That evening Yamato arrived home from work, and after letting himself into the penthouse, he braced himself for the conversation he'd practiced all day. One that flew right out of his mind the moment he needed to draw on it.
He walked to the dining room where Usagi and Mamoru were sitting at the moment. When he got there, he picked a spot, set down his takeout, and sat down. "I'd have gotten you something too, but they didn't have blood on the menu."
Usagi smirked at his tease and quipped back, "Next time, get it delivered. The blood comes right to the door then."
He laughed and pulled out his food and laid it out, then grabbed his chopsticks. "I didn't think about that. What kind of tip do you give for that kind of delivery?"
"A large one," she replied. "I used to do that a lot before Ami's blood tablets."
He took a bite of his food, swallowed, and looked directly at Mamoru. "It's not your fault I got kidnapped."
Mamoru pierced his lips, "It literally is. It was supposed to be me."
"While that part is true, you're still wrong. Miran made that decision when you were eight years old, without your knowledge, and I believe against what your will would have been. She changed the course of what would happen and got me kidnapped. And as bad as the result was with the bombing, who's to say if they got you, it wouldn't be worse? She was an Oracle. One who probably knew what each path would have taken. I chose to believe that as horrid as the destruction and the death was that was caused, the other path would have been worse."
"That's a lot of death all told to merely save one man."
Mamoru realized that was the wrong thing to say when everything in the penthouse not nailed down began rattling. At first, he thought it was an earthquake, but he quickly felt the fury rolling off of her. Her eyes then flashed gold, and her hair turned silver.
Usagi had been pushed beyond her emotional limits. For what she had to deal with, she had been very good at containing herself and not coming undone.
That ended with Mamoru's dismissal of his worth and her thoughts of how bad it would have been if he, still a human then, was kidnapped by Diamond when he had a witch as powerful as Emerald by his side.
Standing, Usagi's voice was flat and seemingly emotionless when she said, "It's time for destruction." Her eyes remained bright gold, and her silver hair then floated as if in the weightlessness of outer space.
She reached out her hand, and everything went silent. The rattling stopped, but so did the sounds around them as the power went out, and everything went dark. Her eyes were all they could see, glowing in the dark.
Usagi then disappeared from the room. It didn't take long for them to notice the patio door was open, and she had to have left the penthouse completely. Mamoru couldn't fathom what her goal in leaving right now was, but he felt sure it wasn't good news.
He quickly searched his contacts, found Dracula, and then forwarded it to Yamato. Call him and find out if he has any clue what the hell is happening. I'm going to try and find her. Call me when you find out anything.
He then disappeared the same way Usagi did.
Yamato called Dracula, hoping the legendary vampire picked up calls from unknown numbers. When he answered, he sighed in relief, but he didn't waste time. "Usagi has glowing gold eyes and floaty silver hair. Oh, and she can apparently knock out the power of a whole building. What do we do?"
"Call her coroner friend."
"I am her coroner friend. Why? What can I do?"
Dracula answered, "You'll need to come up with a way to hide the cause of death for all the corpses you're about to receive."
Blinking in shock, Yamato said, "How many?"
"I don't have an answer to that question. It's Usagi, and a vampire with a quarter of her strength could kill dozens before they've satisfied their desire to kill."
"How do I stop her?"
"You don't. You could try, but right now, if you did, it would mean you'd die."
Yamato took a deep breath to try to calm his panic. "Can Mamoru?"
At that suggestion, Dracula grew quiet for a moment. "Their link through the prophecy and their vampire and werewolf bond is unique. If anyone could do it, he could, but it will probably end in a copious number of dead bodies."
"So you have nothing?!" he asked in frustration.
Dracula wasn't phased by his tone. After all, he agreed that he, too, felt equally helpless. He didn't mind pointing out their blunder, though. "She's like a bomb that has exploded. It's too late. Next time use your brains and call when the bomb can still be defused. You waited too long."
"Point taken." Yamato sighed in frustration and said goodbye.
He didn't call Mamoru; he didn't want to interrupt him for anything that he could figure out himself. He texted instead, knowing that it would be less obtrusive if he was in the middle of talking with Usagi.
Mamoru was tracing Usagi's steps by the dead bodies she left behind. He wondered if the amount of blood she'd obviously drunk amped her up more than normal.
When he finally laid eyes on her, she was in an alley draining another person of blood. This one was covered in tattoos and barely had a heartbeat. Mamoru's stomach dropped when he heard the man's heart flutter and then stop.
"You killed him," he said, not sounding accusingly but just questioning. He didn't want to set her off any further.
"I'm a fucking vampire," she snapped. "I can compel the truth out of him. I could compel the truth out of all of them. He's a monster. He raped his twelve-year-old niece and threatened to kill her parents if she told anyone. Now she's free."
Mamoru stopped feeling any remorse for the man lying dead at her feet. "And the others, what did they all do?"
He had found her as quickly as he could, but she had age and experience on her side. She'd killed fourteen people, including the man at her feet, before he could catch up.
"I could list what each did, but I don't want to disturb you." She then moved to leave, and he grabbed her arm hard, holding her there.
He shook his head, "No more. You're done with the killing now."
She cocked her head, and he was unsettled by her golden eyes staring at him. Usagi said, "You can't stop me."
"They aren't who you want to kill."
She smiled wickedly, "No, but I can compel that out of them too. The redhead three bodies ago said she knew about Rubeus. She said she met him at Club Inferno last night, and they fucked. Sadly he took her to a hotel and not his place. But it gives me my first clue."
He watched nervously as she raised her hand again. This time the power didn't go out. What did happen was he was pulled closer toward her. When he got to her, she gave him a manic smile. "I'm protecting you. I have to stop the evil people to keep you safe. Once they're all dead, you'll be safe –so safe. I'll protect you."
He wasn't surprised that she was repeating the same themes. She seemed completely focused on her internal pain and the possibility of losing him.
Knowing it was probably a horrible idea, he wrapped her in his arms and held her to his body. She fought like a tiger to try to get away. He just held on, trying to keep her from getting away and further losing herself to the desire to kill.
She began trembling, and he felt power welling up inside of her. All he could do was act on instinct. He bit her like he was claiming her as his mate. But this time, he bit her to hold onto her. He sank his teeth in as deep as they would go, locked his jaw, and held on tightly.
He could taste the overindulging she had done by drinking blood. The mix of blood types was obvious. Still, he held on.
He felt her body still, and she stopped fighting him. He suspected it was a trap, so he didn't let go out of fear that she'd get away. He was right.
Mamoru, with his arms wrapped tightly around her, brought her with him as he found an abandoned building. Once inside, still biting her, he slammed her to the floor, covering her body with his. He then slid his hands down her pants and grabbed her pussy. He wanted to get her attention.
He then dared to release her neck, and he watched the bite heal instantly. He then plunged two fingers into her pussy. He said, "You're hurting me." He figured he would pull out all the stops. Or at least the ones he knew about.
She froze and looked at him in shock. He almost sighed in relief when he noticed blue speckles in her golden eyes.
"You're not acting like yourself. You're not like the mate I claimed. I need her back." He knew to stick to things like that. Mentioning the dead might get her back, but guilting her about it could leave her with lasting pain. And he knew he could live with the death of the last man she killed. And that man's was the only story he had heard so far. Mamoru suspected he wouldn't cry for any of the dead.
"I have to save you."
"I'm safe."
She shook her head, and her eyes went back to just gold. "They must die. I have to protect you."
He kissed her forehead. "Do that as yourself, though. I want the woman who is my everything to save me."
"I'm not her?"
"No, you're mostly her. She has golden hair and the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen."
She blinked, and there were blue flecks back in her eyes. "I need to protect you, though."
He scissored his fingers inside of her. "Don't you want to stay with me right now?" He then slowly drug his fingers down, stimulating the inside of her pussy as he did. "I don't only need to be protected. I need sex. You're my addiction, and I'm craving you right now."
He felt her tremble underneath him. Her eyes were ringed in blue when she said, "I can't lose you."
"I know. And you won't-"
"Because I'll protect you!"
He cupped her cheek and said, "Yes. But come back to me fully first. I want to make love to you, looking into your blue eyes."
The scattered boxes in the abandoned building began rattling. That terrified him after what happened last time. He felt a strong pulse wrack Usagi's body, and then it radiated out and shoved everything in the room to the walls breaking many of the wooden boxes. But through it all, his main feeling was relief. Her eyes were blue, and her hair was golden again.
His plan for sex didn't happen, though. He released her pussy quickly and held her tightly in his arms as she wept hysterically onto his arms. She clung to him as sobs wracked her body.
He quickly decided that he preferred her killing to the pain she was in.