There were shopping bags in my room when I blinked my eyes back into focus. I'd slept for 10 hours but felt no more rested than I had the night before. As soon as I had woken up, the thoughts and weight of the previous night had flooded back over me, almost as if they had been waiting patiently for my attention. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes again willing the thoughts to slip back into darkness but they remained, stubborn and vengeful.

I needed a distraction.

The bags called to me, somewhat like I'd just woken up to Christmas. For a moment I worried that it might be, and I had missed it. It had been colder the last few days, very cold. Shaking away this worry, I stood from my bed and jogged to the bags like an eager child, flipping on the standing lamp.

The labels were vast and only some familiar. One, made of golden paper and about as tall as my knees, had a small slip of paper taped to its side. I lifted it up and read the neat, small script across it.

"You're closet was getting rather tired, kitten, so I picked up a few things that will make you simply glow. Sanura." I let the card drop. "I love these backhanded compliments."

The bag however was still tempting me and I peeked inside, pushing aside the useless, colorful tissue paper the fancier stores loved to stuff in there. I was greeted by dark blue material. It looked sleek and soft like silk, but I hesitated to call it such. I knew nothing of fabrics and there wasn't a tag. I pulled it out to inspect the dress. It was fitted and looked as if it would hug me tighter than I was comfortable with to my hips. The end flared out, cut asymmetrically down to my left knee. The coloring got darker toward the hem, going from a deep royal color to dark blue only shades away from black. It looked slinky and enticing, and something I could never in my life picture myself wearing. I slowly folded it up and placed it back in the bag, sliding it away from myself.

"Interesting." I muttered, wondering if all these new clothes would be as flashy. I imagined myself dressing like Sanura a moment, enhancing my figure, what I had of one, and making myself noticeable. Did I really want that now? I'd never really bothered before. I loved my skirts, but it was out of comfort, not vanity. Did I really need to make myself more noticeable when I was already pumping out the equivalent of a monster's love potion number 9?

Curiosity made me inspect the other bags regardless, hoping she might have kept my personal tastes in mind just a little. They were all expensive labels it seemed. She'd forgotten some of the tags and I grimaced at the prices. Some of them seemed too high to risk wearing them, but apparently I was just frugal. Shoes, pants, blouses, dresses, a few skirts that were flowing and gypsy-like and just to my taste, but for the most part Sanura seemed to have been attempting a makeover. The clothes were mature, flirty or meant to catch the eye, exactly what I wanted to avoid.

"Wonderful." I sighed, wondering what of it I could wear so as not to insult her. After a few minutes of deliberation I decided on a knee length maroon dress and black leggings that ended just below my knee. I pulled on the wonderful pair of dark grey, sensibly heeled boots, all rumpled leather and wonderful. I was a sucker for boots, and Sanura had supplied me with plenty of new ones to try out. As a last touch, I pulled on a black camisole to shorten the rather deep cut of the bust line and smiled. Unfortunately all of this had taken only half an hour, and soon after admiring my new clothes, the fear that even this would draw more monsters to me came thundering back.

I hurried from my room to find Sanura and a bit of comfort, but she wasn't in the upstairs sitting room, where I usually found her these last few days. Then while I was walking down the hall I noticed that the smell from downstairs wasn't as awful as it had been before. In fact, as I neared the stairs and gazed over the dark wooden banister, I found that the bodies were gone.

I jumped when the lounge door opened across the large entrance hall. Isaac was backing out of it, looking through the room, and over his shoulder were the bodies of Macey and her violin playing friend, simply hanging over his back like ragdolls. He noticed me when he was halfway across the room and paused to look up at me, cocking a brow.

The silence was long and awkward before he cleared his throat, nodded, and walked on toward the doors between the staircases. I hurried to follow, dashing down the stairs, noticing stains of red here and there that had yet to be scrubbed away. I'd caught him halfway through the clean-up. But hey, at least he'd listened, right? That was a good sign, wasn't it?

I jogged after the long-legged vampire out the back door and onto the lawn. It was a shorter distance from the trees than the front, but still open. His manor sat in a large clearing. A few yards out I found him over the mouth of a pit, tossing the violinist in and shifting Macey until he'd settled her friend. I came on him slowly, knowing he was very aware of my presence and stopped a few feet to his right.

The pit was large; it had to be to fit a dozen dead bodies. I'm sure it had taken him little time to dig it, but it would have been a day's work for any human. It was deep and wide and the people inside lay still and bent at odd angles against one another, some with open eyes that gazed lifelessly at the walls of their grave or up at me.

I had to take a few steps back while Isaac shot me a humored glance and lifted Macey from his shoulder. She still looked as if she might open her eyes, like she could just be sleeping. Until I saw the deep bruised gash in her throat, the illusion was wonderful.

"You're still here." He commented, slinging Macey into the hole with all the others, the last of the victims, like a cherry atop ice cream. I tried not to feel anything about it, to lock it away with all my other anxieties, but the drawer was getting pretty full now. It was harder to close.

"Were you hoping I had already left?"

"No." He replied quickly, then sighed and moved to the 50 gallon drum resting by the side of the pit. "I thought your god would have whisked you away by now. Get you away from the unstable vampire."

"Unstable?" I asked, half-smiling, hoping it was a joke in poor taste.

Isaac looked at me a moment before he grabbed the top of the metal drum, his fingers sank into the edge as if the metal were paper and he peeled back the top, regardless of the welding. It all made a horrible wrenching metal sound and I covered my ears a moment until he'd finished and kicked the drum on its side. Orangish-tinted liquid poured out, filling the air with rancid gas fumes as it spilled into the pit. He watched this a moment then backed up, lifting up his arm to make me move with him away from the pit. He pulled a pack of matches from his pocket and struck one then lit the others and tossed it into the pit. The fumes ignited before the matches had hit the bodies and a wall of fire exploded up out of the pit. I let out a startled noise and grabbed Isaac's arm before the fire settled and he slipped away from me without a word.

I followed the vampire back inside and into the parlor were he settled behind the desk and opened the sleek, black laptop on its surface. As I settled into the loveseat that faced him, Isaac glanced up at me and frowned, then began clacking away on the computer. I watched him a while in silence, wondering if he were just going to ignore me, and whether it was because he was a bit embarrassed at what he had done. After a few minutes however, he sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Could you stop starring at me? I'm faking my taxes here and you're making me feel like Big Brother is breathing over my neck."

I laughed at that, wrapping my hand around my rumbling belly and thinking of food. "You fake your taxes?"

He arched a brow, "Well yes. I don't actually exist. Not everything can be honest. Beside's do you know what the taxes are for someone with my kind of money? No thank you. America can bite me."

"Well when you're finished stiffing the IRS, I'm starving and you haven't restocked your fridge what with all the murder you've been busy performing."

"Mira," he began tiredly, but I held up a hand.

"I'm asking you to take me out for something to eat, this will not become an Inquisition."

Isaac closed the laptop, staring at me over it with slightly narrowed eyes. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Mostly because if I don't eat things I'll waste away and die. I'll probably be really cranky about it too."

He gave me an arched look at my sarcasm and shook his head with a weary laugh. "I thought you were mad at me again. Aren't you supposed to be cursing me and telling me how much of an evil bastard I am? That's the normal routine."

"Is that what you'd like me to do?"

"No." he sighed, eyes going back to the screen though he didn't really see it anymore. I waited for him to continue, but he only sat there, silent and so still it would have unnerved me if I weren't getting used to him doing such things. After a long moment I unfolded myself from the chair and walked toward him. His eyes snapped up to me, following my progress with a frown. They were bright and beautiful, blue and green. Why didn't I look at them more often? Why didn't I look at him? Isaac was beautiful, painfully so, tall and lean and perfect and suddenly I wanted to slap myself for not jumping him sooner, circumstances be damned.

He watched me with curiosity as I stopped right in front of him, turning his office chair to face me and stepping between his knees. He didn't move, simply watched as I leaned down, planting my hands on his broad shoulders for support and with a smile, kissed him. He didn't kiss me back at first, just sat there, confused and startled and then when my fingers skimmed around the back of his neck to play with the short soft hair there, his arms snapped out and he pulled me into his lap. We remained like that a while, simply enjoying the feel of lips and tongues and teeth, and then I pulled back, tracing the line of his wonderful strong jaw with my fingertip.

"I'm not mad at you." I said softly, leaning in to kiss his cheek. "Last night I was scared and angry, I spoke before I thought, like usual." He seemed to want to comment on that but decided against it and nodded instead. "The fact is, I like you, crazy and all, I…like you. I'm tired of pretending I don't. I'm tired of fighting."

"Oh, but we have so much fun ripping into each other." Isaac smiled, but at my arched look he chuckled softly and nodded. "Yeah, pretty over it myself."

I settled myself down across his lap, fingering the neck line of his dark shirt, it was streaked in dirt and smears of blood from his cleaning earlier, but for some reason, it didn't bother me like it used to. I didn't like it by any stretch, but it didn't disgust me either. It was just Isaac.

"If you don't mind my asking," he said, eyes searching my face for something intently, "Why the sudden change?"

"Cern told me everything last night." I began eyes on the floor, lost in emotions I didn't want to face quite yet. It took me a moment to pull back out of them and settle into my distraction again, wonderful, beautiful Isaac. "He told me what I am."

"What you are?" he questioned gently and I sighed.

I told him then, everything Cernnunos had told me. About my gift and what he had done to it, about what he had said I could become if he hadn't bound my power, about why the wolves and the fairies and the vampires all seemed to want to rip me apart and dance around in my skin. Through it all he was very calm, very quiet and simply nodded when I had finished.

"That's it?" I asked, somewhat irritated that he wasn't as anxious about the whole thing as I was. "You don't have anything to say?"

"Well, love, I'm fighting back the giant I Told You So, not without difficulty mind you." He smirked, "I knew something was different about you from the beginning. You always been so….ah to hell with it, I told you so."

"You forgot the nanna nanna boo boo part." I said flatly, making him pull back to regard me with a faux look of offense.

"How immature do you think I am?"

"Sometimes, I'm not sure."

He laughed at that, his fingers idly twisting one of my dark curls around his finger. Then after a moment, he sobered and glanced up at me from beneath his lashes, almost bashfully, which was startling in itself.

"You didn't answer my question," he said slowly. "Why the sudden change of heart toward me? I'm still sort of reeling from it here."

I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily, catching the hand he had in my hair and pulling it down to lace my fingers with his. His hands were cool, not cold like he needed to eat, but not as warm as a human body should have been. He would need to eat soon.

"I'm not entirely sure. I mean I know the reason I guess, but it doesn't seem like it would be enough, but for whatever reason I woke up today and it was."

"And that reason would be?" he prompted, arching a quizzical brow.

"You tried to kill me last night."

"Ok, now I'm really lost."

I held up a hand and he went quiet again, watching me closely. "I mean, you tried to kill me last night, but that was the first time. Now that I know what I am, what I do to people like you, I realize that it speaks much more in your favor than I'd thought. I mean, I make you salivate I guess, I'm like this giant turkey leg with a bright red bow tied around it screaming eat me."

He blinked. "Interesting visual."

"My point is, you didn't, well you did, but not until now. You've had me for months, Isaac, you could have done anything to me and no one would have stopped you. You messed with me, and teased me, even scared me when you wanted to, but you never actually hurt me. Not seriously."

"Define serious."

"Isaac, I walked into a forest and woke up a god, fairies tried to steal me away, and I spent two minutes with a werewolf and it made him want to eat me alive. I've been with you all this time, and you've never forced yourself on me. It took losing your friend and spiraling into a temporary craze for you to actually attack me. You've only ever bitten me twice and once it was because you had to."

"I broke your hand that night." He murmured, looking down at our intertwined fingers.

"I believe the correct term is crushed into fine, powdery bone," I sighed and then looked back at him, "but you did that because of Colette. I'm not saying it was fun, but it wasn't because you wanted to hurt me."

He nodded, and there was quiet for a short time before he turned his patchwork eyes back up to me and smiled. "Well, for the record, I find you more attractive than a turkey leg. Even one with a red bow, and that's saying something."

"Is it?" I scoffed, pushing at his shoulder, he laughed.

"Hell yes. I've never told anyone this, but turkey legs are my weakness. It's all that flabby, crispy skin. Gets me every time. Don't even get me started on the juicy meat."

"You know, now you're creating the visuals. And they're disturbing."

"Why, are you picturing me fucking a turkey leg?"

I blushed and scowled at him, "Well I am now."

He laughed, thinking a moment, "You know, I don't see how that would be possible, not unless the leg went in my-"

"Isaac!"

He shrugged, "You're the perv who was picturing it. Ya' weirdo."

"Oh, I'm the weirdo?" I smiled, leaning in to kiss him again, "Mr. Bondage-Freak."

Isaac's smile turned wicked then, his eyes glinting and he nipped at my bottom lip when I kissed him again. "You have no idea. I've got a playroom here, if you're ever interested in seeing it."

"Playroom?" I asked titling my head, "As in, sexy time room?"

"Yes, Mira," he laughed. "A sexy time room."

"Should I be nervous?"

"Only if you've been naughty," he smirked.

My own smile became a little heated and I shifted in the chair to straddle his waist, leaning up against him. My lips brushed his jaw and I pulled his earlobe between my teeth, feeling powerful and beautiful, something I was not accustomed to by any means.

"And what if you're naughty?" I asked softly, nibbling at the cusp of his ear now and delighting in the way it made him shudder.

"I suppose you could try to spank me," he said, his voice husky, "but it might not turn out the way you plan."

"Oh?" I smiled

"Oh." He grinned and suddenly his hand was tangled in the hair at the back of my head, pulling me down into a kiss that made my head spin.

My hands splayed out across his chest, trailing down across the damp cotton. Damp with blood, I realized and quickly slipped them beneath the material to avoid it. I felt the hard planes of his stomach, trailing my fingers up to his chest again and dragging my nails back down. He sucked in a breath against my lips and smiled, his hand settling at the small of my back, sending chills racing up my spine. I moaned into his mouth, hooking my finger in the waist of his jeans. It was hard to focus beyond his mouth, but I managed to clear my head enough to tug at the button and pop it free. When my fingers moved to the zipper however, Isaac caught my wrists and smiled up at me.

"I believe we have a dinner date."

"Can't it wait?" I asked, hating that my voice sounded so whiny. He laughed and shook his head.

"It can't."

"But Isaac," I smiled again, my sultry best and rocked my hips forward, pushing myself down against him. His eyes fell closed a minute and he sucked in a breath through his teeth, before they snapped open again. They were darker now, his pupil just a bit swollen.

"Woman, don't be difficult."

"You're the one being difficult." I grinned, continuing to grind against him. It made his pupils swell even more before suddenly he stood, lifting me with him and setting me down on my feet.

"You need to stop." He said, his voice was strained and in made my chest hurt.

Embarrassed I stared up at him. "I didn't realize you weren't attracted to me anymore. My mistake."

He growled in the back of his throat and shook his head, "Don't do that. You know I am."

"Then what-"

"I'm hungry, Mira." He said and I took a step back to regard him. His eyes were an oily black now, deep and dark and hungry. After a long moment, however, I straightened my shoulders and move back to him.

"Alright, so you need to eat, I don't see why-"

"I lost it Mira. I binged for three days. That changes things. Until I get myself back under control you can't just-"

"Touch you?"

Isaac gave a heavy sigh. I knew I was being a bit childish, but he'd just hurt my feelings. I'd put myself out there, and he had shot me down, it was more than a blow to my ego.

"I need to eat," he said tiredly, "After that you can touch me all you want." When I only nodded and crossed my arms, he sighed again, lifting my chin.

"Listen to me," he said slowly, "I'm not blowing you off. I want to, more than you know," his eyes roamed down my body and back and he fixed me with a heavy black stare. "But with all that's happened, with what you are, I don't want to take any chances."

"Sure." I nodded, shrugging.

Isaac stared at me a moment, then gave a heavy sigh. Before I could move back to my chair, he'd walked me back against the wall, his knee coming up between my legs to press against me. His hands skimmed up my side and he leaned forward to claim my mouth in a kiss that had me reeling and panting when he'd finished.

"We will finish this later. I promise." He titled his head, stroking my bottom lip with his thumb and smiling when I drew the pad into my mouth and nipped at the end. "Alright?"

I nodded slowly, letting him withdraw his hand and then he was gone, tracing from the room. As I moved back to the chair I heard a shower kick on and wondered if he was taking a cold one. The thought made me smile.

"That wasn't like you."

I jumped at the sound of Sanura's voice and looked up to find her in the chair opposite mine.

"Were you listening?"

"I caught the gist of it, yeah."

"So?"

The vampire's green eyes flashed and she crossed her slender legs at the knees, leaning back in her chair. "Don't use him."

That made me pause, my jaw hanging open a minute. "What are you talking about?"

"You don't have to deny it, I understand." She waved her hand in dismissal, "You're angry at your god for what he did to you, and for telling you the truth. You're scared, and now you're clinging to the only thing you have. You're using Isaac to distract yourself from everything else."

"No, I wasn't-"

"Mira," Sanura said, suddenly, leaning forward in her chair and looking me straight in the eyes, "Do you think I'm stupid? Better yet, do you think he is?"

"No, I-"

"Then don't do this." She snapped, then at the look on my face, she sighed and held up a hand, her voice softening again. "I like you, kitten. Really, and you make him happy, which is something I couldn't do, so I'd like you to stay around. I want you to be part of this little family, and maybe that's partly due to this lure thing you have going on, but it's the truth. However, I will not let you hurt him."

"Sanura, I would never-"

"Don't give me that, you do it all the time." She frowned and I went quiet flushing. "This is different though. He isn't…stable right now. I know you don't see it, you don't know him as well as I do, but he can't handle this. Not now. If you want to be with him, fine, I support it fully, but not to get back at the god, and not because you think you can bury yourself in his strength. He doesn't need that after Josep. So, like I said, don't use him."

I was quiet while before I nodded. "I understand." I said softly and the vampire nodded back.

"Good." Then she caught me off guard by giving a bright smile, and the tension melted out of her in an instant. "Now, we should talk about what you're wearing on this date."

xXx

Isaac had finished his shower in record time. Then again as a creature that could move at ten times the speed of any normal person, it wasn't much of a surprise. Regardless of his swiftness, we had not been able to leave the house until Sanura deemed me perfect.

She'd ruited through the bags she'd gotten me, holding up one dress after another and listing out their pros and cons. After nearly half an hour of this, she's finally settled on an empire-waisted party dress. It was black, ending at the knees with an inch of scroll-work detailing cut out of the bottom. The bust was gathered just below my breasts, shimmering bits of silver decorated the gathered material and the seams. She told me it would bring out my gray eyes. My heels were like-wise black and silver (I assumed they'd been bought together) and taller than I had anticipated, but after a few minutes of walking instructions from the vampire I was ready to wear them out. My hair had been gathered back at the temples, bound in a complicated know at the back of my head, and all the hair beneath it tumbled down in dark curls. My make-up was thankfully minimal and restricted to my eyes and lips. She'd made me smoky and seductive and when I looked in the mirror at the end it had taken a moment to recognize myself.

Isaac had been speechless when I came down the stairs, which of course made Sanura laugh and tease him. He'd dressed in dark jeans and his usual black boots, a dark grey button-down and a black suit jacket. He looked wonderful, and I found myself a little flustered by him as well. Sanura had given him a pat on the shoulder and sent us into the garage with a wink, telling him to have me back at a decent hour. Seeing as they were both nocturnal, I'm not sure what that meant. In the garage I waited for Isaac to choose a set of keys from the ridiculous collection on his peg board. After a few moment of deliberating, he turned to me.

"What do you want to take?"

I raised my brows, glancing around at the huge garage and few dozen cars parked inside. Everything from classic and muscle to modern, phallic sports cars. I was at a loss.

"Um…" I looked around at everything and on a whim pointed to one of the muscle cars parked near the garage door. "That one."

He glanced over at it and smiled, turning back to the board to grab a set of keys. "So you're a classics girl? I can dig it."

I shrugged as we moved to the car, sleek and black with two white racing stripes down the back. "Well, I'd love to say I'm a car enthusiast too, but honestly I'm not really sure what it is."

He laughed, hitting the unlock, which I assumed he'd had installed, since this was an old car and probably not from the age of automatic locks. "1969 Chevy Camaro SS Z-28. Modeled somewhat after the mustangs, but it's got a rounder body. It's one of my favorites."

"These words you're using, they sound like English…"

He rolled his eyes, "It's a muscle car, that's all you need to know."

"Sorry," I grinned bashfully, "The only old car I'm familiar with it the Chevy Impala from the 60's and that's only because I watch way too much Supernatural. I picked this one because it reminded me of it."

Isaac chuckled, motioning off into the garage, "I have one, if you'd prefer that, it's the '67 but they are pretty similar."

"No, this is fine. Let's just go." He nodded and tossed the keys at me. I managed to catch them as he opened the passenger side door and slid in.

"Wait, you want me to drive?" I asked, clutching the keys tightly to my chest. A swell of teenage excitement took me, as if my mom had just given me permission to pick up my friend in the car for the first time.

"Not if you don't want to."

I dashed to the driver's side and hoped in, careful not to slam my door, knowing he probably washed this thing every chance he got. Every car in the garage was in pristine condition. What I didn't tell him was my secret.

"Ooook. If I were an ignition, I would be where exactly?" Isaac arched a brow, but slipped the keys from my hand and started the car from his seat. "Right, ok."

I grabbed the steering wheel and smiled, liking the feel of the leather beneath my fingers and covering the seats. After a long moment however Isaac cleared his throat, watching me closely.

"Perhaps putting it in drive might help?"

"I know," I lied, "I'm just taking it in. You're letting me drive your car. Give me a second to enjoy it."

He nodded, but he was still watching me and I feared he might be catching on so I grabbed the gear shift, thanking god that it was a standard because we would have been screwed otherwise, and put it in gear.

Then promptly jerked out into the thin space between the lines of car that led to the garage door.

Thankfully, I found the break before we rammed into another of his cars, and I sucked in a breath, quickly throwing it in reverse and back up so that I could drive us out of this cramp little death trap. All the while, I avoided Isaac's eyes and focused on not crashing us.

"Mira." He said after I'd had to reverse a second time. I felt like Austin Powers, stuck between two walls.

"Mhmm," I replied innocently, nearly crying out in victory when I finally got us to the garage door and was waiting for it to rise.

"Why do I get the feeling that you've never driven a car before?"

"Because you're paranoid?" I supplied and we lurched out of the garage onto his gravel driveway, heading off toward the trees.

"Mira." He said softly.

I offered him a glance and laughed, "I'm twenty years old, Isaac. Of course I've driven a car before."

"And was that the only time?"

I cleared my throat. "No."

He saw through my lie and scrubbed a hand over his face with a tense laugh. "Ok, you should pull over."

"No way." I said as we sped out onto the street, heading in the direction of the city. "You're the one who gave me the keys."

"That was before I knew you couldn't drive a car."

"I'm driving it just fine." I said with a frown. As I said this however, my heel got caught beneath the gas pedal and I had to wrench it free, causing us to jerk forward and the car to growl loudly in protest. "These stupid things are making it a bitch though."

I frowned at my shoes, reaching down to slip them off. Beside me, Isaac made a startled sound in the back of his throat, his hand snapping out to grasp the steering wheel and direct us back into our lane. A car passing by the opposite direction let out a long, loud honk, the driver yelling curses out of his window. At Isaac's pointed look, I gave a weak smile.

"Whoops?"

"Mira, pull over."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes, I really think you do."

Pouting, I turned drove onto the side of the road, and stomped on the break, making us slam to a stop. Isaac braced himself against the seat, closing his eyes a moment to whisper something in another langue. I'm sure it was rude, but I ignored it. Instead, I killed the engine and got out. The vampire met me at the driver's side door, holding out his hand. Frowning, I placed the keys across his palm and crossed my arms.

"Indian giver."

"Horrible driver." He retorted and I stomped to the passenger door, climbing in with a huff.

Taking a deep breath, strictly for his nerves, seeing as he didn't actually need the oxygen for anything other than speech, he started the car again and pulled us back onto the road.

"I'm holding this against you." I said, starring ahead at the road. He laughed, handing me my heels.

"If I promise to teach you how to drive in the Impala would that make it up to you?"

I hid my smile and shrugged instead. "Maybe." He smirked and we lapsed into silence. After a while I cleared my throat again. "So where are you taking me?"

"Well we have to make a stop first, I'm still…"

"Peckish?"

He nodded, smile gone, "You could say that."

"And this stop is where exactly?"

His lips curled up in a grin and he glanced over at me, "I think you'll recognize it when we get there."

I narrowed my eyes a bit, but didn't question him further. The drive was longer than I remembered, but it might have been my impatience counting each mile. By the time we'd reached the city, I was practically buzzing. We passed all sorts of restaurants and clubs; it wasn't until we'd reached the other side of the city that I realized where we were going. I'd only ever been to Lucendi once, and it hadn't been my favorite of experiences. I remembered the ravers and Goths and steam-punks that frequented to place and that Isaac had told me in no uncertain terms that this was the place that the creatures went, to feed or just to unwind.

Isaac parked us in as close to the entrance as he could, getting out opening my door for me and offering a hand so I could climb out somewhat gracefully. His arm looped around my shoulders and I leaned into him as we walked up to the front doors. Just like the last time, there was a line that stretched to the side of the great building, but Isaac strolled us right to the front. We got many hateful, jealous glances as the bouncer and Isaac exchanged a fist-bump and he motioned us inside, though I was pleased that this time there was no pig-tailed floozy in line for him to flirt with.

Tonight's music was something like techno, the bass swelling and dropping, sounding mechanical. "I feel like I just walked into the Matrix," I commented. Isaac smiled.

"Dubstep, it's an interesting trend."

"Interesting is right." I said as he slipped his arm from around my shoulders. "So, is this a quick stop, or should I settle in?"

The vampire's eyes were on the dance floor, scanning the occupants slowly for his meal. Strangely, this didn't bother me the way it had before. It seemed natural, it was just Isaac. Maybe that made me a little twisted, but I didn't want to think about that.

"I won't take too long," he said finally, his eyes on a curvy woman in a red plastic dress. Her skin was flushed as she writhed to the pounding music. "Maybe you should go get yourself something to drink in the meantime."

"Oh boy," I laughed softly, "Drunken Mira. Are you ready for that?"

He grinned, leaning over to kiss me on the cheek, "I think I can handle it."

"Well, then, give me some money, Sugar Daddy, I'm dry." He laughed, pulling out his wallets and handing me a few bills. There was no way I planned on drinking that much, but it was nice so I didn't complain.

"Try not to kill anybody." I waved him off and he winked.

I watched him slip into the throng of dancers, eyes on the woman and wondered why it didn't make me jealous. I decided it was because he was planning on eating her, I was the girl he'd go home with. For some reason that filled me with pride.

When I got to the neon-lit bar I realized that the bartender was the same one from my last visit. I hailed him over with a smile, looking over the selection of booze. He was still a minute, staring at me like he'd see a ghost, then made his way over, ignoring several other patrons drunkenly waving bills.

"It's you." He said and the shock in his voice made me pause.

"Last time I checked yeah."

"You're…" he glanced out at the dance floor, presumably looking for Isaac and shook his head. "Sorry, just didn't expect to see you again."

That was when I realized what had shocked him. "Yup, still alive. Crazy right?"

"Yes, actually." He laughed grabbing one of the special lightning glass tumblers, "Whatever you're doing, keep it up girl. Apparently he likes you."

"That's what I hear." I shrugged, then grinned, "So what do you have for me tonight Mr…" I looked for a nametag, but didn't find one.

"Brett," he supplied with a smile. "Mira right?"

"You remembered," I smiled and he gave a little shrug.

"I remember you threatening to sodomize some drunk with my knife. Tends 'ta stick with a person."

"Oh…" I blushed, messing with my hair, "I'd forgotten about that."

He laughed and began mixing me a drink. When I sipped from the tumbler I was pleased to find it wasn't some harsh bourbon or whiskey, but something sweet that tasted like cherries. I thanked him and passed over a bill taking the change and sticking it in my bra since Sanura had not allowed me to take a purse.

I spent my time after that sipping at my drinks and chatting with the bartender. Apparently, Brett had worked here for 6 years now and had seen some pretty interesting things. He'd had no idea that supernatural creatures actually existed until he'd been out back taking out the trash and stumbled across a feeding vampire. After that, his days just got weirder.

"You get used to it, I guess. I mean, as long as no one tries to take a bite out of me, I'm ok with them all. So long as none of 'em kill in the club, that is. Everything's gotta survive, right?"

"I suppose." I said, but inwardly I thought of all the creatures I met who in my opinion deserved to be skinned alive and burned to ash. Harsh, but there were things in this world that were just wrong.

Brett went to help another customer down the bar with a promise that he'd be right back, leaving me to my forth drink. I was already feeling a little wavy now, but I wasn't drunk, just buzzed. It made the heavy, incessant beat of the Dubstep music somewhat pleasant and I found myself swaying in my chair to the music with a smile. I wondered how much longer Isaac would be, but brushed away the thought. I didn't want to think about what he was doing.

A green tumbler slid across the bar to my right, its contents was frozen swirls of pink and white with little bits of fruit, the rim coated in sugar. Suddenly my throat went dry and I turned to the man who'd given it to me. I recognized this drink from the first time I'd been here, too. When Ryan had come to introduce himself and I'd learned about shadows.

"You still come here?" I asked caustically. "Shouldn't you be out being Colette's like bitch-boy?"

Ryan smiled at me, slipping into the seat beside me, "I'm off tonight."

"Lucky me." I said and turned back to the bar. Part of me wanted to smash the drink he'd given me over his face, the other hoped Isaac would show up and I could direct him to his next meal. Ryan liked being bitten. I wondered if he would like it as much when his throat was being ripped out.

"You know, there's no reason for us not to be civil with one another, seeing as you're going to be around a while. We could be friends."

"I would rather swim through a swimming pool full of razorblades and lemon juice."

"Wow," he laughed. "You hate me that much? I was only doing what they told me, you know."

I gave him a tight and hateful smile, "The Nazi's were doing what they were told too. Doesn't mean it was right."

"So I'm a Nazi now?"

I sighed, downing the rest of my drink and pushing it toward Brett. He was glancing between us like he expected a fight to break out, and I wasn't sure he was wrong.

"The Nazi's had a cause, you're just a self-loving piece of shit that'd rather kill innocent people than risk doing the right thing."

"Josep wasn't a person, Mira." He'd lost his humor now and stared at me with his big hazel eyes like I was a piece of trash. "He would have been just as dead without me."

I started to get up but Ryan's hand closed painfully tight around my arm and he forced me back down, moving in close so that our conversation couldn't be overheard.

"I only went to pick up the psychic, she was the prize."

"Let go of me." I snapped, trying and failing to wrench my arm from his grasp. He was stronger than he should have been, all full of vampire blood.

"She's a wealth of information, when you can get her to focus." He smiled and it made my stomach turn. "There are so many secrets out there, and she has access to them all, if you know how to get them out of her. You, for instance, haven't been very honest with us."

"About what exactly?"

"Fuzzy rabbits and a deer." He said slowly.

I stared at him a moment, wondering if he was crazy or if that was supposed to make sense, but then I paused. When Ryan had come to collect Josep and Lidia, he'd asked what I'd found in Windsor. Isaac had stopped me from telling him about Cernnunos and I'd told him about finding animals instead. When he saw it click in my head, his smile grew and his grip tightened.

"The Queen is very interested in the friends you've been making, Mira."

"Let go of me or I'll call for Isaac."

"Ooh, scary," he mocked, but released my arm.

I rubbed it a moment, scowling at him for the bruise he'd just given me and hopped off my stool. "I have to pee."

He laughed, motioning toward the bathrooms. "I'll see you around, Mira."

"Not likely." I muttered and headed for the restrooms, glancing back to see Ryan on his cell phone. He winked at me before I hurried into the bathroom and out of sight.

God I wanted to rip his face off! I wanted to beat him over the head with something heavy and laugh as he twitched and died at my feet. Briefly I was surprised by my violence, but shrugged it off. If there was ever a man who deserved it, it was Ryan.

My reflection in the mirror was startling. The girl who stared back at me had wild, angry gray eyes, her hair was tangled and her face was flushed in rage. I splashed myself with water a few times to clear my head, bracing myself over the sink and closing my eyes. I don't know how long I stood there, but it helped me to cool down until someone entered the bathroom and I pretended to wash my hands. I had been doing so for several minutes when I realized the woman who'd come in was staring at me.

"Um, hello," I waved awkwardly. She didn't reply so I turned around to look at her "Can I help you?

"Are you Mira, Isaac's little plaything?"

My chest tightened and I stared at her. "Who are you?"

The girl smiled and now that I was looking closely I could see that her pupils were slightly swollen, her skin pale, and on the inside of her elbow was a pale scar. I wouldn't have seen it if the smooth skin hadn't caught the light as she shifted her hand into her pocket.

She was a shadow.

I moved to run before she could withdraw her hand, hoping to reach the door before I found out what she'd reached for, but she surged forward. She was faster than me, and stronger thanks to the vampire blood and when she grabbed my hair and wrenched me back across the bathroom it sent me hurtling into the wall. I grunted, trying to find my balance, but she was already there. Her hands shot out again and she grabbed my hair, slamming my head into the tile hard enough to crack it.

I went down hard, my vision going black long enough for her to move over me and reach into her pocket again, pulling out something black and blunt, made of plastic. Two small metal prongs jutted out from the top and when she pulled the trigger they began to click, a blue spark of electricity arcing between them. I had enough sense to strike out at her before she could hit me with the taser, managing to grab her arm. Her lips pulled back from her teeth and she snarled like some kind of animal at me, curling her hands around my wrist as if to snap it.

Using every bit of strength I could muster, I kicked out at her with both feet. Only one landed, but it was enough to double her over and send her stumbling back a few steps. I took that opportunity to climb to my feet and dash for the door again, putting all my weight behind it to push it open quickly, but I collided with it instead and stumbled back. She's locked it on her way in it seemed and as I fumbled with the bolt, the shadow was already rushing toward me.

"Isaac!" I screamed as her arm snaked around my throat, cutting off my air and dragging me back away from the door. I clawed at her arm, but she didn't seem to feel it, or simply didn't care. This time when she lifted the taser I had no way to block it and the prongs stabbed me into the side. The clicking started again and I let out a choked scream, my body going rigid as electricity poured through it. When she pulled it back, it was as if my entire body had simply shut down. I slumped in her hold, choking with her arm around my throat until she let me fall to the floor. My head smacked against the tile, bouncing before I went still, my vision swimming in and out of focus.

Above me the shadow was pulling a cell phone from her pocket, hitting a single digit and holding it to her ear. She waited a moment, watching me with the taser ready should I fight again.

"I found her." She said quickly, her face lighting up at the sound of the person on the other end of the line. I assumed it was her master. "She put up a bit of a fight, but she's down now. How do you want me to do this?" She paused as the vampire replied and her smile grew, her dull brown eyes shining in joy. "Of course. I'd do anything for you…Yes…I won't, I can take her out the back….Of course." She smiled again, gripping the phone tightly, "I love y-" She stopped mid-sentence, holding the phone in front of her a moment with a tiny little frown. Apparently they'd hung up on her and it hurt. Good, the bitch deserved it.

The shadow slid the phone back into her pocket with a sigh then looked down at me, her eyes shining. "He's going to be so proud of me," she insisted, as if I could respond. "After this, he'll never leave me again, and then we can both-"

I never got to hear what exactly she had imaged her bright, shiny future to be because suddenly the bathroom down exploded inward and I barely managed to cover my face from the chunks of falling wood. To my utter relief it was Isaac who stood there. He'd heard me, thank God and come to help. His eyes slid across the room, black and angry as he took in my limp position and the shocked shadow, gaping at him.

"You can't stop me," she insisted, her hand fumbling for her taser. "You don't have the right. I'm supposed to bring her back."

"I would suggest you leave before I rip you in half," was his reply. The shadow's face went pale and she stammered a minute before shaking her head and looking down at me.

"No, I have to bring her back, if I don't he will be angry with me." She rushed to me, taser in hand and reached out to grab my arm, but never made it.

Moving too fast to follow, Isaac swatted the taser from her hand so forcefully it snapped the bone and she let out a scream. Thankfully, with the loud music outside, no one would hear it unless they were close. He charged her then, slamming her back against the wall and wrenching her head to the side by her hair. She screamed, batting pathetically at her chest with her good arm and shook her head as best she could in his grip.

"You can't!" she cried frantically, "I belong to him and you can't-"

Isaac tore into her throat with a savagery I had only seen when he was binging. His hand clamped over her mouth to quiet her screaming, and after a few moments that too died away. Her eyes were still open when he pulled away, her mouth fixed in a silent scream, but when he released her she crumpled to the floor, dead.

"Mira?" he asked, going down on one knee and lifting me up into his arms. My head flopped to the side, but after a moment I could lift it and I wrapped my arms around his neck, clinging to him like a life-preserver. My protector, my Isaac.

"I want to go home." I said softly into his shirt and he nodded. I was too out of it to even realize he'd traced out of the club until we were by the car. He shifted me to the side to fish his keys from his pocket and gently lowered me into the passenger seat, closing the door and hoping into the driver's side in a second. The car rumbled to life and he tore from the parking lot with a screech of tires.

The drive back to Isaac's manor was much faster than the way to the club. Partly because I was fading in and out of consciousness, and partly because Isaac was driving like a bat out of hell. I was regaining my faculties as we pulled into the garage and parked. Despite this, Isaac carried me from the car calling for Sanura the moment we were in the house.

"What happened?" she asked eyes wide. She scanned me like a frantic mother hen inspecting her baby and followed behind Isaac at his heels as we moved into the main parlor. He sat me down across one of the fainting couches and knelt beside it, brushing air from my face and prodding at my scalp. I winced when he found the place I'd collided with the wall and his fingers came away bloody.

"Some crazy bitch shadow attacked her in the bathroom." He told the anxious Sanura as she hurried to the mini-fridge behind the bar and returned with a towel and some ice-water. Dipping it in the water before handing it to me she began to dab at my skull, washing away the blood.

"Why did she attack you, kitten?"

"She said something about bringing me to him," I replied softly, wincing when the towel pulled at my cut. "Something about making him proud and a bunch of random shit about how he'd love her after this. I don't even know." I groaned, pushing myself up into a sitting position. "I thought the night was bad when Ryan showed up but-"

"Ryan was there?" Isaac interrupted, brows creasing on his forehead. He glanced up at Sanura, who seemed just as worried. "Did he say anything to you? Mention anything that might explain the shadow?"

"No." I shook my head, and then regretted it when it began to throb. "He did say something about Colette though."

"What did he say? Tell me exactly if you can."

"He told me that Lidia was full of secrets, implied that they've been forcing her to spill them. Then he said…" I trailed off and my eyes widened a little as I looked up at Isaac. "Isaac, Colette knows about Cern now. He said that she was interested in the friends I've been making, that we've been keeping secrets. What does that mean? Is she going to make us go over there? Are you going to be in trouble?"

He stared at me a moment before shaking his head and pulling on a smile I knew was forced. "I'll be fine, Mira, and so will you."

"In that case, can I go to bed now? Getting my ass kicked really took a lot out of me."

"I'll go make some calls," Sanura murmured, gripping the towel tightly in her dark hands. "Find out if anyone knows anything."

"Be careful." Isaac replied, but is eyes were on me and refused to leave. "Can you stand?"

I nodded, wincing again at the pain of it and clutched at my forehead. "I think so."

He didn't give me a chance to find out, just slipped his arms around me and carried me up the stairs. I expected to go into my room, but he took the opposite hall, winding around a corner into a part of the house I hadn't yet explored. This was his hall, and he was taking me to his room. I'd never been in Isaac's room before and a tiny bit of me was excited to see it.

It was bigger than mine, by nearly double. The carpet was think and crème-colored to match the walls. The trim around the doors and the huge picture window to my right was polished black. His furniture was styled much the same, in shades of white, black and crème, all modern styles. The bed, which was the centerpiece of the room, was huge, easily big enough to fit at least 4 people sleeping side by side. It didn't have a head board or siding, instead it rested on a great black panel of wood about a half-foot longer on each side than the mattress. It had been made meticulously; each corner tucked in and covered to top folded down. Isaac set me down and I smiled as I sank into the soft mattress, laying back.

"So I get to sleep with you tonight?" I grinned lazily, stretching out as he pulled off his jacket and tossed it over one of the black armchairs by the floor to ceiling bookshelf. I didn't recognize many of the titles, some weren't even in English, but I appreciated his collection. "I'm flattered."

Isaac sighed, moving to me and knelling on the mattress by my side. He removed my heels and dropped them to the floor and I wondered if I would have stood more of a chance if I'd kicked them over. Stupid devils shoes, I'd never wear heels again.

"You have a concussion. You won't be sleeping for a few hours at least."

"Ugh," I groaned, rolling my eyes, "No one believes that bullshit about not waking up again. I'm exhausted.

"Mira," he said simply and I gave him a heavy sigh.

"Are you going to keep me awake then, because I'm pretty sure if I spend too much time on this bed I'm going to pass right out. What is this made of, clouds?"

He turned to remove his own boots and I pushed myself up onto my knees, crawling up behind him. When I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, he went stiff, turning to look at me over his shoulder.

"You saved my life tonight," I said softly, my lips brushing his throat. The vampire shuddered when I pulled at his earlobe with my teeth. It was becoming my favorite thing to do to him, he certainly seemed to like it.

"Mira," he spoke levelly, pulling from my hold to turn to me on the mattress, "You have a serious head injury and you've just been through something traumatic. Now is not the time for this."

I watched him unbuttoning his shirt, biting my lip at the sight of the hard, flat expanse of muscle beneath it. "I go through a traumatic event every other day. What does that have to do with anything?"

"You're in shock," he replied. "You're looking for comfort the same way you were earlier tonight. I'm not going to sleep with you because you're scared."

I blushed, hating that Sanura had been right and that he had seen through me so easily. Why was he being so difficult? Isaac used to make a habit of coming onto me at the most inappropriate times, what the hell had changed? If this was his attempt at being chivalrous, it sucked balls.

"I'm not scared." I said, crawling closer again and slipping my hands up his chest. "You saved me, what do I have to be scared of?"

He didn't respond, simply watched me as pushed his shirt off his shoulder and grinned at the sight of his body. God he was delicious. I just wanted to lean over and take a bite.

So I did. "Come on, you aren't hungry anymore, there's no reason not to."

Isaac grabbed my upper arms, pushing me back gently when I'd nipped at his shoulder, "Mira, Jesus. Stop it."

Feeling that all too familiar spark of rejection, I pulled away and moved to the other side of the bed. "Fine. You're no fun at all. I'm going to sleep." As I said this, I rolled over onto my side and closed my eyes.

"No you aren't." he insisted, reaching over to roll me onto my back with a frown. "You're going to stay awake, and not slip into a coma."

"Make me." I said, closing my eyes again. I let out a yawn and snuggled down into the mattress, "Unless you can think of a way to keep me awake, then I think I'll just lie right here and go the hell to sl-"

My words were cut off when he dragged me to the center of the mattress. I opened my eyes to stare up at him, delighted when he reached down and grabbed my dress, ripping it down the middle and tugging it out from under me. He tossed it onto the floor and rolled on top of me, not crushing me, but his body was snug against mine. A shiver of anticipation rushed through me and I grinned.

"You're a brat, do you know that?"

I laughed, reaching up to wrap my arms around his neck and pull him down into a kiss. "So what you're saying is I've been naughty?"

Isaac chuckled softly, pressing his hips against mine and sending another ripple dancing under my skin. "Something like that."

"Does that mean I get to see your playroom?" I asked.

He shook his head, his eyes sharp and intense as he looked down at me.

"Then what?"

"It means you had better be as ready for this as you think you are, because we have a few hours to kill, and I'm not stopping until I'm sure you'll be alright."

I shuddered at the promise, "That so?"

His lips curled into his wonderful wicked smile and he nodded.

I giggled and pulled him into another kissed, thrilled by the feel of his teeth. "Well, then, let's find out, shall we?"

xXx

I was dreaming. I'm not sure how I knew, I just did. Perhaps it was the floor beneath my bare feet, shining my pearlescent glass that rippled with my every step. It reminded me of the dress of glass Cern had made for me and I smiled at the memory.

I was walking through a hallway, long and endless and lined in doors. I'd avoided opening any of them, remembering that it was just that that had allowed Cern into my head. I wouldn't be making that mistake twice.

That is, until I heard the music.

There was a violin playing behind one of the doors, soft and bittersweet, the notes curled around me, beckoning me closer and thoughtlessly, I followed them behind one of the doors. The room was empty, made of the same pearly glass as the hallway and at its center stood a man with his back to me. He was lost on his music, sweeping the bow across the strings to make such a heart-wrenchingly beautiful song that it made tears spring to my eyes. I left the door open and moved toward the man, reaching out to touch his shoulder, but she turned before I could.

"Isaac." I smiled, wrapped my arms around him and hugging him close, "You've never played for me before."

"Did you want me to?" he asked gently, letting the violin hang free at his side. I nodded and kissed his cheek.

"You play beautifully."

The vampire smiled, his patchwork eyes shimmering against the reflected light of the glass. "Would you like to hear a song?"

I nodded, stepping back so that he could lift the violin up to his shoulder, resting his chin on the polished wood. Just as he began to draw the bow across the strings, however, they snapped, slashing across his face and cutting into him. The blood that dripped down his face was brighter than it should have been, shimmering oddly in the light. I had never known why vampire blood looked so different, so wrong, but here, it made his skin seem to glow, shimmering and wavering like we were separated by a wall of heat.

"You can't stay here," he said solemnly, dropping is violin to smash into the floor. "You have to wake up and see the truth, Mira."

"What are you talking about?" I said, reaching up to wipe away the blood as he stood still and stared at me, "Isaac your face, why isn't it healing?"

"You can't stay here." He repeated. "Wake up Mira."

I shook my head, trying to tell him that I didn't understand, but suddenly he grabbed my shoulders, shaking me until my brain seemed to rattle in my skull, and roaring out his next words.

"WAKE UP!"

My eyes snapped open and I found myself in Isaac's bedroom again, sprawled across the twisted sheets next to him. Sanura was above me, her green eyes wide and shining in the darkness of the room. She had been the one shaking me, and now that I was conscious, she dragged me up into a sitting position, ignoring my nudity. Beside me, Isaac made an irritated sound as he awoke, pushing himself up onto his elbows. He was likewise naked, but he couldn't be bothered to be bashful about it.

"He's here. Mira, you have to go now."

"Go where? What's happening?"

"Isaac, make her go!" Sanura pleaded, her eyes were wide and frightened. I don't think I had ever seen Sanura this scared in my life.

"Nura?" the vampire questioned groggily, his brows furrowed. He was worried too, but she just looked at him and repeated her words from before.

"He's here."

There was a moment that passed between them, something I couldn't understand, a silence that was heavy and pointed. Isaac was suddenly by my side, his arms going under the backs of my knees and across my shoulders, lifting me up as he rushed us forward, all in one inhumanly graceful movement. We were moving too fast, my head was spinning and the world had begun to tilt and just when I thought I might throw up all over him, I was on my feet again. I doubled over, clutching my head while Isaac traced across the room turning on a small light and moving back to my side. He'd brought his button down shirt with him, thankfully and placed it in my hands, though I didn't get the chance to put it on.

He grabbed my upper arms and stared right into my eyes, and his were bright and wild. They scared me, not because I thought he might hurt me, but because he was scared. Isaac, who had joked and laughed when a God had broken every bone in his body, was frightened and it made my veins fill with ice.

"You have to stay in here Mira, at the back of the room." He was saying, but his words barely made any sense, my mind was still sluggish from sleep and the fear creeping through me only made things worse.

"Isaac, what's happening?"

"Don't come out," he continued as if I hadn't spoken. "Not for anything, not even for Sanura, do you understand? When I leave, you turn off that light and you sit back against that wall, and don't make a sound."

"Isaac…"my voice cracked then and I felt the sting of tears in my eyes, fearful pathetic tears. The vampire paused, looking over my face as if he were trying to memorize it. When I sniffled, his eyes softened, the wild sharpness momentarily melting away.

He reached up to stroke back my hair and lifted my chin. I could only stand there as he leaned down and his soft, cool lips brushed mine. It was a gentle kiss, lingering, and I suddenly felt even more afraid because it felt like he was kissing me goodbye.

"Please, Mira, just stay here. I don't know if I can protect you if you don't stay hidden."

"Protect me from whom?" I demanded grabbing the front of his shirt to hold him closer. I need the contact, the comfort of a body that could heal from anything. "Who is here?"

"A monster." Isaac stepped back slowly, his attention going to the open door, only it wasn't a door really. It looked like a portrait, one of the ridiculously huge ones I'd found on the walls of the upper floor. It reached floor to ceiling and had been fixed to a hidden door of 4 inch steel. The room I was in was small with a single light source. This was a panic room. It was fitting too, because now I was really panicking.

"Isaac what-" but I didn't get the chance to ask him again what was happening, why he seemed so tense, so afraid. He had vanished, with only a short pulling wake of displaced air behind him and the door had shut, the great gnashing sound of steel on steel echoing through the metal room as a lock was put in place.

I stood there a long time, waiting for him to come back and let me out of this tiny little steel cage, but he didn't. I pulled on his shirt, buttoning it up quickly and smoothing my hands down the sides. It fell just above my knees, covering me fully, but I couldn't really bring myself to care about that right now. What the hell was going on? Who was he? Why couldn't anyone use names around here, for those who didn't speak code?

Something crashed deep in the house, though the sound was muffled through the door. I was surprised I could hear it at all, but couldn't be bothered to wonder why. Instead I back up against the far wall as something else crashed and someone let out a scream. IT was feminine and I could only assume it belonged to Sanura.

I rushed to the door, pounding on it with my fists and calling for Isaac as the crashing continued. Someone was raising hell down there, and they'd hurt Sanura. I had to do something, anything, but I was trapped in here with the lock on the outside and nothing but a key panel in here. I tried it a few times before I realized there was no way I was going to guess the 6-digit password and gave up. I was shaking uncontrollably now as I strained to hear what was happening outside.

The crashing continued, growing in volume and Sanura let out another scream, I could make out what she was saying, but her voice sounded furious and terrified. Closing my hands over my ears and backed away from the door and flicked off the light as Isaac had told me, feeling like a coward as I did. I slid down the wall into a crouch and held myself. Eventually the sounds died away, and I stood straight starring through the darkness at the great vault door and wising I could at least see what was happening out there, who was here, and what they were doing. Was Sanura ok? Was Isaac? There was a slam down the hall, the sound of someone forcefully closing a door, and I went still a moment to listen.

Isaac! I thought, and a small sliver of my terror slipped away. He was back now. I could come out of this horrible room and demand my explanation. After I clung to him a moment of course, I could not deny that I was shaken.

I jumped to my feet and hurried to the blackness that was all I could see of the door. Another door opened and I made a soft sound of impatience in the back of my throat. What the hell was he doing while I was locked in this giant cage? Didn't he know how scared I was? If he was teasing me I was going to beat him with one of those ugly busts in the parlor.

Another door slammed open, closer, each had been closer, I realized and suddenly my chest tightened and I went very still. One door after the other, moving slowly down the hall. Isaac had no reason to check the rooms, he knew I was in here. I thought for a moment that it might be Sanura, but surely she knew this place as well as he did, the way she strolled about as if they owned it together. No, it couldn't be her. I began to back across the room, moving as slowly and quietly as I could manage as another door was thrown open, this one sounded as if it were right next to me. Someone was looking for something, worse than that.

Someone was looking for me.

There was a sound outside the vault-like door, faint, like scratching, as if someone were inspecting the picture. As if they knew it wasn't a picture at all. I realized I'd been holding my breath when there was a loud bang and I let it out to gasp. Regretting it instantly, I slapped my hands over my mouth and pressed back against the wall. Too late.

There was another bang and another and soon I couldn't help myself, I let out a sharp cry at the sound, frightened. Then there was a horrible screeching, the sound of metal being ripped apart, like when Isaac had ripped off the door of his car to get to me. My heart was racing, just as it had been then, my breathing coming in shallow pants as little by little the door was torn away, cracks of light breaking through the blackness. I tried to stay out of them, as if it would help, but soon there was no point.

The top corner of the vault door was bent and wrenched back, filling the small room with blinding light. I reached up to cover my eyes, pressing against the cold steel wall behind me as the door, with one last horrible scream was forced open. It groaned as it was pulled free, digging into the wooden floor now that its shape had been ruined. A shadow crossed the light and I blinked to focus my eyes on the man that stood there.

He was a vampire, there was no other way he could have opened that door the way he had, and at first glance he reminded me of Isaac. It wasn't in his appearance, though they both seemed around the same age, mid to late twenties, and he was just as tall, maybe an inch or two more so. It was in the way he was smiling, one corner of his mouth quirked up higher than the other, eyes glinting with mischief and triumph. Triumph that he had found me and that I had nowhere to run now that he couldn't catch me.

He was handsome, this vampire, the way all of them seem to be. As if the change had perfected their features, scrubbed away what was bad and replaced it was shining perfect beauty. He was pale like Isaac, his blue veins standing out in stark comparison against his skin. The vampire took a step toward me into the panic room, but paused to look me over and I was struck with a sudden sense that I knew him. It was vague at first, but slowly the images began to play through my head, images of a vampire so horrible the others feared him. A vampire who had turned Sanura with no other reason than to hurt her.

His hair was shorter now, cut in that stylish way that many actors favored, perfectly messy, tousled as if he'd just rolled out of bed. The dark, rich brown stood out against his pale skin, the bangs falling into his eyes, making them stand out fiercely from the rest of him. And then I was locked on them. Those eyes I would never have forgotten, deep blue, hard and cold like ice. They reminded me of frozen water, the death that winter brings.

"Hello." He said and his voice was soft and cold, just the way it had been when I'd seen Sanura's past. Cold and playful, like a great cat that had just cornered a mouse and mused over how it would hurt it first. "I've heard so much about you, Mira."

"What do you want?" my voice sounded far away, as if I were hearing it from the end of a long tunnel. The vampire titled his head to regard me curiously, matching me with my reputation, and seeming to come up lacking. I was too scared to feel slighted.

"It isn't what I want, precious," he said, and he was moving closer again. I realized now that he had been doing so all along, inching toward me without my even realizing it. My heart began to pound painfully against my chest now, my head spinning just enough to let me know that if I didn't calm down, I risked passing out.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked, his gaze was sharp, and the longer he stared at me, the smaller I felt. I nodded mutely, my arms moving slowly to wrap around my body. A small comfort that did absolutely nothing to help me.

"You do?" he asked, and he sounded delighted by the fact.

"Daniel." I squeaked softly, "Your name is Daniel."

The infamous vampire nodded, is grin widening into something that made my gut drop to the floor. His smile scared me.

"Correct," he said then and came to a stop right in front of me so I had to look up at him, pressed back against the wall.

"What do you want?"

Daniel shook his head, and reached up to tuck a wild strand of my dark hair behind my ear. The contact made me flinch away, but he ignored it.

"I told you, it isn't what I want. I've come for the Queen."

"Why?" I asked, my voice wavering as his horrible, icy blue eyes narrowed just slightly down at me his smile becoming malicious.

"I've come to take you away."

Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!

Oh my, have I been waiting to get to this part of the story. You have no idea how irritating it was having to wait to get here, but now that we are, I'm excited.

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who been following this story. Your support was amazing and I couldn't have done it without you. Now as it's drawing to a close, all I can really hope it that you enjoyed it.

I still plan on doing the sequel, after this, because the story and the character simply won't leave me alone. I already have a good deal of it worked, out, so I'm hoping it will have a better flow than this one did. It will also feature several returning character, one of which being Sabin, because i love writing him and he's a badass. He will have a much bigger part in the sequel as well, because i can't help myself, if' i can't write his story right now, i have to write him into something.

For those of you, who have been with me from the beginning, you know that this story was never intended to become a romance, and now it seems impossible not to call it such. The more I wrote, the more I realized that I could never bring myself to kill Isaac. I've always loved his character, since the first time he showed up in my short stories and I guess that just bled through into Mira. Now we have this, and while it isn't what I had intending in the beginning, I feel like it's grown into something fun and wonderful, and I don't regret a bit of it. Ok..maybe I regret making Mira such a whiney bitch, but she will learn. Oh believe me, her world is about to change again.

That being said, there are many parts of the story that were changed along the way, or taken out completely. Some I hated to cut, but had to for the flow sake and now I just feel like I'm throwing them away. SO! I was thinking about posting the deleted scenes and changed scenes, at least the ones that were long enough to be worth it on this site as Plot-Bunnies. Things like the original way that Isaac and Mira first slept together, which involved a demon and was immensely different, or the original shadow scene with Mira and the crazy girl, who had a bigger part in the beginning. If I did, would any of you be interested in reading them?

Anyway, thank you all for taking this journey with me. It's been a wild ride and I enjoyed every minute of it. You guys are awesome.