Chapter 29: A Meeting of Friends

  Amelia twirled us around with her new found strength as her laughter echoed in the pizzeria. Mabel watched from the table, as did other patrons who happened to hear the laughter coming from the middle-aged woman.

  I returned the hug right when my feet landed on the ground and my bosom shook violently. We were close enough they were touching but I don't think she cared. My half-elven ear tips burned as my heart moved blood to give Amelia something warm to hug and not an ice cold slab of walking flesh. Two hundred years of waiting. Two hundred years watching over me as I slept the centuries away. Two hundred years in the blink of an eye for me. And now we were reunited once again thanks to witches.

  I wondered if perhaps she knew about modern customs. She likely knew quite a bit more than I did, considering her own family was watching the manor. Amelia leaned in for a gentle kiss to the lips as she held my chin. Her heart raced in her chest as her cheeks burned with fire. It didn't matter that people were staring at us. Nor did the bright lights and noise matter any longer. Even when I removed the ear plugs to hear her faint giggles.

  There was nothing that could separate us now. Time came to a halt as my hands went to Amelia’s hips to rock her from side to side. She pulled us to the center of the room and took hold of one of my hands, finally breaking the kiss.

  Leaning on for a quick peck to the cheek, we locked fingers, and stared into each other’s eyes. Amelia’s wide grin infected me even though I was crying and could feel the blood draining from my eyes. I smiled at her and whispered, “I missed you so, so much.”

  She nodded firmly. “I missed you, too. Come! Let's get your face cleaned up. You look horrendous, my lovely night blossom.”

  She tugged me toward the washrooms. I didn't care. She could visit a paint drying exhibit and I’d follow her because she asked me to. Hells, she could want to visit the frozen ends of the Old World and I’d still follow her! Amelia dragged the silent Mabel and I into the single stall washroom and locked the door behind us.

  Thick tile walls deafened most of the noise caused by the arcade and loud music outside. A scratched mirror hung over the sink and covered a toilet that did not look at all inviting. There wasn't much in the washroom by design. It was meant for a mortal to do their business and leave. Nothing more.

  “Look, look, my night blossom!” Amelia said excitedly as she turned the sink on. “I saw this earlier, it's so amazing! They have perfectly clean running water now!”

  “Wait until you take a shower,” I said as I grabbed a handful of paper towels, keeping my eyes off the mirror, and began to clean my face.

  “A what?” Amelia looked up from the sink and blinked a few times. The way she was bent over showed me that she had what looked like a cutlass in a scabbard on her back, wrapped in a cloth to hide the fact that it was a large two-handed sword.

  “Is that a sword?”

  Her eyes darted from me to Mabel and back to me. “I needed protection, so I bought one.”

  “So,” Mabel began, interrupting Amelia before she could do more than open her mouth. The half-elf tilted their head a bit and continued, “Why am I here?”

  “Oh!” Amelia snapped her fingers as she wheeled around to face Mabel. She held her hand out and smiled. “I’m Amelia Schmidt, Lady Cassandra’s companion and retainer, you're Dinner, yes? Because you look simply delectable.” Amelia winked at them!

  With the way my rose was turned, an earbud was clearly visible in one of her ears. Which led me to wonder if she was listening to music and whether or not the technology actually worked properly for her.

  Mabel gently took Amelia by the hand and did a fancy curtsy to match the dryad even though they looked uncomfortable doing so. They then nodded slowly. “Yes. I have other names, but like, I dunno. Am I Dinner?” They looked over at me.

  I froze as the faint color drained from my face. That wasn't a question I wanted them to ever ask. Because I actually didn't want to have to make that decision.

  Amelia and Mabel waited for my answer as I stared at them in turn. We didn't have long until someone had to use the washroom, which is why I had no idea what the purpose of all three of us going in there at once was! Only Mabel and Amelia needed to use it, and I didn't know if Amelia actually had to use it.

  Unless Amelia specifically wanted to ask that question in private like the old days.

  I smiled nervously at the ex-vampire hunter turned tree person. She cocked her head and blinked her nut brown eyes a few times as she waited for my answer.

  “Only if they want to be.”

  Dinner slowly leaned their head to the side to expose their neck. I wanted to bite down, because I really needed a good solid meal, but the only good solid meal was a vampire. My fangs ached to bite into one. Dinner was, well, Dinner. They had surgery soon for their back and needed as much blood as they could get, but they seemed so sure of offering their blood. But I knew just how long it actually took for a mortal to become fully refreshed after a feeding.

  I reached out for Dinner’s neck, cupped my hand around one side and pulled them close, and gently kissed their warm neck, letting my lips linger for a few moments before I stepped back. “Later.”

  Amelia pouted at that, but nodded.

  I turned to Amelia and spoke softly. “I am famished, Amelia. Would you care to put those rusty skills of yours to use?”

  Her brown eyes lit up like fireworks went off. “Already?!”

  I nodded slowly. “I have not had vampire blood in a few weeks. There are some new rules in place; No staking, and do not cause a scene with the guards or public. We do not have the council to bail us out if there is any commotion.”

  “I shall find you a discrete meal, my lovely night blossom!” Amelia kissed my hand and winked as she stepped in close. We hugged and she disappeared shortly afterward. Almost as quickly as I could blink.

  Dinner looked over at me, saying, “She is not what I expected. Like, at all.”

  “In what way?”

  “It seemed like she was still acting like your servant.”

  I sighed heavily and rubbed my forehead. “I already told her she doesn't have to act like that anymore.” Something felt odd about my gun holster, so I checked it and couldn't find the weapon. Amelia slipped it from its holster when I hugged her! “And she has my gun…”

  “Wanna follow her and make sure she's not gonna rob someone?” Mabel patted my shoulder and smiled.

  I kissed her cheek. “Sure.”

  *** ***

  The problem with following a neon haired woman is when that neon haired woman is an expert at what she does; blending in with the crowds even though she hadn’t used those skills in a while. Mabel and I followed Amelia on the bottom floor as she wandered through the people, head on a swivel for any vampires.

  Amelia’s nut brown eyes met mine momentarily. She smiled, nodding before slipping into a group of people. I lost sight of her for some time as Mabel and I walked hand in hand through the crowd, attempting to keep up.

  Mabel moved closer to me and hummed. “You know tomorrow is Friday, yeah?” They took their phone out for a moment to check the time, tightened their jaw for a moment and then glanced behind us. I didn’t see anything when I checked.

  I cocked my head a bit. “It is?”

  They nodded firmly and we gazed into each other’s eyes. “Mhm! It's why I haven't really had any food. I… don't know what’ll happen and they said no food past midnight.”

  “Then maybe I shouldn't drink your blood until after your surgery?”

  “They’ll just do a transfusion if there isn't enough there.” Mabel shrugged.

  “A what?”

  “Let’s find a place to sit. I know a good spot.”

  We found a metal and wood bench outside a store selling stuffed animals and another one selling shoes. This allowed Mabel and I to be seated in a fairly public area for Amelia to find us. Mabel’s warm hand once again locked fingers around mine.

  Their furrowed eyebrows told me they were quite worried about the upcoming procedure. I didn't blame them. I'd be worried, too, if someone was going to pull my spine out and replace it with a metal construct. That meant everything from Mabel’s hips on up to their skull was going to be torn out and painfully reconstructed. A procedure that’ll take roughly two days to ensure there were no mishaps. And then they will spend the next week healing in the hospital.

  Modern medicine was truly something I couldn't comprehend, because that seemed impossible to me. If you remove the spine then the person will die. Even a vampire would die if you pull their spine out. I would know, because I’ve done it before.

  “So how will you stay alive during the procedure?”

  “You don’t know?” They sounded surprised by my question.

  “No.”

  They chuckled softly. “Well… like, they’ll put your consciousness in a separate box so you can still talk. But like, I dunno what they do to keep me alive. What did they do for you?”

  “What about me?”

  “When they transferred you.”

  “To what?”

  “Holy shit, you actually don’t know you’re an android…” Mabel’s voice trailed off as they rubbed at one of their ears.

  I looked at my hand for a moment. What was I? The local map flickered for a moment before I had the strange sensation of being stared at by someone. Mabel’s most recent words were muddled when I tried to recall them.

  Movement drew my attention to a woman wearing an expensive looking three piece suit as she stalked purposefully toward the bench. It showed off her near perfect curvature with each step. Her outer jacket was unbuttoned, flashing a shoulder holstered stake inside and pistol on the other side. A shiny golden badge was attached firmly to her belt.

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  I squinted to read the words as she approached. The woman wasn’t at all concerned with subtly. Her badge read: Encinar Ministry of Vampire Affairs.

  I took a deep breath as I leaned against the bench, hoping in vain that the woman wasn't for me or Mabel and was just lost. But with the way her nightglasses were focused solely on me, that was a falsehood.

  She stopped in front of us as she slid the badge from her belt and showed it off. “Lieutenant Commander Ripper?” she asked, causing me to blink a few times. She wasn’t here for me? It felt like she was, because something in the air just didn’t seem right.

  Mabel sat up and nodded firmly. “Yes? What is this about?”

  “Agent Jacques, Encinar Ministry of Vampire Affairs. The Horizon Rangers recently conducted a mech drop on South Encinar, correct?”

  “I paid the fees. What is this about?” Mabel squeezed my hand.

  Did they, really?

  That was my own question. Did they? I don't know. I was inside Eva the whole time. So how could I know for certain? I did hear my sire saying she would deal with it by firing whomever signed the paperwork.

  “There was no permit filed,” Jacques stated. “You're under arrest for ordering an illegal military operation in Encinar city limits.”

  “Fine… I'll pay the fine.” Mabel sighed heavily as they got up and turned around. They went quiet as Jacques cuffed their hands behind their back and read them their rights.

  As this was going on, another agent stepped toward me and flashed an identical badge. “Eva Solens, you're under arrest for the murder of Cassandra von Colterville. Don’t try to deny it, your hair and advanced aging is a dead giveaway.”

  “I’m sorry, what?” I blinked a few times. “Murder? You have me confused with another vampire. I am Sandra Tully.”

  “Then where were you last week?”

  “With my partner.” I threw a thumb in Mabel’s direction. “I was there when they bought the permit and filed for the drop. You're mistaken.”

  Mabel shook their head as if to tell me to be quiet like they were, but I couldn't. I knew the truth! That is what happened.

  It’s what you can prove that matters, fledgling, a familiar voice said to me in my own head. A voice that would have stopped my heart cold had I not already been undead.

  Isabella…

  There were no shadows to speak of nearby for her to be sulking in. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. The mall was a perfect trap and I walked right into it. I could scarce believe it as armed police officers appeared from the parting crowd and stores one by one. Each of them pointed heavy weapons right at me. Not Mabel, but me.

  I went back over the recent memories, attempting to find anything I missed, but I was so distracted by both Amelia and Mabel that I hadn’t noticed anyone else watching us. Only a few people glanced my way, but I don’t know what they looked like because they were wearing… nightglasses. The woman at the shop must have called me in because of our argument. My human face was all over the news because of the club, but like Carlisle said, it wasn’t a very good disguise.

  Civilians sensed the coming fight and pulled their phones or ran, while a few mall cops shouted for them to get back. The vampire cops were here for me. I wanted to run. I should have ran, but I couldn't leave my partners behind. With so many officers aiming their guns at me I couldn't exactly make a notable move, so I ‘gave in’.

  I slowly placed my hands on top of my head in surrender as I allowed the agent to close in. When he was close enough, I grabbed the man by the wrist and twirled him around before the others could react. Wrapping an arm around the agent’s upper torso, I pulled the mortal close and bared my fangs.

  Jacques frowned at me and said, “Give up, Eva. You're surrounded. Make this nice and easy.”

  Isabella strode out from the crowd with a near seductive step if it were not for the heavy automatic rifle in her arms. She wore a fancy suit. And by fancy suit I mean the kind that is amazing on her. Under other circumstances it would have me thinking crude thoughts about my own sire.

  I had worn my new nightglasses as a precaution, because I wasn't sure what we were going to do and I had to get a feel for how the world looked with the yellow tint to it. It was a good thing, because Isabella shouted loud enough her voice echoed from everywhere.

  “Let the man go, fledgling.”

  I shook my head as I grabbed the man’s stake, because he could have easily staked me when I wasn't paying attention. We couldn't have that. More police showed up until there were roughly fifteen officers surrounding Isabella and I.

  Mabel glanced from me to Isabella, then me and nodded slightly. Light glinted off a tiny object between her fingers as she tugged slightly on the cuffs. It didn’t take me much to realize she was planning on escaping in some way, so I had to buy her time to get into place. And hopefully, Amelia realized something was amiss with the situation.

  I tightened my grip on the agent and shouted for all to hear. As it was brightly illuminated, my voice echoed to everyone’s ears. “Sending Eva to kill me was a poor move, sire.” Might as well tell the whole fucking world since she was making us do this out in the open. I'd have preferred it to be a quiet affair with us discussing it nicely over blood sacks. Or even dueling it out with swords and no powers. But she forced my hand. Which was fine. I’d had enough of her prodding me in the direction she wanted me to go. I prove I was my own vampire.

  “My name is Cassandra von Colterville, first Mayor of Encinar and fledgling to Lady Isabella. Lady Isabella sent her newer fledglings to kill me. But Eva Solens made a mistake by trying to drink my soul and power. I still live in Eva’s body. I do not know what she is telling you, but I don’t run the Blood Tank. That’s her domain.”

  She gestured in my direction with the rifle. “Ignore the fledgling. She's gone crazy.” Some of the mortals had that ‘look’ to them that reminded me of the way Caleb looked at me when I said ‘bite me’. There was no getting through to them, but Jacques?

  She slowly looked at me, head tilted slightly as she lowered her mirrored glasses to get a clear look at my face. But that allowed me to see her oddly colored eyes pulsing strangely. As in they went from glowing ruby red, to a deep maroon and back to bright red.

  I ignored the odd agent and shouted, “Crazy?! Your sire was a delicious feast you were too afraid to stop, so you tricked me into drinking his blood. Well guess what, sire! He wants you to know he's disappointed in you. His exact words are ‘That conniving powderkeg has no balls to do it herself, so I submit to you’.” Drink my soul and I will make you more powerful than you can imagine. I just ask that you make her squirm when she finally dies.

  A few of the guards looked at Isabella for orders on what to do. There were guards behind me, in front of me, everywhere I looked. Except for one spot on the second floor behind Isabella. There had been a guard there earlier, but they were now gone. Likely moved on somewhere else.

  I backed away from my sire as she came to a stop about ten feet in front of me. She knew my peculiar feeding habit and knew the chance of me actually biting the mortal to be slim because I wasn't starving. I don't know why the agent wasn't resisting either.

  “Bold words, fledgling, bold plan, but you forgot one thing; I run Encinar now.” Isabella smiled softly as she lowered the rifle and held it close to her waist. Then tapped her wristwatch as a strange beep echoed through my head. “Listen to me, Cassandra. Follow my words and we’ll sort this out at my home.”

  I should let him go.

  My fingers relaxed on their own as I listened to her words like a good little fledgling. The agent slipped from my grasp, completely exposing me to any retaliation. He turned around and grabbed my wrist because I listened to her words telling me to let him do what he wanted.

  Isabella knew best after all.

  Jacques looked between Isabella and I for a moment, eyebrows narrowed. As her head turned toward Isabella and she pushed the nightglasses up again, her hair shifted in a way that drew my attention to a familiar tattoo on her lovely neck. A tattoo that sent a shiver through my spine as I realized something else was going on.

  Mike was Jacques… The odd pulsing eyes when she lowered her defense were signaling the same color that the stoplights showed when they tell cars to stop. I’m a fucking moron! She was silently warning me. That meant… Mabel and her… knew Isabella was here!

  Isabella slowly looked at Mike as she said, “Let me see your eyes.”

  Mike froze in place, her heart picking up pace. “Ma’am?”

  “You heard me. Lower your glasses, please. I want to see your face.”

  The changeling reached for the brim of her glasses, almost as if she was complying, stopping short of actually pulling them down. She had a strange looking button on her cuff that she muttered into, “Plan B is a go. I say again, Plan B.”

  Isabella raised her rifle to Mike’s face. “Enjoy the clone tank, Ranger.”

  Mike chuckled. Isabella’s rifle drowned out any words as the single shot tore straight through the changeling. Her brains, hair, and bits of her skull splattered the ground, stunning the male agent.

  “You backstabbing, pigeon livered blower!” Amelia’s voice echoed in the mall as the woman ran toward the gap in the guards on the second floor. Too late did they turn to stop her. The pale dryad was already leaping over the railing with hatred burning in her nut brown eyes. She clutched an intricately engraved two-handed sword in her hands.

  All hell broke loose in that moment Mike’s body hit the floor. From Amelia slamming into Isabella and tackling her to the ground, my sire attempting to shoot Amelia, to me using the distraction to throw the male agent toward the nearest officer. It was chaos.

  Gunfire erupted as Mabel took off running, having freed herself from the cuffs. I lost track of what came next with regards to Mabel, as I was too busy trying to dodge gunfire. While I couldn't harden my skin like Jean, I could make myself into a monstrosity from the void. I waited for a break in the gunfire to split my palm open and slam the fist into the ground with enough force to break tile and concrete. I didn’t need darkness when I carried darkness within me.

  Shadows leapt from the cracks and surrounded me in their protective embrace, shielding me from the harsh artificial light. They picked me up off the ground, allowing me to float just a few inches from the floor. The shadows that touched me grew longer, thinner, and solidified into extra limbs sprouting from my sides. I knew from past experience that my eyes became one singular color and oozed around the edges.

  Amelia and my sire were locked in a duel that looked more like a dance of death as one swung a sword while the other used their rifle to block and deflect the blows. They twirled around, slinging insults at each other with Isabella trying, and failing, to order Amelia to stop.

  I don't know what Amelia had done to ignore the voice, because it worked on me, but she ignored my sire as she thrust the sword toward the vampire’s chest.

  Isabella brought her rifle around to deflect and side stepped the blow. “I thought I killed you once already!” she yelled.

  “A night with you ain't worth a piece of eight!” Amelia retorted as she used the momentum to spin and draw a stake as an offhand dagger.

  Isabella’s rifle cracked three times as she tried to shoot Amelia, but the dryad wasn’t even in the same spot as she jumped to the side.

  While I spent my time dodging and weaving between kiosks and benches, and taking targets down one by one with my tentacles and fangs. Amelia struggled against Isabella. She hadn't fought a vampire in two hundred years and it showed. Her movements were faster than most humans, but still slower than she used to be. She had the muscle memory, but not the reflexes. It was only a matter of time before Isabella killed her, again.

  Much less a vampire that could teleport and throw a fireball at her. The resulting explosion rocked the mall and sent glass shards raining from above just before my boomcannon exploded with an ear shattering report louder than the enemy’s rifles. Amelia tried her best to duck behind cover and return fire, but she only had five shots.

  Those five shots went quick as she aimed where my sire was, only to have the vampire disappear multiple times. At some point, as I was draining one of the guards to slake my hunger, Amelia shouted, “I need ammo, my love!”

  “Catch!” I yelled and tossed the speedloader in her direction as a roar echoed from above. I looked up.

  “I’m sorry, Sandra, but I can’t have you fucking up the plan,” Mabel’s voice flowed out from behind me as I caught sight of a massive bone-white creature tearing holes in the remaining glass ceiling.

  Spinning around to see what Mabel meant, I gasped. The lanky half-elf had come in close and was swinging a strange glowing stake toward my chest. I tried to block it, tried to shout an order for her to halt, but couldn't move fast enough.

  Emergency shutdown initiated. Preserving AI core…

  *** ***

  System Interface initiated…

  External audio: Online.

  Tactile systems: Online.

  Blood reserves: 2.95L / 8.2L

  System Efficiency 65%

  “Cassandra!” Amelia’s voice echoed in my ears as she shook my body. “Please… please w-wake up.”

  “I can carry her,” Mabel said from my right.

  “No! You’ll only hurt yourself even more. She should be awake. Wh-why isn't she awake?!” The poor woman grabbed my shoulders tight as she shook again. “I pulled the device out!”

  “Give her systems time to boot up.”

  “Please, my love! Wake up… don’t die on me again!”

  I tried to open my eyes. I really did. It was odd, because I could hear them, I could feel them, but I couldn't see them. All I saw was an operating system bios scrolling past the darkness in front of me.

  External cameras: Online.

  System Mobility: 85%

  It went through its usual nonsense until my eyes snapped open and it disappeared, leaving a warning of low blood reserves flashing in the upper left of my vision. And below that, the system efficiency meter. I dismissed both notifications. It next asked me if I wanted to connect to the local Wi-Fi.

  I dismissed that, too, because Amelia’s worried nut brown eyes filled my vision. Her furrowed brows and the way she bit her quivering lip made my unbeating heart sink. We exchanged no words as I sat up and pulled her into a tight embrace.

  We were in the underground of some kind. It didn't look like the sewers, nor did it look like anything I recognized as sane. Concrete flooring and walls with many thick pipes and cables running the length of the ceiling. Bright fluorescent light shone from ‘shop lights’ attached to the ceiling every ten to fifteen feet in either direction.

  Mabel leaned against the wall like she was going to be sick. The half-elf’s eyes were clamped tight as they grimaced in pain, one hand holding their lower back and another on her forehead.

  Amelia patted my back, whispering, “I thought I lost you again.”

  “Where… are we?” I replied and attempted to get my bearings, but it could be anywhere. Though, there was a strong enough Wi-Fi signal to make me think we were still in the mall.

  “About that. We had to change the plan, again, when the dragon cops showed up,” Mabel’s pained voice said. She turned around and stretched her back against the wall, staring up at it. Even then, she looked hurt as she grit her teeth. I wasn’t sure if I should get up and help her, because the last time I did she said she got it.

  “I’m sorry, my love,” Amelia replied with a shake of her head. She looked, for a lack of a better word, tired. Heavy bags under her brown eyes, a hollow look to the woman’s face as she fussed over me. Even her voice was slightly blurred as she said, “We had to keep you in the dark for fear of Isabella reading your mind.”

  Was she still reading my mind? “Is there… a way to check?”

  Amelia shook her head. “I don’t know. I have her wedding ring though.”

  “But where are we?” I asked again. Amelia patted my side and nodded to me. The revolver’s heavy weight was a comforting reminder that I wasn't out of it yet. I slid it from the holster, flipped open the cylinder and frowned. Empty. I loaded the weapon and holstered it, nodding to Amelia.

  “About that,” Mabel began, again. She bit her lip as she stared at me. “Um… like, you wanna know exactly where or the general location?”

  “You don't know where we are,” I pointed out.

  The two of them shook their heads. Amelia finally stepped back as she said, “Plan C was to take the tunnels if the surface was too hot. Cell phones aren't working down here. All we know is that we’re somewhere in the vampire tunnels outside of South Encinar’s mall and there is no map or cell phone coverage.”

  “I have a two bar Wi-fi signal,” I said as I brought up the notification.

  “Really?” Mabel blinked a few times.

  “It's right there!” I uselessly pointed to the notification floating in front of me, which caused me to tap the strongest signal. The System asked me for a password, which I didn't know, so I dismissed the menu and looked at the two bewildered people before me.

  “Yeah, but like, how do you—”

  “We’ll deal with that later!” Amelia smiled sheepishly. She glanced at Mabel and said something through her teeth I couldn't understand.

  I rubbed the back of my neck. If Amelia didn't want to talk about it now, then maybe it was a big deal that might cause me to panic if I dwelled on it. Mabel mentioned something back at the mall when we were sitting there talking. I tried to recall what it was, but her vague words made no sense when I checked the memory file. Even though we sat next to each other, her words were garbled.

  Mabel reached into her purse and withdrew a pill bottle. “Alright, so we’re lost with the cops putting the surface on lockdown. What a lovely first date with Melia!”

  “Sorry about Mike...” I shook my head.

  “Oh no!” The lanky half-elf waved a hand dismissively and grinned through the pain. “It’s not like the first time either of us has died. I once watched her shuttle get blown to bits and crash into the ground in front of my mech. By the way, she sent me an angry text while we were fighting.”

  Mabel showed it to me. It read: Can I level the mall yet? Please tell me I can load the bomber and go to town. I just got those tattoos! Now I have to get them AGAIN!

  Mabel had replied: tryin to get out now. meet at the aerodrome

  Already on my way.

  It was… odd. They were talking like it didn’t mean anything. Maybe it didn’t when they both can simply wake up again as if it was a bad dream.

  “I found it fun.” The half-elf giggled. “After all, the life of a merc can get, like, pretty fucking boring, yeah? At least I don't have to deal with…” she paused to pop a pill in her mouth and placed it under her tongue. “Paperwork.”

  Amelia motioned for Mabel to follow and wrapped an arm around her shoulder for support. She leaned in, smiling a bit. “Want me to carry you? I’m quite strong in this new body, as the strumpet found out when I ripped her arm off.”

  “I thought the dragon did that?"

  “Sssh!”

  “Is she still alive?” I blinked a few times and shook my head at the nonsense I was hearing. Clearly, they spoke about this without me and I wasn’t sure how I liked it, but they saved me from a potentially dangerous situation where the Dark Sorceress erased my mind. I was grateful for them both and gave them each a hug and a kiss on the neck.

  Mabel nodded. “Yeah. Your sire ran with her tail tucked between her legs.”

  Amelia gestured for me to lead and grinned. “Pretty vampires go first.”

  The three of us walked down the tunnel, feet echoing with each step. It felt… odd, because I didn't know where to go beyond a vague pull I recognized to be my sire’s influence calling to me. She wanted to speak with me again. Preferably without Amelia and Mabel, so she could make me forget everything that happened.

  Mabel broke through my thoughts as she began to hum and swayed her hands side to side. It sounded fairly happy to my ears. And then she began to sing in one of the most beautiful voices I’d ever heard. It was a song I hadn't heard yet, as she really didn't use the radio when driving me anywhere. The half-elf preferred to have conversations rather than ‘annoy’ me with her music.

  Her song was a happy tune about it being five o'clock somewhere and just wanting a drink, but I wasn't sure. I tried to listen but my mind replayed the last bits of the fight as I tried to figure out who staked me. All I saw was a blurry shape moving in and shoving something into my chest. Then I went dark.