Chapter 6
When Alexander returned to the training room, tissues in hand, he found Teri trying to lift the dumbbell he had casually thrown at her only minutes before. She also appeared to be muttering obscenities at it. Her face was a mask of determination, for all that the beet red coloring made her look so comical. Alexander squatted down beside the girl and gave her a patronizing look.
"Teri, don't bother if you aren't going to do it right. Anyway, I doubt that it would respond very well to that sort of language even if it could understand English."
Teri stopped and turned to face him. "Do you have the tissues?" she asked, apparently oblivious to his comments.
"My, but we certainly have a one track mind, don't we?" Teri stuck her tongue out at him. "And so mature too. As I was saying, you aren't going to be able to lift that lifeless piece of metal if you insist on doing it the wrong way."
Teri glared at him. "Fine, how do I get this stupid thing off the ground?"
"You need to rely on more than your muscles. On their own, they can't do so much without being built up. You need to feed your energy into them if you want to lift something like that."
"Okey-doke, Alex. I'll try." She drew a deep breath and, concentrating on her arms, attempted to lift the weight. Suddenly, she found herself standing straight up, the weight not bothering her a bit. Unfortunately, the shock of what she had just done caused Teri to momentarily lose control of her limbs and drop one hundred pounds of metal on her foot.
"SHIT!"
"Just remember not to drop it next time." Alexander couldn't help smirking, which only earned him a glare from Teri. She picked up the weight with an ease she had acquired only moments before, groaning as her foot started to heal, and threw it at him. He caught it with one hand, the smirk never leaving his face. "You know, I'm beginning to think you're in a violent mood right now."
"Yep, that'd be about right."
"You'll be wanting to learn how to deal with the creatures you'll be facing, then?"
"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of hurting you, but yeah, sure."
"Am I really that horrible to you?" He sounded shocked, but there was a hint of laughter in his voice.
"Do you need to ask?"
"No, I suppose not."
Alexander then proceeded to give Teri her first lesson in hand-to-hand combat. Considering that she had never done anything remotely like it before, the lesson progressed very well. By the end, Teri was about ready to pass out.
"By the way, where exactly is this place?"
"You are currently in a training complex for novice vampire hunters in Brooklyn. A place where, I believe, your teacher has not been allowed for some time. He was probably hoping to have come at a time when I was not here. I suppose those plans have been spoiled?" The voice was sharp to the point of iciness. Teri turned around to see who it was that Alex was so obviously on less than friendly terms with. The woman had an air of determination and power about her, and the ice in her voice extended to her eyes as well. She was a witch, judging by the aura she was keeping firmly under control, but it wasn't the kind of aura Alex had. It was a bit more subtle.
"Um, excuse me? Madame Ice Queen?"
Alexander made a small squeaking sound, like he was trying desperately not to laugh but had only succeeded in channeling the sound through his nose. The witch cast a withering glance in the older Triste's direction before turning to face the younger. She looked annoyed, probably due to both the title and the girl who had bestowed it upon her.
"Yes?" There was an edge in the woman's voice. It put Teri in mind of a sharpened meat cleaver. She kicked herself mentally. *Why do I always seem to piss off the people who could possibly KILL me? Not a good day for Teri and the friendliness to creepy people, is it?*
"I was just wondering who you are and where you get off acting all rude and nasty on us. 'Cause it isn't really nice and he's," Teri jerked her head in Alexander's direction, "gotta be a helluva lot older than you and deserve at least some respect for that, even though he does tend to be a big jerk and act. well. a sixtieth of his age sometimes."
Alexander was trying to keep himself steady on his feet. Unfortunately, the laughing fit he was trying to keep in was making him lightheaded. The woman looked at Teri with increasing distaste. "My name is Dominique Vida, and I am in charge of this place. If Alexander wasn't here to teach you, then I would have him thrown out."
"Well, seeing as I AM trying to learn how best not to get my ass kicked by the undead, could we maybe drop by. I dunno. a lot so that I can get in a good bit of training? Unless you want me to get killed, which could happen easily enough." Teri looked up at the icy witch's face, giving her the best puppy eyes she could muster.
Dominique Vida regarded the girl before her coolly, wondering how she would be able to stand in her presence a moment longer and not snap. The young Triste was of average height and build, nothing remarkable there. Her hair was a deep shade of brown, and the freckles on her face seemed to be almost competing for space. She had surprisingly long lashes, which framed.
Dominique found herself staring into the girl's eyes. The green was flecked with gold and perfectly separated from the brown, and there was an almost shocking depth to them. They reminded her so much of. but it couldn't be, could it? This infuriating child?
Teri was getting nervous. Moments before, an obviously powerful person had been sizing her up. Suddenly the Vida witch was looking at her like she was some sort of freak of nature. Not that she wasn't, but for a vampire hunter to regard anybody with surprise could hardly be good.
"Y'know, it's kinda rude to stare at people and imitate a fish at the same time. Not that they aren't both bad on their own, but, well, would you mind much?" Dominique ignored the near-hysterical laughter coming from Alexander's direction and collected her wits.
"I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name."
"Maybe you shoulda asked before doing the stare thing. The name's Teri Mere, ma'am. I'd say it's a pleasure, but. well. I'm not so sure." Dominique wanted to slap the girl for being so insolent, but thought better of it. She needed to be sure of this.
"And how old are you?"
"My but we're heavy with the questions, aren't we? I'll be fifteen in May."
*So this is the girl. She should do well. If only she wasn't so damned impertinent.* Dominique had gotten over her initial shock at seeing Teri and was now contemplating how to most effectively use what would prove to be a very powerful weapon. The one drawback was Alexander. If Teri decided to follow in her mentor's footsteps, she would end up as a lone wolf, possibly an exile. The girl was what she was because the community as a whole needed her. She could not be allowed to harbor any resentment toward the well oiled machine which the battle worn Vida witch had created.
Teri didn't like the way Dominique was looking at her. The look on the older woman's face had gone from flabbergasted to calculating in no time flat. She was being sized up to the point where her future was being planned out, she could feel it. And it wasn't the kind of future that involved college, a good job, a nice husband, and 2.3 kids, with a dog and a house in Westchester. No, this was the kind of future that would extend well past the lifespan of mortal men and leave her bloodstained, glorious, and ultimately alone. It made her shiver, knowing that was the fate which might very well await her.
As for Alexander, he was watching Teri face off with Dominique with rapt attention. He wasn't sure if either of them was aware, but there was something of a subconscious power struggle going on between the two witches. And what a sight it was. Dominique was cajoling the girl, tentatively getting a feel for her energy all the while she was attempting to draw the girl's power out. He wondered what was going on in her mind, but knew better than to eavesdrop. She was probably thinking of a way to draw Teri into the fold, away from him. Nothing personal, just trying to get a Triste into the mix of Macht and human hunters. Tristes were loners by nature, if not when they began their training then as those to whom they were close died off.
Teri was stubborn and fiercely independent. Her aura was solidifying, occasionally lashing out at one of Dominique's probes but generally staying within a clearly defined shell. Dominique would have a hard time wining over that particular Triste. Alexander smiled at the thought.
"So." Teri broke the silence, not liking the way things were going with Dominique. "Now that we're done with the introductions and staring and otherwise unpleasant stuff, can I go back to learning how to kick his. I mean vampire ass?" She flashed what she hoped was a disarming smile in Dominique's direction.
"Certainly," came the curt reply from Dominique. "I will allow you to train here, but if you wish to use any other part of this facility you are to come without him." She jerked her head in Alexander's direction.
"Yes ma'am."
"Well, now that we've come to some sort of agreement, I'll let you go about your business. Good day." Dominique turned and walked out of the room, leaving Teri at the mercy of rationality, which had somehow found its way back into her head and was pummeling her subconscious into a bloody pulp for what it had just allowed her to do, namely mouthing off to what had to be one of the most powerful witches in the world.
"Alex?" Teri looked over at her mentor, who was looking incredibly amused.
"Yes, Teri?"
"I just did that, didn't I?"
"You did indeed."
"I'm insane, aren't I?"
"I never doubted it for a moment."
"Hey!"
"Well, it sounded like I should agree with you." Alex's eyes were twinkling. She hated when they twinkled. It made her feel stupid, with a hint of annoyance and embarrassment thrown in.
"Anyway, change of subject. What did you do to make her hate you?"
Alexander tensed. "Nothing that she would understand."
"Meaning?"
"You know what I'm talking about, Teri." It was barely a whisper, but the odd monotone gave his voice a haunting quality which sent a shiver down Teri's spine. She thought for a moment, and the answer was so obvious that she couldn't believe she had missed it.
"It's because of your sister, isn't it?" Alexander nodded. "You tried to contact her, and when you did they exiled you."
"She wanted to know why I didn't find her sooner, why I let her believe I was dead. The truth was that I had been trying for centuries, but whenever I got close I would be called away to look into something they said was important, but which any Triste with half a brain could do."
"They being?"
"Whichever Macht witches were running the sorry excuse for an organization which decided that it ought to have jurisdiction over Tristes as well. At first I thought it was just a coincidence, but decades of being called away just as I was about to find her made me snap out it. It got to the point where I was maybe a few miles away from her, and was called off again. That was when I lost it. I was furious that they felt they had the right to interfere with my personal business. I asked them what the hell they thought they were doing. They told me that I would be exiled if I was found trying to reach her. There were rules, and one of them prohibited friendly contact with vampires. They were adamant. It only got worse when Nikolas and Kristopher began to gather a following."
"Who?"
"Two vampires from Kendra's line, identical twins, changed almost one hundred years after Rachael. They were incredibly vicious when they wanted to be, but more importantly they fought as a team. The leaders of every line seemed to agree that I would join Rachael if I ever found her. They were right, I would have done it in a heartbeat."
Teri looked at him in shock. "But. together? What would that've been like for you? Her going out every night to kill humans, you to kill her kind?"
Alexander shrugged. "I knew it would be a problem, but I couldn't just let her think I was dead, could I? It had been almost a century, she'd had that long to brood over whatever guilt she must have felt. I couldn't let her live like that, but they were forcing me to nonetheless.
"I began living like a mortal, picking up odd jobs, all the while listening for news of Rachael. Eventually I heard something, and it chilled me to the bone. She had become powerful, incredibly so. And she was ruthless. My sister, once so innocent, was now a cold blooded killer. I was racked by doubt. Would it make any difference now if I found her? I was a Triste, she a vampire. There was so much bad blood between our kinds, and she was becoming one of them more than I'd ever thought she could. That was when I began to lose hope." Alexander sighed.
"The years went by, one century stretched to two, two to three. I had been more discreet since they had warned me against trying to contact her, and the process became agonizingly slow. Finally, around ten years ago, I found her. It was a sweet victory, but I had to be very careful. The slightest slip and I would be exiled.
"I thought about how I could contact her, and the conclusion didn't please me in the least. I would have to be bitten, and hope the luckless wretch who did the deed would give her a message. It worked. Then I learned something shocking: that Mayhem had been rebuilt. I knew the risk of discovery was great, but I also knew that a vampire of Silver's line would use that town as a home base. So I went, concealing my aura as much as I possibly could. On that night witnessed her fight Aubrey and take his blood. After the fight, she saw me sitting at a table near the back of Las Noches and told me what I had been dreading all along: that she was one of them.
"I've made quite few enemies over the years. I was never sure who it was, but one of them must have somehow told a witch about the blond man who looked so much like Rachael who had been seen talking to her, making sure not to let the scene of the event slip. The information made it's way up the chain of command, and after standing trial I was exiled. I've lived apart from the rest of my kind ever since."
"But you were just trying to find your sister. Didn't they think about that?"
"But I also withheld crucial information from them."
"What was that?"
"That Mayhem had been rebuilt. The council had believed it to be gone for centuries, and the fact that I knew and had not told them made me, in their eyes, an accomplice to the countless murders perpetrated by Sliver's line since the very day I had known. It was enough to work in a conviction."
Alexander turned to the young Triste who was looking at him with pitying eyes. "As for Dominique, seeing me reminds her of her daughter Sarah. She was changed a little while ago by Kristopher."
"What?! How'd something like that happen?"
"From what I've been able to pick up, she was in love with him and the feeling was mutual." Teri's jaw dropped. "He'd given up life as a vampiric pop culture icon to help his older sister, who was also a vampire, decades before. I'm not sure about the details, but I do know that there was a run in with Nikolas. Kristopher lost control and tried to blood bond her, but witches can't be blood bonded. Their bodies fight with the vampiric blood in their system, and they die. He changed her to let her live, and she didn't kill herself. It broke Dominique's heart. She hates me because my exile reminds her of her daughter."
They stood awhile in silence, one not wanting to say more, the other trying to process everything she had heard. Finally, Teri spoke up.
"It's getting late, I think I should be going home now."
Alexander was sharply pulled from his reverie. Looking at the clock, he realized that it was almost six. He swore under his breath. "I'm sorry, I lost track of time. Can you get home alright?"
"I'll be fine." She turned to go to the locker room, but hesitated. Instead, she walked over to where Alexander was standing and gave him a hug. Looking up at him, she whispered something in his ear and released him from the almost childish embrace.
Alexander watched her leave the room and willed himself back to his home. He didn't go out hunting. Upon entering, he went into his bedroom, threw himself onto the bed, and cried himself to sleep.
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A/N: Next up: Aubrey and Jager discuss a potentially serious threat.
When Alexander returned to the training room, tissues in hand, he found Teri trying to lift the dumbbell he had casually thrown at her only minutes before. She also appeared to be muttering obscenities at it. Her face was a mask of determination, for all that the beet red coloring made her look so comical. Alexander squatted down beside the girl and gave her a patronizing look.
"Teri, don't bother if you aren't going to do it right. Anyway, I doubt that it would respond very well to that sort of language even if it could understand English."
Teri stopped and turned to face him. "Do you have the tissues?" she asked, apparently oblivious to his comments.
"My, but we certainly have a one track mind, don't we?" Teri stuck her tongue out at him. "And so mature too. As I was saying, you aren't going to be able to lift that lifeless piece of metal if you insist on doing it the wrong way."
Teri glared at him. "Fine, how do I get this stupid thing off the ground?"
"You need to rely on more than your muscles. On their own, they can't do so much without being built up. You need to feed your energy into them if you want to lift something like that."
"Okey-doke, Alex. I'll try." She drew a deep breath and, concentrating on her arms, attempted to lift the weight. Suddenly, she found herself standing straight up, the weight not bothering her a bit. Unfortunately, the shock of what she had just done caused Teri to momentarily lose control of her limbs and drop one hundred pounds of metal on her foot.
"SHIT!"
"Just remember not to drop it next time." Alexander couldn't help smirking, which only earned him a glare from Teri. She picked up the weight with an ease she had acquired only moments before, groaning as her foot started to heal, and threw it at him. He caught it with one hand, the smirk never leaving his face. "You know, I'm beginning to think you're in a violent mood right now."
"Yep, that'd be about right."
"You'll be wanting to learn how to deal with the creatures you'll be facing, then?"
"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of hurting you, but yeah, sure."
"Am I really that horrible to you?" He sounded shocked, but there was a hint of laughter in his voice.
"Do you need to ask?"
"No, I suppose not."
Alexander then proceeded to give Teri her first lesson in hand-to-hand combat. Considering that she had never done anything remotely like it before, the lesson progressed very well. By the end, Teri was about ready to pass out.
"By the way, where exactly is this place?"
"You are currently in a training complex for novice vampire hunters in Brooklyn. A place where, I believe, your teacher has not been allowed for some time. He was probably hoping to have come at a time when I was not here. I suppose those plans have been spoiled?" The voice was sharp to the point of iciness. Teri turned around to see who it was that Alex was so obviously on less than friendly terms with. The woman had an air of determination and power about her, and the ice in her voice extended to her eyes as well. She was a witch, judging by the aura she was keeping firmly under control, but it wasn't the kind of aura Alex had. It was a bit more subtle.
"Um, excuse me? Madame Ice Queen?"
Alexander made a small squeaking sound, like he was trying desperately not to laugh but had only succeeded in channeling the sound through his nose. The witch cast a withering glance in the older Triste's direction before turning to face the younger. She looked annoyed, probably due to both the title and the girl who had bestowed it upon her.
"Yes?" There was an edge in the woman's voice. It put Teri in mind of a sharpened meat cleaver. She kicked herself mentally. *Why do I always seem to piss off the people who could possibly KILL me? Not a good day for Teri and the friendliness to creepy people, is it?*
"I was just wondering who you are and where you get off acting all rude and nasty on us. 'Cause it isn't really nice and he's," Teri jerked her head in Alexander's direction, "gotta be a helluva lot older than you and deserve at least some respect for that, even though he does tend to be a big jerk and act. well. a sixtieth of his age sometimes."
Alexander was trying to keep himself steady on his feet. Unfortunately, the laughing fit he was trying to keep in was making him lightheaded. The woman looked at Teri with increasing distaste. "My name is Dominique Vida, and I am in charge of this place. If Alexander wasn't here to teach you, then I would have him thrown out."
"Well, seeing as I AM trying to learn how best not to get my ass kicked by the undead, could we maybe drop by. I dunno. a lot so that I can get in a good bit of training? Unless you want me to get killed, which could happen easily enough." Teri looked up at the icy witch's face, giving her the best puppy eyes she could muster.
Dominique Vida regarded the girl before her coolly, wondering how she would be able to stand in her presence a moment longer and not snap. The young Triste was of average height and build, nothing remarkable there. Her hair was a deep shade of brown, and the freckles on her face seemed to be almost competing for space. She had surprisingly long lashes, which framed.
Dominique found herself staring into the girl's eyes. The green was flecked with gold and perfectly separated from the brown, and there was an almost shocking depth to them. They reminded her so much of. but it couldn't be, could it? This infuriating child?
Teri was getting nervous. Moments before, an obviously powerful person had been sizing her up. Suddenly the Vida witch was looking at her like she was some sort of freak of nature. Not that she wasn't, but for a vampire hunter to regard anybody with surprise could hardly be good.
"Y'know, it's kinda rude to stare at people and imitate a fish at the same time. Not that they aren't both bad on their own, but, well, would you mind much?" Dominique ignored the near-hysterical laughter coming from Alexander's direction and collected her wits.
"I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name."
"Maybe you shoulda asked before doing the stare thing. The name's Teri Mere, ma'am. I'd say it's a pleasure, but. well. I'm not so sure." Dominique wanted to slap the girl for being so insolent, but thought better of it. She needed to be sure of this.
"And how old are you?"
"My but we're heavy with the questions, aren't we? I'll be fifteen in May."
*So this is the girl. She should do well. If only she wasn't so damned impertinent.* Dominique had gotten over her initial shock at seeing Teri and was now contemplating how to most effectively use what would prove to be a very powerful weapon. The one drawback was Alexander. If Teri decided to follow in her mentor's footsteps, she would end up as a lone wolf, possibly an exile. The girl was what she was because the community as a whole needed her. She could not be allowed to harbor any resentment toward the well oiled machine which the battle worn Vida witch had created.
Teri didn't like the way Dominique was looking at her. The look on the older woman's face had gone from flabbergasted to calculating in no time flat. She was being sized up to the point where her future was being planned out, she could feel it. And it wasn't the kind of future that involved college, a good job, a nice husband, and 2.3 kids, with a dog and a house in Westchester. No, this was the kind of future that would extend well past the lifespan of mortal men and leave her bloodstained, glorious, and ultimately alone. It made her shiver, knowing that was the fate which might very well await her.
As for Alexander, he was watching Teri face off with Dominique with rapt attention. He wasn't sure if either of them was aware, but there was something of a subconscious power struggle going on between the two witches. And what a sight it was. Dominique was cajoling the girl, tentatively getting a feel for her energy all the while she was attempting to draw the girl's power out. He wondered what was going on in her mind, but knew better than to eavesdrop. She was probably thinking of a way to draw Teri into the fold, away from him. Nothing personal, just trying to get a Triste into the mix of Macht and human hunters. Tristes were loners by nature, if not when they began their training then as those to whom they were close died off.
Teri was stubborn and fiercely independent. Her aura was solidifying, occasionally lashing out at one of Dominique's probes but generally staying within a clearly defined shell. Dominique would have a hard time wining over that particular Triste. Alexander smiled at the thought.
"So." Teri broke the silence, not liking the way things were going with Dominique. "Now that we're done with the introductions and staring and otherwise unpleasant stuff, can I go back to learning how to kick his. I mean vampire ass?" She flashed what she hoped was a disarming smile in Dominique's direction.
"Certainly," came the curt reply from Dominique. "I will allow you to train here, but if you wish to use any other part of this facility you are to come without him." She jerked her head in Alexander's direction.
"Yes ma'am."
"Well, now that we've come to some sort of agreement, I'll let you go about your business. Good day." Dominique turned and walked out of the room, leaving Teri at the mercy of rationality, which had somehow found its way back into her head and was pummeling her subconscious into a bloody pulp for what it had just allowed her to do, namely mouthing off to what had to be one of the most powerful witches in the world.
"Alex?" Teri looked over at her mentor, who was looking incredibly amused.
"Yes, Teri?"
"I just did that, didn't I?"
"You did indeed."
"I'm insane, aren't I?"
"I never doubted it for a moment."
"Hey!"
"Well, it sounded like I should agree with you." Alex's eyes were twinkling. She hated when they twinkled. It made her feel stupid, with a hint of annoyance and embarrassment thrown in.
"Anyway, change of subject. What did you do to make her hate you?"
Alexander tensed. "Nothing that she would understand."
"Meaning?"
"You know what I'm talking about, Teri." It was barely a whisper, but the odd monotone gave his voice a haunting quality which sent a shiver down Teri's spine. She thought for a moment, and the answer was so obvious that she couldn't believe she had missed it.
"It's because of your sister, isn't it?" Alexander nodded. "You tried to contact her, and when you did they exiled you."
"She wanted to know why I didn't find her sooner, why I let her believe I was dead. The truth was that I had been trying for centuries, but whenever I got close I would be called away to look into something they said was important, but which any Triste with half a brain could do."
"They being?"
"Whichever Macht witches were running the sorry excuse for an organization which decided that it ought to have jurisdiction over Tristes as well. At first I thought it was just a coincidence, but decades of being called away just as I was about to find her made me snap out it. It got to the point where I was maybe a few miles away from her, and was called off again. That was when I lost it. I was furious that they felt they had the right to interfere with my personal business. I asked them what the hell they thought they were doing. They told me that I would be exiled if I was found trying to reach her. There were rules, and one of them prohibited friendly contact with vampires. They were adamant. It only got worse when Nikolas and Kristopher began to gather a following."
"Who?"
"Two vampires from Kendra's line, identical twins, changed almost one hundred years after Rachael. They were incredibly vicious when they wanted to be, but more importantly they fought as a team. The leaders of every line seemed to agree that I would join Rachael if I ever found her. They were right, I would have done it in a heartbeat."
Teri looked at him in shock. "But. together? What would that've been like for you? Her going out every night to kill humans, you to kill her kind?"
Alexander shrugged. "I knew it would be a problem, but I couldn't just let her think I was dead, could I? It had been almost a century, she'd had that long to brood over whatever guilt she must have felt. I couldn't let her live like that, but they were forcing me to nonetheless.
"I began living like a mortal, picking up odd jobs, all the while listening for news of Rachael. Eventually I heard something, and it chilled me to the bone. She had become powerful, incredibly so. And she was ruthless. My sister, once so innocent, was now a cold blooded killer. I was racked by doubt. Would it make any difference now if I found her? I was a Triste, she a vampire. There was so much bad blood between our kinds, and she was becoming one of them more than I'd ever thought she could. That was when I began to lose hope." Alexander sighed.
"The years went by, one century stretched to two, two to three. I had been more discreet since they had warned me against trying to contact her, and the process became agonizingly slow. Finally, around ten years ago, I found her. It was a sweet victory, but I had to be very careful. The slightest slip and I would be exiled.
"I thought about how I could contact her, and the conclusion didn't please me in the least. I would have to be bitten, and hope the luckless wretch who did the deed would give her a message. It worked. Then I learned something shocking: that Mayhem had been rebuilt. I knew the risk of discovery was great, but I also knew that a vampire of Silver's line would use that town as a home base. So I went, concealing my aura as much as I possibly could. On that night witnessed her fight Aubrey and take his blood. After the fight, she saw me sitting at a table near the back of Las Noches and told me what I had been dreading all along: that she was one of them.
"I've made quite few enemies over the years. I was never sure who it was, but one of them must have somehow told a witch about the blond man who looked so much like Rachael who had been seen talking to her, making sure not to let the scene of the event slip. The information made it's way up the chain of command, and after standing trial I was exiled. I've lived apart from the rest of my kind ever since."
"But you were just trying to find your sister. Didn't they think about that?"
"But I also withheld crucial information from them."
"What was that?"
"That Mayhem had been rebuilt. The council had believed it to be gone for centuries, and the fact that I knew and had not told them made me, in their eyes, an accomplice to the countless murders perpetrated by Sliver's line since the very day I had known. It was enough to work in a conviction."
Alexander turned to the young Triste who was looking at him with pitying eyes. "As for Dominique, seeing me reminds her of her daughter Sarah. She was changed a little while ago by Kristopher."
"What?! How'd something like that happen?"
"From what I've been able to pick up, she was in love with him and the feeling was mutual." Teri's jaw dropped. "He'd given up life as a vampiric pop culture icon to help his older sister, who was also a vampire, decades before. I'm not sure about the details, but I do know that there was a run in with Nikolas. Kristopher lost control and tried to blood bond her, but witches can't be blood bonded. Their bodies fight with the vampiric blood in their system, and they die. He changed her to let her live, and she didn't kill herself. It broke Dominique's heart. She hates me because my exile reminds her of her daughter."
They stood awhile in silence, one not wanting to say more, the other trying to process everything she had heard. Finally, Teri spoke up.
"It's getting late, I think I should be going home now."
Alexander was sharply pulled from his reverie. Looking at the clock, he realized that it was almost six. He swore under his breath. "I'm sorry, I lost track of time. Can you get home alright?"
"I'll be fine." She turned to go to the locker room, but hesitated. Instead, she walked over to where Alexander was standing and gave him a hug. Looking up at him, she whispered something in his ear and released him from the almost childish embrace.
Alexander watched her leave the room and willed himself back to his home. He didn't go out hunting. Upon entering, he went into his bedroom, threw himself onto the bed, and cried himself to sleep.
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A/N: Next up: Aubrey and Jager discuss a potentially serious threat.