"Grace?" a voice said.
She jerked awake, immediately tensing. What had happened? How long had she been asleep? "What happened?" she asked, rubbing her eyes and looking around.
"It's okay, you fell asleep," Deacon said gently.
"Oh," Grace said, blinking a couple of times. She gazed at the computer, which was still on. The screen was displaying an ancient text on La Magra.
"Did you find anything?" he asked.
"No," she shook her head, "Not yet." She ran a hand through her hair.
"Why don't you get some rest, and I'll do some research," he said.
"You, research?" She said skeptically, looking over at him.
"I'd do anything for you right now, babe," he said.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Alright," she said, standing and stretching.
He put his arms around her and held her tight for a moment. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, letting his scent calm her.
"My beautiful golden angel," he said, looking down at her as he brushed her hair back from her face. Then he kissed her.
She leaned into it, putting her arms around his neck. For that one moment she felt completely safe. She broke the kiss first, resting her forehead against his. For a moment, they just gazed into each other's eyes. She let her thoughts and emotions tell him how she felt instead of saying it aloud.
"Go sleep," he said softly.
"I'll miss you," she whispered before pulling away.
She headed back through the blackness to the elevator, the lights inside almost blindingly bright when the doors opened. She stepped inside and punched a button. A moment later, the door closed and the elevator began it's ascent to the top floor. Grace slumped against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest. The thoughts and feelings she sensed from Deacon swirled gently through her mind. He was worried about her, unsettled by what was going on, and also angry. At himself, and Chloe.
It seemed like forever before the doors opened again. She walked down the hall, hearing voices from the water room. She slowed down as she walked by. The Blood Pack was there, of course, but none of them noticed her except for Snowman. He looked up as she walked by, the light catching his golden, cat like eyes. She nodded slightly to him, and continued. She reached the bedroom and closed the door after herself. Sitting down on the bed, she took off her shoes and jacket, placing them on the chair. Then she switched shirts, taking off her halter top, and putting on one of Deacon's black shirts, one that he'd worn recently and smelled like him.
Grace got into bed and closed her eyes. Even with how tired she was, she had trouble getting to sleep. Thoughts of everything going on chased each other around her mind the way a dog chases its tail. She rolled over and buried her head deeper into the pillow. After many long minutes, she fell into a fitful sleep, and she dreamed…
'Grace's Dream
She was on the floor of the balcony, slumped against the railing. Her skin no longer felt like it was burning, but very cold. She felt that she couldn't more her arms or legs, and so watched helplessly as La Magra knelt beside her.
"Time for you to drink now, Grace," it said.
"No!" she exclaimed, suddenly able to move again.
She pushed him aside, got to her feet, and ran. She turned down the hallway, and La Magra started laughing. The evil, haunting sound echoed in her ears. She turned her head to see if he was following her, and crashed right into some one. She yelped, looking ahead again.
"Oh! Reinhardt, thank…" she didn't finish, taking a step back in horror when she saw that his eyes were red…'
In her sleep, Grace rolled over, moaning slightly.
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Chloe stood on the sidewalk opposite the Edgewood Towers, gazing up at the tall, eye catching building. She turned her gaze down to the guards standing at the doors and narrowed her eyes.
"So this is where they've been hiding out," she said aloud.
She waited for a break in the traffic, and walked across the busy street to the Towers. The guards never even had a chance to draw their weapons.
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The Blood Pack were relaxing in the water room when the news of an armed and dangerous intruder break in reached them.
"Shit," was Chupa's reaction.
"Where's Grace?" Verlaine asked in Czech.
"I'll get sleeping beauty," Reinhardt said, standing.
As he went down the hall, he figured who ever had broken into the Towers was either Blade, or the bitch Chloe. He hoped it was her so he could have the pleasure of killing her.
"Grace," he said, opening the door to the bedroom, "We've got company."
She was awake instantly at this. "Blade or Chloe?" she demanded, sliding out of bed and reaching for her boots.
"I'm guessing the bitch," he answered.
"Damn," Grace said, moving as quickly as she could, "Where's Deacon?"
"Still haunting the basement."
"Then he doesn't know," she said, standing now.
There wasn't any built in communication link with the basement. She reached for the pistol on the bedside table, and made sure it was loaded.
"I'll tell him, you take the others and stop Chloe," she said, moving for the door.
"You shouldn't go down alone," Reinhardt said, walking next to and a little behind her.
"I'll be fine, I doubt she knows where he is anyway," Grace replied, not looking at him as she walked briskly down the hallway, "What floor is she on?"
"Third and rising," he replied.
"Alright, you know what to do," she said, passing by the water room and stopping in front of the elevator. She hit the down button and turned back to Reinhardt. "Don't let any one get killed. That means you too," she said, showing a little concern for him too.
He nodded, and she turned to step into the elevator. She pressed the button for the basement level, and watched Reinhardt start to turn away towards the water room just before the doors closed. She stood there, tense and worried as she waited. After what seemed like forever, but was in reality only a couple of minutes, the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, with blackness to greet her. Stepping from the elevator, Grace held her pistol at the ready, just in case. The doors closed behind her, enveloping her in complete darkness.
"Deacon?" she called, her voice echoing in the vast room as she moved cautiously.
There was no response.
"Deacon?" she called again.
"Grace?" she heard him say after a moment.
She continued towards the computer section, trying to figure out where he was. She heard his footsteps, and saw him finally.
"We've got problems upstairs," she said to him, "Big problems."
"How big?" he asked, walking towards her still as he sensed her worry.
"Chloe, third floor," she replied, starting to turn back to the elevator.
Deacon growled, muttering something under his breath.
"Come on," she said to him, hitting the up button, "We've got to hit the armory first."
They both got into the elevator, and after a moment, the doors slid closed again.
"What about-?" he started to ask.
"The Blood Pack's slowing down Chloe for now," she replied.
"For now?" he repeated, "You're not gonna fight with them, are you?"
"I have to," Grace said, "They're my team, and Chloe's after you."
"But that fucking bitch would kill you just the same," he said with a little growl.
"The Blood Pack would kill her first," she said.
"Are you sure?" he countered, "Grace, I'm a fighter, I don't run and hide."
"I know," she said a bit more quietly, "And that's what killed you." She gazed up at him, watching the anger fade from his eyes as he felt her worry.
"She's not Blade," Deacon said. He had to fight Chloe, had to kill the bitch for what she'd done to Grace.
"No, she's worse," Grace said as the elevator came to a stop.
They stepped out, heading down the hall to the armory. She opened the door and stepped through first. The walls were lined with different types of guns and blades. On the opposite wall, above a table, on special brackets, was a sword. As she put down her pistol and picked up her gun belt, fastening it around her hips, Deacon looked around the room, his gaze coming to fall on the sword.
"My sword…you kept it for all these years?" he said, lifting it from the brackets.
She looked back over her shoulder at him, "Of course," she said, checking to make sure her guns were loaded, and that she had extra clips. Then she took her own sword and slipped it in the loop on the belt. She turned to him, "Are you ready?" she said.
Before they left the armory, he took a gun along with his old sword.
"Reinhardt," Grace said into her Comm. link which was looped over her ear, "Is she still on the third floor?"
"Fourth!" he replied, shouting over the sound of gunfire.
"Damn," she muttered to herself, "You all playing nice?"
"Never!" he said, and she smirked just a little; things must not be too bad yet.
"She's on the fourth floor now," she said to Deacon as they reached the elevator. "I'm going to get to hate this elevator," she added, hitting the down button.
"I know what you mean," he said, standing beside her.
The doors slid open, and they got inside. She pushed the button for the fourth floor, so tense that she almost hit the wrong one; her hands were shaking.
Deacon saw this and gazed at her for a moment. "You're really worried, aren't you?" he said.
She didn't look at him, continued to gaze straight ahead, "She's out for blood Deac. The Vampire Nation is out for blood. I betrayed them and they want you dead," she said, pausing for a moment. "I remember when they were training Chloe. I turned down her offer to join the Blood Pack, because she's too…dangerous. She's a lose cannon."
"And Reinhardt isn't?" he said.
She just looked at him. She twined her fingers with his. "I love you," she whispered as the doors opened to the fourth floor.
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Author Note: Thank you to everyone who has commented-nice things, lol-about my story I'm glad people still love this story, as it gets harder to write the more complicated the plot and characters get, but it's a lot of fun. I'm going to be sad when I have to end it, but I don't plan on making that soon . And Tmntgirl, I like your idea of Blade saving Grace from La Magra, it gives me interesting little ideas