

Gabe smiled, "let's go get something to eat then." He headed toward the couple, knowing Michael would follow.

"Hey, you guys know where the bathroom is?" Michael prompted, feigning the look of a drunken teenager. He was pretty convincing. The girl shrugged, waving her hand in the general direction of the upper story.

"Can you show us? My friend is totally wasted." Gabe asked, supporting Michael against his shoulder. They both successfully tamped down their instinctual desire to pull away.

The guy gave them both an irritated frown as Michael put his fist to his mouth as if he was about to empty the contents of his stomach then and there.

"Alright, I'll show you," the guy said quickly keeping a firm hold on his girlfriend's hand as he stood up from their seat on the stairs.

"Thanks, man, we appreciate it." Gabe said, making a show of helping Michael follow the pair.

The upstairs hallway already smelled of sweat and poor choices already, subtle enough for vampire senses to pick up and humans to miss. The party had, after all, only just begun.

As they made it across the hall together, disappearing from the line of sight downstairs of any wondering partygoers, Michael snapped up, launching himself at the girl and dragging her into his arms with a wicked grin. He quickly clamped a hand over her mouth to jerk her head aside and plunge his fangs into her neck.

Gabriel blinked, acting fast before the man had a chance to react, grabbing him and clapping his hand over his mouth, "fuck, man, you're spilling more than you're drinking!" He exclaimed before sinking his own fangs in, much more carefully than Michael did.

The other vampire was too focused on his meal to respond, absorbed by it. His eyes and features had become feral, which Gabriel hadn't actually seen in the few vampires he encountered over the years as a hunter. There were mostly ghouls and cryptos in his hometown.

Michael pulled away once he was satisfied and his victim ceased her struggles, "already ate earlier. This one was just for fun."

Gabriel pulled away, not spilling a single drop, "fun?" He questioned, eyeing him wearily.

"Yeah," he replied flatly, "you new or something?"

"Been about two years." He replied, "never really killed for fun before. I was a hunter before this."

Michael tossed his victim over a shoulder, shaking his head, the bones in his face gradually shifting back into a more human shape, "hunters are dicks. The wannabes I've met are, anyway. You should learn to enjoy it. You've gotta eat anyway, and it feels fucking amazing."

"Yeah, Donovan's said as much." He grumbled, "I had an-incident soon after I was turned, I'm always sure to eat."

Michael yanked open a closet in the hallway that normally might have housed blankets or sheets if anyone actively lived there, "you live forever. Better figure out a way to enjoy it or you're just gonna be miserable the whole time," he advised as he tossed the girl's body into the closet.

"I enjoy most of it." He laid the man beside her, "Clarence will be up to take care of it."

"Cool," Michael replied, closing the door, "you should enjoy all of it. You aren't human anymore."

"I know, it's just, difficult. I was infected when I was a kid, got away, was cured, and then was screwed over as an adult." He said, running a hand through his hair.

Michael had an unreadable expression on his face for a moment or two, pondering what Gabriel told him, "sounds complicated." He picked at a flake of blood under one of his nails, "I ate some bad Chinese food and played chicken with a group of crazy assholes. Still surprised they didn't eat me."

Gabe laughed, "mine involved celebratory drinking and a bottle of blood wine so I totally get it."

"Sucks being decades younger than the guy you're stuck with," Michael added, softening a little. He didn't seem too upset about it.

He nodded, "yeah, I mean, part of me kind of likes the experience he has but then again it's frustrating at times too. Don't even get me started about computers and phones, that's a whole other can of worms."

"We live in a cave," Michael told him flatly, "no computers there. They really that great?" It struck Gabriel just then that he really had no idea just how old this vampire was. Was he even the youngest in his group?

"Yeah, it's great for research and finding weird stuff, you can do just about anything with one." He paused, "so, how old are you? I mean, you don't have to answer, just trying to get an idea."

Michael pushed open a door to one of the upstairs bathrooms, turning on the light. "47. Maybe 48. Stopped tracking my birthdays. Sometimes my old family will bring it up and give me a card or some shit. You?" The fact that a vampire like him had a family was a little surprising. How did that even work?

"30, you got a few years on me." Gabe replied, "I take it the blonde down there is your little brother?"

"Yep," Michael replied, grinning at the bathroom mirror where he was reflected back in all his bloody glory, "pays to own the place you're eating people in. No invitation needed."

"Dude, we have to exchange notes." He said, standing behind the other vampire.

Michael turned on the sink faucet and splashed his face a few times, letting streaks of pink and red blend into the water circling the drain. "Never met one younger than me," he admitted, "not one we didn't have to off anyway. Might be fun." He expertly washed the worst of his kill from his hair and face, taking special attention to remove any signs of sticking flesh and blood left under his nails with a small nail brush left on the bathroom sink for just that purpose. "You got a spare t-shirt?"

"Yeah, one sec." He ducked into their bedroom, grabbing a simple black t-shirt before coming back, "here, should work."

"Thanks," Michael reached for the shirt, his skin brushing Gabriel's hand. Instinctually it should put him on edge, but sharing kills together had dulled most of their natural rivalry. "You seen the whole city yet?" Michael asked, setting his somehow pristine jacket aside and stripping off his blood-soaked shirt.

He shook his head, "not all of it."

"Come on, I'll show you a bar on the outskirts we've been saving for a special occasion. No eating though, we just screw with the locals." Michael nodded to the door, "you game?"

Gabe grinned, "damn straight. Let's go."

David drummed his fingers against the arm of his chair. This was getting ridiculous. Paul and Marko seemed to be there at every turn. He had no idea what happened to Michael or Gabriel, Donovan was at least managing to undo some of the damage.

A party of vampires and two idiot hunters being forcibly babysat by Marko, and the party was a dud. People were even beginning to drive home, albeit at least a little drunk in the process. Not exactly what they'd had in mind for this game tonight.

"Fuck," he snarled, failing again to get past the veritable mindfuck that Paul and Marko had managed to inflict on a teenage girl. "Michael." He reached out to his mate, hoping for some sympathy but was immediately brushed off. He scowled, "Dwayne, do you know where Michael went?"

"Not a clue," Dwayne replied, the irritation of the game apparent in more ways than one. While he attempted to convince one kid lighting a ping pong ball on fire might be a good idea and Paul convinced the teenager instead that going to bible camp this summer would be much more entertaining.

"Marko, Paul, stop fucking around, where's Michael?" David snapped.

"Giving up?" Paul retorted, ignoring the question.

"Saw him go upstairs," Marko replied, only slightly more mature.

David scowled, getting up and heading for the stairs, "by himself?"

"It's a small house," Marko pointed out. The scent of Michael lingered on the stairs. So did the other vampire's scent.

He followed the scent of Michael and blood. In the hallway he found that servant, whatever his name was, expertly cleaning up the remains of a pair of bodies that had been stuffed in a closet.

"Do you need something?" The man asked, looking up from his work. He'd secured both bodies into two separate bags, his thick rubber gloves painted only lightly with traces of blood.

"Yeah, you seen Michael?" He asked. The guy knew what he was doing, David couldn't help but be impressed.

"Would that be the young master with the dark curls?" He asked, entirely too formal. Like a mentally stable Renfield.

"Yeah, him." Where did they find this guy?

"I did see him step outside with master Gabriel," the human replied, nodding thoughtfully, "it appeared they wanted some fresh air. I assure you master Donovan and master Gabriel have no plans to cause any territorial fights if that is your concern." His casual knowledge of them was fucking weird.

"Thanks." He headed back downstairs and out the door. Of course Michael's bike was gone, why wouldn't it be? "Fuck!"

"Go," Dwayne intoned in David's mind, "find the other one's mate to find them. I'll wait here in the meantime and kick Paul and Marko's asses."

Great. This night had started out so well too, "I'll be back as soon as I can with both of them." Oh, Michael was gonna pay for this.

The irony of turning into an irate parent for his pack member's immaturity escaped him as he settled on his own bike. It shouldn't be too hard to follow their bond to track Michael down, but it still pissed him off.

"Leaving?" A voice in the dark called out, not quite curious enough to put any real force into the question.

"Yeah, got a wayward mate to go collect." He growled, looking toward the voice.

Under the shadow of a magnolia tree, Donovan stepped forward, "I seem to find myself in a similar situation. Care for some company?" It wasn't quite a question.

David shrugged, "get on and we'll go." He didn't care if the older vampire came or not, he had enough control of his instincts not to feel overly threatened by this point.

Donovan eyed the bike thoughtfully, "it seems rather inefficient. Can't you fly?"

"Yeah, can you?" Not much could surprise him but he wasn't expecting another breed to have that similarity.

"I can," Donovan replied, "a somewhat vulgar display when one wishes to remain hidden, but ultimately necessary in a situation like this."

David got off his bike, "well then, after you. Guests first and all that."

"Very well," Donovan nodded, wind already licking at his hair and clothes. He took to the air quickly, rising towards the sky with an almost bored expression.

David went after him, feeling for his wayward mate. It seemed as though Donovan had a good idea of where they were going. Their link must be a little different than his own. While he and Michael were intrinsically bound they could block each other out if they wanted and while they couldn't really hide from each other they could make it difficult. Tonight Michael was making it difficult. Maybe he was still mad about the game.

"They are safe," Donovan pointed out, just loud enough to hear through the screaming wind.

"Might not be once I get a hold of him." David growled, he was thinking of all the things he could do to Michael to get back at him for this.

"He seems old enough to look after himself," Donovan remarked, "why are you so concerned? Is he weak?"

"No, but he knows I hate it when he blocks me out and doesn't tell me where he's going."

"Perhaps you did something he felt deserved it," Donovan pointed out. Older vampires were always so fucking smug.

David let out a snort, "doesn't mean he's not gonna suffer for it at least a little." He realized he probably sounded like a controlling asshole but there had been intruders into their domain in the past and not all of them had been as friendly as Donovan and Gabriel had been.

The bar came into view fairly quickly, as fast as they'd taken to the sky. Was Michael seriously spoiling their future party night to show off? It was so hard to find a dive bar these days far enough to avoid the cops.

"You should work on your temper," Donovan advised, "you sound like Max."

David froze, almost falling from the sky, "fuck, I do?" He wasn't sure if Donovan could hear him or not.

Donovan's mouth curled into a very slight smile, "To a certain degree. Perhaps you are somewhat more sane, but you should trust your blood more. He would have reached out to you if he was in danger."

Why couldn't his sire have been more like him? The thought came unbidden as he resumed his flight, "fuck." He made good points and David felt a surge of self loathing, "maybe you're right." He said grudgingly.

"We gotta try not to kill them," Michael explained, chalking his pool cue as he surveyed the bar. Quiet enough to go unheard. "But it's okay to break one or two, if things get crazy."

Gabriel nodded, lining up his shot, "sounds good, you wanna start?" The crack of the cue hitting the ball rang through the bar.

"I'm not as good at this stuff as the others," Michael explained, "so it'll take me a bit to warm up." He looked over at the bartender, smirking slightly before making his move in the game. "I think I can get that guy to spit in everyone's glasses."

Gabriel barely managed to hold back a laugh, "Donovan's a million times better at mind games than I am. Hell, I only recently learned to fly after my grandsire threatened to throw me off a roof."

"Did it work?" Michael asked, surprised. He hadn't imagined Gabriel met many challenges, being the sort of vampire who spent his days sleeping in beds with central heating and electricity.

"Yeah, Ignatius is old school but understands technology better than Donovan does. He said Donovan's been too easy on me. I'm still waiting for him to push the issue. I'm not sure if Donovan can be hard on me so I might wind up stuck with him as a teacher."

"Sounds like you're a little pampered," Michael joked, "but you've got a little more freedom. This is the first time I've been out alone without at least one pack mate. It's kinda weird."

Gabriel stepped back from the table, eyeing the other patrons, "really? As long as I eat Donovan lets me have free rein. At least you have other people to hang out with. My friends are all hunters, one of which is determined that I should be eating cows instead of people." He laughed.

"They don't understand," Michael said with a shrug, "my little brother can't just accept what I am. My mom just pretends as if she doesn't know most of the time. David thinks it'll get easier when they're gone, but I don't want that either." He glanced over at the bartender, pushing a bitter idea into his head about tainting the drinks tonight with spit. Or whatever. He'd let the guy's own bitterness decide.

"I know how you feel." He watched as the bartender made actual eye contact with one of the patrons before spitting in his beer. "Honestly, I've thought about killing them myself but just can't do it. Especially when Louise calls to harass me about my eating habits."

"What the fuck, Kevin?!" The patron at the bar shouted.

"Sooner or later, they'll all be gone," Michael replied, watching the show as the bartender jabbed his selected target in the chest with his finger. "I guess we should take the good with the bad if we aren't going to eat them."

Gabriel nodded, "yeah, that's why I won't eat them. They just don't understand that if I don't eat someone I'll go crazy."

"Fuck you Fred, you're always rude, you never tip, I've had enough!" Kevin snarled, slamming a hand down on the bar.

"He's right, y'know?" Another patron spoke up, speaking very softly as if he was terrified of pissing either of them off even more, "you could tip a little more. He's always giving your drunk ass free rides home when you can't walk either."

Michael covered a smirk, "I just pretend I don't hear him when Sam gives me a shit about eating cats or dogs instead. He's an idiot. A smart idiot."

Gabriel looked over at the scene unfolding at the bar, "hey, everything alright over there?" Gabe shouted, using his best concerned voice.

Fred glared at him with bloodshot eyes, "mind your own business!"

"Fred, you sorry sack of dog crap, drink what I gave you or get the hell out of my bar!" Kevin shouted, slamming the beer mug in the countertop. Half of the contents sloshed out, spilling over the edge of the bar.

"Jeeze, I thought this was a family place!" Michael shouted, acting horrified. It was only mildly convincing, given his predatory nature.

"Shit, man, maybe we should do something? Looks like they're gonna kill each other." Gabriel said, loud enough for them to hear.

Fred launched himself clumsily over the bar, the beer spilling across the bar and soaking his pants as he wound his fist back to hit Kevin.

"Fuck you, Kevin! You made me spill my beer!"

"Somebody call the police!" Michael shouted, grinning from ear to ear.

"Guys, please stop!" Fred's companion begged, trying to grab him by the shoulders to restrain him. This only gave Kevin a better angle to punch Fred right in the face, busting his nose and lip open.

"Nice shot," Michael remarked more quietly, nodding to Gabriel, "who do you have odds on?"

"Kevin, although Fred has that whole drunk, feel no pain thing, going for him." Gabriel replied, leaning back against the pool table to watch the show.

Bored with feigning attention on the pool game, Michael set his cue stick on the table and eyed the fight warming up at the bar. "The guy's bleeding everywhere, glad we already ate. I think I'm gonna go with Kevin, too. All that pent-up bullshit kicking around in his head is good for a few broken skulls."

In fact, Kevin was winning, he had Fred pinned to the floor, Fred's friend was trying to pull the bartender off him to no avail, and the few other patrons present were so shocked and surprised by the turn of events they didn't seem to know what to do.

"My money is on the bartender." Donovan's familiar voice said from the door, somehow not drawing the attention of the mortals.

Gabriel perked up, neither looking a little guilty at bailing on the party, nor entirely surprised at his presence.

"So that's three," Gabriel said, signaling his mate to join them.

"I think the other guy's gonna make a comeback." David said as the two older vampires approached their mates.

Donovan moved to Gabriel's side, laying a kiss on his temple, "you seem to be enjoying yourselves."

"Just passing the time," Michael cut in, giving them their distance. He was perfectly comfortable around Gabriel now, but the older one was something else. He could do some real damage to any member of David's pack if he wanted to.

David came up and leaned against the table next to Michael, he seemed perfectly at ease, "decided to go have fun without me?"

Michael looked at him, surprised he wasn't in a temper. Maybe he'd won the game at the party. "I figured you had your hands full, and I got bored just sitting around waiting for everyone else."

"Don't be nervous." Of course David could feel the bit of unease he had toward Donovan.

"Hard not to," Michael admitted, resorting to the comfortable conversation they shared in their minds, "so I guess leaving the house means everybody forfeit?"

"Dwyane stayed so I guess he won." David kept his gaze on the fight, glaring at Fred who had yet to make that comeback.

"Kevin, you're gonna kill him!" Fred's friend shouted, "let the guy breathe!"

"I don't remember, did we set a prize?" Michael was legitimately surprised David wasn't on edge right now or prepared to get into a fight after he'd run off on them at the party.

He shook his head, "no, just kind of said there'd be one. Maybe bragging rights."

"Hmm, it does rather look like he's going to kill poor Fred, doesn't it?" Donovan asked, looking at Michael and David out of the corner of his eye.

"Guy's pretty pissed off," Gabriel chimed in.

"Should we let him?" Michael asked, glancing at David with a little smile reserved only for him.

David grinned, "sure, why not?"

People began to skip out on their tabs, one or two fishing for their cell phones to get a hold of the police. Judging by the color of Fred's face, they were probably already too late. He wasn't even trying to struggle anymore.

"It's going to take a lot more than just one crazy party to make Santa Carla into what it used to be," Michael mused.

"Throw more of them?" Donovan suggested, "or, you could start slowly, systematically, dismantling the, what did you call it Gabriel? Ahh, yes, the hipster culture that has invaded this city."

"I hate to say it, but try eating more young people," Gabriel suggested.

"But the right kind of young people, keep the less savory elements and dispose of the others." Donovan agreed.

David looked thoughtful, "what do you think, Mike?"

"We do tend to pick off the jerks and drifters faster. Maybe that's the problem," he agreed, "yeah. Sure, let's do it. So are we suspending the 'no locals' rule?"

"We'll eat locals in moderation. Meaning Paul and Marko are still banned from locals."

"How are you gonna hold them to it?" Michael asked, curious. Not like Paul and Marko pushed David too hard when things were serious, but they were their own worst enemies sometimes.

"Between you, me, and Dwayne I think we'll be good."

"I could help you with that." Donovan offered, "a little bit of blood magic should work, however, it's been awhile since I've done something like this."

"Blood magic?" Gabriel asked, wrinkling his nose. "It's so messy."

"Is it permanent?" Michael chimed in, not sure he liked the idea of Marko and Paul not being their typical insane asshole selves.

"No, not permanent and it would only stop them from eating locals. They could still defend themselves so there are ways around it. It doesn't change their behavior, merely acts as a shock collar in a way."

"David?" Michael turned to his pack leader, "you know anything about blood magic?" Seemed like Max would've used it if he'd known.

"Not much, Max couldn't do it, he complained about it all the time." He paused, "let me ask Dwayne what he thinks." He let Michael in on his conversation, "Dwayne, what do you think about eating locals and using blood magic to stop our two troublemakers from going overboard?"

"It's a bit complicated, isn't it?" There was silence for a long stretch, "those assholes nearly ruined the game tonight. I am all for it."

David grinned, "alright, Donovan, sounds like a plan." He wasn't going to ask Marko and Paul, they would never agree.

Donovan smiled, "I can take care of it tomorrow, I'll just need a bit of their blood and yours. You'll be the enforcer and ultimately decide when it ends."

"I can probably start a fight with them and get a few punches in so they don't know what we're doing," Michael offered.

"Sounds like a plan." David replied, grinning widely.