Disclaimer: I do not own anyone that I didn't make up. So don't sue.
Chapter Seven: Kraven
As Ravyn danced, she released her tight hold on the wall that separated her mind from everyone else's and allowed it to drift through those of others in the club. It was mostly out of habit, but she had shied away from touching minds with anyone, even Chris, since Cody's death. She felt that if she was going to truly become herself again, she had to allow herself to read minds again.
She didn't encounter anything out of the ordinary as she sifted through the minds of those in the club. She didn't expect to; there was no reason she should. She was just out to have fun; she wasn't on the job or anything.
But then she touched a mind that was far older than any human had a right to be, older even than Selene.
A vampire, she realized, and then, a heart beat later, Kraven. She withdrew hurriedly from Kraven's mind and reached out to Chris.
Kraven's here, she told him.
Can you get to him, Chris thought back, not even pausing in his singing.
I'll need another song.
I'll do my best, but don't take unnecessary risks.Of course.
The song was almost finished. Ravyn began to shift through the minds again until she found Kraven's and she marked it with a bit of power. Her eyes shifted through the crowds as she moved into the last measures of the dance, looking for the ebony glow her power had left. She found it in the form of a tall, dark-haired man. He was staring at her. She met his dark eyes and smiled, then dropped her gaze as she went into the last move of her dance, a combination of two hip shimmies. Then she walked off the dance floor, striding purposefully away from the dancers as Chris motioned to his band. She and Kraven made eye contact again and she saw his eyes turn slowly from dark brown to brilliant blue and back. In response, she let her own eyes flick to blue before quickly reverting back to grey, confirming her own identity.
Kraven smiled and began making his way towards her, threading his way easily through the crowd. He reached her as the next song began and leaned over, his dark hair falling forward and brushing her cheek. One hand rested lightly on her arm.
"Walk with me," he whispered in her ear, his low voice tinged by a slight Irish accent.
"I'd love to," Ravyn said with a smile, ignoring the anger she could feel emanating from Chris. She was also ignoring the nervous fluttering in her stomach. Kraven was very good at plotting, she knew. He had fooled Ordoghaz for six centuries with one of his plots. He was a smooth talker and he thought fast on his feet, though he was quick to anger, and less careful when his temper was in full swing.
So I have to get him angry, she thought. Talk about Mom, I guess. That'll piss him off. I hope.
"You're Ravyn?" Kraven asked, as they walked towards one end of the club.
"Yes. And you're Kraven."
"I hear the Chicago Police have set you and your boyfriend on my trail."
"Yes," Ravyn replied calmly, refusing to let him bait her. She knew now that he knew about her situation with Chris. How he had found out was a mystery, but he knew. She would have to be careful. He could use Chris against her.
"Does that mean that this is a truce?"
"If you choose to look at it like that. I could be getting ready to bite you." Ravyn tried her best to imitate the way her mother was always impossibly calm in a fight. She had to keep her cool and not let Kraven see her fear.
"I'm already a vampire," Kraven pointed out.
"You forget," Ravyn said mildly. "I'm Michael's daughter as well as Selene's. That makes me a hybrid." Very slowly, she let her eyes go first crystalline vampire blue, then a lycan cobalt, then, very slowly, let them turn the pitch black of the hybrid.
"The Corvinus strain does not transmit in a bite. If I were to bite you, you would die."
There was a pause, and Ravyn took the opportunity to delve into Kraven's mind and see what lay hidden. She couldn't see much, because somehow, Kraven had learned to put up a wall. But what little she could see of his mind showed her a slight fear of her as a hybrid, and mass of anger at Selene for her rejection of him.
She could also see that he had a secret. A secret that could harm her. A secret that had something to do with a man named Xareth.
Ravyn felt a cold fear clutch at her body when she realized that Kraven had had contact with Xareth. That alone made him a force to be reckoned with.
She hid her fear behind a mask. She was glad she had let her mother teach her how to do that. Her father had argued against it, saying it was bad enough to see that "Death Dealer mask" on his wife, let alone his daughter. But Ravyn had learned anyway and now it was coming in handy.
"I see," Kraven said, his voice showing no trace of the fear she knew he felt. "I'd best be careful then, shouldn't I?"
"Yes." She paused, trying to think of a way to work her mother into the conversation. "I would like to know how you knew who I was."
"You resemble Selene very much. I made occasional trips back to Ordoghaz while you were still young, and I remember your face."
"You wanted my mother, didn't you?"
Kraven didn't answer, only looked at the dancers.
"But she turned you down, didn't she? For a lycan." She could feel the anger building in him as he was forced to remember the rejection.
"And on top of all that, she revealed your deception to Viktor," Ravyn continued, carefully keeping her voice neutral and still being sure to touch on old wounds that had not quite healed.
"You have no idea what you're talking about," Kraven snapped at her, whirling on her and glaring furiously. Ravyn looked him directly, refusing to back down and let any trace of fear show.
"You weren't even born then!" Kraven took a menacing step towards her, but Ravyn quickly darted into his mind and stopped him from advancing any further. Kraven's jaw twitched as he tried to move, but she would not relinquish her hold on his body.
"I may not have lived through it, but I've heard all the stories, and I know what I'm talking about." She paused. Kraven was panicking and his wall had collapsed, and she was at last able to see what he was hiding: he had cold iron. Fear shot through her, but she hid it behind her mask. "And I know that you have a bit of cold iron in your pocket. You think it will protect you from me. But I really ought to tell you, I am immune to cold iron."
That was a bald-faced lie, but he didn't need to know that. He obviously didn't know that it had to be in direct contact with her to be effective, and she saw no reason to tell him that.
"Now, I'm going to tell you something, and when I'm done, you will turn around and walk out of this club. And then you'll go back to your hole in the ground, or wherever it is you live." She smiled sweetly at him, then leaned forward and whispered something in his ear. His eyes widened, and then he turned and walked out of the club.
Once he was safely out the door, she released her hold on him and heaved a sigh of relief. He was gone. She was no longer in danger from his cold iron. It had been strong cold iron too. If she had been touching it when she had touched his mind... She didn't want to think about it.
She could feel Chris trying to contact her. She reached out with her mind and touched his mind to hers.
Yes?
Are you okay? His mind-voice sounded very concerned. You seem freaked out.
He had cold iron. An involuntary shiver ran through her.
Did you touch it?
No. I'm fine. Just a little rattled. She paused, and smiled. But I bet Kraven's even more rattled.
We're almost done. Two more songs and we can go home. Think you can make it?
Sure. She broke contact with Chris headed towards the bar to wait. Her stomach rumbled. She realized that she hadn't fed in a week. Hybrids could last longer without feeding than either vampires or lycans, but she would need to feed tonight. She tried to remember if she had any of the cloned blood left that her mother had sent her. She thought she did, but she wasn't sure.
She bit her lip, wondering if she should tell Chris. She was tired of trying to hide it from him, and she felt he deserved to know the truth. But she knew if she told him, he would probably not want to have anything more to do with her. Neither vampires nor lycans were held in high esteem by humans, and hybrids of the two probably even less.
She sighed, wishing she could, but knowing all the while that she would never be able to work up the courage.
She heard his voice up on stage and she could see in her mind's eye exactly what he was doing, without using her power to look.
He was standing on stage, playing his guitar, his stance dominate, his voice strong. He stood close to the mike, his face full of emotion, and his strong voice weaving seamlessly into the music.
She sighed. He was so sexy. She wanted him, but she knew she could never have him. Not unless she could come clean about her real species.
She sighed again, and tried to focus on the bar in front of her and block Chris from her thoughts.
When the second song ended, Chris thanked the audience, and the band started to pack up.
Chris helped them load everything into a van, and then he and Ravyn started to walk home.
"Feeling better?" he asked.
"Yes, much," she replied. "It was the song that did it. Did you write it?"
"Sort of. I reworded the lyrics of another song to fit the occasion."
"I see." She crossed her arms as they walked, to ward off the chill. They were about halfway back to her apartment.
There was a pause, then Chris said, "How did it go with Kraven?"
"Okay. He's easier to deal with when he's mad. He forgets himself easier. I started talking about Mom, and he got really pissed."
"I'm not sure I follow that."
"He wanted her. She said no. Then she met my dad and married him. Kraven doesn't like my dad."
"Because he married your mom?"
"Partially. It's also because he's a ly—a doctor."
Chris raised an eyebrow at her slip and Ravyn cursed herself mentally, but by then they were at her apartment, so she had an excuse to leave quickly.
"Well, here we are. I guess I'll see you later!" She turned and fled before Chris could even say goodnight.
A/N: Well, that's the end of this one. Hope you liked it. I've already started on chapter eight, so that should be up sometime around the beginning of October, because that's the next time I'll have enough time to type it up and that's when the play is over with, and I will finally have a life again. YAY!!! I wrote this one on Labor Day, but it took my beta forever to get through with it. But she promises to be quicker on the next one. However. I only got four reviews of my last chapter. I don't know if that's because I'm a horrible writer, and no one has bothered to tell me, or you all just don't feel the need to review. Whichever it is, I would appreciate if you would review anyway. Even if you hated it. Tell me why, so I can improve. If you liked it, review. PLEASE!!!! I'm begging you!! I really like writing this stuff, and if it weren't for the undying support of a few people (Moose, Lady K, and Khayla) I wouldn't post on this story at all. But I would still really appreciate it if everyone who reads this, reviews. Or I might be forced to stop posting, and just email the chapters to those who always review...
eviLeLmo: Jack told Ravyn to kill Cody, essentially. I'm glad you like Chris's band's name. I went to camp this summer and my friend wanted to put him and his band into her fic, and we needed to come up with a name, and we were listening to Sting, so we thought, hells bells, why not? Thanks for your review.
Lady K: If you have a lycan, can I borrow him? I want to sic him on Moose for trying to write two or three stories at once. I'm glad you liked the songfic. I had a bit of a hard time with it, because at the time I was really in the mood to write, I was in the middle of my AP class, and I couldn't write, or listen to my CD player. So by the time I got home, I still wanted to write, but the inspiration had dissipated quite a bit. Oh well, it turned out okay. I'm glad you've officially decided you like Chris, because it would be very difficult to put Ravyn and Chris together if you didn't like him. How's MI coming? I really really really want to find out what happens. I hope Michael and Selene get back together soon. I feel so sorry for them both!
Khayla: I'm sorry the shortness bothered you. You'll get over it. You always do. I always write short chapters and you know it. You want long chapters, go read moose's fic. The play's almost over, though, so hopefully, we can see some faster, and longer, updates. Happy?
Samara Morgan-Ring: It always takes me forever to post because my beta takes forever to read. Please don't sic the purple bunnies of nauseating cuteness on me!!! I'll do anything!!!!!