"Are you sure?" I asked, standing beside him with my arms crossed over my chest. Fangtasia is packed from wall to wall with Hounds, and the amount of energy rippling off of them is intense. Tangible. Through the wall of Hounds, I can see the vampires standing awkwardly off to the side; Eric caught my eye and I offered a small smile.

"Yes. Shall I address them, or would you like to do the honor?"

"It was your idea to make a big mess of what should have been an in and out job. You do it," I pat him on the back and retreated, away from the crowd, and watched from the shadows where the two hybrids still stood.

Dante cleared his throat loudly and called for the attention of the Hounds, both Heaven and Hell. My pack looked to me for assurance, that they should be listening to the leader of a pack they would normally treat with contempt, and I nodded. Their glowing eyes returned to Dante's tall form, and listened intently to his every word and order. When it came to the subject of the vampires, Dante turned to me. I walked to the front of the crowd.

"While the rest of us are at the church, five Hounds from each pack will stay behind and guard the vampires," I said, and received a collective groan. I glowered at them, and they silenced. Quickly. "You will guard them with your life, and if they are harmed in any way, I will see to it personally that you are killed. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," Was the response, spoken in unison, the deep voices reverberating off of the walls like the heavy bass that would normally be pumping from the speakers at this hour. But tonight, the club is closed.

"Good. Delilah will choose the Hounds that will stay behind, in the meantime," I glanced at Eric, "be prepared to leave."

After a moment, they began talking amongst themselves, anxiously awaiting their departure. It has been a long time since something like this has happened, and I can tell they are all itching to jump into the fight. As am I. I have wanted for so long to kill Riggs, but never had a justifiable reason to murder him. I could have killed him simply for the fact he disobeyed me and betrayed me, but I let that go long ago. Mostly. Now that he has chosen to attack me and those I am in charge of protecting, I have every reason to go after him.

And I am elated.

From the corner of my eye, I can see Noah and Matthias tentatively approaching me. I smiled warmly at the two despite my uneasiness at having them here, and waved them over.

"You said that Riggs tried to have the two of you killed," I said calmly.

The both of them nodded. "Multiple times. But we were able to kill the Hounds he sent after us. Why?"

"I would like the two of you to stay by my side. I can get you closer to his pack," To ensure that they have a chance of getting revenge, and to keep an eye on them. They may be of my kind, but I can't trust them yet. I need to know they won't try and kill me. "But, Riggs-"

"Is yours," Noah said.

I smiled. "Precisely. No one may touch him but me. I've been waiting for this for far too long."

"Adrian," Eric placed a hand on my shoulder. I turned around.

"Hey. Is something wrong?"

He craned his head around toward the mixed pack. "You trust them to watch over us?"

"Heaven Hounds don't care much for vampires…as far as hurting them goes. And the others? You're in the presence of a rather peaceful bunch - as peaceful as Hell Hounds get, anyway - and they won't do you any harm. I promise," I looked him in the eye. "Everything will be fine."

I'm not even sure if I fully believe that. This should be fairly easy - in and out, as I said before - and shouldn't take long…but there's always room for things to go terribly, terribly wrong. Staring at Eric's tense body, I wished I could bring him and the others along, to make sure nothing will harm them. But doing so will only add more problems.

"I hope so. Don't get hurt again," He smirked, although it seemed strained. A forced smile.

"No promises-"

"Adrian!" Dante's voice boomed. "Let's go."

I grabbed hold of Eric's forearms to get his attention before I left to raid the church. "I'll know if anything happens to you or the others. I'll be right by your side if you need me."

And hopefully you won't.

He pulled me closer to him abruptly and placed a kiss on my forehead. "I mean it; don't you get hurt again."

I pulled away reluctantly and headed for the door. "I'll try not to," I looked between him and the others. "Stay safe."

Upon the end of that last sentence, I vanished from the club and raced alongside my pack, guiding them toward the church that housed the heretics and the Hounds.

. . .

The church was nothing like I had expected. I arrived here thinking Riggs and his cohorts had taken over a large church in the middle of a town, but it was the exact opposite.

The place of worship sat in the middle of nowhere, a small building set a mile off from a main road, and built in the middle of a clearing just outside the woods. We stuck low to the ground; quiet, and careful not to startle the human guards that had been placed around the perimeter, armed with rifles and iron chains, crucifixes dangling around their necks. In order for us to attack, Dante's pack would need to advance and kill the humans, as they can approach them.

Crosses have no effect on them.

I crawled over toward the other leader, and alerted him as to what would need to be done in order for us all to safely enter the church. Silently, Dante delivered the order to his Hounds.

One by one the humans dropped, blood spraying from the spots where their throats had been slit with a single swipe of a claw. The scarlet droplets fell to the ground like rain, creating puddles in the soft earth. Around me, the Hounds began shifting and disappearing into the darkness, the only sign that they remained here, were the growls rumbling deep in their chests, the crushing of the blades of grass. All of which rang loudly in my ear.

A light flickered on in the building, illuminating the left side. Glass shattered, and out of the broken window leapt four werewolves, one after the other, the dark haired bodies sticking close together, trying to sniff us out.

I shifted, leaving my clothes in a pile at the wood's edge, and headed toward the wolves, pulling as much energy as I could from their bodies. Using that energy, I manifested myself, and rose on my hind legs, letting a guttural roar escape from within me. They stumbled backward, shocked by the sight of me, and the volume of the roar, but quickly gained composure and loped toward me.

I swiped my paw out, catching one of the wolves in the face. The impact shattered his jaw. I felt the bones crumble beneath my hand. He rolled to the ground, howling in pain. Ignoring their injured mate, the wolves lurched forward, baring their teeth. I clutched the back of the Were's neck and bit down. Blood flowed into my mouth and I drank eagerly, savoring the taste and draining as much as I could from his wriggling body. I dropped the now human to the ground and began to race after the others, but remembered Noah and Matthias were behind me, trailing close. I nodded ahead of me, signaling for them to take down the remaining wolves, and left them.

Slowly I entered the church, sniffing the air for a trace of Dante's scent. He was right about one thing; the Christians summoning a Hell Hound certainly made entering the establishment considerably easier, although I still felt some resistance upon setting foot in the doorway.

I pushed through the wooden doors into the brightly lit chapel and trotted down the aisle past the broken, splintered and bloodied pews. Around me the Hounds fought, lashing out at each other with sharp claws and teeth, lacerating flesh and spraying hot, sulfurous blood on the stark white walls. I gazed up at the large cross hanging on the wall, and for a moment I was tempted to pray that everything would work out as planned.

But I have no time for such foolish things.

Through a door and down the hall leading to what I assume is the basement of the church, I padded quietly down the expanse of the hallway, claws scraping on the cement.

Suddenly a cloud of dust and fragments of dry wall permeated the humid air like a dense white fog, and through the wall appeared a Hound. I jumped backward out of the way, and braced myself for an imminent attack. The demon rolled on the ground, slamming into the wall on the opposite side of the hall and laid there, whining. Taking advantage of its position, I snatched the fur on the top of its head between my teeth and pulled the dog backward. I felt the heat coursing through its body, and soon enough, the Hound was up in flames.

I chewed through the thick black hair, and into the Hound's neck. She growled and writhed underneath me-

An enormous weight crashed down upon me suddenly, and I landed face first into the floor, yelping in pain. Just as I had done to the other Hound not seconds before, a pair of teeth began digging into the flesh of my neck, tearing away at the skin. Their tongue dipped into the wound they created and began lapping up blood. I pushed myself up violently and tossed the Hound off of me. I pounced onto his chest, and dug my nails into his chest, claws scraping against the bones of his rib cage.

I forced my paw down, through his cracking bones, and into his chest. Tightly, I gripped his heart and squeezed, rupturing the organ and ending his life. I left the other Hound there for someone else to finish off. Limping, I made my way down the corridor, peeking through every open door for Riggs.

There is only one room left.

The basement.

I passed through the heavy wooden door and padded silently down the metal steps, watching my feet carefully so that my nails would not scrape against the material.

The room looked something like a padded cell in an asylum; bright, white walls, no fixtures…only a cot in the corner and a lone light bulb hanging high on the ceiling. On the cot lay Sookie's body. I was tempted to rush over to her, but knew better. He's down here. I know it. And he'd take advantage of my concern for the human, and attack me.

Instead, I shifted and sat on the floor in the middle of the room. "I know you're here, Riggs. We've found you. No point in hiding anymore."

My words were met with silence, something I didn't like. It is not like him to hide, but I cannot blame him for doing so. What, with all the Hounds inside the building and surrounding the place.

But, what if he isn't here?

I shook my head. He's here. There is nowhere else to go for him. His scent is strong here, too…taking a chance, I rose to my feet and walked over toward the cot. I sat on the edge of the bed and shook Sookie's body gently, waking her. Her eyelids fluttered as she woke, and began muttering something incoherent. Suddenly she snapped up, screaming as loud as she possibly could, and pressed her hand to my chest, a ball of light emitting from her palms. Stupidly I stared down at the light instead of moving away from her, and within seconds, I was blown across the room.

"Fuck," I grunted, pushing myself up from the floor. Whatever she just did, was extremely powerful. And painful. I coughed, and felt something trickle down my chin.

Blood.

I wiped it away and glowered at Sookie. "Next time, do that to someone who's here to hurt you, not save you."

"I thought you were one of them," She said, standing up. "Adrian, I'm so sorry!"

"Whatever," I licked the blood off my lips. "I need to get you out of here."

"Not so fast, Adrian," He said.

Perfect, I thought, I knew this would drag him out. I turned to face him.

"Before you take your little human out of here and run back to your new vampire, I have someone I would like you to meet," Riggs said.

He stepped out of the doorway of what appeared to be a back room. From what I could see, stacks of books were piled up, just barely touching the ceiling. A devious smile spread across his face and suddenly I felt sick, fearing just who he has hiding in that back room. The tall, black haired Hound motioned for someone to step forward, and out of the dimly lit room walked…

Oh god, I could have passed out.

"No," I whispered. "No."

"Yes, yes," Riggs said, mocking me. "Your little boyfriend is still alive."

Alistair smiled weakly at me. "Hello, Adrian."