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The sun had set just a few minutes ago. Cas awoke and
stretched. She gave a quiet sigh before moving towards the bathroom and a
shower. She set the water to warm and stepped in. She took her time under the spray after she
finished washing up. Several minutes later she finally stepped out and dried
off. She next spent an hour before the mirror and applied her face paint. She
was careful and meticulous about the band across her forehead, making sure it
was just perfect. Finally satisfied, she moved back to the bedroom to the closet and picked an outfit for the
night.
Once ready, she stepped out into the night and headed over to work. It was only about five blocks from where she currently dwelled and it was a lovely night. She was careful on her walk. There was still a war going on between Vampires and Werewolves. She had no desire to get caught up in it personally. So she kept a wary eye out for rogue Lycans and overzealous Vampires while she was making her way. She only relaxed marginally when she stepped into her place of work.
Cas was greeted by a few coworkers as she made her way to the back dressing room. She returned them cordially and with a smile. Once back in the dressing area, she settled into her warm up routine before it was her turn to go on stage.
Once ready, she stepped out into the night and headed over to work. It was only about five blocks from where she currently dwelled and it was a lovely night. She was careful on her walk. There was still a war going on between Vampires and Werewolves. She had no desire to get caught up in it personally. So she kept a wary eye out for rogue Lycans and overzealous Vampires while she was making her way. She only relaxed marginally when she stepped into her place of work.
Cas was greeted by a few coworkers as she made her way to the back dressing room. She returned them cordially and with a smile. Once back in the dressing area, she settled into her warm up routine before it was her turn to go on stage.
Now with his old life as good as forgotten Gideon patrolled
the night in search of the enemy. He had been told that vampires had killed the
family that he had been fostered with but in truth it had been him who had
slaughtered them upon the change. Set upon revenge he would work through the
ranks to take charge of his own team of Lycans in search of retribution. They
had been stalking one such vampire for several nights now and were finally
closing in on him. Just a few blocks from where Cas was working they spotted
him feeding upon a helpless human. He jumped down in front of the vampire and
began to laugh. The vampire gave him a smile and then began to run in the
direction of the club. The vampire initially got ahead of Gideon and would
enter Cas’ place of work. Gideon would follow while his team blocked the exits
should the vampire manage to sneak passed him.
Working his way through the crowd, Gideon would get distracted by the performance upon the stage and at this point Cas was still to enter to do hers. Such distractions would go when he spotted the fleeing vampire heading to the back.
Working his way through the crowd, Gideon would get distracted by the performance upon the stage and at this point Cas was still to enter to do hers. Such distractions would go when he spotted the fleeing vampire heading to the back.
“Cas. You’re up next.” She gave a slight nod and started to
rise up from her sitting position. She’d finished her warm up and had been
quietly meditating. It was a normal routine for her when she first came into
work. It helped curb her Hunger until she could find an appealing dinner.
She moved out the door and headed towards the stage, only to be nearly ran over by someone. Her quick reflexes kept her and her assailant from a nasty tumble. But so did his, and she drew back sharply and hissed. Unfortunately, this kind of place brought in all kinds, including Vampires and Werewolves, but not often. “You do not belong back here.”
“I have a pack of Weres after me. Is there a back way out of here?”
Cas scowled something fierce. “No. And take your fight elsewhere.”
The Vamp stared at her in shock as she moved to take the stage. “Wait…” Cas ignored him as she continued on and took the stage. As soon as she stepped on it, the music started and she began to dance.
The first thing to surprise Gideon was the return of the fleeing vampire to the main floor. With the exits secured the vamp was sure to be caught and killed within the hour. He gestured to his team to move in and he was about to follow when he saw Cas enter the stage. He knew exactly what she was but he had never seen anyone, human, lycan or vampire, look as divine as her.
His first thought was to jump on the stage and take her out. His second was to have her captured and killed along with the other vampire but in the end he would just stop, timeless, unable to keep his eyes from looking anywhere except at her. What was the hold she had over him, he was as yet to figure out. In the meantime, his team had apprehended the vampire and was securing him in their van. The vampire’s life, for what it was worth, was over.
Though dancing, Cas was always more than aware of what went on in the Club, after all she was an ultimate hunter. She noted the Vampire being captured and taken, and while she felt no pity for him, she wasn’t happy the war was here right in front of her. In the past, both sides were usually less obvious, treating public places such as this as a kind of neutral ground. After all it wouldn’t do for the Humans to figure out their myths and legends were more than fairy tales. And it was why she chose such a place for employment.
She was also aware of the male staring at her as if hypnotized. Not unusual when she came on stage, and one of the reasons why she was still employed here. But it was the Human patrons that acted thus, not Vampires, or Lycans like the man was. She didn’t care for his attentions, especially after his pack had just taken one of her own kind, and was more than likely going to torture and kill him shortly. It was a good thing she knew other ways out of here that no one was aware of. She didn’t trust her chances after the open capture and this one staying behind.
Her dance came to an end, and she quickly found the manager. “Toby, I’m not feeling well. I’m going to lie down for a bit in one of the dressing rooms, but will probably head home anyway.”
He wasn’t happy about it, but didn’t argue. Cas was his best dancer, and he wasn’t about to piss her off and loose her. ”Go ahead sweetie. What’s one night to heal up, so you don’t miss more.” She gave him a grateful smile and hurried to the back. Once there, she headed to an unused dressing room that had become more of a storage area. Slipping inside, she ghosted through the objects in the room until she came to the back corner. Squatting down, she ran her fingers over the wall there and found the hidden release.
She dropped down into the hole as the floor moved out from under her. Once there she hit the trigger on this end and sealed it back up. She waited still and quiet to see if she was followed, her senses attuned to the slightest sounds.
With the first dance over, he blinked and watched her leave the stage. Expecting an encore he waited for her return only to be left hanging. In the end he moved back stage after ‘convincing’ on of the bouncers that it was in his best interest by crushing the man’s hand before moving passed him. After enquiring as to Cas’ changing room he knocked upon the door. He heard something inside and did not wait for an answer. Seconds before Cas had just sealed up her exit and this would confuse Gideon for a moment before he made his way out of the building cursing for him being so sloppy to let her get away. He should have taken her when he had the chance.
Now outside he jumped in the van and headed out with his team to break the vampire that they did have. He would see Cas again and unknown to him it could easily be later that very night.
Now done with the male Vampire, he washed up and went back out into the night, alone. His team was dismissed and he was off duty officially. He had had the scent of Cas in his lungs for some time now and he wanted to see her again, but where to start the search, he considered.
Cas heard the door busting open and bolted silent as a wraith down the passage. She took many twists and turns before finally emerging about a block from her home. Carefully she scanned the area, before emerging completely and hurrying to her apartment. Cas paced her apartment for several hours turning things over in her mind. She probably needed to move on. New place, new job. She didn’t want to though. She liked this place and her job. She liked the town too. It was built along old style Spanish architecture and she felt at home here.
She finally gave a sigh and stopped pacing. She needed to hunt. There were also a couple of Lycans she was civil with. They had frequented the club often enough to come to realize she chose to ignore the war. She never asked to be a Vampire, and she just didn’t have the patience for the stupidity of the war. She headed out the door and down the stairs and out into the night.
It didn’t take her long to find a drug dealer trying to force his wares on a young girl. Cas had seen it before, they got these young runaways hooked on various drugs, then cut them off and made them prostitute themselves to get a fix. Studying the situation closely, Cas determined that this girl was fresh meat, new to the area. She decided dinner was served, and the girl would get a serious rescuing before she realized what she was in for.
Cas came sauntering along, and both people stopped to stare at her with jaws slack. Cas knew she looked exotic, and like a spoiled rich kid with no clue. And when she wanted to, she could really play that first assumption up. Casually she draped an arm around the girl and smiled. “Senorita, really, you should sue him for being so crass as to lay his hands upon you.” She turned to the guy. “And you Senor, did not your mother teach you proper how to treat women?” Her Spanish accent usually really hard to detect, came out thick to add to the picture that she was foreign as well.
Both parties blinked at her for a few heartbeats, then the guy laughed and grabbed her arm and jerked her towards him. She slammed into him so they were now pressed against each other and his nasty breath was blowing in her face. “Girl, I’ll be happy to show you how my father taught me to show a female a good time.” He grinned down at her.
“Mmmm, one momento, por favor?” She smiled up at the guy when it was all she could do not to just sock his ass. She turned away and moved to the girl. She pulled some money out of her pocket and placed it with a card and placed it in the girl’s hand and closed it over. “Go get you a hotel room, chica. Perhaps make a phone call or two.” She whispered it quietly, and then turned the girl around and gave her a push away from them. The girl stumbled a step or two before righting herself. She glimpsed down into her hand and saw 50s and 100s in the money given to her. She bolted to the sound of Cas’ throaty laugh.
Returning to the guy she smiled again. “Now, Senor, that good time you promised?” The guy still a bit bemused with the whole situation, started to lead Cas off. As they neared an alley, Cas suddenly sprang into action and overpowered him before he knew what was going on. She drug him deep into the alley and started to feed. By the time she finished, the junkie and orgasmed a couple of times in his pants and was oblivious to everything as Cas made sure the wound was sealed over and dumped him behind a dumpster.
Cas exited the alley and headed to Phillip’s house. He was an old Lycan, very wise and extremely funny. But more importantly, he too was from Spain, and she always felt a connection with her lost home when around him. He had been the first to encounter her dancing in a club. And the first to realize, this slip of a Vampire was really no threat. He’d taken the time to get to know her, and while due to what they were, they couldn’t exactly be friends, they could be civil and cordial, and tended to give information freely concerning each other’s Kind. Even though the local Vamps knew Cas would take no hand in the war between the Kinds, they still would keep her abreast of things in the Vampire community.
Soon she was knocking on Phillip’s door. She hoped he was home, and not in the middle of something. It was longer than normal before Phillip answered the door, Cas had been about to turn away. “Ahh, Senorita. Hello.” Phillip looked surprised and a bit uncomfortable at seeing her at his door.
“I can come back at a different time , Senor…” She trailed off as he shook his head and smiled.
“No,no, Casilda. It was just surprising to see you at my door when I was just talking about you. Come, come. There is someone inside wishing to meet you.” He stood aside holding the door for her to enter. Cas hesitated briefly before entering. Who on earth could be asking questions about her? And with a Lycan at that…
Hours would go by and with no luck he felt a little deflated. It was at that point he thought of Phillip. Being an elder lycan and just a few blocks from his current location, he imaged that he would know what do or at least be able to help him. Well he had in the past anyway.
Hoping he would not be disturbing him he leaped from building to building until he was at the lycan’s door. He would knock as was polite to do so and upon entering he would be let into the sitting room. He sat when asked to do so and then began his tale of the unnamed vampire that had conflicted his beliefs so. He felt that Phillip knew of whom he spoke of but he would not press him on it. He had learned the hard way not to do that.
He had only been speaking with Phillip for a few minutes when a knock at his friend’s door was heard. He hoped that he would have more time with the elder but it would seem that that was it for now. He, of course, was unaware that the vampire he sought was the one interrupting their conversation. At this stage he had not even been given her name.
Phillip led Cas into his sitting room and she froze when she got a glimpse of his other visitor. She moved to run back the way she’d come, but even old, Phillip was fast. A hand grabbed her by the arm and held her fast. “Una fácil, Little. Estás a salvo aquí, ya que siempre han estado bajo mi techo.” (“Easy, Little One. You are safe here as you always have been under my roof.”) His calm manner and gentle words broke through her fear. She relaxed, but stayed close to Phillip. Switching back to English, “Here, let me introduce you two. Gideon, the one you are looking for, Casilda La Rose. Casilda, a fellow Lycan, Gideon Cooper. Now sit and be civil, nina.”
Cas eyed Gideon warily as she moved cautiously to a chair as far from him as she could get. She sat stiffly and Phillip fought a smile, the corners of his mouth twitching. He sat easily and looked at Gideon briefly before turning his attention to Cas. “Tell me chica, to what do I owe for your beautiful company?”
Never taking her eyes off Gideon, she pointed at him with her chin. “Him. He and the pack he was running with tonight nearly brought the War to the Humans’ attention. Only thing to keep them still oblivious was it happened at the club. Stupid.” Her disgust and scorn at the sloppiness of the Pack Hunt more than obvious,
Phillip gave a slight cough before speaking. “Chica…” The warning note plain in his voice.
Cas jerked and ducked her head like she was about to be whipped. “Lo sentimos, Anciano.” (“Sorry, Elder.”)
Phillip gave a quiet sigh before turning to Gideon. “Is this true, Brother?”
He could not believe his luck when the female he searched for turned up at Phillip’s door. Her behaviour was not unusual to him and in truth it made him smile. He wanted to tell her that he meant her no harm but in truth he could not truly confirm that to be the case at this moment even with Phillip there.
When she spoke of him almost bringing the war to the Humans’ attention he frowned. He would not speak until he was addressed by the Elder. “I did no such thing. The vampire went into the club and we simply followed him, in human form. All the torturing and eventually killing was done in the van and back at base. As far as I am aware the humans were blissfully unaware of who and what we are and indeed who we were chasing. To this day I have never gone against any of my teachings; well except once but Philip knows about that and I have a scar to prove it.” He then pointed to his face and the deep scar upon it.
Cas started to make an angry retort, but stopped herself and turned away. That was the problem between Lycan and Vamp, they never saw things the same way. That was part of the ongoing war between the two Kinds. Cas gave an exasperated sigh.
The corners of Phillip’s mouth twitched again when Cas sighed. He knew all too well what frustrated her over the whole war. The girl really didn’t have patience for stupidity, and as far as she was concerned the millennia old War was beyond stupid to her. Managing to control himself for this serious matter, he looked to Gideon. “Perhaps, in the future, should by some chance you run prey to ground at a place Cas works, you wait to capture them when they leave? After all, I’m sure any team you are on is good enough to have all exits blocked so there is no escape. Why not let the prey sweat and worry a few moments longer?”
Cas’ head whipped around and her eyes stared widely at Phillip for a bare heartbeat before going blank and expressionless. She should have known better. She shouldn’t have even bothered to come here. Before she could rise and make her exit though, Phillip spoke once more, a thoughtful tone to his voice. “In fact, I think it might just be a good idea to set Cas’ club up as a neutral territory within the city.” He looked at Cas and smiled. “Subject to moving should you find another place of employment, of course.”
The dumbfounded look on Cas’ face was priceless, and Phillip did finally laugh. It wasn’t often he flummoxed the girl, and he always enjoyed the rare times he did. “And to make it a truly neutral ground, there should be a Lycan employed as well there. And truthfully it is perfect, males of both kinds enjoy a good show. Of course the females might not be overly thrilled, but there are other amusements there that can appease them.”
Cas, after getting herself back under control, turned over Phillip’s words in her head. She didn’t know if it would work, but it could be the start of ending a war that had been going on for far too long. She kept silent as she thought this through.
Gideon looked to Cas when she sighed before looking to the elder when the fellow werewolf aired his idea. “I will do as you ask and not enter such a place in pursuit again. As you have said having the exits blocked was more than sufficient.” The idea of Cas’ club being made into a neutral territory fascinated him. Much like a church is considered safe haven for humans. He would join in on Phillip’s laughter upon seeing what effect such a suggestion was having on Cas. His laughter would stop upon hearing that the elder thought that having a lycan work there too. He hoped that he did not mean himself but he would honour such if Phillip believed it to be prudent.
In the end he would look to Phillip and ask the burning question that he clearly needed to ask. “And who do you think should be the lycan to work in such a place?” In his voice there would be no hint to suggest that he did or did not want the job. Although having such a post would give him the chance to get to know Cas even if he sensed she would rather scrap him off her shoe than even share words with him, let alone anything else.
Phillip waved a hand at Gideon. “Oh, entering the place and keeping an eye on prey isn’t the problem Casilda is upset about, after all she didn’t help out the Vampire, now did she? But taking one down amongst the Humans, that, my Brother, is her complaint.” He flashed a smile at Cas as he finished speaking to be given an agreeing nod by her.
“Exactamente. I take no part in this stupid war between our Kinds. But, making the Humans aware we are more than fairy tales to scare each other is beyond even the stupidity of this pointless and useless war.” She stopped and grew thoughtful. “Your idea has merit, I must say Phillip, and you are right, a Lycan working there as well, would make your Kind more comfortable than just myself. Also, if, and this is the big one, this Lycan and I can tolerate each other, for those of each of our Kinds, it would give them someone to tell what they want and it will be sure to get passed along to the other Kind.” She lapsed into silence as she thought about it more.
Phillip allowed a tiny smile to emerge as Cas appeared to be taking this idea of his seriously. He had often thought there should be some sort of neutral ground for the two Kinds to mingle. The club would be a good place. It closed down at certain times, so a fugitive would not be able to hide within indefinitely.
Phillip and Cas both looked at Gideon as he asked who should be the Lycan to work at the club. Cas shrugged and looked not exactly confused or indifferent, just like one who didn’t know any Lycans to put forth a candidate. Phillip though looked thoughtful. “Hmm, a good question Gideon.” He gazed at Cas lost in thought long enough that she actually raised a brow at him. “Sorry, nina, I was just thinking of Gideon’s question and your words. You only know myself, and now Gideon. I am too old to be considered workable, so I would say that leaves Gideon.” He closely watched both for their reactions.
Cas blinked and looked owlishly at Phillip at his suggestion of who to work at the club. Her eyes tracked to Gideon and she studied him from head to toe. Her look went from owlish to thoughtful. “Well, he could make a good bouncer…” She trailed off.
Gideon would nod out of respect and complete understanding of what was being said to him. “It was an error and it will not happen again.” He would say before listening to the two of them converse further about making Cas’ place of employ a neutral zone. It would quickly seem to him as if Cas was up for such a possibility and in all truthfulness he was not about the let the side down by airing his true thoughts on the subject. On top of this he did not wish to ever disappoint Phillip. With his question answered he would keep eye contact with his company while he thought for a moment if he could actually do what was quite obviously being asked of him.
Never one for a good poker face he would have been seen to raise an eyebrow upon the suggestion that he be employed there also. After all he had a team of hunters to consider but then again he was sure that Phillip would find a suitable replacement or at least one would be found with or without his help. Even before anything had come out of his mouth Cas seemed to be coming to terms with it too after she had looked him over. Well he would have a chance to get to know her, he guessed, so he would nod and then pause before saying anything. “I will do as asked. Perhaps some time away from the war will do me some good. Will I need to start straight away or will it take you some time to set it up?”
Phillip, much older, wiser, and longer lived than Gideon, had learned to keep his thoughts well hidden when observing others. So, his face remained a neutral bland while he watched the two youngsters check each other out. He already had a fair guess that Gideon was very interested in Cas, and not as hunted prey for killing. But then Casilda seemed to have that effect on males of any species he had long ago learned. As for Cas herself, she wasn’t viewing Gideon as an incompetent, careless idiot anymore, and that was a start.
Before Phillip could respond to Gideon’s question, Cas spoke. “Come apply tomorrow night. You will be hired.” Phillip raised a brow, and Cas just shrugged at him. Her head cocked for a moment and then she rose. “And I must bid you both a good night.”
Phillip rose quickly. “Chika?”
“I fed before coming. I am not so rude to arrive upon your doorstep hungry. But there are things I must attend too. I will show myself out Phillip. I long since learned the way.” She flashed him a smile and started out of the room. Pausing at the doorway she looked over her shoulder at Gideon. “The club is as much my home, as my place of dwelling is. Harm one of the other employees there, and I will have your hide as a throw rug for my dwelling’s fireplace. Other than that, I hope we can come to some sort of understanding to make this work.” Then she turned ad left. She had a bouncer that needed getting rid of so Gideon could take his job.
Phillip turned to Gideon with a serious look after she left. “Do not take her words to be idle, my Brother. She means every word of it. More importantly, she will follow through.” Phillip had gotten to know Cas very well over the past few decades he’d known her. He was probably the only one who knew of her life before, and how she became a Vampire, except maybe her sire, if he still lived. Cas may not take part in the War, but she was no slouch when it came to fighting.
Phillip sat back down and stared moodily at the fire cheerfully burning. “I don’t know, Gideon. Perhaps I grow old, but like Casilda, I weary of this pointless war. Neither side ever gains any real advantage. Each side can replace lost members with a bite, and even the Vampires can give birth at times, not like we can, but our infant fatality rates still make that not even an advantage.” He gave a sigh and lapsed into silence.
With how he would get the job as good as settled he would nod to Philip and wonder if this was the plan for him all along. He would smile while he got used to the idea of a life without the hunt but soon relaxed when the thought of seeing Cas everyday helped him to get used to it that little bit quicker. He would watch Cas leave and look her straight in the eye when she gave him her words of caution. He would say nothing in reply, and only nod to her in understanding, until Phillip addressed him once they were alone. “Oh I believe her when she tells me this and I will honour her ‘request’. I will not let you down.”
He would then listen as the elder spoke of the war and he perhaps had a point. He had after all felt for a while now that he had been running on autopilot following orders without question. “You are right Philip. While it gets me off the front line I would imagine that the kill rate would drop. I was quite good as you know.” He would chuckle but it would not be for long. “I think it is perhaps time that I depart too and let you rest. Besides I have to resign and inform my group that they will have to find a new leader.” He would then stand but not move until dismissed by Phillip.
Phillip looked up at Gideon’s words, and nodded. “Of course.” He would see Gideon out before retiring for the evening himself. With the plan in motion, now it was time to see if it would come to fruit.
Cas moved with quick ease and waited outside her work until the bouncer she had in mind for Gideon to replace came out. Gliding up to him she flashed a small smile. He gave her an odd look and watched her warily. He knew all too well she didn’t overly care for him. “Mitch.”
“Cas.” Finally managing to meet his eyes, she mesmerized him. In three heartbeats she had him under her control and led him off. Returning to her home, she took him to the basement and soon had him bound and gagged. She’d already fed tonight, but he would make a good meal for tomorrow. And it opened up the bouncer position for Gideon. A win-win all the way around. She retired to her coffin just before the sun was to rise.
Upon being seen out, Gideon went straight to the base to talk with his team. Most were disappointed but upon the mention of Phillip they soon feel silent. He would then pack his things and head home to drop them off before going to rest. His plan was to have a lie in tomorrow and head to the club at an appropriate hour that would suit such a place and would suit Cas too. Late afternoon would be when he would awaken and after showering and picking out one of his better suits he moved through the streets as the sun began to set in time to be at the door of the club around one hour before opening. His idea being that he would be employed and at his post in plenty of time before the doors would open for the night.
He could not see Cas yet but he imaged that she was around. He would be shown to one of the back rooms, most likely the manager’s or owner’s office and he would get comfortable while he waited to be seen.
Finally up for the night, Cas got ready for work, before sauntering down to her basement. Mitch was glaring as she came down the stairs. Apparently the rumours about him weren’t so very true. Or maybe it was that he didn’t like being the one tied and gagged. She really didn’t care, and had no interest in playing anyway.
She walked up to him and lightly ran a finger down the side of his neck. She heard his heart suddenly beat faster, and a small smile twitched at the corners of her lips. Or maybe he did, and just liked pretending that he didn’t. Mattered not. She grinned in full and watched as Mitch’s eyes suddenly widened in shock at her fangs. Before he could so much as twitch, she had latched on and started feeding.
She suddenly stopped and backed off. Her hunger sated, she didn’t finish him off. Perhaps she would keep him around for another day. She left him and walked back up stairs. Soon she left the house and walked to work. Arriving at the club, she heard the buzz of Mitch not showing for work, and some new guy that would possibly take his place. By the descriptions, Cas concluded it was Gideon.
Cas was stopped by just about every female that worked there and was asked if she had seen this new guy. When she replied in the negative, she got all kinds of comments about him and how good looking, dreaming and hot he was. It was enough to make her want to snap and snarl, but she refrained and managed to get into her dressing room before she started going on a killing spree. She just hoped they would calm down after a few days of him being here.
Already on shift but in the back having a quick break with one of the female employees, he soon heard that Cas had arrived. He gave the young woman a kiss before leaving her outside to finish her fag. He considered fucking the girl but he didn’t want to be caught doing that sort of thing on his first night and the last person he wanted to be caught by was Cas for some reason. Was she really having the sort of effect on him which would curb his lustful needs of others?
The girl had been one of the employees that he had overheard talk about how handsome he was so she would have been an easy lay but he had to refrain for now. He had a job to do and he did not want to disappoint Cas.
Now back inside the club, he walked to his assigned location for the next hour of his shift. He would smile back to the females in the club until he saw Cas. He had reserved his best smile for her.
Only somewhat centered by her usual warm up and meditation routine, Cas finally rose with a disgusted sigh when someone came back to tell her she was next. Every few moments Gideon’s face would appear in her mind’s eye. She had no idea why. She hardly knew the Lycan. And honestly, she wasn’t even fully sure she even liked him even a bit. Oh, his Lycan Blood wasn’t really the issue, after all she was friends of a sort with Phillip, but that had taken decades of mutual effort to build trust. She did not have that with Gideon. And if it weren’t for Phillip, Gideon probably wouldn’t even be here.
Cas paused before actually heading up on stage. She took the time to gage the crowd. People seemed to be happy. Her female coworkers and even a couple male coworkers seemed to be about tripping over their own tongues. Following their gazes she saw Gideon. She looked him over thoughtfully. As a Lycan, he definitely had presence about him that even the most lack witted could notice. As a male, he was pleasing to the eye. In truth Cas couldn’t really blame her coworkers. She gave a quiet sigh and a slight shake of her head.
Finally she stepped from the shadows and with a barely noticeable signal to the DJ, music started to play, and Cas started to dance. Cas never looked at Gideon, she focused on the patrons of the club. She gyrated up to one man and used him like a pole to dance on and around, before she spun off and moved on. It was rare for Cas to dance like this, but when she did, everyone enjoyed the show. Regulars practically vibrated in anticipation, hoping she would dance right up to them. And Cas didn’t discriminate, she danced with both male and female patrons, and leave them all longing for her to come back. The smile on her face was tight and polite as she danced with each person she picked out and made a slow snaky path to the stage.
Gideon smile for Cas would remain for some time while he watched her dance. He had a job to do and that was to ensure that all within the club were safe but even he felt as if he was letting that role slip a little when Cas danced. While she danced he tried to image why he had been fighting all his life with vampires. The way she danced made him wonder why he had wasted his years fighting an invisible war only to lose ground minutes after he had gained some. Now away from the war within this neutral ground he soon forgot about the war and could only think of Cas.
He could of course see and sense the looks he was getting too from some of the patrons and co-workers but overall they would look to Cas too. In time he would feel the first inkling of jealousy but not against anyone in particular. What was going on? He fought through it to do his job and watch Cas entertain the crowd.
Cas eventually reached and mounted the stage in her dancing. Once upon the stage she started her dancing in truth. Slowly she slipped off first one glove, then the other. As the music progressed, her pants slowly slithered down her legs and she delicately danced out of them. One slow, sensuous button at a time came undone until she could shrug out of the top she wore. Moving about the stage she slowly pulled on the tie that held the bikini like top in place at the bottom. It hung around her neck teasingly covering her breasts. Swaying softly, she again slowly untied the upper string and let the top drop to the floor. This left her clothed in just her heels and the bikini like string bottoms.
Throughout the whole routine, even though she never looked directly at Gideon, she was aware of his location. Having timed the music well, she slowly danced back off the stage and wound her way amongst the crowd once more. This time though, she made sure in her circuit to dance up to Gideon. She danced a circle around him until she came behind him. Then she twirled and pressed her back against his and slithered down. When her head was level with his butt, she made an intricate and amazing move that turned her around and placed her in front of him. Her face level with his groin. Then she slowly danced her way back up until they were face to face. A slight smile and a flirty look in her eye.
She then spun away and continued dancing picking people at random to dance with. Many got a thrill copping a feel on her nearly naked body. She managed to not flinch or react to their touches, knowing it was part of the show that she was allowing. As the music came to a close, she finished her dance where she had started it, and headed back down the hall. She would have to do at least one more dance routine for the night, maybe even two.
A fight could have broken out and Gideon would probably not have seen it. All he wanted to do was to see Cas dance and peel off her clothes for the crowd before her. He had never seen such perfection in his life and he had been with many a woman in his time. At one point he even felt himself licking his lower lip while his eyes memorized every line and every curve of the vampire on stage. His mouth even opened slightly when she finally exposed her breasts to him and the people within the club.
He watched as she left the stage to eventually come over to him. He could feel alj eyes on him and Cas as she danced around him. When their backs touched he sighed softly until finally she was somehow in front of him with her head at groin level. Did he blink and miss how she had gotten there? He remained still while she stood from her kneeling position and worked her way up until she faced him. Around the same height he could see in her eyes that she was teasing him or did she want him? He smiled back with a hint of lust in his eyes just before she moved away to relax back down. His shoulders would visibly lower while he continued to watch her.
When she stopped for a break he followed her down the hall. He wanted her and he hoped that her break would be long enough to air it or indeed act it out. “Impressive, for a va…” he stopped realizing that those within the club would most likely not know that she was a vampire or for that matter that he was a werewolf. “…You certainly know how to move. If you are on your break perhaps we could talk or something? Perhaps in your dressing room?” He was smiling to her by now and the effect of the dance still lingered in his loins.
Cas didn’t jerk or flinch as Gideon approached and walked with her down the hallway. Her eyes flicked to him as he spoke, and a dangerous look crossed them briefly until he caught himself. She looked away once more as he continued to talk. Reaching her dressing room, she finally turned to face him. Her expression was neutral at first until movement behind him caused her eyes to flick a glance over his shoulder.
A handful of people stood back in the hallway, varying looks of disappointment and even anger. One reason she rarely did that type of dance. There were usually a few who thought they could get more from her because of her dancing, even fellow employees had been so stupid as well. Her eyes came back to his and she smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “You must be the new guy everyone is falling all over themselves for.” She turned and reached and opened the door all in one fluid movement. As she stepped into the room she spoke once more. “Sure, we can talk. It’s good to know who your fellow employees are.” She stepped aside, holding the door open so he could enter.
Gideon looked behind him while Cas looked over his shoulder at the people behind him. He could see the faces of disappointment and anger but a smile would form on his face uncaring as to such. They could try to get passed him in fact he hoped one would try. When no one did he looked to Cas and listened to her words. He was subtly amused when she pretended not to know him and then thought how wise it was for her to act as such. “Yes I am” he said while following her into her room.
Now inside after Cas had held the door for him, he sat and continued speaking softly. “Yes it is nice to know fellow employees. But now that we are alone Cas I find that I am drawn to you. I know that we may not have gotten off to the best of starts but I cannot turn off how I feel. So what do you propose we do about it, Cas?” He relaxed into the chair and look deeply into her eyes trying to pick up on what she was thinking.
Once Gideon entered her dressing room, Cas closed the door. She moved across the room and rooted around in the closet and pulled out another outfit. She spun around as his words sank in and looked at him in disbelief, outfit and changing forgotten momentarily. He wasn’t serious was he? Drawn to her? She blinked several times as her mind tried to twine itself around his words. Suddenly a grin sprouted on her face and she busted up laughing. She nearly fell over as the mirth took a good strong grip. It was all she could do to stumble over to the other chair next to his and literally tumble into it as she continued to laugh.
After many long minutes, and her arms wrapped around her sides, she finally got herself under control. Looking over at Gideon, she gave him a slightly rueful and apologetic look. “I was just thinking that it was a good thing Phillip wasn’t here. It took him a couple of decades to completely floor me like you just did. And you managed it in less than twenty-four hours. He would be so annoyed.”
Suddenly she shot from the chair and picked up the clothes she’d dropped in her mirth and tossed them to the vacant chair. She then finished taking off the rest of the clothes left from her last outfit. Moving back to the chair, she started to dress. “Truthfully, I propose nothing, Gideon. I do not know you. You are here as the Representative of your Kind on Phillip’s suggestion. And I respect him and his opinions and trust him. A trust that took he and I several decades to build.”
She eyed him thoughtfully as she finished straightening her outfit. “You want a tumble in the sheets, I’m more than positive you could have your pick from those who work here, as well as among those who patron the club. I have never had a desire to Mate a Lycan, Vampire either for that matter. So at least I’m not discriminatory in that regard.”
She moved and settled back in her chair and looked him in the eye. “To put it bluntly, I do not know you. I do not trust you. I am willing to work on it, but only because of Phillip.”
Whether he was serious or not it no longer matter as all he could do was to save face. He would, within seconds of Cas beginning to laugh, burst into chuckles himself. His laughter would seize upon her looking to him with her arms wrapped around her sides. He smiled while she spoke of Philip and how long it had taken him to make her laugh and would say nothing until she had finished addressing him and was in her next outfit. He had enjoyed the sight of her naked form on stage and between outfits in her room and by the looks of things he would not be getting any action from her for now.
When he finally spoke, not wishing to delay her any more than he had already, he was calm, with a hint of apology in his voice, and for all intents and purposes he seemed sincerer. ”Well I have been known for my humour and it pleases me that I have amused you. I will indeed take your advice and seek ‘comfort’ elsewhere and as for trust I understand that will take time and I have that in abundance. For now I am sorry if I offended you and I will speak not of this ever again unless you approach the subject of course.”
Cas gave a semi disgusted soft sigh. “You meant none of that in jest. Do not start lying to me, or we will never even be friends.” She rose from her chair and paced. Her face was lost in deep thought. Finally she turned to him and looked him in the eye. “I never asked to become a Vampire. I do not know of any of us who ever has. Those who do aren’t ever Turned. They are usually ignored, unless overly pesky and annoying, then they are killed outright.”
Her eyes grew distant as she stopped talking for a moment. When she finally continued, her voice took on a distant quality to it and her almost nonexistent accent emerged. “I was seventeen when I was Changed. I was raised to be the local Patrón’s concubina since I was ten. I had been given to a visiting Guest for his use. The third night, he Bite me. It was a terrifying but also a pleasant experience, odd as that sounds. Why he Turned me, I still do not know. But he was gone when I woke.”
She pauses again and moves to a fridge. Finding a couple of bottles of water inside, she tosses one to Gideon. She comes back to the chair as she takes a drink, then flops back into it, then continues on. “At first, I had no realization I was Changed, and the Guest was gone in the morning. At first I could hear peoples’ heartbeats, smell their blood. I had no idea why. I grew rather sick in two day’s time, food did not appeal to me, and even kind of made me sick to my stomach. A Hambre was upon me, but I couldn’t even look at food. I also became lethargic and hard to wake during the day.”
Cas stopped again to take another drink. She didn’t look all that happy to be reliving these memories, but she continued on. “The third day, or night really, the Patrón’s favorite concubina was trying to wake me. She finally got mad enough to even resort to beating me. Not that that was unusual for her, she was a viciously cruel mujer anyway. But it was then I attacked her. I ripped her throat out with my teeth. The blood tasted so good. And I greedily drank as much as I could. I could not stop myself. Finally sated I came back to myself and stared in horror at what I had done. Then I fled. Besides being a monstruo, I had killed the favored concubina. Death would be my fate had I stayed. ”
Quiet momentarily, her fingers drummed the chair arm. “I wandered for a while. I tried to come to grips with what I had done. Tried to not kill another Human Being. Even tried living off animals when the need for blood arose, but in the end, I always got sicker until I had to feed off a Human. I even tried to stay up for the sun, but self-preservation always made me seek some sort of haven. Finally another Vampire found me. I think originally she had planned to kill me because my Feedings were rather messy and brutal, but for some reason she took pity on me and showed me that I didn’t have to kill to live. How to control my Feeding and leave my Victima alive. She also taught me the exercise routine and meditación I now use to control my Hunger.”
She stopped with a sigh and looked to Gideon with a humourless smile. “You are the second person I have told this story too.” She looked away as she continued. “And funny enough, neither of you are Vampires.” She closed her eyes and tilted her head back on the chair and worked to rebury the memories of the beginnings of her current life.
Of course she had seen through his lie, well he had not been every convincing now had he. What did surprise him was the story she told him only to find out that he had only been the second to learn of it. It seemed to him that on one hand she did not trust him but on the other she trusted him enough to share such a secret as this. Feeling obliged to share, he took a deep breath and smiled to her. ”You tell a sad story indeed and I thank you for sharing it with me, I really do.” His eyes would express the truth in his words before he continued to share with her his own secret.
Throughout her telling he had not taken offence and just simply listened in order to learn more about her. He was still drinking from the bottle of water that he had been toss a few minutes ago and had nodded in thank you upon receiving it. He had imagined that the first person had been Philip but he would not ask. Instead he would simply share his story thinking that he would go into more detail later if she wanted him too. “I never knew my real parents. I went from foster home to foster home. On occasion I seemed to struggle with my anger unaware that it was most likely my true self trying to surface. Such a surfacing would finally come during my late teens and to this day I cannot remember what happened but I was told that vampires killed my foster parents that very night”
He paused to take a gulp of his water while faint images of death flooded his mind. Were they from that night or the years of war that followed? “So I was taken from that place and brought to a pack of Lycans and from that day I felt for the first time as if I had finally found my home. I have been part of the ‘war’ ever since until Philip removed me and sent me here. During the war I received many a scar; one of which you can clearly see upon my face.” He smiled to her warmly and before going silent once again he added. “Being as I am no longer in the war I won’t upset you by telling you how I got them. In truth I have been in my twenties for a long time now, or at least I have looked like this for many a year.”
Cas listened quietly as Gideon shared a part of his past. She noticed he didn’t go into much detail, but she accepted that. She only did so so her story was done and over with. She long ago learned others didn’t always do the same. Phillip was a good case in point. There were things that Cas didn’t know about him, even in their decades of friendship. She laid a hand lightly on his arm as he told and finished up his story. “Every Vampire and Werewolf bears scars of some sort, seen or not.” She gave him a gentle smile. “In order for this plan of Phillip’s to work, you and I must learn to work together, and even trust each other. There will be those who will do their best to see this doesn’t work.”
She looked away briefly wrestling with a thought. Finally she sighed and looked back at Gideon. “We both obviously trust Phillip, and he in turn trusts us or we would not be here. We have started to try to find that trust in each other.” Before she could say more a soft hesitant knock came upon the door. “Yes?” A door opened and one of the girls peeked in. Cas watched her take in how Cas and Gideon were sitting and Cas’ hand on his arm, her change of clothes, all this crossed the girl’s face and it was like reading a book to Cas. The girl informed them that Cas was up next. “Gracias, Marta.”
The girl nodded and before she could depart Cas smiled at Gideon once more. “Care to escort me out?” There was a twinkle in her eye that spoke volumes of impish mischief. Out of the corner of her eye, Cas saw Marta’s eyebrows shoot up before she disappeared and shut the door softly. Cas gave a quiet chuckle for a moment before suddenly becoming contrite. “I am sorry. That was not at all fair of me. Me thinks I’ve just made your conquests a bit more challenging.” She really did look apologetic, mostly.
The touch of her hand upon his arm while he told his story made him smile with warmth and he felt relieved not to go into any more detail than he had already. Perhaps he would in time. In response to her suggesting that they get along and then some, he nodded and said “Yes I would like that and I think so would Philip, but I can’t speak for him in that regard.” When the knock came he stopped talking and waited for Cas to deal with it. He did not look to the girl at the door but he would remain looking at Cas throughout her conversation with Marta.
Upon being asked to leave the room with her, he took her hand from his arm and kept it within his. “Yes I would like that and do not worry about the others, they can gossip all they like and besides now that we are friends I no longer feel like pursuing any of them, so no harm done.” He hoped that she would keep her hand within his while they walked but would understand if she felt that she shouldn’t. Either way he would walk with her and keep the show of protector, secretly knowing that she could take care of herself given those within the club were mostly human at the moment.
Cas rose with Gideon. She raised a brow and eyed his keeping her hand in his. But she neither said anything nor removed it just yet. She frowned slightly at his words. “Gideon…” Her voice was chiding, but she didn’t continue. Instead she dropped the subject. They walked easily together down the hallway. Many looks shot their way, all of varying emotions. Cas personally didn’t care. She maintained a distant friendliness with her fellow employees.
She stopped them just within the entrance to the main room. Her eyes scanned the crowd briefly before meeting Gideon’s. She gently extracted her hand from his now. Ever so softly, knowing he’d hear her just fine, “Do you see them?” Apparently word had already gotten out to both Kinds about the Club. There were both Vampires and Werewolves among the crowd, carefully keeping to opposite sides of the room. She then turned and gracefully stalked out and up to the stage. As soon as she was in position, the music started.
Cas moved with a very sinuous and provocative grace. She moved slowly in time with the music and each move was a tease. After several minutes, the music changed tempo and picked up. So did Cas and finally her clothes started to come off. This time the first thing to go was her vest, one button at a time. She teasingly pulled one shoulder off halfway down her arm, and then would pull it back up to repeat the move with the other shoulder. She did this three times per shoulder before suddenly pulling the vest wide open, baring her breasts to the crowd and letting the vest slide off her arms to the floor.
Cas went through a few dance steps before teasingly pulling her skirt up and down, never quite fully getting it off. The crowd was making all sorts of cat calls and wolf whistles, lewd comments were shouted out, telling her to take it all off. Finally, Cas allowed the skirt to slither off her frame and finished up the dance routine. The music ended, and Cas exited the stage. She carefully threaded her way through the crowd, easily avoiding grasps at her person, while smiling and winking at those who attempted to grab at her.
Already Gideon felt close to Cas and when she did not take her hand away from his to begin with he smiled to himself while he walked with her to the door leading to the main room. Just like her, he cared not for the looks they received from those around them. He understood why she felt the need to take her hand away judging by what she saw through the door. Neutral ground this might be but to see a werewolf hand in hand with a vampire was perhaps too much on day one. “I do see” he replied softly before walking into the room and head back to his station.
He watched her perform and in truth he enjoyed it a great deal. He wondered if she would like to see him naked being as he had already seen her as such. He looked to those in the crowd and the expression of lust and desire upon all within the room. His jealousy would surface on occasion but he would do nothing about it as he did not want to ruin her set. Besides she looked as if she could handle the jerks who thought it was okay to touch her. He moistened his bottom lip while he wondered if she would let him touch her. Feeling protective of her still, he watched her finish her set and then he moved through the crowd to ensure that she made it back to her dressing room without too many groping marks to report.
Now By her side, he ensured that even the most eager of her fans found it impossible to get to close and now at the door, he opened it for her to allow her through before following her and slamming it in the face of anyone wishing to follow. The loud cheering and clapping, still evident from the other side of the door appeared to quiet down a little through the thick door, and that gave him the chance to take her hand once again if she was willing to accept it. “Allow me to escort you back to your room, Cas, perhaps we can talk some more before you either go out again or you finish up for the night. Whichever you have to do.”
Cas was both bemused and relieved when Gideon joined her as she left the room. His presence backed off the majority of over exuberant patrons. Only the most persistent still tried to follow her back to the dressing room. She allowed Gideon to take her hand again as they started walking back to her dressing room. She didn’t know why, but it seemed to just feel right. She smiled at Gideon’s words. “Sure.” It wasn’t lost on Cas how easily they walked together to her room. She turned this over in her mind as they reached her door. Opening it she stepped in and waited for him to follow. Once he did, she closed the door, but before she could make another move beyond that a voice floated out from the furthest corner.
“Hello, Casilde. It is good to see you hail and well.” A striking red headed female Vampire stepped out of the shadows and gracefully moved to sit in one of the two chairs in the room. After she was settled she looked at Cas and Gideon expressionlessly. Her eyes roamed over Gideon and then turned back to settle on Cas. “The snack I found at your home was rather delicious. Though I am afraid it has expired.” She watched Cas closely to see how that settled in.
Cas’ own face had taken on a neutrality as soon as the Vampire had greeted her. Her body was tense next to Gideon, ready for anything. “Felicity. I see you are still around. Though that really is no surprise.” With a slight shrug, she continued. “I’m glad you enjoyed the hospitality of my home, even if I wasn’t there to offer it. What brings you here?”
If Felicity was disappointed at Cas’ reaction, she didn’t hint at it. She dropped her gaze to study a well-manicured hand. “I heard this strange rumour of a Neutral Ground for Vampires and Werewolves. And that my old friend Casilde was somehow mixed up in it.” Her gaze rose to once more look Gideon over as she continued. “Naturally I had to see if it was truth.”
“Naturally.” Cas’ eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Felicity look over Gideon. “Gideon, meet Felicity, the Vampire that should have killed me.”
Felicity’s eyes suddenly snapped to Cas and she arched a brow. “Now Casilde, I thought we were past that. After all, it wasn’t your fault your Sire left you with no clue as to what you were.” Felicity studied Cas searchingly, but finding no clues there, her gaze drifted to Gideon thoughtfully. “It is rather odd that you do not trust your own Kind, yet here you are trusting of two who should be your mortal enemies.” Her eyes flicked back to Cas and she smiled. “But then you were always the enigma that has kept the Vampire Community always wondering.”
Now Cas did react, and it was with a startled jerk. What on earth could Felicity mean? Cas kept a low profile among the Vampires, really didn‘t interact with them if she could help it. And now here she was telling her that The Community watched her? That was a bit unsettling, but it also explained how the Vampires already knew this to be Neutral Territory.
Gideon said nothing when the unknown addressed Cas and spoke of a ‘snack’ at her home. He would look to the introduced Felicity, once Cas had replied but again not speak. He would however remain close to Cas, as if protecting her, even though he knew that she could take care of herself. He was about to nod and speak when Cas introduced him but Felicity coming back so soon in response to Cas’ remark about killing her, he paused to see how it would play out, for now.
When Cas jerked he finally spoke. His tone was soft and just above a whisper. “A pleasure I am sure Felicity. You are right this is indeed neutral ground and perhaps that is a good thing as far as you are concerned or I would have you ripped to shreds for upsetting Cas or at least by trying to do so. As a former member of the guard, assigned to eradicate vampires, if I can put our differences aside then I would imagine that anything is possible. In truth I welcome the news that this place is being watched since if anyone were to break the truce that is strong within these walls I would hope that your kind would intervene to squish such defiance as I am sure my kind would do also. This is a safe place to have fun and is totally separate from the war. If you cannot see that and embrace such then you can leave and we will say no more about it.” He then drew Cas close and gave her hand a devoted squeeze. ”Everyone under this house is under the protection of the security within this building of which I am part of it and I would imagine that those loyal to me are not too far away, should you find that you need a gentle reminder of where you are?”
At first Felicity’s brow arched ever so elegantly at Gideon’s words, but before long her eyes narrowed. Cas gave an almost inaudible groan at Gideon’s veiled threat. He needed some serious lessons on diplomacy. And while she appreciated Gideon’s efforts to be protective, even gave his hand a slight squeeze back, she still shifted ever so slightly, ready to pounce should Felicity decide that this particular Wolf needed a lesson.
It wasn’t missed by Felicity either. She turned her narrowed gaze to Cas and stared at her thoughtfully. “The puppy is bold and brash.” A smile slowly creped upon her face as her gaze traveled slowly down Cas’ form and back up. “But then considering the bone he is being protective of, it is more than understandable.” A genuine laugh suddenly erupted from the red head which had Cas’ eyebrows climbing up her brow. “You two are cute.” Her laughter abruptly stops as she tilts her head and studies the both of them. Her voice is thoughtful as she continues. “And you make a striking couple. Yes, I do believe this will be most interesting to watch unfold.”
She rose languidly from the chair and walked up to the pair. Lightly resting her left hand on Cas’ left shoulder she looked directly at Gideon. “Rest assured, Wolf, the Vampire Community is most interested in this new concept. Oh, not all, as I’m sure you have malcontents amongst your own Kind. But they are curious, and that takes a lot.” She continued to walk by them only to pause and lean in to Cas and whisper so softly that Gideon couldn’t even hear. Whatever she had said had Cas’ face turn nearly a bright crimson, no mean feat for a Vampire. And then she breezed out the door, softly closing it behind her with parting words. “We really should find time to catch up Casilde.”
Cas relaxed, but couldn’t meet Gideon’s eyes after the whispered words from Felicity. ”Bed that one. You’re so rusty I can smell the dust and cobwebs. Besides, he looks like he could be fun. And he desires you strong enough even a blind person could tell.” Cas had always been rather secure in her body and never gave a thought to being naked in front of hundreds of pairs of eyes every night. She wouldn’t make a good stripper is she did. But now with Felicity’s words ringing in her head, she found herself a bit out of sorts being half clothed in front of Gideon.
Suddenly with a low growl she stalked to the chair Felicity had exited and flopped into it. She bent over and started working the shoes off. Personally, she hated stilettos, really heels of any type, but they went with the whole stripper personae and she’d learned to tolerate it. As she worked the shoes off, her mind turned over Felicity’s words. Why on earth would she encourage Cas to mate a Were? Was it a dare? A test? Suddenly she sat back and stared at Gideon with wide eyes. Of course, it was a test. Her stomach sank as she came to realize, none would truly believe that Neutrality was possible, even if Cas and Gideon showed any kind of friendship.
Cas dropped her head into a hand with a groan. Yes, they’d need far stronger proof. Could she do it? Could she bring herself to take Gideon to bed. She peeked at him through her hair. If he’d been a Human, she could have without a thought. Studying his body from head to toe the next thought was if he was a Vampire she’d be sorely tempted. But he was a Werewolf. She frowned thoughtfully as other words of Felicity’s came to mind. “It is rather odd that you do not trust your own Kind, yet here you are trusting of two who should be your mortal enemies.” She raised her head and studied Gideon thoughtfully. True, she trusted Phillip, Gideon not quite as much, though it was forming, and easier than she had thought it would. But still… her bed?
She leaned back with a sigh arms up over the back of the chair, legs slightly parted but relaxed in a comfortable position. She didn’t realize that she basically just put her nearly naked body on perfect display for him, only stitch of clothing she wore was the lacy panties from the last outfit. She was looking up at the ceiling as she spoke. “I think we’re in trouble.”
Unaware of the danger posed by his words towards Felicity, Gideon remained firm in his actions even when he noted the brow arch and indeed the way in which Cas shifted as if ready to pounce. He relaxed when he began to feel that Cas and Felicity were perhaps old friends or at least they were not enemies. He backed off further when Felicity suggested that he and Cas were a couple. He said nothing in that regard as he already liked the idea of such a union. Her words to him, upon her rising from the chair had his attention. He again said nothing but he would digest the idea that what was going on within this building was of interest to all parties.
With her now gone, he looked to Cas when she moved to the other chair. He was curious as to what had been whispered to her but he would not ask about it for now. Instead he watched her remove her shoes and get comfortable. By now his pupils were large taking in her perfection before him. He even felt his tongue gently lick his lower lip for a second before being brought back inside him mouth. For a vampire she was exceptional to look at. Even if he was completely unaware of the secret exchange between Felicity and Cas, it was clear that he wanted her. Almost as if she was reading his mind the words ‘I think we’re in trouble’ hit his ears, bringing him mentally back into the room. “Perhaps but... what do you suggest we do about it?” His question was leading as he slowly lent towards her with the intent of kissing her.
Cas had closed her eyes after she’d uttered those words. A slightly pained look crossed her face at his question. She gave a sigh, “I… don’t know, Gideon. I don’t know.” She lay there a while longer, still not realizing she was positioned as an open invite to Gideon. The only barrier to him being her underwear, and even with that, as little material as it possessed, her sex peeked out here and there teasingly. She shifted, about to rise from the chair and opened her eyes, only to freeze at finding Gideon hovering only inches from her looking like he was about to kiss her. Her eyes widened alarmingly as she stared up at him.
Suddenly she was moving so swiftly and managed to escape the chair without even touching Gideon. She was standing in the middle of the room facing him. “What the Hell? What the fuck are you thinking?” She had a look of panic over her features and started to slowly back across the room from Gideon. A small corner of her mind insisting that if he hadn’t a problem with a union between them, why did she?
Not receiving the answer to their problems was no big thing since he was sure they would figure it out in the end. Besides the way she sat before him made him quickly forget that they had any problems at all. Seeing a glance of her sex was enough to tell him that she wanted him but upon her realization of what he had planned her words and the way she had looked at him upon opening her eyes tell him something else. So swift was she that she was up before he could even touch her.
He would stand too upon being address in regard to his behaviour. “Calm down Cas.” He would say as he moved toward her. “Don’t you want me as I want you? I guess not. I guess I was wrong about that at any rate.” Before he gave her a chance to answer, he moved behind her as if to leave the room. Grabbing her wrists with his large hands, he kissed her neck and nibbled her flesh while doing so. “Does it feel strange having someone bite you instead of the other way around?” He knew he would not be able to hold her for long but he was no weakling human, he was sure if they were to fuck they would easily wreck the room before any harm would come to either of them. Turning her to face him, with one of his hands holding both of hers behind her back he kissed her firmly upon the mouth. Between kisses he added “Why don’t we just see where this takes us, ah?” He then kissed her again while the fire in his belly burned to mate with her. He had never felt like this before about anyone, least of all a vampire. What was driving this? He had no clue. All he knew was at any moment she would either pull away and try to kill him or something similar or embrace him completely as hers.
Cas didn’t answer his questions, her panic was too much. And in truth she really didn’t know. Didn’t know if she could actually do such an act or not. Part of her crawled at the thought, a small part, but a part of her all the same. When he moved as if to leave, she relaxed slightly, it was as if he was retreating, and she wasn’t about to stop him. She needed time to regroup and figure out what the hell was going on. But he wasn’t retreating, and when he grabbed her she was shocked. Vampires and Werewolves were pretty evenly matched in strength and super-naturalness, and though she struggled to break free, she was just in the wrong position for any kind of leverage to do so.
All struggles ceased briefly and a sharp intake of breath came from her as Gideon started kissing and nibbling her neck. Her nipples in plain view to his lowered gaze hardened suddenly as his lips and teeth scraped across her flesh. Damn if Felicity hadn’t been right. She’d been too long without, and she couldn’t control the reactions of her body as tingles shot through her everywhere and a heat suddenly came to life in her belly. A whimpered groan escaped her lips as he turned her to face him. Passion, need and desire swirled in her eyes, even as in a panic she shook her head and her lips started to say no, only stopped by his sudden kiss.
She struggled again, but was at a double disadvantage now. She still had no leverage to break free, and her struggles only caused her cool body to become more inflamed with desire as it rubbed against his heated form. In her struggles a loud tearing sound could be heard. She froze as her panties suddenly came away, caught on some object from his clothing. Her eyes widened in stunned shock, and then she started to struggle again as her fear mounted. “Gideon. Please. We… we can’t. It’s… not heard of.” Her voice held both desperation and desire, but clearly she didn’t know which way to go.
All through his sharing of his intent towards her, Gideon desire for her grow within him. The driving force behind such lust was not yet apparent but whatever the reason for his need for her he had no power to stop it or indeed any yearning to do so. Instead he held her to him even if she seemed to struggle to break free. Such a reaction only encouraged him to persevere. When he heard her groan this drove him forward while he ignored the shake of her head. The kiss had prevented him from seeing her say no. What would such a word do to him in his current state anyway? Perhaps that too would have been ignored anyway. Her eyes told him another story of want and need of her own. He could see how her eyes reacted upon hearing her panties being ripped from her and he pulled away from the kiss to see them fall. Spinning her around once again, he held her close with one hand around her wrists while he unzipped his pants. Bending over her his weight brought her to the ground and he would hear her knees hit the floor.
Fully aroused he used his right hand to position his cock to slide into her sex and in one deep thrust he was inside her. He groaned deeply upon feeling her tightness surround him while he grabbed her hair and pulled her head up towards him. Now with her still on her knees with her chest forced to the ground and her head up, he thrust in and out of her in quick succession. He had not answered her words until now and when he did he would be smiling while he took her. “Not heard of it might be. But once we are done here tonight all will know of this. I want you and, I know that deep inside of you, you feel the same as I. So we can and we will.” He then gritted his teeth to bore down on her with increased force and vigour.
Spun like a top and a bit disoriented, until she heard the loud sound of a zipper coming undone. “No, Gideon! No!” He didn’t listen any better than before, and next thing she knew she was doing a face plant into the floor. A muffled sound could be heard from her face down in the carpet. A scream? Cry of pleasure? Maybe both? As his cock drove into her tight, extremely wet folds. Head suddenly yanked back by her hair, and his words made her even more slick for him to pound so easily. He was right, but she’d be damned to the furthest planes of Hell before she’d admit it, or even give in so easily.
Folded practically in half, and backwards to boot. Held down by hair and wrists, she wasn’t in a good situation. But she tried. She struggled at first with a strength she hadn’t shown before, desperation and panic finally lending help. Unfortunately, it just helped add to the growing tension the sensations of him driving his rod deep into her cunt caused. Her body betrayed her and the struggle suddenly stopped with a tortured moan. Her breath grew ragged and her pussy twitched now and again around his cock, soft sounds of pleasure and need escaping her parted lips at first, then a low growl started deep from inside her and grew in volume and force as her fangs grew in length. Her slick, tight velvet suddenly clamped around his shaft with a new spin on tightness and a roar escaped her as her body went into deep, jarring shudders. Her need to Feed suddenly surfacing as well, and she snapped and snarled trying to find someone to bite.
Once again her words only encouraged him. He took the muffled sound as a cry of pleasure. She was so wet for him by now that he continued to fuck her with considerable force. If she was human such would have split her in two but she was anything but. It would seem that she could take his animalistic need to have mate with her. Her struggling, or at least attempts to do so, drove him crazy with desire too, in doing so, he would hold her more firmly with each attempt to free herself. When such struggling was replaced with a moan, he smiled and increased his pace. So tight, she felt so good, and by now he was breathing deeply to accompany her soft sounds of pleasure.
When her sex clamped down upon his cock he roared knowing that she had his cock firmly within her. By now she was jarring below him and was that fangs he saw growing when she tried to turn to look at him? When she snapped at him, he started to grow larger into his Crinos form; the hybrid form of man and wolf. Fangs of his own would grow along with claws that would dig into Cas but given that she is a vampire such deep cuts would most likely heal completely. Every part of his body would grow in size, including his cock and with that his strength would multiply expediently. The latter being mostly a good thing since he knew better than anyone that a vampire grew stronger too when the fangs were exposed. Now completely changed he would turn her around to face him and continue to fuck her while he moved one of his hands around her neck to try and prevent her from sinking her teeth into his now harden flesh. Hard it might be but vampire fangs could still penetrate him if she had a chance. Not ever being bitten by a vampire before he was of course curious what would happen to him if she did but for now he viciously fucked her while his muscles flexed and relaxed with each and every thrust.
Felicity hadn’t gone anywhere after she had closed the door. She stood quietly listening to the happenings going on in the room she had just left. She heard the conversation and smiled slightly. Good, Casilde caught her meaning. She winced slightly as she heard a thud suddenly. That couldn’t have felt good. Then Casilde’s roar came and her eyes widened. “Wow, was that our little Vampire?”
Felicity whirled around to find Phillip standing there. “You should learn to make some noise, Old Wolf. Being sneaky could get you killed, or worse.” She paused to see that her warning had no effect on him and wasn’t surprised. “And yes, that was Casilde. Seems your Young Wolf was more than up for the task.”
“Hmm, yes, rather fortunate last night’s circumstances. Bring them together so easily. Gideon is more than capable for the job at hand. I have learned that even though Casilde does not participate in the War, she still adheres to the rules of our Kinds. For the most part anyway, she will bend or tweak a rule, but never break one. Gideon on the other hand, while he will uphold the rules, can and will break them as the need arises.” He smiled, “and apparently the need arose.”
Felicity frowned. “But there is still her need to Feed with a mating. Will he allow her? And what will his Wolf’s blood do to her. I don’t know Phillip. There are too many unknowns in this experiment, and we may lose our best people for this to succeed at the start.”
Phillip sighed. “I know, but there is no other way.” He looked at Felicity with concern. “How many times before she must Feed?”
Felicity shrugged. “Once won’t kill her. Weaken her a bit, but not kill her. Three, maybe four, before she is far too weak to even Hunt on her own, and if she’s allowed to go that long, and does manage to Feed, it will be messy. Much like how I first found her.”
Phillip nodded. “Then we’d better hope they figure it out, and that his blood doesn’t be what kills her. We need them to pave this new way.” Felicity just nodded and went back to listening and Phillip too, stilled and listened. He wasn’t overly worried about the bite Casilde would give Gideon in order to Feed. Most Weres could handle such, only the weak seemed to have any issues with a Vampire bite. He knew Gideon wasn’t weak. He had been watching the young man for some time, and had finally settled on him as the possible best Wolf to mate Casilde, since she was a most exceptional Vampire herself.
Cas might have screamed when Gideon changed form and suddenly stretched her sex beyond what it should be without giving birth, but her sudden need to mate had a good grip on her and that only added fuel to the fires burning in her. His claws digging gouges into her flesh only turned her on more, and she no longer cared that they were two different species, she did want him. Her body clearly stating such as her over taxed pussy suddenly gushed even more fluid in her pleasure.
When he flipped her over, he would be able to see quite plainly in her eyes a deep Hunger and a wild, unbridled lust mixed with something else not understandable yet. Almost, she had bitten him, but his hand on her throat slamming her back to the floor put a stop to that and drove a frustrated cry out of her. Her nails grew into claws and tried to gain purchase on his hard skin to pull him down to her, but his new form was more than a match for her added strength and it was a fruitless effort as his viciously continued to fuck her and she felt the tension building once more to another orgasm.
Unaware of what was going on at the other side of the door, and in all honestly they could have been standing behind him and he would not have looked or even stopped what he was doing. Something more primal that he could not control had him now. The increased honey from within Cas only ease each and every thrust within her. Feeling such, he increased his pace and vigour of his insertions. He had sensed that she had cum but he was no were near such. Now with her facing him, her screams at not being able to bite him were heard. He wanted to howl but even in his animalistic form he knew not too. Instead curiously got the better of him and in time he would release her from his grasp, leaving her to move her head if she so wished, but not yet. Firstly he had work to do and that involved bring her to a new height of ecstasy. Already the wetness between her legs gave him more pleasure than he could very imagine so he bore down on her and continued to pound her fast and hard.
He growled to her when she dug her nails into him. He had not seen that they had grown to razor sharp claws or that they had cut into his tough skin. The release of endorphins from such a wound only served to drive him into a sexual frenzy like no other. When he came, he did not pull out of her and instead released his seed into her welcome depths. Now it was time to give her what she wanted. Her screams upon being restrained made him consider letting her move freely. He had delayed such but it felt right to give her the freedom she seemed to crave. Upon pulling his hand from neck, he moved forward to move his own jaws to her neck, while his cock pumped his ejaculate in powerful pulses. Being slower in his movement, he would not make it, if Cas wanted to bite him first. Whether he had roared when he came he was unsure, but his whole body was relaxed which for a moment made him vulnerable.
With every hard and vicious thrust, her juices flowed all the more. At his final thrust before release, her legs wrapped around his hips, and her overly stretched cunt clamped down around his cock, pulling him in even deeper to release his life creating seed into her. Desperation and need made her move quicker than him when he released his hold on her throat. Her fangs clamped down on his neck, piercing it with little difficulty and his life giving blood flowed into her mouth. Her muffled cries of pleasure could be heard plainly by him as she took three big gulps of his blood before removing her fangs from his throat.
A cry of pain and pleasure mixed as she suddenly convulsed under him and her eyes rolled back in her head. His blood burned going down. Suddenly she went limp under him, nearly passed out. Distantly, she felt the blood burn through her body. It found and released eggs from her as his seed traveled and found them. The blood stayed with the eggs as they traveled to settle within her womb. A strange cocktail, no doubt, but the way a Vampire reproduces by normal means. Instead of amniotic fluid, the eggs would get their nourishment from the blood of the father as they grew.
When it was plain to the two outside that no more mating would be coming anytime soon, Felicity opened the door and stepped into the room, Phillip right behind her and it was he who closed the door after he was in the room. Both surveyed the other two in the room. Both looked a bit worse for wear, but otherwise fairly intact, and quit satisfied. Though Cas looked a bit out of it. It was clear though that she had Fed off Gideon and both smiled with relief.
“She will need to Feed once a month off you now Gideon, for the next nine months.” Phillip looked at Felicity in mild shock. “What? To keep the embryos growing to maturity and birth. How else do you think Vampires can bear young?” Phillip gave her a ‘but of course, how else’ kind of look and wave of the hand. Felicity gave Cas a once over. “She’ll be around in a moment. You might want to change into a more human form Gideon.” And with that Felicity moved to the chair she had occupied before.
Phillip looked Gideon over. “You alright?”
He tensed initially when her fangs sunk into his flesh but within seconds he relaxed as if something told him it was for the best to do so. There was no pain or discomfort. It was if he was meant to do this without question. He smiled when she removed them but was concerned when she began to cry in pain. Helpless to assist her he would watch as she reacted uniquely to their mating. He would turn his head when Phillip entered the room with Felicity.
Totally aware of what was being told to him; Gideon would nod to Felicity in acceptance of his fate. He would slowly turn back to his human form and remain close to Cas as if protecting his mate from danger, even though he sensed that those within the room meant them no harm. She was still naked and even if she exposed herself to the general public on a daily bases, preserving her dignity was of paramount importance. He reached for a blanket to place over her body and then pulled out his cock to get dressed once he had ensured that she was comfortable.
Upon hearing Phillip ask if he was alright, he would look to the visitors and questioned them in his usually way. “I think so yes, but do either of you want to explain all of this to me. Or at least try. What I now feel for Cas is powerful indeed and in all honestly it seems to control how i act around her. What is going on?”
The relief on Phillip’s face was plain to see at Gideon’s words. He looked Cas over briefly, but trusted Felicity’s assessment of the situation. He took the chair next to Felicity and watched the newly mated pair. “So we don’t have to explain it twice, why don’t we wait for Cas to come around?”
“Come around for what?” Cas stirred and sort of sat up with a slight groan. She hurt all over like hell, but it was quickly fading as the memories of what just happened quickly hit her mind. “Oh shit! What have we done?” She looked at Gideon with wide eyes and then realized who else was in the room. Her face went completely blank and she tensed waiting for some sort of retribution from those two. Silence descended for a few heartbeats.
Phillip broke the silence first. “We both have a confession to make to the two of you. Felicity, would you go first please.”
Felicity quirked a brow at Phillip but complied. “Actually I have two. Casilde, you introduced me as the Vampire that should have killed you to Gideon. Yes, I should have, but there was something about you that told me you could be important. That and when I finally got a description out of you who was your Sire. You were rough and just in need of polishing. Once you learned of our world, I was surprised how much of it you rejected. More in point, the War is what you rejected most, a trait that has been sought for some time.” She paused for a minute and then sighed. “My other confession is that I have managed to find out exactly who your Sire was. I had thought it possible at the time, but not likely. You see, he is old, very old. Like one of the First Generation Vampires. Those created by the First of Us. The catch though, is that he only makes one Vampire at a time. And as far as I knew when I found you, his Child was still around. It took a few hundred years, but I finally found that at the time you were Turned, his last Child had been destroyed a few months before. Should you perish, he will then make another. Nor does he Sire children by more conventional means. But you, my dear, young as you are, are a Second Generation Vampire, and that makes you very powerful.” She looked to Phillip when she finished speaking.
Phillip gave a sigh. “I too have two confessions, though the second should probably be told first. Gideon, I have followed you since your birth, traced your family back as far as it goes. You come from strong Lupin stock, and it wasn’t chance that you saw Casilde last night. The Vampire you chased, brought you here on purpose. It was hoped that her beauty would catch your attention, and her wits and intelligence would keep you from catching her with the other and destroying her. That eventually, you two would somehow come together. Luck though seemed to want to speed things along as first you came to my house, then Casilde did, An opportunity I quickly seized and pushed forward with the suggestion of a neutral zone for our Kinds. And while that is a desire, it is not the primary goal.”
Here he pauses for a long time as he tries best to put in words what he is about to say. He gives a sigh and looks at Gideon. “I told you last night I weary of this war, like Casilde, I too believe it a useless waste of effort. I have for more than seven hundred years, Felicity for just about as long. Together we have watched and hoped two like you would come and help end it. But the only way that will happen is if you two produce children, showing it is possible, and paving the road for a new Way.” He sat back and watched with Felicity as the two absorbed all the information suddenly thrown at them.
Cas was speechless. This wasn’t what she was expecting in the least, knowing that for a Vampire and a Werewolf to do what she and Gideon had done was tantamount to Death. She looked at Gideon first, then Phillip, and finally Felicity, not really sure how to respond.
Gideon would nod upon Phillip’s suggestion that they wait for Cas. He smiled to his beloved moments later when she questioned the Lycan elder about her coming around only to frown a little when she looked to him asking another question. He was about to answer during the moment of silence but just before he opened his mouth, Phillip spoke instead. He looked to the Elder and then to Felicity upon hearing that they had a confession to make; his expression blank with a hint of curiosity. Once Felicity had finished speaking to Cas, Gideon realized that he had been holding his breath throughout. He took a deep breath wondering what exactly had he gotten himself into. ”Second generation vampire, indeed…” he mumbles to himself. ”…My goodness”
He did not have much time to digest this news before Phillip spoke of Gideon’s heritage. It would appear that it was not dissimilar to Cas’. It was not that he did not believe the Elder, quite the opposite in fact. But like Cas, he would be speechless for a time but upon catching the eye of Cas as she looked to him he finally addressed the room. If Cas would accept his hand he would take her in his to show that he had her back and would most likely do so for the rest of his life. ”I thank you, Felicity and Philip, for your honesty and I will of course honour your wishes and do what I must for the greater good, if this is indeed for the greater good. Being a recent advocate of the war I too now see how futile the war really is. Hope is not built from war, love is and the possibility of a better future. Nothing good ever comes from war. I see that now.” He paused for a moment as if picking up Cas’ concerns about death and then asked. ”If you both think we will not get killed for what we have done then I see no harm in it.” He was already aware of the growing feelings of protection and love he now had for Cas.
Cas caught Gideon’s comment under his breath and she cringed slightly from him. Bad enough she was a Vampire and him a Werewolf, and they’d just committed the only ‘sin’ either of their Kinds would kill for, but now he was worried about her bloodline. Lovely. Top it off, here was a Vampire and a Werewolf both pushing them to continue in this… this… abomination? Strangely that word just didn’t sit right with Cas. Yes, they had done something they shouldn’t have. Yes, she’d tried to avoid it, but Gideon took the matter out of her hands. No, she wasn’t really sorry about it, a bit at odds with it and the fact that deep down she wanted more, but still… that was beside the point. And something she would wrestle with later when she had the luxury. Now Phillip had her attention as he spoke.
“Just like that? You roll over and show your belly?” Cas jerked up and stood glaring at all in the room. The evidence of her earlier activity with Gideon just about healed and gone, leaving her skin and body as perfect as it was before. “Of course we’re going to be killed.” She whirled to Felicity and Phillip. “And you cannot tell me that all Vamps and Weres are all suddenly warm and fuzzy inside and wanting peace.”
Phillps spoke mildly. “You are correct. Not all are for such a change. In fact, very few are. You will be in danger, as will your children until they are grown enough to defend themselves. But the two of you can show it is possible for a Vampire and a Werewolf to not only mate, but even love. Do not deny that you have feelings for Gideon, I know Vampires rather well, you would not have mated with him otherwise.”
Cas’ lips were tight and thin at Phillip’s last comment. “That is besides the point…”
Before she could say more Felicity cut in exasperated. “Then what is the point?”
“You. Did. Not. Ask. Neither of you asked us if we wanted to even be a part of this. You threw us together and hoped things would go in your favor.” She glared and her eyes had turned red by this point. “I will not be a pawn. Not for either of you. Not for what I do or don’t feel for Gideon. Not for peace.” With that she stalked across the room and found clothes and started to angrily put them on, her back to the others in the room.
Gideon shook his head in disbelief at what he was hearing from his mate. For him they had bonded and it would take more than a few seconds to lose such a feeling. The more she spoke however the more he felt like he too had been played. So bonded to her now was he that he moved to her and looked to Philip and Felicity. Still willing to protect Cas even if she did not want it, or at least appeared to not anyway. When Felicity spoke of Cas’ feelings for him he smiled a little and kept such when his Cas did not deny it. It was then that Cas made the point he had not considered. She was right. Where was the consultation? He would nod in agreement before speaking his mind, while Cas got dressed, clearly still very upset.
He would look to Philip first but clearly he would be addressing Felicity too. “Cas has a point. Why not share your idea with us yesterday. Perhaps we would have surprised you with our answer. Although I cannot speak for Cas. I for one would have done anything for you Phillip as I have in the past. I respect you and I am sure such a request would have been honoured. I for one have no regrets as to what has happened. If I can speak my mind, the way it was executed was underhand even for you, if I can be so bold to share such a thought with you.” He then added with absolute honestly. “The thought of Cas being in danger because of this is unacceptable to be honest and if we are as important as you claim we are then I would expect the best protection for her since she either now carries or will in time carry the future within her.” He glanced over to Cas sure that she had heard his words and then back to the pair of underhanded planners.
Felicity and Phillip at least had the good grace to look both embarrassed and chastised as Gideon spoke. “That is why this was pushed to be a Neutral Zone. To be honest, neither of us expected things to move this quickly. It was hoped to establish this as a Neutral Zone first, then mating. But, I am not going to be upset or say I am sorry it has come about. Change is needed, and does tend to move quickly.” Phillip sighed as he finished talking while he gathered his thoughts.
Felicity jumped in at this point. “Yes, she will have protection, as will you, Young Wolf. We didn’t just pull this out of our asses last night after all.” She looked over to Cas, who had stilled when she finished dressing. “Casilde?” Drawing everyone’s attention to the female Vampire.
At first Cas didn’t move. She had been wrestling with what her and Gideon had done, the puppettering of Phillip and Felicity, and the possibility of pregnancy. There was nothing to be done about the first two, it was done and over. But the last… well first she needed to know if it even happened. Being a Vampire, she was pretty in tune with her own body, and it wasn’t hard for her to turn her focus inward and find that yes, life was starting to grow inside her. Now to decide if she’d allow them to continue or not. She’d never planned to have children by any means. That’s why she tended to avoid her own Kind, and just kill her meals.
She gave a sigh and finally turned to face the others in the room. Her eyes were no longer red, but her expression was neutral. She studied both Felicity’s and Phillip’s worried faces. She had heard Gideon’s words to them, distantly, and she agreed. It was underhanded, when they could have spoken to them about their plans, included and recruited them. “I trust neither of you.” A pained look crossed Phillip’s face as Felicity just shrugged, Vampires didn’t trust each other anyway. Cas turned to Gideon. “And you, I told you no, and you took anyway. Do you realize that for the next nine mon--” She stopped as a throat cleared and her gaze snapped to the other two.
Felicity cleared her throat again. “Actually, there’s no proof that gestation will take nine months.”
“Actually, there’s no proof it won’t.” Felicity shot Phillip a glare, but conceded the point. “It is uncertain. This is a new species being born after all. Who knows what or how long it needs to mature before birth.”
“Great,” Cas muttered, “so I could be carrying a monster… or three.” She gave a disgusted sigh and turned away. Felicity’s eyes widened in shock as Phillip looked between her and Cas puzzled.
Gideon nodded upon hearing both Phillip and Felicity doing their best to explain why they did what they did. The nod was not to signify that he agreed with what they had done but more to do with the fact that he understood the words. Upon hearing that both Cas and he would be protected he would pause to consider what sort of protection that would be. He knew all about protection and knew that it would have to be covert so as to not draw any attention to Cas and himself. Well no more than usual.
His thoughts would be stopped upon hearing Felicity call on Cas. He would instantly look to his mate upon hearing her name. When she looked to him to chastise him for ignoring her denial, he was about to apologize but was interrupted by Felicity seemed to feel the need to clarify the gestation period of his child to be. Further annoyance would he heard from Cas upon hearing this. Gideon on the other hand would have a similar expression to that of Phillip.
With an obvious uncomfortable silence looming, Gideon aired a thought. “I have a question. Are we to remain here while our child grows within Cas or should we be moved to a secret location? I only ask that due to the fact that no one knows how long she will be pregnant or indeed when she will begin to show. Surely she should be out of sight from gossiping eyes upon the first sign of the bump. Or even any kind of sickness that she might experience. By the sounds of things it could be weeks or even years before she gives birth.” He considered moving to Cas to comfort her but he would not do so until he had an answer to his aired thoughts.
Felicity tore her eyes away from Cas with obvious difficulty. She looked at Gideon distractedly as he asked his question, but before he had finished airing his thoughts, she was already back to watching Cas. Phillip went from puzzlement to concern as he watched Felicity and Cas. He tried his best to answer Gideon, but it was clear he was distracted trying to figure out what was bothering Felicity. “Um, yes, there is a place for you both to stay comfortably, and her to birth in peace…”
He trailed off as Felicity suddenly moved and within a blink was standing next to Cas. Cas started to turn, but Felicity moved faster. The others didn’t see what exactly she did, but Cas’ eyes suddenly rolled back in her head and she collapsed. Felicity caught her and brought her to Gideon, dumping her into his arms. “And we go to it now.”
“Felicity?”
“She will need to be constantly watched. Come.” Phillip actually looked a bit floored but he shrugged at Gideon and followed the Vampire out the door, pushing Gideon ahead of him. Felicity moved quickly and headed to an abandoned dressing room. Strangely, it was the dressing room Cas had used the night before. Entering, she waited for the others before closing the door and moving to the back corner. She squatted and passed her hand over a spot on the wall and the floor opened out from under her. She allowed herself to drop through and then moved aside. “Well? Come on you two. We haven’t time before she wakes.”
Gideon smiled upon hearing that they would have a place of safety, but the smile would vanish upon seeing Cas collapse. He had seen Phillip’s confusion for a moment, like his elder he had not seen what Felicty was doing until his mate had collapsed. Before he knew what was going on Cas was in his arms and he was carrying her to another room. ”Ok?” he had questioned upon hearing that they would need to go to the safe house now. He was already sure that he would get the answers he required in regard to the sudden move from their previous room so for now he would not delay their departure with such words.
Now within the room, he watched Felicity while she closed the door behind her, sealing them in. His eyes remained on her while she opened up the floor. She would speak again about him following so he would so, trusting her completely, for some unknown reason. Waiting to see where this would lead he stood close to Felicity more than prepared to venture on in whatever direction she deemed fit to take them. He would even nod to her to show that he was more than ready to go.
Felicity turned once everyone was down and hit another hidden trigger. The ceiling/floor closed above them, and she turned once more and headed down a corridor. “Come. We need to hurry.”
Phillip fell in step with her, but asked. “What is going on, Felicity? Why the haste?”
Felicity moved along, and at first seemed like she wasn’t going to answer. Finally she gave a sigh. “She was going to kill the young growing inside her if I hadn’t stopped her.” Phillip sucked in air, but before he could say anything Felicity continued on with a nod. “Yes, we can do so. We can also halt gestation completely until in a safer time or location to have young.” She paused thoughtfully. “Hmmm.”
“What?”
They came to a junction and Felicity took a right. No one, but the unconscious Vampire, knew the left would take them to an exit close to her home. “What? Oh, I was just thinking. Might she can speed up the gestation. Logic says if we can halt it, we can do the opposite.” She gave a shrug. “It might be worth a try, but it would require much from you Young Wolf. It might even kill you if pushed too far.”
Phillip almost came to a halt at Felicity’s words, a look of shock on his face. Instead his steps seemed to hiccup but a thoughtful look appeared on his face at this revelation. Already his mind was spinning. The big question was if they should take such a chance with the precious young inside Cas.
Felicity took them through an awful smelling section and made sure they tromped through it. It was enough to make both Werewolves wrinkle their sensitive noses in disgust. But even Phillip recognized Felicity’s attempt to mask their smells. They traveled for a couple hours with many twists and turns before Felicity finally led them out to the surface.
They came out in what appeared to be a forest, except there was a wall not too far away. Felicity took off to the left and followed the wall until they came to a gate. At the gate was a couple of men. “Let us in Rex, Skylar. It is time.” Both men nodded and opened the gate for Felicity and the others. “Come Young Wolf.” Felicity took off up the overgrown drive, while Phillip stopped to talk to the two men.
Felicity led Gideon to a large, somewhat tumbled down looking mansion set deep in the woods. She led him up the steps and inside. While the outside looked in need of repairs, the inside was opulent and well decorated. “Welcome to my humble home. Currently headquarters for this cross species experiment, and the End of the War Movement. This way.” She led him through the bottom floor and up a back set of stairs to the next floor. Walking down the hallway a short way, she stopped in front of a double set of beautifully carved doors and opened them. “Your rooms.” She stepped aside to let Gideon enter.
Not really understanding what was being said and with Phillip always being a few seconds ahead of him should he have had any questions, he would look a little shocked upon hearing what Felicity told them both about Cas. That aside, even if he was frustrated with Cas for trying to kill their child, he would follow Felicity while she spoke with Phillip. He wasn’t even going to think on how vampires were able to do what they do after all he was not even sure what made him what he was overall.
The smell of one of the areas made his nose wrinkle and he was glad to be out of there as quickly as they had entered. He smiled at the thought of not throwing up. In time he would be at a gate and nodding to Felicity after she had spoken to two vampires so that they could gain access. He looked back to Phillip but for now he would follow Felicity leaving the elder to talk with those at the gate.
Through the mansion he took note of the route should he need to escape and found overall that he was impressed with Felicity’s home. When she spoke of welcoming him to her home he said nothing until he was outside his room overlooking the ornate doors. ”Thank you. I feel welcome. Now what?” He smiled to her and moved into the room so that he could put Cas upon the bed.
The doors gave Gideon an idea of what to expect within and he was not disappointed. With Cas on the bed, he turned to look at Felicity. "Very nice. I think I will be most comfortable here. Tell me more about this place, so I can try to forget why we are here.” He was determined to remain calm even if he was confused and angry about the whole situation.
Felicity gave a delicate shrug and entered the room. She moved to Cas and gently brushed her hair out of her face. She then moved to look out one of the windows. “Really there isn’t much to tell about this place. I’ve owned it for about three hundred years now. I’ve managed to keep the inside well taken care of and up to date, and even the outside is a carefully maintained disrepair.”
She moved back to Cas and sat gently on the bed. “It is the base of operations for this movement. Both Lycan and Vamp maintain the security. There are no humans here, and it is pretty much look after things ourselves. Whoever feels like cooking a meal, does so and makes enough for everyone. We keep it clean ourselves. No servants. Do your own laundry. Each person who stays here is carefully screened before even being allowed to know of its existence.”
Gently she placed a hand on Cas’ shoulder. “Don’t make me knock you out again. Why don’t you go find Old Wolf, and let me have a word with Cas, hmm?” Felicity looked up at Gideon, her hand never leaving Cas’ shoulder as the younger Vampire opened her eyes and glared at Felicity’s profile.
Quietly Gideon listened and watched Felicity while she informed him about this place. When her attention moved to his mate for a moment his eyes would move to her. Upon being addressed again he would still be looking at her. Quickly his eyes would shift back to Felicity while she spoke of him needing to seek out Phillip while she spoke with Cas. “Of course. I will see you ladies soon.” He would miss the glare from Cas to Felicity while he walked to the door and out into the corridor.
Now outside he would see that Phillip was still at the gate talking to the same men as before. He would wait for the men to finish their chat before approaching and addressing the elder. “Felicity is with Cas in a very nice room assigned for me and Cas. Felicity sent me out while she chats with her and suggested that I seek you out. So old man, what do you make of all this?” He would do his best to remain calm and even his tone would suggest this. However, subtle signs of him finding all of this overwhelming were starting to rear forth. It began with a slight uncontrollable shaking of his hand. To stop it he would hold that hand within the other while he spoke.
“I know. It isn’t fair, but Life deals us what it does. Could be worse, could be some one like Vic you ended up Mated too.” She watched Cas’ face change from the unrelenting glare she had upon opening her eyes, to a look of pure horror and disgust. “Besides you might enjoy Motherhood….” She reared back slightly at the suddenly angry glare Cas leveled on her.
“This should never have even been able to happen. And will I? Will I even be allowed to be a Mother, provided they aren’t born to be warped abominations? And even if they are perfect in every way physically, what about their personalities? The mix could very well make them evil as they grow within me.”
Felicity sighed. “Deformities are a possibility in any of the Species, evil too. Look at Vic and Lux for Vampire examples. Hitler, Manson, Bundy in Humans for example. You know very well that anything is possible. As for this be able to happen…. Well obviously it can because it is.”
“So then, this succeeds, what then? Will select Vampires and Lycan go on raping sprees to produce the crossbred?” Cas was working herself up into a serious pissiness.
Felicty shook her head. “No, that is one advantage to both our Kinds. No offspring can be born from such a coupling. There has to be something there for it to work.”
Suddenly Cas’ foul mood evaporated like smoke on the wind. Restlessly she moved out of the bed and crossed to a window. Looking out, she spotted Gideon and Phillip standing and talking. Her eyes roamed over every inch of Gideon as her thoughts swirled around. Even now and this far from him, she could feel a pull to mate again. From the first time she’d seen him, there had been something to catch her attention. She gave a sigh, no, there was no denying that there was something between them. Her hand started absently rubbing her belly where life was growing.
The two men stopped their conversation with Phillip and studied Gideon very closely. Phillip turned and listened to Gideon’s report and question. “Well, first off introductions are a must. Gideon, meet Rex and Skylar. Ian, Andrew, you might as well come out for a minute.” Two Lycans stepped from some bushes on either side of the gate and approached. They gave Gideon a nod and looked respectfully at Phillip. “Currently the guards here. Always four, two from each Kind. Let’s walk.” He gave a polite nod to the four, the Lycan’s melted back into the bushes, and the two Vampires stationed themselves near the gate.
As Phillip walked he gave a slight chuckle. “Bit of a shock, but after talking with Rex and Skylar, it is true that the females have learned to halt gestation or kill the offspring if it forms wrongly. Felicity and I will have to talk with Dr. Lisht though about the odds of speeding the gestation.”
He was quiet a moment as his thoughts switched to the mother-to-be. “Cas is strong, Spirit, Body and Mind, but you are going to have to call on patience you never knew you possessed. There is no doubt that she is worried and scared. For every worst case scenario she throws out, you are going to have to throw more what could go right cases. No matter how much she argues, screams, attacks, you are going to have to be patient, understanding and gentle. We will get her and the child through this.”
They had entered the house by now and Phillip turns to Gideon. “Go, be with your Mate. She needs you more than she needs Felicity right now. And tell Felicity I want to see her so there’s no arguments.” He clapped Gideon on the shoulder and agave him a nudge in the direction of stairs, then turned and went into another room.
She moved out the door and headed towards the stage, only to be nearly ran over by someone. Her quick reflexes kept her and her assailant from a nasty tumble. But so did his, and she drew back sharply and hissed. Unfortunately, this kind of place brought in all kinds, including Vampires and Werewolves, but not often. “You do not belong back here.”
“I have a pack of Weres after me. Is there a back way out of here?”
Cas scowled something fierce. “No. And take your fight elsewhere.”
The Vamp stared at her in shock as she moved to take the stage. “Wait…” Cas ignored him as she continued on and took the stage. As soon as she stepped on it, the music started and she began to dance.
The first thing to surprise Gideon was the return of the fleeing vampire to the main floor. With the exits secured the vamp was sure to be caught and killed within the hour. He gestured to his team to move in and he was about to follow when he saw Cas enter the stage. He knew exactly what she was but he had never seen anyone, human, lycan or vampire, look as divine as her.
His first thought was to jump on the stage and take her out. His second was to have her captured and killed along with the other vampire but in the end he would just stop, timeless, unable to keep his eyes from looking anywhere except at her. What was the hold she had over him, he was as yet to figure out. In the meantime, his team had apprehended the vampire and was securing him in their van. The vampire’s life, for what it was worth, was over.
Though dancing, Cas was always more than aware of what went on in the Club, after all she was an ultimate hunter. She noted the Vampire being captured and taken, and while she felt no pity for him, she wasn’t happy the war was here right in front of her. In the past, both sides were usually less obvious, treating public places such as this as a kind of neutral ground. After all it wouldn’t do for the Humans to figure out their myths and legends were more than fairy tales. And it was why she chose such a place for employment.
She was also aware of the male staring at her as if hypnotized. Not unusual when she came on stage, and one of the reasons why she was still employed here. But it was the Human patrons that acted thus, not Vampires, or Lycans like the man was. She didn’t care for his attentions, especially after his pack had just taken one of her own kind, and was more than likely going to torture and kill him shortly. It was a good thing she knew other ways out of here that no one was aware of. She didn’t trust her chances after the open capture and this one staying behind.
Her dance came to an end, and she quickly found the manager. “Toby, I’m not feeling well. I’m going to lie down for a bit in one of the dressing rooms, but will probably head home anyway.”
He wasn’t happy about it, but didn’t argue. Cas was his best dancer, and he wasn’t about to piss her off and loose her. ”Go ahead sweetie. What’s one night to heal up, so you don’t miss more.” She gave him a grateful smile and hurried to the back. Once there, she headed to an unused dressing room that had become more of a storage area. Slipping inside, she ghosted through the objects in the room until she came to the back corner. Squatting down, she ran her fingers over the wall there and found the hidden release.
She dropped down into the hole as the floor moved out from under her. Once there she hit the trigger on this end and sealed it back up. She waited still and quiet to see if she was followed, her senses attuned to the slightest sounds.
With the first dance over, he blinked and watched her leave the stage. Expecting an encore he waited for her return only to be left hanging. In the end he moved back stage after ‘convincing’ on of the bouncers that it was in his best interest by crushing the man’s hand before moving passed him. After enquiring as to Cas’ changing room he knocked upon the door. He heard something inside and did not wait for an answer. Seconds before Cas had just sealed up her exit and this would confuse Gideon for a moment before he made his way out of the building cursing for him being so sloppy to let her get away. He should have taken her when he had the chance.
Now outside he jumped in the van and headed out with his team to break the vampire that they did have. He would see Cas again and unknown to him it could easily be later that very night.
Now done with the male Vampire, he washed up and went back out into the night, alone. His team was dismissed and he was off duty officially. He had had the scent of Cas in his lungs for some time now and he wanted to see her again, but where to start the search, he considered.
Cas heard the door busting open and bolted silent as a wraith down the passage. She took many twists and turns before finally emerging about a block from her home. Carefully she scanned the area, before emerging completely and hurrying to her apartment. Cas paced her apartment for several hours turning things over in her mind. She probably needed to move on. New place, new job. She didn’t want to though. She liked this place and her job. She liked the town too. It was built along old style Spanish architecture and she felt at home here.
She finally gave a sigh and stopped pacing. She needed to hunt. There were also a couple of Lycans she was civil with. They had frequented the club often enough to come to realize she chose to ignore the war. She never asked to be a Vampire, and she just didn’t have the patience for the stupidity of the war. She headed out the door and down the stairs and out into the night.
It didn’t take her long to find a drug dealer trying to force his wares on a young girl. Cas had seen it before, they got these young runaways hooked on various drugs, then cut them off and made them prostitute themselves to get a fix. Studying the situation closely, Cas determined that this girl was fresh meat, new to the area. She decided dinner was served, and the girl would get a serious rescuing before she realized what she was in for.
Cas came sauntering along, and both people stopped to stare at her with jaws slack. Cas knew she looked exotic, and like a spoiled rich kid with no clue. And when she wanted to, she could really play that first assumption up. Casually she draped an arm around the girl and smiled. “Senorita, really, you should sue him for being so crass as to lay his hands upon you.” She turned to the guy. “And you Senor, did not your mother teach you proper how to treat women?” Her Spanish accent usually really hard to detect, came out thick to add to the picture that she was foreign as well.
Both parties blinked at her for a few heartbeats, then the guy laughed and grabbed her arm and jerked her towards him. She slammed into him so they were now pressed against each other and his nasty breath was blowing in her face. “Girl, I’ll be happy to show you how my father taught me to show a female a good time.” He grinned down at her.
“Mmmm, one momento, por favor?” She smiled up at the guy when it was all she could do not to just sock his ass. She turned away and moved to the girl. She pulled some money out of her pocket and placed it with a card and placed it in the girl’s hand and closed it over. “Go get you a hotel room, chica. Perhaps make a phone call or two.” She whispered it quietly, and then turned the girl around and gave her a push away from them. The girl stumbled a step or two before righting herself. She glimpsed down into her hand and saw 50s and 100s in the money given to her. She bolted to the sound of Cas’ throaty laugh.
Returning to the guy she smiled again. “Now, Senor, that good time you promised?” The guy still a bit bemused with the whole situation, started to lead Cas off. As they neared an alley, Cas suddenly sprang into action and overpowered him before he knew what was going on. She drug him deep into the alley and started to feed. By the time she finished, the junkie and orgasmed a couple of times in his pants and was oblivious to everything as Cas made sure the wound was sealed over and dumped him behind a dumpster.
Cas exited the alley and headed to Phillip’s house. He was an old Lycan, very wise and extremely funny. But more importantly, he too was from Spain, and she always felt a connection with her lost home when around him. He had been the first to encounter her dancing in a club. And the first to realize, this slip of a Vampire was really no threat. He’d taken the time to get to know her, and while due to what they were, they couldn’t exactly be friends, they could be civil and cordial, and tended to give information freely concerning each other’s Kind. Even though the local Vamps knew Cas would take no hand in the war between the Kinds, they still would keep her abreast of things in the Vampire community.
Soon she was knocking on Phillip’s door. She hoped he was home, and not in the middle of something. It was longer than normal before Phillip answered the door, Cas had been about to turn away. “Ahh, Senorita. Hello.” Phillip looked surprised and a bit uncomfortable at seeing her at his door.
“I can come back at a different time , Senor…” She trailed off as he shook his head and smiled.
“No,no, Casilda. It was just surprising to see you at my door when I was just talking about you. Come, come. There is someone inside wishing to meet you.” He stood aside holding the door for her to enter. Cas hesitated briefly before entering. Who on earth could be asking questions about her? And with a Lycan at that…
Hours would go by and with no luck he felt a little deflated. It was at that point he thought of Phillip. Being an elder lycan and just a few blocks from his current location, he imaged that he would know what do or at least be able to help him. Well he had in the past anyway.
Hoping he would not be disturbing him he leaped from building to building until he was at the lycan’s door. He would knock as was polite to do so and upon entering he would be let into the sitting room. He sat when asked to do so and then began his tale of the unnamed vampire that had conflicted his beliefs so. He felt that Phillip knew of whom he spoke of but he would not press him on it. He had learned the hard way not to do that.
He had only been speaking with Phillip for a few minutes when a knock at his friend’s door was heard. He hoped that he would have more time with the elder but it would seem that that was it for now. He, of course, was unaware that the vampire he sought was the one interrupting their conversation. At this stage he had not even been given her name.
Phillip led Cas into his sitting room and she froze when she got a glimpse of his other visitor. She moved to run back the way she’d come, but even old, Phillip was fast. A hand grabbed her by the arm and held her fast. “Una fácil, Little. Estás a salvo aquí, ya que siempre han estado bajo mi techo.” (“Easy, Little One. You are safe here as you always have been under my roof.”) His calm manner and gentle words broke through her fear. She relaxed, but stayed close to Phillip. Switching back to English, “Here, let me introduce you two. Gideon, the one you are looking for, Casilda La Rose. Casilda, a fellow Lycan, Gideon Cooper. Now sit and be civil, nina.”
Cas eyed Gideon warily as she moved cautiously to a chair as far from him as she could get. She sat stiffly and Phillip fought a smile, the corners of his mouth twitching. He sat easily and looked at Gideon briefly before turning his attention to Cas. “Tell me chica, to what do I owe for your beautiful company?”
Never taking her eyes off Gideon, she pointed at him with her chin. “Him. He and the pack he was running with tonight nearly brought the War to the Humans’ attention. Only thing to keep them still oblivious was it happened at the club. Stupid.” Her disgust and scorn at the sloppiness of the Pack Hunt more than obvious,
Phillip gave a slight cough before speaking. “Chica…” The warning note plain in his voice.
Cas jerked and ducked her head like she was about to be whipped. “Lo sentimos, Anciano.” (“Sorry, Elder.”)
Phillip gave a quiet sigh before turning to Gideon. “Is this true, Brother?”
He could not believe his luck when the female he searched for turned up at Phillip’s door. Her behaviour was not unusual to him and in truth it made him smile. He wanted to tell her that he meant her no harm but in truth he could not truly confirm that to be the case at this moment even with Phillip there.
When she spoke of him almost bringing the war to the Humans’ attention he frowned. He would not speak until he was addressed by the Elder. “I did no such thing. The vampire went into the club and we simply followed him, in human form. All the torturing and eventually killing was done in the van and back at base. As far as I am aware the humans were blissfully unaware of who and what we are and indeed who we were chasing. To this day I have never gone against any of my teachings; well except once but Philip knows about that and I have a scar to prove it.” He then pointed to his face and the deep scar upon it.
Cas started to make an angry retort, but stopped herself and turned away. That was the problem between Lycan and Vamp, they never saw things the same way. That was part of the ongoing war between the two Kinds. Cas gave an exasperated sigh.
The corners of Phillip’s mouth twitched again when Cas sighed. He knew all too well what frustrated her over the whole war. The girl really didn’t have patience for stupidity, and as far as she was concerned the millennia old War was beyond stupid to her. Managing to control himself for this serious matter, he looked to Gideon. “Perhaps, in the future, should by some chance you run prey to ground at a place Cas works, you wait to capture them when they leave? After all, I’m sure any team you are on is good enough to have all exits blocked so there is no escape. Why not let the prey sweat and worry a few moments longer?”
Cas’ head whipped around and her eyes stared widely at Phillip for a bare heartbeat before going blank and expressionless. She should have known better. She shouldn’t have even bothered to come here. Before she could rise and make her exit though, Phillip spoke once more, a thoughtful tone to his voice. “In fact, I think it might just be a good idea to set Cas’ club up as a neutral territory within the city.” He looked at Cas and smiled. “Subject to moving should you find another place of employment, of course.”
The dumbfounded look on Cas’ face was priceless, and Phillip did finally laugh. It wasn’t often he flummoxed the girl, and he always enjoyed the rare times he did. “And to make it a truly neutral ground, there should be a Lycan employed as well there. And truthfully it is perfect, males of both kinds enjoy a good show. Of course the females might not be overly thrilled, but there are other amusements there that can appease them.”
Cas, after getting herself back under control, turned over Phillip’s words in her head. She didn’t know if it would work, but it could be the start of ending a war that had been going on for far too long. She kept silent as she thought this through.
Gideon looked to Cas when she sighed before looking to the elder when the fellow werewolf aired his idea. “I will do as you ask and not enter such a place in pursuit again. As you have said having the exits blocked was more than sufficient.” The idea of Cas’ club being made into a neutral territory fascinated him. Much like a church is considered safe haven for humans. He would join in on Phillip’s laughter upon seeing what effect such a suggestion was having on Cas. His laughter would stop upon hearing that the elder thought that having a lycan work there too. He hoped that he did not mean himself but he would honour such if Phillip believed it to be prudent.
In the end he would look to Phillip and ask the burning question that he clearly needed to ask. “And who do you think should be the lycan to work in such a place?” In his voice there would be no hint to suggest that he did or did not want the job. Although having such a post would give him the chance to get to know Cas even if he sensed she would rather scrap him off her shoe than even share words with him, let alone anything else.
Phillip waved a hand at Gideon. “Oh, entering the place and keeping an eye on prey isn’t the problem Casilda is upset about, after all she didn’t help out the Vampire, now did she? But taking one down amongst the Humans, that, my Brother, is her complaint.” He flashed a smile at Cas as he finished speaking to be given an agreeing nod by her.
“Exactamente. I take no part in this stupid war between our Kinds. But, making the Humans aware we are more than fairy tales to scare each other is beyond even the stupidity of this pointless and useless war.” She stopped and grew thoughtful. “Your idea has merit, I must say Phillip, and you are right, a Lycan working there as well, would make your Kind more comfortable than just myself. Also, if, and this is the big one, this Lycan and I can tolerate each other, for those of each of our Kinds, it would give them someone to tell what they want and it will be sure to get passed along to the other Kind.” She lapsed into silence as she thought about it more.
Phillip allowed a tiny smile to emerge as Cas appeared to be taking this idea of his seriously. He had often thought there should be some sort of neutral ground for the two Kinds to mingle. The club would be a good place. It closed down at certain times, so a fugitive would not be able to hide within indefinitely.
Phillip and Cas both looked at Gideon as he asked who should be the Lycan to work at the club. Cas shrugged and looked not exactly confused or indifferent, just like one who didn’t know any Lycans to put forth a candidate. Phillip though looked thoughtful. “Hmm, a good question Gideon.” He gazed at Cas lost in thought long enough that she actually raised a brow at him. “Sorry, nina, I was just thinking of Gideon’s question and your words. You only know myself, and now Gideon. I am too old to be considered workable, so I would say that leaves Gideon.” He closely watched both for their reactions.
Cas blinked and looked owlishly at Phillip at his suggestion of who to work at the club. Her eyes tracked to Gideon and she studied him from head to toe. Her look went from owlish to thoughtful. “Well, he could make a good bouncer…” She trailed off.
Gideon would nod out of respect and complete understanding of what was being said to him. “It was an error and it will not happen again.” He would say before listening to the two of them converse further about making Cas’ place of employ a neutral zone. It would quickly seem to him as if Cas was up for such a possibility and in all truthfulness he was not about the let the side down by airing his true thoughts on the subject. On top of this he did not wish to ever disappoint Phillip. With his question answered he would keep eye contact with his company while he thought for a moment if he could actually do what was quite obviously being asked of him.
Never one for a good poker face he would have been seen to raise an eyebrow upon the suggestion that he be employed there also. After all he had a team of hunters to consider but then again he was sure that Phillip would find a suitable replacement or at least one would be found with or without his help. Even before anything had come out of his mouth Cas seemed to be coming to terms with it too after she had looked him over. Well he would have a chance to get to know her, he guessed, so he would nod and then pause before saying anything. “I will do as asked. Perhaps some time away from the war will do me some good. Will I need to start straight away or will it take you some time to set it up?”
Phillip, much older, wiser, and longer lived than Gideon, had learned to keep his thoughts well hidden when observing others. So, his face remained a neutral bland while he watched the two youngsters check each other out. He already had a fair guess that Gideon was very interested in Cas, and not as hunted prey for killing. But then Casilda seemed to have that effect on males of any species he had long ago learned. As for Cas herself, she wasn’t viewing Gideon as an incompetent, careless idiot anymore, and that was a start.
Before Phillip could respond to Gideon’s question, Cas spoke. “Come apply tomorrow night. You will be hired.” Phillip raised a brow, and Cas just shrugged at him. Her head cocked for a moment and then she rose. “And I must bid you both a good night.”
Phillip rose quickly. “Chika?”
“I fed before coming. I am not so rude to arrive upon your doorstep hungry. But there are things I must attend too. I will show myself out Phillip. I long since learned the way.” She flashed him a smile and started out of the room. Pausing at the doorway she looked over her shoulder at Gideon. “The club is as much my home, as my place of dwelling is. Harm one of the other employees there, and I will have your hide as a throw rug for my dwelling’s fireplace. Other than that, I hope we can come to some sort of understanding to make this work.” Then she turned ad left. She had a bouncer that needed getting rid of so Gideon could take his job.
Phillip turned to Gideon with a serious look after she left. “Do not take her words to be idle, my Brother. She means every word of it. More importantly, she will follow through.” Phillip had gotten to know Cas very well over the past few decades he’d known her. He was probably the only one who knew of her life before, and how she became a Vampire, except maybe her sire, if he still lived. Cas may not take part in the War, but she was no slouch when it came to fighting.
Phillip sat back down and stared moodily at the fire cheerfully burning. “I don’t know, Gideon. Perhaps I grow old, but like Casilda, I weary of this pointless war. Neither side ever gains any real advantage. Each side can replace lost members with a bite, and even the Vampires can give birth at times, not like we can, but our infant fatality rates still make that not even an advantage.” He gave a sigh and lapsed into silence.
With how he would get the job as good as settled he would nod to Philip and wonder if this was the plan for him all along. He would smile while he got used to the idea of a life without the hunt but soon relaxed when the thought of seeing Cas everyday helped him to get used to it that little bit quicker. He would watch Cas leave and look her straight in the eye when she gave him her words of caution. He would say nothing in reply, and only nod to her in understanding, until Phillip addressed him once they were alone. “Oh I believe her when she tells me this and I will honour her ‘request’. I will not let you down.”
He would then listen as the elder spoke of the war and he perhaps had a point. He had after all felt for a while now that he had been running on autopilot following orders without question. “You are right Philip. While it gets me off the front line I would imagine that the kill rate would drop. I was quite good as you know.” He would chuckle but it would not be for long. “I think it is perhaps time that I depart too and let you rest. Besides I have to resign and inform my group that they will have to find a new leader.” He would then stand but not move until dismissed by Phillip.
Phillip looked up at Gideon’s words, and nodded. “Of course.” He would see Gideon out before retiring for the evening himself. With the plan in motion, now it was time to see if it would come to fruit.
Cas moved with quick ease and waited outside her work until the bouncer she had in mind for Gideon to replace came out. Gliding up to him she flashed a small smile. He gave her an odd look and watched her warily. He knew all too well she didn’t overly care for him. “Mitch.”
“Cas.” Finally managing to meet his eyes, she mesmerized him. In three heartbeats she had him under her control and led him off. Returning to her home, she took him to the basement and soon had him bound and gagged. She’d already fed tonight, but he would make a good meal for tomorrow. And it opened up the bouncer position for Gideon. A win-win all the way around. She retired to her coffin just before the sun was to rise.
Upon being seen out, Gideon went straight to the base to talk with his team. Most were disappointed but upon the mention of Phillip they soon feel silent. He would then pack his things and head home to drop them off before going to rest. His plan was to have a lie in tomorrow and head to the club at an appropriate hour that would suit such a place and would suit Cas too. Late afternoon would be when he would awaken and after showering and picking out one of his better suits he moved through the streets as the sun began to set in time to be at the door of the club around one hour before opening. His idea being that he would be employed and at his post in plenty of time before the doors would open for the night.
He could not see Cas yet but he imaged that she was around. He would be shown to one of the back rooms, most likely the manager’s or owner’s office and he would get comfortable while he waited to be seen.
Finally up for the night, Cas got ready for work, before sauntering down to her basement. Mitch was glaring as she came down the stairs. Apparently the rumours about him weren’t so very true. Or maybe it was that he didn’t like being the one tied and gagged. She really didn’t care, and had no interest in playing anyway.
She walked up to him and lightly ran a finger down the side of his neck. She heard his heart suddenly beat faster, and a small smile twitched at the corners of her lips. Or maybe he did, and just liked pretending that he didn’t. Mattered not. She grinned in full and watched as Mitch’s eyes suddenly widened in shock at her fangs. Before he could so much as twitch, she had latched on and started feeding.
She suddenly stopped and backed off. Her hunger sated, she didn’t finish him off. Perhaps she would keep him around for another day. She left him and walked back up stairs. Soon she left the house and walked to work. Arriving at the club, she heard the buzz of Mitch not showing for work, and some new guy that would possibly take his place. By the descriptions, Cas concluded it was Gideon.
Cas was stopped by just about every female that worked there and was asked if she had seen this new guy. When she replied in the negative, she got all kinds of comments about him and how good looking, dreaming and hot he was. It was enough to make her want to snap and snarl, but she refrained and managed to get into her dressing room before she started going on a killing spree. She just hoped they would calm down after a few days of him being here.
Already on shift but in the back having a quick break with one of the female employees, he soon heard that Cas had arrived. He gave the young woman a kiss before leaving her outside to finish her fag. He considered fucking the girl but he didn’t want to be caught doing that sort of thing on his first night and the last person he wanted to be caught by was Cas for some reason. Was she really having the sort of effect on him which would curb his lustful needs of others?
The girl had been one of the employees that he had overheard talk about how handsome he was so she would have been an easy lay but he had to refrain for now. He had a job to do and he did not want to disappoint Cas.
Now back inside the club, he walked to his assigned location for the next hour of his shift. He would smile back to the females in the club until he saw Cas. He had reserved his best smile for her.
Only somewhat centered by her usual warm up and meditation routine, Cas finally rose with a disgusted sigh when someone came back to tell her she was next. Every few moments Gideon’s face would appear in her mind’s eye. She had no idea why. She hardly knew the Lycan. And honestly, she wasn’t even fully sure she even liked him even a bit. Oh, his Lycan Blood wasn’t really the issue, after all she was friends of a sort with Phillip, but that had taken decades of mutual effort to build trust. She did not have that with Gideon. And if it weren’t for Phillip, Gideon probably wouldn’t even be here.
Cas paused before actually heading up on stage. She took the time to gage the crowd. People seemed to be happy. Her female coworkers and even a couple male coworkers seemed to be about tripping over their own tongues. Following their gazes she saw Gideon. She looked him over thoughtfully. As a Lycan, he definitely had presence about him that even the most lack witted could notice. As a male, he was pleasing to the eye. In truth Cas couldn’t really blame her coworkers. She gave a quiet sigh and a slight shake of her head.
Finally she stepped from the shadows and with a barely noticeable signal to the DJ, music started to play, and Cas started to dance. Cas never looked at Gideon, she focused on the patrons of the club. She gyrated up to one man and used him like a pole to dance on and around, before she spun off and moved on. It was rare for Cas to dance like this, but when she did, everyone enjoyed the show. Regulars practically vibrated in anticipation, hoping she would dance right up to them. And Cas didn’t discriminate, she danced with both male and female patrons, and leave them all longing for her to come back. The smile on her face was tight and polite as she danced with each person she picked out and made a slow snaky path to the stage.
Gideon smile for Cas would remain for some time while he watched her dance. He had a job to do and that was to ensure that all within the club were safe but even he felt as if he was letting that role slip a little when Cas danced. While she danced he tried to image why he had been fighting all his life with vampires. The way she danced made him wonder why he had wasted his years fighting an invisible war only to lose ground minutes after he had gained some. Now away from the war within this neutral ground he soon forgot about the war and could only think of Cas.
He could of course see and sense the looks he was getting too from some of the patrons and co-workers but overall they would look to Cas too. In time he would feel the first inkling of jealousy but not against anyone in particular. What was going on? He fought through it to do his job and watch Cas entertain the crowd.
Cas eventually reached and mounted the stage in her dancing. Once upon the stage she started her dancing in truth. Slowly she slipped off first one glove, then the other. As the music progressed, her pants slowly slithered down her legs and she delicately danced out of them. One slow, sensuous button at a time came undone until she could shrug out of the top she wore. Moving about the stage she slowly pulled on the tie that held the bikini like top in place at the bottom. It hung around her neck teasingly covering her breasts. Swaying softly, she again slowly untied the upper string and let the top drop to the floor. This left her clothed in just her heels and the bikini like string bottoms.
Throughout the whole routine, even though she never looked directly at Gideon, she was aware of his location. Having timed the music well, she slowly danced back off the stage and wound her way amongst the crowd once more. This time though, she made sure in her circuit to dance up to Gideon. She danced a circle around him until she came behind him. Then she twirled and pressed her back against his and slithered down. When her head was level with his butt, she made an intricate and amazing move that turned her around and placed her in front of him. Her face level with his groin. Then she slowly danced her way back up until they were face to face. A slight smile and a flirty look in her eye.
She then spun away and continued dancing picking people at random to dance with. Many got a thrill copping a feel on her nearly naked body. She managed to not flinch or react to their touches, knowing it was part of the show that she was allowing. As the music came to a close, she finished her dance where she had started it, and headed back down the hall. She would have to do at least one more dance routine for the night, maybe even two.
A fight could have broken out and Gideon would probably not have seen it. All he wanted to do was to see Cas dance and peel off her clothes for the crowd before her. He had never seen such perfection in his life and he had been with many a woman in his time. At one point he even felt himself licking his lower lip while his eyes memorized every line and every curve of the vampire on stage. His mouth even opened slightly when she finally exposed her breasts to him and the people within the club.
He watched as she left the stage to eventually come over to him. He could feel alj eyes on him and Cas as she danced around him. When their backs touched he sighed softly until finally she was somehow in front of him with her head at groin level. Did he blink and miss how she had gotten there? He remained still while she stood from her kneeling position and worked her way up until she faced him. Around the same height he could see in her eyes that she was teasing him or did she want him? He smiled back with a hint of lust in his eyes just before she moved away to relax back down. His shoulders would visibly lower while he continued to watch her.
When she stopped for a break he followed her down the hall. He wanted her and he hoped that her break would be long enough to air it or indeed act it out. “Impressive, for a va…” he stopped realizing that those within the club would most likely not know that she was a vampire or for that matter that he was a werewolf. “…You certainly know how to move. If you are on your break perhaps we could talk or something? Perhaps in your dressing room?” He was smiling to her by now and the effect of the dance still lingered in his loins.
Cas didn’t jerk or flinch as Gideon approached and walked with her down the hallway. Her eyes flicked to him as he spoke, and a dangerous look crossed them briefly until he caught himself. She looked away once more as he continued to talk. Reaching her dressing room, she finally turned to face him. Her expression was neutral at first until movement behind him caused her eyes to flick a glance over his shoulder.
A handful of people stood back in the hallway, varying looks of disappointment and even anger. One reason she rarely did that type of dance. There were usually a few who thought they could get more from her because of her dancing, even fellow employees had been so stupid as well. Her eyes came back to his and she smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “You must be the new guy everyone is falling all over themselves for.” She turned and reached and opened the door all in one fluid movement. As she stepped into the room she spoke once more. “Sure, we can talk. It’s good to know who your fellow employees are.” She stepped aside, holding the door open so he could enter.
Gideon looked behind him while Cas looked over his shoulder at the people behind him. He could see the faces of disappointment and anger but a smile would form on his face uncaring as to such. They could try to get passed him in fact he hoped one would try. When no one did he looked to Cas and listened to her words. He was subtly amused when she pretended not to know him and then thought how wise it was for her to act as such. “Yes I am” he said while following her into her room.
Now inside after Cas had held the door for him, he sat and continued speaking softly. “Yes it is nice to know fellow employees. But now that we are alone Cas I find that I am drawn to you. I know that we may not have gotten off to the best of starts but I cannot turn off how I feel. So what do you propose we do about it, Cas?” He relaxed into the chair and look deeply into her eyes trying to pick up on what she was thinking.
Once Gideon entered her dressing room, Cas closed the door. She moved across the room and rooted around in the closet and pulled out another outfit. She spun around as his words sank in and looked at him in disbelief, outfit and changing forgotten momentarily. He wasn’t serious was he? Drawn to her? She blinked several times as her mind tried to twine itself around his words. Suddenly a grin sprouted on her face and she busted up laughing. She nearly fell over as the mirth took a good strong grip. It was all she could do to stumble over to the other chair next to his and literally tumble into it as she continued to laugh.
After many long minutes, and her arms wrapped around her sides, she finally got herself under control. Looking over at Gideon, she gave him a slightly rueful and apologetic look. “I was just thinking that it was a good thing Phillip wasn’t here. It took him a couple of decades to completely floor me like you just did. And you managed it in less than twenty-four hours. He would be so annoyed.”
Suddenly she shot from the chair and picked up the clothes she’d dropped in her mirth and tossed them to the vacant chair. She then finished taking off the rest of the clothes left from her last outfit. Moving back to the chair, she started to dress. “Truthfully, I propose nothing, Gideon. I do not know you. You are here as the Representative of your Kind on Phillip’s suggestion. And I respect him and his opinions and trust him. A trust that took he and I several decades to build.”
She eyed him thoughtfully as she finished straightening her outfit. “You want a tumble in the sheets, I’m more than positive you could have your pick from those who work here, as well as among those who patron the club. I have never had a desire to Mate a Lycan, Vampire either for that matter. So at least I’m not discriminatory in that regard.”
She moved and settled back in her chair and looked him in the eye. “To put it bluntly, I do not know you. I do not trust you. I am willing to work on it, but only because of Phillip.”
Whether he was serious or not it no longer matter as all he could do was to save face. He would, within seconds of Cas beginning to laugh, burst into chuckles himself. His laughter would seize upon her looking to him with her arms wrapped around her sides. He smiled while she spoke of Philip and how long it had taken him to make her laugh and would say nothing until she had finished addressing him and was in her next outfit. He had enjoyed the sight of her naked form on stage and between outfits in her room and by the looks of things he would not be getting any action from her for now.
When he finally spoke, not wishing to delay her any more than he had already, he was calm, with a hint of apology in his voice, and for all intents and purposes he seemed sincerer. ”Well I have been known for my humour and it pleases me that I have amused you. I will indeed take your advice and seek ‘comfort’ elsewhere and as for trust I understand that will take time and I have that in abundance. For now I am sorry if I offended you and I will speak not of this ever again unless you approach the subject of course.”
Cas gave a semi disgusted soft sigh. “You meant none of that in jest. Do not start lying to me, or we will never even be friends.” She rose from her chair and paced. Her face was lost in deep thought. Finally she turned to him and looked him in the eye. “I never asked to become a Vampire. I do not know of any of us who ever has. Those who do aren’t ever Turned. They are usually ignored, unless overly pesky and annoying, then they are killed outright.”
Her eyes grew distant as she stopped talking for a moment. When she finally continued, her voice took on a distant quality to it and her almost nonexistent accent emerged. “I was seventeen when I was Changed. I was raised to be the local Patrón’s concubina since I was ten. I had been given to a visiting Guest for his use. The third night, he Bite me. It was a terrifying but also a pleasant experience, odd as that sounds. Why he Turned me, I still do not know. But he was gone when I woke.”
She pauses again and moves to a fridge. Finding a couple of bottles of water inside, she tosses one to Gideon. She comes back to the chair as she takes a drink, then flops back into it, then continues on. “At first, I had no realization I was Changed, and the Guest was gone in the morning. At first I could hear peoples’ heartbeats, smell their blood. I had no idea why. I grew rather sick in two day’s time, food did not appeal to me, and even kind of made me sick to my stomach. A Hambre was upon me, but I couldn’t even look at food. I also became lethargic and hard to wake during the day.”
Cas stopped again to take another drink. She didn’t look all that happy to be reliving these memories, but she continued on. “The third day, or night really, the Patrón’s favorite concubina was trying to wake me. She finally got mad enough to even resort to beating me. Not that that was unusual for her, she was a viciously cruel mujer anyway. But it was then I attacked her. I ripped her throat out with my teeth. The blood tasted so good. And I greedily drank as much as I could. I could not stop myself. Finally sated I came back to myself and stared in horror at what I had done. Then I fled. Besides being a monstruo, I had killed the favored concubina. Death would be my fate had I stayed. ”
Quiet momentarily, her fingers drummed the chair arm. “I wandered for a while. I tried to come to grips with what I had done. Tried to not kill another Human Being. Even tried living off animals when the need for blood arose, but in the end, I always got sicker until I had to feed off a Human. I even tried to stay up for the sun, but self-preservation always made me seek some sort of haven. Finally another Vampire found me. I think originally she had planned to kill me because my Feedings were rather messy and brutal, but for some reason she took pity on me and showed me that I didn’t have to kill to live. How to control my Feeding and leave my Victima alive. She also taught me the exercise routine and meditación I now use to control my Hunger.”
She stopped with a sigh and looked to Gideon with a humourless smile. “You are the second person I have told this story too.” She looked away as she continued. “And funny enough, neither of you are Vampires.” She closed her eyes and tilted her head back on the chair and worked to rebury the memories of the beginnings of her current life.
Of course she had seen through his lie, well he had not been every convincing now had he. What did surprise him was the story she told him only to find out that he had only been the second to learn of it. It seemed to him that on one hand she did not trust him but on the other she trusted him enough to share such a secret as this. Feeling obliged to share, he took a deep breath and smiled to her. ”You tell a sad story indeed and I thank you for sharing it with me, I really do.” His eyes would express the truth in his words before he continued to share with her his own secret.
Throughout her telling he had not taken offence and just simply listened in order to learn more about her. He was still drinking from the bottle of water that he had been toss a few minutes ago and had nodded in thank you upon receiving it. He had imagined that the first person had been Philip but he would not ask. Instead he would simply share his story thinking that he would go into more detail later if she wanted him too. “I never knew my real parents. I went from foster home to foster home. On occasion I seemed to struggle with my anger unaware that it was most likely my true self trying to surface. Such a surfacing would finally come during my late teens and to this day I cannot remember what happened but I was told that vampires killed my foster parents that very night”
He paused to take a gulp of his water while faint images of death flooded his mind. Were they from that night or the years of war that followed? “So I was taken from that place and brought to a pack of Lycans and from that day I felt for the first time as if I had finally found my home. I have been part of the ‘war’ ever since until Philip removed me and sent me here. During the war I received many a scar; one of which you can clearly see upon my face.” He smiled to her warmly and before going silent once again he added. “Being as I am no longer in the war I won’t upset you by telling you how I got them. In truth I have been in my twenties for a long time now, or at least I have looked like this for many a year.”
Cas listened quietly as Gideon shared a part of his past. She noticed he didn’t go into much detail, but she accepted that. She only did so so her story was done and over with. She long ago learned others didn’t always do the same. Phillip was a good case in point. There were things that Cas didn’t know about him, even in their decades of friendship. She laid a hand lightly on his arm as he told and finished up his story. “Every Vampire and Werewolf bears scars of some sort, seen or not.” She gave him a gentle smile. “In order for this plan of Phillip’s to work, you and I must learn to work together, and even trust each other. There will be those who will do their best to see this doesn’t work.”
She looked away briefly wrestling with a thought. Finally she sighed and looked back at Gideon. “We both obviously trust Phillip, and he in turn trusts us or we would not be here. We have started to try to find that trust in each other.” Before she could say more a soft hesitant knock came upon the door. “Yes?” A door opened and one of the girls peeked in. Cas watched her take in how Cas and Gideon were sitting and Cas’ hand on his arm, her change of clothes, all this crossed the girl’s face and it was like reading a book to Cas. The girl informed them that Cas was up next. “Gracias, Marta.”
The girl nodded and before she could depart Cas smiled at Gideon once more. “Care to escort me out?” There was a twinkle in her eye that spoke volumes of impish mischief. Out of the corner of her eye, Cas saw Marta’s eyebrows shoot up before she disappeared and shut the door softly. Cas gave a quiet chuckle for a moment before suddenly becoming contrite. “I am sorry. That was not at all fair of me. Me thinks I’ve just made your conquests a bit more challenging.” She really did look apologetic, mostly.
The touch of her hand upon his arm while he told his story made him smile with warmth and he felt relieved not to go into any more detail than he had already. Perhaps he would in time. In response to her suggesting that they get along and then some, he nodded and said “Yes I would like that and I think so would Philip, but I can’t speak for him in that regard.” When the knock came he stopped talking and waited for Cas to deal with it. He did not look to the girl at the door but he would remain looking at Cas throughout her conversation with Marta.
Upon being asked to leave the room with her, he took her hand from his arm and kept it within his. “Yes I would like that and do not worry about the others, they can gossip all they like and besides now that we are friends I no longer feel like pursuing any of them, so no harm done.” He hoped that she would keep her hand within his while they walked but would understand if she felt that she shouldn’t. Either way he would walk with her and keep the show of protector, secretly knowing that she could take care of herself given those within the club were mostly human at the moment.
Cas rose with Gideon. She raised a brow and eyed his keeping her hand in his. But she neither said anything nor removed it just yet. She frowned slightly at his words. “Gideon…” Her voice was chiding, but she didn’t continue. Instead she dropped the subject. They walked easily together down the hallway. Many looks shot their way, all of varying emotions. Cas personally didn’t care. She maintained a distant friendliness with her fellow employees.
She stopped them just within the entrance to the main room. Her eyes scanned the crowd briefly before meeting Gideon’s. She gently extracted her hand from his now. Ever so softly, knowing he’d hear her just fine, “Do you see them?” Apparently word had already gotten out to both Kinds about the Club. There were both Vampires and Werewolves among the crowd, carefully keeping to opposite sides of the room. She then turned and gracefully stalked out and up to the stage. As soon as she was in position, the music started.
Cas moved with a very sinuous and provocative grace. She moved slowly in time with the music and each move was a tease. After several minutes, the music changed tempo and picked up. So did Cas and finally her clothes started to come off. This time the first thing to go was her vest, one button at a time. She teasingly pulled one shoulder off halfway down her arm, and then would pull it back up to repeat the move with the other shoulder. She did this three times per shoulder before suddenly pulling the vest wide open, baring her breasts to the crowd and letting the vest slide off her arms to the floor.
Cas went through a few dance steps before teasingly pulling her skirt up and down, never quite fully getting it off. The crowd was making all sorts of cat calls and wolf whistles, lewd comments were shouted out, telling her to take it all off. Finally, Cas allowed the skirt to slither off her frame and finished up the dance routine. The music ended, and Cas exited the stage. She carefully threaded her way through the crowd, easily avoiding grasps at her person, while smiling and winking at those who attempted to grab at her.
Already Gideon felt close to Cas and when she did not take her hand away from his to begin with he smiled to himself while he walked with her to the door leading to the main room. Just like her, he cared not for the looks they received from those around them. He understood why she felt the need to take her hand away judging by what she saw through the door. Neutral ground this might be but to see a werewolf hand in hand with a vampire was perhaps too much on day one. “I do see” he replied softly before walking into the room and head back to his station.
He watched her perform and in truth he enjoyed it a great deal. He wondered if she would like to see him naked being as he had already seen her as such. He looked to those in the crowd and the expression of lust and desire upon all within the room. His jealousy would surface on occasion but he would do nothing about it as he did not want to ruin her set. Besides she looked as if she could handle the jerks who thought it was okay to touch her. He moistened his bottom lip while he wondered if she would let him touch her. Feeling protective of her still, he watched her finish her set and then he moved through the crowd to ensure that she made it back to her dressing room without too many groping marks to report.
Now By her side, he ensured that even the most eager of her fans found it impossible to get to close and now at the door, he opened it for her to allow her through before following her and slamming it in the face of anyone wishing to follow. The loud cheering and clapping, still evident from the other side of the door appeared to quiet down a little through the thick door, and that gave him the chance to take her hand once again if she was willing to accept it. “Allow me to escort you back to your room, Cas, perhaps we can talk some more before you either go out again or you finish up for the night. Whichever you have to do.”
Cas was both bemused and relieved when Gideon joined her as she left the room. His presence backed off the majority of over exuberant patrons. Only the most persistent still tried to follow her back to the dressing room. She allowed Gideon to take her hand again as they started walking back to her dressing room. She didn’t know why, but it seemed to just feel right. She smiled at Gideon’s words. “Sure.” It wasn’t lost on Cas how easily they walked together to her room. She turned this over in her mind as they reached her door. Opening it she stepped in and waited for him to follow. Once he did, she closed the door, but before she could make another move beyond that a voice floated out from the furthest corner.
“Hello, Casilde. It is good to see you hail and well.” A striking red headed female Vampire stepped out of the shadows and gracefully moved to sit in one of the two chairs in the room. After she was settled she looked at Cas and Gideon expressionlessly. Her eyes roamed over Gideon and then turned back to settle on Cas. “The snack I found at your home was rather delicious. Though I am afraid it has expired.” She watched Cas closely to see how that settled in.
Cas’ own face had taken on a neutrality as soon as the Vampire had greeted her. Her body was tense next to Gideon, ready for anything. “Felicity. I see you are still around. Though that really is no surprise.” With a slight shrug, she continued. “I’m glad you enjoyed the hospitality of my home, even if I wasn’t there to offer it. What brings you here?”
If Felicity was disappointed at Cas’ reaction, she didn’t hint at it. She dropped her gaze to study a well-manicured hand. “I heard this strange rumour of a Neutral Ground for Vampires and Werewolves. And that my old friend Casilde was somehow mixed up in it.” Her gaze rose to once more look Gideon over as she continued. “Naturally I had to see if it was truth.”
“Naturally.” Cas’ eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Felicity look over Gideon. “Gideon, meet Felicity, the Vampire that should have killed me.”
Felicity’s eyes suddenly snapped to Cas and she arched a brow. “Now Casilde, I thought we were past that. After all, it wasn’t your fault your Sire left you with no clue as to what you were.” Felicity studied Cas searchingly, but finding no clues there, her gaze drifted to Gideon thoughtfully. “It is rather odd that you do not trust your own Kind, yet here you are trusting of two who should be your mortal enemies.” Her eyes flicked back to Cas and she smiled. “But then you were always the enigma that has kept the Vampire Community always wondering.”
Now Cas did react, and it was with a startled jerk. What on earth could Felicity mean? Cas kept a low profile among the Vampires, really didn‘t interact with them if she could help it. And now here she was telling her that The Community watched her? That was a bit unsettling, but it also explained how the Vampires already knew this to be Neutral Territory.
Gideon said nothing when the unknown addressed Cas and spoke of a ‘snack’ at her home. He would look to the introduced Felicity, once Cas had replied but again not speak. He would however remain close to Cas, as if protecting her, even though he knew that she could take care of herself. He was about to nod and speak when Cas introduced him but Felicity coming back so soon in response to Cas’ remark about killing her, he paused to see how it would play out, for now.
When Cas jerked he finally spoke. His tone was soft and just above a whisper. “A pleasure I am sure Felicity. You are right this is indeed neutral ground and perhaps that is a good thing as far as you are concerned or I would have you ripped to shreds for upsetting Cas or at least by trying to do so. As a former member of the guard, assigned to eradicate vampires, if I can put our differences aside then I would imagine that anything is possible. In truth I welcome the news that this place is being watched since if anyone were to break the truce that is strong within these walls I would hope that your kind would intervene to squish such defiance as I am sure my kind would do also. This is a safe place to have fun and is totally separate from the war. If you cannot see that and embrace such then you can leave and we will say no more about it.” He then drew Cas close and gave her hand a devoted squeeze. ”Everyone under this house is under the protection of the security within this building of which I am part of it and I would imagine that those loyal to me are not too far away, should you find that you need a gentle reminder of where you are?”
At first Felicity’s brow arched ever so elegantly at Gideon’s words, but before long her eyes narrowed. Cas gave an almost inaudible groan at Gideon’s veiled threat. He needed some serious lessons on diplomacy. And while she appreciated Gideon’s efforts to be protective, even gave his hand a slight squeeze back, she still shifted ever so slightly, ready to pounce should Felicity decide that this particular Wolf needed a lesson.
It wasn’t missed by Felicity either. She turned her narrowed gaze to Cas and stared at her thoughtfully. “The puppy is bold and brash.” A smile slowly creped upon her face as her gaze traveled slowly down Cas’ form and back up. “But then considering the bone he is being protective of, it is more than understandable.” A genuine laugh suddenly erupted from the red head which had Cas’ eyebrows climbing up her brow. “You two are cute.” Her laughter abruptly stops as she tilts her head and studies the both of them. Her voice is thoughtful as she continues. “And you make a striking couple. Yes, I do believe this will be most interesting to watch unfold.”
She rose languidly from the chair and walked up to the pair. Lightly resting her left hand on Cas’ left shoulder she looked directly at Gideon. “Rest assured, Wolf, the Vampire Community is most interested in this new concept. Oh, not all, as I’m sure you have malcontents amongst your own Kind. But they are curious, and that takes a lot.” She continued to walk by them only to pause and lean in to Cas and whisper so softly that Gideon couldn’t even hear. Whatever she had said had Cas’ face turn nearly a bright crimson, no mean feat for a Vampire. And then she breezed out the door, softly closing it behind her with parting words. “We really should find time to catch up Casilde.”
Cas relaxed, but couldn’t meet Gideon’s eyes after the whispered words from Felicity. ”Bed that one. You’re so rusty I can smell the dust and cobwebs. Besides, he looks like he could be fun. And he desires you strong enough even a blind person could tell.” Cas had always been rather secure in her body and never gave a thought to being naked in front of hundreds of pairs of eyes every night. She wouldn’t make a good stripper is she did. But now with Felicity’s words ringing in her head, she found herself a bit out of sorts being half clothed in front of Gideon.
Suddenly with a low growl she stalked to the chair Felicity had exited and flopped into it. She bent over and started working the shoes off. Personally, she hated stilettos, really heels of any type, but they went with the whole stripper personae and she’d learned to tolerate it. As she worked the shoes off, her mind turned over Felicity’s words. Why on earth would she encourage Cas to mate a Were? Was it a dare? A test? Suddenly she sat back and stared at Gideon with wide eyes. Of course, it was a test. Her stomach sank as she came to realize, none would truly believe that Neutrality was possible, even if Cas and Gideon showed any kind of friendship.
Cas dropped her head into a hand with a groan. Yes, they’d need far stronger proof. Could she do it? Could she bring herself to take Gideon to bed. She peeked at him through her hair. If he’d been a Human, she could have without a thought. Studying his body from head to toe the next thought was if he was a Vampire she’d be sorely tempted. But he was a Werewolf. She frowned thoughtfully as other words of Felicity’s came to mind. “It is rather odd that you do not trust your own Kind, yet here you are trusting of two who should be your mortal enemies.” She raised her head and studied Gideon thoughtfully. True, she trusted Phillip, Gideon not quite as much, though it was forming, and easier than she had thought it would. But still… her bed?
She leaned back with a sigh arms up over the back of the chair, legs slightly parted but relaxed in a comfortable position. She didn’t realize that she basically just put her nearly naked body on perfect display for him, only stitch of clothing she wore was the lacy panties from the last outfit. She was looking up at the ceiling as she spoke. “I think we’re in trouble.”
Unaware of the danger posed by his words towards Felicity, Gideon remained firm in his actions even when he noted the brow arch and indeed the way in which Cas shifted as if ready to pounce. He relaxed when he began to feel that Cas and Felicity were perhaps old friends or at least they were not enemies. He backed off further when Felicity suggested that he and Cas were a couple. He said nothing in that regard as he already liked the idea of such a union. Her words to him, upon her rising from the chair had his attention. He again said nothing but he would digest the idea that what was going on within this building was of interest to all parties.
With her now gone, he looked to Cas when she moved to the other chair. He was curious as to what had been whispered to her but he would not ask about it for now. Instead he watched her remove her shoes and get comfortable. By now his pupils were large taking in her perfection before him. He even felt his tongue gently lick his lower lip for a second before being brought back inside him mouth. For a vampire she was exceptional to look at. Even if he was completely unaware of the secret exchange between Felicity and Cas, it was clear that he wanted her. Almost as if she was reading his mind the words ‘I think we’re in trouble’ hit his ears, bringing him mentally back into the room. “Perhaps but... what do you suggest we do about it?” His question was leading as he slowly lent towards her with the intent of kissing her.
Cas had closed her eyes after she’d uttered those words. A slightly pained look crossed her face at his question. She gave a sigh, “I… don’t know, Gideon. I don’t know.” She lay there a while longer, still not realizing she was positioned as an open invite to Gideon. The only barrier to him being her underwear, and even with that, as little material as it possessed, her sex peeked out here and there teasingly. She shifted, about to rise from the chair and opened her eyes, only to freeze at finding Gideon hovering only inches from her looking like he was about to kiss her. Her eyes widened alarmingly as she stared up at him.
Suddenly she was moving so swiftly and managed to escape the chair without even touching Gideon. She was standing in the middle of the room facing him. “What the Hell? What the fuck are you thinking?” She had a look of panic over her features and started to slowly back across the room from Gideon. A small corner of her mind insisting that if he hadn’t a problem with a union between them, why did she?
Not receiving the answer to their problems was no big thing since he was sure they would figure it out in the end. Besides the way she sat before him made him quickly forget that they had any problems at all. Seeing a glance of her sex was enough to tell him that she wanted him but upon her realization of what he had planned her words and the way she had looked at him upon opening her eyes tell him something else. So swift was she that she was up before he could even touch her.
He would stand too upon being address in regard to his behaviour. “Calm down Cas.” He would say as he moved toward her. “Don’t you want me as I want you? I guess not. I guess I was wrong about that at any rate.” Before he gave her a chance to answer, he moved behind her as if to leave the room. Grabbing her wrists with his large hands, he kissed her neck and nibbled her flesh while doing so. “Does it feel strange having someone bite you instead of the other way around?” He knew he would not be able to hold her for long but he was no weakling human, he was sure if they were to fuck they would easily wreck the room before any harm would come to either of them. Turning her to face him, with one of his hands holding both of hers behind her back he kissed her firmly upon the mouth. Between kisses he added “Why don’t we just see where this takes us, ah?” He then kissed her again while the fire in his belly burned to mate with her. He had never felt like this before about anyone, least of all a vampire. What was driving this? He had no clue. All he knew was at any moment she would either pull away and try to kill him or something similar or embrace him completely as hers.
Cas didn’t answer his questions, her panic was too much. And in truth she really didn’t know. Didn’t know if she could actually do such an act or not. Part of her crawled at the thought, a small part, but a part of her all the same. When he moved as if to leave, she relaxed slightly, it was as if he was retreating, and she wasn’t about to stop him. She needed time to regroup and figure out what the hell was going on. But he wasn’t retreating, and when he grabbed her she was shocked. Vampires and Werewolves were pretty evenly matched in strength and super-naturalness, and though she struggled to break free, she was just in the wrong position for any kind of leverage to do so.
All struggles ceased briefly and a sharp intake of breath came from her as Gideon started kissing and nibbling her neck. Her nipples in plain view to his lowered gaze hardened suddenly as his lips and teeth scraped across her flesh. Damn if Felicity hadn’t been right. She’d been too long without, and she couldn’t control the reactions of her body as tingles shot through her everywhere and a heat suddenly came to life in her belly. A whimpered groan escaped her lips as he turned her to face him. Passion, need and desire swirled in her eyes, even as in a panic she shook her head and her lips started to say no, only stopped by his sudden kiss.
She struggled again, but was at a double disadvantage now. She still had no leverage to break free, and her struggles only caused her cool body to become more inflamed with desire as it rubbed against his heated form. In her struggles a loud tearing sound could be heard. She froze as her panties suddenly came away, caught on some object from his clothing. Her eyes widened in stunned shock, and then she started to struggle again as her fear mounted. “Gideon. Please. We… we can’t. It’s… not heard of.” Her voice held both desperation and desire, but clearly she didn’t know which way to go.
All through his sharing of his intent towards her, Gideon desire for her grow within him. The driving force behind such lust was not yet apparent but whatever the reason for his need for her he had no power to stop it or indeed any yearning to do so. Instead he held her to him even if she seemed to struggle to break free. Such a reaction only encouraged him to persevere. When he heard her groan this drove him forward while he ignored the shake of her head. The kiss had prevented him from seeing her say no. What would such a word do to him in his current state anyway? Perhaps that too would have been ignored anyway. Her eyes told him another story of want and need of her own. He could see how her eyes reacted upon hearing her panties being ripped from her and he pulled away from the kiss to see them fall. Spinning her around once again, he held her close with one hand around her wrists while he unzipped his pants. Bending over her his weight brought her to the ground and he would hear her knees hit the floor.
Fully aroused he used his right hand to position his cock to slide into her sex and in one deep thrust he was inside her. He groaned deeply upon feeling her tightness surround him while he grabbed her hair and pulled her head up towards him. Now with her still on her knees with her chest forced to the ground and her head up, he thrust in and out of her in quick succession. He had not answered her words until now and when he did he would be smiling while he took her. “Not heard of it might be. But once we are done here tonight all will know of this. I want you and, I know that deep inside of you, you feel the same as I. So we can and we will.” He then gritted his teeth to bore down on her with increased force and vigour.
Spun like a top and a bit disoriented, until she heard the loud sound of a zipper coming undone. “No, Gideon! No!” He didn’t listen any better than before, and next thing she knew she was doing a face plant into the floor. A muffled sound could be heard from her face down in the carpet. A scream? Cry of pleasure? Maybe both? As his cock drove into her tight, extremely wet folds. Head suddenly yanked back by her hair, and his words made her even more slick for him to pound so easily. He was right, but she’d be damned to the furthest planes of Hell before she’d admit it, or even give in so easily.
Folded practically in half, and backwards to boot. Held down by hair and wrists, she wasn’t in a good situation. But she tried. She struggled at first with a strength she hadn’t shown before, desperation and panic finally lending help. Unfortunately, it just helped add to the growing tension the sensations of him driving his rod deep into her cunt caused. Her body betrayed her and the struggle suddenly stopped with a tortured moan. Her breath grew ragged and her pussy twitched now and again around his cock, soft sounds of pleasure and need escaping her parted lips at first, then a low growl started deep from inside her and grew in volume and force as her fangs grew in length. Her slick, tight velvet suddenly clamped around his shaft with a new spin on tightness and a roar escaped her as her body went into deep, jarring shudders. Her need to Feed suddenly surfacing as well, and she snapped and snarled trying to find someone to bite.
Once again her words only encouraged him. He took the muffled sound as a cry of pleasure. She was so wet for him by now that he continued to fuck her with considerable force. If she was human such would have split her in two but she was anything but. It would seem that she could take his animalistic need to have mate with her. Her struggling, or at least attempts to do so, drove him crazy with desire too, in doing so, he would hold her more firmly with each attempt to free herself. When such struggling was replaced with a moan, he smiled and increased his pace. So tight, she felt so good, and by now he was breathing deeply to accompany her soft sounds of pleasure.
When her sex clamped down upon his cock he roared knowing that she had his cock firmly within her. By now she was jarring below him and was that fangs he saw growing when she tried to turn to look at him? When she snapped at him, he started to grow larger into his Crinos form; the hybrid form of man and wolf. Fangs of his own would grow along with claws that would dig into Cas but given that she is a vampire such deep cuts would most likely heal completely. Every part of his body would grow in size, including his cock and with that his strength would multiply expediently. The latter being mostly a good thing since he knew better than anyone that a vampire grew stronger too when the fangs were exposed. Now completely changed he would turn her around to face him and continue to fuck her while he moved one of his hands around her neck to try and prevent her from sinking her teeth into his now harden flesh. Hard it might be but vampire fangs could still penetrate him if she had a chance. Not ever being bitten by a vampire before he was of course curious what would happen to him if she did but for now he viciously fucked her while his muscles flexed and relaxed with each and every thrust.
Felicity hadn’t gone anywhere after she had closed the door. She stood quietly listening to the happenings going on in the room she had just left. She heard the conversation and smiled slightly. Good, Casilde caught her meaning. She winced slightly as she heard a thud suddenly. That couldn’t have felt good. Then Casilde’s roar came and her eyes widened. “Wow, was that our little Vampire?”
Felicity whirled around to find Phillip standing there. “You should learn to make some noise, Old Wolf. Being sneaky could get you killed, or worse.” She paused to see that her warning had no effect on him and wasn’t surprised. “And yes, that was Casilde. Seems your Young Wolf was more than up for the task.”
“Hmm, yes, rather fortunate last night’s circumstances. Bring them together so easily. Gideon is more than capable for the job at hand. I have learned that even though Casilde does not participate in the War, she still adheres to the rules of our Kinds. For the most part anyway, she will bend or tweak a rule, but never break one. Gideon on the other hand, while he will uphold the rules, can and will break them as the need arises.” He smiled, “and apparently the need arose.”
Felicity frowned. “But there is still her need to Feed with a mating. Will he allow her? And what will his Wolf’s blood do to her. I don’t know Phillip. There are too many unknowns in this experiment, and we may lose our best people for this to succeed at the start.”
Phillip sighed. “I know, but there is no other way.” He looked at Felicity with concern. “How many times before she must Feed?”
Felicity shrugged. “Once won’t kill her. Weaken her a bit, but not kill her. Three, maybe four, before she is far too weak to even Hunt on her own, and if she’s allowed to go that long, and does manage to Feed, it will be messy. Much like how I first found her.”
Phillip nodded. “Then we’d better hope they figure it out, and that his blood doesn’t be what kills her. We need them to pave this new way.” Felicity just nodded and went back to listening and Phillip too, stilled and listened. He wasn’t overly worried about the bite Casilde would give Gideon in order to Feed. Most Weres could handle such, only the weak seemed to have any issues with a Vampire bite. He knew Gideon wasn’t weak. He had been watching the young man for some time, and had finally settled on him as the possible best Wolf to mate Casilde, since she was a most exceptional Vampire herself.
Cas might have screamed when Gideon changed form and suddenly stretched her sex beyond what it should be without giving birth, but her sudden need to mate had a good grip on her and that only added fuel to the fires burning in her. His claws digging gouges into her flesh only turned her on more, and she no longer cared that they were two different species, she did want him. Her body clearly stating such as her over taxed pussy suddenly gushed even more fluid in her pleasure.
When he flipped her over, he would be able to see quite plainly in her eyes a deep Hunger and a wild, unbridled lust mixed with something else not understandable yet. Almost, she had bitten him, but his hand on her throat slamming her back to the floor put a stop to that and drove a frustrated cry out of her. Her nails grew into claws and tried to gain purchase on his hard skin to pull him down to her, but his new form was more than a match for her added strength and it was a fruitless effort as his viciously continued to fuck her and she felt the tension building once more to another orgasm.
Unaware of what was going on at the other side of the door, and in all honestly they could have been standing behind him and he would not have looked or even stopped what he was doing. Something more primal that he could not control had him now. The increased honey from within Cas only ease each and every thrust within her. Feeling such, he increased his pace and vigour of his insertions. He had sensed that she had cum but he was no were near such. Now with her facing him, her screams at not being able to bite him were heard. He wanted to howl but even in his animalistic form he knew not too. Instead curiously got the better of him and in time he would release her from his grasp, leaving her to move her head if she so wished, but not yet. Firstly he had work to do and that involved bring her to a new height of ecstasy. Already the wetness between her legs gave him more pleasure than he could very imagine so he bore down on her and continued to pound her fast and hard.
He growled to her when she dug her nails into him. He had not seen that they had grown to razor sharp claws or that they had cut into his tough skin. The release of endorphins from such a wound only served to drive him into a sexual frenzy like no other. When he came, he did not pull out of her and instead released his seed into her welcome depths. Now it was time to give her what she wanted. Her screams upon being restrained made him consider letting her move freely. He had delayed such but it felt right to give her the freedom she seemed to crave. Upon pulling his hand from neck, he moved forward to move his own jaws to her neck, while his cock pumped his ejaculate in powerful pulses. Being slower in his movement, he would not make it, if Cas wanted to bite him first. Whether he had roared when he came he was unsure, but his whole body was relaxed which for a moment made him vulnerable.
With every hard and vicious thrust, her juices flowed all the more. At his final thrust before release, her legs wrapped around his hips, and her overly stretched cunt clamped down around his cock, pulling him in even deeper to release his life creating seed into her. Desperation and need made her move quicker than him when he released his hold on her throat. Her fangs clamped down on his neck, piercing it with little difficulty and his life giving blood flowed into her mouth. Her muffled cries of pleasure could be heard plainly by him as she took three big gulps of his blood before removing her fangs from his throat.
A cry of pain and pleasure mixed as she suddenly convulsed under him and her eyes rolled back in her head. His blood burned going down. Suddenly she went limp under him, nearly passed out. Distantly, she felt the blood burn through her body. It found and released eggs from her as his seed traveled and found them. The blood stayed with the eggs as they traveled to settle within her womb. A strange cocktail, no doubt, but the way a Vampire reproduces by normal means. Instead of amniotic fluid, the eggs would get their nourishment from the blood of the father as they grew.
When it was plain to the two outside that no more mating would be coming anytime soon, Felicity opened the door and stepped into the room, Phillip right behind her and it was he who closed the door after he was in the room. Both surveyed the other two in the room. Both looked a bit worse for wear, but otherwise fairly intact, and quit satisfied. Though Cas looked a bit out of it. It was clear though that she had Fed off Gideon and both smiled with relief.
“She will need to Feed once a month off you now Gideon, for the next nine months.” Phillip looked at Felicity in mild shock. “What? To keep the embryos growing to maturity and birth. How else do you think Vampires can bear young?” Phillip gave her a ‘but of course, how else’ kind of look and wave of the hand. Felicity gave Cas a once over. “She’ll be around in a moment. You might want to change into a more human form Gideon.” And with that Felicity moved to the chair she had occupied before.
Phillip looked Gideon over. “You alright?”
He tensed initially when her fangs sunk into his flesh but within seconds he relaxed as if something told him it was for the best to do so. There was no pain or discomfort. It was if he was meant to do this without question. He smiled when she removed them but was concerned when she began to cry in pain. Helpless to assist her he would watch as she reacted uniquely to their mating. He would turn his head when Phillip entered the room with Felicity.
Totally aware of what was being told to him; Gideon would nod to Felicity in acceptance of his fate. He would slowly turn back to his human form and remain close to Cas as if protecting his mate from danger, even though he sensed that those within the room meant them no harm. She was still naked and even if she exposed herself to the general public on a daily bases, preserving her dignity was of paramount importance. He reached for a blanket to place over her body and then pulled out his cock to get dressed once he had ensured that she was comfortable.
Upon hearing Phillip ask if he was alright, he would look to the visitors and questioned them in his usually way. “I think so yes, but do either of you want to explain all of this to me. Or at least try. What I now feel for Cas is powerful indeed and in all honestly it seems to control how i act around her. What is going on?”
The relief on Phillip’s face was plain to see at Gideon’s words. He looked Cas over briefly, but trusted Felicity’s assessment of the situation. He took the chair next to Felicity and watched the newly mated pair. “So we don’t have to explain it twice, why don’t we wait for Cas to come around?”
“Come around for what?” Cas stirred and sort of sat up with a slight groan. She hurt all over like hell, but it was quickly fading as the memories of what just happened quickly hit her mind. “Oh shit! What have we done?” She looked at Gideon with wide eyes and then realized who else was in the room. Her face went completely blank and she tensed waiting for some sort of retribution from those two. Silence descended for a few heartbeats.
Phillip broke the silence first. “We both have a confession to make to the two of you. Felicity, would you go first please.”
Felicity quirked a brow at Phillip but complied. “Actually I have two. Casilde, you introduced me as the Vampire that should have killed you to Gideon. Yes, I should have, but there was something about you that told me you could be important. That and when I finally got a description out of you who was your Sire. You were rough and just in need of polishing. Once you learned of our world, I was surprised how much of it you rejected. More in point, the War is what you rejected most, a trait that has been sought for some time.” She paused for a minute and then sighed. “My other confession is that I have managed to find out exactly who your Sire was. I had thought it possible at the time, but not likely. You see, he is old, very old. Like one of the First Generation Vampires. Those created by the First of Us. The catch though, is that he only makes one Vampire at a time. And as far as I knew when I found you, his Child was still around. It took a few hundred years, but I finally found that at the time you were Turned, his last Child had been destroyed a few months before. Should you perish, he will then make another. Nor does he Sire children by more conventional means. But you, my dear, young as you are, are a Second Generation Vampire, and that makes you very powerful.” She looked to Phillip when she finished speaking.
Phillip gave a sigh. “I too have two confessions, though the second should probably be told first. Gideon, I have followed you since your birth, traced your family back as far as it goes. You come from strong Lupin stock, and it wasn’t chance that you saw Casilde last night. The Vampire you chased, brought you here on purpose. It was hoped that her beauty would catch your attention, and her wits and intelligence would keep you from catching her with the other and destroying her. That eventually, you two would somehow come together. Luck though seemed to want to speed things along as first you came to my house, then Casilde did, An opportunity I quickly seized and pushed forward with the suggestion of a neutral zone for our Kinds. And while that is a desire, it is not the primary goal.”
Here he pauses for a long time as he tries best to put in words what he is about to say. He gives a sigh and looks at Gideon. “I told you last night I weary of this war, like Casilde, I too believe it a useless waste of effort. I have for more than seven hundred years, Felicity for just about as long. Together we have watched and hoped two like you would come and help end it. But the only way that will happen is if you two produce children, showing it is possible, and paving the road for a new Way.” He sat back and watched with Felicity as the two absorbed all the information suddenly thrown at them.
Cas was speechless. This wasn’t what she was expecting in the least, knowing that for a Vampire and a Werewolf to do what she and Gideon had done was tantamount to Death. She looked at Gideon first, then Phillip, and finally Felicity, not really sure how to respond.
Gideon would nod upon Phillip’s suggestion that they wait for Cas. He smiled to his beloved moments later when she questioned the Lycan elder about her coming around only to frown a little when she looked to him asking another question. He was about to answer during the moment of silence but just before he opened his mouth, Phillip spoke instead. He looked to the Elder and then to Felicity upon hearing that they had a confession to make; his expression blank with a hint of curiosity. Once Felicity had finished speaking to Cas, Gideon realized that he had been holding his breath throughout. He took a deep breath wondering what exactly had he gotten himself into. ”Second generation vampire, indeed…” he mumbles to himself. ”…My goodness”
He did not have much time to digest this news before Phillip spoke of Gideon’s heritage. It would appear that it was not dissimilar to Cas’. It was not that he did not believe the Elder, quite the opposite in fact. But like Cas, he would be speechless for a time but upon catching the eye of Cas as she looked to him he finally addressed the room. If Cas would accept his hand he would take her in his to show that he had her back and would most likely do so for the rest of his life. ”I thank you, Felicity and Philip, for your honesty and I will of course honour your wishes and do what I must for the greater good, if this is indeed for the greater good. Being a recent advocate of the war I too now see how futile the war really is. Hope is not built from war, love is and the possibility of a better future. Nothing good ever comes from war. I see that now.” He paused for a moment as if picking up Cas’ concerns about death and then asked. ”If you both think we will not get killed for what we have done then I see no harm in it.” He was already aware of the growing feelings of protection and love he now had for Cas.
Cas caught Gideon’s comment under his breath and she cringed slightly from him. Bad enough she was a Vampire and him a Werewolf, and they’d just committed the only ‘sin’ either of their Kinds would kill for, but now he was worried about her bloodline. Lovely. Top it off, here was a Vampire and a Werewolf both pushing them to continue in this… this… abomination? Strangely that word just didn’t sit right with Cas. Yes, they had done something they shouldn’t have. Yes, she’d tried to avoid it, but Gideon took the matter out of her hands. No, she wasn’t really sorry about it, a bit at odds with it and the fact that deep down she wanted more, but still… that was beside the point. And something she would wrestle with later when she had the luxury. Now Phillip had her attention as he spoke.
“Just like that? You roll over and show your belly?” Cas jerked up and stood glaring at all in the room. The evidence of her earlier activity with Gideon just about healed and gone, leaving her skin and body as perfect as it was before. “Of course we’re going to be killed.” She whirled to Felicity and Phillip. “And you cannot tell me that all Vamps and Weres are all suddenly warm and fuzzy inside and wanting peace.”
Phillps spoke mildly. “You are correct. Not all are for such a change. In fact, very few are. You will be in danger, as will your children until they are grown enough to defend themselves. But the two of you can show it is possible for a Vampire and a Werewolf to not only mate, but even love. Do not deny that you have feelings for Gideon, I know Vampires rather well, you would not have mated with him otherwise.”
Cas’ lips were tight and thin at Phillip’s last comment. “That is besides the point…”
Before she could say more Felicity cut in exasperated. “Then what is the point?”
“You. Did. Not. Ask. Neither of you asked us if we wanted to even be a part of this. You threw us together and hoped things would go in your favor.” She glared and her eyes had turned red by this point. “I will not be a pawn. Not for either of you. Not for what I do or don’t feel for Gideon. Not for peace.” With that she stalked across the room and found clothes and started to angrily put them on, her back to the others in the room.
Gideon shook his head in disbelief at what he was hearing from his mate. For him they had bonded and it would take more than a few seconds to lose such a feeling. The more she spoke however the more he felt like he too had been played. So bonded to her now was he that he moved to her and looked to Philip and Felicity. Still willing to protect Cas even if she did not want it, or at least appeared to not anyway. When Felicity spoke of Cas’ feelings for him he smiled a little and kept such when his Cas did not deny it. It was then that Cas made the point he had not considered. She was right. Where was the consultation? He would nod in agreement before speaking his mind, while Cas got dressed, clearly still very upset.
He would look to Philip first but clearly he would be addressing Felicity too. “Cas has a point. Why not share your idea with us yesterday. Perhaps we would have surprised you with our answer. Although I cannot speak for Cas. I for one would have done anything for you Phillip as I have in the past. I respect you and I am sure such a request would have been honoured. I for one have no regrets as to what has happened. If I can speak my mind, the way it was executed was underhand even for you, if I can be so bold to share such a thought with you.” He then added with absolute honestly. “The thought of Cas being in danger because of this is unacceptable to be honest and if we are as important as you claim we are then I would expect the best protection for her since she either now carries or will in time carry the future within her.” He glanced over to Cas sure that she had heard his words and then back to the pair of underhanded planners.
Felicity and Phillip at least had the good grace to look both embarrassed and chastised as Gideon spoke. “That is why this was pushed to be a Neutral Zone. To be honest, neither of us expected things to move this quickly. It was hoped to establish this as a Neutral Zone first, then mating. But, I am not going to be upset or say I am sorry it has come about. Change is needed, and does tend to move quickly.” Phillip sighed as he finished talking while he gathered his thoughts.
Felicity jumped in at this point. “Yes, she will have protection, as will you, Young Wolf. We didn’t just pull this out of our asses last night after all.” She looked over to Cas, who had stilled when she finished dressing. “Casilde?” Drawing everyone’s attention to the female Vampire.
At first Cas didn’t move. She had been wrestling with what her and Gideon had done, the puppettering of Phillip and Felicity, and the possibility of pregnancy. There was nothing to be done about the first two, it was done and over. But the last… well first she needed to know if it even happened. Being a Vampire, she was pretty in tune with her own body, and it wasn’t hard for her to turn her focus inward and find that yes, life was starting to grow inside her. Now to decide if she’d allow them to continue or not. She’d never planned to have children by any means. That’s why she tended to avoid her own Kind, and just kill her meals.
She gave a sigh and finally turned to face the others in the room. Her eyes were no longer red, but her expression was neutral. She studied both Felicity’s and Phillip’s worried faces. She had heard Gideon’s words to them, distantly, and she agreed. It was underhanded, when they could have spoken to them about their plans, included and recruited them. “I trust neither of you.” A pained look crossed Phillip’s face as Felicity just shrugged, Vampires didn’t trust each other anyway. Cas turned to Gideon. “And you, I told you no, and you took anyway. Do you realize that for the next nine mon--” She stopped as a throat cleared and her gaze snapped to the other two.
Felicity cleared her throat again. “Actually, there’s no proof that gestation will take nine months.”
“Actually, there’s no proof it won’t.” Felicity shot Phillip a glare, but conceded the point. “It is uncertain. This is a new species being born after all. Who knows what or how long it needs to mature before birth.”
“Great,” Cas muttered, “so I could be carrying a monster… or three.” She gave a disgusted sigh and turned away. Felicity’s eyes widened in shock as Phillip looked between her and Cas puzzled.
Gideon nodded upon hearing both Phillip and Felicity doing their best to explain why they did what they did. The nod was not to signify that he agreed with what they had done but more to do with the fact that he understood the words. Upon hearing that both Cas and he would be protected he would pause to consider what sort of protection that would be. He knew all about protection and knew that it would have to be covert so as to not draw any attention to Cas and himself. Well no more than usual.
His thoughts would be stopped upon hearing Felicity call on Cas. He would instantly look to his mate upon hearing her name. When she looked to him to chastise him for ignoring her denial, he was about to apologize but was interrupted by Felicity seemed to feel the need to clarify the gestation period of his child to be. Further annoyance would he heard from Cas upon hearing this. Gideon on the other hand would have a similar expression to that of Phillip.
With an obvious uncomfortable silence looming, Gideon aired a thought. “I have a question. Are we to remain here while our child grows within Cas or should we be moved to a secret location? I only ask that due to the fact that no one knows how long she will be pregnant or indeed when she will begin to show. Surely she should be out of sight from gossiping eyes upon the first sign of the bump. Or even any kind of sickness that she might experience. By the sounds of things it could be weeks or even years before she gives birth.” He considered moving to Cas to comfort her but he would not do so until he had an answer to his aired thoughts.
Felicity tore her eyes away from Cas with obvious difficulty. She looked at Gideon distractedly as he asked his question, but before he had finished airing his thoughts, she was already back to watching Cas. Phillip went from puzzlement to concern as he watched Felicity and Cas. He tried his best to answer Gideon, but it was clear he was distracted trying to figure out what was bothering Felicity. “Um, yes, there is a place for you both to stay comfortably, and her to birth in peace…”
He trailed off as Felicity suddenly moved and within a blink was standing next to Cas. Cas started to turn, but Felicity moved faster. The others didn’t see what exactly she did, but Cas’ eyes suddenly rolled back in her head and she collapsed. Felicity caught her and brought her to Gideon, dumping her into his arms. “And we go to it now.”
“Felicity?”
“She will need to be constantly watched. Come.” Phillip actually looked a bit floored but he shrugged at Gideon and followed the Vampire out the door, pushing Gideon ahead of him. Felicity moved quickly and headed to an abandoned dressing room. Strangely, it was the dressing room Cas had used the night before. Entering, she waited for the others before closing the door and moving to the back corner. She squatted and passed her hand over a spot on the wall and the floor opened out from under her. She allowed herself to drop through and then moved aside. “Well? Come on you two. We haven’t time before she wakes.”
Gideon smiled upon hearing that they would have a place of safety, but the smile would vanish upon seeing Cas collapse. He had seen Phillip’s confusion for a moment, like his elder he had not seen what Felicty was doing until his mate had collapsed. Before he knew what was going on Cas was in his arms and he was carrying her to another room. ”Ok?” he had questioned upon hearing that they would need to go to the safe house now. He was already sure that he would get the answers he required in regard to the sudden move from their previous room so for now he would not delay their departure with such words.
Now within the room, he watched Felicity while she closed the door behind her, sealing them in. His eyes remained on her while she opened up the floor. She would speak again about him following so he would so, trusting her completely, for some unknown reason. Waiting to see where this would lead he stood close to Felicity more than prepared to venture on in whatever direction she deemed fit to take them. He would even nod to her to show that he was more than ready to go.
Felicity turned once everyone was down and hit another hidden trigger. The ceiling/floor closed above them, and she turned once more and headed down a corridor. “Come. We need to hurry.”
Phillip fell in step with her, but asked. “What is going on, Felicity? Why the haste?”
Felicity moved along, and at first seemed like she wasn’t going to answer. Finally she gave a sigh. “She was going to kill the young growing inside her if I hadn’t stopped her.” Phillip sucked in air, but before he could say anything Felicity continued on with a nod. “Yes, we can do so. We can also halt gestation completely until in a safer time or location to have young.” She paused thoughtfully. “Hmmm.”
“What?”
They came to a junction and Felicity took a right. No one, but the unconscious Vampire, knew the left would take them to an exit close to her home. “What? Oh, I was just thinking. Might she can speed up the gestation. Logic says if we can halt it, we can do the opposite.” She gave a shrug. “It might be worth a try, but it would require much from you Young Wolf. It might even kill you if pushed too far.”
Phillip almost came to a halt at Felicity’s words, a look of shock on his face. Instead his steps seemed to hiccup but a thoughtful look appeared on his face at this revelation. Already his mind was spinning. The big question was if they should take such a chance with the precious young inside Cas.
Felicity took them through an awful smelling section and made sure they tromped through it. It was enough to make both Werewolves wrinkle their sensitive noses in disgust. But even Phillip recognized Felicity’s attempt to mask their smells. They traveled for a couple hours with many twists and turns before Felicity finally led them out to the surface.
They came out in what appeared to be a forest, except there was a wall not too far away. Felicity took off to the left and followed the wall until they came to a gate. At the gate was a couple of men. “Let us in Rex, Skylar. It is time.” Both men nodded and opened the gate for Felicity and the others. “Come Young Wolf.” Felicity took off up the overgrown drive, while Phillip stopped to talk to the two men.
Felicity led Gideon to a large, somewhat tumbled down looking mansion set deep in the woods. She led him up the steps and inside. While the outside looked in need of repairs, the inside was opulent and well decorated. “Welcome to my humble home. Currently headquarters for this cross species experiment, and the End of the War Movement. This way.” She led him through the bottom floor and up a back set of stairs to the next floor. Walking down the hallway a short way, she stopped in front of a double set of beautifully carved doors and opened them. “Your rooms.” She stepped aside to let Gideon enter.
Not really understanding what was being said and with Phillip always being a few seconds ahead of him should he have had any questions, he would look a little shocked upon hearing what Felicity told them both about Cas. That aside, even if he was frustrated with Cas for trying to kill their child, he would follow Felicity while she spoke with Phillip. He wasn’t even going to think on how vampires were able to do what they do after all he was not even sure what made him what he was overall.
The smell of one of the areas made his nose wrinkle and he was glad to be out of there as quickly as they had entered. He smiled at the thought of not throwing up. In time he would be at a gate and nodding to Felicity after she had spoken to two vampires so that they could gain access. He looked back to Phillip but for now he would follow Felicity leaving the elder to talk with those at the gate.
Through the mansion he took note of the route should he need to escape and found overall that he was impressed with Felicity’s home. When she spoke of welcoming him to her home he said nothing until he was outside his room overlooking the ornate doors. ”Thank you. I feel welcome. Now what?” He smiled to her and moved into the room so that he could put Cas upon the bed.
The doors gave Gideon an idea of what to expect within and he was not disappointed. With Cas on the bed, he turned to look at Felicity. "Very nice. I think I will be most comfortable here. Tell me more about this place, so I can try to forget why we are here.” He was determined to remain calm even if he was confused and angry about the whole situation.
Felicity gave a delicate shrug and entered the room. She moved to Cas and gently brushed her hair out of her face. She then moved to look out one of the windows. “Really there isn’t much to tell about this place. I’ve owned it for about three hundred years now. I’ve managed to keep the inside well taken care of and up to date, and even the outside is a carefully maintained disrepair.”
She moved back to Cas and sat gently on the bed. “It is the base of operations for this movement. Both Lycan and Vamp maintain the security. There are no humans here, and it is pretty much look after things ourselves. Whoever feels like cooking a meal, does so and makes enough for everyone. We keep it clean ourselves. No servants. Do your own laundry. Each person who stays here is carefully screened before even being allowed to know of its existence.”
Gently she placed a hand on Cas’ shoulder. “Don’t make me knock you out again. Why don’t you go find Old Wolf, and let me have a word with Cas, hmm?” Felicity looked up at Gideon, her hand never leaving Cas’ shoulder as the younger Vampire opened her eyes and glared at Felicity’s profile.
Quietly Gideon listened and watched Felicity while she informed him about this place. When her attention moved to his mate for a moment his eyes would move to her. Upon being addressed again he would still be looking at her. Quickly his eyes would shift back to Felicity while she spoke of him needing to seek out Phillip while she spoke with Cas. “Of course. I will see you ladies soon.” He would miss the glare from Cas to Felicity while he walked to the door and out into the corridor.
Now outside he would see that Phillip was still at the gate talking to the same men as before. He would wait for the men to finish their chat before approaching and addressing the elder. “Felicity is with Cas in a very nice room assigned for me and Cas. Felicity sent me out while she chats with her and suggested that I seek you out. So old man, what do you make of all this?” He would do his best to remain calm and even his tone would suggest this. However, subtle signs of him finding all of this overwhelming were starting to rear forth. It began with a slight uncontrollable shaking of his hand. To stop it he would hold that hand within the other while he spoke.
“I know. It isn’t fair, but Life deals us what it does. Could be worse, could be some one like Vic you ended up Mated too.” She watched Cas’ face change from the unrelenting glare she had upon opening her eyes, to a look of pure horror and disgust. “Besides you might enjoy Motherhood….” She reared back slightly at the suddenly angry glare Cas leveled on her.
“This should never have even been able to happen. And will I? Will I even be allowed to be a Mother, provided they aren’t born to be warped abominations? And even if they are perfect in every way physically, what about their personalities? The mix could very well make them evil as they grow within me.”
Felicity sighed. “Deformities are a possibility in any of the Species, evil too. Look at Vic and Lux for Vampire examples. Hitler, Manson, Bundy in Humans for example. You know very well that anything is possible. As for this be able to happen…. Well obviously it can because it is.”
“So then, this succeeds, what then? Will select Vampires and Lycan go on raping sprees to produce the crossbred?” Cas was working herself up into a serious pissiness.
Felicty shook her head. “No, that is one advantage to both our Kinds. No offspring can be born from such a coupling. There has to be something there for it to work.”
Suddenly Cas’ foul mood evaporated like smoke on the wind. Restlessly she moved out of the bed and crossed to a window. Looking out, she spotted Gideon and Phillip standing and talking. Her eyes roamed over every inch of Gideon as her thoughts swirled around. Even now and this far from him, she could feel a pull to mate again. From the first time she’d seen him, there had been something to catch her attention. She gave a sigh, no, there was no denying that there was something between them. Her hand started absently rubbing her belly where life was growing.
The two men stopped their conversation with Phillip and studied Gideon very closely. Phillip turned and listened to Gideon’s report and question. “Well, first off introductions are a must. Gideon, meet Rex and Skylar. Ian, Andrew, you might as well come out for a minute.” Two Lycans stepped from some bushes on either side of the gate and approached. They gave Gideon a nod and looked respectfully at Phillip. “Currently the guards here. Always four, two from each Kind. Let’s walk.” He gave a polite nod to the four, the Lycan’s melted back into the bushes, and the two Vampires stationed themselves near the gate.
As Phillip walked he gave a slight chuckle. “Bit of a shock, but after talking with Rex and Skylar, it is true that the females have learned to halt gestation or kill the offspring if it forms wrongly. Felicity and I will have to talk with Dr. Lisht though about the odds of speeding the gestation.”
He was quiet a moment as his thoughts switched to the mother-to-be. “Cas is strong, Spirit, Body and Mind, but you are going to have to call on patience you never knew you possessed. There is no doubt that she is worried and scared. For every worst case scenario she throws out, you are going to have to throw more what could go right cases. No matter how much she argues, screams, attacks, you are going to have to be patient, understanding and gentle. We will get her and the child through this.”
They had entered the house by now and Phillip turns to Gideon. “Go, be with your Mate. She needs you more than she needs Felicity right now. And tell Felicity I want to see her so there’s no arguments.” He clapped Gideon on the shoulder and agave him a nudge in the direction of stairs, then turned and went into another room.