A/N: Thank you all for your reviews! They really made my day. So you're looking forward to meet H's mentor, huh? Well you're going to meet her today. Let's see what you will think of her. I wish you all a merry Christmas and hope that you'll have a wonderful day with your loved ones.

Chapter 13

"Okay, H. I have to admit that I really would have never found this place," Eric said when Horatio parked the car in front of a plain building. The ride had taken them into areas he'd never seen before and this meant something, since he was born in Miami. Speed must have felt the same way, because during the whole journey he had been pretty quiet in the car with practically no ranting about why this was a bad idea.

"Well that's the idea Eric," Horatio smiled at his passenger. "The community likes to stay on its own and a flashy exterior would only attract human party people."

"Like us," Speed mumbled quietly in the back of Horatio's SUV.

"Yes, like you," Horatio agreed. "And that's why you need to know some rules and follow them."

"You know that you're talking about Delko here, right?"

"Shut up, Speed," Eric shot back.

"Thank you for giving me a perfect example of the first rule," Horatio rolled his eyes. "No fights inside this building. No snarky comments, no fooling around, no nothing."

"Yeah, listen to that carefully, Delko."

"I'm not that bad," Eric huffed and Speed only snorted.

"Sure…"

"I mean it boys, this is important. I already told you that there are good and bad ones inside and the moment you walk through that door, they'll know that you're still happily alive. No need to get even more attention from them by acting like kids, okay?"

"Okay," Speed nodded, but didn't feel any better. "Are you sure that this is a good idea, H? I mean if we're that unwelcome there.."

"Actually, I thought the same," Eric agreed. This morning the sound of visiting a vampire club had been exciting; but the more he heard, the less exciting did it sound.

"You're not completely unwelcome there, you're just special. Which leads me to the second rule; no flirting with the vampire ladies."

"Is there are reason why you're especially looking at me?"

"Of course there is, Delko. I'm not the one who gets all goo goo eyes when he hears about those ladies. And I'm sure that H can flirt with them as much as he wants to...or…at least until Cal finds out and drags him out of this place."

"Funny, Speed," Horatio groaned. "But anyway, they'll try to flirt with you, it's in their nature. Try to look nonchalant, that's all I'm asking for. And last but not least, don't leave my side. As long as you're in my reach, you belong to me and they won't touch you. I promise you that."

"We could go hand in hand then," Eric joked.

"Yes this sounds exciting, Delko. Two gay humans and a vampire. Just perfect," Speed snarked, but couldn't stop grinning at the sight. "I guess they'll throw us out then."

"Maybe," Horatio grinned and reached for his keys. "So let the party begin."

"Hope we're not the main course. Thinking about it, Delko, have you ever watched the movie From Dusk Till Dawn?"

"No, why?"

"Ah, just being curious. Did you H?"

"Mhm, I did and all I can say that it wasn't necessarily far away from the truth."

"I thought so," Speed grinned and enjoyed it immensely to tease his Cuban friend.

"I hate you both," Eric stated and then stopped, when Horatio did the same. Neither had he realized that they had reached the door already, nor had he realized this hunk of a guy standing in front of it. "Uh..H.. I think this is your show time."

"Horatio, long time no see. And you also brought some guests," the bouncer smirked at the two nervous looking humans.

"Henry," Horatio nodded politely. "Indeed I brought some guests, they belong to me."

"And here I thought you brought some fresh meat for the ladies, they would've loved you for that, I'm sure."

Horatio just chuckled. Henry had always had a nice kind of humour. Too bad that Eric and Speed didn't know about it. "Maybe next time," he deadpanned and kept a perfectly straight face when he heard two sharp gasps.

"Sophia has been asking for you."

"That's good, because I need to talk to her."

"Good, then tell me the password please."

"Quod sumus, hoc eritis. Fuimos quandoque, quod estis." (What we are, you will be. What you are, we've been once.)

Opening the door, Henry stepped away to let them in. "Have a good night then my friends."

"I'm sure we will," Horatio smiled and motioned the boys to follow him. "Oh and before I forget, Henry, would you please be so kind to stop any vampire who wants to drag them out of here? They do have the tendency to attract…hmm...how to I put that nicely? Trouble?"

"Anything for you, Horatio," the bouncer nodded and winked at the two men. "Though I'm sure that you'd enjoy an encounter with one of our ladies. Or maybe more?"

Speed and Eric just looked at each other and blushed.

"Not tonight, Henry," Horatio laughed at the embarrassed boys and walked inside the club.

The light was dim as always, since the club didn't have any windows. Horatio had never liked this, but since some of the customers were allergenic when it came to sunlight, he had to live with it. Chandeliers and sconces were illuminating the interior as well as they could, but there were enough dark corners and sometimes it was better not to know what was going on there. "You coming?" he called over his shoulder.

"Yes," came the quick reply from both boys.

"Horatio, who's Sophia?"

"The woman I told you about, my mentor," Horatio explained and rolled his eyes when he saw that Eric was eying one of the ladies on the bar. "It's like herding cats with him."

Speed just turned around and rolled his eyes. "Delko," he hissed, "come here."

"H, man, you never told us how beautiful these ladies are," the Cuban grinned when he stopped next to the others.

"Just think about the movie…ah.. I forgot.. you didn't watch it," Speed smirked evilly.

"Would someone please tell me what the heck happens in this mysterious movie?"

"Oh can I? Can I?"

"If you want to," Horatio shrugged and acted as he wouldn't listen to them. He couldn't help but smile though, when Eric's face became significantly ashen after Speed had told him about this special out of the way bar with the beautiful ladies inside and the fact that all truckers never made it out alive again.

"I think.. I think I'll pass this time," Eric gulped.

"I thought so," Horatio nodded. "Okay, listen to me. Sophia is the leader of this society, okay? This means she's an old vampire and a strong one, you understand? She's just like any other woman, so please refrain from asking her how old she is, because I'm not sure how her reaction will be like."

"Do you know how old she is?" Eric asked nonetheless, which resulted into a "He's hopeless" comment from Speed.

"I do, but I won't tell you. And now stop asking me, but do as I said, okay?" Seeing the two nods, he turned around again and made his way through the crowd into a more secluded area of the club. He nodded at one of the other vampires who was acting like a guard and then stopped in front of a woman, who was sitting in a very comfortable looking wing chair. A young man was serving her some food, while others were talking quietly to each other. As always, he bowed his head and waited for her to acknowledge him.

Not knowing what to do, Eric and Speed stood beside Horatio and couldn't help but being in awe by this woman. She didn't look older than mid-thirty; she had wavy, long brown hair and most impressive green eyes.

Sophia had known the moment Horatio had entered the club that he was here and not alone this time. This was a surprise in both cases, so she was curious about the reason why. She could already think of something, but she wanted to hear it from him. Smiling at his submissive gesture, she waved at the other people in the room to leave. "Horatio," she said softly and held out her hand, which Horatio readily kissed. "I'm surprised to see you here and with two guests as well."

"That I did," he looked at her. "They belong to me."

"I see," she accepted his well chosen words and then looked at the two rather uncomfortable looking men. "And what are your names then? It's so rare that Horatio brings two so happily alive and good looking men into this club."

Now they knew what Horatio meant when he talked about flirting women, this woman sure knew how to have her way around men. Taking a quick look at Horatio, who just nodded, they introduced themselves.

"I'm Eric..," he wasn't sure if he should say his full name, but since they all seemed to call each other by just their first name, he didn't see a reason why he should give more away.

Speed, who had the same thought, did the same. "My name is Tim."

"Tim and Eric, two strong names, for two strong men. I like that," she smiled at them and if it hadn't been for Horatio's presence, they both might have melted at that. "So," she reached for a goblet and turned her attention towards Horatio again. "What can I do for you little one?"

He hated it when she called him like that, but that was the price you had to pay when your mentor was a woman and a couple of hundred years older than you. Thankfully the boys refrained from any comment, at least for now. "I need to talk to you in an urgent matter, Sophia," he answered her truthfully.

"An urgent matter, I see," she mused and took a sip of her drink. "And what would this urgent matter be?"

Horatio knew her games all too well. "Gabriel is back."

"Gabriel is back, I see. And what makes you think that, Horatio?"

"He left me a message on his latest victim," he stated. "The message was, "Too late childe".

Furrowing her brows, she delicately tipped her finger against her lower lip. "This is a very interesting message. So why are you here then?"

"We need to find him, but we don't know where he's hiding. He killed innocent young women, like he did back in New York."

"Yes, but why are you here, Horatio?"

Oh he hated when she did that. "Because," he really needed to stay calm, "you either know where he is, or you can find it out."

"So can you, my dear Horatio," she pointed out. She knew that he was frustrated, he was very easy to read for her. "So tell me Horatio, do you want to find him because he killed innocent humans, or because of a more personal reason?"

He knew that she already knew the answer to that. And she also always knew when he was lying. In a very weird way, this woman was like a mother to him, at least in his vampire life. "Both," he admitted.

"And this is the reason why I can't help you. You want to find and kill him, I can't allow you that. Find him on your own and bring him here, we'll deal with his punishment then."

That was not the answer he had hoped for. "But Sophia-"

"No," she interrupted him immediately, "you heard what I said. Find him on your own. All I can tell you that he's in Miami and won't leave the town. I don't know exactly where he is, you're on your own Horatio. You have your two friends here, who'll be a wonderful help to you, I'm sure. And let's not forget this beautiful new lady in your life, right?" she drawled. She knew everything about Horatio, he was her very special little one after all. The youngest of her vampire children, even though she hadn't made him.

Horatio dropped his gaze and relented. "Yes," he murmured.

"Good then," she waved at the others to come back. "So do you want stay here with your friends for a little while?" she smiled at the boys. "I'm sure that some of our ladies would enjoy their company."

"No, we're leaving," Horatio stated and didn't even give the others a chance to answer the question. "Thank you for your time," he nodded politely and kissed her hand again.

"For you always my dearest," she smiled. "I'm sure I'll see you again soon."

"Maybe," Horatio just mumbled and motioned the others to leave.

Once outside the club, the boys took a deep breath. "My God, H…what was that?" Speed exclaimed.

"This was Sophia in a playful mood."

"Then I don't want to see her in a lousy one," Eric muttered. "But my, isn't she a goddess? I don't think that I've ever seen a woman that beautiful."

"I hate to admit it, but I have to agree with Delko here."

"She is," Horatio agreed. "She looks good for 800 years, huh?" he winked at them and grinned when their jaws dropped open.

"Whoa…800 years? She surely knows how to stay in good shape."

"She sure does," H just nodded.

"But she didn't help us at all," Speed pointed out.

"Not really, no," H shook his head. "But we'll talk about that tomorrow with the others. I need to think this through. And to be honest, I'm quite tired."

"Yeah, me too. I think it's her aura or something. It's hard not to get pulled into it," Speed said and climbed into the car.

"I bet men are like moths and she's the flame," Eric summed it up. "I have no idea how you can do that, H. Honestly, no red-blooded man is able to resist her."

Starting the engine, Horatio pulled out of the parking lot. "Who said I am?"

tbc