Disclaimer: See chapter one

Chap. XIII

-0-

"He's coming."

Selene blinked at his whispered statement after recovering from the paralyzing glare of the Elder. 'He? Oh no...'

Michael...

Outside, Michael moved swiftly through the brush and bramble of trees before him. His movements, driven by the thought of Selene and guided by her surfacing memories, were almost non-existent. He was unaware that his body was slowly transforming into its hybrid state. Already his eyes had changed to its midnight black and his muscles were beginning to tear through his shirt. He leapt up into the tree and skimmed across the branches, until he reached one that was just outside of Ordoghaz. Michael shook his head lightly, trying to focus in on the images that were swarming in his mind.

'House...sister...dying lycans...back entrance...That's it.'

Michael gazed down at the back corner of the mansion. His vision caught sight of overlapped area on the building. Without a sound, Michael soared from the branch, over several feet of open sky, and onto the rooftop in one bound. Normally, such an act would have surprised him greatly. But his drive was preventing him from thinking straight right now. He looked down from the roof and sniffed the air. Most of the guards were on the opposite side of the building and the dogs roamed scattered around the field. Michael stepped off the roof-ledge and fell straight down. But his landing was a soft as if he had stepped off a sidewalk. Looking at the overlapping, he placed his hands on it, searching for an opening. But it was then that the dogs began barking and he saw them coming right at him.

'Damn. Just what I don't need.'

Suddenly, a grating sound echoed and the dogs turned toward the sound, which came from the gate. Michael looked through the darkness to see Ethan pulling on the gate briefly before moving away. The dogs on the opposite end continued to bark and follow him as far as they could. Michael nodded absently, realizing that Ethan was giving him time. Just then, his hand grazed over a lever and a door opened up. Ethan peered inside, and caught the scent of the dead. 'Catacombs', he realized grimly. He looked out briefly and then entered in, with the door closing behind him.

The entire mansion was on high alert as Death Dealers moved through the halls in a rush to find out the score of the disturbance. Lucas moved with a group to immediately check the surveillance. Beside him, Victor also strode slightly behind. They entered the room to find out the source of the problem.

"What is it?" he barked out.

The guard ran through the cameras in order to localize the problem.

"There."

Lucas peered at the screen and saw a figure in a long trench coat moving around the gates outside. Lucas blinked and asked for the camera to zoom in. The guard complied and the focus came up more clearly. Upon seeing the face, Lucas's eyes glared instantly.

"Get me a full squad. We have lycans to kill."

Lucas quickly left and Victor moved to follow, but managed to take a glance at who it was that enraged him so.

Ethan...

Michael silently moved through the corridors of the mansion upstairs. Due to all the commotion, they weren't searching for him or even aware of his presence. But that made it a bit difficult to track her scent. He was still new to using her senses and the various other scents were confusing him a bit. But he was determined to find Selene. After dashing across the hall, the sounds of footsteps came up from behind. Without even turning, he quickly dove into one of the rooms, hoping that there was no one in there, and shut it. The footsteps never came toward him and seemed to fade away in the distance. Michael sighed. 'Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea.' But his nose twitched and he soon learned why. Turning, he saw another door on the other end of the room. But even more so, Selene was definitely nearby. He took a step toward it but suddenly stopped. There was a second scent here. One that was not vampire. It wasn't even lycan.

It was...strange.

"We meet at last, Michael Corvinus."

Michael's eyes widened and he whirled around to the sound of the voice. But there was no one there. He turned around back toward the door and there standing before it, was none other than the elder himself. Michael began to bare his fang, but stopped short. Something was wrong here. Something about Marcus was really off. He didn't have the same scent of the other vampires. In fact, it was a lot like...his. Michael shook it off and faced the elder.

"Where's Selene?"

Marcus simply stood before him, unafraid and with his arms folded, "Why did you come for her?"

Michael blinked in slight surprise, "What?"

"A simple question. Why did you come for her?"

Michael furrowed his brows. 'Why would the elder ask him these questions? Why wasn't he trying to fight him?'

"Because I won't leave her here to be killed by you."

Marcus gave a short chuckle and moved to the side, "Strangely enough, I bear no ill-will to either you or Selene. You two were merely thrown into a conflict that has now entangled you. But there are things that must be resolved soon." He stopped moving and stared at Michael's black eyes, "Now again. Why did you come for Selene?"

Michael didn't understand the meaning of this, but the question seemed to latch onto him. After a half a minute, he answered, "I care for her."

Marcus shrugged, "Hmh. That's the same answer she gave. But I sense clearer emotions in you." Marcus looked away from him and toward the door he was standing in front of.

"She's in here."

Michael didn't waste any time to burst through the door and into the room. There stood Selene, unharmed much to his relief. His eyes softened at the sight of her.

"Selene."

Selene frowned deeply, "Michael. Why did you come? You have to leave now."

Michael blinked but before he could form a thought, Marcus entered in from behind.

"I suggest you two take the side exit."

Both hybrid and Death Dealer looked at him with further surprise. "You're...letting us go?" Michael questioned.

Marcus moved past him and toward the window, "For now, kinsman. For now. But know this. I will find you both again." He turned to face them and Michael saw for the first time, the Elder's blackened eyes, the same as his.

"This I vow."

The shock of seeing another hybrid stunned Michael. Fortunately, Selene managed to avoid the gaze and took hold of Michael's arm. Tugging on it, she muttered.

"Let's go."

The two left his presence and Marcus's eyes reverted back to their normal color. They may have left his sight, but he will find them again. Michael's scent, along with Selene's was locked in his mind now. There was nowhere they could hide from him now.

'We will meet again.'

Selene led the way and toward the door. But as soon as she opened it, she was met with another figure. Erika stood right there in the doorway, her hand holding another glass, presumably for her. Erika stared wide-eyed at Selene before moving her gaze over to Michael briefly and then back to Selene. Selene looked back briefly and then brushed past her, grabbing Michael's arm in the process. Erika simply let them pass and watched them go, still in shock.

Just outside, Ethan and the others had done their part in distracting the guard dogs. The problem was that gained the attention of the guards. Ethan looked over at the metal gate.

'Come on. Where are you, Michael?'

A whooshing sound came up from behind and Ethan turned to see Michael along with Selene. "How did you...? Never mind. We have to go now."

The three rushed off through the woods, running as fast as possible away from the mansion. They were soon joined by the other lycans and ran off as well. Selene mused at the strangeness of this. 'I'm now running with the very kind I tried to destroy, away from the very place I once called home.' It'll be something she'll reflect on later. But she knew better than any of them that they wouldn't get far before they were spotted.

And right on cue, gunfire rang from behind...

Bam! Bam! Bam!

"Spread out!" Ethan ordered.

At the command, the group moved apart loosely, still in run. Selene growled at having to run like a hunted animal, but she didn't have any of her weapons with her. 'Three options in battle' she remembered. 'Run, fight, or hide.' They probably could have fought, but many of them would be killed, possibly herself included. There was nowhere to hide in the forest, at least not without be tracked instantly. So running was the only option. They were fortunate that their pursuers were on foot.

Meanwhile, Ethan continued on, but kept taking glances at the others, making sure they got through. They only had to clear the trees and get into the city to make it. Once there, they'll use the sewer entrance to disappear underground. Seemed simple enough. All they had to do was dodge the gunfire in the meantime.

"Ahhhhhh!"

Ethan turned to see Sisera stumble on the ground, clutching her shoulder. Ethan quickly turned and ran back for her. The gunfire continued, but he managed to dodge it enough to grab hold of her. Zhan, Selene and Michael had also returned, but it was Zhan who roared.

"Sisera!" His gaze instantly looked toward the approaching Death Dealer and his pupils narrowed. With a roar, Zhan began to change and he charged furiously.

"Damn you bloods!"

"Zhan!"

But he was in such a fury and he rushed off. The sounds of gunfire increased and viscous snarls could be heard.

"We have to go now!" Ethan shot out.

Sisera looked at him in semi-shock, but the pain caused her to see the reason of escaping. Wincing, Sisera arose to her feet with Ethan's help and they ran off, leaving the enraged lycan behind to his fate.