Chapter Fifteen:

"How lucky for me," the woman with jet black hair said. Her voice was like silk, amplified by the microphone. The thumping music felt like background noise, even to me. "Is that the Sakamaki family I see over there?" she purred, pointing a long finger and decorated fingernail right at me.

I couldn't move. Something about this woman made me whole body tense up, and it felt cold, even in the steam and the heat of the crowd.

Shuu held me tightly against his chest and Subaru stood beside is. Ayato stood ahead of me, trying to stand in the way of the female's vision, while Laito fended off a few of the vampires trying to get a better look at me.

"My name is Ledia. I am here to bond with some new mates. And I'm so very glad that I came when I did. Purebloods are so rare nowadays, aren't they? You must be some of the few families left, if not the only ones…" She tossed the microphone onto the ground, causing a high itched ringing noise to erupt through the speakers. Someone turned it off a few moments late, but the woman had already appeared before Ayato. Her long fingernails stroked his jawline.

"Not interested," Ayato said with a smirk, slapping her hand away.

"That's too bad," the woman, Ledia, frowned, raising her hand back up. She stroked his jawline again. "I could always make you." She shrugged, and turned to Subaru, standing beside me. "And what about you? You're gorgeous, by the way. I'm sure you get that a lot around here, but even I'm impressed." She scratched Ayato's face as she walked away from him and neared Subaru. I heard him hiss as blood bubbled up from his skin.

Subaru just shook his head at her. I moved to look up. She was right beside me, and she smelled divine. Everything about her was intoxicating. I was even leaning towards her, and I could feel Shuu constantly holding me against him, his arm unwavering. I felt like he knew my body was reacting this way to the other female.

"And you…" the woman said, that smile still on her face as she turned to Shuu. "The tall one… You look…" she trailed off, and I knew it had to be because she was looking down at me. She was almost Shuu's height, and I felt so small beside her. My face was buried in Shuu's chest, but I could feel her hot gaze on the back of my head. "What do you have there? A human?"

I jumped when I felt long fingernails grab at my hair and run through it. I shivered, hating that her touch actually felt good. She played with my hair for a few moments before letting my curls fall back down against the back of my neck. My goosebumps didn't leave as quickly, though.

"I'm not mating with you," Shuu said, and his grip on me tightened.

"And what about you, handsome?" the woman said, and her voice gave away that she'd walked farther away from me. She must have thought I was just another human. I hoped so, at least. I didn't want any more of her attention.

"No, thank you," Laito purred, in his usual, sensual tone.

"Well… that won't do at all. Four purebloods standing right in front of me… I was told that I'm lucky if I even see a single one in my immortal lifetime… And none of you want to bond to me. What are we going to do about that?"

"Think about it," Laito said, "If any of us bonded to you, we would just be destroying our pureblood lineage. You've clearly got some human in you, so our children would be mixed breeds. As one of the last Pureblood families, it's our duty to continue our bloodline."

"It's not like I see any Pureblood females lining up to mate with you," Ledia spat, but her tone was still eerily playful. "I would think you'd be excited about my offer."

"I get a lot of offers," Laito sneered. "From much prettier and more powerful vampires than you."

"Oh, I do love a man with a mouth on him."

"Then I'm sure anyone in here will do. I, however, have a few more requirements for my mate. I'm not as easy."

"Boys," Ledia called, loudly. And I managed to turn my head to see an entire crowd of vampires line up behind her. "I actually brought my whole family here to party tonight. And seeing as there are only four of you and… well, plenty of us…"

"Get her out of here," Ayato hissed at Shuu.

"Get who out of here?" the woman asked, and Ayato tsked under his breath. "Are you talking about that human girl you have there? Yes, I've been wondering about her this whole time. You, the tall one… you've been clinging to her like a pet. Are you attached to this human? Does she taste that good to you?"

"Go," Subaru said slowly, coming to stand between me and Shuu and the now-horde of vampires behind Ledia. It felt as if almost every vampire in the crowd was standing behind her now. Were they all… bonded to her? That was crazy. There must have been over thirty of them—all red-eyed and baring their fangs.

"I don't think so," she said, snapping her fingers. "Stop them!"

In the next second, Shuu whipped around and Laito shoved me into his brother's back, sandwiching me between the two of them. Subaru still stood in front of the female and Ayato was already baring his fangs at another man trying to get around him.

"Oh, she must be good, then." I couldn't see the female, but I could hear her high heeled shoes clacking against the floor as she walked closer to where I was being smooshed between the two brothers. "I'd really enjoy a taste, if you don't mind… Hold them!"

I'd never heard Shuu hiss like this before… The sound that came out of his mouth was violent and alarming, like more of a roar than a hiss. But just as he let out the sound, he was ripped away from me by several other vampires. I yelped when one tried to grab at me next, but Laito took Shuu's place in front of me, and I only saw a splatter of blood hit the ground next to my feet.

I jumped and turned when I heard Ayato shout, and when my eyes found him, he was on one knee on the floor, clutching at his shoulder. He looked up at Subaru, who just nodded at him and grabbed my arm. Laito shoved some more people out of the way as he dragged me closer to the exit. I could see the red sign above the door getting closer and closer.

But then I heard Laito shout, and then Subaru was ripped away from me and with no one holding onto me I suddenly felt very naked. I froze and tried to understand my surroundings.

"Here, honey," I heard Ledia whisper, and I screamed when her voice was right in my ear. The lights kept dancing into my eyes and I could barely focus with the steam around me. I couldn't even tell where Laito or Ayato were anymore. I could see Subaru a few feet away from me, but he was grabbing at another male. And where was Shuu? I couldn't even begin to look for him. "Let's loosen you up a bit. Get that blood of yours flowing for me, will you?

I felt the woman's ominous presence beside me again and something was suddenly pressed against my lips. It was her. I felt her mouth move on mine and I screamed. But just as my lips parted, she spit something down my throat, and I shivered once before her presence was gone and I dropped to my knees on the floor. The bitter aftertaste in my mouth made me very nervous.

"Yui!" I heard someone scream, and it was Subaru. I could clearly see him a couple of feet from me, behind held down on his knees. His shirt was torn open and his pants were undone in the front. The woman came up behind him like a shadow, looked once at me, smirked, and reached down to dig her fingernails into his chest until red dripped down under the top of his pants. She reached her head down and touched her mouth against his. I was about to shout, but she immediately recoiled.

"You're… already bonded," she frowned, but waved her hand at him. "Let this one go. I can't have him."

I was about to cry with joy, but I realized I was already crying. But I wasn't sobbing, and I didn't feel sad. Tears were just coming out of my eyes, stinging them and making it harder for me to see. And my body was getting so very hot… And some kind of… goo… something sticky was between my legs, heating up my insides. I suddenly felt the need to take off my shirt. It was making me sweat. I couldn't handle this kind of heat. My body… what was wrong with me?

"Yui!" Subaru screamed again, and as soon as the other vampires released him, he crawled over to me on all fours. I barely realized that my shirt had been halfway off until he shoved it back down. "What did she give you? Shit! We have to get out of here!"

"…b… but…" Was that my voice?

"The others will be fine. I need to get you home. Now."

He reached for me, but I struggled against him. No. I couldn't go. The lights, the music, the smells… God, the smells. I could smell blood everywhere. I… I wanted blood. I needed it. And without warning, my fangs elongated, and I bit down hard on Subaru's arm. He shouted and hissed, and ripped himself away, but not before I swallowed a gulp of it. That was what I needed. Hot, sticky blood. But that wasn't enough. I needed more. More blood. And god, there was such a heat between my legs. I needed relief. I needed blood and I needed… something else. My eyes darted around, and I was surprised to find that I could see through the steam like clear glass now. I found Shuu's puff of orange hair and I immediately stood, shoving people out of the way to get to him. I noticed Ayato off to my left, but I needed to focus. God, it was so hard to focus.

"W… what is she?" I heard someone ask, and I rolled my eyes. That annoying woman was clearly a female vampire. What a stupid question. Were they blind or something?

"Yui!" I heard Subaru scream again, and I paused to look around. I turned and found him writhing on the floor, like he was trying to get up but couldn't. But he wasn't injured. The only blood on him was from the woman's fingernails on his chest, and the bite I left on his arm. He was fine. Why was he being such a crybaby?

"He's… immobile," Ledia whispered, and I whipped around when her voice was in my ear again. But by the time I turned, she flashed halfway across the room. "How strange… You're a human, and yet… Is that pureblood bonded to you, little girl?"

"Shut up," I said, narrowing my eyes, and I could barely recognize my courage, much less my own voice.

"You know, that drink I gave you is supposed to make humans sluggish and… more compliant" she said with a smirk. "Are you not a human, little girl? Then what are you?"

I couldn't focus on her question. So, instead I decided to ignore her and go back to finding Shuu. Which was easy when I could see. Whoever lightened up the fog was a lifesaver. His orange hair stood out like a lightbulb in a dark room now. But by the time I reached him and managed to get the five or six other vampires off of him, all I could think about was his blood. That's what I needed. That's what I came over here in the first place for anyway. So, I bared my fangs at him.

"She's… a vampire?" I suddenly heard someone say, and I closed my mouth, frowning. I turned around and for some reason, I knew exactly who had made the comment. It was a short, young vampire male, with short, dark brown hair and dark eyes. He was on the ground and looking up at me with fear in his eyes. But why? I was hardly an intimidating person…

"It's supposed to be a secret," I hissed, once again in that voice that I didn't recognize. And before I could think about what I was doing, my foot came out and kicked the young vampire male, and his flailing body must have been a couple feet off the ground before he landed a good distance away.

"Yui…" Shuu's voice said, and I turned to face him, curiously. He was standing now, his hands raised and his eyes wary. Why was he looking at me like that? He took gentle steps close to me, and I found myself smirking at him and placing one hand on my hip. I almost laughed. But then he froze. "Yui… your eyes… you have to calm down."

"I am calm," I said with a light laugh. What was he talking about? But more importantly, why wasn't he offering me his blood? Didn't he know how thirsty I was? I took a quick step towards him and he jumped, which made me jump. I'd never seen any of the brothers get startled before. It made me laugh.

"What… is she?" I heard the female ask, and suddenly I found myself getting angry. And then I felt my fangs get even longer, and I gnashed my teeth together, but the points dug into my bottom lip, drawing blood, making me even angrier.

I found her a bit in the distance, and when my eyes locked with hers, I saw her move, like she was floating, very slowly to her right. I ran to stand in her way and she jumped, just as Shuu had done. Her eyes were wide and she was… afraid? Why? Maybe she should be, though…

"Your eyes… are…"

I heard hissing behind me and I turned again. Several of Ledia's mated males were snarling at me. How rude… What could I possibly do to a powerful vampire like her? And they were seriously trying to threaten me? God, how bad could vampires possibly get?

"Ayato," I said, but I could only hear his light growl off to my right. He was still being held. I narrowed my eyes at Ledia. How dare she… hold my mates hostage. Who the hell did she think she was? Whether they were all bonded to me or not, they were all mine.

"Let him go! Now!" Ledia shouted, and in the next moment, Ayato was at my side. Subaru joined him, but he quickly dropped to the ground beside me. He looked hurt, but it didn't feel that way to me. Did that female hurt him? Was it her? My anger started boiling again, but something else was hitting me hard, and it felt like nausea.

Before I had time to think, I doubled over hard and threw up onto the floor, my vomit red as blood. No, it was blood. And then another wave hit me, and I threw up again. And this time, pain shot through my body like a wildfire and I cried out with it. My knees hit the floor and it happened again. I felt Ayato try and lift me from around my waist and I tried to comply and get back on my feet, but it happened again, and every part of my body was too weak to stand. I started to cry.

"What did you give her?!" Ayato shouted.

"Help…" I managed to hoarsely whisper, and I saw Laito flash to my side, practically kicking Subaru out of the way to help Ayato hold me upright. Real tears streamed down my face now, and I cried as I threw up more blood, my eyes pinned to the floor and the dark red puddle I was making there. There was no way I'd taken this much from Subaru. Where was it all coming from?

"What happened to her?" Ayato hissed frantically, and I watched Laito bare his pure white fangs and tear open a gash in his wrist. "What are you doing? Stop!" He pushed his bleeding wrist between my parted lips as I panted.

"Drink," he commanded, but I didn't want it anymore. Hot, sticky blood was going to make me wretch. Why did I even want it before? It was disgusting. What was wrong with me? "Drink!" he shouted again, this time holding my nose closed so I had to swallow at least a mouthful.

"Cut it out!" Ayato shouted at him, but I swallowed another mouthful and I didn't feel like throwing up anymore. I grabbed his arm with my hands, covered in my blood-vomit, and drank from him. The taste was deplorable, but it felt good going down my throat. And the fact that it was Laito's blood made it go down a little smoother. And for some reason, I could taste a bit of his arousal. He was turned on by this. He liked it when I drank from him this way. And I liked that he was enjoying himself. It made me want him. It made me want more blood again.

"What… is she? How can she hide it? She'd smelled like a normal human before…" Ledia suddenly asked, appearing in front of me. I jumped at how quick she was. Before, it felt like she'd been moving in slow motion. Now, she seemed faster than before. "The scent of her blood is… amazing. But she doesn't smell like one of us… Not even my males could tell until just a few moments ago… She seems so… so human. But then, it's her that you're bonded to. But only you," she said, pointing at Subaru, still on the ground. How much blood did I take from him, anyway? "And… you," she pointed to Ayato. "The other two, I can smell that you're still available. So, I think… while your female is weak, I'll take one of you with me—"

Instantly, I stood and my hand shot out, grabbing the black-haired woman's throat. My eyes widened, and for some reason, I knew that they were a deadly shade of blood-red. I didn't feel like myself anymore. All I knew was that this woman had the power to take one of the brothers from me. And I'd kill her before I let her have any one of them.

"You will not," I hissed, again with a voice I didn't recognize. "They are mine." Was I dreaming?

Ayato flashed… or more like, he ran… in slow motion again, when one of Ledia's males tried to stop me from crushing her windpipe. I could see everything unfold like a lagging movie. The other male raced forward, and Ayato grabbed the front of his face and slammed him into the ground. Then he stood and did it again, to another male. And another. And I realized that while I held her like this, they would all come to her aid. I could kill her like this… I knew I could. And they knew I could. I could just close my hand around her neck and crush the life out of her. It would only take a moment—

"Yui! Stop!"

I turned my head and saw Shuu again, his hands still raised and his eyes still wary.

"She wants to take you from me," I hissed at him. How could he defend her? Did he want to be taken from me? Did he prefer her long black hair and tall, slender figure to mine? Did he think I wasn't good enough? How dare he! I bared my fangs at him. "Fine! Then go be hers! Get out of my sight!"

"Look at me," Laito cooed, and I felt his hand on my face. I turned and glared at him and he gave me a strange expression. "Whoa, easy there. What's that killer look for, Little Bitch? We all just want you to calm down—"

"I am calm!" I screamed, and he took a quick step backwards, releasing me. "Are you siding with her?!"

"You should leave," Subaru said, finally managing to stand. He was looking at Ledia. "Take your coven and get out of here. I don't know what's happening to her, but I have the feeling that she may be—"

"Yea. I get it. I'm out. Whatever…" She turned, but paused for a moment. "I don't care who she is. If she's dumb enough to keep you all around and not bother to mate with you, someone's going to end up taking the rest of your family away eventually. And trust me. I'm interested in a pureblood. I'm sure plenty of my friends would be, as well. And if she is what I think she is… all the more fun to tear her apart."

I snarled as she and many others started to disappear from around me. Ledia was gone first, and the others filed out after her. The world soon went back to moving way too fast. The vampires were running around at their super speed again and it was starting to make me very dizzy.

"Sh… Shuu…" I moaned, my eyes lidding. I felt my knees cave in and one of the brothers caught me long before I hit the ground.

"Hey, Little Bitch. Can you open your eyes for me?" Laito asked, his hands gentle on my body as he cradled me. "Let me see those pretty eyes."

I barely had enough strength, but I managed to open them just enough to see his face. And the three others were sanding above me, looking into my eyes, as well. Something was wrong about the way they looked at me now. I couldn't help but frown.

"My eyes…" I whispered. "They turned red, didn't they? That drink she gave me… I felt… like a vampire."

"Yui," Shuu whispered, and I felt his hands on my shoulders and back. He opened his mouth to speak, but he paused when Laito shook his head.

"Have Reiji explain it to her tomorrow," he said calmly. I kept frowning. Explain what to me? And why couldn't they just tell me now? What was wrong? Was there something wrong with me? "I didn't think her blood would have this much of an effect on her… It's almost as if… she's actually…"

I wanted to ask them more questions, but things were getting blurry and my nausea was coming back. And at first I thought I was about to pass out, but I was very wrong.

Laito immediately flipped me over, holding onto my stomach and letting my knees hit the floor. I was glad he could tell before I could, as more blood-vomit came up from my throat and hit the floor in front of me.

"What does she need?" I heard Ayato ask, but no one ever answered him.

"Here," Laito said, ripping open his other wrist and putting his blood to my mouth. I wanted to recoil, but it had helped before, so… I latched on and drank a few mouthfuls. But it didn't work this time. I threw up again and again until I was out of breath, and both Laito and Subaru were cradling my body and holding back my hair.

"We couldn't make it to the bathroom?" I heard Shuu ask.

"I think it's over for now. We just need to get her home."

"What did that bitch give her?"

"It was just the usual drink…"

"Then why—"

"I don't know."

I managed to roll my head a bit and look at eye level with a foot and a half off the ground. "Shuu," I called, and now I recognized my own voice. It was the usual pathetic whimper I was used to.

"I'm here." He knelt beside me and cupped the side of my face with his one large hand. He turned my head for me so I could see him. And I choked on a light cry. He had a number of scratches on his face, both his earbuds were out of his ears. One hung down the front of his shoulder, while the other was torn from the wire near his neck, and his left ear was bleeding down to his collarbone and staining the top of his tan jacket.

"Don't," I hiccupped, "Don't… drink from anyone else… please."

His expression turned pained and I almost regretting asking that of him. But I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand the thought of him with another woman, and now I couldn't get the image of him with that naked blonde on the couch out of my head. It was burned into my memory and all I wanted to do was forget. But it would never go away. Not for a while, at the least.

"I…" he trailed off. His eyes fluttered to the ground and closed. He just nodded a few times, but when he looked back up at me, he gave a light snarl. "Then you'd better be prepared to feed me whenever I ask it of you. If you don't, I'll have to find my meals elsewhere. I can't promise you anything, especially if you have all my brothers to feed, as well. I won't take from you when you're weak, so keep yourself healthy for me."

I knew that was as good of an answer as I was going to get from him, so I just smiled as best I could and nodded back. He wasn't angry with me… That was just who he was. And I knew it when he sighed and nuzzled his face into my hair. He cared about me in his own way, just like the rest of them.

"I'm going to lift you," he said. "We need to get you home now."

"Little Bitch just gave the world her debut, it seems. I doubt that female isn't going to tell everyone about you after what you just did."

I heard Subaru hiss at Laito's comment, and I wondered what he meant by that.

"I… I didn't do anything…" Now the world was getting dizzy.

"Easy, Pancake," Ayato chuckled, and as Shuu lifted me into his arms, I felt Ayato's cold hands brush through my hair, caressing my scalp. I still felt sick, but I knew the four of them were with me. My mind slowly eased and I allowed my consciousness to slip between my fingers.

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"—don't even know if she knew about Cordelia."

"Her existence was far from being kept a secret. She wanted the world to know who she was, and more importantly, who her father was. Although, Burai mostly kept to himself. His name isn't known by many in our world."

"Still, everyone knew Marae and what happened to her."

"That woman—Ledia, didn't seem to know that Cordelia was the last of her kind. Demon blood doesn't corrupt pureblood's heritage, otherwise we'd be the last purebloods forever. Ayato, Kanato and Laito wouldn't be purebloods if that was the case. Our line would just end with us."

"If it was a question of whether or not Yui could have pureblood children, I guess we have our answer."

"But Reiji… her eyes…"

"They must have turned red. I'm glad she's finally embracing her vampire side."

"No, that's not—"

"Then you know what will happen if she has children with any one of us."

"I don't understand why that scares you."

"We don't need any more vampires like Cordelia in this world!"

"You really think all mixed breeds will be like her? And what's to say that she won't have all male children?"

"They could be even worse!"

"Than a female?!"

"Enough!"

"You know that she'll be found out soon enough. If Ledia tells anyone about what happened to Yui, it won't be long before everyone knows who she is and where she came from… They'll come for her. They all will."

"Then we run—"

"I'm not running from my own home. Let them come. I'll destroy them all…"

"What if they find out we're the last of our kind? They'll come for us, too."

"We'll be bonded to her by then…"

"Rushing her hasn't been very effective so far…"

"You don't understand! Her eyes…"

"I think we get it, Shuu."

"No, you don't. Her eyes weren't red. We all saw them. You don't fully understand what's happening to her. Cordelia's blood is what triggered the Awakening, so it's Cordelia's blood that runs in her veins, now."

"We already knew that. That's old news."

"Yes, but we just assumed that the Awakening was a process meant to create new pureblooded vampires. We never considered the actual effects of whose blood was used to turn her."

"What are you saying?"

"Her eyes weren't red last night, Reiji. They were yellow."

"What?"

"Her eyes were following our movements. She could even keep up with Ledia. Our speed and strength meant nothing to her. At one point, she tossed vampires aside like playthings to get to Ayato. She was… ruthless."

"That drink… it's used to strip humans of their humanity for a short time. It makes them feel less mental and more physical… instinctual. If Yui took it and her human emotions were stripped for a time, then what was left—"

"Should have been her vampire side?"

"But that's not all that's in her."

"We've been assuming that she was a human, turned into a vampire. But maybe she's not. Maybe… she's something else, too."

"So, you're saying… you think she's mentally human… physically a pureblood… and what else?"

"Did you not hear me before? I said her eyes turned yellow. They glowed yellow."

"So?"

"Who else has yellow eyes? There are only a few people I can think of."

"Ayato…"

"And Cordelia.

"The founders?"

"And Burai."

"That's impossible…"

"Cordelia's blood turned her. How impossible could it be?"

"Yui… is half pureblood… and half demon."

"It won't just be the lower vampires coming for her now… Burai will hear about her. Richter will come out of hiding. Half-vampire females everywhere will want her dead. And…"

"And?"

"Karlheinz… will try to use her."

"Not that again… Doesn't he know by now that the Adam and Eve project was useless from the start?"

"That was before we thought it possible to have a Prospective Bride. Wasn't that a big part of his plan? And he hasn't shown up yet. He knew Cordelia's heart was inside of Yui. He knew Richter put it there."

"What about Seiji?"

"What about him?"

"Do you think… he's still alive?"

"I hope not."

"He'd want our family to hold up our end of the bargain…"

"He's not taking her."

"Him and all the others. Let them try."

"And what of Giesbach? And Krone's family?"

"Everyone will come for her. We need to expect that now."

"If she's a demon—"

"She is."

"Then she has the ability to work with magic."

"We have no one who can instruct her. She won't be able to learn on her own…"

"Keep her away from demonic magic! You know what that can do to a vampire!"

"And how are we supposed to do that when she's practically another of Burai's daughters?!"

"Shut up!"

"It's no use… look."

"She's waking up…"