That afternoon, Hope and Ryan sat on the floor, surrounded by papers full of notes Ryan had scribbled down while Hope was asleep.

"Hope!" Alaric shouted from the front entrance.

"In here!" Hope replied.

Alaric strode into the room.

"Dr. Saltzman," Hope didn't look up from where she was writing out her own spell.

"You'd need to add this to make it work." Ryan handed her a note.

"Calm down. I know. And no, I don't want to know what monster Malivore spat out this time, if it doesn't require my immediate attention, and yes, I'm aware of who and what Ryan is, so don't start." Hope shuffled through the papers and studied the piece she picked up, then copied a portion of the notes.

"This is my life we're talking about here."

"Okay, fine, I won't tell you about the sphinx, but do you know what he did the other night?" Alaric demanded.

"He killed two people, yes, I'm aware. Now, I'm trying to find a way to keep him from having to do it again. Oh, and as for the sphinx, the answer is man."

"Contrary to popular belief, I'm not a fan of being the way I've behaved recently, and know that most of it has been beyond my control." Ryan glanced over Hope's writings. Tapping the page, he set another piece of paper in front of her as he said, "You need to add this prefix here if you want the results we discussed earlier."

"Hope, what are you doing?" Alaric asked, concern bleeding into his voice

"If I don't tell you, you don't have to lie later."

"Are you trying to help him with whatever he's got going on?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Hope continued writing, then showed Ryan the page. "How's that?"

"That should work for the first part."

"Hope, what are you thinking?"

"That I screwed him over by leaving him behind, so I'm gonna save him from the fate I left him to."

"Hope, Malivore spat him out for a reason."

"Don't, Dr. Saltzman. I know him better than you do."

"How do you know he's not just using you?"

"Truth spell." Hope turned back to her writing. To Ryan she said, "Who needs stacks of books when you've got a walking library of lore about what you are?"

"I told you. I've spent my entire life trying to free myself from my father. I know as much as there is to know about my kind."

"Why didn't you try this before?"

"Because I've never had a reason to actually fight to stay alive."

"Hope, please."

"Dr. Saltzman, I know you're trying to look out for me, but please, let me do this. Let me help him." Hope smiled at Alaric and added, "You don't need to worry about me."

"Your swan dive into the Malivore pit tells me otherwise."

"That was a split second decision, but this isn't. I do know what I'm doing. I'm using magic to save someone from a monster."

"Call me if you need anything." Alaric looked at Ryan, and his lips thinned. "You hurt her, and Malivore will be the least of your worries."

"Thanks, Dr. Saltzman. I think we'll be okay though," Hope said. She caught one of Ryan's hands in hers and rubbed her thumb against his wrist.

"There's nothing I can do to talk you out of this, is there?"

"No."

"Alright. I'll be by later. Just promise me you'll be safe." Alaric stuck his thumbs into his pockets and headed towards the door.

"We'll be as safe as we can be, considering what we're doing and this is why you need to leave, so you can still claim plausible deniability until the spell is complete." Hope held up her hand and said, "The spell will just affect him directly, so don't worry about that, but it could piss someone very powerful off."

"Okay, keep me out of the loop if you need to, but let me know if something happens and I need to know."

"I will."

Alaric disappeared around the corner, then a few moments later, the door closed behind them and Hope turned her full focus to the spell, aside from her grip on Ryan's fingers.

Ryan suddenly pulled his hand away and stared at it, then clenched in a few times.

"What's wrong?"

"My father sped up the process of killing me," he whispered, terror in his eyes.

"How do you know?"

"Because I can feel it."

"So, it looks like we're going to have to do the spell as soon as we think we've got it done. Because as much as I like having you inside me, having you inside my head is a little much."

Ryan smirked, then asked, "Won't you need a full moon?"

"It'll be harder, for sure, but I think I can do it without it."

"May I see?" He held out his hand and Hope gave him the spell. He looked it over carefully. "This is as close as we can get without turning me into another Malivore."

"And it will let you keep your face."

"Why? You don't want to face it that you've been kissing mud?" Ryan snorted in self-derision.

"It's not that. It's that this face, you seem most comfortable behind it and looking like Malivore is probably nowhere on your list of things to do with your life." Hope stood up.

"Already?"

"The sooner we get this done, the sooner Malivore loses control over you. Come on."

Together, they gathered the spell ingredients necessary, then headed out into the gathering dusk.

XXXX

Hours later found Hope carving the image of her lover carved out of mud, the scent of rust and iron lacing the air. Murmuring another spell, she cut her wrist again, infusing Ryan's new body with more of her blood.

Already she felt so drained, but she had to keep going. She was almost finished and the sooner they got him into his new body, the better off he would all be. He'd possibly be stronger, and he'd definitely be off Malivore's menu since he'd have too much of her blood in him.

Finally, it was complete. All she had to do now was place him inside his new form.

"Lie down here." Hope tapped the ground beside her, on the opposite side of the empty shell awaiting its new occupant.

Ryan did as directed and Hope raised her hands over the two bodies. As the spell left her lips, light flowed up from the decaying body and into the new one. After several tense seconds, he drew his first breath in the new body and he opened his eyes.

"How do you feel?" Hope placed her hand on his chest, the feel of his heartbeat beneath her fingers soothing her frayed nerves.

Ryan sat up slowly, then looked over at his old body, every muscle tensing.

"Get rid of it," he whispered, his lips thinning. "Destroy it!"

She reached out her hand and with a quick spell, the body faded to dust and the soft breeze carried it away.

"Thank you," he breathed.

"How do you feel?" she asked again.

"Strange." He stared at her, his dark eyes filled with an emotion she couldn't quite name. "I feel so strange."

"Good strange? Bad strange?" Hope traced his lower lip with the pad of her pointer finger and Ryan kissed her inner wrist.

"I don't know."

"Come on. Let's get inside. I think we both need a bath." Hope caught one of his hands in both of hers and pulled him towards the house.

In the bathroom, Hope started running warm water into the tub, then she guided him to sit down in it. Grabbing a soft cloth, Hope soaped it up, then started running it over his limbs. Every so often, she would rinse the mud off, then soap the cloth up and repeat the process.

"You don't have to do this."

"I want to though, so suck it up."

Ryan said nothing, though he relaxed considerably more beneath her touch.

"Are you okay?" Hope asked.

He blinked, focusing on her face for a moment, before saying, "It's all just so much. Everything feels so much more."

"It'll take some time to adjust to your new body, but I'm not going anywhere. I'm here, to help you." Hope cupped his cheek and smiled sadly. "I mean, technically, you are a part of my sire line and I won't fail again."

Steam clouded the bathroom as Hope continued scrubbing away the mud.

"Once a mud man, always a mud man," Ryan murmured as he watched the grime disappear down the drain.

"You're my mud man and I like you just the way you are, so shut it."

Ryan's lips curled up just a little, but he didn't seem able to smile all the way.

"Talk to me, what are you feeling?"

He was so quiet, so subdued, that Hope worried there was something wrong, that she'd messed up somehow.

"I'm free of my father and all I feel about that is emptiness," Ryan confessed.

"When you've spent centuries with one goal, achieving that goal, it can leave you feeling a bit adrift until you find a new purpose."

"Do you speak from experience?"

"My dad's experience." Hope smoothed a curl off his forehead. "I guess it's true that when a daddy's girl is irresistibly drawn to a man, it's because he's just like her dad."

Leaning over, she kissed him, her tongue sliding between his lips.

Hope grabbed the handle of the shower head and pulled it off its hook and rinsed away the soap and traces of mud off his pale skin and out of his hair. Ryan closed his eyes, a sigh falling from his lips, as she ran her hands over his body.

After she was satisfied that the last of the mud was gone, Hope hooked the shower head back up, then placed the stopper into the drain and poured some lavender soap into the water. Standing up, she stripped out of her clothes and climbed into the tub with him, straddling his thighs.

"Hope," Ryan breathed.

Hope dug her fingers into his hair and he rubbed his cheek against her wrist. Leaning over, Hope kissed his neck and Ryan tilted his head back with a soft sigh. He brought one hand up, cradling the back of her neck. His scent, it was slightly altered, though still familiar enough that she'd know it was him anywhere.

"I love you," Ryan whispered.

In response, Hope nipped at his earlobe and trailed her lips along his jaw until she neared his mouth.

"Stay with me." Hope kissed him, her teeth pulling on his lower lip.

Her shifting sent water sloshing towards the side of the tub and she reached behind her and used magic to turn the water off.

Once the water was off, Hope started kissing him again, their tongues sliding against each other. After a few moments, it was Ryan's turn to kiss her neck and further down until his lips closed over one of her nipples.

"Don't leave me," Hope sighed as she dug her fingers into his hair. "Please, don't ever leave me."

"I'm here," he breathed, then caught her other nipple in his mouth.

She caught the back of his head and brought his mouth back to her. Then, rising up on her knees, Hope took him inside her and, Ryan's mouth fell open as his eyes closed. When Hope rocked her hips, his back arched, her name coming from him in a strangled moan.

Slowly, oh so slowly, Hope rode him while keeping her gaze on his. Something about the vulnerability in his eyes told her than pain would not be on the agenda tonight, because tonight, he needed gentleness and love.

"Harder, please," Ryan begged and Hope acquiesced.

Seeing him like this, his dark eyes fixed on her, feeling him moving beneath her, she couldn't imagine ever not wanting him.

Soon, she felt her orgasm building and she braced herself on his chest so she could ride him faster.

"Hope. God, Hope, please." Ryan writhed.

A few moments later had Hope crying out as she found her release and Ryan wasn't far behind.

As the last shudders faded from her small frame, Hope reluctantly stood up and held her hand out to Ryan.

"Do we have to?" Ryan pouted, playful now.

"I'm tired enough that I could fall asleep in the bath if I stay in it much longer."

Ryan got to his feet and Hope drained the tub before grabbing a large, fluffy towel and they traded kisses while running the cloth over their skin.

When they finally got to the bed, Hope could hardly keep her eyes open and Ryan wrapped his arms around her, pressing her back against his chest.

"Thank you," he whispered as he kissed her shoulder.

"You're too important to me for me to let you die when I can stop it," Hope mumbled as sleep started to drag her under.