The Devil's Wolf

There was a yell and a sudden flurry of activity. She found herself pressed into a half squat and circled by body armor as the vampires used their bodies as shields between her and the world. She could smell the oil of their weaponry, blood on the breath of a man to her left, and the perfume of one of the women, her sense of smell sharpened by her Other.

"Careful of the feathers," she told them shifting her wings. "They don't like to be bent." She had hoped to be passed by the barricade, and had not anticipated this level of excitement from revealing her wings. Probably should have, she admitted to herself, she was f-king the boss of the entire world, after all.

"Mrs Cohen-Jovil," a man said with urgency. He was close to her, on the right. "It is not safe for you to be out and about without a body-guard."

"I had to get some milk, though," Ashlynn grinned, amused by herself. "Nah, seriously, I had to do something for Elior. I have a package in the back of the Ute that I need to deliver to him promptly. Don't look in the tray, it is not pretty. So, can I get on with it?" She retracted her wings, the press of the vampires around her uncomfortable against her feathers.

She heard the static of a walk-talkie and hushed voices as they discussed what to do. She was an unexpected problem, a disruption their orderly barricade. She heard someone mention a press conference and another vehicle approaching which seemed to galvanise them into making a decision.

"You will be escorted," the man told her severely. "And someone will drive for you."

"Alright, I can work with that." She straightened slowly. "I am going around to the passenger side now. The package is a bit time sensitive, so let's get a move on."

She shuffled around the bonnet of the car with the shielding bodies following her movements like heavy footed dance partners, until someone opened the passenger door and she slid into the seat. A man already occupied the driver's seat and adjusted the seat to his height.

He slid her a wary look. "Buckle up, ma'am."

"Yes sir," she put on her seat belt. She had learnt the value of a seat belt when the Wingless had totaled her Audi, she thought wryly.

"What is the address?"

"I don't actually know, and I am not sure if it is meant to be a secret or whether Elior has put the word out where we are, so we will just park nearby and you can help me bring in the packages from the tray. You might not be free to leave again, you do realize that, don't you? If it is meant to be a secret, they will probably want you to stay with us."

"Understood, ma'am."

"Just go straight towards Vampire Square and I will tell you when to stop."

He drove at a sedate pace as if afraid to jostle her with his driving, the Ute crawling down the empty city street.

"I am not going to break."

"Ma'am?"

"If you put your foot down a little."

"Ah," he slid her another look and accelerated just a little - indulging her request whilst keeping the vehicle at a sedate pace.

"See the scaffolds up ahead. Park somewhere near it, off road though. This car has my dad's sign-writing on it. It is a bit of a target as a result - like, look at the werewolf's car. He and his mates named the business before all this happened, when humans thought werewolves were just stories. They thought they were being funny at the time."

He pulled into a narrow lane way. "Will this do, ma'am?"

"Yup, happy with that." She hopped out and went around to back of the Ute, unlocking the cover before he had exited the vehicle.

"You are very fast," he observed, the red Other flashing in his eyes as he joined her, alarmed by her movements.

"Yeah, sorry," she hadn't realized that she had moved fast, she had just moved. The vampire speed would take some getting used to, she thought. "I am still getting used to being a vampire, and I am getting hungry, so I was thinking about food."

He smiled, the corners of his eyes creasing, and the expression taking some of the severity from his face. He was very stressed out, she realized, by this escort duty. "Yeah, you are pretty newly turned. I remember how it was. Hungry, hungry, hungry."

"I am absolutely f-king starving, and I know Elior's going to make me drink refrigerated blood," she pulled a face, trying to inject some levity into the conversation. "I suddenly understand why vampires keep harems. Warm blood on tap sounds great."

"I have a harem," he said. "Just the three."

"Not blood slaves?"

"No, blood slaves are discouraged by Elior."

"My man, he is pure gold. Maybe I need to get a harem," she contemplated it, and then remembered her reaction to Elior feeding from someone else and decided it probably wouldn't go down well with either or her men. And would she stock the harem with men, or women, anyway? She wondered. "I expect it is a bit like owning pets, though, having to feed, water, and take them for walks all the time, and I am not sure I am up to that level of responsibility." "Yes, ma'am," he was amused. "It is a responsibility, but it is more like having three mates."

"Two is plenty," she snickered. "Don't judge me on the contents of my tray," she said to her companion as she threw the cover back revealing the tangle of Caleb Roth and his wife within in. His eyebrows raised. "Ma'am."

"I know, I might have over-done it, but as a wedding present, I think Elior will be thrilled," she grabbed Caleb Roth and lifted him from the tray with a grunt. The vampire's legs twitched a little and his fingers clawed - beginning to heal from the injury."Bring the ball and chain. Best hurry, they are starting to get frisky again."

They made their way around the back of the building and laboriously up the fire escape. "Bodies don't get lighter when they are vampire, do they?" She observed as she stepped onto the fragile balcony, feeling it creak underfoot. "No ma'am."

She opened the door into the hallway only to come face to face with Jacinta, her teeth peeled back from her teeth, and a sharp knife in her hand.

"Hi, honey," Ashlynn said, the blade against her throat. "I am home."

The blade relaxed. "You should not be out of your room," the blonde vampire reproved.

"Yeah," Ashlynn wrinkled her nose. "But these situations do occur and here we are, with Caleb Roth and his wife. Surprise."

Jacinta took Caleb Roth from her. "You are forgiven."

"Thank you," Ashlynn smirked. "I knew you liked me. Very deep down inside."

Rebecca moved down the hallway to the door ahead of them into the room that Elior had chosen as their room. "He has been very worried about you," she told Ashlynn with disapproval. "He is too busy to be worried about his mates." "I will try to behave myself better," Ashlynn rolled her eyes feeling like a naughty child. "But really, I had a good reason to go out after curfew."

Elior, in full suit, was on the phone looking out the window at the street, and in the bathroom, she could hear the shower running. The bed was empty, the bedding rumpled, and the scent of sex heavy on the air. Her boys had kept themselves entertained, she thought with a smile, in her absence.

Elior had turned as the door opened and ended his call abruptly. He stepped up to her, capturing her face between his hands and kissed her hard. "I am..." His eyes took in Jacinta and the vampire behind her, and their burdens. "Astounded and bewildered."

"Caleb Roth and following appealed to my parents for sanctuary," she leaned up and kissed him again, tasting Cael on his lips. "With some far-fetched tale of your general wickedness. My dad, of course, didn't believe that for a moment, so sealed them into his den and called me to address the situation. You were busy, and Cael was napping. Honey," she tapped his chest and simpered. "This is a very nice suit."

"Hands off the suit," Elior's eyes wrinkled in the corners. "What have you done to Caleb and Celeste?"

"Crushed a couple of vertebrae," Ashlynn stroked her hands up his chest. "Nothing irreversible. The question is, what are you going to do with them? Your glass coffins were in the building that exploded."

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"That they were," he fought back his smile as he captured her roving hands. "I am sure we can come up with something appropriate. Jacinta and Rebecca," he raised an eyebrow at his children. "This way," Jacinta directed the soldier from the room. Rebecca closed the door.

Cael stepped out of the bathroom, rubbing a towel through his hair, his skin flushed from the heat and the mist fragrant with soap as it billowed out behind him. The Other flashed red in his eyes as he grinned at Ashlynn. "Our vampire was very upset to find you missing. I had to comfort him several times. He is very inventive in seeking his pleasure."

"You will have to stop calling me our vampire," Elior pointed out mildly. "I am now not the only vampire in our triad."

"You will always be our vampire," Ashlynn purred trying to free her hands from his grip. "And all pretty in your suit too."

"Hands off the suit," Elior repeated as he released her, a smile tugging at his lips. "I have a press conference in half an hour."

"That is half an hour away," Ashlynn edged closer again mischievously, watching him retreat. "I know you can achieve a lot in thirty minutes. Inventively, according to Cael."

"Don't make me throw Cael at you," Elior laughed as she continued to stalk him towards the bathroom.

Ashlynn caught the sharp scent of magic on the air a moment before static lifted the fine strands of her hair, and she exclaimed, shoving Elior towards Cael, as a portal opened between the end of the bed and the windows, the shifting air currents generated tossing the curtains on their rods as if a storm had blown in.

The three Wingless leapt onto the bed as the portal closed behind them with a scream of air suction.

Cael's shield sparked as it deflected a spell. He pushed Elior behind him, and dove into a roll that saw the loosely tied towel around his waist left behind on the carpet, seizing his sword from the table-top and driving it into the shield around the Wingless, as Ashlynn cast every offensive magic spell in her repertoire.

A pillow exploded under the foray of spells, sending fine white down into the air. Another spell gouged a smoking line across the wall, blistering the paint into bubbling and releasing the toxic smell of burnt plastic. The carpet smouldered, smoke filling the room to sting the eye and clog the lungs.

Cael roared between clenched teeth, directing his power into the sword so that its glow sharpened, forcing Ashlynn to avert her eyes, momentarily blinded by its brilliance. She directed her power into her hands and poured it into the shield seeking to overwhelm their magic with the outpouring of her own.

The Wingless' expressions of triumph shifted to fear as their shield collapsed beneath the combined power of the sword and Ashlynn, and all three vampires leapt, bringing them down upon the bed and tearing into their throats. The man beneath Ashlynn clawed at her back, trying to fight her off, crying out as she sank her teeth into his throat. The blood pumped into Ashlynn's mouth, driven by the beat of his heart, until she felt his heart stutter and then stop, his hands losing strength and then falling limply onto the bed. She sucked hard, trying to draw the last mouthfuls out of him, and then slid from the bed onto the floor.