He had long since stopped his snarling and growling as he paced about in agitation in the small cave which she had brought them to. A cave! How much more cliche could she be?! He wouldn't admit even to himself that the underground cavern which they were in actually made him feel a little more secure than the surface had been. Even though she was here and watching his every move. Nick didn't know where she had put his weapons, she hadn't answered when he demanded she tell him, only smirked up at his furious face. That hadn't stopped him from trying to do away with her though. But the reminder made a new snarl form as he stopped his pacing to glare fire at her to which she only arched a brow.
"Going to try to kill me again fox?" she asked, almost sweetly. She even opened her arms outward as if welcoming him to try.
But he had already tried, with claws and teeth when her back was turned while on the way here; and she seemed distracted by looking around likely to be sure they weren't followed. His paw had been caught in an iron grip as soon as the attack would have otherwise found it's mark. It had made him furious when she turned a knowing grin at him and he tried to use his proximity to go for her throat with his teeth while his other paw went for one of her erect ears. Quick as lightning she had dislocated his arm as she ducked, then turned and headbutted him in the stomach. The attack would have sent him flying had she not kept her grip on his arm and tugged him back to her. He was then humiliated, forced to his knees before her as she pushed tossed him down.
"Are you done?" she had asked, almost purring the question. But when he glared up at her, he seen again that same unholy spark and glare he'd seen in his hotel room. He returned the glare defiantly and went to stand, trying his paw at another attack which she simply ducked out of the way from. He thought he had her when she was forced to kneel with him to escape the attack and went for her throat again. Instead he bit into his own arm which she put in the way of the attack, making him yelp and immediately release his teeth.
He was sure he was going to bleed out, knew that his teeth had gone into the vein and said vein had torn further when he wrenched his mouth away. But the burning and throbbing came to an end fast and he turned his gaze to the wound to find the demon licking it. Again he snarled and tried to kill her, but this time she moved her own paw and snapped his mouth shut with a grip he couldn't free himself from. That may have kept him from biting her, but it didn't keep him quiet. His growls continued, growing in volume with every sweep of her tongue over his wound and when he discovered he couldn't move his other arm either as it was held by shadow he couldn't break free from. But he still had his thoughts and knew she could hear them and so he cursed and belittled her in every way he could think to. He even made up some new ones, but she never even flinched.
Finally after what felt like hours that he knelt there in the snow, being an unwilling meal for the demon, she was done and let his pain drop from her grip. To his amazement she had never bitten him, merely licked the wound though it did nothing to extinguish the fire in his gaze as she turned her own back to him.
"Did you prefer I let you bleed out?" she asked, tilting her head again. She finally released his muzzle then, though she did so with a shove, making him land on his back in the snow. She on him before he even thought to blink, carefully staying clear of his teeth this time. "If I had let you bite me I would have needed to feed myself. Surely being a slayer you know simply tearing out my throat will not kill me. And with you being the only warm blooded mammal in the vicinity, guess who would be dinner?"
"I know not what game you play, devil. But I refuse to be a pawn in it," he snarled.
"There is no game, sweetheart," she answered easily, patting the side of his muzzle.
He turned his head away this time, already knowing she'd turn his attack on him if he tried to bite her again. He didn't realize the move exposed his neck until a moment later and quickly righted himself. But he found that she wasn't even looking at his throat, if anything she was looking at his arm, the one she had dislocated. Just as he wondered what she was going to do, she answered the question by moving her knees onto his chest. The pressure was confusing, he couldn't move and yet he felt as if there were nothing on him at all. Until a paw went to his shoulder. A shove, a yelp of momentary pain, and he could feel and move his arm again.
His paw was taken as he had lifted it to test the feeling in his fingers and he was forced to his feet as she stood again and brought him with her. She'd told him again to follow her and when he had stood still, she paused in her steps and arched a brow at him.
"Unless you want to take on, Rogan yourself. You have most certainly made him angry. He is going to be looking for you as well as me now."
And facing a vampire as strong as that one had been alone was suicide. And so he followed, though on the way he plotted ways he could kill her and be done with at least one. He'd sprung another attack once they got to the cave and now sported bruises and fresh cuts from where she'd lost her patience and flung him into stalagmite.
Now he knew he wouldn't kill her through force. Now he was cooking up a plan, a plan of trickery. He hated what he would have to do for the plan to work, but in doing this thing he would rid the earth not just of her, but the one she called Rogan. The one that was tracking her no doubt, the one he now had after him as well.
He made a show of letting his glare ease and released a heavy and drawn out sigh. It seemed he caught her attention in doing so, for her arms lowered at her sides and she frowned as if in confusion. Good, his bait was more likely to be taken this way. He turned his eyes away from her and lifted the arm which she had licked before, noticing again as he had earlier that the wound was no longer there. But he didn't focus on that though he pretended to and used his other paw to rake his claws through his head fur.
"Clearly, you do not want to kill me," he said, showing her the arm she'd licked as his other paw dropped away. He turned to her once again, letting a confused expression paint itself onto his face. "Why? I have met plenty of your sort and all of them have had only one mindset. To feed and steal life away from another. But you.." He gestured to her and shook his head as if trying to make sense of it on his own.
"Those you have met take pleasure in what they have become. Or their minds were not strong enough to come out of the dark.." she replied, her voice soft.
He turned back to her hearing this, confused momentarily to see her gaze on the ground, knees pulled to her chest and her arms around them. She looked to be the picture of sadness but he wouldn't be fooled. Though he let it seem as if he was.
"Yours was?" he guessed and took a step toward her.
Her gaze snapped to him with the movement and he made himself pause, bringing both paws up in an age old gesture of surrender or intent of peace. Her eyes narrowed on him, not completely buying what he was showing. But he remembered what she said about masking his thoughts and while he was loathe to do so, he thought again on the night he lost his parents. It was another trick, a way to gain her trust a little at a time and he knew it had worked when her eyes got wider and her lips parted just slightly in let her see it all, the vixen that had killed his mother and father, his mother's struggles and the light leaving her eyes, the terror and then the rage he had felt. He even let her see how he had killed the vixen himself. He skipped over the church finding him there and instead changed it to make it seem as if he, an orphaned kit sought the church himself.
He kept it up until he was sure she would be crying if she had the ability then shook his head as if to drive away the memory. The motion was met with a blinking of her eyes, confirming she had seen it all and he stepped toward her again. She didn't look at him with as much distrust this time, though her body language told him how cautious she actually was. But even as he sat near her, he kept a bit of distance and let her think it was for both of their benefit. Allowed her to assume a shaky and perhaps temporary alliance was forming between them.
"I assume you experienced something similar when your life was taken. You saw the dream I had did you not?"
She was silent for a long while, though he could feel her eyes on him and let himself remember the nightmare in case she was searching his mind again. Finally she released a sigh of her own and he let himself turn his head and meet her gaze. Another show of trust, she wouldn't be expecting it. And sure enough the violet orbs grew wider. It went against priest protocol, never look into the eyes of the enemy or risk your mind being manipulated. He let the thought echo in his head, letting her hear it so the full gravity of what he had done would take root. It worked.
"I did," she finally admitted and she was the one who turned from his gaze. "I was young and dumb. I was determined to see a comet that only came around every couple hundred years. My parents always had beat it into our heads to get inside and stay inside before dusk. But nothing ever happened in Bunnyburrow, nothing like what they were afraid of and I had sneaked out so often I told myself they just worried too much and I would be fine. I did always feel a bit...uneasy at night, but I assumed that was because I could not really see anything all that well. Aside from what the moon and stars illuminated that is.."
She paused here and Nick nodded, letting himself fall until his back met the rock wall of the cave.
"Some mammals are not blessed with night vision. I can see why nearly being blind would cause unease. But it was more than that?"
"What are you up to?"
That gave him pause and turned his head toward her, showing a look of confusion. She was already looking at him, eyes narrowed in distrust all over again. He knew he hadn't slipped so what had made her distrust him again? Just like in the hotel room, she was suddenly no longer there, but instead of searching with his eyes this time, his frown deepened. She soon reappeared on his lap, holding his shoulders against the wall as she glared at him. He had anticipated she would show herself there, but jolted in feigned surprise before a smirk appeared on his lips.
"Careful Judy, or I may start to think you have a fox fetish."
He used her name this time, not willing to let go of his ploy just yet and in spite of her glare he could see a twitch at one side of her lips as she struggled to keep from smiling or laughing. He thought back on every time she pinned him thus far, letting her see it and keeping the smirk firmly in place. But he wanted to try to get her off of him, his skin crawled beneath his fur and he wanted to snarl at her. He even noticed his paws had lifted as if to try to shove her off or attack again, but he casually settled them on her hips instead. He'd have to do a lot of cleansing of himself after this.
The contact surprised her as well he could see. Her eyes had gone to his paws when they moved, ready to fend him off if she had to. But the momentary hesitation likely looked more like he wondered if he should put them where they were now. She'd actually jumped a small bit from the contact and looked at him now with confusion and he forced his gaze warmer as the smirk grew into a grin.
"Does the bunny have a secret?"
Another twitch of her lips then her body relaxed a bit, even her hold on his shoulders slacked until her paws were just resting there. Finally she seemed to either lose the fight or she surrendered and smirked right back at him.
"Ah, so he does have a sense of humor," she replied, smirk growing. But then it was gone again as quickly as it came and she repeated her question, though it didn't carry nearly as much heat as before. "What are you up to?"
"Up to?" he echoed, letting himself look confused again, then understanding. "Ah, I see. Well, I pride myself at being able to read most mammals, including vampires. But you are an enigma Judith. You said in my hotel room I seem to have some misconceptions. And after seeing you saving that Jaguar from the other vampire, saving me by making me run with you, and then healing me when I bit myself. Not to mention not killing me though I have attacked you many times, I am inclined to agree I may not know as much as I thought."
"Basically you are trying to get in my head. See what makes me tick."
The words had no bite and her relaxed posture remained. He still had her.
"In a manner of speaking, I suppose so yes," he agreed with an easy nod of his head. "But I also want to propose a truce, an alliance if you will even if it is merely temporary. You know this Rogan, I assume he is your sire?" A nod from her and he continued. "Together we may very well have the means to stop him. In exchange, I am a priest and can help you stay out of their reach. You help me, I help you."
"What would your church say about this?"
"They will not know."
That seemed the only answer she needed for whatever suspicions she still had, they seemed to evaporate in that moment. It said a lot about who Judy Hopps may have been before she was turned. Perhaps some of that old influence remained when she was turned. She was quick to trust with a few well placed words and false promises. He truly would not tell the church about this false alliance with her they would try to become involved and quite possibly ruin this farce. Within days, maybe even hours he would have his weapons back and be on the move against the vampire named Rogan. And once he was gone, Nick would have her full trust and she too would be no more.
"I do have one condition of my own."
"And that would be?"
"Do not tell my sister what happened to me. Tell her I am someone else, tell her you found me dead even as that is not a complete lie. But do not tell her what I am and where I am."
"I promise, she will not know."
And that, may not be a lie.
TBC...
AC: And there you have it~ ^^ Sorry for the long delay for it guys. Offline life was crazy and then I got sick on top of that. But it's finally done and I hope you all enjoy it. :3
Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the story idea and any OC's that have and may show up.