*dies* Uni is starting at the end of the month and I’ve gotta draw all sorts of promotion things for the anime club that I’m in;;; Hence! Procrastination!! Hence! = Bullying Zero! >xD 

“Holy crap, Zero…” Yagari muttered, his dark head bent over his task. Tanned, callused hands applied sterile white field dressings to the worst of his student’s wounds with a quick, skilled efficiency that spoke of much practice.

Freshly showered, Zero had changed into a pair of sweatpants from his locker. Barefoot and shirtless, he sat on the edge of one of the interrogation tables so Yagari could more easily tend to the worst of his injuries.

The young hunter fidgeted impatiently, looking over his teacher’s shoulder towards the doorway. If he wanted to get treated, he could have gone to the clinic. The medical facility here at Hunter HQ was top notch, but Zero had no intention of going there. There would be too many questions, too many tests they’d want to run. They would want him to stay there, which was out of the question. It was true he felt like crap, but he didn’t have time to waste on things like that. He could sense somehow that given a little time, he would heal on his own, even from something like this. He was already strong from his blood relationship with Kaname and feeding from Nasser had increased that strength further, heightening the level of vampire within him.

Zero was changing and he knew it. After what he had been able to do today he could no longer pretend otherwise, even to himself. Nasser’s blood was merely magnifying and hastening a process that had already been in motion. His powers had been evolving slowly for a long time now. Every step down that path took him further and further away from the traditional bounds of humanity. It was a one-way process that he knew he could never reverse. It should have scared him, or at least worried him more. These were serious issues, but right now, he seriously didn’t care. Something much more important held his attention and concern.

Zero winced, shifting more from impatience than from the pain as Yagari finished bandaging his side and wiped his lacerated back down with disinfectant. He scooted an inch towards the end of the table. “Are we good? I need to…”

Yagari pushed him back onto the table brusquely, his look both irritated and amused. “You need to chill the hell out and be still for two minutes so I can finish this,” he drawled. The elder hunter had snagged his apprentice on his way into the holding cells and dragged him to one of the interrogation rooms for a quick little patch up, but Zero was acting about as compliant as a hyper five year old.

“But I don’t need-”

Yagari shook his head, cutting off his apprentice’s protest as he quickly applied a coat of liquid bandage to what looked like claw marks slashed across his student’s pale back. “I get that you’re going to be okay, but we can’t have you running around bleeding all over the place. Kuran looks like shit; there is no way I’m letting you back in that cell with him while you’re covered in blood like some freaking vampire catnip.”

Zero rolled his eyes. “Kaname’s not going to hurt me.”

“Humor me,” Yagari growled, slapping on another coat of bandage. Zero’s leg was jittering impatiently, rocking the young hunter’s body and making it harder to cover his wounds. The boy was pretty messed up and touching these injuries should be hurting badly, but Zero didn’t seem to even notice what his teacher was doing. Yagari cast a glance towards Zero’s bare feet, wet hair and the way he could barely stay on the table edge. He knew the boy was worried about Kaname, but that wasn’t all that was going on here. “Just relax, will you? Geez, you’re high. What the hell have you been drinking?”

Zero had the grace to look slightly abashed at this when he realized Yagari was right. He was exhausted, yet at the same time he was also hyper alert and jumpy, as if he’d had way too much caffeine. He wasn’t feeling the pain of his injuries like he should. This strange feeling of invincible euphoria reminded him of the first time he’d had Kaname’s blood, which told him why he was feeling this way. He wasn’t going to tell Yagari about drinking from Nasser, but he made a distinct effort to scale back on the unconscious nervous energy he was exuding.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “But I do need to go,” he added a little more reasonably, running a hand through his hair and realizing it was still fairly wet. Sheesh, hadn’t he dried it properly after his shower? He didn’t remember. Apparently not. His exhausted body really was behaving as if he were drunk or high. He was overlooking mundane bits of normalcy and losing chunks of time in his memory.

Frowning, Zero tried to make sure wasn’t forgetting anything important. He remembered arriving at the Association. He remembered the mild fuss kicked up when he refused immediate treatment in favor of getting his prisoner settled. He remembered insisting that he and Yagari were the ones charged with changing an unconscious Kaname out of his torn, bloodstained clothes and washing him down. He remembered his unmovable determination that no unfamiliar hands would undress or touch his lover’s naked body while Kaname was helpless, and his gratitude that Yagari had unexpectedly backed him up. He remembered how seriously, frighteningly torn up his lover was underneath the blood and the grime. He remembered laying Kaname down in one of the cells and going to take his own shower. He remembered coming back to the holding cells and getting hijacked by Yagari.

Okay, it didn’t seem as if he had lost anything significant, just some minor details like forgetting to dry his hair or – he glanced down at his feet with a frown – or putting shoes on, it would seem. Whatever. Not important.

Zero caught Yagari’s gaze. “I don’t want him to wake up in that cell alone,” he murmured earnestly.

Yagari hesitated, then nodded slowly. He understood. He was about to say something when Zero’s head jerked up, a pained look crossing the boy’s features. Zero quickly pushed off the table to his feet, batting away Yagari’s hands this time. “Shit, too late,” the young hunter’s lavender eyes were slightly unfocused as if he were sensing or listening to something far away.

Ignoring his teacher, Zero hurried from the room, his feet moving faster and faster as waves of Kaname’s confused distress rolled over him.

Pain. Weakness. The incessant buzz of hunter charms weighing on him like a hand pressing ruthlessly down on his chest. His body and his senses were raw, leaden and unresponsive. As he started drifting towards consciousness, Kaname didn’t know where he was… or when. His whole body hurt and he couldn’t move. His eyes were still closed, but other senses told him he was in a small stone room. It felt like a cell of some kind. A hunter-made cell. The dreadful, familiar buzz of charms resonating within his raw nerves told him that. In his current state of disorientation, the sensation confused him and yanked him back to his childhood. For a few terrible moments he thought he was back in the basement prison in the Ichijo house after a particularly bad beating and panic rose unbidden within him.

The soft sound of a door opening heightened his alarm. He was alone. He couldn’t move, couldn’t defend himself, couldn’t even get his eyes open! The helplessness was suffocating.

He tried to brace himself, but the abuse he feared was not forthcoming. No hand was raised to harm him. No cruel voice taunted his weakness. The fingers that stroked his damp hair back from his fevered brow were cool and gentle. The arms that carefully embraced and cradled him were loving. The scent surrounding him was familiar and the voice that murmured calming assurances into his hair was the one he treasured most in the world.

Kaname still didn’t know where he was, but he relaxed in Zero’s arms, the tension and fear draining away and leaving behind contented peace. Zero’s presence seemed to create a protective bubble around him and the pain of the enclosing charms lessened considerably. His injuries were severe and reality was slow to return to the pureblood, but that was not necessarily a bad thing. In some strange way, having Zero come for him when he was reliving the nightmares of his past was both soothing and healing. It was, for a brief moment, as if Zero had stepped through time with him; the earnest intensity of the hunter’s love extending back to ease away the terrible memories of past loneliness and isolation as surely as the same love filled Kaname’s heart and completed him in the present. It didn’t really make sense, and it wasn’t something Kaname would ever have been able to explain, but it was deeply comforting to him nonetheless.

“It’s okay, Kaname,” Zero murmured against his hair, feeling calmer himself now that he was holding his love close and could feel the reassuring warmth of his body. Kaname’s presence eased his jitteriness. “I’m here,” he promised quietly. “Everything’s okay.”

Kaname smiled and rested comfortably against him, not caring where they were so long as that was true. He knew there was much to be done. He knew he needed to face the hunters and present the whole story of events to them in a way that would get him clear of this situation. He would need to make deals and concessions… but that was an exhausting prospect and he couldn’t think about it now. Right now, he was just going to enjoy this moment with Zero, and that was enough.

Their peace was disturbed sooner than Kaname’s injured body would have liked. He had been drifting in and out of wakefulness for some time and he got the impression that hours had probably passed. His body craved the healing properties of a more complete slumber, but he dare not let himself rest that deeply. In his current state it was all too likely that he might lapse into hibernation. If that happened it would be virtually impossible to awaken him for several days at the least. As appealing as that sounded, it would leave Zero in a bad spot. The young hunter would be the only one who could answer questions, the only one to face the fallout of their actions. Kaname couldn’t let that happen, so he did not let himself sleep too deeply. Not yet. He needed to get matters settled first, then he could afford to rest and heal.

The murmur of voices had come and gone several times before now, but there was something in the tone of the voice now that told the pureblood he needed to start pulling himself together.

“Zero, it’s time,” Yagari’s voice from the other side of the bars was quiet, but it also indicated that there was no use arguing. “They’re coming. Get him up before they do,” he warned.

Kaname slowly became aware that he was lying on a prison cot which was set length-wise into one wall of a small cell. His head was pillowed on Zero’s lap and his cheek had molded to the weave of Zero’s pants from resting on it so long. The hunter was sitting at the head of the bed, his back against the wall and his arm draped protectively over his lover’s shoulders.

Kaname wasn’t the only one who had been dozing and it took Zero a moment to process and react to his Sensei’s words. He shifted, rubbing his eyes and trying to force his foggy mind to alertness. He’d been holding Kaname for hours; his neck was stiff from dozing while sitting up, his legs and arms numb from having been in the same position so long. His side throbbed stiffly. It still hurt less than he felt it should, but it definitely hurt more than it had earlier. Damn.

As he finally grasped what Yagari had said, he bit back a protest he knew was useless. His mentor would have bought them as much time as he could, it was out of Yagari’s hands now. The advanced warning meant that at least he could try to give Kaname a few moments to get himself together mentally before the inquisitors came for him. Zero was fully aware that a favorite and rather effective tactic for keeping suspects off balance was to show up while they were sleeping, startle them awake and drag them off for questioning before they were fully alert. Ordinarily, Zero didn’t think that of that as particularly cruel, he’d done it himself a few times, but everything changed when it applied to someone you loved. Especially when that someone was in such raw shape.

“Kaname?” he murmured, knowing the pureblood was already waking up.

Kaname nodded slowly, dragging himself upright on the bed with effort and blinking slowly to clear the cobwebs from his head. “I heard,” he returned, frowning at the hoarse timber of his own voice and clearing his throat several times to get it smooth again.

Passing a hand over his face, Kaname swung his feet over the side of the bed. He gripped the edge of the cot with both hands, gathering himself. Everything hurt and his body screamed for rest. It didn’t understand why he was forcing himself to move and to remain alert when all it wanted was to seek the unconscious, healing state it knew it needed. Not yet, he told himself firmly. Not yet.

Breathing deeply, he struggled to pull his composure together while intentionally putting some distance between he and Zero. The other hunters had to be aware that Zero had stayed with him, but he didn’t want them to find Zero holding him or acting concerned. Zero had protected and cared for him. He had been here for Kaname when he needed him. The hunter had come through for him in every possible way and never once thought of himself. Zero wouldn’t think of himself in this situation, so Kaname needed to do it for him. He wouldn’t let Zero suffer as a result of his caring heart.

“The coming situation may or may not go smoothly. Whatever happens, let them do what they need to do, Zero,” he said quietly. “Don’t interfere. Don’t try to protect me. It will compromise your position.”

Zero snorted derisively to show how much he cared about that. “Do me a favor, don’t tell me what to do.”

Kaname shot him as hard a look as he could muster. “I’m serious, Zero. You’re no good to me or yourself if they brand you a sympathizer.”

Zero was starting to look increasingly uneasy. He was no idiot, but he obviously hadn’t put too much thought into the many possible directions Kaname’s interrogation could take. He was just as obviously having all kinds of thoughts about it now that he would rather not entertain.

“Don’t be a drama queen,” Zero retorted, rubbing a kink out of his stiff neck and trying to clear the remnants of sleep from his own mind. “Nothing’s going to happen. They know Nasser was an asshole. He bugged the Association and turned hunters into ex-humans for God’s sake. We’ll just tell them what happened, they’ll check it out and everything will be okay.” He clearly wanted to believe that.

Kaname and Yagari exchanged glances. The two of them apparently had a slightly more jaded view of what lay ahead.

“Perhaps,” Kaname allowed. “Ultimately, I believe that will be the outcome. But we need to be prepared for contingencies. This inquisition needs to be about me, I don’t want them thinking about you at all. Once the facts come out and it’s proven that Nasser is to blame, they cannot legally take any actions against me without wading through a sea of vampire politics. I am not theirs, their internal laws do not govern me. You are. They know now, the power inside you. I will not have them doubting your loyalties. I will not have them thinking of you as a threat. They need to feel confident that you are on their side. We just need to get through this. Remember that no matter what happens, I’ll ultimately be fine. Don’t do anything stupid.” Kaname’s gaze was intense. The pureblood was obviously struggling for clarity around the ragged edges of pain and exhaustion still clinging to him, but there was nothing wrong with his mental acuity. As always, he was rising to meet the situation with a will.

The way the hunters had dealt with the revelation of Zero’s power earlier was encouraging, but this was still a very tricky and uncertain stage for them. At this moment Kaname was in no position to protect Zero if the Association turned on him and decided he was too big a risk to keep around. Kaname didn’t think they would be too quick to jump to so drastic a conclusion unless they felt Zero’s allegiance was in doubt. He had a notion that Zero’s revelation of strength had the potential to increase his standing with the hunters much more than it would damage it… but only if they were sure he intended to use that power for them. If Zero tried to defend him they would not see the young man’s protectiveness as one lover concerned over another, they would see it as an ex-human protecting a pureblood, and that was not a perception that could be allowed.

Kaname felt himself riding to a dangerous edge as he considered this threat to his lover and he forced himself back from it, breathing as deeply as his damaged chest allowed. He wasn’t looking forward to what lay ahead, but he could get through it. He told himself that firmly… but he knew it wasn’t entirely true. The one thing he could not deal with right now was this fear about Zero. It undid all his control and resolve much too easily.

Kaname did not suppose that his own life was in danger any longer. If the hunters had intended to kill him their best chance would have been to do it earlier under the cover of the chaos. If he died now, in their custody, his followers would revolt and there would be an epic mess for the hunters to clean up. He held onto a reasonable confidence that he would eventually walk out of this place, but he also didn’t think the questioning would go as easily as Zero hoped. He was prepared for that, but he needed his lover be smart about his reactions and not go off like a firecracker if the interrogators started applying pressure.

Zero glared at him, obviously feeling uneasy, conflicted and stubborn. Kaname knew at a glance that Zero was prepared to rain hell on anyone who laid a finger on his lover. He appreciated that deeply, but the results would be disastrous for many reasons.

Kaname could hear footsteps in the distance on the dungeon stairs. They were out of time. He refused to let the apprehension stirring in his stomach express itself through his features. He tried not to even feel it since Zero seemed to be especially attuned to what was going on inside him right now. He turned his solid gaze upon Yagari.

“You understand what I’m saying.” It was a statement of fact. He knew Yagari understood where he was coming from, whether Zero did or not. Yagari was more like him in some ways. They shared a sense of pragmatism that let the ends justify the means. “If you think he can’t take it, do whatever you need to do to get him away and keep him away.”

Zero’s eyes snapped fire. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not in the room or like I need a fucking babysitter,” he said heatedly, anger surging much too easily through his raw, exhausted emotional state. “Are you trying to piss me off?”

Zero was still hyped up from Nasser’s blood. Yet at the same time he was also physically and emotionally drained from the battle and the responsibility of caring for his wounded lover all this time. Kaname feared that his emotions were running high and his common sense running low.

“Maybe,” Kaname admitted quietly in a rare bout of complete honesty. “If that will make it easier for you. I love you, and I’m a selfish man, Zero. I will do whatever I need to do to be sure you don’t get pulled down in this mess I’ve created, whether you like it or not.”

The answer seemed to take Zero a little by surprise. He’d come to realize over time that Kaname often provoked and subtly manipulated him to get him around to where he wanted him, but this was probably the first time the pureblood had been so honest and forthright about what he was doing. Oddly, that fact cooled Zero’s irritation rather than feeding it. Ever since Kaname had trusted Zero with the pain of his past it felt like the pureblood was being more open with him about everything. This whole ordeal seemed to be changing them both, and not necessarily in bad ways.

Yagari and Zero could hear the footsteps now too. Yagari pushed a heavy set of body cuffs through the bars to Zero, giving the two of them a reason to be here. Zero accepted with stoic reluctance.

“Well, I’m selfish too,” the young hunter said quietly as he knelt in front of Kaname, snapping the heavy cuffs shut around his lover’s wrists and untangling the other trailing chains that made up the ensemble. The silver wrist cuffs connected to one another and to a broad leather belt. More chains led down to a similar arrangement for the ankle cuffs. It was overkill for Kaname in his current condition, but it was protocol.

Zero leaned forward, buckling the belt snuggly around Kaname’s waist and unintentionally inhaling the warm scent of his lover’s body and the blood that still seeped into the many bandages hidden beneath Kaname’s clothing. He looked up as he fastened the ankle cuffs on his unresisting prisoner. “We’ve been through enough, this isn’t fair. I brought you here, this is my responsibility. I won’t stand by if they start hurting you. Do you honestly think I could?” he whispered.

Kaname’s hand ghosted lightly through Zero’s hair. “Yes,” he whispered. “I think you can. I think you are strong enough and smart enough to suffer through a temporarily unpleasant situation for the benefit of the long term good. I think you love me enough to do this for me, if you understand why I’m asking. So, I will be very honest with you, Zero. I am not well. My control is feeble.” His hurried words dropped down to the barest whisper, for Zero’s ears only. “What I am asking of you is unfair and I’m sorry, but I need you to be strong in a way that I cannot be. I can get through anything they do to me, but if you try to interfere and they harm you – even if I just fear they might harm you… I cannot deal with that right now. I will react. I will fight them. I will kill them.” Kaname’s eyes were flinty hard and Zero could see that behind his pale lips, the pureblood’s fangs had run out. Kaname had been through too much in too short a time. He was still dealing with everything that had happened with Nasser and just thinking about Zero being in danger was having an obvious effect on him.

Zero saw the naked truth in Kaname’s eyes. There was a wild, feral beauty lurking beneath the bruised skin and haggard features which heralded the fact that the possessive predator Kaname usually kept caged up and out of sight was riding just below the surface. Kaname almost always had impeccable control over his other nature, but now the pureblood was warning him that that control was frail. If confronted with a threat to his mate, Kaname’s instincts would trip and he didn’t think he could stop them, no matter how much his logical mind protested. If Kaname lost it here in HQ, it was all over. He probably could and would kill many, but he was weakened and surrounded by hunters and hundreds of years worth of binding wards. It would be a cataclysm that likely ended with all their deaths.

“I’m sorry, you’ve already done so much and I’m asking you to carry the brunt of my weakness again,” Kaname whispered, his eyes fluttering closed in resigned self-mortification as he struggled to get himself calm again and retract his fangs before the others appeared. They would be here any minute. He would rather not have spelled out his reasons like this, but he believed what he had said earlier. He believed Zero could and would do this for him if the hunter understood why it was necessary. Strangely, he found he wasn’t afraid of Zero despising him for needing help or for the obvious allusion to his vampire nature. He would have feared both once, but not now.

Zero’s eyes stung as he looked down at the chains he’d just placed. If Kaname had been trying to manipulate him, he couldn’t have twisted Zero around to his point of view any more skillfully than this. But Kaname was obviously too worn to play games, he was simply laying out all his cards and asking Zero for help. That made it impossible for Zero to refuse him.

Kaname’s hands rested in his lap. Zero squeezed them softly. “I keep telling you, there is nothing weak about you,” he whispered. “I hate this. I really, really, hate this,” his voice trembled slightly. “But I have your back,” he promised. Zero realized that what he wished he could do and what Kaname truly needed from him right now were two different things. It was hard and unfair, but that wasn’t Kaname’s fault and he would support his lover in whatever way he was allowed. “I won’t make trouble, but I won’t leave. Whatever happens, you won’t be alone,” he promised. He hoped that they were all making much ado about nothing and there would be no need for this conversation to have taken place.

Then there were voices outside the cell and the time for talk was gone. “Activate them,” Kaname murmured, barely moving his lips. His body tensed as he steeled himself.

Zero didn’t want to, but he also knew he couldn’t get away with not activating the restraints this time. There were symbols on the belt that lit up when the fetters were in use. If he didn’t do it, someone else would. Hurting all the way down to his toes, he pressed a palm against one of the cuffs and mumbled the one-word activation charm.

Kaname curled forward, hissing through his teeth, hands curling into fists as the burning charge coursed through him. His damaged heart fluttered and made it hard for him to breathe, but after a moment he forced himself to uncurl and sit up straight, covering his pain with his usual mask of stony calm. He found himself looking through the bars at about six or seven other hunters, now standing with Yagari. They looked somewhat disgruntled that they hadn’t been able to wake the prisoner, but the fact that they’d come upon them during the moment of activation and had seen the pureblood’s pain seemed to mollify them a bit. As intended.

Zero rose stiffly to his feet, knowing what Kaname was doing, knowing what the other hunters were thinking, and hating every moment of this stupid, inevitable dance. “He’s ready.” He said flatly, letting the others read his tone any damn way they pleased. He was mad at the world in general right now and didn’t care who knew. That was an attitude the other hunters were accustomed to from him and they didn’t pay it much mind.

Yagari unlocked the cell door and Zero tried not to feel angry with him too. Yagari had done his best to help them. He had staved off the inevitable questioning for as long as he could without seeming suspicious by making the logical suggestion that the hunters completely process the scene of the incident before the interrogation. The reasoning went that if they could gain any insights on their own about what went down, then they would have leverage to know if Kaname lied to them.

That had bought Kaname precious hours to rest and recover, but the Association hierarchy could not be put off for long. They wanted to question the pureblood while he was still weak. Giving him time to recuperate was not in their best interests. They would have preferred to do it during daylight hours. Now, with night falling, they would wait no longer.

Zero could see what a struggle it was for Kaname to move smoothly when he rose off the bed. Zero could tell how hard he was working to not shuffle and how hard he was fighting the cold sweat gathering on his skin as he followed the guards out of the cell. But no one else could. Zero could tell because he could feel Kaname, other observers saw only a cool, bland faced vampire who was unnaturally pale but otherwise seemed to be as perfectly in control as ever.

Zero knew the other hunters. Three he knew only by sight, but the other four he’d worked with. Kio’s master Haru was one of them. Zero liked Kio, but was not so fond of his Sensei. Haru was an excellent fighter, but he had a tendency to prove his toughness by pushing other people around. Like he was doing now.

Zero had to bite the inside of his cheek several times to keep from saying anything as Haru repeatedly shoved Kaname in the back while they were walking, as if the pureblood wasn’t quite moving fast enough. Kaname stumbled, struggling with the motion-limiting chains but managing to never lose his footing completely. He was obviously in pain, but his jaw was set and he didn’t let the irritating fly of a man get under his skin. Instead he grinned as if it was all rather amusing and Haru was behaving like a petulant little boy while he was the patient adult.

Zero was gratified to note that this attitude obviously annoyed Haru far more than any reprimand would have. Irritating the crap out of hunters seemed to be one of Kaname’s inborn talents.

The powers that be were obviously aware of the potentially dicey situation of detaining a pureblood vampire and Kaname was not taken to the normal interrogation chambers. Instead, he was brought to a room usually used for meetings. The non-threatening effect of the room was marred slightly by the addition of an obviously non-standard chair made of dark metal and sporting restraints. Naturally, it was this chain into which Kaname was guided and the restraints were threaded through the chains he was already wearing, tethering him firmly to the seat.

Zero tensed when he saw that the chair was positioned in the center of a large charm which was engraved into the floor. Four hunters activated the charm after Kaname was seated, the dark lines lighting up and burning with a luminescent blue-white glow.

Kaname’s body tightened, pain clearly coloring his features for a few long moments before he regained control. There was visible perspiration on the pureblood’s brow now, but his eyes were clear and focused despite the pain.

The president entered the room, taking the seat directly across from Kaname. Everyone else took their positions as well. Most were seated around the president, while eight guards flanked the pureblood’s chair. Zero stayed as one of the guards. Yagari, a senior hunter, was seated with the president’s group, but his gaze strayed more often to Zero than the captive pureblood. He hoped Zero was going to be able to do this, or he really would do as Kaname asked and find a way to get him out of there.

The president nodded cordially to Kaname. “Kuran-sama, I regret that circumstances make our hospitality so lacking, but I trust you understand the need for caution,” he said, nodding towards the charms and restraints with the same apologetic tone one might use for insisting that someone leave their weapon at the door. In a way, that was what they were doing. Vampires needed no weapons to be lethal.

Kaname inclined his head as if he were a visiting dignitary and not a prisoner. “Of course. I trust we will be able to clear this matter up swiftly.”

The president’s gaze shifted to Kaname’s right. “Kiriyu, I understand you were injured in the fighting earlier. Your presence is required, but you may take a seat, if you wish.”

Zero noticed that the president’s gaze had flickered to Yagari before he spoke, and he had little doubt who it was that had been sure to mention that the young hunter was in fact walking wounded. He knew Yagari was looking out for him, but something in him did not particularly like being seen as vulnerable right now. He supposed he had been around Kaname too long, he was absorbing some of his mentality, or maybe it was simply the effect of time and experience. He was glad that Kaito had brought him a fresh change of clothes earlier. Aside from the dark bruises and cuts on face, the rest of his injuries were hidden beneath a clean white shirt and he felt more in control than if the others could see his bandages. “Thank you, but that’s unnecessary, I’m fine here,” he said neutrally.

The president nodded and the proceedings moved on.

Kaname told his story, then Zero was called upon to tell his version of events. Afterwards, Yagari corroborated the parts he knew about, chiefly focusing on the hunters Nasser had turned and the way he had infiltrated their HQ. There were things they all avoided. Some events needed to be changed or glossed over, but fortunately all three of them were smart enough to know where those areas lay and not let their stories conflict. Afterwards there were other witnesses, more testimony, more discussion. They asked Kaname to tell the story again. He did. Then there were still more people to hear from and more discussion.

At first, Zero thought that this wasn’t really going to be as bad as they’d feared. No one seemed interested in doing anything to Kaname other than asking him questions. But as hours dragged by, Zero began to understand the larger, more devious plan at work and why the president had offered him a seat in the beginning.

They were intentionally letting time pass, keeping Kaname where he was and letting the charms work on his injured body. Kaname’s eyes were starting to glaze and his breathing was shallow. Pinned under the effects of his bindings, the chair and the powerful seal on the floor, the pureblood was in increasingly excruciating pain.

The Association was being smart. They didn’t want to leave themselves open to allegations that they had mistreated a pureblood. However, they were perfectly within their rights to make sure that he was adequately restrained for their own safety, especially given the potential charges against him. In Kaname’s condition, all they had to do was keep him in the center of these powerful charms and it would be as effective as any torture, without anyone needing to lay a finger on him.

Zero was both disturbed and agitated as the smell of blood grew stronger, indicating that Kaname was bleeding freely into the bandages beneath his clothes under the stress of the charms. He struggled not to react, either with anger or hunger.

The fifth time they asked Kaname to repeat some part of his story, Zero finally began to understand the plan. They were going to keep doing this, keep asking him the same things over and over as the pain intensified and wore down his defenses. They were looking for a slip, an inconsistency, some lapse brought on by his physical distress that they could use.

Zero’s fists curled at his sides in impotent rage. Well, if that was their plan, they were shit out of luck. They didn’t know Kaname and had completely misjudged him if they thought they could trip him up or catch him in a lie no matter how much pain they put him through. Kaname was far too good for that.

Zero was tired and hurting pretty badly himself by now, but anger and defiance kept him on his feet. It was only his promise to Kaname, however, that kept him from telling them all to go fuck themselves when he was yet again called upon to re-tell some part of his story. He realized that Kaname may not be the only one they were trying to wear down. They may very well be using the same tactic with him. With that in mind he was especially careful with his answers, no matter how many times they were required.

He was increasingly worried about Kaname. After nearly five hours of fighting the agony the pureblood was showing obvious signs of his condition. That was something he would neverhave allowed that if he’d had any choice. Kaname was as collected and regally calm as ever when he spoke, but his shirt was soaked with perspiration and the patina of pain clouding his eyes left them increasingly unfocused. When Kaname had to stop four times in the middle of a sentence because he obviously couldn’t breathe properly, it was all Zero could do not to rip out the chains, smash the chair into a million pieces and carry Kaname out of the room. He was pretty sure that fell under Kaname’s list of “stupid things” that should be avoided.

Zero was seriously considering that option anyway, when a knock at the door to the room provided a welcome interruption to the relentless grilling. Kaito entered with another hunter.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we’ve got visitors. There’s a group of vampires outside the gate who insist they need to be included in these proceedings,” Kaito informed them.

The president waved his hand dismissively, annoyed by the intrusion. “We’re not letting any of his supporters in here. That would not only be dangerous, it’s against protocol. Tell them Kuran is here to help us of his own volition and that they need to respect his wishes and disperse.”

“It’s not his supporters,” Kaito said with a dry look which indicated he wouldn’t be bothering them if that was the only issue. “They’ve been hanging around outside since nightfall but they don’t approach. This is a delegation from the north, and they’re purebloods. Diachi Sato and his mother Diantha. They wish to report that Nasser Ardon was behind a recent attempt on Diachi Sato’s life. They say they’re here to back Kuran’s allegations that Ardon was dangerously power hungry and on the verge of starting a war with the other purebloods in this area. Oh, and they’re also kind of pissed that he used our hunters to off a number of highly placed people in their syndeo,” he added parenthetically.

The president was paying attention now. You didn’t ignore two purebloods at your gates. “What do they want?” he inquired tightly, obviously not pleased by this turn of events.

Kaito shrugged. “They want to speak with you. They want to be part of the proceedings and present their evidence, and they want to see Kuran. They’re a bit… impatient.”

Zero had never been a fan of the Sato family in general, but this intervention made up for a lot. He had to fight the smile that tried to tug at his lips. The Satos had very legitimate reason to want to be involved in this matter. Their testimony could not be refused and the hunters could not continue to question Kaname like this in front of other purebloods. Letter of the law or not, it was just a really stupid idea. Besides, by coming here in person Diachi was making clear that he and his family supported Kaname in this affair. Now, any action taken against Kaname had the potential of being perceived as an action taken against the Satos as well.

Zero wasn’t sure whether Diachi was doing this because he really did want to support Kaname, or just because he wanted to vigorously not support Nasser who had caused him a fair amount of grief. Either way, it was a good turn of events for them.

“Tell them we would be happy to meet with them and hear their account. I’m sure Kuran will be pleased to see them as well,” the president said, sounding anything but happy. “Tell them that we would not wish to impose upon them the strictures necessary to enter this facility. We will arrange for a secure meeting place elsewhere. Kuran is still recovering from his ordeal with Ardon but we’ll make sure he’s transported with the utmost safety.”

Reading between the lines, Zero knew the president wanted a chance to get Kaname cleaned up before anyone saw him and didn’t want to have three purebloods inside HQ at once. Even Zero had to agree that that wasn’t a good idea. The president also obviously wanted to make clear that Kaname’s condition was due to the fight with Nasser and not any misconduct on the hunters’ part.

Zero was unimpressed with all the political wrangling, but the real upshot of all of this was that he was going to get to take Kaname out of here and he would not be bringing him back if he could help it. Supporting evidence from the Satos should effectively clinch and close the case. If enough influential fellow vampires decried one of their own as rouge and dangerous, it was generally accepted as fact. Nasser had tried to use this very mechanism against Kaname but in the end he would be the one that fell victim to it, even if posthumously. There was some poetic justice in that.

Feeling more relieved than he’d like to admit, Zero dispelled the charm on the floor with a flick of his hand and knelt in front of Kaname, quietly un-fastening him from the chair.

The other hunters cast curious glances at Zero. Not because he was releasing Kaname. Because without any apparent effort he’d just revoked a charm that it had taken four other hunters to set. The president’s eyes followed him with a interested, almost hungry intensity.

“Sensei and I will handle the transportation,” Zero suggested, his tone carefully calm and business-like. “They’re used to seeing me with Kuran, it will make things smoother.”

No one had any objections to that and Zero straightened up. He resisted the very strong urge to scoop Kaname up and carry him out. He knew the pureblood’s pride would suffer, given the situation. Instead he gripped Kaname’s arm firmly and helped him to his feet. Kaname held onto him tightly for support, but even so his bearing was still one of dignified poise as he left the room on Zero’s arm, trailed by several other guards.

The hunters weren’t terribly happy about this turn of events, but they weren’t truly that upset either. They seemed prepared to let matters pass on into a wash of necessary formalities and political posturing. They would have preferred to do things their way, but ruffled pride was the only real force behind their aggravation. By this time they all more or less accepted that Nasser had been the disruptive force behind the morning’s catastrophe. Most of them suspected that Kaname was not an entirely innocent bystander in the conflict, but they also knew they’d never prove anything. Considering the blatant disregard Nasser had shown towards them, contrasted against Kuran’s professed co-existence views, the younger pureblood was, at least for the time being, definitely the lesser of two evils.

The president insisted a doctor check and re-bandage Kaname’s wounds before he was released. He was rightly concerned about minimizing the smell of blood present in a meeting of vampires, and Kaname acquiesced for the same reasons.

“Kiriyu?” the president inquired, approaching Zero as he waited outside the exam room. The older man raised an eyebrow, silently asking if the young hunter needed a refresh on his bandages.

Zero shook his head, knowing that no matter how much they re-dressed Kaname’s wounds, you couldn’t hide the scent of him from other purebloods. That being the case, no one was going to even notice his blood. “I’m fine.”

“I see,” the president said slowly, giving him an assessing look. “You do seem to have… quite the constitution.”

Zero did not look away, holding his gaze steadily. “Yes,” was all he said.

“You know, when things calm down we need to run a few tests.” The president continued to regard him with intently focused eyes.

Zero shrugged. “I already made an appointment,” he jerked his head back towards the exam room.

The president raised both eyebrows, but seemed pleased. His mood lightened just a little and he patted Zero on the shoulder. “Well, let’s not worry about it now. You did a good job today. Someone with your gifts could have quite a promising future ahead of you.”

Kaname appeared in the doorway, shadowed by Yagari. His wan features tightened when he saw the hunter president discoursing with his lover in hushed, serious tones. “Zero?” he said quietly, fists unconsciously curling at his sides. Yagari placed a surprisingly gentle but warning hand on his shoulder from behind.

Zero turned and flashed him a look. “Everything’s fine. Chill, all right?” he sent mentally. Verbally he said, “You done? Let’s get moving.”

The inquest was relocated to a neutral, secure hunter safe house in the city and the wards were lowered long enough to allow their vampire guests to enter. The whole affair was long and tedious. Although careful not to show it, Kaname was not terribly comfortable being around Diachi and Diantha in his current condition. He was literally trailing blood in a pool of sharks, but there was really no alternative it at this point.

Diachi had the substantial grace to pretend he didn’t notice that anything was wrong with the other pureblood. His mother did not make the same effort. She was a much older vampire with a strong air of power. She was genteelly deferential in an old-fashioned way and let Diachi do all the talking despite her seniority. There was something about the way they both carried themselves, however, which let you know that Diachi was in charge because she had placed him there. The elder vampire did not much leave the seclusion of her many estates these days and was obviously here simply to lend weight to her son’s words. She was quiet and refined in manner, but her eyes followed Kaname like a hungry cat tracking a wounded mouse. It was a normal reaction to Kaname’s vulnerable state, but it put Zero sorely on edge and he was immensely glad when the proceedings were finally concluded.

Takuma was waiting for them outside, leaning against a long black limo. Zero guessed he’d been waiting there for hours. Seiren was in the driver’s seat and behind the car Zero saw the familiar silhouettes of Kain, Ruka, Shiki and Aido. They stood there as silent as shadows, waiting for Kaname to appear. It was only the 6 of them and they stood in plain view. They were obviously trying to present themselves as non-threatening while at the same time making equally obvious that their intention was to take Kaname home with them and they would not easily countenance any disagreement.

The hunters were tense and unappreciative of their presence.

Smiling brightly in that very non-vampire way of his, Takuma made his way over and bowed respectfully to the three purebloods before shaking the Association president’s hand. Senri trailed after him, also bowing, but keeping his hands in his pockets.

“Mr. President, if I might have a few minutes of your time, I would like to speak with you regarding the disposition of this case. The Council is very interested in your findings…” Through a sheen of energetic good will, Takuma was subtly reminding them that he, as a Council representative, had been shut out of the proceedings and it would be prudent to spend a few minutes making nice and giving him something to report in order to avoid causing offense.

Taking advantage of the distraction, for he knew that’s exactly what it was, Zero smoothly steered Kaname towards the waiting limo. For a moment, the president looked as if he would like to object. He glared in consternation at Kuran’s retreating back, but Takuma was still talking to him and Diachi and Diantha were now being greeted by their own attendants who had come to escort them. At this point, there was no graceful way for him to insist that Kaname return to HQ and he seemed to accept that, turning his attention more fully upon Takuma and assuring him that of course, he would be happy to fill him in on everything.

Zero got in the car with Kaname and closed the door, shutting out the sound of voices and letting quiet descend for the first time in what felt like eons.

Kaname collapsed back against the leather seats, his facade of strength and composure crumbling the instant he no longer needed to maintain it. “Seiren,” he said in a voice hoarse from too much use and too much pain. “Take us home.”

Kaname fell asleep on Zero’s shoulder during the drive and he could not be wakened when they reached the house. Zero himself was bone weary, but he refused Seiren’s assistance and carried Kaname into the house himself.

The long day and the even longer night were over. A new dawn was tinting the horizon outside as Zero laid Kaname gently down on his bed. They had been through too much for Zero to feel much of anything now, but a subtle relief was slowly seeping its way into his battered, weary consciousness. The young hunter stretched his aching body out next to his lover. He tilted his head against Kaname’s arm, intending to just rest his eyes for a few minutes… and swiftly fell into a deep, exhausted slumber of his own.

One week later…

Zero’s eyes fluttered open as he felt warmth settle over his slightly chilled frame. He blinked in the dimness of the room, the fiery hair registering as a blur of color until Kain’s face came into focus above him. Zero stirred in the chair, realizing that Kain had just covered him with a blanket. He rubbed his face, trying to clear his head and guess how long he’d been sleeping.

“Didn’t mean to wake you; you looked cold,” Kain said quietly with an apologetic smile.

Zero shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I didn’t mean to doze off.” His voice was also hushed.

It was as if they were both whispering out of deference to the sleeper on the bed beside Zero’s chair, even though it was unnecessary. Kaname had been asleep for almost a week now, lost in deep hibernation ever since they brought him home from the hunter inquisition following Nasser’s death.

Zero, knowing very little about vampire hibernation, had amused Seiren by asking if they needed to move Kaname to a coffin or something. She’d told him that as long as they kept him away from sunlight he would be fine resting in a normal bed for now. Since his sleep had been forced upon him by his injuries and was not a choice on his part, she had no way of knowing when he would awaken. If he was still asleep by that time next year, then it would be prudent to move him to the crypt for safekeeping. Seiren had had no idea the effect her words would produce until she’d seen Zero’s face. Then, she’d regretted forgetting that he didn’t see time the way they did.

Zero’s gaze slid to Kaname’s still form on the bed. He knew that purebloods could hibernate for centuries if they wanted to… but Kaname wouldn’t do that, right? He wouldn’t forget that there was someone waiting for him, someone who couldn’t sleep away time like he did, right?

Kain followed his gaze, reading the concern in the amethyst eyes easily enough. “He was hurt badly, Zero. He needs this. You know he won’t stay down longer than he needs to. He’s too stubborn for that,” he assured.

Zero nodded. He did know. He just hoped that Kaname had a choice in the matter. As Kain said, he had indeed been hurt badly. “I know,” he returned with a self-deprecating little smile. He knew it was only his own selfishness that longed for Kaname to wake up. “I just miss him.”

The instant it left his lips, Zero seemed startled that he’d said that aloud to someone else and he frowned, quickly looking away with a small flush of embarrassment.

“Perfectly natural,” Kain responded wryly. “I mean, you love him, right?” He settled his hips back against the edge of the dresser across from Zero’s chair, half sitting on it. Kaname was sleeping in Zero’s room since the pureblood’s was still being rebuilt. It was just about finished, but Zero didn’t want to move him. There was something comforting about having Kaname near him and sleeping next to him, even if he was unresponsive. Okay, maybe he should consider that a little creepy, but it wasn’t as if Kaname were dead, he was just sleeping. Sleeping really, really deeply.

Kain’s frank, matter of fact tone made Zero feel less shy, maybe because the taller vampire spoke as one who knew what it was to be in love. “Yeah,” the hunter agreed with a shrug. “I guess.” He knew that Kain would understand that he meant he guessed it was natural, not that he guessed he was in love. There was no doubt about that part.

Zero rubbed the back of his neck, wishing his head would quit pounding like a jack-hammer stuck in the on position. “How’s Aido?”

Concern flickered briefly across the taller vampire’s face. “Awake, for the moment. He’s a lot more lucid. I think the fever has finally broken.”

“Good,” Zero was glad to hear that. Aido’s health had crashed hard shortly after they brought Kaname home. Whether he had over-exerted himself in the excitement around the showdown with Nasser or whether it was the course his worsening symptoms had been leading to anyway there was no way to know. Whatever reason, the blond had been down with fever, chills and sporadic delirium for days.

Worrying about both Kaname and Aido this past week had not done great things for Zero’s stress level. Combine that with some… other things… that had needed to be dealt with in relation to his job and the young hunter felt pretty spent. He had had a lot of reason to appreciate Kain’s steady, quiet, helpful and undemanding presence around Night Haven the past few days.

“Ruka and I are getting married.” Kain said out of the blue. He spoke in the same, matter-of-fact tone as before, causing Zero, whose mind had momentarily wandered, to have to mentally rewind the words to make sure he’d heard them correctly. The deeply happy glitter in Kain’s eyes told him he had.

Zero broke into a smile, trying to shake off his malaise and the lingering, cottony cobwebs in his head so he could focus on the news. “That’s great! When?” He did not consider it a very surprising turn of events, but he felt truly happy for them.

Kain shrugged. “Not sure yet. I still have to ask her father and her family will probably want to make a big deal out of the wedding, so it might not take place until next year. But she said yes.” That was obviously the most important part to him.

“Of course she said yes,” Zero couldn’t help thinking, but he didn’t say it out loud. “You told Aido yet?” he said instead, a wry glint entering his eye.

Kain rolled his eyes. “Yes, just now actually. Which means it’s only a matter of time until the entire world knows. One of the reasons I figured I’d better tell you myself,” he added. “That and… well…”

Zero raised his eyebrows, sensing there was a request in her somewhere. “And?”

Kain looked a trifle embarrassed. “See, the thing is, we would like you to come and Ruka really wants to invite Kaname, but…”

Zero frowned slightly, trying to suss out the problem and wishing his sluggish brain would be more cooperative. “You think it would feel weird?” He was pretty sure Kaname would be happy for the two nobles and as he saw it, marrying Kain was a pretty big indication on Ruka’s part that she was over the pureblood, but Zero supposed it could still feel a little awkward for Kain.

If they didn’t invite Kaname they couldn’t invite Zero, that would just be rude. To be honest, Zero really didn’t care. He was happy for them, but attending or not attending the ceremony was all the same to him. He’d go to support his friends, but it wasn’t like attending ostentatious vampire social events was his favorite past time. Still, Kain’s unconscious indication that they considered him someone they would want to have there in his own right, and not just as Kaname’s plus one tag-along did not go unnoticed.

“No, that’s not really the problem,” Kain clarified. “I want you both there. But there are… there are traditions, regarding the expected role and privileges of a pureblood who has been invited to a noble’s wedding and how he might be expected to bless their marriage. Kaname has already made it clear he does not want to fill those functions, and we’re certainly not asking him to. It doesn’t have to be that way, but if the invitation comes from Ruka’s parents, it will seem very formal and traditional and I know he will not accept.”

“Damn right he won’t,” Zero muttered, eyes widening slightly as he understood what Kain was implying.

Kain smiled ruefully. “Exactly. Given their history, Ruka is mortified of the idea that merely asking might cause him to misunderstand. He may not wish to go in any case, yet to not invite him at all would be awfully cold. So we were hoping that perhaps, at some point, you might talk to him about it. If we’re asking through you, he’ll know it’s just an invitation and nothing more.”

Zero shook his head with a wry smirk at the ridiculous complexity of vampire social interactions. Then he pinched the brow of his nose against the headache that the motion caused. “Geez, you realize how screwed up this is?” he muttered. “Sure, fine. I’ll ask him. If he actually wakes up before then.”

“Thanks,” Kain said, then paused, a faint frown coloring his features as he studied the hunter’s slumped form. “So,” he said slowly, his gaze holding Zero quietly. “It didn’t go so good at the Association?”

Zero’s whole body tensed and he looked suddenly wary. “Everything’s fine.”

Kain looked unimpressed. “Oh, sure, that’s why you move like you’re in pain, smell like blood and antiseptic and your pupils aren’t dilating. You were gone for two days. If Kaname were awake…”

Zero shrugged tensely, not liking the way the conversation was suddenly heading. “Yeah, well, he’s not.” Thank God. “I do work, you know. Hazard of the job. It’s normal.”

In the blink of an eye, Kain was by Zero’s chair and holding the hunter’s right wrist. Zero was unable to react in time to stop him. Kain pushed the hunter’s sleeve up his arm exposing a deliberate, evenly spaced lattice of mostly healed cuts that ran the length of his forearm.

“Work? This doesn’t look like normal battle damage to me, Zero. And don’t tell me you couldn’t stop me from doing this just because you’re tired. You’ve been drugged. Hunter drugged.” Kain knew the signs and he was worried about what it might mean.

The wounds on Zero’s arm were all but closed so they weren’t bandaged. Zero regretted now that they were so clearly visible, but with Kaname out of it he hadn’t expected anyone to call him on the injuries. He scowled at Kain and yanked his arm back, pushing his sleeve down again. “None of your business,” he warned.

“You’re my friend,” Kain said in that stubborn, long suffering tone Zero often heard him use with Aido. “You being tortured by the people you supposedly work for is my business. You can bet he’s going to think it’s his, too,” Kain nodded towards Kaname’s still figure on the bed.

Zero blanched slightly, his gaze turning serious. “Don’t tell him. I mean it, Kain. Do not tell him about this or I will hurt you.”

“I’m so scared,” Kain retorted dryly, folding his arms.

Zero’s glare deepened. “I’m fine. They didn’t torture me. This wasn’t about information or anything like that. They’re satisfied with the explanation of things as it was given. They just…” he sighed, realizing he was going to have to explain the situation in order to get Kain’s cooperation and silence. “They had to run some tests, all right?”

Kain’s flat gaze was dark. He obviously didn’t think that his friend being dissected like a lab specimen was any better than being tortured. “Tests that involve them cutting into you un-sedated, over and over while they chart how fast you heal, right?” he said quietly. “Tests that involve them intentionally giving you doses of drugs and poisons to see how you react to them, or hitting you with different charms to see which ones do the most damage… those kind of tests?”

Zero’s face had gone stony, shutting down when confronted with a much too accurate description of what he’d endured. The hunter scientists had not been intentionally cruel to him. Yagari, stone faced and unhappy had stood by the entire time to make sure of that. Hurting him had not been their goal, it was an unavoidable side-effect. The tests they needed to run were simply agonizing by nature. Because vampire sedatives were essentially poison, the necessarily high levels of sedation that would be required to ease the pain of the procedures would have changed his body’s reactions and rendered the tests inaccurate.

To be fair, at least some of the scientists had not been at all comfortable carrying out the procedures on a human subject. A random enemy vampire would have been fine – after all, they weren’t human were they? Zero was one of their own, however, and that created a huge grey area for some of them. But Zero was also a one of a kind subject, and he had submitted voluntarily.

“Sure,” Zero said in a hard, even tone. “Those kind. I’ve changed. I can do things I shouldn’t be able to do. I have power no hunter or ex-human has ever had before. They need to study what’s happening with me. I’m okay with that. I volunteered.”

Kain was not fooled, although understanding did begin to flicker in his thoughtful gaze. “You volunteered so it wouldn’t be compulsory. Because as long as you cooperate willingly, they consider you to still be on their side.”

Zero’s eyes flashed silently. “I am on their side,” he said quietly. “I’m a hunter, Kain. I don’t agree with everything the Association does. I would have told them to go screw themselves if they had tried to put Kaname down, but they are still my people. What we do is necessary. It saves lives. It keeps the peace and maintains balance. Even if it is damn ugly sometimes.”

Zero glanced again towards the bed. Zero knew that Kaname would agree that the necessary choices weren’t always pretty ones. He no longer thought all vampires were his enemies, but some of them were. He knew that not all hunters were to be trusted, but some of them were. The world would never be simple and the lines that defined his allegiances and his duties would probably never be as clean and crisp as he’d once thought. Yet, Zero found he was all right with that. Life was complicated, that was just a fact. It was not something to fear. Perhaps he was misguided, but he no longer felt that walking the line between two worlds made him a traitor. He could love Kaname and be loyal to his heritage as a hunter. He could be a vampire and a hunter. It wasn’t easy, but hey, easy would be boring, right?

Kain nodded slowly. Interestingly enough, he seemed to understand. Considering Kain had for years followed a man whom he knew held the heart of the woman he himself loved, perhaps he was especially suited to comprehend that not all allegiances were easy to explain.

“Are there going to be more tests?” he asked quietly.

Zero shook his head. “I don’t think so. Not for a while, anyway. They’ve got plenty of data to work with, and they don’t want to alienate me… not yet, anyway.” He smiled sardonically. “As long as they don’t think I’m crazy or a traitor, then I’m more useful to them as a shiny secret weapon. Look, Kain, the point is everything is working itself out. The tests weren’t fun, but they’re over for now and it was always going to have to happen someday. This wasn’t Kaname’s fault, but do you think he’ll believe me if I tell him that?” Zero shook his head with a consternated look. “No. He’ll go all emo guilt on me and want to take it out on the Association. We just got out of one mess, I’d rather not start another. You do see what a bad idea that would be, right?”

Kain didn’t look happy, but he nodded again. “I do. I won’t say anything,” he conceded and Zero looked relieved. “Hey, Zero?” he added. “If there are more tests later… if you need someone afterwards, call me.” His gaze was earnest. “I won’t tell. So call me. I’ll be there, anytime. Okay?”

Zero just looked at him for a moment. He knew Kain was completely serious. He realized that somewhere along the line, Kain had adopted him into the small fold of people for whom the tall vampire was ready to take responsibility, the group normally populated only by Aido and Ruka. Kain was treating him like family. It was odd in a way, and yet at the same time it also felt natural. They’d never spent that much time together. Zero was almost always relating to Kain in relationship to his more flamboyant cousin, yet somehow there was this quiet, unassuming connection between them. It was understated and easy going, like Kain himself.

“Thanks,” Zero replied, and he meant it. “And hey, congratulations about you and Ruka, okay?” It was a not so subtle change of subject, but Kain accepted it gracefully.

“Thanks,” he returned. “Well, I’ll get out of here and let you rest.” He headed for the door, pausing once before leaving. “You should feed, Zero. I know you don’t want to while he’s unconscious, but it won’t hurt him and he’d want you to.” Then he was gone.

Zero sat for a few minutes pondering that last bit of advice as he watched Kaname sleep. Aside from the fact that he was still hibernating, there no longer appeared to be anything physically wrong with Kaname. His wounds were gone and his body had returned to its usual perfection. The bandages had all come off several nights ago.

Zero was hungry after his ordeal in the lab and Kain must have sensed that. He was hungry, but he wasn’t starving. He could get through all right and it felt wrong to consider taking advantage of the unconscious vampire.

Zero crawled onto the bed with Kaname and nuzzled in against him, wanting to rest. It was nice to just be close to him… but his fangs started throbbing at the nearness. He sighed, realizing he was either going to have to put some distance between them or make a decision, because this wasn’t going to be restful.

He started to push himself up to leave, then stopped. He ran a hand through Kaname’s hair and caressed slowly down the side of his neck. Despite his slumber, Kaname was once more a reassuringly bright flame in Zero’s hunter senses. Zero found that comforting, but it also raised a question for him. Was he really resisting for Kaname’s sake, or simply because resisting was a habit for him? How many times had his lover scolded him for not drinking when he needed it? Did he even need to wonder what Kaname would say if he were awake? No. There was no question he had standing permission to take whatever he needed whenever he needed it. That was a precious gift, really, and one freely given – why did he always feel like he should push it away? Kaname was much improved, and even if he may still be healing inside, it couldn’t possibly hurt him if Zero only took a very little.

Before he could second guess himself, Zero dipped his head and slipped his fangs carefully into his lover’s throat. He drank gently, carefully… perhaps even a little hopefully. There was a part of him that was waiting for Kaname to stir. Waiting for him go tip his head back against the pillow and give one of those soft, delighted, needy little groans that made Zero’s blood turn to fire. Waiting for the dark eyes to flutter open and fix on him with a sleepy mix of happy surprise and desire. He had thought perhaps the act of drinking might wake the hibernating vampire, but that did not happen. Kaname did not stir and when Zero slipped his fangs free and licked the small punctures closed, he realized he had traded one kind of agitation for another. At least he knew this one would go away by itself with a little time.

With a resigned sigh, he settled down against his lover, amused and annoyed how much he really wanted Kaname awake and responsive right now.

“This is damn inconvenient, you know that?” he muttered as he closed his eyes and tried to focus on enjoying the effect Kaname’s blood was having on his healing body. “Life really needs to stop being crappy soon.” He sighed. One thing to be said for speaking to the comatose version of his lover was that he spoke a lot more freely. “I mean, we won for goodness sake, but it doesn’t really feel like it yet. And don’t say it’s because I miss you. Even though I do. Even though you’re right here…” Zero smiled sardonically into Kaname’s shoulder, realizing that the combination of weariness and blood was having an effect on him similar to being tipsy. “God, I’m glad you can’t hear me, by the way. So maybe there’s an upside here after all. I think I’m more worn out than I thought. Maybe that’s what I’m sick of – being tired, being worried… I don’t know about you, but I have had it up to here with all this political shit and stress. We need to get away for a while.”

Zero sighed again, deciding that the fact that he was laying here talking to himself – or talking to someone who he knew couldn’t hear him, which was only marginally better – was probably an indication of just how right he was. The past few weeks, heck, the past few months really had just been one thing after another. Just thinking about it made him want to sleep for a few decades.

The hunter thought it was going to take him a long time to fall asleep, but he under estimated his own weariness. The velvety curtain of sleep pulled closed across his mind before he’d even gotten halfway through trying to figure out just how far away they’d need to go to try to put the past weeks behind them.

Kaname continued to sleep, and Zero continued to spend most nights beside him. If this kept up, Zero figured it would begin to get creepy. He told his lover so one night while he was kissing his neck and considering sampling his blood again just to feel close to him, even though he wasn’t hungry. The fact that he was considering that told how badly he was missing his lover.

His desperation for Kaname’s companionship was almost strange. They were often apart for much longer than this, but somehow having Kaname there and yet not there made it worse. Or maybe it was just because it had followed so abruptly on the heels of everything that had happened to them. There was so much Zero wanted to say to Kaname… yet even if his lover were awake, he wouldn’t have known where to start.

Zero sighed against Kaname’s skin as he leaned over him, lightly kissing and sucking on the base of his neck. He’d been telling himself he was going to drink again, but he knew he really just wanted to touch the pureblood without feeling weird about it. He drew back in frustration, deciding he’d probably better go take a shower or something. He wondered if being unremittingly horny was a side-effect of his increasing power. Was that why Kaname was always such a twit?

The hunter ran a hand through his silver hair. “You make me feel like a pervert, you know. You should be glad I don’t go for the whole sleep-sex thing...” he muttered.

Zero was starting to rise when a low chuckle froze him in place and made his heart kick in his chest. He spun back around to find Kaname’s dark eyes open and regarding him. The gaze was a little foggy, but it showed definite traces of amusement.

“Not sure if glad is really what I feel about it,” the pureblood murmured. His voice was low and soft from disuse. Not exactly hoarse, but a more throaty than usual. “Things were just getting interesting.”

“Kaname!” Zero was torn between smiling and frowning and ended up doing both in turn. “Hey, how long have you been awake?”

Kaname gave a lazy smile, not even having the decency to rub his eyes or seem disorientated after his long sleep. You would think he’d just woken up from a nap, not a virtual coma. “Long enough to be seriously disappointed by both your lack of depravity and creativity…” he replied with a pretend yawn.

Caught somewhere between wanting to kiss the pureblood and wanting to strangle him, Zero wondered how it was that Kaname could manage to rouse that uniquely familiar sensation in him barely moments after waking.

With a glare that was honestly more amused than upset, Zero dropped back to the bed, grabbing Kaname’s wrists and pinning them by his head as he went with his first instinct and leaned down to steal a kiss that was both relieved and slightly possessive.

Straightening up just enough so that their faces were a few inches apart and he could regard the pureblood, Zero held him in a steady gaze.

“Welcome back, I’m glad you’re okay,” he said quietly, not wanting to let Kaname’s method of awakening keep him from acknowledging that. Given the way he was feeling and the way Kaname currently looking up at him, it would be too damn easy to just fall on him like a hungry wolf. He was trying to keep in mind that his lover had just woken up, he really was. It hardly seemed decent to jump him right away. Zero had had many endless days of waiting for this moment, but did Kaname even know where he was?

“We’re at home, you’ve been asleep for almost two weeks,” he informed, struggling for normalcy and control. Good grief, get a grip, Kiryu! “We’ve been cleared of all…”

Kaname leaned up and kissed Zero, silencing him unexpectedly. The pureblood’s mouth was open and his heat pulled Zero in instantly, melting his bones and dissolving his attempt at control. Zero followed him back down to the bed, intensely exploring the warm, inviting cavern of his mouth as he shifted to straddle him.

“Nice to know,” Kaname murmured. “Tell me all about it. Later. Much. Later.” Their clothes and the bedspread were still between them, but even through that Zero could tell Kaname was as interested as he was in pursuing something other than talking.

It’s was Zero’s turn to chuckle. “Really? Really? You nearly die, sleep for weeks, wake up and this is the first thing on your mind?” He wasn’t actually complaining. He pushed the covers down, kicking them away. Kaname was wearing some of Zero’s silky, cream colored pajamas that were delightfully mussed from their motions so that the pants were riding down his hips and the shirt riding up his stomach. The tantalizing expanse of ivory skin which showed between the fabric was enough to make one’s mouth water.

“It’s always the first thing on my mind. Why should a little thing like almost dying make a difference?” Kaname retorted, fingers combing through Zero’s hair as if he couldn’t get enough of touching him. “It really is too bad I was too out of it for us to try having sex while I was in prison… that could have been very interesting.”

Zero half choked and the faint color that rose on his cheeks said Kaname still knew how to fluster him, even after all this time. “What, you want me to drag you back there and bang the daylights out of you? Because right now that’s sounding pretty attractive,” he muttered sarcastically.

Kaname stretched on the bed under Zero in a way that could only be described as sinuous, the motion causing his loose pajama pants scoot down even further, revealing the graceful arch of his hipbones. “Here’s fine.” The pureblood nipped Zero’s ear with sharp teeth.

Zero felt the shudder run through him from head to toe. He slid a hand up under Kaname’s pajama shirt. His hand ran up the flat, muscular stomach and came to rest over Kaname’s heart. It hesitated there, feeling the organ pulse beneath the smooth, taut, flawless skin. You couldn’t tell now that only a little over a week ago the pureblood’s chest had been a torn, gruesome mess that made even Zero flinch. It had healed completely, but the memory was not so easily removed from the hunter’s mind and it broke through the mood a little.

“You’re sure you’re okay, right?” Zero couldn’t help asking, brows drawing together in a concerned look. He was abruptly concerned that he wasn’t being fair or considerate. He’d been waiting for weeks, but the last thing Kaname probably remembered was riding home after having been through hell. Was the pureblood really ready for this? Especially after their little throw down with Nasser and all the issues that bastard had caused?

Kaname smiled wryly as he grabbed the hem of Zero’s shirt and tugged it impatiently off over his head. “Depends on your definition,” he admitted. “My body is whole, but I’ve been asleep for some time and healing comes at a cost… I’m hungry, Zero,” he murmured huskily. “I’m very hungry.” It was only now that Zero realized Kaname’s fangs had extended sometime while they were kissing. The pureblood’s aura was both predatory and sultry, although it was also laced with a certain amount of hesitancy. “I need you,” he groaned with more than a fair amount of double-meaning.

The faint lisp that Kaname’s fangs added to his speech could do incredibly queer things to Zero’s stomach. The ex-human felt another spike of heat go straight through him under that look and those words. It wasn’t surprising that Kaname needed to feed after his recovery and that also explained a little of why he was ready to go from comatose to passionate so quickly. He needed blood and this was how he was conditioned to get it. Zero was reminded of their conversation before the press conference, before all hell broke loose. It seemed a lot longer ago than it actually was and he wondered if Kaname even remembered what he’d told him.

Kaname had already divested him of his shirt. Zero ran his hand along his neck, pushing back his short hair and tipping his head sideways in invitation. His silver earrings jangled, glinting dully in the dim light. “Then take whatever you need. It’s yours. You don’t have to do anything or give me anything for it, you know that, right? It’s always yours.”

How someone’s expression could be at the same time tender and predatory was difficult to explain, yet those were exactly the seemingly incompatible emotions which Kaname’s features displayed. Zero’s earnest meaning was not lost on him and he treasured it even as his fangs grew a little longer, aching fiercely. Strong, graceful fingers traced the hunter’s neck with just a tremble of need in the touch. “So precious,” he murmured hoarsely. Eloquent as he was, Kaname was still not able to put into words how absolutely priceless was the gift that Zero gave him, but Zero saw it in the glitter of the pureblood’s dark eyes, and he understood.

Pushing up on his elbows, Kaname kissed Zero’s neck slowly and the hunter could feel the rush of the pureblood’s breath, coming quick and fast. “I do know that, and I treasure it. But blood isn’t the only thing I’m hungry for right now…” Kaname tugged Zero’s hips down sharply against his own as his fangs penetrated the hunter.

Zero felt the heavy knot fisting in his groin coil tighter, his body almost trembling in bliss as Kaname took his neck and pulled him close. “Good,” he groaned hoarsely.

It was about damn time life stopped sucking… even if, ironically, sucking was very much on his mind right now.

Kaname’s fangs worked in his neck, the suction of his hot mouth and the sensation of the blood draw making heat thrum through Zero’s body all the way down to his toes. Kaname was drawing pretty hard. He drank much more ravenously than usual, which confirmed Zero’s notion that despite how well and normal he looked, the pureblood hadn’t fully recovered yet.

Kaname half-rose off the bed, his arms locked around Zero’s shoulders, holding onto him tightly. There was passion and need in his grip for sure, but it was also an unconsciously restraining motion. The instinct of a predator to make sure his prey did not escape. With anyone else, it would have been frightening. Zero could not have gotten his neck free had he wanted to. He didn’t want to, however, and he wasn’t afraid, not even a little. If it were possible, Kaname’s hunger and possession simply made him want the pureblood even more.

Zero hooked his thumbs in the loose waistband of Kaname’s pajama pants and pushed them down his hips. Kaname’s attention was focused on his neck, but he automatically lifted his hips off the bed to help in the endeavor. The elastic waistband caught on Kaname’s erect flesh and Zero carefully pulled it up and over, pushing it down his lover’s thighs. He took the pureblood’s taught flesh in one hand and stroked it slowly. His other hand was on the bed by Kaname’s side, supporting himself and his lover as well.

Kaname’s whole body shuddered underneath him as he caressed the pureblood’s hard, weeping manhood. The dark haired vampire growled against his throat, the sound rumbling deliciously through Zero’s entire being. Kaname sank his fangs deeper, craving more of Zero, more of the incredible delight he was being given. Then the little alarm that always sounded in his head when his instincts started to get the better of him went off and his mind struggled to step outside the heat of the moment and make sure he wasn’t doing anything he was going to regret afterwards. That was when he realized with dismay how hard he’d been draining Zero.

With extreme effort, Kaname slid his fangs free and licked Zero’s neck gently. His body trembled again, this time with the strain of forcing it to do something it did not wish to do as the pureblood released his lover’s shoulders and dropped back to the bed, breathing hard.

Zero gazed down at Kaname. The pureblood’s pale cheeks were flushed and between the long dark lashes his half-lidded eyes glowed crimson. Kaname’s chest heaved softly as he struggled to remain still, fighting every instinct he had because that what was in his arms was much too precious to him. “Sorry…” he murmured hoarsely, pressing his eyes shut but unable to will his fangs to retract. “I’m sorry.”

Zero bent down and kissed Kaname’s nose with a soft smile. He didn’t need to ask what was going through the pureblood’s head, they had been connected through the blood sharing and he knew. Kaname’s first instinct was always to protect him. In the past, Kaname would have been right to withdraw. Zero’s formerly human body had limits that needed to be considered. But Zero was not so fragile as he used to be. He was changing and whatever else he may feel about that, he realized now that there was one side effect that made him particularly happy.

“You should be sorry,” Zero replied in mock testiness. There was a twinkle in his lavender eyes. He leaned down and rubbed the punctured, blood damp side of his neck against Kaname’s mouth, making the pureblood’s whole body stiffen. The hunter lifted his head enough so that he could gaze down directly into Kaname’s eyes, which had opened again and were still red. Zero gazed tenderly into the glowing, agonized depths, seeing there all the love that made Kaname fight so hard for him and returning it fully. “Don’t be a tease, Kaname. Take more. I want you,” he murmured huskily. “I want you to bite me.”

Kaname blinked up at him in surprise, his brows furrowing slightly. His chest burned with his thirst and his desire to do exactly what Zero was inviting him to do. It meant a lot to him that Zero was offering, that Zero accepted and wanted this side of him so fully. The surprise he felt, however, was because he realized Zero wasn’t being foolish in his offer. His senses told him his lover was strong and steady, not dizzy and faint as he should have been after how deeply Kaname had been drawing from him.

Zero read the reaction in Kaname’s face and his grin deepened. It had kind of surprised him too to realize that he was keeping pace with Kaname better than usual. That his body was dealing with the rapid loss of blood so efficiently that it wasn’t making him feel ill and was in fact turning him on more than ever. He knew he would never be even close to a match for Kaname in physical strength and endurance, but he was much stronger than he used to be. Stronger was good. Stronger meant he could give Kaname more of what he deserved, more of what he wanted so much to give him.

“I won’t break,” he murmured against Kaname’s lips, kissing him slowly. “I’m not as weak as I used to be. Please, Kaname, I want this. I want this so much.”

“You have never been weak,” Kaname returned, his lips curling into a smile as he kissed Zero back. “I love you.”

Zero turned his head, and Kaname bit him again, gently, but deeply. Zero groaned and started stroking Kaname once more with eager, fevered fingers. His heart pounded in his chest, his were nerves pleasantly ablaze as Kaname’s lips, tongue and fangs pleasured his neck in a manner that had to him become as extremely delightful as if it that hot, skillful mouth were working somewhere much lower on his body. The more of his blood Kaname took, the more deeply connected they felt, a true joining of souls that added to the pleasure. It wasn’t just for Kaname’s sake that he wanted this. It felt amazing.

Cradling the back of Kaname’s head to keep from breaking their connection, Zero rolled them over so that he was lying on the bed and Kaname was over him. It was easier in this position, he could enjoy the sensation better and let Kaname take more freely if he didn’t have to support them both. The sturdy, exciting weight of Kaname’s body settling over him and the possessive way the pureblood immediately pinned him to the bed didn’t hurt either.

Half humming, half groaning in delight and desire against the hunter’s neck, Kaname’s long fingers returned the favor Zero had done him earlier, pushing Zero’s pants down his hips and baring his flesh for exploration. A mental tug had Zero’s pants all the way off a few moments later, enabling Kaname to settle his own partially naked frame comfortably between Zero’s thighs as his skilled fingers teased and mapped his lover’s pale skin.

Zero humped up against his lover, lifting his hips off the bed in search of friction. Their hard, naked lengths slid and pressing together between their bodies, making him fairly groan in pleasure. He wrapped his arms around Kaname’s back, pulling up the pureblood’s pajama shirt so he could get to the warm skin underneath. Frustrated by not being able to touch all of it, he tugged at the fabric with a little grunt. He felt inclined to just tear it off, but they were his pajamas that the pureblood was wearing, which wouldn’t have mattered so much except that it was a pair Kaname had given him and he was rather fond of them. “Lose the shirt,” he growled instead. “And don’t rip it or I’ll kick your butt.”

Grinning devilishly, his lips alluringly painted with Zero’s blood, Kaname straightened up. Still kneeling between Zero’s legs, he unbuttoned and removed the shirt with painfully slow, deliberate movements, revealing his naked chest beneath in a tantalizing way that left Zero panting for breath as he stared up at his lover with hungry eyes. The pajama pants were still bunched around Kaname’s knees and he removed them the rest of the way as well. Kneeling naked over his lover, he considered him for a moment. He ran one hand slowly down Zero’s chest, following the line of his breastbone down to his navel and beneath, rubbing the tip of one finger teasingly across the swollen head of his desire and then bringing it to his lips to taste the moisture he had gathered.

The pureblood gave a low growl in his throat and licked his bloodstained lips. “Delicious,” he murmured. The healing puncture marks on Zero’s neck flamed with desire as his gaze traced the motion of Kaname’s tongue across his lips, his flesh quivering under the pureblood’s too-light touch.

“Damn it, shut up and take me before I shoot you,” Zero half protested, half demanded.

Kaname’s eyes danced with delight as he complied. In a moment he was on top of Zero again, their naked bodies pressed full together, the heat between them tense and delightful as his fangs found a new place to penetrate Zero’s neck, making the hunter’s back arch against the bed and a small cry of ecstasy escape his lips.

Zero moaned, half mad with need as his and Kaname’s erections jousted and dueled exotically with one another again between their flat, hard stomachs. This was great, but they really needed to get serious soon before he lost his mind. As if reading his mind, or at least feeling the same way, Kaname settled his body a little lower, his hardness gliding meaningfully up against his lover’s backside.

“So… when you said take you…” Kaname murmured devilishly against his throat. He didn’t really form the next words, but in the shared connection between them Zero got the very clear impression of how much Kaname would like to bury himself completely in his lover, both his fangs and his flesh, and ride him until the hunter was blind with ecstasy.

Zero’s gut flip flopped sharply under the mental impression Kaname had shared with him and his breathing shuddered as the pureblood moved against him, his manhood stroking between Zero’s cheeks in a teasing pantomime of a more intimate act. Lifting his head, Kaname kissed Zero slowly, sharing the taste of his blood between them. It felt like it had been a while since Kaname had been mentally ready to be dominant with him and although he was not about to admit it – not in a million years – he realized he rather liked the strong, demanding, arrogant twit side of his lover and would have missed it if it remained missing too long.

But deep wounds take a long time to fully heal. Zero saw the moment when some shadow from the past intruded on Kaname’s desire for him. He saw the flicker of uncertainty and self-loathing that made Kaname hesitate, suddenly unsure if was all right for him to want these things, unsure if he was worthy to claim the very willing body beneath him without somehow tainting him.

Much as he might wish otherwise, Zero realized that this was going to be a fact for a while. He couldn’t expect Kaname to just completely shrug off the abuse he had suffered simply because Nasser was dead. If he seemed to, it would only be because the pureblood was hiding it from him and Zero didn’t want him to do that. He didn’t want Kaname to bury any more hurt. Healing took time, and Zero wanted to be part of that every step of the way.

“Gee, I don’t know, what do you think I meant?” he responded sarcastically to Kaname’s earlier question with a deep, throaty grumble in his voice. His eyes acknowledged that he’d seen Kaname’s hesitation, but that it didn’t bother him. There was not a whiff of truth to the unspoken fears. He loved Kaname and nothing could change what he felt or what he wanted. “I guess maybe you lose brain cells when you hibernate too long. After all, I don’t usually have to spell it out for you…”

Kaname chuckled, the hesitation receding from his gaze as Zero pulled him back into the safe, blissful reality of their love for one another like the steadiest of anchors. “Mmm, maybe it did at that. Why don’t you spell it out for me, Zero? Make sure I don’t misunderstand…” he murmured, a devious and wonderfully familiar smile dancing at the corners of his lips. He cupped Zero’s face in one hand, stroking his cheek with his thumb.

“Idiot.” Zero scowled at him, or tried to, it was hard when he felt so damn happy. The warm, teasing smugness in Kaname’s voice suggested that he just wanted to make Zero talk dirty to him, but Zero decided to play along anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to make sure Kaname knew he wanted everything they were doing. Besides, he was aware Kaname thought him somewhat shy or prudish at times, an assumption which he had to admit was not without basis. Every now and again he liked to surprise his lover and be a little bolder than Kaname expected him to be. He liked the reactions it got him.

“Okay…” Zero returned playfully. A wicked grin slid across his face, making his strong, handsome features devastatingly seductive as he turned his head and caught two of the fingers stroking his face in his mouth. He licked and sucked the digits in a slow, suggestive, languorous fashion that made Kaname’s gut curl and roil. The pureblood felt like he’d forgotten how to breath by the time Zero pulled his mouth away with a soft, wetpopping sound and gave him a purely devilish look of desire.

“First, I want you to put those to good use,” the hunter murmured, looking at Kaname with mock-seriousness as if addressing someone with severely limited mental capacity. “Then I want you inside me – your fangs, your cock everything you have to give me. I want to be yours. I want to feel you in my blood. Think you can manage that?”

Kaname shuddered, his body twitching against Zero and his eyes darkening in a manner that suggested the hunter had quite fully succeeded in making the pureblood able to think about nothing but him and this moment and their shared desire.

“Everything, Zero? Oh yes, I think I can manage that.” The pureblood slid his newly moistened fingers down between their bodies with deliberate slowness. The tips of two long digits pressed against Zero’s opening and started working slowly but firmly against him, gently demanding that he take both at once.

Zero gasped and gripped Kaname’s shoulders hard, his body burning with the need to feel those fingers deeper and to pull Kaname into his very soul.

Kaname chuckled, his eyes glittering, his arousal clear in his dark, silky voice. “I can’t believe you said the word cock,” he murmured, deeply amused.

Zero proved that no matter how bold he tried to be he was still the more easily flustered of the two by blushing attractively. The attractiveness was enhanced by the way his flushed lips parted in a silent moan as Kaname’s fingers breached him deeper. “Oh, go to hell,” Zero muttered.

Kaname laughed, kissing him intensely as he worked both his fingers as deep as they could go inside Zero’s body, twisting and curling them against his well-memorized pleasure spots in a way that made Zero squirm and writhe deliciously on the sheets under him. Kaname added the third and fourth finger together, making Zero stretch for him. If the progression was more rapid than usual, it was certainly no more rapid than both of them wanted.

“Do you want me to go get something, or do you want to make me wet?” Kaname murmured breathlessly, his flesh feeling very hot, heavy and ready where it rested against Zero’s thigh. He wanted so much to be inside the boy that it was making it hard for him to think, so he gave his lover the choice of how to proceed. They weren’t in his bedroom and at this moment he couldn’t remember where Zero kept his lube. He was going to need Zero to tell him where to find it if he wanted to use it.

Zero opted for the second choice, his eyes smoldering with desire. “Let me,” he murmured, tugging at Kaname to indicate where he wanted him. Kaname obediently slid up Zero’s body, kneeling over the hunter’s chest but supporting his own weight. Zero slid his hands up the inside of Kaname’s thighs and tipped his head up off the pillow, taking Kaname in his mouth. Kaname hissed in pleasure and gripped the headboard, leaning his head against hit and angling his body over Zero as his lover took him completely into his wet warmth.

Zero sucked and lathed his lover’s length thoroughly with his tongue, making sure to get it good and wet. Knowing where it was going next made his stomach delectably tight and his groin heavy. The way Kaname was holding onto the headboard over him and moaning didn’t hurt either. Seeing Kaname in the throes of pleasure could undo him like nothing else and Zero found himself riding perilously close to the edge. He could feel heat building up in his groin and knew he couldn’t wait anymore. He was going to pop if Kaname just touched him at this point. He released Kaname’s wet flesh reluctantly, his breath heaving in his chest.

“Better do it now, Kaname, I don’t think I’ve got much longer,” he murmured, his voice breathless and rueful.

Kaname pushed away from the headboard, looking down at him with molten eyes that nearly had the power to push Zero over the edge just with their intense gaze. The pureblood slid down his body and settled between Zero’s legs again. He reached for his lover’s throbbing, weeping length but Zero reached down to stop him. “Don’t,” he murmured hoarsely. “I’m serious. I’m almost there and I want you inside me first.”

Kaname’s smile was both deeply aroused and deeply tender. “I can help. Do you want me to?” He could suppress or incite Zero’s release through their connection, but right now he wasn’t going to tamper unless his lover invited him to do so.

Zero nodded his head against the pillow wordlessly. He was wonderfully aroused and he wanted it to last, wanted to retain this delirious edge a little longer. He knew from experience that Kaname could indeed do that for him and his heart pounded faster.

Kaname gripped Zero’s knees and spread them, his grip firm but tender. Lifting Zero’s hips a little, he pushed forward, his hard, wet length seeking and finding the hunter’s tight, hot entry and bidding it stretch further yet to accommodate him.

Zero’s head arched on the pillow, one hand going up over his head to grip the headboard just so he had something to hang onto as the intense sensation of Kaname’s body merging with his sent fire shooting through his nerves. He was glad Kaname was doing whatever magic it was he did with his body or else he probably would have come the moment the pureblood’s thick, blunt, throbbing heat nudged into him, and that would have been kind of embarrassing. As it was his pleasure simply continued to heighten, spiraling out of the normal spheres of bliss as Kaname held his knees and slowly thrust forward little at a time until he was completely buried within his lover’s panting, shuddering body.

Kaname pulled out once and thrust back in again, the motion slow but smooth and continuous. Zero gripped the headboard tighter, his other hand fisting in the sheets. Kaname was still holding his knees and focusing on the coupling, so all the sensation in his body was currently coming from the pureblood’s flesh moving within him, but that was more than enough to make him dizzy with arousal. Kaname thrust out and in several more times. He desperately wanted more, but saliva wasn’t always as good as lube at reducing friction and he worked Zero carefully until he was sure the movement was slick, unencumbered and unlikely to cause his lover any harm.

As the motion became easier, it became faster, Kaname beginning to put a little more of his considerable strength into the motions which enabled him to go deeper and touch those places where Zero really liked to be touched.

Zero jerked softly, his thighs trembling in Kaname’s grasp and a soft grunt escaping him when Kaname hit especially sensitive tangle of nerves deep inside him, the one that sent white hot flames searing through his stomach and shivers trembling down his legs to his toes.

He didn’t need to ask Kaname to do that again, Kaname knew his body well and he knew what Zero liked. The pureblood knew all the right angles to push from, he knew just when to press and when to pull back to make Zero writhe and groan. He knew when to seesaw rapidly, when to press in and hold and when to slam suddenly forward to make lights explode in Zero’s vision and make him cry out.

Kaname played Zero’s body like a well loved instrument, coaxing forth a melody of sheer mutual bliss. The fever heat of being inside his lover, of feeling the tight friction of his body and watching Zero’s pleasure flushed face tossing on the pillow was a special kind of heaven, one of which Kaname would never tire. Kaname shifted, leaning forward on his hands over Zero’s body and finding a new angle for his pumping hips to exploit.

Zero’s hands left the headboard and sheets and curled instead around Kaname’s arms, holding onto him as their perspiration slicked bodies arched and thrust together.

“I love you, Zero,” Kaname murmured hoarsely against his lover’s skin as his mouth slid back towards the hunter’s throat, causing Zero’s already pleasure-saturated body to thrill even harder. “You are my everything.” Kaname’s fangs closed down on his neck again and now he truly was penetrating and claiming Zero in every possible way. Zero belonged to him. Zero wanted to belong to him, and that was so incredibly precious.

“You too,” Zero managed to breathe in response around the rapid heaving of his lungs and the incredible thundering of his blood in his ears. He cried out when Kaname’s fangs found him and the sensation of the dual penetration would have pushed him right over the edge if Kaname wasn’t still keeping a gentle handle on his body. Instead, the careful application of control let Zero surge up to swim in a sea of continuous pleasure. It was like taking the moment of orgasm and extending it out and out and out for minutes at a time as Kaname’s hips thrust into him and his fangs drew twin rivers of fiery pleasure from his neck. It was an intense and desperate sensation, but it was not painful. It was a beautiful desperation. Zero wished he could do this too, could give this amazing sensation to Kaname. Connected by blood and their bond, wishing was all it took and he realized that he was. At least part of the pleasure he was feeling was coming from Kaname and Kaname was in turn feeling his. There was something lovely about that.

Kaname floated on the sea of pleasure more naturally than Zero, and yet with no less delight as they slipped and slid together in their passionate, intimate dance. He continued to drink from Zero as they made love. His love making was swift and passionate now, but he kept his drinking slower. He experimented carefully, finding the right pace that allowed Zero’s body to keep up with the extra demand being placed upon it. It was amazing that it was possible, that it could ever be possible for Zero to sustain this kind of prolonged sampling without taking harm or without it kicking off his own blood lust, but Kaname could tell that pleasure was the only sensation his lover was experiencing.

The ramifications of this shift in Zero’s physical state went far beyond just the pleasure they were sharing now and it filled Kaname’s wounded heart with a tentative sense of hope and relief. Since the moment he realized he was truly in love with Zero, Kaname had been aware of how painfully brief their time together would be – at least from the perspective of his kind. It was like falling in love with someone who had a terminal illness. He did not regret it, he would enjoy every single precious moment they had together, but in the back of his mind, there was the knowledge that the passage of time did not favor them. He had not been Zero’s maker, and alone he could never stabilize him truly. He could keep Zero alive and sane with his blood but there was no real way to know for how long that would last. Over the past few years, Zero had grown stronger in some unexpected and incredible ways which gave Kaname hope that they would have much longer than he originally anticipated. And now…

The thought fluttered through Kaname’s mind that as much as he hated Nasser and as much pain as that man had brought into his life, one good thing had come out of this whole mess. Zero had taken life and strength from him. Nasser had been unimaginably old and powerful. The fact that Zero had taken his death blood could very well have added centuries onto the ex-human’s life in the long run, provided Zero continued to have access to Kaname’s blood as well, which he always would. It was satisfyingly ironic that Nasser, who had sought to strip him of everything he cared about, had ended up being the instrument of very possibly giving him more time to share with his beloved.

Kaname definitely didn’t want to think about Nasser right now and his mind quickly shied away from there, but the hope and the happiness that Zero’s strength and their expanded future brought to him remained and it was perhaps the second best tonic for the pain and hurt he was still dealing with in the aftermath of all that had happened. The first best tonic… well, that was currently in his arms and was groaning in a most delightful manner that quickly and happily consumed all of Kaname’s attention.

Kaname could tell Zero needed to find true release soon, he was groaning with almost every thrust and the hunter’s hips worked feverishly up against him, his throbbing length digging urgently into Kaname’s stomach. Kaname was of the same mind, the heat coiling within him tense and ready to explode. He released his control on Zero and the hunter came immediately.

Zero’s body shuddered with the intensity of it and he cried out, burying his face against Kaname’s shoulder and thrusting his trembling manhood hard into the warm flesh of Kaname’s abdomen which was quickly becoming slick with the evidence of his pleasure.

Zero’s pleasure tripped Kaname over the edge as well, as it usually did. His fangs sunk in deeper, his own cry muffled in his throat by the contact as his hips jerked. He released, filling the hunter with his seed, digging his burning flesh in as far as it could go as he pumped it deeply inside him.

Zero keened, squirming on the bed and continuing to thrust against Kaname’s now wet and slippery stomach as the prolonged waves of pleasure swept over him before his body finally went slack. He rested on the bed, panting, Kaname’s comforting weight and warmth above him. The pureblood was still inside him, but he slid his fangs free and liked the wounds shut, his slow contented movements suggesting he felt as pleasantly exhausted as Zero did.

“Yeah, it’s definitely better with you awake,” he managed hoarsely after a minute or two and Kaname chuckled, the sound rumbling against Zero’s chest in a way that made him feel very content. He wrapped his arms around Kaname’s back and stroked his hair, just savoring the moment.

Zero could feel the wetness between his legs and between their stomachs that told him they both needed a shower, but he was in no hurry to move. He could stay like this with Kaname forever. There was much they needed to discuss, much that still needed to be dealt with, but not right now. There would be time enough for everything else later. Right now he just wanted to live in this moment and finally enjoy the fact that they had survived and that he still had the man he loved most in the world here with him.

He had missed Kaname so much over the past couple weeks, this had been a much needed indulgence. He felt incredibly good, as if he had finally been able to work off some of the tension he hadn’t realized had been building up during his lover’s slumber. He wasn’t even aching or anything and Kaname’s girth inside him was still firm, still sending tempting little shivers through his cooling body. Hell, he wouldn’t mind doing it again…

“You know…” the warm, rather delighted amusement in Kaname’s voice made Zero open his eyes and look up at him. “There are some side-effects when I’ve had a lot of your blood all at once like this…” the pureblood’s smile widened as he moved gently inside Zero, making the hunter exhale shakily and grip his shoulders. “…I know what you’re thinking.”

Zero chuckled and pretended to cuff him. Kaname smirked back. “Who’s being insatiable now, hm?”

“Shut up,” Zero grumbled without ire and pulled Kaname down into a kiss.

Zero’s violet eyes were edged with a ring of red and his face was frighteningly calm. He had pushed his injured body so far into overdrive that at the moment he didn’t even feel his wounds or the faintness of his blood loss. Some distant part of him knew this strength came at a cost and that the resulting crash would be hard, but that didn’t matter.

Nasser struggled with him and Zero twisted him up harder in the grip of his vines, pouring what little strength he had left into the seething ropes of thorns.

“This was always… your weakness…” Kaname murmured, his gaze on Nasser once more, a slightly ironic smile twisting the corner of his lips. “You thought… you had to do everything alone.” Kaname knew well that trusting others could be a weakness but he had also learned, albeit the hard way, that if you trusted the right people, then it could also be strength. He and Zero had just proved that. Alone, neither of them could have won against Nasser, but together, it was a different story.

Nasser’s dark eyes dulled, the inescapable knowledge of his own loss settling on him like a mantle. There was a vaguely surprised expression on his drawn features, as if he couldn’t quite understand how it had turned out like this. Kaname may be right about his weakness, but Nasser was too well entrenched in his ways of thinking to change now. Kaname could see in those dark eyes that Nasser was all but incapable of understanding something like the bond of trust that Kaname and Zero shared, much less their love. It was sad in a way, although the younger pureblood could bring himself to feel very little pity for his adversary after everything he had done.

The luster had drained out of Nasser’s gaze but there was still something eerily cruel behind his glazing eyes, a kind of strength that only the certainty of defeat can bring. The mortally wounded pureblood went very still as Zero’s deadly weapons snaked all around his body. This fight was over for him, but it would be over for Kaname too. He focused all final effort into one small movement and Kaname felt a hot needle of agony knife through him as Nasser’s clawed thumbnail pierced precisely through the center of his damaged heart.

Nasser had chosen his parting shot well, but it was the last one he was going to be allowed to make. A moment later the writhing, vicious twists of the thorny vines contorting around Nasser’s left arm severed it completely. There was a gush of blood and then the detached limb, already riddled with hunter poison, simply turned to dust. The hand gripping Kaname’s heart vanished.

Kaname would have breathed a sigh of relief if he wasn’t in quite so much pain. Unfortunately, the sudden emptiness of the wound made his blood flow faster, filling his damaged lungs and chest cavity in a way that was very counter-productive to normal bodily function. His torn heart pounded raggedly, trying too hard to make up for all the blood he was losing and making him feel incredibly ill. Nasser’s last little dig had been one too many. Kaname’s heart had taken too much damage for his current state and he wasn’t sure his body was going to be able to mend him this time. Strangely though, he wasn’t afraid. Maybe it was the adrenaline of battle making him numb, but at the moment he was afraid of nothing. What would be would be. They had won. Nasser had lost. For this one moment in time, that was enough

The vines encircling Nasser’s body dug into him like hungry fingers, burrowing into his flesh, threading through his body like a sewing needle through cloth. Zero shifted his gun to the side of Nasser’s neck and shot him again at point blank range, aiming cross-wise to make sure there was no danger of hitting Kaname. Because of Nasser’s resilience none of his shots were immediately fatal, but they were incapacitating. Zero wasn’t giving the other vampire a chance to recover. For some reason though, he was intentionally keeping Nasser alive and a moment later, Kaname understood why.

Vines curled around Nasser’s head and shoulders, yanking his head to the side and bending him over slightly, offering his neck to the injured pureblood below him. “You need this?” Zero asked Kaname quietly, an intense sliver of concern and warmth flickering around the edges of the almost frightening icy hardness of his gaze.

Even though you couldn’t tell it by looking at him, Zero felt like his own heart had been dislodged and was pounding up in his throat as he looked down at Kaname. Waking up and seeing Nasser on top of his lover with his hand in Kaname’s chest and Kaname’s blood everywhere had been the most terrifying moment of his life. Dazed and groggy, it was several terrible moments before he realized that the two purebloods were strangely frozen and unmoving, locked as they were in mental battle inside Kaname’s head.

In that first horrible instant when he woke and saw them, Zero had thought he was too late. He thought he was about to watch Kaname die in front of him as he had once watched his parents die. It would be the second time he had failed to stop a pureblood vampire from taking everything he loved away from him right before his eyes. In that moment he realized how terribly losing Kaname would shatter him. It was a blow from which he could not recover. He had lived a century in that moment. Something in his mind and soul had unwound dangerously. The terror and the fury had thrown him into motion with desperate abandon and given him the will to pour everything into this last attack, consequences be damned.

Zero had been ready to use himself up to destroy the bastard who took Kaname from him… but Kaname wasn’t dead. Kaname was still here with him and Zero was going to make damn sure he stayed that way, no matter what he had to do.

Beneath his furious hatred towards the vampire he now held captive, the fear of a few moments ago was still with Zero. Kaname had been seriously wounded. He was a horrific mess and he wasn’t healing. Normally a bright white flame, he was now an almost non-existent flicker in Zero’s hunter senses. Zero knew his senses were not terribly reliable at the moment because he himself was in pretty bad shape, but it was still terrifying. He wasn’t going to completely kill Nasser until he knew whether Kaname needed to eat him in order to survive. The thought should have disgusted him, but in the heat of the moment, it didn’t. Nasser did not deserve his consideration and nothing that kept Kaname alive could be entirely reprehensible. It was that simple.

The red rim around Zero’s eyes was slowly bleeding inward, replacing their natural color and setting his irises aflame. He was badly spent and literally surrounded by puddles of pure vampire blood. It was too much stimulus in his condition, the crash he battled to stave off was imminent. He was still in control, but blood lust was crawling into his chest and starting to make a home there. It stirred the slumbering beast inside him, waking all the violent desires that he normally kept suppressed. It was all Zero could do to hang onto his reason and not heedlessly tear the vampire in his grip into little pieces right then and there just for the sheer satisfaction of doing it. .

Kaname struggled to breathe around the blood filling his lungs. Zero was right. He needed to feed if he wanted to survive his injuries. It was the logical conclusion to the battle and a tradition as old as their race. It was the right of the victorious vampire to claim the lifeblood of the defeated, especially in a battle between purebloods. His fangs throbbed. More than just the need to survive… Nasser’s blood called to him. Even severely diluted with hunter poison, the power in it beckoned to his animal instincts. From the first time they met, he had always wanted Nasser’s power.

Kaname was not innocent. He had tasted his own kind and he knew the forbidden pleasure, the power-rush of absorbing someone else’s life essence. He could understand why Nasser sought this ultimate form of prey and had made a lifetime profession out of hunting and devouring untold numbers of his own. He could understand all too well… and that disgusted him.

Nasser’s dark eyes were on him – silent, waiting, almost expectant. Kaname’s chest heaved raggedly as their gazes met and locked. He had always found those eyes too close a mirror to his own soul. He understood Nasser better than he liked. Much as he might wish to deny it, in many ways they were not so dissimilar. If Kaname had not had Yuki in his life when he was young… if he did not have Zero in his life now… if there was nothing he believed in enough to warrant the constant suppression of his own darker nature… if seeking power and his own pleasure were the only goals he had to live for… who could say whether he would end up any differently? Every choice, every changing ripple in the fabric of life created new, diverging branches of possibilities, much like every move in a chess game opened up certain avenues while closing others. Kaname was too skilled a tactician to pretend that he could not imagine an outcome in which he was the same as the creature that now held his gaze.

Nasser showed him much too clearly what he could become. He could be strong enough to satiate his desire for invulnerability and powerful enough to make sure things always happened as he wished, but twisted up with that power was a vicious, soulless cruelty that achieved its ends because it simply didn’t care about anyone else. This was the “potential” that the elder pureblood had always sought to unlock in him. Even now, at the end, Nasser’s fading gaze held a beckoning spark. “Do it,” his eyes seemed to say. “Finish this. Become me. Take my place… I’ve always known you had it in you.” With death all but inevitable, it seemed as if he wanted Kaname to end him this way. He wanted the satisfaction of knowing that he had shaped him and the boy would go on to become everything he wanted him to be. He wanted Kaname to have to live every day for the rest of his life with the knowledge that his blood and his power dwelt inside him.

Kaname hesitated. What Nasser wanted was clear, the question was… was that what he wanted? He knew what it was like to try to assimilate another pureblood’s power. He knew that it took quite a while before you could get them completely out of your head. Shizuka had plagued him for months, Nasser would no doubt be much worse. Did he really want Nasser inside of him like that? Did he want to carry some part of this man around with him forever?

The pain was almost blinding. Kaname knew he was probably making a mistake – a stupid, emotion-based mistake no less… but so be it. Nasser had always called his attachment to others and his craving for love the weaknesses of a fool. Perhaps he was right, but Kaname didn’t care anymore. He chose to embrace that weakness and to find in it a different kind of strength. That, perhaps, was what truly made them different and that was what he would hold onto. He was without doubt a fool, but he was his own fool. He was going to go on as if Nasser had never existed. He was going to live life in his own manner and be happy in ways that Nasser had never experienced and that was his ultimate defiance and his ultimate victory.

Kaname shook his head decisively. He was not Nasser. He would never be like Nasser. He would not walk his path, nor did he wish to retain any reminder that this blight of a man had ever existed. “No,” he said simply, his gaze shifting away from Nasser and up to Zero. “I don’t want anything of his.”

Nasser looked startled and rage flickered in his eyes again. It seemed to upset him that his life would essentially be ‘wasted’ and all the power he’d sought so long and so hard to acquire would come to nothing. He may be the most influential man in the world, but he had nothing to leave behind him once he was dust. Organizations and companies would divide and go on their separate ways under new leaders. People would forget. After thousands of years of life, he would leave this world with no lasting legacy to mark his passing and that obviously burned him.

Kaname gave a faint, grim smile as his head fell back to rest against the ground. It was kind of worth what he was giving up, just to piss Nasser off one last time. Zero was definitely rubbing off on him.

Zero was watching Kaname closely, his eyes now completely red. He understood at least some of the reasons why his lover refused to feed, despite how obvious it was that he needed to. Perhaps, given his history, he was one of the few people in the world who could understand. Yet he also knew that Kaname was critically wounded and it may very well be fatal if he did not get some blood to replace that which he had lost. Zero would gladly give to him, but he was hardly in any better shape – a fact which was being brought home ever stronger as he felt the familiar, damming acid of need eroding away at the edges of his control. His injuries aside, he had expended far too much of himself using his powers. Blood lust, always his bane, already had a vice-like grip on his chest and was starting to tighten, crushing inward with that maddening, destructive force that never got any easier for him to handle. There was so damn much blood all around them and so much of it was Kaname’s. It made ravenous desire curl in his gut and he felt sick with himself.

He was fighting the burn and maintaining his control, but he knew from experience how unstoppable this progression could prove to be once started. In his condition, he feared for his continued ability to resist the unforgivable allure that his lover’s blood held for him. Normally it wouldn’t matter, but right now it did. Kaname was too vulnerable, he could not and probably would not fight back.

Zero could not afford to lose his head for even a moment or he risked killing the very person he would give his life to protect. It was an ugly feeling, but he didn’t have time to waste on self-pity or self-loathing. The adrenaline-laced intuition driving him decreed that those were useless feelings which were not going to help him right now. He needed to take a page from his lover’s book and treat both his own need for blood and Kaname’s as simple facts – a problem for which he needed to find a solution before his ability to think rationally dissolved.

He didn’t have to think too hard, the solution was literally in front of him. There was a way to staunch Zero’s need and give him blood to spare to take care of Kaname. For him it was a somewhat dangerous and repulsive way, but he could live with that. Instinct was taking over – the instinct to survive and most of all the instinct to protect his mate, both from his injuries and from himself.

Zero held Kaname’s gaze. He hoped his lover would understand what he was about to do. “Guess he’s mine then,” he said darkly. The vines tightened, yanking Nasser back against the ex-human as the silver head dropped to the elder vampire’s exposed neck. Zero’s fangs sunk into Nasser’s throat and he drew hard.

Nasser gave a strangled howl of protest at the ultimate humiliation of having his last blood taken by a mere ex-human, especially this ex-human. Zero gained a certain dark satisfaction from that before the blood hit him and everything blurred like a camera lens going out of focus.

Nasser’s blood literally burned as it entered him. It was infused with so much hunter poison by now that it was practically toxic. The thought flittered through Zero’s mind that it was a damn good thing Kaname hadn’t taken from him. In Kaname’s state, the shock of the poison could have killed him before the blood had a chance to do him any good. Nasser had probably suspected as much and hoped for it, the bastard. Zero growled and drove his fangs deeper. On some instinctual level he knew that though the poison may burn him, it wouldn’t kill him. Zero’s body was proving uniquely able to neutralize and filter out this particular strain. Of course, that was not really such a great surprise considering that he himself had also been the roundabout source of the poison.

His prey thrashed in his grip and he hung on tighter. Despite the toxins, Nasser’s blood was still incredibly heady. Once long ago, in a less charitable mood, Zero had compared Kaname’s blood to poison and Nasser’s was about a dozen times more concentrated. It hit him like pure heroin and the more he ingested, the less the world made sense. The dark, thick blood filled his senses and sent them reeling. His thoughts scattered as his vampire nature sucked him under, shutting down his higher brain function. Somewhere in the chaos of crimson there was a struggle, the sensation of tearing flesh and a flash of familiar energy. Over it all he was aware of the hard, throbbing pound of his own heartbeat in his ears, seeming somehow deafeningly loud as it drown out all other input.

By the time awareness of his surroundings returned to Zero, Nasser was no more. Kaname was still lying on the ground. The ex-human was kneeling over his lover, straddling Kaname’s waist. The young hunger’s fingers were digging into his own sides as he clutching himself. He was groaning low in his throat and rocking back and forth. Kaname’s trembling fingers were combing soothingly through his hair in an effort to calm him. Pearlescent ashes were scattered about, dissolving into the bloodstained earth about them and disappearing.

“What… happened?” Zero asked hoarsely, squeezing his eyes shut against the dizzying pops of light occurring only in his own head. He panted for breath. It had been a long time since he’d blacked out while drinking. He felt like he was on a really, really bad acid trip. Or what he imagined that would feel like, anyway.

“It’s over,” Kaname whispered in answer, his voice faint from his injuries but still managing to sound tender. He didn’t have the strength or the breath to give details. Nasser had tried to fight Zero and for a moment confusing chaos had reigned. Nasser attempted to take advantage of it when the ex-human started to lose himself in the blood. Kaname had mustered enough strength to sock the other pureblood with a weak, but effective energy punch and a moment later Zero literally crushed him to bits with his vines. Nasser’s body had simply disappeared, leaving behind only blood and this light scattering of ashes. Strange how insubstantial it seemed, how impossible it appeared for this faint sprinkling of dust to have ever been an entire living being.

It was hard to believe that Nasser was actually gone and Kaname almost didn’t believe it, except that he’d seen it. The whole situation felt somehow surreal and almost anti-climactic, but Kaname suspected that was most likely because he was in shock. His body felt numb and everything seemed very far away. Only the sensation of Zero’s hair, warm and soft under his fingers could reach him. Only the hunter’s forehead coming to rest lightly against his shoulder and the ragged brush of Zero’s uneven breathing against his neck felt real.

“Did I… I didn’t…?” Zero couldn’t quite form the question. The way he was kneeling over Kaname scared him. He was afraid of what he might have done, or might have almost done.

“Of course not,” Kaname whispered softly, his voice betraying his absolute faith that Zero would never hurt him. It had perhaps been a near thing. Zero had been deeply out of it right after Nasser’s death and Kaname was the only potential prey left for him. Even in that state, however, Zero hadn’t gone for him. He’d held back from the critically wounded pureblood and forced himself out of the blood haze, going against the natural impulse of every vampire and hunter instinct in him.

Zero’s tense body relaxed slightly. Kaname continued to stroke his hair with numb, clumsy fingers as the boy began to shiver uncontrollably. Zero’s actions with Nasser had initially surprised him, but he was glad the hunter had gotten something back from the other pureblood. Zero deserved that and Kaname was sure that after this fight, he had also needed it badly.

Zero was not a pureblood so he could not inherit Nasser’s power the way another pureblood would. That meant he wouldn’t get nearly as much benefit from it, but it also meant the elder vampire could not linger with him in the way he would have with Kaname. The human side of the hunter’s genome protected him from that. It also helped protect him a little from another possibly serious side-effect of his actions.

Kaname felt a lump in his throat and his hand curled tightly in Zero’s hair before stroking the torn side of Zero’s neck. “Look at me, Zero…” he murmured. “Look at me. Are you all right?”

Zero rested his head against Kaname’s shoulder for a few more moments, struggling with the weird sensations twirling around inside him. He felt empty. He needed very much to touch Kaname, to be close to him… and he knew why. He and Nasser had traded blood during the fight, meaning that for the few brief moments before he died a bond was trying to take root. Thank God Nasser hadn’t lasted long enough for it to truly form before it had been severed. Zero’s ex-human constitution also protected him to a certain extent from such things, as it always had, making him less affected then he would have been if he had been born a vampire. He’d known what he was getting into and accepted the risk. The ache inside him blended with his overall disorientation, but he could deal with it.

Finally, he lifted his head, rocking unsteadily back on his knees so he was straddling more carefully over Kaname’s hips and placing less pressure against his lover’s injured body. He met Kaname’s worried gaze caressed his cheek. “Fine,” he murmured hoarsely. “I’m going to be fine. I’m sorry.”

Kaname was glad to see that Zero’s lilac eyes were their correct color again. He shook his head quickly to let him know there was no need to apologize. Zero had done nothing wrong. He didn’t like the thought of his lover being forced to have any kind of connection to Nasser no matter how brief, but the hunter was already bonded to a pureblood; their bond was very strong and it took precedent. That would enable Kaname to help Zero ward off most of the aftereffects of the aborted connection with Nasser. Kaname had little to offer right now, but he tugged lightly at Zero through their connection, making sure the hunter felt him and knew he was there. He understood quite well how important that was.

Kaname’s fingers trembled weakly as he reached up and touched Zero’s cheek, leaving bloody fingerprints there, but his eyes were strong and victorious as he met and held Zero’s gaze. Kaname was in horribly critical condition, but his spirit at least was undimmed. Perhaps if he had more strength he might have been angry with Nasser for putting Zero through yet one more ordeal, but that would be rather pointless since the man was dead. All Kaname cared about now was that Zero was all right. He tried to say so, but he choked on the blood clogging his lungs. He gagged and retched painfully.

Zero quickly slid a hand under Kaname’s head and carefully lifted him off the ground. Gentle, thorn-less vines slid around the pureblood’s back helping to support him. The inclined position seemed to help Kaname’s labored breathing significantly and the pureblood’s gagging slowly tailed off.

Zero’s blood lust was thankfully gone although his injuries continued to bleed freely. His body was apparently still struggling to process the poison out of Nasser’s blood and not yet using it to heal. Or possibly, his unprecedented energy expenditure had thrown everything out of whack and his body simply needed more time to sort itself out. He pressed one hand against the throbbing gash in his side while continuing to support Kaname with the other. He gave his lover a small, tenderly ironic little smile. “You look terrible,” he murmured.

Kaname’s lips twitched in return. “You too.”

“How do we always end up like this?” Zero shook his head, trying not to look too hard at the ugly, gaping hole torn in his lover’s chest. “I think it’s your fault.”

Kaname was still smiling faintly and he surprised Zero by not arguing. “Probably,” he murmured simply.

Zero leaned closer, nudging his already torn and gaping shirt collar a little further off his neck. “Hey… we really kicked his butt, huh?” He murmured, a mixture of jibe and slight disbelief in his tone. There had been a part of him that hadn’t believed they’d actually make it through this.

Kaname leaned closer, desperately needing what he knew Zero was offering. “We did, rather,” he agreed, the small smile tugging at his lips again before the motion and his torn body drew another pained wince from him. “Too bad we weren’t the only ones doing the kicking,” he added ruefully.

Zero shifted, trying to lean closer to Kaname without pressing too hard against his legs. “What, you hurt or something?” he said wryly. “Aren’t you going to tell me you’re fine and those are just scratches?”

“Idiot,” the pureblood huffed, breathless with need as he nuzzled his face urgently against the side of Zero’s neck. He was too weak to hold his own head up and Zero had to shift his grip to hold him in place so he could feed.

“Hey, that’s my line,” Zero protested, his breath shuddering in his chest as Kaname’s warm lips moved against his neck, fumbling slightly before latching on. All of Kaname’s teeth were still aroused, not just the ones to which Zero was accustomed. The foreign feeling sent a shiver down his spine, but it was not from fear.

“Too bad… I stole it,” Kaname returned, his voice turning into a groan against Zero’s skin. He was trying so hard to shift his teeth back to normal before he bit Zero, but his fangs weren’t obeying him and he simply wasn’t capable of waiting anymore. Two rows of razors clamped on Zero’s neck and Kaname groaned again, his throat working urgently as Zero’s blood flooded blissfully into his mouth.

Kaname felt life flowing slowly back into his numb body. He needed this blood more than he’d been admitting to himself. He probably would have died without it, but it was somehow important to him that he owed his life to Zero, not to Nasser. It was fitting that Nasser’s blood should give back to Kaname what he had taken, but filtered through Zero’s body, Kaname didn’t have to think about the despicable older pureblood, nor worry about the darkness of that departed soul.

Zero held him close, letting him take whatever he needed. It was a sweet, unusual juxtaposition of roles between them, but not one that either seemed to mind. Kaname sucked hungrily and yet gently at lover’s neck. Despite the deep, needy bite of his extra fangs it was still the intimate gesture of a lover. Kaname tasted nothing of the poison or darkness that Zero had filtered out of Nasser. It was only Zero’s feelings of adoration and relief which came to him through the rich blood. Kaname lost himself in that warmth and in the safe embrace of that love and these arms. After the raw violation he’d forced himself to endure in order to trap Nasser, he needed this gentle touch of Zero’s soul almost as much as the blood itself.

Zero wasn’t in peak shape. His body was still getting over his power usage and he felt himself sliding into a peaceful haze as Kaname drank from him. It was like riding in the back of a warm car on a summer evening after having spent all day running about out of doors. A comfortable, leaden weight took over Zero’s limbs. As strength flowed out of him and into his lover, he found himself slowly sinking down against the pureblood. Unconsciously, he let Kaname take over supporting their weight at some point along the way as the pureblood’s strength grew and his ebbed.

Kaname only took enough to enable him to survive, although that was still a lot. In his condition he could have killed Zero and still not healed all his own hurts, but of course he was careful not to do so.

He finally withdrew from Zero’s neck when he realized that he was sitting under his own power and he was now the one holding his lover upright. The young hunter’s body was slumped against his chest. Kaname blinked to clear his head.

“Zero?” The pulse of Zero’s life beat strong against his chest, so he wasn’t truly afraid, although he did feel a bit of guilt. He knew that his lover was still in a semi-fragile state and he’d just taken a lot from him.

Zero stirred slightly, but his eyes remained closed. He mumbled something as if incredibly sleepy. Kaname saw the vines around them shrinking and retracting back into Zero’s body. He realized that Zero must truly need to shut down and rest. Now that the threat of Nasser was gone, the ex-human was unconsciously recalling all the power he’d expended through his vines. As a result, the enclosure around them began to crumble and vanish away.

A breeze stirred Kaname’s hair about his ears as fresh air leaked into the stale enclosure. Sunlight broke through the disintegrating canopy of vines in mottled beams, catching on the dancing motes of dust in the air and illuminating the gore splattered crater in which the two vampires knelt. The stained earth, before an inky black, now glittered a macabre cheery shade of crimson about them.

Kaname winced as the bright sunlight burned against his exposed skin. He was still much too weak and it hurt like hell, but there wasn’t much to be done about that. He shifted, shading Zero a little with his body as he gathered the boy with difficulty into his arms. Zero did not respond to the motion, his head lolling against Kaname’s chest. Kaname wasn’t sure if he was actually unconscious, or just too drained to move on his own.

The pureblood wasn’t crazy about the idea of moving either, but as much as his hurting body screamed for rest he knew there wasn’t time. No longer cut off from the outside, he could hear the murmur of voices and sense the presence of many people just outside the crater. Many hunters to be precise. With the barrier around them disintegrating, there was the rest of the world to be faced now. There would be consequences for what had happened today. He needed to attempt damage control.

Kaname let his head sink for a moment, struggling with an almost overwhelming weariness. He didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want to have to go up there and deal with the mess he knew was waiting for them. He was not coming out of this fight unscathed. His torn shirt hid the ugly gash in his chest, but it was still there, along with many of the other wounds Nasser had given him. His body was focusing on the most important internal damage first, but even that was slow going. He wanted to just curl up with Zero and sleep. He wanted it so badly it triggered a humiliating prick of tears behind his eyes as he tried to force himself to move.

Pressing his eyes shut, Kaname calmed himself. They were almost out of this, he couldn’t falter now. Zero had saved him and it was now his turn to make sure they both got out of here alive. If he passed out now, there was no telling in what circumstances he would be when he awoke. The thought of possibly waking up in some hunter isolation cell somewhere with no idea where Zero was or what had happened to him was significantly terrifying enough to force Kaname into motion. He didn’t have long before his body would shut down with or without his consent. He needed to try and get things settled before that or he would lose any chance to influence their situation.

Kaname spared a moment to pick up the Bloody Rose from where it had fallen and shove it under Zero’s belt, in the waistband of the hunter’s pants. His lover would be pissed if he forgot that. Then the pureblood levitated unsteadily up out of the crater in which their fight had taken place, carrying Zero in his arms. Several of the constructs Zero had created out of the earth and the stone of the podium still remained, like ruins of some bizarre ancient civilization, but the majority of the canopy had disappeared. The vines were gone but the bubble created by the hunter seals surrounding them remained. That was a barrier Kaname dare not try to cross in his condition. Even this small expenditure of power was quickly becoming too much for his battered body and as soon as they were out of the crater he sank to the earth, going to his knees on the broken tiles of the courtyard that had been outside Zero’s previous circle of vines, but were still inside the hunter’s charmed rings.

A deep hush fell over the courtyard at their appearance, settling thick and oppressive on the tense air. Somewhere overhead a bird chirruped, happily unaware of how out of place it’s careless high spirits were to the knots of people gathered below.

The seals on the ground burned red with an unnatural light. Row after row of them bathed the immediate surroundings in a threatening, blood-red cast. The light they gave off was not very bright, but the pureblood’s vision was already dim with exhaustion and the glow of the charms drawn specifically to imprison his kind combined with the bright sunlight made his eyes smart and sting. It intensified the pain of his injuries as if the gravity pulling on his broken bones and wounded body had suddenly increased. Worn to the bone, he could feel the weight of the encircling spells pressing in on them, making it increasingly harder and harder to breathe. He wasn’t going to be able to hold out long in this cage.

Kaname noticed in a distant, almost detached way how the pale stones beneath him were quickly becoming slick with a combination of his and Zero’s blood, painting a new portrait of crimson here much like the one they’d left down below. That wasn’t good. He was already aware of his own damage, but the speed with which the crimson around them was spreading made his concern for Zero spike sharply. Zero had paid a hard price for standing by him and the pureblood’s sluggish, damaged heart pounded with worry. He was finding it hard to think and hard to clearly assess how much danger Zero’s wounds might present. He could be fine, or he could be dying. Kaname couldn’t tell and that terrified him. He felt like every thought going through his head had to travel around the earth several times before it made it back to him. He was so tired.

Kaname held Zero’s body to him, hunching over him slightly as he tried to gather himself, tried to be strong enough to protect them both from whatever may come now… but he knew he wasn’t. Nasser had gotten a part of his heart – that wasn’t something he could just snap back from. It would take days, maybe weeks for him to grow it back and until then he was going to be significantly weakened. His body was so battered it was doing all it could to stay conscious and functional at the same time, protesting vehemently at having to do both.

Squinting as he tried to catch his breath, he got an impression of the wreck of the plaza and partially shattered buildings around them. Shit. This was his fault and there was going to be hell to pay. They were in a bad spot and he knew it. He was critically weakened and they were surrounded by potential enemies with very good reason to be both dangerously angry and afraid of him. That combination could well be lethal at this stage. People destroy what scares them, and he was in no position to stop them.

Zero stirred, arms curling around Kaname as his consciousness slowly began to reassert itself.

Kaname breathed raggedly. He lifted his head with effort, gazing out through the stinging glow of the layered charm circles and towards the hunters surrounding them. There was a veritable army there by now. More must have been called in while he, Zero and Nasser had been locked in combat in their own little world. Even if Kaname had been foolish enough to attempt breaking through the seals, there were too many of them on the other side. The pureblood and ex-human were well trapped. The hunters had their weapons trained on the two vampires in the circle and could easily shoot them dead where they knelt.

In the middle of a complete black-out bubble, after what had just happened, they could do so without serious repercussions. The treaty had been openly broken which was as good as an act of war. If they realized or even suspected that Kaname had been the one who broke it, then even killing a pureblood would not have been outside their jurisdiction. All they had to do was say he’d gone mad and that they’d had to stop him before he destroyed the entire city. No doubt, there were many here who truly believed that and there was plenty of proof to back them up. The Council wouldn’t truly care. They hated him anyway. It was a golden opportunity for the hunters and very probably the only reason they had not already run with it was because of the one-eyed hunter currently in charge of the group.

Yagari had history with them, he would at least wait to be sure whether or not Kaname was a threat and in any case he would not easily order Zero killed, not without a damn good reason. Kaname counted on both those facts, but the last one especially. Fallout from all this was probably going to be ugly, but he couldn’t let Zero get caught in it. This was his mess and he’d figure it out somehow. Yagari’s presence brought them time, but he was only in charge because of seniority, if the others started questioning his impartiality because of Zero’s involvement and took things into their own hands, matters could still go badly. The hunters looked incredibly spooked, angry and wary. Kaname knew he needed to try and appease them, to let them feel they were in control and that they didn’t need to prove that by killing anyone. They also needed to see he wasn’t a raving loony or a cornered beast that might turn on them.

Kaname straightened slightly, keeping Zero protectively close while intentionally making himself an easy target. He gave the hunters the ability to line up a clean headshot so that none of them would be tempted to shoot Zero in an attempt to get him if that’s the way things went down. He regarded their captors with a calm, steady gaze, his dark eyes still holding an indefinable inner strength of will despite the fact that his body trembled with exhaustion, his vision fluxing with every arrhythmic beat of his torn heart.

“Nasser Ardon attacked us, put everyone present in jeopardy and is now dead,” he said simply, his hoarse voice betraying no emotion. It was mostly true, but Kaname had no problem lying with graceful conviction either – not about this. “I submit to you that his death was a matter of self-defense between two purebloods as is allowable under our laws, and that any actions by myself or Zero which infringed upon the treaty were undertaken only in an effort to prevent a greater calamity. I understand if there needs to be an inquest about what has happened here today and I am prepared to surrender myself into your custody until the validity of these assertions can be established,” Kaname said quietly, a certain dignity managing to be present in his soft tones despite the situation.

He did not lightly submit himself to someone else’s control, especially not so soon after he’d had to tear himself open for Nasser in order to trap him – that was going to smart for a while and it made him afraid. He knew the inherent danger that once into the hunter dungeons he might never get out, but he also knew he had little choice at the moment. He wasn’t bargaining from a place of power. He needed to be as reasonable and appeasing as he could be. He needed them to not be afraid or things could go badly. Besides, he was reasonably assured that he could eventually figure his way out of most situations in which he was still alive, and there were others who would work for him and his interests as well, even if he were not at liberty. Right now the goal was getting out of this circle alive… and more especially, getting Zero out of this circle alive and with his future still intact.

“As a representative of the Council of Elders, I acknowledge what you have said, what I myself have seen, and I will bear witness to such in any forthcoming inquiries,” Takuma said quietly, obviously speaking for the benefit of the others present rather than Kaname. His formal words and tone carried just enough authority to remind the hunters that they had a Council member present as observer without offering any kind of challenge to their authority over the situation.

Kaname knew his friend’s presence here would help, but the situation was still dangerous. If he were killed, the four nobles would also have to be eliminated, but there was no guarantee that would be seen as a significant problem. Vampire life was cheap to most hunters. It wouldn’t be a terribly smart move for them, but that didn’t diminish its possibility.

One of the more edgy looking hunters glanced between Takuma and Kaname before turning his gaze back on Kaname and snorting derisively. “You’re not going anywhere, you blood sucking freak. Look at this place, look at what you’ve done. You think we’ll just let you walk out of there?” Obviously, the speaker considered such a move tantamount to suicide. His attitude was not unreasonable. If the situation were different, he might be right. After all, if it were Nasser who had survived this fight and not Kaname, they would all have had very good reason to fear for their lives. An injured vampire was a hungry vampire and Nasser would have tried to make a snack out of all of them.

Yagari shot the man a cool look, not reproachful, but reminding him that he didn’t have any authority to be making decisions on his own. Regardless, Yagari knew the fellow was right about one thing. They couldn’t allow Kaname out of the charmed enclosure just yet, it would divide the hunters and start something ugly. What Kaname said was reasonable, and he did not think the young pureblood was a threat, but they needed to proceed cautiously through the minefield now confronting them all. Kuran was wise to consent to being taken into custody because that was what was going to need to happen in order to resolve this peaceably in the short term. If he’d resisted, that would make things politically sticky, but him offering the idea up himself opened the possibility of trying to keep this on a level where it wouldn’t have to totally snowball into a major diplomatic issue for either the hunters or vampires.

“Ardon’s a known threat to the peace considering he’s already broken the treaty by turning and using our brethren for his own purposes, and attempting to infiltrate headquarters,” Yagari drawled. Like Takuma, he was ostensibly responding to Kaname, but the words were more for the benefit of his fellow hunters. Most of them knew that something big had been going on at HQ lately, even if not all of them were aware of the details. Now seemed a prudent time to let that cat out of the bag. “It’s not too much of a stretch to believe he’s responsible for this mess too, but this situation has gone too far to clean up easy. There are some questions that will need to be sorted out. Sit tight for now. We have transportation coming, soon as it gets here, we’ll be able to escort you out.”

Kaname knew that that was the polite way of saying they had paddy wagons on the way, and once they had the appropriate restraints to place on him to assure his continued cooperation, then they would take him in. No surprise, really, except that Yagari was being more diplomatic than was normal for the blunt, plain-spoken man. “You can come out when you’re in the right chains,” would have been a more normal response. Again, Kaname got the feeling that Yagari’s sudden growth of tact was for the benefit of his companions. The senior hunter was intentionally setting a certain kind of tone and guiding the others to unconsciously follow him by example. Kaname had to respect him, Yagari was no fool. He realized the charged, dangerous situation they were in and was doing a good job of keeping it under control without giving anyone a reason to disagree with him.

“You can’t seriously expect to arrest Kaname-sama for protecting everyone here?” Ruka’s voice was indignant.

The hunters had already removed all the other vampires present from the scene, leaving only Kain, Ruka, Takuma and Shiki. Those four had refused to budge and with some misgiving, Yagari had finally accepted Takuma’s demand that as a member of the Council of Elders, he and the others be allowed to remain to act as witnesses for whatever transpired here. The Council would certainly throw a royal snit if one of their representatives was excluded from a matter than concerned such a potentially touchy issue for their race. Considering Takuma was the only friend Kuran had on that particular governing body, this was likely to go in his favor given how things seemed to be turning out.

The four vampires had been allowed to remain, although they were ringed with guards who held weapons trained on them, just in case. Council member or no, no one here was forgetting that these four were in Kuran’s camp.

“Understood,” Kaname said calmly in response to Yagari, cutting off any further protests on his behalf. His gaze was firm as it fixed on the small group of vampires outside the circle, clearly telling them not to cause trouble. Or at least, it was as firm as he could make it when he could barely see them through the black splotches swirling nauseatingly through his vision. He was relieved to see that they got the message, even if not all of them were very happy about it.

He shifted his grip on Zero as the hunter sat up a little more in his arms. The silver haired boy blinked to clear his blurry vision, wincing a bit in pain as his motions pulled at his injuries. The pureblood moved his hand with Zero so he could continue to apply careful pressure to the deep, bleeding wound in his lover’s side.

“I ask only one thing,” Kaname continued evenly, still speaking to the hunters, his gaze now fixed directly on Yagari. “Please let Kiriyu out now, and allow my associates to take him home,” he nodded towards Takuma and the others. “He is in urgent need of medical attention. Any and all issues that may need clearing up are mine to deal with. He simply did his duty as a hunter by stopping a dangerous vampire and is guilty of nothing in this matter. In point of fact, he is responsible for saving all your lives.”

Zero frowned as he suddenly became aware of what Kaname was doing. “Kaname…” he murmured warningly, but the pureblood hushed him.

“Be still, Zero. You’re bleeding much too heavily,” he murmured, then to the hunters he said, “I’m going to send him out now. He can pass through without harm, is that not correct? You will give him safe passage?”

Kaname knew Zero could pass right through the charmed circles around them with or without the hunter’s approval. His status as a tamed vampire made him immune to certain forms of hunter containment. Kaname just needed to be sure the hunters wouldn’t freak out and shoot Zero if he sent him out. He didn’t think it would be too hard to convince them. Zero was one of their own and Yagari would stand up for him.

“Right,” Yagari said simply, not allowing for debate on the subject from the others. “He can come through. Send him on out.”

Kaname took a moment to press his hand more firmly to Zero’s side. His and Zero’s blood was freely mingled on their clothing and skin. With a shuddering breath, he used what little strength he had left to cause some of his blood to form a tight bandage over Zero’s wound, finally stopping the worrisome blood loss for the time being. The rest of his failing strength he pressed into Zero in a way that would stimulate his body to heal. That should hold him until he could get proper treatment, but it had taken the last of Kaname’s reserves, which was why he’d waited until after the important negotiations were over. The pureblood felt a cold, spinning numbness beginning to creep through his body. It was going to shut down soon. He couldn’t hold it off much longer.

With a small amount of urgency, he shifted Zero gently off his lap to the ground. Zero was in a bad way, but with the boost he’d just given him he should be able to make it out of the circle on his own power. “Go,” Kaname murmured. “It’s all right, I’ll be fine.”

Aido could hardly tear his eyes off the two bloody figures in the courtyard. It took all his self control, and Seiren’s warning grip to keep him from leaping down there blindly to… to… well, to do what he had no idea and that was the problem. There wasn’t much he could do other than watch this situation unfold and the helplessness was suffocating. The majority of the people who meant the most to him in the world were down there and in imminent danger. Kaname, Zero, Kain, Ruka… Kaname and Zero looked so bad. Aido had seen Kaname weak before, but the sight was still intensely distressing to him. He’d seen both Kaname and Zero pulled half dead out of the waters of a devastating flood some years back and had hoped to never see them in such a state again. Apparently, life was not in the habit of giving him what he wanted.

A soft click drew his attention momentarily back to his companion and he saw Seiren adjust her grip on the slender, ultra-light sniper rifle she now held to her shoulder. She was steady enough to do what human snipers couldn’t, able to hold the weapon and aim rather than needing to balance it on anything. She needed no scope either, able to use a simple notch on the barrel and her own extremely keen vision. Aido was sure she was deadly accurate. Any other time, he would have marveled a bit more at the way she had swiftly assembled the unusual weapon from pieces concealed in her clothing, but right now too much of his attention was fixed on the two figures trapped inside the coils of hunter charms below. He felt like his heart was in his throat.

Seiren may have felt the same, but she didn’t show it. Her face was tight but free of hindering emotion. She knew the hard truth that her ability to protect her young lord in this situation was minimal. There were too many hunters and Kaname was pinned down, completely in the open. She dare not start anything, she could only stand by to respond if things turned ugly.

“Use the window, get inside and find cover,” Seiren said quietly to Aido without shifting her gaze from the scene below. If things went south she could expect to draw heavy fire from below and she could not protect him out here.

“No way in hell,” Aido murmured and she felt the air chill behind her, indicating that he was drawing on his powers.

Seiren didn’t argue. The faintest ghost of a smile touched her lips. Weakened though he was, she hadn’t really expected him to run. There was steel behind that frivolous exterior, and they shared a common goal.

The odds were better with two of them, but unfortunately not by enough. Sheer logistics were against them. If the situation got ugly, there was no way they could kill everyone in the courtyard fast enough. She estimated she could take out at least half the hunters in about two seconds, then the odds became much harder to calculate. For one thing, the hunters would now be aware of her presence and for another, if the four vampires in the courtyard were not killed before they could react then Takuma, Shiki, Kain and Ruka would also be in on the fight.

The hunters would all die, but they wouldn’t go easy. There would be heavy casualties on both sides. She and Aido were likely to be killed, but they were even more likely to lose some or all of the nobles on the ground since they were closer to the hunters. Such a massacre would also almost certainly trigger the next hunter and vampire war. All that collateral damage was highly undesirable, but acceptable to her. The real problem with the scenario was that the probability of least one of the hunters having time to kill Kaname before she could take them down was well over 90%, and that was much too high to take the risk unless there was no other choice.

For now, all she and Aido could do was wait and watch and see what happened. Ultimately, she knew they had little chance of saving Kaname if things went badly, but should that happen then she would be very, very sure that none of the hunters walked out of here alive either.

Zero wavered slightly on his knees, one arm curled around his burning side. His other hand shot out and caught Kaname’s pale wrist. The pureblood’s body trembled softly under his hand and there was no strength, no resistance in it. If he tugged, Kaname would have fallen right over. “Liar,” he murmured through grit teeth around the pain of his insides. He could see in the pureblood’s eyes that he was only hanging on by a thread. He was nothing close to fine.

“I didn’t say I was all right,” Kaname grit out softly through his teeth, knowing there was no point in prevarication. “What’s important is that I will be all right,” he insisted, desperate to get Zero going before the darkness pulling at him took hold. He knew Zero wouldn’t leave him alone in here if he were unconscious, bless him. “I’m sure they’ll have a suitable conveyance here shortly. This is all temporary. It’s not a big deal, just go.” He was keeping his voice low so the conversation remained private.

Zero knew otherwise. It was a big deal to walk away and leave Kaname to face this alone in his condition. Kaname hid it well, but he was afraid of his own vulnerability, Zero knew that about him. After everything that had happened with Nasser, Zero finally understood at least part of the reason behind that fear and his lover’s almost pathological need to dominate the outcome of any given situation. Any time Kaname had been vulnerable or not in control of events in his early life, he had ended up hurt – sometimes hideously so.

Zero would be damned if he let that dynamic continue to hold true. No one could be all powerful all the time. Kaname deserved to have someone to watch out for him on those rare occasions when he couldn’t do it himself. The proud pureblood may not think he needed or wanted that, but tough. Zero would have his back whether he liked it or not.

“Zero? Can you stand? Come on out,” Yagari urged, trying to hide the fact that he wanted to get him out of there as much as Kaname did. It sounded like he was prepared to go in and get Zero if the boy couldn’t make it on his own.

Zero staggered to his feet to show he was all right, but instead of going out, he dropped to his knees behind Kaname and wrapped his arms around him from behind. He rested his chin on Kaname’s shoulder, feeling the slender body shuddering against him. Kaname tried to resist as if sensing Zero’s intentions, but instead his body slackened, unable to support itself any longer. His light frame slipped back against Zero’s chest, resting against him in a way that Kaname obviously didn’t want, but couldn’t fight. The pureblood’s skin was clammy and extraordinarily pale.

“Zero, don’t…” Kaname whispered, but his hoarse voice lacked the strength to argue in the same way his body lacked the strength to support itself. Zero knew how badly Kaname was really doing, despite his previous veneer of control. Yes, the pureblood would be all right, his wounds were no longer mortal, but they were still serious. With or without the circle around them, Kaname was helpless right now. Kaname passionately hated being helpless. How could he expect Zero to abandon him in this state?

“I’m okay, Sensei,” he declared, trying to clear some of the hoarseness from his tense throat. He was in a lot of pain, but his wounds weren’t going to kill him that quick. Nothing on earth was going to make him leave Kaname’s side when the pureblood was so weak. He trusted Yagari, and he would have entrusted Kaname into his custody maybe, but not the other hunters. Not alone. In his current state there were too many ways they could hurt and humiliate Kaname without even really intending to be malicious. Once Kaname was in a holding cell at HQ, he would probably be all right, but it was the trip there that worried Zero. This whole situation was bound to make the hunters unhappy and he knew how prisoners could be treated by edgy guards after a bad hunt. It was frightening. Kaname had lost part of his heart, what if somebody thought it was a bright idea to seal him? He could die.

“You’re hurt. There’s nothing that you staying here can accomplish. Please, Zero,” Kaname protested softly. “…I need to know you’re safe,” he admitted.

“Will you chill? I’m better off than you are and I’m not going to keel over and die this minute,” Zero murmured against Kaname’s ear, supporting the other’s body resolutely, despite the way his own was throbbing. “What you’re really afraid of is that if I stay, they’ll take me in with you, right?” he guessed astutely. “Well forget it,” he said firmly. “I understand why it has to play out like this, but there’s no way in hell I’m letting them take you in alone.”

Kaname knew he needed to protest, but he was so tired and in so much pain and the truth was that Zero’s words made him feel very warm. It was selfish, but it was true that he didn’t want to be alone. There was some despicable part of him that was scared of being under the power of others when he was so vulnerable. It was shameful, of course, but it was there. He swallowed with difficulty.

“You can’t. Don’t link yourself to me right now, Zero, it will pull you down. I can prove Nasser’s ill intentions, I can ultimately walk in and out of this, but if they arrest you…” Kaname struggled to finish the thought, but finally just let it hang meaningfully, his mind and tongue no longer fully cooperating with him. Zero would know what he meant. It could do irreparable damage to Zero’s career to be taken in for questioning as a vampire in this matter, it would change the way people looked at him. Kaname was desperate to avoid that.

Zero would not have thought such a consideration any kind of deterrent under the current circumstances. Important as his life as a hunter was to him, his career took a second place to Kaname’s safety. However, him being simply another prisoner wouldn’t do much to allow him to keep his lover safe. He had a different idea in mind completely.

“Who the hell said anything about getting arrested?” he managed a small smirk, breathing deeply as he struggled to gather himself for the effort ahead. “I’m the one arresting you, idiot,” he murmured. “You’re my prisoner now, and anyone who knows me knows that means I’m not going to let you out of my sight for a moment until I get you safely to HQ.” He pressed the side of his head gently against Kaname’s, as close to a caress as was prudent at the moment with so many eyes on them.

“Zero?” Yagari’s voice questioned. “You don’t look good, kid. Come on out and get yourself checked out. We’ve got this.”

Zero could tell Yagari was trying as best he was able under the circumstance to tell him that it was okay and the older hunter would watch out for Kaname. Yagari obviously had the same thoughts about getting him out of there that his lover had. Zero appreciated it, but he couldn’t entrust Kaname to anyone else, not in his condition… not after everything that had just happened.

Zero lifted his head to meet Yagari’s gaze through the red-tinged air. “Sensei, you’re not trying to take my prize, are you? Come on, you have to admit I’m first on scene here,” he said with a tired, but cocky grin. Several eyebrows raised and a few people, including Yagari, actually smiled at the sheer balls the battered young hunter was displaying. “First on scene” was common hunter parlance and it meant Zero was claiming the right of being the first hunter either on the scene or involved in the fight. In bounty situations, it was usually the first on the scene who had the right to final custody of the prisoner. Kuran was obviously not a typical bounty and he wasn’t technically even being arrested, just taken into custody for questioning. Still, there was no denying that bringing in a pureblood for any reason could be considered an unusual achievement.

“I was in the skirmish first, and I have physical custody,” Zero wrapped his arms around Kaname’s shoulders a little more fully to emphasis his point. “Kuran’s my prize and I’ll be transporting him to HQ. I’ll be fine, Sensei.”

Yagari shook his head. He knew the real game his apprentice was playing. It both amused and frustrated him, but Zero would be Zero, he supposed. “You’re a real brat, you know that, right?” he groused. “Nobody’s trying to take your damn prize, you can have him. Just don’t get yourself killed, all right?”

“Sure, whatever,” Zero retorted, all but rolling his eyes. The banter between teacher and student lent a subtle normalcy to the tense situation and seemed to be setting the other hunters a little more at ease.

Zero could feel the way Kaname’s chest was struggling to rise and fall under his arms. He realized what the charms about them were doing to his lover’s wounded body and his jaw set. He shifted around until he was kneeling in front of Kaname, keeping a supportive hand on the pureblood’s shoulder to keep him sitting upright. Kaname wavered dangerously, but managed to stay up for the moment. “How much do you trust me, Kaname?” he murmured softly.

Kaname blinked up at him slowly, his eyes dilated and weary but completely trusting. “With my life,” he murmured the answer Zero already knew. Zero gave him a soft smile, wishing he could kiss him.

“Then trust me that it will be okay and I won’t let anyone hurt you, all right?” he whispered as he reached behind his back and somewhat clumsily tugged something free. His gun was still wedged in his waistband in front of his left hip where Kaname had put it, but that wasn’t what he was after. His clothes were in a complete state of ruin, but his handcuffs had managed to come through the fight all right and were still clipped securely to the back of his belt where he usually wore them. Drawing them out he let Kaname see then, hesitating for a moment despite knowing what he needed to do.

Kaname simply smiled faintly and held his hands up in front of him as much as he was able. “Arrest me, Mr. Hunter…” he murmured with the faintest hint of suggestive innuendo.

Zero grinned despite himself. “God, you’re half dead, Kaname, you really are hopeless.” But in truth, he knew and appreciated the complete faith Kaname placed in him as the wounded pureblood let him snap the cuffs around his wrists, taking one more bit of control away from him.

Zero closed, but did not activate the charm on the cuffs. He wouldn’t do that to Kaname in his condition and the others didn’t need to know. After all, he was aware how perfectly unnecessary the cuffs were to begin with. Kaname wasn’t going to cause any trouble. These were normal cuffs, not the ones the other hunters wanted to use on Kaname, but Zero was not about to let them got those powerful binds on the injured vampire, it would cause Kaname too much pain. No, they were going to do this his way.

Gathering himself, he struggled to his feet, pulling Kaname’s all but dead weight up with him. He probably shouldn’t have been able to have enough strength to be doing this after what had just happened, but he was still processing some benefit from Nasser’s blood and Kaname must have pushed a decent chunk of energy into him just now as well, saving almost nothing for himself, the beloved moron.

With a bit of effort, Zero pulled a bound Kaname up into his arms properly, holding him carefully in front of him, one hand under his knees, the other supporting Kaname’s back. The pureblood rested his head against Zero’s chest. He wasn’t sure what the young hunter was up to, but he was too drained to do more than simply trust to whatever course of action Zero had decided to take. In the semi-conscious haze starting to settle over him, it was a relief to have someone he could simply rely upon. Zero’s assurances were sweet, and Kaname had known for a while that Zero would protect him if he needed to, but almost more importantly, Kaname knew he could rely on Zero for good plans and sound judgment as well.

It probably seemed harsh to say, but he hadn’t always been so certain of that in the past. He hadn’t always understood Zero and the hunter’s logic and actions could seem to him unclear and unpredictable. Zero, however, had blossomed into quite an incredible young man in so many, many ways. Kaname had finally been able to see that clearly, especially in the past few weeks and he’d discovered that Zero’s unpredictability could in fact be his biggest asset at times. Put quite frankly, Kaname knew he could trust that whatever Zero was doing would probably not end badly or get them both killed, even if he didn’t know or understand the plan. That was a huge relinquishment of control for the pureblood and perhaps bespoke his trust more eloquently than anything else could have.

“Zero? What are you doing?” Yagari inquired carefully, his tone suggesting that he already had a good idea and was not pleased.

Zero met his gaze evenly through the pinkish-red glow of the circles about them. “What does it look like? I’m bringing my prisoner out,” he said matter-of-factly, nodding down towards the cuffed pureblood in his arms. “It’s fricking suffocating in here, you know.”

Kaname was on the verge of passing out and Zero wanted to get him out of here. He was weary and hurting and once again pushing himself harder than he should have after what had just happened, but all of that just made him pissed off and his irritation fed his resolve. He could crash later, right now, nobody was going to stop him.

“Yeah, I bet, but maybe we better wait on that,” Yagari said slowly, gauging the rising levels of tenseness in the other hunters.

Zero smiled wryly, giving the other hunters a challenging look as if silently weighing their valor and finding it lacking. “Oh come on, look at him. He just did 15 rounds with a freaking pureblood Methuselah. Don’t tell me you’re all scared of one barely conscious vampire.”

So saying, Zero stepped out onto the first line of charms. The tattoo on his neck throbbed as it reacted to the spells. He felt the buzz of them travel through him, making the hairs rise on his skin and his muscles tighten, but they didn’t hurt him. They wouldn’t hurt Kaname either, so long as Zero was holding him. There were only two ways an untamed vampire could pass through a hunter barrier. They had to either be in activated chains, which Kaname was not, or they had to be carried by a hunter.

Several hunters raised their weapons warily and Zero just fixed them with a withering look. “Don’t be a bunch of sissy dicks. He’s my prisoner, I’ll take responsibility for him. You think I can’t handle him in his condition?” He had a firm, commanding look in his eyes that he had never used with his fellow hunters before. They didn’t need to know that he himself was barely staying on his feet. He’d learned well from Kaname that sometimes the pretense of strength and control was all you really needed.

“I said, I’m bringing him out, Sensei,” he said a bit more respectfully, turning his gaze back to his master and intentionally speaking to Yagari as if he were the only person here that mattered. “He’s in mycustody. He’ll not be a threat to anyone.” His gaze seemed to dare any of them to suggest that after what they’d seen him do, he wasn’t perfectly capable of making sure that one injured vampire who had already agreed to come peaceably wouldn’t turn on them or run off.

If there was one thing that hit the proud hunters were it hurt, it was being made to look like they were afraid of their prey, even in instances where that was a justly warranted reaction. Zero’s attitude and words painted their reactions to Kaname as comparable to someone jumping onto a chair and shrieking over the sight of a mouse, which was a good way to make them all take a step back and try to not look quite so alarmed.

Zero lifted his chin and continued forward, treading deliberately across the charms as he carried Kaname out of the circle and back into the free air.

No one tried to stop him. It was more than just a fear of being shamed by overreaction. The hunters were no fools; they knew that even a vampire that appeared half dead could be mortally dangerous. However, there was something about Zero in this moment that made them hesitate to cross him, even if it was simply that they had all just seen what he was capable of and were still attempting to process what that meant.

It was interesting to watch the change in them towards Zero. They should have perhaps had more reason than ever to fear and mistrust him after his display of power. Some no doubt certainly did… but hunters had sprung from vampires and in their blood they held the same reverence towards power as those they hunted. Political power and influence within the hunters had always been determined by physical power and skill. They respected those who could enforce their wills, those who were strong. Zero had just eloquently proved how very, very strong he was. He had contained the power of two battling purebloods and had likely been involved in the death of one of them. Vampire or no, he was suddenly a hunter to be reckoned with. The authoritative tone Zero was taking now, so unlike what they were used to from him, seemed to emphasize that change. The others responded to it, even if unconsciously.

The four vampires in the courtyard knew better than to cause any ripples by drawing attention to themselves. They stayed where they were, but Takuma shot Zero a grin, obviously having enjoyed what he’d just seen.

Kaname couldn’t help smiling slightly as well as he rested against the young hunter, his body feeling blessedly lighter and his pain easing a little now that they were free of the circle. The look on Zero’s face just now had been priceless. He might as well have been staring down a bunch of annoying Day Class girls back when they were in school, warning them that if they didn’t back the hell off, he was going to make them cry. Zero had never shown that kind of confidence or command around his fellow hunters before. It had always been painfully clear that he felt inadequate around them, despite his vast talents. Not at this moment, though. Kaname felt like he was in some way seeing Zero begin to come into his own and despite the crappy circumstances, it was a lovely sight.

Seiren lowered her weapon when she saw Kiriyu carry Kaname out of the circle. The pair wasn’t entirely out of danger, but given that the hunters had just allowed that, the chances of them being killed out of hand had shrunk down into more negligible figures. Aido also seemed to sense that the crisis had passed and he relaxed a bit behind her, a small smile on his face.

Kaname was unconscious by the time the hunter paddy wagons arrived a few minutes later. Zero’s body was starting to shake with fatigue, but he hid that from the others and carried Kaname silently across the courtyard to the street, bearing his precious burden up into the wagon and remaining with him as the barred door was slammed shut and the car drove away.

Nasser had realized something was not quite right the moment Kuran’s ex-human grabbed onto the younger pureblood. He knew Kaname’s rage had already been unleashed too far for the younger pureblood to heed the plea for reason, but Kiriyu shouldn’t have been able to make that plea. He shouldn’t be moving. He should have been as vamped out as the other low bloods around them – no, he should have been more vamped out then them since he was both ex-human and Kaname’s pet. Nasser’s own pureblood aura protected him from the devastating vacuum of Kaname’s rage, but the silver haired youth should have had no such protection. If he somehow miraculously hadn’t been sucked into the powerful mental current, like the humans who were not affected in that manner, then he should certainly have been blitzed out by the terror of it, as they were.

Zero, however, had none of those predictable reactions. Those strange violet eyes shot Nasser a look like the boy actually knew what the elder vampire was up to and in that instant, Nasser got the first creeping inkling that he might not have accounted for all the variables when he’d set this scenario into play.

He found out just how badly he’d miscalculated a moment later. The utter shock he felt when the ex-human produced that writhing, living mass of vines was a unique experience for the ancient vampire. It had been so long since anything had caught him this much by surprise that he actually didn’t react fast enough to stop the threatening shroud from closing around them.

Zero knew that there were no halfway measures now. His actions were nothing short of an attack and whether or not it was suicide, he was already fully committed. He didn’t stop at sealing off the podium. He let his power flow, freeing the vines to act, feeling them pulse with the co-mingling of a hunter’s driving instinct to run down their natural enemy and a vampire’s ravenous thirst for prey. The object of both these desires was perfectly personified by Nasser and the thorny vines sought him with an almost sentient craving for destruction.

Kaname felt Zero’s arms about him, the only touch that could possibly reach through the immense well of pain and hatred seething in his soul and bring him back to a slight awareness of his surroundings. He had heard his lover’s warning and something in him knew that Zero was right, but there was no stopping the fury that Nasser had evoked in him. It was hot, seething, livid and alive with the force of its own hatred. Nasser had pushed him too far, hurt him too much, taken too many things from him. He could not check himself, even had he wanted to. Consequences simply could not matter at this moment.

Consequences for himself, anyway. As Zero’s vines closed around them and the small part of his mind that had become marginally aware of something outside his anger comprehended what Zero was doing, he realized about half a moment before it was too late that he was now in a position to hurt his lover very seriously.

No… Kaname’s heart rejected that possibility utterly. No, Nasser would pay, but Zero would be protected. He would shield him no matter what. The surging power had already built to critical, but with a rush of intense effort and concentration he bent the shape of his fury into a fine toned blade. The inside of his head burned with pain at the sudden shift in gears as he spun and funneled the imminent explosion into a more directed shape and threw up as much of a barrier as he was able around them, trying to protect Zero and his vines from the brunt of his coming wrath.

Nasser was back on his game now and reacting swiftly to the new and unforeseen threat that Zero presented. The vines around them created a deadening mass of blankness in his senses, cutting him off from everything outside, which instantly told him that somehow, unbelievably, these creations were anti-vampire in nature. An ex-human acquiring any kind of unique power was rare enough, a vampire power that was actually an anti-vampire weapon was completely unheard of. How could the two co-exist without tearing the bearer apart? It was no wonder Kuran kept this boy so close!

He had obviously underestimated the danger of the situation quite badly, but it was not beyond repair. The boy just had to die quickly – something Nasser was more than capable of bringing about with a twist of his mind. He was about to crush the ex-human where he stood before those vines had a chance to touch him, but at the same moment that the razor-edged vines whipped towards his body the full blast of Kaname’s volatile rage exploded in the enclosed space. The limited area gave the discharge nowhere to dissipate, increasing the magnitude of it a hundred fold as it bounced around and around the small enclosure.

Kaname was incredibly strong for someone of his relatively tender years, and his wrath towards the other pureblood was white-hot. Nasser had been more than prepared to weather it by itself – in a situation that he had perfectly orchestrated according to his own plans – but nothing about the current situation was according to plan. Dealing with Kaname’s attack took his full concentration for a moment. It was only a moment, but it was enough of a delay to keep him from snuffing out the hunter before the vines reached him. The burning, acidic sting of hunter poison from the thorns tearing into his flesh while Kaname’s attack battered at his defenses sent Nasser reeling.

The elder pureblood’s body burned as the dual assault slammed into him. Defending against Kaname’s attack took much more strength than he’d imagined, leaving his head throbbing while his blood blistered as the effect of the hunter poison leached into him. It would have been more than enough to kill ordinary vampires and at least immobilize most other purebloods, but Nasser Ardon was not so easily reckoned with. He was ancient and had consumed the blood of countless generations of his own kind.

The podium had been atomized and the three of them were now standing in a broken, rocky crater blasted several yards down into the earth and domed by a thick canopy of Zero’s vines. Kaname’s body throbbed with the strain of trying to restrain and focus his outburst to the extent which he had and it was taking him a moment to get past the blinding white daggers of pain jabbing around in his head.

Zero pressed his face against Kaname’s shoulder, hanging onto him tightly as he struggled to maintain this massive output of power. His head rang from the shockwave of Kaname’s outburst and the enclosure he’d built around them reverberated with sickening waves of pain as he absorbed the overflow damage which would otherwise have leveled several city blocks. To be honest, he was surprised that his barrier held. He’d wanted to dampen the coming explosion; he’d never expected to be able to contain it. Zero felt Kaname’s chest heaving under his hands and realized the pureblood must have done his best to shield him and help localize the worst of the blast. If he hadn’t, Zero’s vines would have taken a lot more damage and the ex-human probably wouldn’t still be alive. Dealing with roughly the same destructive power as an atom bomb, it would have been impossible for Zero to fully contain it on his own and equally impossible for Kaname to do the same, but between the two of them they seemed to have averted any serious collateral damage, for the moment.

Nasser gave an ear-splitting, inhuman roar and a wreath of dark fire sprung to life around his body, purple-black flame radiating from his skin and burning away the vines still hungrily tearing into his flesh. The wounds left behind did not heal, but it was obvious that he was still very much a force to be reckoned with. Nasser’s powers may have been dulled, but they had had not been stripped, despite the large quantities of anti-vampire poison he had to have flowing in his system from his injuries. That fact alone was somewhat terrifying.

Zero cried out as the pain of the burning vines translated back to him through whatever odd connection it was he shared with them. He felt as if he himself was on fire… and a moment later, he was. It started with a horrible, searing burn that seemed to bubble through his blood and then burst upward, pushing its way out. The same dark, heliotrope-tinted fire that Nasser had conjured a moment before raced across his skin and engulfed the hunter’s body. It wasn’t a real flame, it didn’t burn and singe or consume fabric as real fire would, but it hurt a hundred times worse. It wasn’t technically burning his flesh, but it was consuming it, devouring him from the inside out with a voracious, vampiric hunger.

Zero screamed in agony. He was still clutching Kaname and he instinctively tried to push himself away as if afraid the flames might spread to his lover. Equally instinctual was the desire to slap at himself or roll to put the flames out, even though he felt certain they could not be quenched in that manner. Both reactions were useless, however, because he couldn’t move. The attack wreaking havoc upon him seemed to have sent every muscle in his body into a rigor like spasm, making movement impossible.

Dark flames raced around the entire enclosure, quickly licking up the sides of the crater and setting the walls of vines ablaze. The unholy inferno created a surreal tableau fit for the nether world, made complete by the dark, seething visage of Nasser standing enshrouded but untouched by his own flames. Warping heat waves distorted his shape and his long dark hair stirred around his face as if floated by some unseen wind. His clothes were torn in places and the blood staining them was black in the strange light. His beautiful face was dark with fury and his eyes burned like twin embers. His shape had not actually changed, but somehow there was nothing at all human about him. At this moment he could easily have passed for the prince of darkness.

Zero certainly felt like he was in hell as Nasser’s power seared through his body and his vines, literally devouring him from all sides. He was trying to fight back, but he couldn’t. It was all he could do to not let the protective barrier around them fall as the inner layers were viciously burned away. The charmed circles that the hunters had built around them outside helped him a little, but it wasn’t going to be enough for long. The fire had only been burning for a few moments, but Zero already knew that a few moments more was all it was going to take. He could feel it consuming him, burning away all other sensation and leaving him in a screaming agony of torment that would lead swiftly to death.

Kaname had been right. Nasser was incredibly powerful to be able to attack this strongly after having taken as many anti-vampire wounds as he had. Strong as Zero was, he couldn’t fight him alone. Nasser was going to kill him.

Fortunately, Zero wasn’t fighting alone. He suddenly felt a soothing wave surge over him, as if someone had thrown a comforting, icy blanket over the flames, smothering them. Radiating from where his body was still pressed against Kaname’s, the sensation pushed back against the fire. A blessed coolness caressed his burning skin and relief began to flow through his veins as a second power reared up to challenge the first for dominance over this little circle of hell.

The dark flames feeding on the ex-human quivered and died out. Leaning against Kaname’s back, Zero could feel the strength radiating from his lover as Kaname obviously threw himself into the breach, pitting his will against that of the older pureblood across from them.

Kaname pressed back against Nasser’s brutal attack with everything he had. No more games now, no more politics and maneuvering. The train had well and truly left the tracks and they were past the point of no return. If he couldn’t win this fight, they were dead. With great effort, Kaname grappled Nasser’s will with his own, wresting away control over part of the area about them. The flames behind and around the younger pureblood on his and Zero’s side of the enclosure hissed and fizzled out.

Nasser’s will was thick and cutting. Fighting it was like struggling to make headway against a driving sandstorm of razors fit to strip you to the bone in minutes. Kaname threw himself into that storm, heedless of the pain. At this point, pain was a distraction he could not afford to countenance.

Nasser was bitterly strong, much stronger than even Kaname had suspected. This was not a battle of equals. The younger pureblood was now grimly aware that if Zero hadn’t managed to wound him first and Nasser had come at him full strength… there was no way he could have met him head to head. None.

He sliced and hacked at Nasser’s mental barriers and attacks, pouring even more strength into the effort. The flames were still burning Zero’s vines on Nasser’s side of the enclosure. Kaname was trying hard to put it out, not only because he knew that it was hurting Zero, but also because it was imperative that the boundary held. If this fight spilled back out into the open it would give Nasser the advantage and a lot of people would die. The two purebloods seemed to have hit an impasse however, and Kaname couldn’t cut through it.

Nasser chuckled darkly. “I’d worry less about maintaining our little playground here and more about how you think you’re going to try to take me, Kaname,” he crooned harshly. There was an edge of strain in his voice that slightly tempered his usual, mocking arrogance. Despite how he acted, he knew he was not as in control of this situation as he would like. He was also deeply vexed that things had turned out this way. He hadn’t intended to push a showdown with Kaname of this nature, not yet. He’d wanted to have more fun with him first, but they were beyond that now. His survival instincts had been engaged and now he had to kill him.

The trembling air warped sharply and Zero felt Kaname’s body tense and jerk against him. The younger pureblood curled forward slightly, one arm tightening around his middle, but he never took his burning gaze or his attention off his adversary. Zero felt his blood run cold as he looked down and saw the dark, twisted spike that had pierced completely through the left side of Kaname’s abdomen. The gnarled haft protruded from both the front and back of Kaname’s body and red blood seeped quickly out across his suit coat. Zero had no idea where that had even come from.

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna let him out,” Zero told Kaname through their mental connection as he focused with grim determination on strengthening the barrier around them, doggedly re-growing the vines behind Nasser as quickly as he burned them. The pain was blinding, but he could take it. Now that the flames weren’t working on him directly it wasn’t going to be fatal… at least not as quickly. “I’m good, I’ve got this. You take care of that bastard.” Zero knew that trying to fight on all fronts would wear Kaname down too quickly. If he could hold the boundary, then that gave Kaname more strength to focus on Nasser.

A slight nod was Kaname’s only response, but Zero could tell the pureblood trusted him to be able to do as he said because his own struggle suddenly became a lot more intense as Kaname refocused more of his energy elsewhere. The air warped again, but this time Kaname checked the incoming projectile in time, snapping it in two a few inches from his chest. Flipping both shards around in midair, he sent them sailing back towards Nasser. They burst into flames before they reached him, but Nasser’s eyes flickered darkly.

Stone-faced and as calm as if he were removing a splinter, Kaname pulled the first spike out of his body with one hand. Scarlet blood dripped from it, staining his fingers as he withdrew it like a sword from a sheath. Suddenly, the crimson flow began to change. Under Kaname’s unspoken command, it no longer ran as blood should but instead twisted itself like a living entity around the haft of the spike. As Kaname pulled the shaft free, the mutated blood hardened into the point of a wicked, multi-pronged spear.

Faster than a blink, Kaname launched it at Nasser and at the same time, Zero could have sworn something else seemed to detach from Kaname’s body like a living shadow flowing out of him, obscured and hidden by his motion, the crazy warping of the seething air and the clashing pureblood auras.

Again, the haft of the projectile burned up upon getting close to Nasser, but Kaname’s blood weapon was not so easily destroyed and Nasser was forced to dodge to avoid being impaled by it. He stepped backwards and suddenly Kaname was behind him as well as before him. Kaname’s shade duplicate was only solid from about the waist up, darkness flowing in vague strands from the incomplete areas. One shadowy arm wrapped around Nasser’s chest from behind while the other punched into his back, trying for his heart.

Nasser was caught off balance, but reacted quickly. He roared in pain as Kaname sliced into him and dark, dragon-like blood wings burst from his back. The scaly, razor edges of the unnatural wings thrust behind him, tearing Kaname’s shade to pieces before it could grasp his heart. The wings flared and then dissolved into a burst of flame that intensified the inferno around Nasser.

Kaname’s shade burst apart, dissolving and reforming into a dark cloud of bats who dived and clawed at Nasser in a swirling mass and before quickly flowing back into Kaname’s body at the same time that Nasser crossed the distance between them.

The fact that Nasser hadn’t brought the fight in close until now indicated how bad off he was, but when he moved it was still plenty faster than sight. Nasser slammed into Kaname, his strong fingers curling around the younger vampire’s throat in a crushing grip. Kaname grabbed Nasser’s throat in return, nails digging into the flesh as their wills and auras slammed into one another. The collision shook the small crater in which they were all standing and propelled the two purebloods up into the air.

Kaname was wrenched out of Zero’s grip and the hunter had to let him go. Zero fell to his knees, fists clenching as he strained with all his might to contain the rolling shockwaves of the purebloods’ battle. He’d never used his power this strenuously before. It was draining him to the max, but there was simply no way he was going to let himself fail now. It just wasn’t an option.

Zero leaned forward, breathing hard and pressing his palms against the ground to get a better connection with the earth. If he could spin more of his vines from the natural substances around them rather than directly from his own body it was easier and he took less damage from their destruction. The air was thick and scorched and it was beginning to become difficult to breathe. Perspiration ran into his eyes and he blinked it away as he craned his neck upwards, gaze seeking the battle above.

The two purebloods whirled and circled in the air, striking and clawing at one another in a fierce, levitating battle that was as much mental as it was physical. They were dangerously close to the canopy of thorns overhead and both were attempting to fling the other onto the sharp, anti-vampire nettles which had grown as long as daggers.

Nasser pressed close to Kaname as they grappled. “You do think you can take me, right?” he half purred, half growled. “This wasn’t just… an accident?” he taunted, knowing it was. “Because you know what happens when you challenge me and you’re not up to the fight.”

The elder pureblood leaned harshly on the part of Kaname’s senses that were still vulnerable to him, head diving down as if he were trying for the younger vampire’s throat. Kaname jerked sideways, but Nasser had been feinting and he captured the other pureblood’s mouth instead. Grabbing the hair at the base of Kaname’s neck he jerked the young man’s head back, opening Kaname’s mouth enough to push his tongue in while his thigh jammed between Kaname’s legs as they circled in the air. Nasser’s fangs were extended and it was a brutal, tearing mockery of a kiss, meant to remind Kaname of everything he knew the boy didn’t want to remember.

The revulsion and unforgivable thrill of fright that ripped through Kaname unsettled him for only a moment, but it was a moment he couldn’t afford. Nasser’s fist caught him in the side of the head, crushing his skull and sending blinding pain shooting through him. The damage to Kaname’s brain momentarily shorted out his motor functions and he couldn’t react as Nasser threw him backwards, directly into the wicked wall of 12-inch thorns behind them with enough force to drive the anti-vampire spikes completely through his body and his heart.

Only the thorns weren’t there a second later when Kaname impacted the canopy with a bone-crunching jolt. Instead the pseudo-organic tangle had morphed into a soft, smooth mass of leafy creepers which cushioned his impact, reaching out to catch and support the reeling, bleeding vampire so he didn’t drop to the ground.

Nasser hadn’t counted on Zero being able to manipulate his creations after their initial formation. If Zero had built more of the original canopy out of the earth rather than his own body, the pureblood would have been right, but although Zero had used the elements around them to an extent and was now pulling on them much more heavily, he had spun a lot of himself into the initial foundation of this enclosure; he hadn’t had time to do otherwise. In reality, he’d spun out more of himself then was safe and it was placing a significant strain on his body, but it also gave him much greater control than otherwise.

Zero breathed through his mouth, fingers curled so hard against the dirt they were white and bloodless. He was painfully over-extended, but refused to acknowledge that.

The damage to Kaname’s head was not hunter made, nor was it a complete crush wound. As such, it would not kill him, but it was still serious. The pureblood’s body sprawled in the embrace of the canopy, cradled by the foliage supporting him. His head slumped limply to the side, dark hair fanned upon the silver-green leaves which were now heavily spattered with the crimson of his blood. His eyes fluttered open and he fought desperately to bring the sickeningly swimming world into focus. He was coming around quickly, but it was going to take a few moments yet for him to begin to heal enough to regain control of his body.

Nasser obviously had no intention of letting him have that time. He hissed in irritation at having his plans thwarted by their obviously biased surroundings and dived for the younger vampire.

Thorn-laced, ropy vines as thin and biting as barbed wire shot out from all angles of the canopy in front of Kaname like a glistening, deadly spider’s web, blocking Nasser’s path and forcing the other pureblood to snap back in order to keep from dashing himself against them. Unfortunately for Nasser, the same kind of vines had appeared behind him as well and in reversing course he smacked into them, the barbs tearing through clothing and skin.

Nasser’s furious gaze snapped down towards the ex-human crouching on the floor below who had by now, very literally, become quite a thorn in his flesh.

Zero’s eyes burned and his fangs were bared as he glared up at Nasser from where he knelt. He was trembling and it was impossible to tell if it was with rage, weariness, or both. “Keep your filthy hands off him you freaking son of a bitch!” the hunter snarled. He’s mine, the murderously protective glare declared, and I will protect him with every last breath in my body.

At any other time having this ex-human actually challengehim over anything, let alone the right to possess Kaname would have been amusingly ludicrous. Right at this moment, it made Nasser completely livid. His focus should have been on Kaname, but Zero had so utterly pissed him off that the need to deal with that annoying little maggot moved to the top of his priority list.

Aido stared at buzzing white static dominating the television screen. Somehow, what was left of the popcorn was now all over the bed. He wasn’t sure how that had happened, actually, and he didn’t particularly care.

What. The. Hell?

He could hardly understand what he’d seen before the TV feed had cut out. Kaname and Nasser, the destruction of the courtyard, the very familiar shattering effect and then that – he had to admit it – incredibly awesome and completely unexpected display by Zero… had he thought this was going to be boring? Chalk one up for the “couldn’t be more wrong” category!

“Did everyone just see that?” he asked, trying to process it all and wishing his head didn’t feel like he was on drugs or something. Which he was, actually, but that was beside the point.

“I doubt it.” Seiren was on her feet. She turned off the television with a quick, concise movement, but Aido could tell she was agitated and shaken, much more so than was usual for her. “There are hunters on the scene. They know what they’re doing. The major networks probably went dark shortly after the windows started exploding. We were watching a private feed. The fact that it’s gone down too means they’ve EMP’ed the entire area.” She knew that the practice of knocking out all electronic recording, communication and even transportation devices via targeted EMP pulses was one of the hunters’ more recent tricks for containing the secret of vampire existence during incidents like this… except that there had never been an incident quite like this, of course. This wasn’t some level E who had gone mad on a commuter train or in a shopping plaza; this was a pureblood blowing his top on network television. This was very bad.

Aido pushed the covers off his lap and slid out of bed, grabbing for some of his clothes which had been moved into a dresser. He quickly shed his pajamas and tugged on jeans, shirt and shoes, apparently not caring at this juncture that Seiren was still present.

Seiren watched him quietly, a need for action written in every line of her body. Kaname was probably in as much danger as he’d ever been in and she had no eyes on the situation, no idea what was happening. She should be there damn it! But she also had her duty. Kaname had given her very specific orders and his orders were absolute. She was to stay with Aido and protect him; there was no getting around that. However… if she read the young scientist at all right, she had a feeling that Aido was about to take care of that issue for her. Occasionally, she decided, his impetuousness could be a good thing.

“Well, are you coming?” Aido said over his shoulder as he headed for the doorway. “We have to get over there!” He was worried about how long it was going to take. Crap… there would probably be traffic and guards and it wasn’t at all close by…

Seiren gave a small nod that would have been amused if she wasn’t so incredibly worried right now. “I concur. Leave the transportation to me.”

Aido gave her a quizzical look as Seiren suddenly stepped up to him and wrapped her strong, slender arms around his waist. He blinked. “Uhhhhh… not that this isn’t nice or anything, but…”

“Shut up,” the Praetorian murmured and Aido suddenly felt as if the ground had dropped out from under his feet, some inexorable force sucking him violently inward as the room disappeared into a blur of shapes and shadows.

Zero’s body tensed as he felt the intense pain of Nasser’s fire starting to bubble in his veins once more. Without Kaname running interference, he had no protection from that particular attack. The acidic heat seared his senses, locked his muscles and slowed his reflexes. He couldn’t react or trigger his vines fast enough as Nasser dropped to the earth behind him. Razor claws raked down his back, slicing his shirt and tearing jagged gouges across his shoulder blades and ribs. It was meant to hurt more than injure, and it did, terribly.

Zero tried to rise and failed. Dark flames burst out across his body again, not quite as intense as they had been last time, but still quite agonizing enough to make his muscles seize, leaving him essentially paralyzed as Nasser knelt swiftly behind him and pulled the boy in against his chest. He tipped Zero’s head back against his shoulder, exposing his neck, and ran a bloodied hand down the ex-human’s vulnerable throat. A dark spike appeared in Nasser’s other hand.

Zero could only just see the wicked barb out of the corner of his eye. It looked a lot like the ones Nasser had used against Kaname earlier and he still didn’t know where they come from. If given time to think about it he would probably have suspected that Nasser was creating them from his blood or something of that nature, but Nasser was moving quickly and there was no time for any such thoughts. Almost as soon as it appeared, Nasser jammed the spike ruthlessly into the boy’s side and twisted it.

Zero screamed.

Cupping the underside of Zero’s chin, Nasser held his already paralyzed body firmly in place as he dug the spike deeper, rotating it cruelly in the bleeding wound. Already on the ragged edge of his pain tolerance, Zero couldn’t muffle his cries of agony any more than he could suppress the cold sweat breaking out across his skin beneath the surreal flames, or stop the helpless trembling of his battered body. His own helplessness was terrifying.

“Maybe you can finally be of some use to me,” Nasser purred in a poisonous tone. The reason behind his words and why he hadn’t stabbed the younger vampire somewhere a little more fatal became painfully clear a heartbeat later as Nasser’s hard fingers tilted Zero’s chin away from him and the pureblood’s hot, open mouth pressed against the exposed junction of the ex-human’s neck and shoulder.

Zero felt terror and anger war within him under the familiar, yet terrible sensation of fangs sinking into his flesh. His insides jolted, heart pounding sickeningly as the harsh rush of having his blood drawn pulsed through him. Nasser was going to eat him in order to regain some of the strength he had lost and there wasn’t a damn thing Zero could do about it. Nothing had really changed. He was as nauseatingly helpless as he had been years ago; the last time a pureblood vampire had paralyzed him, ravaged his neck and taken away everyone he loved.

Nasser was injured and in a hurry, he wasn’t wasting time guarding much and Zero could almost his feel his malevolent intentions. He could feel as clear as any verbal threat that Nasser intended to take care of Kaname as soon as this little nuisance was out of his way. That brought Zero’s anger right to its limit, smothering the nauseating thrills of fear. His senses winked dangerously, but hatred and fury seethed in his chest, eclipsing everything, even the pain. He would not lose Kaname as he’d lost his family. He would not fail him as he’d failed them. Fury gave him strength.

Things had changed. He had changed. He was smarter now and twice as stubborn. He couldn’t free himself, he couldn’t save himself, he knew that, but he’d sure as hell continue clogging Nasser’s wheels whether he lived or died. Zero refused to give into terror and didn’t burn out his strength fighting an impossible battle against Nasser’s hold on him. Instead he let his energy flow outward into the vines around them so that even if he died, they would remain for a while – hopefully long enough to give Kaname a chance. He knew Kaname would lose it if their bond broke, but if this was their end it would sure as hell be Nasser’s too. Zero would do what he could to make sure that Kaname could take this bastard down with them. He pushed himself out into his creations, his senses suddenly weirdly aware of things beyond his body – the taste of earth, the feel of stone, the sensation of a warm breeze.

The entire attack had only taken moments. Perhaps thinking he had more time, or simply too single-minded in his anger and his need to feed, Nasser didn’t notice the incoming threat until it was almost too late. A concussive wave of force like an invisible fist slammed the pureblood backwards, away from Zero. It would have thrown him into the wall if Nasser hadn’t managed to check himself just in time and end up skidding to a halt in an undignified heap on the ground instead.

Kaname had recovered.

He landed beside Zero even as Nasser went flying, catching the ex-human before he could fall and smothering the flames licking at him with a touch. Zero slumped limply in his arms, free now, but too weakened to stay conscious. Nasser had only gotten a few swallows and the spike still jammed in Zero’s side was keeping the bleeding relatively contained for the moment. It wasn’t blood loss that was taking him under so much as the fact that his body simply couldn’t handle the overall strain it was being placed under.

Zero was fighting it, he was trying desperately to push back at the darkness and not leave Kaname alone here but he’d spent himself too hard and Nasser had hurt him too badly. His eyes slid shut and his body slackened in his lover’s grip.

For a moment, Kaname’s heart all but stopped. He somehow managed not to make a display of his fear and to keep half his attention on Nasser as he held Zero protectively to his chest and probed him with his senses. He was reassured to feel that the hunter was still alive and not actually as bad off as he had feared, all things considered.

Nasser was getting back to his feet and Kaname carefully laid Zero down on the ground, rising to face him. Kaname was surprised that the barrier around them still held even though Zero was unconscious. His lover must have poured a lot of himself into the vines before he passed out. Even in this state, Zero was fighting for him. Kaname could not let him down. He could not fail now. There was too much at stake.

Both purebloods had tasted one another’s power and they were more wary now. They eyed one another like cunning tigers locked in too small a cage, looking for the best opening through which to try their next pounce.

Icy hatred and disgust ruled the younger pureblood’s bloodied and disheveled features. He knew better than to let his concern for Zero cloud his ability to fight. He knew better than to show the terror that made his heart pound or his anguished guilt over the fact that Zero had been hurt because of his mistakes and lack of strength. Those were distractions he could not afford. Nasser played and fed upon his feelings and weaknesses. In order to make sure Zero stayed safe, he needed to divorce his emotions from this fight as much as possible and fight smart.

“You think you can protect him? You can’t even protect yourself. You’re weak Kaname. Look at me.” Nasser held his arms out to the side in a goading manner. He was breathing hard, but his voice was all arrogance. “Injured like this, and you still can’t beat me?” He shook his head. He was obviously attempting to provoke his opponent and Kaname wished it wasn’t working quite so well. “Of course, I could have told you that… oh wait… I did.” Nasser’s gaze was dark as he deliberately wiped Zero’s blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. “I warned you about challenging me. Now, I will have to kill you. But before I do I will take everything you hold dear, starting with that brat.” He pointed meaningfully at Zero’s sprawled form. “He’s really quite a tasty morsel for a ‘D.”

Kaname shifted smoothly in front of the unconscious boy, making it clear that Nasser was going to do that, quite literally, over his dead body. “No,” Kaname hissed coldly, his fangs flashing and his eyes burning. His hands had changed, fingers darkening into lengthened claws. “You are not taking anything more from me, ever again!”

A slight shifting of air was the only warning before the two were suddenly in motion again, fists, claws and powers clashing in a sizzling dazzle of energy and motion. There was at the same time something both graceful and bestial about their battle. They moved with the fluidity of aerobatic performers gliding and twirling in a world where gravity held no meaning and yet around the bursts of power and mental counter-attacks, they grappled, clawed and bit at one another like panthers in a cage-match.

Nasser was up to his old tricks of course. He groped and taunted Kaname every chance he got, but Kaname refused to fall for that a second time. Something in the younger pureblood’s heart had found its footing and grim determination lent a deadly calm to his motions. Nothing existed for Kaname outside this moment, this fight, and this opponent. Nothing in the world mattered now except victory. Victory at any cost.

Aido reeled as the world coalesced around him only to dissolve again time after time. It was a dizzying blur of half-formed, stop-motion images. A country road shrouded in the shrill of insects and the growl of car engines. The stained, tar-paper roof of a gas station and the roar of an industrial air conditioning unit. A parking lot. Another roof, this one covered in gravel. Trees. A park. A startled child, a barking dog. The road again, the blare of a truck horn…

When a long, grassy field appeared and actually stayed under his feet instead of dissolving immediately, Aido dropped to his knees and promptly threw up. That would have been awkward if Seiren had still been in front of him, but fortunately she seemed to have expected that kind of reaction and was now a few feet away. She was kneeling too, her face grey and lined with strain.

Aido wobbled, supporting himself on hands and knees and just managing not to soil himself as he retched onto the long, unkempt grass. “Y-you’re a-a teleporter!” he half wheezed, half accused once he had tenuous control of his stomach again. He obviously hadn’t known that, although it explained a lot about her uncanny ability to just show up places you could swear she hadn’t been a moment before. “Why the heck didn’t you ever say anything? We all thought…”

Seiren pushed back to her feet, her fists curled in determination. “That I didn’t have a power, I know,” she said simply. “It is always better if your enemy underestimates you and cannot plan for a counter attack.” Her life was to be unseen, to live in the shadows and count on the element of surprise. It had been her choice to hide her ability from everyone but Kaname and use it in secret or only at need. She knew that other nobles assumed she was of a lower or common class as a result, but that didn’t matter. Doing her job was what mattered. Besides, her ability wasmuch more limited than that of someone like Aido. Initially, she’d not been able to manage more than just going from one room to another without feeling like she’d pass out. That was not the kind of thing you told anyone about.

It was Kaname who had helped her train her skills and endurance until it became more useful. Her mild teleportation held some elements in common with his much more powerful ability to travel via shade forms and he’d taught her how to keep her mind and her energy protected when she jumped so it didn’t dissipate into the ether and drain her so quickly. He’d started working with her when they were still fairly young. She knew he had done it because he wanted her to eventually be able to jump in and out of the Ichijo manor so she could come to him there without old man Ichijo’s knowing. It was only natural that she was more useful to him if she was stronger and better skilled, but he had never disdained her for her weakness and there had been a gentleness in his tutoring that merely served to further solidify her absolute devotion to him.

“Geez!” Aido gasped, wiping his mouth shakily on his sleeve. “First Kiryu goes all super-vamp and now you turn up with this… any other little surprises I should know about?”

“I would not make a comparison,” she said simply, being honest, not modest. “What he did was very… surprising.” She had actually known about Zero’s power, she had seen Kaname training him in the early days and was aware of the intense sparring matches in which they liked to participate. Still, she’d had no idea that his strength was anywhere near the level he’d just demonstrated.

“My abilities are far more ordinary.” She pushed a strand of hair behind one ear and Aido realized her skin was damp with perspiration. “I can only do short distances and more than a couple times in a row takes a lot out of me. Cross country like this is…” she shrugged, drawing a deep, steadying breath. “Only for emergencies.”

Aido read between the lines and realized that she meant doing this was grueling and draining her steeply. Probably why she’d needed to take a little break… or else perhaps she’d guessed that Aido had needed to throw up and didn’t want him doing it on her mid-jump. It was, however, significantly faster than even running at vampire speed would have been, and that was what mattered right now.

A moment later her arms were back around him and they were off again.

The muscles and tendons in Nasser’s right arm re-attached with great difficulty. Kaname had just about lopped both his arms off in the last attack. Nasser’s hunter injuries were slowing him down, but he was still compensating fairly swiftly. The uncomfortable truth was, however, that Kaname was much too dangerous an opponent in his current state. He needed to get an advantage, and soon. He wished they weren’t trapped in such a small space, it would be better if they had the whole city to play across. His opponent had a weak spot for humans. Knock down a few skyscrapers, level a pre-school or two and perhaps he could have distracted Kaname a bit with all the collateral damage.

At least with the hunter out, their surroundings were a little more equally dangerous to both vampires, small mercy though that was. Hovering up near the top of the damnable canopy, Nasser broke off half a dozen of the long, wicked thorns growing there and launched them at Kaname.

Kaname dogged the volley easily, but as Nasser sent another wave of projectiles, alarm tugged at his mind. Nasser wasn’t a stupid enemy. He was not going to keep trying something he already knew wasn’t effective. Realizing he was being distracted, Kaname only just had time to realize that while Nasser feigned attacking him from the front, the other pureblood had used his mental power to sheer off an entire wall of the deadly thorns behind the pureblood.

The thorns were already in motion and Kaname’s stomach dropped into his toes… because they weren’t heading for him. They were heading like deadly rain of arrows towards where Zero’s still, unresponsive body lay on debris strewn earth below.

Kaname knew what Nasser was doing. The older pureblood had found both his strength and his weakness. It was obvious Kaname wanted to protect Zero. Now he would have to decide just how much he was willing to sacrifice to do so. This was a trap of some kind and the only way to avoid it would be to let Zero die.

Naturally, that wasn’t an option.

Kaname blasted a destructive, sheeting wind of razors at the missiles, shredding most of them instantly. Kaname could only hope this wasn’t hurting Zero too much, since the thorns were from his vines, but he had no choice. Unfortunately, Nasser had anticipated Kaname’s counter move and Kaname found that the elder pureblood simply shifted his focus, whipping about all the broken bits of thorn with bullet-like velocity and turning them into weapons even more deadly than before. At the same time, Kaname caught another flicker motion, a second volley of thorns being brought in for an attack, but these spikes did not fall in an a wave, instead they scattered, dancing, avoiding him, coming in from all angles under the guidance of Nasser’s quick mind.

Kaname landed so he was standing protectively over Zero, his mind smoothly racing to counter the threat, striking away the incoming projectiles of all sizes with prodigious speed. He understood Nasser’s game now. He was keeping Kaname’s focus distracted, forcing the pureblood to track and calculate thousands variables every instant so he wouldn’t have time to figure out what the next gambit would be.

He prodded Zero through their mental connection, trying to get the boy to stir. He got the vague impression that Zero was there right under the surface, but not yet able to regain consciousness. He would probably come to soon… but only if Kaname could make sure he stayed alive long enough. Kaname would not admit to himself that there was any doubt about his ability to do that, but countering this hurricane of tiny, swirling weapons was draining. He knew he couldn’t keep it up indefinitely, so he shifted tactics.

With one raw burst of power, Kaname attempted to completely vaporize everything in the immediate area. It was tricky because he had to contain the destruction enough so that it didn’t touch Zero or the vines of the enclosure around them and only destroyed the attacking cloud Nasser was creating. Kaname couldn’t quite catch everything, but he caught enough.

Nasser frowned, wincing at the force of Kaname’s blast. He hadn’t expected the boy to be able to do that. Kaname was strong and annoyingly skilled. However… Nasser smelt blood in the air and knew that his efforts had not been totally wasted.

Kaname’s breathing seemed loud in his own ears in the sudden, momentary stillness. Pain radiated hot and bright through his body. He’d eliminated the threat, but at a cost. Several of the larger thorns had made it through and lay scattered about his feet. One had cut a nasty gash along his side, and the other had embedded itself deep in his shoulder. Shit.

Kaname felt the hunter poison burn into his veins, weakness creeping into his limbs. He quickly grabbed the thorn and pulled it out of his shoulder, but the damage was already done. The wound did not mend.

Nasser pounced. Kaname dodged and slashed, but he could feel his motions slowing, his ability draining away from him under the interference of the hunter-made injuries. He couldn’t imagine how Nasser could have taken as many poisoned wounds as he already had and still keep going like this. The true differences in their ages and levels of power were showing and Kaname felt sickeningly like some kind of child compared to his opponent. For someone who was accustomed to being the strongest person in any situation he entered, even amongst his own kind, it was not a pleasant sensation.

It was hardly a surprise, however. Kaname had figured out he was physically outmatched the moment the fight started, yet victory did not always go to the strongest. He had to be smart. If he was going to survive, he had to out-scheme his opponent, difficult task though that was. The young pureblood had already started to come up with a desperate, frightening plan… he just didn’t like it much. Unfortunately, it looked like he wasn’t going to have any other options.

Nasser was well aware that he was in the grimmest struggle for his life he’d ever faced and he did not let up on Kaname for a moment. Exhaustion and pain was rippling through him in distracting waves, but he forced himself to make use of his superior resilience and endurance in order to continue pounding on Kaname’s defenses. He peppered his opponent in a whirlwind of attack, focusing on Zero so that Kaname was tied down in place and unable to physically stray too far without putting the unconscious ex-human at risk.

Kaname’s responses were slowing as the hunter poison did its job. Nasser pressed hard and ruthless, giving no quarter – he could not afford to. He’d severely underestimated Kaname’s strength. This child who had been alive a mere breath of time and barely fed from any of his own kind was forcing Nasser to fear for his very life. It was unthinkable. It was unforgivable. It was exhilarating.

Maybe this was what Nasser had wanted, after all. A challenge. Something new. Something that took the certainty out of life again and made him feel alive. Could you really feel alive after so long, if the shadow of death never crossed your path? Maybe it was what he’d wanted, but he also wanted to win. Challenge was no good if you didn’t overcome it. He couldn’t possibly let this brat beat him! Survival instinct was in full gear and Nasser bore down hard on his enemy despite his own failing health.

Kaname reeled as one of Nasser’s attacks managed to slip through, ripping through his chest and damaging his lungs. Breathing suddenly became hard, blood filling his lungs. He fought to compensate, gagging on blood in the back of his throat. Nasser slammed into him and they went down.

Trapped on his back, Kaname struggled and punched at Nasser almost automatically, willing himself to move as he fought to seal up the injuries. His body wasn’t healing naturally, but Kaname was finding that he could partially force it to mend the most important bits if he bent his will upon it hard enough. That was probably what Nasser had been doing all this time, Kaname had simply never realized it was possible before. Desperation was a quick teacher. The poison was slowing him, but it hadn’t completely stripped his abilities even though he’d gotten a fairly sizable dose. In the past it would have, but fortunately for Kaname his constant sparring with Zero and frequent exposure to low doses of the hunter’s particular brand of poison over the years had given him a higher resistance to it.

Nasser punched a knee into his gut and Kaname struggled to keep the world in focus. One hand gripped Nasser’s torn collar tightly while the other tried to claw him. Nasser knocked his hand to the ground, and Kaname felt something sharp under his fingers.

“It’s… too bad… Kaname,” Nasser panted, grinding down hard against the body beneath him in an attempt to keep his opponent pinned. “I didn’t want it to end like this.” There was some actual regret in the words. “You have… no idea… what you might have become.” When they first met, Nasser had fancied he’d seen himself in Kaname. He’d found someone as strong and clever as he had been when he was young. But he’d been wrong, the boy was much stronger. If Kaname had lived as long as he, and fed as well as he had, he would be a true terror. He could hold the world in his hand uncontested.

Nasser’s ragged breath brushed Kaname’s cheek and neck. “You could have been a god.“

Kaname’s dark smile was mirthless as he struggled to breathe around the much too slowly mending gashes in his lungs. His fingers traced the sharp edges of the object his hand had come upon. Realizing what it was, he closed his fist around it. The rough edges dug into his fingers, making them burn. He clenched it tighter. “No,” he returned with a grimly knowing look in his eyes. “People like you and I, Nasser, we’re only fit to be devils.”

Nasser felt unexpected pain spike through him as Kaname drove something sharp and biting up into the elder pureblood’s gut. It was one of the broken, dagger like thorns which Nasser had used in his earlier attack. Kaname dragged the improvised blade swiftly upwards as if gutting a fish. Nasser caught the boy’s wrist only just in time, managing to stop him before Kaname got to his heart. Wresting Kaname’s hand back over his head and wrenching the weapon from him with the force of the movement, Nasser spun the thick thorn around and drove it into the center of Kaname’s palm. The hard thrust drove it through his hand and deep into the earth, pinning the younger vampire’s arm by his head. Kaname didn’t cry out, or even change his cold, deadly expression, but you could see the pain in his eyes.

Holding Kaname’s wrist down with one hand, Nasser’s other clawed hand pressed dangerously against his chest. A fanged mouth went for Kaname’s throat, but Kaname countered with a harsh head-butt to Nasser’s face, keeping the bite from connecting. Then Kaname did something that completely caught his opponent by surprise. The younger pureblood grabbed Nasser’s chin with his free hand, leaned his head up and kissed Nasser, hard.

Aido’s feet shifted in uneasy alarm on the thin strip of stone as he realized they had materialized on a decorative window ledge some twenty or thirty stories above the ground. The ledge acted as a ornamental sill for a row of windows which ringed the upper floors of a large, dignified looking building. Far below them, Aido could see a familiar scene of destruction spread out across what had once been a stately courtyard. It was like the last images they’d seen on the television minutes before, only the damage was even worse when viewed in person.

There was an odd calm hanging upon the uneasy scene. The ground shook and rumbled occasionally. The air around the tangled mass of vines in the center of the courtyard buzzed with row after row of hunter charms and seals. A mismatched chorus of car alarms bleated plaintively from a good distance away, but there was very little sound from nearer at hand other than a low murmur of voices. It seemed unnaturally quite for such devastation.

Aido’s shoes slipped on the narrow ledge. The ground appeared to be impossibly far away all of a sudden. He started to yelp, but Seiren pushed him back against the wall, her hand clamping firmly over his mouth before he could make a sound. She surveyed the situation below them with a quick, practiced eye. Her body was positioned so it shielded Aido from the courtyard in case they were spotted or in case this was some kind of trap. She was responsible for his safety and she took that as seriously as she took everything about her job.

Aido had the sense not to struggle with her, or maybe he was still dizzy from their trip out here, but she could feel his hand moving against her palm as if he were trying to speak. Seiren turned back to him and made a firm gesture for silence before removing her hand from his mouth.

“Quiet, we do not want the hunters to ascertain our presence,” she warned in a low whisper, her breath brushing against the blonde’s ear. An impressive number of hunters and tamed ‘D’s had this entire block already cordoned off. Only her ability to hop she and Aido in here had enabled them to get through without being spotted or having to fight.

“We have to do something!” Aido hissed back, not obeying her wish for silence, but at least keeping his voice pitched to a barely audible whisper.

Seiren fixed him with a level stare and Aido felt his panicky agitation settle down into something more akin to reason as he saw that those slate eyes held just as much urgency as his own, although fortified with far more restraint. “What, exactly, Aido-san?” the praetorian returned quietly. “What exactly do you think we can do against a pureblood vampire other than become more hindrances that Kaname-sama will have to either protect or sacrifice?”

Aido didn’t have an answer for that. He knew how useless it was for them as lower class vampires to think of baring their fangs at a pureblood. Seiren was right, they would just get in Kaname’s way, yet doing nothing seemed appalling. “But Zero…”

“Kiriyu is different from us,” Seiren cut him off. She hadn’t understood that herself until today, but after what they had seen, it was obvious. “He does not appear to have the same compulsion to obey. We can only hope that he is able to be of help.” Seiren knew that if he wasn’t, then Kaname was probably lost because he had his largest vulnerability in there with him. She knew he would protect Zero to the determent of all else, even himself. Normally, this fact was part of what made Seiren unhappy with the arrangement of having Zero act as Kaname’s bodyguard. But after this amazing display of power today… she found herself being more hopeful then pessimistic. Kiriyu was full of surprises.

“He will,” Aido said with quiet certainty. “He will protect Kaname-sama if he can.” And if he can’t, he’ll die trying. Aido knew that for a fact, and it made his chest burn for both parties involved. Please be okay.

He glanced back down towards the shattered, vine tangled courtyard, but that was a mistake because it reminded him of where they were standing and the world whirled giddily about him. Aido was not normally afraid of heights and he wasn’t afraid of them now either, but his center of balance was off because of his illness and looking down from this high, narrow vantage point made his head spin with vertigo, scrambling his ability to tell where exactly he was in space. He wavered dizzily, pressing himself back hard against the wall behind him as his face paled.

Seiren’s strong, slender forearm snapped across his chest, pinning him to the wall and keeping him safely in place. “You are not well,” she said softly. “I should not have brought you here.” Kaname had charged her with Aido’s safety, that was her overriding mission right now; no matter how worried she was about her master she could not let herself fail in her duties.

Aido closed his eyes, breathing quickly through his mouth until the vertigo eased. He scowled as he carefully blinked his eyes open again, pretending that he wasn’t very glad for the reassuring contact of Seiren’s body anchoring him in space and keeping him from feeling like he might free-fall at any moment. “I’m fine,” he growled. “And if I’m not, what does it matter?” he added, seeing her obvious skepticism. “I don’t care. There has to be something we can do!”

“Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t,” Seiren said slowly, her mind obviously already racing through many different thoughts and options. “But rushing in like fools will only hinder. You’re supposed to be some kind of genius, right? Surely you must understand the concept of thinking before you act.”

That was debatable, but Aido nodded anyway. “Right, right… okay, we need to be smart about this.” He swallowed, trying to think around the burning lump of his alarm and fear for Kaname… and Zero. He tried to breathe deeply, glancing in incomprehension at the destruction around them. He felt broken glass grind against the concrete ledge under his feet as he shifted. Breathing carefully, he forced himself to look down again, managing to get through the vertigo a little better this time.

The courtyard was full of people. At first glance they all appeared to be hunters, but after a moment Aido noticed a familiar flash of auburn hair. Kain was down there, along with Ruka, Takuma and Shiki. The hunters had them ringed with armed guards, a sight which made Aido feel distinctly uneasy. There was no sign of anyone else who had been at the press conference earlier. The other vampire and human spectators must already have been evacuated or temporarily sedated.

“More hunters are arriving,” Seiren noted quietly, seeing a new wave of over a dozen armed men and women entering the courtyard at a run. “They already have this whole area under a blackout bubble. They’ll try to contain this, to keep it from leaking even if that means mass memory wipes, but it won’t be easy. They are not going to be pleased.”

Aido finally started to understand that Seiren was focusing on the hunters because they were a possible threat to Kaname that she had some chance of helping with, unlike Nasser who was outside her league. It was an unpleasant shock when the full meaning of her words sunk in and he realized why she was concerned about the hunter presence and whether they were happy or not. Oh shit… Kaname’s going to be in trouble with them now, isn’t he?

Aido shook his head. “This is really bad. We have to figure out what happened. Kaname-sama wouldn’t just attack like this without a very good reason,” he opined thoughtfully. “Not with all these people around. Ardon-sama obviously said something to him, but I mean… just words… it couldn’t have made him lose it this badly.”

Seiren’s eyes were curiously dark. “Do not be so certain,” she said quietly. “You don’t know Ardon-sama.”

Aido caught the undercurrent in her tone. “You do?”

The dark blankness was still there in her slate grey eyes. She would never have spoken of any of this if she did not think it was relevant to the situation at hand and even so, she would only say so much. “Not personally, no. Nor do I wish to. But he and Kaname-sama have had unpleasant dealings in the past. I failed to protect Kaname-sama from him and I fear that he paid for my incompetence, even though he survived. My own life would have been small recompense, but he refused to take it. You know the kind of person Kaname-sama is.” Her words were calm and measured, but Aido could tell that the memory of failure still burned her.

The blonde gave a small nod. Yes, he knew the kind of person Kaname-sama was – the kind who didn’t see others as objects to be used, discarded and punished when they did not serve him properly. The kind you wanted to follow, not because he was a pureblood, but because he was Kaname. Aido’s interest was captured by the information that the two purebloods had history. He had not known before. “When was that?” he inquired.

“After the death of Kaname-sama’s parents and before the formation of the Night Class,” Seiren answered simply.

Aido held back a surge of rage. So, in other words, she and Kaname had both been children. An old, powerful pureblood picking on a kid… lovely man, this Nasser.

“My point is that for a time, Ardon-sama seemed very interested in obtaining Kaname-sama as a protégé, against his wishes. My intelligence has never been able to penetrate very far into Ardon-sama’s dealings, but what I have gleaned indicates that he has continued to follow our lord’s career from afar all these years. We cannot afford to underestimate what he may know or what he may have done that could make him a threat to Kuran-sama.”

Something clicked in Aido’s head and it made him feel suddenly ill in a way that had nothing to do with his physical condition. “Something like Yuki’s death, maybe?” he said quietly.

Seiren frowned, blinking at him as if simultaneously surprised and struck by his sudden leap of logic – surprised by his uncanny ability to hit upon a chord of truth regarding matters he should have known nothing about and struck by the fact that it made a lot of sense. Seiren was aware of Kaname’s wager with Nasser and the information the other pureblood claimed to have, but she hadn’t thought to find relevance between that and this situation – until now.

“Think about it,” Aido said softly. He could see in Seiren’s eyes that she had already latched onto the same trail and was following it through even as he spoke. “A frontal attack in this setting is not rational; there are a hundred better ways for Kaname-sama to have come after Ardon-sama if he wanted a confrontation.” Aido knew that for a fact. He was aware of the chess game Kaname had played and won against Shizuka Hio some years back. He was sure Seiren probably was as well. If Kaname wanted to kill someone, he wouldn’t intentionally go about it in such a sloppy way.

“Ardon-sama provoked him, but how? What can you think of that could make him react this strongly when it puts him in such a bad situation? I can only think of two things that would make Kaname-sama behave irrationally: Zero Kiriyu and Yuki Cross. Zero was here, with Kaname, and mere threats wouldn’t have set him off, so…”

“So it has to have been about the Cross girl,” Seiren nodded. “That makes sense. Ardon-sama did claim to have information about her death.”

“He did?” Aido’s blue eyes were sharp, almost hard as he continued to put pieces together in his mind. He did not like the way they fit. “I think he killed her,” he whispered. He couldn’t be sure of course, but he was suddenly thinking about the data from Naija which he had been studying not long ago. If her information had been accurate and if he could confirm the theories he had been starting to form earlier… then he might just know why Yuki had been killed as she had and it might all finally make a completely dreadful and despicable kind of sense. That was all very speculative though and he wasn’t about to elucidate any further at the moment.

Seiren seemed less tossed by Aido’s leaping twists of logic this time, or at least she did not feel that now was the time to request an explanation. It was a definite possibility, even if she didn’t see how Nasser would have benefited from such an action. It would certainly explain Kaname’s loss of control. “Perhaps,” was all she said. “But if so, that does not help us much at the moment. That is not a reason that the hunters will accept, nor is it one that Kaname is likely to explain to them.”

They both glanced down towards the shattered courtyard again, squinting as yet another glowing circle of hunter charms sprang to life in an ever-widening circle around the tangled mass of vines in the center of the area. The knot of vines seemed to pulse as if it were a living organ – a giant heart, beating with the reverberating thrum of whatever was happening inside. Aido and Seiren both knew that there was no use worrying about what happened afterwards if there was no afterwards, if Kaname and Zero didn’t survive whatever was happening in there right now, but those were thoughts that neither of them would voice.

Kaname kissed Nasser with an open mouth, their aroused fangs brushing and clacking against one another. He tasted a lingering hint of Zero’s blood on Nasser’s tongue and it was all he could do to not let fury cloud his brain. Nasser obviously hadn’t expected him to initiate something like that and the surprise bought Kaname a few precious moments to recoup.

Nasser felt Kaname’s will coming up between them again, holding him off, not letting him get his mouth down to Kaname’s neck or allowing his fingers to puncture into the other pureblood’s chest. Obviously, Kaname’s intention was to distract him, which he had, but the damage was already done so Nasser allowed the kiss to linger for several long, intense moments, chasing Kaname’s head down when the other pureblood tried to pull away. Kaname was playing with fire if he thought he could use Nasser’s own tricks against him, and Nasser was only too happy to burn him for his trouble.

“Is that what you want, Kaname?” he growled, mauling the pureblood’s lower lip slowly as their wills pressed back and forth against one another, slipping and sliding urgently. Both of them were significantly weakened now. Both of them were vulnerable. There was something raw and exciting about the struggle, especially since Nasser figured he had the trump card in this match. He still had access to Kaname’s mind.

“You know it’s far too late now, for me to just punish you and let you go… but if you’re asking me for something…” the elder pureblood’s bloody smile was sardonic.

With a slippery yet ruthless thrust, he pushed into Kaname’s mind, a grim imitation of the other kind of violation he had enacted upon the younger vampire in the past. Kaname clawed at him fiercely, trying to push him out, but Nasser reached for those old memories which they shared, dragging them to the fore, sparking them to life and forcing Kaname to re-live them. He keyed the nerve centers in Kaname’s mind, making the sensations in those memories explode through him as if they were real, as if they were happening right now.

Kaname knew what Nasser was doing, he knew it wasn’treal, but it felt so damn real his injured body shook. Panic, pain and shame clawed at his consciousness.

The old trauma threw Kaname, unsettling his mental footing enough to allow Nasser to penetrate deeper, tearing him from the inside out. Reality fragmented sickeningly. He was on his back on the ground amidst the cratered ruins of the podium, but he was also on the bed back at Ichijo’s house… and the one in Nasser’s house… suddenly the agony in his mind was joined by a very real flare of pain from his body as Nasser’s hand slipped out of Kaname’s control plunged into his chest, cruel, talon-like fingers hooking around his heart.

Kaname grabbed Nasser’s forearm in a vice-grip with his good hand, preventing him from yanking the heart right out of his chest. Injured as he was, with hunter poison flowing through his veins, Kaname knew that would end him.

Kaname was in agony, but Nasser was weakened too. He had far more poison in him than the younger vampire and despite his obviously incredible strength; he couldn’t physically break free of Kaname’s death grip on his arm. The crushing force was making Nasser’s fingers numb and clumsy. He twisted his hand sharply, nails cruelly tearing inside Kaname’s chest.

The pain was staggering and although he didn’t scream, Kaname’s grip slipped slightly as the blinding agony intensified. Nasser yanked his arm back, out of the younger vampire’s body. Kaname twisted his wrist harshly at the last moment, the intense strength of the movement suggesting that his earlier slip might have been a feint. Nasser pulled his arm free, but came away with only a small part of Kaname’s heart.

Kaname’s blood was everywhere. The crimson liquid covered Nasser’s clothes and splashed his face. The world was red and rich and sticky. It brought forth the beast in Nasser’s dark eyes. Injured as he was, it could hardly fail to do so.

Kaname’s torn heart fluttered and contracted wildly, screaming pain and panic through him as his body tried to deal with the damage, tried to seal itself off enough to survive. Nasser hadn’t gotten enough of it to kill him outright, but the damage was severe. He couldn’t stop his opponent from plunging his hand back into his chest and trying to finish the job, but he grabbed Nasser’s arm again and this time, nothing the older vampire did could physically break Kaname’s iron grip.

Nasser’s eyes had gone wild, his face feral. His entire mouthful of fangs were fully unsheathed in a way that only purebloods could achieve, every tooth transformed to a glistening dagger point. He drove for Kaname’s neck. Kaname wrenched his other arm free from where it was pinned, ruthlessly ripping his hand up along the poisoned spike and allowing it to tear completely through his palm in order to get free. It hurt like hell, but not nearly as much as it would if Nasser got his fangs in him. Kaname pushed through the pain and forced his damaged fingers to work, grabbing Nasser’s throat and holding his opponent at arm’s length.

Nasser snarled and growled, but although Kaname could not seem to escape from beneath him, neither could Nasser jar free of his adversary’s restraining grip. They struggled and strained against one another, at a stalemate. Stymied physically, Nasser predictably leaned on Kaname’s mind again, seeking to break him from the inside.

He pounded the ugly memories in the younger vampire’s head, using them to ruthlessly violate Kaname all over again.

Kaname grit his teeth, his body squirming under the phantom assault. In the fractured world of the mind it was like being trapped in his nightmares. It resembled a past reality, but it was being shaped by Nasser’s ruthless will in the present. It was both horrible and surreal.

There was the sobbing boy on the bed again, the one that had haunted his dreams for years…

He recoiled instinctually and he felt Nasser pressing closer, the fist in his chest twisting dangerously. Kaname stopped. He forced himself not to retreat, not to run from the horror. Those were the reactions of a hurt, frightened child and that was not who he was. Not anymore. He would run no longer. The hurts of the past only controlled him if he let them control him.

Kaname faced the ghostly specter head on. He forced the painful scene into focus in his mind. The agony and the horror were all there, intense and familiar like every other time he had lived this nightmare even before he had realized that it was more than just a bad dream. Yet one thing… one thing was subtly different. He didn’t utterly hate the boy on the bed anymore. Something in him, something that felt vaguely like a lingering echo of Zero’s touch in his mind, allowed him to forgive the crying child for being weak and to instead hate the dark figure over him.

Nasser ground the phantom scene into him harshly and Kaname accepted it. He let Nasser make it real enough to taste, touch and feel. He accepted the truth that could not be changed. The figure before him was not some nameless stranger, not some random creation of his nightmares. It hadn’t happened to someone else. It had happened to him. He was the boy on the bed. As he consciously accepted that and stopped trying to distance himself from it, his perspective shifted. The fragmented parts of his psyche that had long tried to hide from one another in his unconscious effort to obscure the truth seemed to somehow draw back together, gaining an unexpected strength from their newfound wholeness. He wasn’t looking at the scene anymore, he was inside it. He was part of it. He embraced it. He let himself feel the hurt and the shame and even the horrible pleasure of it throbbing through him.

You feared the unknown. You feared the possibility that the shadow on the wall might be a monster. But once you knew it was, once you lived the nightmare, it was no longer unknown, was it? Kaname had already gone through this hell and survived, where was the terror in it now? Nasser had already done all this to him. Nasser had hurt and used him, had even taken someone he loved dearly away from him. What was there left to fear?

Kaname felt himself scrubbed back and forth against the illusionary bed, his body on fire from conflicting sensations. Nasser was over him, holding his suddenly smaller, younger body down and thrusting into him ruthlessly.

Kaname didn’t fight the vision. Didn’t waste his strength battling Nasser’s will and desire to dominate him. Instead he added to the scene. He pushed his own memories into it, fueling it, letting it become more and more concrete in the mental space that the two enemies were cohabitating.

Nasser grabbed Kaname’s knees, pushing them back; rocking his hips up higher… but it was Kaname who had fed that memory in. He certainly had enough of them. The more Kaname added to the scene, the more intense the sensations became and yet at the same time, the more control he gained over the pseudo environment.

This was not a true memory, nor was it reality – if it resembled anything, it most resembled a vivid, shared dream. Like any dream, Kaname found that if you were aware you were asleep… you could start to impact what happened.

The chains around Kaname’s wrists dissolved when he tugged on them. His arms slid down to curl around Nasser’s back as if in embrace. He’d done this once, and although that time had nearly destroyed him, it now enabled him to make it real in this shadow world.

He physically felt Nasser’s body against him and inside him – hard, hot and plundering. The smooth, hated mouth was warm and moist as sucked and nipped at his chest. Nasser growled and shuddered, and Kaname knew that he could feel it too.

Nasser could feel it too.

Inside the fractured dream world, the eyes of the illusionary young Kaname hardened with a predatory glint. He pushed against Nasser, growling seductively; running his nails down the older vampire’s back and making him shudder again. The other pureblood held Kaname down hard, grabbing his knees and spreading them wide, pushing them back to his chest, driving pleasure and pain into him with brutal and yet almost mindless need.

In actuality, Nasser had never been quite this way with Kaname in the past. He’d been brutal and even wild, but he had always been very much in control. Now, that control was absent. Nasser was currently heavily vamped out and that carried through into this illusion. He was behaving as a creature of instinct and desire, giving rein to that base nature at his core which drove him, but which he usually tempered with calculating reason.

Nasser needed to possess, to claim, to destroy… but he seemed to be momentarily forgetting where they truly were. Both purebloods were equally lost in this false reality now. Nasser had created it, but by using Kaname’s own memories against him he’d built it upon a foundation which the younger pureblood intrinsically owned. Then he had foolishly allowed Kaname build it up with him.

He expected Kaname to be hurt and paralyzed, perhaps even mentally destroyed… but he critically underestimated his opponent’s mental fortitude. Maybe if Kaname had not already once lived these dark memories with Zero by his side, holding him together through the trauma, it would have had the effect Nasser wanted, but not now. Kaname was done being a victim. He would, however, gladly use Nasser’s misconceptions against him.

Kaname groaned as if in ecstasy, squirming desperately at the sensations flooding him, intentionally letting Nasser see weakness in him. Nasser took advantage of that, as Kaname knew he would. He took Kaname painfully deep and Kaname gasped, arms tightening around the older vampire. He buried his face against Nasser’s neck, not pushing him away but instead pulling him in deeper… and then deeper still.

Nasser’s was cruelly amused by how much Kaname seemed to unwillingly want him, how desperate the boy was to take in all of him and merge them soul shatteringly deep and hard. He more than happily obliged, making Kaname convulse and cry out.

He didn’t realize that Kaname was expertly twisting their altered reality so that the harder he merged them physically and the more brutally he invaded Kaname’s mind, the farther and farther he sank into the quicksand of a world which Kaname, not he, was controlling. Nasser thought he was the predator, but he was the fly in this web. Kaname pulled him deep into the sticky threads, letting Nasser’s own cruel predilections entrap him.

Kaname felt hot and slick with shame. Victory at any cost, that’s what he’d decided. He knew what he was doing and he wasn’t about to stop, but this tactic exacted a heavy price. He tried not to think about what Zero would think of him if he knew. He tried not to be ashamed of doing whatever it took to win when the odds were this far against him. He tried.

Kaname knew he wouldn’t leave this unscathed. He was now playing with the worst kind of fire. He knew it would burn him badly, perhaps utterly, but it was the only option he had. So he reinforced the surreal hell around them until it was strong enough to be a prison. He forced himself to be vulnerable in a way that made him utterly sick. He let Nasser own him in the dream world because Nasser was gone enough to mistakenly believe that it was a reflection of his victory in reality.

Nasser half groaned, half snarled against his shoulder, grace and elegance gone in his bestial frenzy. Kaname’s illusion body was wrenched and torn by the raw force of the dark passion… but his burning eyes were unreachable and alight with death. Nasser should have taken a warning from that, but Kaname kept his face close to Nasser’s shoulder and the elder pureblood did not see the reflection of impending retribution staring him in the face. The younger pureblood’s claws extended behind Nasser’s back. His fangs unsheathed, becoming razor rows of ivory.

He bit down on the throat against his face, claws tearing into the heaving back above him in earnest. There was strangely no taste of blood here in the dream world, but there was the satisfying sensation of tearing and rending of flesh. Nasser howled in shock and pain. He tried to reel backwards, but Kaname clung to him, wrapping around him and holding onto him like the sinewy coils of a snake, teeth and claws gouging unmercifully as the predator finally became the prey.

This wasn’t reality, Nasser wasn’t physically being hurt, but the shared illusion now served very adequately as a representation of what was happening between them mentally. Kaname had turned the tables on his assailant. He’d allowed Nasser to violate his mind in order to trap him there.

Nasser recognized the snare too late. He thrashed and struggled, clawing at Kaname’s mental barriers and causing the younger pureblood intense pain, but Kaname didn’t let go. Nasser knew how to get into his head, but he didn’t know how to get out if Kaname made it difficult – and Kaname made it very difficult. He knew how to trap someone in their mind. More specifically, he knew how to trap them in his mind. Ironically, he had his uncle to thank for that. Years ago, he’d been on the receiving end of such treatment when Rido took possession of his body with his coerced consent. His uncle had walled him up in his own head. That had been a hideous experience, but he’d learned from it. Kaname had learned from every bad experience in his life. Maybe that’s why he was so clever.

Even though it was long ago, Kaname still remembered the shape and the feeling of the barriers that Rido had used against him. He knew the lines along which to draw them to make them hold. He now turned that to his advantage and he walled Nasser up instead, trapping his consciousness and holding it in the dark. The illusion around them shattered and twisted like a broken mirror, becoming jumbled and bloody – a barren wasteland lifted from some post-apocalyptic hell.

Nasser was a seething, violent mass of fury without form now. Kaname too had lost his illusionary shape and the intense struggle shifted to an indescribable battle of wills.

Nasser could see it all now and he was beyond enraged at having fallen into the trick. Kaname had let him rip open his chest. He’d counted on Nasser’s reason being fogged by the blood and his actions emboldened to carelessness by the perceived victory of getting a grip on his opponent’s heart. Vampires driven by instinct were twice as deadly and strong, but Nasser’s true strength was in his cleverness, in his ability to foresee and forestall any attempts by his opponents. Kaname needed his head clouded, and he had achieved that.

Nasser knew Kaname well, but Kaname turned that strength into a weakness. He had used Nasser’s very knowledge of his opponent against him. Nasser was well aware how much Kaname desperately hated and feared being helpless. In his diminished mental state he had not suspected that the boy would actually allow himself to be put in such a condition. Yet Kaname had, and it was the perfect bait to draw the elder pureblood in.

Nasser wasn’t the only one who knew his opponent too well. Since the beginning, Nasser had pulled on the past and played with Kaname’s head every single opportunity he’d been given. It had been quite successful up to now and that ensured he would try it again. Kaname had counted on that and like a predictable fool, Nasser had walked right into the trap.

It was a brilliant and gusty ploy, but Nasser tried to rally himself. He tried to fight back the anger, failure and panic in order to think the situation through.

“What now, Kaname?” he taunted as their wills battled and clawed at one another in Kaname’s head. “You can’t kill me like this. Do you think you can keep me in here forever? I think not. You can’t lock someone indefinitely inside a mind that isn’t theirs, not if they don’t want to stay. You turn your back on me for a minute and I’ll have you. You don’t dare leave this place long enough to return to your physical awareness or I’ll be free in an instant. Our bodies remain as before. My hand is around your heart. The instant we separate, I’ll crush you. If we don’t separate, your blood will continue to slowly leach into the ground. The poison will slowly devour you. Eventually you will lapse into unconsciousness, and then you’ll be mine. Quite a checkmate. Tsk, tsk, Kaname… you still don’t think things through, do you?”

The truth was, Kaname could have done nothing else. All other roads at this point led to death. It was a desperate and risky plan to be sure, yet he was not quite as ill prepared as Nasser thought.

The biggest gamble as far as Kaname was concerned, was whether or not he could hold onto himself through what he had to endure in order to make Nasser vulnerable. Whether or not he could survive Nasser’s violation and twist it to his advantage without it becoming his undoing. He hadn’t been at all sure he could do that. It had been frighteningly possible that he would not be able to get past the trauma, and would spend his last moments alive in that twisted hell with Nasser before he was killed. With the alternative being his and Zero’s certain death, however, he’d gone ahead and rolled those dice. He’d succeeded and now he had delayed and trapped Nasser. Despite his failing body, he would hold him here. He would hold him here long enough, even if it ended up killing him. Victory at any cost, he had decided.

Nasser was making another mistake, right now. It was he who hadn’t thought this through, or perhaps it was his ego-centric pureblood pride which blinded him. In Kaname, he had wanted to create an opponent worthy of himself and he continued to see this as an exclusive contest between the two of them. It was the grandest of all chess games – his masterpiece.

Kaname doubted that he would ever beat Nasser at chess in a fair fight. He doubted any one could. But unbeknownst to Nasser, Kaname was creating his own rules. In this game there were no “kings”, no single piece whose capture could end the game, no piece you couldn’t sacrifice in order to attain your goal… even if that piece was you. The king could fall, so long as there was someone still left to play. That was a kind of strategy that Nasser would never understand.

Kaname wasn’t about to enlighten Nasser prematurely. Only idiots felt the need to outline their plans to their enemies while there was still a chance for them to be disrupted. But even as Kaname grimly struggled to hold onto Nasser while keeping his mind blank and not giving away the answer, he felt something brush his consciousness. Lightly at first, then more firmly, more urgently. A smile crept across the formless impression of his face as he grappled with Nasser. All right then, the time had come.

“The problem with you, Nasser, is that everything’s a game to you,” Kaname told him with cold, dark condescension. “A perfectly plotted little chess game that you always win… but I don’t play by your rules, and life isn’t quite like chess. The game doesn’t end just because you take out the king…”

Nasser caught Kaname’s meaning with a horrible start at the same moment that an outside sensation pulled at his awareness. “NO!” Again he howled, his vicious assault on his opponent’s barriers whipping up to a frenzied blizzard of sheer, white-hot pain that blinded Kaname and nearly threw him back into his own walls.

Kaname was too close to victory to falter now. He hung on hard, fighting the pain and grasping Nasser with everything he had. His mental walls were crumbling, he couldn’t hold them inside his head much longer, but that was all right. He had held on long enough. His continued impression of a smirk was grim. “Yes,” he countered with a hiss. “You see it now, don’t you? You’ve forgotten that the knight is still in play.”

The illusion around them shattered. Both of them were jerked back to the reality of the rough dirt floor of the crater, the canopy of thorns overhead and the thick, blood-choked air of the enclosure.

Kaname found himself staring up at Nasser. His hand was still around the other pureblood’s throat and Nasser’s fist still gripped his torn, beating heart within his breast, but Nasser had gone unusually pale. His sneering face had gone slack and a strange, gurgling sound issued from parted lips. There was a gaping hole in the center of his throat, directly above where Kaname gripped him. Kaname felt the fist around his heart squeeze dangerously tight, but silvery vines had encircled Nasser’s body, twining about his arms and legs, rooting him in place and not allowing him enough movement or strength to complete the motion.

Kaname’s gaze slid over Nasser’s shoulder to where Zero stood, behind him. The hunter had the muzzle of the Bloody Rose pressed to the back of Nasser’s head. The boy’s face was grim, smudged with blood and ash and deathly pale. He seemed to be standing with difficulty. The barb in his side was gone. Blood had turned his torn shirt crimson and ran down the thigh of his pants much too freely, but his grip on the weapon was steady.

There was pure death in the amethyst eyes as they glared down at Nasser – the kind of raw, living hatred that Kaname had not seen in his lover for a long time. “I told you… not to touch him,” the hunter growled.

“…And then the zombies invaded.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“…quickly forming a union with the flying squirrels and completely taking over the earth.”

“Mmm…”

Kain and Ruka glanced at one another in distinct amusement as their increasingly ridiculous, round-robin of nonsensical asides continued to draw only distracted sounds of vague acknowledgement from the blond on the bed beside them. Aido was sitting up, back propped against the headboard, laptop resting on a pillow on his knees. His fingers were tapping lightly and rapidly across the keys and his attention was obviously riveted on the screen and not on what his cousins were saying.

“You know he stopped listening to us ages ago,” Kain said, still in the same, conversational tone of voice he had been using all along. He’d discovered long ago that when Aido was distracted he only responded to the tone of voice in which he was addressed, not to what was actually being said. Kain had used that to his advantage more than once in the past. For a genius, Aido could be very gullible if you knew him well enough.

“I don’t think he ever started,” Ruka replied in the same manner, well acquainted with this game. “But at least he’s not whining any more like an ill-mannered toddler.”

It had been three days since Aido had awoken. He was recovering slowly, but his injuries still kept him confined to bed and he was painfully obvious that he was going stir crazy. When she and Kain had arrived earlier, they’d found their younger cousin freezing and flicking drops of water from his drinking cup at the noses of news commentators on the TV. The frozen droplets pinged softly off the screen and he claimed it was some sort of test to judge the aerodynamic properties of the various shapes he was freezing the water into. Ruka knew he was just bored.

“True,” Kain conceded with a small smile. “But that’s just because someone brought him a new toy.” He spared a glance towards the silent figure sitting by the window on the opposite side of the room, remembering with mild embarrassment that someone else was privy to their antics. It was incredibly easy to forget that she was there. It had always been like that, even when they were all at school.

Seiren appeared to be reading a book and not paying any attention to them. She gave even less response than Aido, but had probably heard every word given how little seemed to escape her. Her posture was relaxed yet somehow managed to seem alert and watchful at the same time. She was following Kaname’s orders to watch over Aido while continuing to fulfill her other tasks as the pureblood’s central intelligence gatherer. Kain respected her skill and loyalty, even if she wasn’t an easy person to get to know. He figured that the fact that she had been able to put up with Aido for the past few days without killing him herself was proof of her dedication to Kaname.

She was the best bodyguard Aido could want, but he repeatedly complained that she was not much good for company. Kain suspected she simply didn’t put up with his cousin’s crap or cave to his considerable charm. She had, however, brought him a laptop and networked him into his server, which had been rebuilt at some secure, undisclosed location. Given the quiet that had descended once Aido had something to occupy him, Kain suspected that the move had been a rather well calculated one on Seiren’s part.

“What do you think he’s looking at that’s so fascinating?” Kain pondered, content to idle away a little more time before they had to leave.

“My money’s on something that would be mind-numbingly boring to a normal person,” Ruka opined, pretending to give the matter some consideration. “Since he doesn’t look quite enthralled enough to have hacked the security feed in Kaname-sama’s rooms yet.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t do that!” Aido protested, offering his cousins a glare and shooting and a sidelong glance towards Seiren, who simply turned the page in her book. Couldn’t do it would be more accurate; Seiren’s firewalls were enough to keep even him out of Night Haven’s secure grid. Besides, Kaname and Zero would never allow cameras in either of their rooms, he was quite sure. They were much too private. Too bad…

“Oh, now you’ve done it,” Kain said to Ruka with a small smile. “You mentioned Kaname. Sure way to catch his attention. Too bad, I was going to ask him about getting rid of some of the junk he left at my place too…” he joked.

Aido actually stuck his tongue out at his cousin. “Touch my collection and die,” he deadpanned. “And just because I don’t choose to respond to your inane conversation doesn’t mean I can’t hear you, by the way,” he added with a frown. “Flying squirrels indeed… where do you get these ridiculous ideas? Everybody knows it was the naked mole rats who were in league with the zombies,” he muttered with mock definitiveness. His gaze fell back to his computer screen and the barest hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

Ruka laughed. “Oh, he improves! We’d better watch ourselves, Akatsuki. I think he’s playing us.”

Kain laughed too; glad to see Aido able to joke again at least a little. The younger vampire had seemed pretty depressed the past few days.

“Well, we’d probably better go home to change and freshen up,” Ruka said finally, glancing at her watch and then at Kain. “The press conference starts at nine and we should get there early to support Kaname-sama.”

Kain rose when she rose, but he lifted his eyebrows slightly. “Change? What’s wrong with what you’re wearing now?”

Aido looked up again long enough to wince theatrically. “Oh Akatsuki, did you really just say that to a member of the feminine sex when you’re going to attend an event involving cameras of any kind? Honestly, are we even related?“

The look on Ruka’s face said that Aido was right and Kain shrugged, easily admitting defeat. “Well, I just think you look beautiful all the time, so… I’m no good judge,” he said with a soft smile towards Ruka, eliciting a warm smile from her in return.

Aido smirked. “Nice save,” he muttered in the direction of his computer screen, then winced without looking up when Ruka threatened to smack him with one of his pillows. “Hey, hey, hey! Sick person, remember?”

She doffed him lightly on the head, messing his hair and dropping the pillow back to the bed. “You should get some rest, Mr. Sick Person,” she remonstrated. The press conference was scheduled on human time, bright and early in the morning, which meant that all vampire participants were staying up late to attend.

“Sure, sure,” Aido waved his hand dismissively, trying to pretend like he didn’t care that he couldn’t go with them.

“She’s right, don’t stay up too late,” Kain agreed as they headed out the door.

Aido rolled his eyes. “Yes, mother. Geez, will you two get out of here already?”

Once they were gone Aido’s fingers fell silent on the keys and his shoulders finally sagged. He sighed softly. He really did wish he could go, but he wasn’t well enough, nor would Seiren have allowed it since they still didn’t know if he was in any danger or not. It was really too bad, the press conference was going to be a rather big deal for Kaname and he would have liked to be there.

The media event followed up on several days worth of intense diplomatic negotiations and planning on Kaname’s part. The press had been following all the way along of course, since the world still seemed incapable of talking about anything other than the An’swalan disaster, but today was when the information they’d been leaking for days would finally be confirmed and official statements would be made.

In an unprecedented effort to shore up the destabilizing region, Kuran Corporation was spearheading heading a multi-national, multi-corporation joint venture which would pour billions of dollars in resources and humanitarian aid into An’swala and the surrounding regions to help it regain its feet and to assist in the cleanup and containment of the nuclear fallout. Naturally, such efforts had to be run through the proper political channels, but money had a way of easing its way through red tape, especially in emergency situations such as this. What was most desperately needed in that region right now was the money and manpower to make a difference fast enough for it to not be too late – a need which Kaname both exploited and filled expertly.

Kuran Corp and Ichijo Enterprises were the two lead investors at this point. Between them their resources were not small and already many other, unrelated companies had also begun jumping on the bandwagon in the wash of good PR that was flowing freely around the intentionally ill kept secret.

Public opinion was strongly on Kaname’s side in this matter and the media just loved him. Private citizens and corporations pouring money into international aid organizations and taking on jobs usually left to overburdened governments made for great news copy and they enthusiastically lauded the philanthropic endeavor from every human interest angle possible.

Aido couldn’t help smiling a little. Kaname certainly knew how to work a crowd. Mind you, the whole project was incredibly philanthropic and it was no doubt going to save a lot of lives and prevent a lot of suffering. Kaname would never get a tangible return on this investment that would make up for the enormous costs it would entail. However, on the PR side of things, it was a smashing success which ensured that Nasser had better not even breathe in An’swala’s direction ever again. The press had already crucified Trifecta for its part in heightening the tensions leading up to the disaster and the company probably wouldn’t last out the next few years. Not that it would be a significant blow to Orion in the long run, but it was certainly satisfying at any rate.

The smile faded and Aido sighed again. Yes, he would have liked to be there today. Honestly… he would have liked to be anywhere that could give him something to do other than lie here wondering if he were dying and trying not to think about Naija. The fact that he was probably now the only person left in the world who was dealing with his particular affliction was a very lonely feeling. He felt like more of a pariah than ever. He knew he was lucky that he had family and friends who hadn’t shunned him out of hand and that Kaname-sama did not see him as a danger that would be better snuffed out, but he still had no idea where all this left him or what he was ultimately going to do.

When his cousins were around he tried to pretend that these thoughts did not plague him, but when he was alone… it was harder to hold onto the pretense. Finally, he turned his attention back to the computer screen, pushing back the shadows with effort. He was glad for this distraction, which promised to provide a relief from gloomy thoughts and his own agitated restlessness for a while.

In the corner, Seiren’s silent gaze regarded the boy on the bed from over the top of her book, observing the change that came over him when he perceived himself alone. He wasn’t counting her presence of course, but then, people never did. Far from finding this fact troubling, it was a point of pride with the Praetorian. She was meant to be a living shadow, and was therefore doing her job right when people failed to notice her presence, even when they knew she was there. Aido, by contrast, was quite the opposite. He liked to be the center of attention at all times. Since the start of her current assignment, that fact had led Seiren to occasionally wishing she could knock him out in order to get a little peace and quiet. She was trained to read people, however and had begun to see that beneath the young noble’s often annoying façade he was wrestling with a lot of confused feelings and uncertainties which he struggled not to show to even his closest friends. She saw them, though, because she was invisible.

Aido turned his attention back to his computer without ever noticing her gaze upon him and Seiren watched a moment longer before her eyes slid back to the pages of the book before her. She’d known the laptop was a good idea. There was nothing like work to give your mind an escape from worry, or grief.

Aido clicked thoughtfully through several different screens of the reconstruction program he was running. If he couldn’t be physically active, being mentally active was a good fallback. After Seiren had brought him the computer and hooked him back into what had formerly been his backup server, he’d started sorting through the files Naija had sent him the night he was nearly killed. He’d re-watched the video of her last message again for the first time since right before he’d been attacked. He’d played it several times, until he felt sick, and had quickly moved on to the files she’d sent instead.

Because the connection on her end had been terminated so abruptly, some of the data had been only partially transferred. Most of the files were corrupted to some extent and would not open without repair work being affected. Aido was attempting to do so now, running various programs and recovery methods in an effort to reconstruct the damaged files or at least extract what salvageable bits of information they might contain. It would be slow, difficult work, but he welcomed the challenge.

In the furor regarding the recent turns of events with the Mission Oil deal and the disaster in An’swala, everyone had been rather busy. Aido, for his part had been laid up or unconscious a good portion of the time. His recollections of that terrible night were hazy, and he hadn’t fully remembered Naija’s last message until he re-watched it. It was only now, as he stopped to consider everything that had happened and tried to piece back together the events of that night in his mind that he once again began to wonder about some of the things Naija had said to him.

What was in these files, anyway? What was it that she’d been so desperate to get to him? The news about the assassination plot and the danger to Diachi-sama, certainly. He understood her urgency on that point, but that was now old news. Kaname and Diachi had already come to the understanding that they weren’t double crossing one another, so if these files simply backed up that warning, they would be fairly irrelevant, yet he doubted that’s what they were. There was something else she’d wanted to get into his hands, something about the virus, he was certain.

“We were wrong about the virus, ‘Busa. I’m almost positive. It’s a weapon, or it’s supposed to be, but not targeted at us. It all ties back to An’swala…” What had she meant? If it wasn’t targeted at them, then who? Was it meant for humans after all as they had first thought and his own symptoms were some kind of bizarre side-effect? What about that document trail that she had said she discovered, also leading back to An’swala? Had that simply been a completely fake trail laid by Nasser, as so many things had been recently? Or was there something in it that had led her to whatever discovery she’d tried to pass on before she was killed?

He didn’t know, but he would find out. That, the young vampire promised himself.

Kain and Ruka saw Zero at the bottom of the stairs as they approached from the top. He was obviously intending to come up as they prepared to go down.

Zero must have just gotten in and his appearance made both nobles hesitate for a moment and stare. His short silver hair was mussed and the lingering scent of exhaust fumes indicated that he had probably been riding his bike. There was a smear of blood across his ear and cheek, running down his neck and disappearing beneath the collar of his leather riding jacket. The crimson stained his silver piercings a liquid red and it would have been worrisome except they could tell at once that the blood wasn’t his. The thick scent of death and gunpowder clung to him. He had obviously just come back from a hunt.

Although they drew up short for a moment, the two vampire nobles quickly pushed themselves forward again, intentionally not shying away from the hunter as they both approached the staircase from opposite ends. Aristocratic vampires and hunters both had the responsibility of controlling or eliminating dangerous lower-class vampires, but they traditionally did not cooperate in these efforts. There was, unsurprisingly, about as deep an ingrained disdain, revulsion and natural enmity towards hunters in vampire society as there was towards vampires in hunter society.

Kain and Ruka had not been raised much different than other vampire children in that respect. They’d heard the same ghoulish hunter horror stories whispered under blankets at sleepovers. They’d been told by their governesses and nannies to behave or “the hunters will get you”. What exactly the hunters would do when they got you seemed to change according to whatever mischief the young vampires had been getting into at the time - “pluck out your eyes”, “cut out your tongue”, “chop off your fingers”… whatever, the adults seemed to have very creative minds.

Kain and Ruka were children no longer, however, and they had both seen and been through enough to greatly temper how much those prejudices were brought with them into adulthood. They knew what Zero was and what he did, but he was not the monster hiding in the closet. He was their friend.

Zero looked down, frowning slightly in chagrin as he hesitated before starting quickly up the stairs. Great, just great. First he narrowly avoided running into Takuma and Shiki in the hall, now he bumped into Kain and Ruka. The house was crawling with vampires and he was wandering around looking like road kill, covered in blood and ashes. Freaking fantastic.

Kaname was used to him coming home like this, but he normally tried to avoid his other vampire friends directly after a hunt. He was not at all ashamed of what he’d done tonight, but that didn’t mean he was happy about parading it around in front of everyone. There were jobs you did because they needed doing, but like a soldier returning from war, you didn’t necessarily care to carry the battlefield back home with you.

He supposed he’d been in too much of a hurry – if he’d been thinking, he should have at least lost the practically blood soaked shirt he was wearing under his jacket. He smelled like a freaking smorgasbord. He probably should have tried to scrub up a little in the kitchen before running the risk of encountering anyone, but he and Kaname normally lived alone and he wasn’t accustomed to having as many people constantly coming and going and hanging about the house as there had been over the past few days.

“Everything go all right? You okay?” Kain inquired in an easy tone as Zero started up the stairs and he and Ruka started down.

Zero had been trying to give them as wide a berth as possible and seemed a bit startled by the question. His gaze darted up and he relaxed ever so slightly when it became clear that they weren’t trying to skirt him like the boogieman. It would have been all right if they had, he’d have understood that and it wouldn’t have changed anything, but still… he was tired and the unexpected lack of friction was kind of nice.

“Fine,” he responded to both inquiries succinctly as they passed one another. “Took a lot longer than it should have, but it all worked out.” The truth was it had been a near disaster and had very nearly taken too long. He’d been deeply worried that he wasn’t going to make it back in time and Kaname would go to the press conference without him. That could not happen, because Nasser Ardon was going to be there and there was no way in hell Zero was going to let Kaname go near him without the hunter being present as well.

“Good, we’ll see you later then,” Kain said lightly, struggling to keep himself from reacting to the heavy scent of blood as they brushed by one another on the staircase.

It was no easy feat though and Ruka quickly averted her eyes in embarrassment as they reddened. She’d given Aido blood not long ago and the strong scent now drew a reaction before she could stop it. Her cheeks colored slightly and Kain squeezed her hand reassuringly.

“Sorry,” Zero murmured, quickening his pace to put more distance between them before he agitated her any further.

“No, I’m sorry,” she returned quickly. “I’m fine, really.” She squeezed Kain’s hand back hard as they swiftly made the bottom of the stairs. “It’s nothing. I should have brought more pills. Can I borrow yours, Akatsuki?”

“Out too, sorry,” Kain apologized sincerely, patting his pocket. They had both been using a lot more than normal due to regularly feeding their cousin and they needed to restock.

Zero knew Ruka and Kain were both more susceptible right now because of what they were doing for Aido. If he’d had any blood tablets, he would have offered them, but of course he didn’t keep any around since he couldn’t take them. Kaname was well stocked, but his were different from the ones the nobles took and wouldn’t do them much good.

“Takuma and Senri are in the drawing room, you could probably borrow from them,” he offered instead as he made the top of the stairs. He figured Seiren probably had some as well, although he couldn’t remember seeing her take any. That didn’t mean anything though, since he didn’t think he’d ever actually seen her eat anything that he could recall.

Ruka shook her head, her eyes already dulled partway back to their normal color. It was clear she was still very much in control of herself, despite the edge of hunger. She gave Zero a small smile, which unintentionally looked a bit more beguiling than usual what with her luminous eyes and the delicate tips of her fangs showing. “They won’t have any, Zero. They’re a couple,” she said as if he was being somewhat amusingly dense. “Anyway, I’ll be fine until we get home. I have more there.”

Zero just nodded. Normally, It would be remiss of him to let a vampire go off in an obviously stirred up condition like this, but he didn’t have to be on the job with these particular people. He knew he didn’t have to worry about Ruka deciding to stop and have a human snack on the way home.

“Of course… we’re a couple too, right?” Kain said with a small, meaningful smile that clearly indicated Ruka didn’t have to wait until they got home, or take blood tablets to quench her thirst if she didn’t want to.

Ruka caught his drift and her smile grew more enchanting. She appeared to be feeling a little less reserved than usual, probably due to the same instincts that had her fangs engaged. “Don’t make it sound like a question, Akatsuki, or I may have to hurt you.”

Kain’s eyes sparkled. “And I might like that. Come on, let’s go.” Still holding her hand, he led her away swiftly.

For his part, Zero quickly made his way towards his bedroom before he could run into anyone else, but he had a small smile on his face nonetheless. It generally embarrassed him to watch other people being affectionate, but it was kind of nice to see those two happy.

Zero was slightly relieved that his rooms were empty when he got there. Despite the abundance of guest quarters, Kaname was still cohabitating with him while the pureblood’s rooms were remodeled. Zero didn’t mind the arrangement, but just now he’d rather have a chance to wash before Kaname saw him.

Zero was already in the shower, washing his hair under a hot, steady stream, before the meaning of Ruka’s “couples” comment finally dawned on him. Of course, she meant that Takuma and Senri likely didn’t need to be on the blood tablets anymore since they were in a fairly committed relationship by now. Senri had moved in with Takuma some time ago and it was clear that things were serious between them. Zero didn’t know if they had actually bonded or not yet, but if not, it was probably only a matter of time. They were certainly sharing blood in any case. Accepted hunter wisdom taught that it was a good thing when vampires were in relationships because they were more likely to take from each other and leave humans alone. Naturally, for blood tablet users, that meant that they wouldn’t need to take the pills anymore, or at least not so much.

Zero turned his face up to the spray. He supposed he hadn’t thought of that before because it had always been a moot point for him. He’d never been able to handle the pills and Kaname had been sustaining his needs for a long time now. A small frown crossed Zero’s face as an unexpected thought struck him. It didn’t go both ways with them though, did it? Zero didn’t need anything else, but he knew Kaname was still a regular blood tablet user. He saw Kaname pop the pills in his water at breakfast or his wine at dinner every so often. It had always seemed natural since Kaname had been doing that for as long as Zero had known him, but suddenly the hunter wondered just how normal it really was, given their relationship.

For some reason, Zero felt a completely unanticipated little tug of inadequacy. It was probably dumb, but he couldn’t help wondering why his blood wasn’t able to be enough for Kaname. He supposed it was probably because of the genetic disparity between them. His frown deepened as he carefully detached and washed each of his stained earrings before sliding them back into their appropriate places. He knew he was being stupid and shouldn’t bother him at all, but… it kind of did.

When Zero came out of the bathroom, he found Kaname in the bedroom, apparently in the middle of changing his clothes. Kaname had unintentionally taken over most of Zero’s closet. It wasn’t hard to do since Zero kept a very light wardrobe while Kaname kept a fairly extensive one. Zero honestly found it more amusing than annoying, if only because he knew the situation was temporary.

Kaname was buttoning up his shirt when Zero came out and he gave the hunter an appreciative smile. “Did the hunt go well?” he inquired, obviously knowing where Zero had been.

Zero shrugged, noting that Kaname had one of his designer suits lying on the bed and correctly surmising that the pureblood was dressing for the upcoming press conference. “I wouldn’t say well,” he qualified. “Intel was wrong and we were screwed from step one, but it was successful in the end.”

“Due in no small part to the tireless efforts of one amazingly talented young hunter, I’m sure,” Kaname said with a grin. He pretended as if he didn’t know, but he was in fact quite aware of what had happened. The whole thing had been a near disaster, salvaged in part only because Zero had gone against conventional wisdom and finally gotten a step ahead of their troublesome prey before the hunters could be led into the waiting ambush.

Zero rolled his eyes as he went to the closet and shoved some of Kaname’s clothes out of the way, rifling through until he found the little-used suit he was looking for. “Just glad I made it back in time,” he muttered. “Hey, what are Takuma and Senri doing here?” he tried to shift topics without much grace. “Isn’t their hotel much closer to where the press conference is taking place?”

It was Kaname’s turn to shrug. “Takuma dropped by to discuss a few matters beforehand. We took care of some business together,” he said simply, pretending to focus on picking out a tie. What he said was true, even if there was a bit more to it than that.

The nearly botched hunt had in fact been intentionally rigged in an attempt to harm Zero or at the very least to keep him otherwise engaged this morning. That angered Kaname, but didn’t surprise him. He had expected that kind of retaliation from Nasser and had been constantly vigilant these past few days. Seiren and her people had already efficiently dealt with a number of would-be assassins attempting to gain access to the Night Haven grounds. None of them actually reached the house. Whether Kaname, Zero or Aido were the target wasn’t certain, but hardly made a difference. Kaname couldn’t believe that Nasser was stupid enough to think any assassins, no matter how trained, could make it through, so he suspected that the failed attempts in that quarter were more a matter of the elder pureblood wishing to keep Kaname on his toes and give him a false sense of security while he implemented whatever his real plans were.

Due to his job, Zero was the most vulnerable of them. That, combined with the part he’d played in making a fool of Nasser, made him the most likely target for a real spite attack. Kaname knew that with uncomfortable certainty. He had been expecting Nasser to try something while Zero was on a hunt and he’d had an especially bad feeling when Zero left last night. Trying something today made sense. Nasser would have reason to believe Kaname was distracted with the upcoming event and would have loved to throw his younger opponent off balance with bad news right before the press conference, no doubt.

Nasser was not always as clever as he thought, however, or at least, Kaname was a lot more interested in keeping a 24/7 eye on Zero’s safety than the elder pureblood had reason to suspect. It also helped that Nasser continued to underestimate Zero.

Even though the young hunter did not realize who was behind it, Zero had foiled the first prong of the plan himself by not falling for the trick that his other companions almost had. Kaname had quietly foiled the second prong without the hunters’ knowledge. More than a hundred E’s had been set to converge on the already engaged hunters as a fallback plan once the initial trap failed. Such impressive numbers could only have been gathered and set into cooperation by a pureblood. Kaname and Takuma together had swiftly and quietly dealt with that second wave on their own, disposing of the would-be army and covering up their tracks without the beleaguered hunters being any the wiser.

Kaname felt it was better if the Association didn’t realize that there was a near war brewing between he and Nasser, or that it had anything to do with Zero. They could too easily begin to view the young hunter as a liability and that would be bad. He did not feel inclined to tell Zero it either, who had made it very clear that he didn’t like it when Kaname interfered with his hunter business. In any event, all was well that ended well.

Kaname watched Zero dress surreptitiously. The pureblood had been around a fair amount of bloodshed this morning and it had stirred him up, although he was doing a good job of concealing the fact. However, Zero fresh from a shower with his toned body partially naked and his graceful neck completely uncovered was a very tempting sight. Almost too tempting and Kaname realized with mild chagrin that his fangs had become aroused and his throat was aching slightly. Zero was pulling on a pair of pants and the careless way his muscles rippled coupled with the delicious way his naked neck canted slightly to the side was sorely trying. The pureblood’s gaze lingered on his lover’s throat, the veins beneath seeming to map themselves out for him in wickedly tempting invitation.

Zero shrugged his shirt on and started buttoning it up, but paused when he saw the way Kaname was staring at his neck. The look on Kaname’s face clearly gave away that he was thirsty and Zero was put in mind of his earlier thoughts on that topic. He hesitated, then impulsively let the shirt fall back down to his elbows.

“Do you want some?” he asked quietly after a long moment’s deliberation. He tilted his head slightly to the side, making it clear what he meant. It wasn’t a natural thing for him to say. As soon as he said it his skin felt unaccountably hot and his stomach unaccountably tense. The sudden awkwardness he felt made Zero realize that he almost never offered Kaname his blood unless the pureblood was injured or they were making love. Actually… if he were honest, the only time he truly offered was when Kaname was injured. When they were in bed Kaname was usually the one who initiated the biting, although he almost always paused slightly before breaking skin, as if waiting to see whether Zero would object. Zero rarely did these days since it had come to feel like a strangely natural part of their intimacy, but the fact remained that not objecting was not the same as offering.

Conversely, Kaname invited him to drink all the time, until Zero had started to feel comfortable enough to do things like casually sneaking a few sips while they were cuddled on the couch watching TV. It was sweet contact for them both, like a casual kiss, but it often had more to do with Zero being hungry than wanting to be intimate. Kaname never drank from him like that. If Kaname spilled his blood, it was almost always in the context of sex. Zero had not noticed or thought about it until now, but Kaname never came to him just because he was hungry.

Kaname blinked, a deep stab of desire twisting through him at Zero’s unexpected and incredibly provocative offer. He was startled by the invitation and his eyes showed how badly he wanted to accept,but he held himself back. Restraint had become too much of an ingrained habit by now. He knew he wasn’t in a fit state to be weighing the possible implications of this situation and he didn’t want to do the wrong thing. Chagrined that Zero had caught him looking, he gave a quick, warm smile and shook his head.

“I’m fine, Zero. Thanks,” he assured. “Just need my morning dose.” He plucked his little box of blood tablets from the nightstand and gave it an illustrative jiggle before heading towards the bathroom to pour himself some water from the tap. His throat burned and his teeth ached sharply.

Zero felt a weird, completely unexpected little kick of emptiness in his stomach at having his offer rejected. Dumb, of course, he knew that, but he couldn’t help wondering again if he just didn’t have what Kaname needed and the pureblood was simply trying to shield his feelings by keeping that knowledge from him. Kaname was nothing if not assiduous about trying to shield Zero from all inference of what a biologically and politically unsuitable match they made. Zero understood that, but he hated candy-coated lies, no matter their intention.

“Kaname, is my blood not strong enough for you?” Zero’s question was quiet and honest. It froze Kaname in the bathroom doorway, making him turn around quickly with a look of surprised confusion on his face.

“What?” He smiled slightly, nonplussed by the ridiculous question and surprised that Zero seemed to be taking issue with this of all things. “Your blood is the sweetest thing in the world to me, Zero,” he murmured, his tone slightly suggestive as he raised a wry eyebrow. “You know that.”

Zero colored a little under Kaname’s intensely adoring and meaningful gaze, but shook his head. “I know you like it,” he mumbled. Kaname had made that very clear, many times. “I’m asking if it’s too… I don’t know, thin or something to really work for you, because of what I am?”

The young hunter rubbed the back of his neck. He felt incredibly self-conscious and upon reflection he sort of wished he hadn’t brought the subject up at all. It wasn’t as if the answer made any real difference… but it was on his mind and wanted to know. He was an ex-human and Kaname was a pureblood. It wasn’t too shocking to imagine that Kaname might need more for sustenance than his blood could offer. It wouldn’t feel too good to know for sure he was lacking in some way, but he could deal. He preferred knowing where he stood.

“What I mean is, well…” Zero frowned slightly, knowing he wasn’t expressing his question very clearly. “Isn’t it normal for a… for a coupleto just drink from one another? Or do they usually still need the tablets or other sources too?”

Kaname’s quizzical gaze turned soft and serious as he finally understood what Zero was asking. It surprised him all over again quite frankly, he’d not imagined this would be something Zero would ever want to discuss. Zero was a lot more comfortable with himself lately, but he still eschewed dwelling too much on all things vampire. For him to refer to them as a couple, even indirectly, was also highly unusual and rather sweet.

Kaname walked back towards his lover, reaching out and brushing Zero’s cheek with his fingertips. “Yes, Zero. Couples usually drink from one another. At that point, there’s not much need for the tablets, except as a good backup for when they are apart.” He tilted his head slightly, managing to keep his adoring eyes on Zero’s face and not let them wander down to map the tempting flow of blood vessels which ran down his throat and throbbed so enticingly.

Kaname was quite aware that Zero knew all too well what hungry vampire eyes looked like. In his profession, Zero was trained to know and to read it as a telltale sign of danger. Because of that, Kaname tried never to look at him that way unless it was unavoidable or unless it was clearly mingled with a different kind of hunger, one that wouldn’t make Zero feel threatened. Over the years they’d been together, it was a skill he’d simply learned – one more level of restraint he’d trained himself to adopt so as not to make his partner uncomfortable.

“There’s nothing at all lacking in your blood that makes me needa substitute,” he assured. “I simply never thought you really wanted me to drink from you, except for, well… special occasions.” Kaname smiled slightly, obviously meaning when we’re in bed, or about to be in bed, or otherwise making out.

Being honest with himself, Zero knew that there was a time when that had been true. A very long time that extended even after he and Kaname had been together for quite a while. He couldn’t say when exactly his feelings had started to change. It had been a very gradual, natural shift but it wasn’t something he’d ever put into conscious thought until right this moment.

“I won’t say you weren’t right,” he admitted, feeling embarrassed by the whole topic, even though bringing it up was his fault. He had issues, he knew that. Kaname had been very patient with him. “But… that’s not very fair of me, is it? I drink from you all the time,” he murmured. He realized now what he supposed should have been obvious to him before – it was the infrequency with which Kaname drank his blood that made the other vampire need the tablets, not, apparently, the quality of the blood itself.

Kaname caressed the hunter’s cheek more firmly, cupping it in his palm. “It’s all right, Zero. I honestly don’t need blood very much at all. I admit that I want your blood, because I love you, but I don’t need to drink from you every time I’m thirsty, I’m fine with the pills. I love it when you take from me, but I know being bitten isn’t something natural for you. I’ve always been honored that you let me do it at all.”

Kaname dipped his head and brushed Zero’s lips with a soft kiss. It made him a bit guilty to remember how he used to drink from Zero in his sleep sometimes in the early days, when he was desperate for his bondmates blood and too afraid of stirring up Zero’s inner demons to try it when he was awake. He no longer needed to do that because he drank from Zero frequently enough when they were intimate these days and he never felt any kind of real lacking.

Zero kissed Kaname back lightly before giving his lover a slightly reproachful expression. “Let you? Seriously, after everything you’ve given me, you think I wouldn’t let you take what you need too? How big of a bastard do you think I am?”

Zero was suddenly reminded of the way Aido had unintentionally become seductive towards him when he needed blood. It had felt unnatural coming from Aido, but if it that been Kaname he would never have noticed anything was off because their relationship made such interaction normal. Did Kaname ever feel like he had to seduce Zero just to be allowed what he wanted or needed? Zero knew that of course their relationship was much deeper than that and Kaname would very happily seduce him anyway, the sweet, insatiable twit, but still, the thought made him feel incredibly guilty.

“A huge one, of course,” Kaname teasingly answered Zero’s rhetorical question, earning him a scowl from the hunter which he happily kissed away before shaking his head. He wanted to ease Zero’s mind, although he wasn’t sure why this suddenly seemed to be bothering him so deeply. “But that’s not what I meant,” he clarified with a small smile. “I know you would, and you do. You did even before we understood what this was we shared…” his thumb traced down Zero’s chin lovingly. “Even when I know you still hated my pointy-toothed guts…” The pureblood’s eyes twinkled in amusement for a moment before sobering. “Even when we thought that everything about us was completely wrong and yet I needed you so desperately that I did the unforgivable, repeatedly… even then, you never denied me what I needed. Zero, you’ve always been very fair, as you put it, and I promise it’s okay.”

Zero’s gaze dropped, resting without seeing on the buttons of Kaname’s dress shirt. He knew what the pureblood was talking about, but contrary to Kaname’s intention, those memories tended to deepen his feeling of guilt rather than alleviating it.

There was a time when the sharing of blood between them had seemed like such a horrible, horrible sin and he had fervently hated both himself and Kaname for what they needed. Well, actually, there had been a lot of times like that in the early days, but the worst of it had been after Yuki was attacked. After her injury and subsequent illness had torn apart his and Kaname’s former attempts at some kind of relationship, there had been a very dark period in both their lives. They didn’t touch one another in a sexual manner at all during her long illness and the gulf between them had widened a little more every day… but Zero had still needed blood – more so than ever what with the upset of everything going on. So had Kaname.

Zero had continued to drink from Kaname through that time, it wasn’t as if he had any alternatives. Having his blood drawn when his own emotions were so raw and stirred up had proved too much for Kaname’s restraint. Zero’s pale neck right next to his face was too tempting. Kaname drank from him as well, regularly – much more regularly than any other time in their relationship, including the present.

The encounters had become strained, silent affairs, due in no small part to how hard it was for both pureblood and hunter to deny their desire for more every time they shared blood, but they had denied it. Zero had hated the act so much, both the taking and the giving. Hated it for being necessary. Hated it for feeling so damn good when he wanted it to be disgusting. Hated it for not being enough. Hated the trembling, desperate yearning he felt for the other vampire every time one of them penetrated the other’s flesh. Hated the fact that this was the only way Kaname would be close to him anymore, and especially hated the fact that he even thought something like that. But he had never stopped Kaname.

“I wasn’t being fair, I was being selfish,” Zero sighed softly, feeling compelled to admit the truth since Kaname had brought the matter up. He had a scrupulously honest streak and didn’t like anyone to think better of him then he felt he deserved. “Back then, back when… when Yuki was sick, it was the only way you would touch me.” He snorted softly. “But I most certainly would have died before admitting that,” he added with a wry, self-deprecating smirk.

Kaname’s eyebrows raised, once again shocked by his companion’s candor and his words. He’d not had any idea that Zero had felt that way at the time. They’d both been straining away from one another so hard, he’d assumed his attentions were as unwanted as they were wrong. They’d really been such a prize pair of idiot blockheads, hadn’t they? Honestly, he sometimes had no idea how they’d survived. He smiled faintly. “I didn’t know you felt that way,” he admitted.

Kaname had felt both weak and cruel for his indulgence in Zero’s blood back then. He’d felt like an alcoholic who had fallen off the wagon, but he couldn’t help himself. The blood tablets had ceased to do anything for him. He had hardly been able to even stand looking at them, much less take them. In the darkness of not knowing who had done such harm to his gentle Yuki everyone became a suspect, especially those who had cause to hate and target him due to his actively pacifist ideals.

The young pureblood had felt bitter and angry, betrayed by a dream of peace that seemed to bring nothing but bloodshed. He had been trying to do the right thing all his life. He took the tablets, he refused to turn humans unless given no choice and he fought for coexistence when it seemed the whole world was against it. Yet in the end it seemed that his efforts had done nothing but take everyone he ever loved away from him. His parents, Cross… now maybe Yuki and Zero too.

Kaname had felt like he was falling, and in that dark, acidic loneliness he could not find the strength nor desire to fight against his nature any longer. He wanted blood. He needed blood. Not just any blood, he needed Zero’s blood, because the blood of a bondmate was the only thing that could come close to soothing the horrible burn inside him. So he had taken it, and kept taking it – a lot of it. He’d not been particularly considerate of whether or not Zero was okay with that, which he was sure had only added to their growing estrangement.

Always, Kaname told himself he was going to have more control next time, but it never worked out that way. Always again when Zero was feeding, the urge would become too strong, his hunger and need for blood and for Zero too great and once more Kaname would silently slip his fangs into the neck before him. He was usually gentle, but he’d known Zero probably didn’t want it. Zero would stiffen and tense. He would be more brooding and angry than ever afterwards, but oddly, he had never protested or pushed Kaname away.

Until, of course, the horrible day Kaname had tried to turn Yuki and everything had gone to absolute hell. After their fight that day, Zero had stopped coming to Kaname for blood, and after a few weeks Kaname had eventually had to force himself back onto the blood tablets in order to resist the strong urge to start taking from the nobles who hung silently and anxiously around in the shadows all the time, far too earnest and willing to offer help which he knew he should not accept.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t realize I felt that way half the time myself,” Zero confessed, his tone still wry. “Everything was really screwed up. But that was a long time ago, I’m more interested in right now…”

Kaname’s idea of a long time was obviously different from Zero’s, but even he had to agree that if nothing else it felt like a long time ago. “What about right now, Zero?” he asked, titling his head curiously.

“Well…” Zero hesitated. He obviously wanted to say something and it was apparently difficult for him. The meandering turns of their conversation supported that notion, since Zero was usually rather straightforward and even blunt when he had something on his mind. “I think… I mean…” Zero stopped himself, realizing how stupid he probably sounded and he drew a deep breath, squaring his shoulders and pushing off the weird hesitation chasing around inside of him that really had no place being there. He loved Kaname, he would do anything for him, so what was the big deal?

“I’d like you to drink my blood, Kaname.” Pushing past his awkwardness, Zero just came out and said it. “Not only when we’re making love, or you’re hurt, but when you’re just thirsty too. I want you to be able to take from me like I do from you, I want… I want to be enough for you.” I want to fulfill all your needs and give you what you would have if you were with anyone else. I don’t want to feel like I’m always shortchanging you as a lover and a partner.

Ever since Zero had first seen Kaname and Nasser together, before he’d understood their terrible history, he’d become increasingly aware of everything Kaname had given up by choosing not only a non-pureblood mate, but also an ex-human one. Surely, no born vampire would have been so dense as to take more than five years to realize that it wasn’t normal for Kaname to still be on blood tablets when he was not only in a committed relationship, but even shared a full-fledged bond with his lover.

Kaname’s gaze was so surprised, so pleased and so infinitely tender as he regarded the ex-human that it helped Zero feel less weird and embarrassed about what he’d just said. When Kaname looked at him like that, it was easy to forget about everything.

“Zero, you are so much more than enough,” he whispered, both hands now cupping his lover’s face. “You leave me with absolutely no lacking in my life. None,” his eyes were loving and serious, as if he could read some part of Zero’s thoughts from his expression. “You accept me with all my flaws and idiosyncrasies, it is no hardship for me to respect your feelings and quirks as well. That’s what love is. I neverwant my touch to become a burden or an obligation…”

“It isn’t,” Zero insisted, more sure of himself now. “Kaname, I mean it. I want this. I want it. For me as much as for you.”

The smile dancing around Kaname’s lips revealed his delight as he leaned in and kissed the hunter thoroughly. “You…” he murmured into the kiss, his fingers running through those beloved, silky silver tresses. “…never cease to amaze me, you know that? Just when I think I have you all figured out, you pop something new out of left field.”

Zero chuckled, his fingers curling around the back of Kaname’s neck and pulling him closer, tilting his head to get more of Kaname’s deliciously talented tongue into his mouth. “Maybe you should… stop thinking you can know everything…” he retorted. “And was that an attempt at a sports analogy? Now that is amazing…”

“Shut up…” Kaname half-chuckled, half growled, proceeding to keep Zero’s mouth too busy for anymore speech for a minute or two. Presently the pureblood’s warm mouth trailed lower, sliding down Zero’s neck to find the throbbing pulse point that he loved so well and licking it sensually in a way that made Zero’s insides curl and throb.

“You’re sure?” Kaname murmured against Zero’s now moist skin.

Zero grunted impatiently. “Yes, damn it, I’m sure. Quit acting like it’s the first time you’ve ever bitten me. Sheesh.” He’d had Kaname’s teeth in him many, many times. Enough times to no longer fear it. Enough times to no longer be able to feel repulsed by the act, at least, not with Kaname. Enough times to know how much he wanted it and how good it felt. Enough times to realize that he truly had no problem with the idea of it becoming a more frequent event.

Zero felt his lover’s grin against his throat before those wickedly skillful twin points sank into his skin, the strong, warm tongue pressing against his neck, lapping along the edges of the tingling penetration. Kaname’s firm lips closed against his skin. The suction of his slow, sensual drinking and the hot, stomach curling rush of feeling the blood being drawn from his body in this manner made Zero’s breath come short and his hands fist in Kaname’s hair. The hunter stumbled backwards a few steps and Kaname effortlessly maneuvered him into a small turn that let him pressed Zero’s back to the wall. Pinning one of Zero’s wrists to the wall by his head, the pureblood pressed his body into his lover’s as he slowly and deliciously ravaged his neck.

It seemed that there was probably no such thing as a simple drink when it came to Kaname. His bite was always like pure, liquid seduction. He didn’t take much, but he took it delectably slow. Zero was breathing heavily and completely flushed by the time the dark head withdrew and he found himself no longer pinned to the wall.

Deliciously dazed, he touched his neck lightly to see if he needed to clean up, but Kaname had left not a trace of blood upon his already healing skin. “Show off,” Zero muttered, partially about how annoyingly neat Kaname was able to be when he drank and mostly because of how completely mind-blowing he made it feel.

Kaname chuckled. There was a lustrous shine in his sated eyes and a subtle increase in the devastating attractiveness of his features that was typical right after feeding. “You didn’t like it?” he teased, knowing otherwise.

Zero scowled slightly, still feeling weak-kneed. “Liked it too much, moron. Now I want to jump you instead of finish getting dressed, and we haven’t got time. Can’t you ever just drink?”

Kaname gave him an innocent look. “I did. It’s not my fault if some of us are more gifted than others…” He easily dodged an only half-serious jab from the hunter and caught Zero’s wrist, pressing it back to the wall again. “But if I’ve caused a problem… then let me fix it,” he said with a deep, promising grin.

Zero felt himself shudder under that heated look. A moment later Kaname was on his knees and Zero’s trouser button and zipper were undone with pureblood speed. Half a second after that, and Kaname had the hunter’s stiff, warm flesh in his mouth and was devouring it with no less enthusiasm than he had used on his throat a few minutes before.

Zero cried out at the suddenness of it and the intense explosion of heavenly sensation. His head tilted back against the wall and he curled his fist in Kaname’s hair. He found himself unable to do little more than hang on tight as Kaname worked him expertly, quickly pushing him over the edge into a swift but blistering release.

Neat as ever, Kaname cleaned him up thoroughly with mouth and tongue before doing Zero’s pants back up and rising gracefully to his feet. He made a show of glancing at his watch, grinning deeply. “See? That didn’t take too long. Still plenty of time to finish dressing.”

Now even more dazed than before, his body still quaking with the aftershocks of pleasure, Zero could only muster up a very feeble glare. “Insatiable. Twit.” But damn… it was good to have him back, wasn’t it? This playful, annoyingly confident side of Kaname had been too long absent lately. Zero had never imagined he could actually miss it, but he realized now that he had.

Pushing off the wall, Zero watched Kaname sauntering off towards the doorway. “Wait, don’t you want…?” he nodded towards his lover meaningfully.

Kaname turned back and shook his head, grinning. “Not now, but later… definitely.”

Aido started when his intense concentration on the computer screen in front of him was broken by movement beside him. He realized that Seiren had just placed a cup of hot tea on the nightstand next to him and was now moving back towards her chair, holding her own cup in one hand and her book in the other. He’d been at this for hours, and the bit of light peeping in through the drawn curtains suggested that it was probably early morning.

Thankfully, however, Seiren did not appear inclined to scold him about staying up late like his cousins, nor did she seem to find the late hour tiring. Her nose was already buried back in her book by the time he realized that the tea sounded really good.

He reached for the warm mug and took a sip, the hot, soothing liquid easing the headache he hadn’t even fully realized had been eating at him. “Thanks,” he murmured, gaze fixing back on his work.

Seiren simply nodded slightly behind her book.

Aido rubbed his eyes and gazed at the information on his screen as if maybe that would help it make more sense. He had painstakingly recreated and extracted data from several of the damaged files. There were others he was still working on, and a few that he feared were utterly beyond repair. The picture that was beginning to emerge from what he had recovered thus far was as troubling as it was puzzling. One conclusion kept presenting itself to him, but it was difficult to fully believe it without further confirmation and neither did it really make sense to him.

If Aido had but known more of Kaname’s history, the puzzle would have clicked immediately into place. However, at the current time the missing tiles needed to complete this particular picture were held only by two purebloods and one ex-human. Of those three, only one of them was aware of that which he held.

His head beginning to ache in earnest, Aido finally had to let it fall back against the pillows for a minute. He closed his eyes, willing the tremors running through him away. His skin felt uncomfortably hot and the room seemed to rock like a ship. This had been happening more and more frequently lately. The strange hot flashes and vertigo. He wasn’t sure what it meant and he realized it had been quite a while since he last analyzed his blood to see what the virus was up to. He should do that… but not right this minute. He felt too sick. It was hard to even make his eyes focus.

He became ill without warning, quickly pushing aside the laptop and scrabbling for the bowl that remained handy on the nightstand, just in case. A dip in the bed and Seiren’s feather light touch on his back told him that she was kneeling beside him. He spent several agonizing minutes throwing up. He would get it under control for a few minutes, but then the nausea would return. Seiren patiently emptied and cleaned the bowl for him between bouts. She said nothing. She had been trained in many things, but how to give comfort was not one of them. Neither did she feel compelled to make useless inquiries about whether he was all right when the answer was obvious. But there still was something comforting about her quiet, reliable presence. Aido decided maybe she was a little bit like Kain that way.

When his stomach finally stopped clenching, Aido flopped back onto the pillows again, his flushed skin soaked in perspiration, pajamas clinging to his clammy body. He was so tired, but felt too poorly for sleep. He glanced towards the laptop, even though he knew he couldn’t concentrate any more just now. Seiren slid it out of reach, closing it and setting it aside. He was afraid she was going to try to make him sleep, which he knew was impossible right now, but instead she slid another cup of tea that she’d procured from somewhere into his hands and walked over to the TV.

Without explanation, she flipped it on and adjusted the input until it was showing not a normal station, but a direct feed from a camera that was apparently overlooking the very courtyard in which Kaname’s press conference was to take place. People were already beginning to arrive, mostly camera crews and a few early guests who loitered about, waiting to get a good seat. The angle of the camera said it was mounted on one of the buildings. Aido realized that Seiren had probably either planted it in advance or taken over a security camera already there in order to get an uninterrupted view of the scene not dependent upon whatever the media did and didn’t want to broadcast.

Despite how crappy he felt, a smile grew on Aido’s face as he carefully sipped his tea. He glanced at Seiren and saw a small, rare smile there as well. He supposed he should have realized that she probably was no more happy about having to miss this than he was. It wasn’t quite like being there, but it was better than nothing, and laying still and watching was about all he wanted to do right now anyway. He was starting to feel a bit better after throwing up, but he was still dizzy.

Seiren pulled her chair over beside the bed, facing the TV. She left briefly and when she returned Aido was surprised to see that she was holding a bowl of popcorn of all things.

He laughed despite himself as she settled into her chair. “Popcorn and a movie? I didn’t know this was a date,” he teased, pushing his pillows up behind him, against the headboard, so he could sit a little more comfortably. The tea was settling his stomach and he made a gesture for the popcorn. Despite the recent throwing up, he was starting to feel kind of hungry again for the first time in a while.

“Trust me, it’s not,” Seiren said blandly, staring at the TV as she popped a kernel into her mouth, keeping the bowl away from Aido. “And you don’t get any unless you promise you won’t just throw it up again.”

“How am I supposed to promise something like that?” Aido pouted.

Seiren shrugged, relenting and shifting the bowl onto the bed where he could reach it too. After all, she’d really had it made for him. It was only lightly buttered and salted and would have the same stomach settling properties as dry toast, which Aido currently avowed to hate after how much he’d been eating it.

Aido nibbled at the popcorn slowly, watching the people begin taking their seats on the TV. When Kaname and Zero showed up his gaze followed them, his attention more firmly caught. Beside him, Seiren’s eyes tracked the same path.

Aido liked being able to feel a part of what was happening from a distance, although the event was admittedly rather boring in itself. That’s how these things were though, it was knowing what lay behind it that made it interesting. After all, it wasn’t as if he were expecting any riveting drama to crop up at a diplomatic press event.

He had no idea how wrong that assumption would prove to be.

The morning sun was bright overhead in the blue, almost cloudless sky. The large, garden courtyard beside the massive and regally imposing structure of the Regent Hotel was thronged with people. The garden hosted a number of fountains, rambles and a wide lawn facing a podium which was often used for civic functions due to its photogenic setting and the comfortable ease with which it could be modified to accommodate anything from an intimate gathering to a full blown event. Today’s activities leaned towards the latter. The courtyard was crawling with press and spectators and orderly rows of white chairs had been spread across the green lawn around the upraised podium.

Backed by the wall of the hotel on one side and an artfully tended strand of trees on the other, the podium was large enough to host any number of dignitaries while remaining easily visible even from far back in the crowd.

In good weather, it was a great place to hold parties, fundraisers and press conferences – unless of course you were a vampire. For people of the night, the radiant morning sun and airy brightness of the courtyard weren’t exactly the most delightful of settings.

Zero wasn’t sure whose idea it was to hold this thing outside in broad, brilliant daylight, but Kaname obviously mustn’t have been seriously against it or he could have had the location moved easy enough. He and Nasser would both be equally incommoded by the setting, but Kaname had probably allowed it in order to cut down on how many extraneous vampires would be numbered among the immediate onlookers.

There were still some there, of course. Many vampires were able to tolerate the daylight at need and some had reason to want to be here. Zero could see Kain, Ruka and Shiki seated in one of the front rows, all three wearing sunglasses and studiously giving no indication of discomfort. There were many humans in the crowd wearing sunglasses against the brightness of the day as well, so they did not stand out.

Among the delegates on the platform, upon whom the lenses of all the cameras were focused, there were fewer people who chose to don protective eyewear. Takuma, on Kaname’s right, had been wearing shades earlier, but they were in his pocket now. He knew the need for appearances and had always tolerated sunlight fairly well for one of their kind.

The two purebloods were posturing, of course. Kaname and Nasser were both purposefully not wearing sunglasses at all, despite how much the light surely hurt their highly sensitive eyes. Of course, neither was Zero, but then he usually didn’t. He was well used to dealing with daylight and easily tuned out the discomfort.

Zero stood quietly behind Kaname as various dignitaries and other important personages spoke at length on the situation in An’swala and the more general topics of global safety and international cooperation, etcetera, etcetera. They waxed eloquent for the onlookers and for the assembled horde of press who were no doubt already turning their lengthy speeches into 30 second sound bytes in their minds.

Aside from the vampires he knew, Zero’s roving gaze spotted some other familiar faces in the crowd as well, including a rather bored looking one which was mostly hidden beneath the brim of a distinctive cowboy hat. There was quite a strong hunter presence here this morning. That did not surprise Zero. Two purebloods who were known to be unfriendly towards one another were at the center of a human-packed event. The hunters were bound to take a keen interest. Yagari may look bored, but Zero felt that his sensei had little cause for complaint – he had not been part of the near disastrous hunt last night, so he at least had probably gotten some sleep.

Despite his own lack of sleep, however, Zero did not feel tired. Quite the opposite, he felt strangely alert and on edge. It was perhaps due to the same thing that was keeping him from being completely bored out of his mind. The malevolent presence of Nasser, seated just a few chairs down from Kaname, was evoking a certain, uneasy wariness in his senses.

Outwardly a picture of calm, Nasser wasn’t happy and his subtle aura was not a pleasant one for those who could feel it. Zero wondered if Yagari was feeling the same sense of unease, or if it was his vampire senses rather than his hunter ones which were crawling. It was hard to tell sometimes. He got the very slight impression that Kaname had noticed it, at least. Although you would have had to know Kaname as well as he did to notice, since the pureblood was very good at not giving himself away.

Pureblood auras normally protected them from one another, but Kaname still couldn’t completely block Nasser out like he could any other pureblood. The elder vampire was intentionally reminding him of that fact and giving him a headache, but Kaname actually took a grim satisfaction in his opponent’s petty hissy fit. It just proved that he’d ticked Nasser off and that pleased him.

Nasser had every reason to fume. Kaname had completely won their wager and there was no way for him to reverse it now. He couldn’t even think of trying to pull any further shenanigans with Mission Oil, not only because it would be PR suicide, but because any number of governmental bodies would quickly become involved in anything that smacked of interference with the attempts at peace and stability in An’swala.

Of course, Nasser was nothing if not politically savvy. He’d jumped sides on this matter gracefully in order to minimize any possibility of overall damage to Orion through all this. Trifecta he was willing to sacrifice to the vagaries of global scrutiny, after all he could simply take over them with another sub-company when they eventually folded, but the important thing was to keep the damage localized.

Accordingly, he now quite smoothly positioned himself in the best light possible by having Orion ostensibly join Kaname’s little joint venture for the restoration of An’swala. He generously “donated” all of his shares in Mission Oil back to the An’swalan royal family and pledged a significant sum to help with cleanup and rebuilding. He announced all this when it was his turn to speak and it was met with much approval by the assembly.

It was the best course for him to take, but Kaname’s satisfied little smile remained in place the entire time he was speaking. Nasser intentionally ignored him. No doubt Kaname had known his opponent must do this to save face, no doubt the younger pureblood counted on and took pleasure from the fact that Nasser was going to end up paying to clean up a lot of the mess he himself had made. Really, he had to give the boy points on the judicious cleverness of that, even as it irritated him.

He knew it was only his pride that was pricked, so he let it go for now. An’swala held no further importance to him now. Kaname could havethe miserable little scrap of a country for all he cared. The boy was still blind to the real truth and as for this humiliation, well… Nasser planned to get his own back soon enough. He was contradictorily both proud of Kaname’s resourcefulness and angry about losing. It was a strange mix that defied easy description. He wanted to punish Kaname for thwarting him, but not necessarily crush the boy completely. Not when he was just starting to get interesting.

The event went smoothly enough. Kaname spoke last and was clearly one of the most anticipated of the speakers. Cameras flashed frenetically and after he delivered his statements questions shot rapidly from the gathered reporters. He answered them gracefully for a time until finally calling the session to a close by stepping away from the microphones.

The delegates began exiting the podium, the crowd breaking up and milling about, although most of them were not yet ready to disperse. Formalities were over, but throngs of reporters now crowded the individual delegates as they took their leave, pressing questions that had not yet been addressed.

A gaggle of reporters followed Takuma as he joined Senri on the lawn and others chased off after the diplomats, but many more focused their attentions on Kaname and Nasser who, as a result, were quickly becoming the last two people still on the podium itself.

Zero knew that Kaname was allowing the follow up interviews, because when Kaname was truly ready to leave, he would simply walk away and people would clear a path for him without even realizing they were doing it. Still, the hunter glared and shouldered away a few over-eager reporters who pressed too close to the young pureblood. None of them took any offense, they were obviously used to protective bodyguards and attendants as a natural hazard of their jobs.

Nasser too was granting the reporters their audience, although he had no attendants with him at all, which was a little odd. For some reason, the fact that Nasser had chosen not to have a bodyguard today made Zero uneasy. Or maybe it was just the press of all these people. Zero was not a fan of crowds. The jostling reporters reminded him of his school days. He was surprised to find some group of people who could actually manage to be more aggressive than the Day Class girls had been, although at least the reporters weren’t swooning over the objects of their interest.

Then, the jostle of the crowd suddenly brought Kaname and Nasser into the same little sphere of space by the south end of the podium. It seemed like a natural happenstance as they were both making their way towards the stairs, but Kaname knew better. Nasser had ended up here because he wanted to be here. Inwardly, the younger pureblood tensed warily, but outwardly he appeared unconcerned, finishing a few answers to the assembled crowd before turning to head for the stairs, clearly done talking and ready to leave now.

“Ah, here’s the young man of the hour himself…” Nasser was beside him, a supposedly friendly hand on Kaname’s shoulder to arrest his departure. “Quite a tour de force of civic minded thinking today. You must be pleased.”

Kaname gracefully managed not to tense up at the contact. Unable to avoid Nasser or betray his true feelings towards him in front of so many watching eyes, Kaname turned a polite, charming smile on the older man. “I think it can always be considered a success when people find ways to bridge distances and difficulties with a little well-though-out cooperation and understanding.”

Nasser grinned, his mocking eyes congratulating Kaname on a lovely quote that was sure to make the feel-good cut on a number of stations. “But of course. I like to think of myself as a man who recognizes good ideas when they come along and I congratulate you on your… forward thinking.”

Nasser held out his hand to shake and Kaname had no choice but to take it. He did so without hesitation, giving a brisk, firm squeeze, both of them smiling with fake politeness for the flashing cameras.

Nasser did not let go. Still holding Kaname’s hand, he leaned forward, cheek brushing Kaname’s as his lips moved close to the younger pureblood’s ear. To the onlookers it simply seemed that the head of Orion was leaning close to have a private word with the other CEO. That was, in fact, what Nasser was doing, but what he said was not something that any of the spectators could possibly have guessed.

Zero bristled at Nasser’s actions. Kaname had expressly told him not to make a big deal out of it if Nasser got too close to him while they were in public because that would be exactly what the elder pureblood wanted, but the hunter immediately stepped towards them anyway.

“I’m also a man who believes in paying his debts – promptly and in full,” Nasser whispered in Kaname’s ear, his hand tightening around that of his companion, pleased to feel Kaname’s discomfort with his nearness. “You won our little bet, so as promised, I will tell you what you want to know about that unfortunate little girl’s death. Although, as I told you in the beginning, there’s some irony involved and you may not feel better for knowing the truth.”

Nasser’s voice was pitched low to keep his words from the ears of the reporters, but they were just audible to Zero’s advanced hearing. They froze him in place with a swell of old emotion that was not easily put aside. Yuki… the bastard was talking about Yuki.

“I figured it out, you know,” Nasser whispered, his breath warm against the shell of Kaname’s ear. “I found out she was what held you bound to that pathetic cage they had you in all those years. She was why you wouldn’t come to me. She held you back from what you could become. So you see, Kaname… that’s why I killed her.”

Kaname felt his body go ridged. Something hot, hard, seething and sick overran the fringes of his consciousness, making his chest tighten in anger and pain. Nasser could have been lying… but somehow Kaname knew he wasn’t. Somehow… he’d already known. The long awaited revelation both was and yet wasn’t a shock in a strange way that was hard to explain. He realized that deep down, some part of him had suspected as much for a while now. He simply hadn’t wanted to accept it so his mind had hidden behind the fact that there were many possible alternate scenarios and shielded itself from the truth, shying away from this explanation in contemptible cowardice. Because if Nasser was the killer it meant that Yuki had been targeted solely because of her association with him and by forgetting his past, he had rendered himself blind to the threat he might otherwise have been able to prevent. Because if Nasser was the killer… then it opened a truly terrible possibility about the manner in which her death had been brought about. A possibility that jammed a knife so deep in Kaname’s gut it felt as if it had physically passed straight through him.

“Ah, but I misspeak slightly. In point of fact all I did was make her ill… you killed her,” Nasser purred in his ear, putting the possibility into words and so fixing it unchangeably into fact, unerringly finding Kaname’ rawest spot and twisting the knife where it hurt worst. “You were my murder weapon, Kaname. Wasn’t it brilliant?” The elder pureblood was smiling viciously now. “It looked bad, but she didn’t have to die. The illness would have run its course eventually. She would have survived, if you hadn’t tried to turn her… but of course, I knew you would. Tell me, Kaname. What was it like? Did you hold her? Did she suffer terribly? Did you tell yourself there was nothing you could have done, while deep down knowing the truth?” Nasser’s voice was a seductive hiss, coiling expertly around Kaname’s senses and provoking the harshest possible reaction as he brutally mingled fact with fiction.

It was the cruelest kind of half-truth he could have told. He knew full well that the girl would have died anyway, but he also knew that Kaname would accept this darker version of events without question. The young pureblood still did not grasp the full picture and had obviously feared this very idea for years, making the deception simple. It had always been thus with Kaname – he believed the worst of himself so all Nasser had to do was agree. All Nasser had to do was tell the boy what his own guilty heart already believed. Of course, it also helped that he was leaning extremely hard on the younger vampire’s senses.

Kaname felt a rushing sensation as if he’d plunged underwater. Everything around them fell away from his awareness. The buzz of the crowd, the whirring click-pop of press cameras and the shouting reporters, the glare of camera lighting and jostling bodies – it all vanished away into darkness and at that moment in time there was only he and Nasser in the entire world. He, Nasser, and the ghosts of the past that slammed into him with a clawing, tearing mixture of pain and rage that consumed all thought and reason.

He loved Zero now with his entire being, but that did not diminish how much he had once loved Yuki. He had held her as an infant and felt her small warmth against him. He had watched her grow into a beautiful young woman. Both as child and adult, he had sworn an oath to always protect her and ultimately, he had failed utterly to do so.

The beating of his own heart seemed suddenly to drown out all sound – a raw, furious pulsing that thundered in slow motion like the tick of the hands of time winding backwards as scenes and memories rushed forward to crowd his mind, replaying an eon of pain in the space of an instant.

Thump…

Birds screeching lazily in the trees overhead. The tolling of the bell tower near Cross Academy. Yuki, sprawled unconscious on the ground, dark bruises around her throat and forming across her face, her uniform torn…

Thump…

The hateful, antiseptic smell of the sick and dying. The wailing shriek of electronic monitoring equipment. Yuki, in a hospital bed, convulsing in his arms as he held her, his mind and heart frozen in a pain that had never truly healed. Blood seeped from her nose, mouth and eyes as it turned toxic… as he killed her by trying to save her.

Thump…

The furious beating of Zero’s heart and the absolute, pained hatred in his eyes. “How could you violate her like that, without considering the danger?”

Kaname felt like the breath had left his body, a fist squeezing his chest until it seemed his ribs would crack. He didn’t want to be here again. He didn’t want to see that hatred in Zero’s eyes again, to know he deserved it and so much more.

“Maybe once in your friggin’ life you should have thought you might just not have all the answers.” Zero’s voice from long ago bounced accusingly around in his head. He’d been right. Completely right.

“I hate you. I hate you…”

Thump…

Kaname thought it was the past. He’d thought he’d started to heal from the loss, from the pain of that troubled time, and he had… but his own possible culpability was something he had never truly been able to face or reconcile. He had buried it, but the wound was still there and Nasser had managed to bring it all back to him, as raw and as painful as when it had just happened. Nasser’s eyes said he knew that. They said he knew exactly what he was doing. He had always been able to find the seams in Kaname’s armor much too well.

“She should have been honored, really,” Nasser hissed with a cruelly amused smirk, caressing Kaname with his mind in that way that Kaname couldn’t fend off and which made his whole body crawl. “I did it personally. She was only some little human thing, but she got my personal attention. I wanted to see what it was that could possibly have drawn you so. But I have to admit… I still don’t understand. I saw nothing remarkable about her. She wasn’t even that pretty, although she did scream very prettily when I made her feel as if her very blood was on fire… when I held her down and squeezed her thin little throat until she cried and pleaded… did you know she screamed for you? Or tried to, anyway.” He smiled darkly. “It was such a pity I had to take all those memories from her so she wouldn’t describe her assailant to you,” he added with a small sigh. “But you know…” his voice became a sibilant, evil purr. “I still have them.”

The fingertips of Nasser’s free hand pressed suddenly against Kaname’s chest. Physically, the touch was feather light but mentally, it was ruthless. Nasser knew the paths to take to touch Kaname’s mind around his defenses. He’d explored and mapped them out inch by excruciating inch years ago, and had confirmed that his inroads were still there during that initial negotiation meeting with the younger pureblood last week. He used them now. With a vicious force, Nasser shoved the memories into Kaname.

Kaname felt his breath leave him in a rush as the scene Nasser thrust into him burned his mind. Nasser had sucked Yuki’s memories of the attack from her, but he’d held onto them, and now they were screaming inside Kaname’s head, acting like they were his own, but a hundred times worse because he knew they weren’t.

He was on the ground, he was screaming in pain as the smirking pureblood over him made the blood flowing through his veins burn like acid. Only it was Yuki’s voice screaming, it was her pain and helplessness tearing through him and he could do nothing to help her. Then the mental view abruptly switched and Kaname was inside Nasser’s memory of the event instead, feeling his cruel enjoyment as he looked down at the writhing girl on the ground.

For a moment Kaname fought to make it stop, fought to get to dear, familiar form of the screaming girl, but he forced himself to cease when the rumble of Nasser’s cruel mental laughter swelled around him. He knew that no matter how real this felt, these were just memories – illusionary ghosts of what had once been. He couldn’t change the past, but he could damn well make the bastard who had done this pay.

The heart-wrenching, sobbing voice in his head screamed his name. Screamed Zero’s name. Screamed his again… and again… and he hadn’t heard her. Oh God… Oh God, he hadn’t heard her…

The pounding in Kaname’s ears took over his entire consciousness, spiraling outward as sheer pain, hatred and rage blotted out all the light in his soul and all the reason from his mind. He was no longer aware of the people around him. Was not aware of the fact that the formerly bright morning had suddenly darkened as black as if a storm was rolling in. Was not aware of the strong wind had that started to blow, knocking over plastic chairs and making people grab for hats and skirts. Was not aware that the crowd was suddenly trembling with a fear they did not understand, the reporters confused and frightened as the lenses on their cameras started shattering and popping like crystal blowing apart under the reverberating echo of a devastating, supersonic chord.

The air pressure changed abruptly, dropping painfully as if someone had depressurized the cabin of an airplane at 40,000 feet. People screamed, some dropped to their knees, clutching their heads. The ground shook. One by one, the windows of the hotel behind them and the other tall buildings surrounding the courtyard started blowing out as if shattered by a rolling wave of explosions, filling the air with a sharp, crystalline rain of broken glass.

Zero, standing just behind Kaname, knew all too well what was happening. For a long, suffocating moment he could do nothing, rooted to the spot by a swirling myriad of his own raw emotions coupled with the strong forces of pureblood will which were suddenly being brought into play. Thankfully, he could not see or feel the brutal memories that Nasser had pushed into Kaname, but an angry, swelling surge of rage and horror over what had just been said washed through him all the same. This was the man… this was the person who had killed Yuki, who was responsible for so much of their pain… for so much of Kaname’s pain, both now and in the past. Zero had already hated Nasser as much as one person could hate another, but he could not deny that the burning, tearing throb of the rage flaring through him now reached a whole new level of murderous intensity.

On top of that, he found himself echoing with Kaname’s anger and pain as well. The pureblood’s emotions had gone dark in a way Zero had never felt before. There was something wild and elemental about it, like a black, swirling vortex that would suck in the very sun itself. It almost sucked Zero in, but the young hunter did not lose his individuality so easily. Because of their bond he had experience being close to Kaname’s immense mental strength while remaining separate from it. After having lived through Kaname’s memories with him some days before, after having blended their minds that deep without losing himself in the process, it was easier this time for Zero to pull out of the figurative mental whirlpool his lover was unintentionally creating. He strained back from the edge of the abyss, forcing his head to clear as he heard the windows start to shatter about them and witnessed the crowd scattering as they screamed and ran for cover, not understanding what was happening.

Only a handful of people weren’t running. Zero realized with a jolt that none of the vampires in the crowd were fleeing. Closest at hand, a few dozen feet from the podium he could see Takuma, Shiki, Kain and Ruka, and there were others beyond them whom he didn’t know, including several of the reporters. None of the vampires were moving, but it wasn’t due to a lack of fear. Something else had taken over them. They were unusually still and Zero felt a chill as he saw that all of their eyes had gone red.

He knew then, what was happening. It was Kaname. They were responding to the same pull he had felt a moment ago, but they did not have the ability to resist that he did. They had all been sucked into the pureblood’s dark fury and they reverberated back his swirling emotions, ready to act as extensions of his will and his wishes whether Kaname was conscious of commanding them or not. They would walk into the jaws of death if they felt he wanted them to… and Zero feared that was exactly what would happen if they made a single move either towards the podium or anywhere else while they looked like that. For one thing, the hunters in the crowd had to be freaking out about now and red-eyed vampires were not going to go over well. For another, Zero had seen firsthand the intense power which Nasser commanded. If the pureblood thought the nobles were going to attack, he could kill them all with a sweep of his hand.

As this thought winged through his mind, Zero’s gaze slid back to Nasser… and he saw that the elder pureblood was smiling. A dark, triumphant smile that told Zero everything he needed to know. The freaking bastard… he was doing it again. He was manipulating Kaname – intentionally gouging so deeply into his old, ill healed scars that it was sure to garner this reaction. He was intentionally pushing the younger pureblood to lose control and attack. This was Nasser’s spiteful payback for his loss, and it was going to be Kaname who came out the bad end of this.

Suddenly Zero understood the larger consequences beyond the immediate chaos. The world was watching. If Kaname not only broke the peace treaty by blowing the lid off the secret of vampire existence while accidentally hurting and possibly killing a lot of bystanders in the process, but also completely lost it and attacked another pureblood apparently without provocation in front of hundreds of witnesses… he would be in a world of trouble with the hunters and vampires both. Just as bad, Zero knew what it would do to Kaname when he realized what he’d done. Nasser on the other hand would once again walk away scot-free while successfully leaving Kaname to reap the dire repercussions for simply reacting in pain when the older pureblood mentally and emotionally assaulted him.

No.

Something inside Zero whispered the word with an absolute, furious certainty. No. He wasn’t going to let that happen. He wasn’t going to let this bastard victimize Kaname again. This man was through hurting his lover, was through making a wreck of both of their lives whenever he damn well felt like it.

Zero wrapped his arms around Kaname from behind, pulling the pureblood’s tense body back against his chest. “Kaname, stop!” he pleaded, trying to reach his lover on all levels. “This is what he wants! He’s provoking you!” But even as he spoke, Zero knew it was too late. From this angle he couldn’t see the single-minded, murderous rage burning on his lover’s face as Kaname directed the full weight of his wrath towards the person he had good cause to hate most in this world. Zero couldn’t see it, but he could feel it in Kaname’s body. His lover’s anger and pain were too great to be contained and Zero could already feel it like a cresting wave, beginning to explode outward as it reached crescendo. Even if Zero could get through to him, Kaname physically couldn’t pull it back now.

Somewhere in the chaos Zero heard Yagari’s voice raised, shouting above the roar of exploding glass and the unnatural wind, demanding that the vampires stand down. Zero didn’t need to look to know that Kaname and Nasser were now the focus of every hunter weapon in the area. Those would not be in short supply given how many hunters he’d noticed on the scene earlier. Zero knew all too well what the hunters would do if this situation escalated. Right now, either of the purebloods could have been causing this commotion. The instant it became clear that Kaname was responsible… he would become their target and they would take him down or die trying.

Zero knew what he had to do. It wasn’t a hard choice, not now. At this moment, it was what he wanted to do more than anything, despite whatever consequences may come.

With a hoarse cry that was more of a roar, Zero let himself go. He felt the white hot spike of power pull through him as he called on it, allowing it freedom and sending it forth with a force he had never used before. It responded eagerly to him, as if it had been waiting for him to be ready, as if it wanted to be set free, to grow… to hunt… to twine… to find the enemy.

In the back of the crowd, Toga Yagari swore loudly, tossing down his cigarette and snatching his shotgun from under his coat when the first wave of vampire power washed out across the plaza. “Kaito!” he barked a heads up to his companion, although it was obviously unnecessary since Kaito too had brought out his weapon.

As the windows started shattering and falling like a deadly rain and the crowd scattered, the hunters spread about the plaza converged, pushing their way through the panicking throng. They moved quickly, leaving crowd control in the hands of the normal security police who were doing their best to get everyone to safety.

Safety, ha! Yagari knew that what they were experiencing was the work of a pureblood vampire, which meant that no one within miles of here was anything remotely like safe. He didn’t know what was happening, but something was going seriously wrong and it had to be stopped or a shitload of people were going to die.

He saw the way the vampires that had been in the crowd now stood alone in the emptying courtyard, their eyes red and faces blank. He swore again.

“Do not fire!” he barked to the other hunters who were converging on his position. They were regarding the vamped-out bystanders with raised weapons and wary eyes. “Repeat, do not fire unless they attack!” he shouted when several of his companions sent him questioning looks. “They’re just getting sucked in, the problem’s up there!” he jerked his head towards the podium where Nasser, Kaname and Zero now stood alone in the center of the storm.

Many hunters would have felt it prudent to put down the most easily manageable part of the threat first, but Yagari had not gotten as far as he had by having a “kill everything that has fangs” attitude. Maybe Cross had rubbed off on him too much, or maybe Zero had, but Yagari knew some of these vampires, and he knew they wouldn’t normally cause trouble unless they couldn’t help it. If they attacked, the hunters would have to put them down, but he wasn’t going to have them shooting people who were just standing there. Besides, some of these vampires were highly placed individuals and their deaths would cause repercussions.

Yagari glared towards the podium again. Damn it, Kuran, what’s going on? There was no way for him to tell which of the purebloods glaring at each other was causing the problem yet, but Yagari knew Kaname and felt he should know better than to allow this kind of thing to happen in a public place like this. Something was wildly wrong though, that was clear. Zero had wrapped his arms around the younger pureblood, holding onto him tightly and Yagari didn’t know whether that meant they were being attacked, or whether Zero was trying to stop Kaname from attacking.

All weapons were now trained on the vampires on the podium and several of the hunters were hurriedly trying to set a charm circle around them to contain the area. Yagari didn’t know how much good that would do against two purebloods. Usually not much, but their hope was that Ardon and Kuran were obviously interested in fighting each other and therefore would not be working in tandem against the hunters.

Yagari shouted for Kaname and Nasser to stand down, but he wasn’t at all surprised when no one even looked in his direction. He knew which one of the blood suckers he’d rather target, but he also knew that in another few moments everyone up there was going to become fair game. Including Zero. Shit, shit, shit! Hoping his apprentice wouldn’t get in the way if his lover was targeted was a futile wish and Yagari knew it. Dread that had nothing to do with the raging pureblood aura about them filled him.

His hunter senses screamed with warning as the pressure built to critical. Something was about to happen. Something very bad. “Get down!” he shouted to his companions even as his instincts told him that that wouldn’t save them. Just about nothing was going to save them when that building wave broke, and he could feel in his chest that it was just about to shatter.

Suddenly, Yagari heard Zero give a cry, and something very different from what he had been expecting happened. Everyone still in the courtyard or sheltering around the edges of it watched in shock and no little awe as a furious explosion of tangled, thorny vines shot from Zero’s body, from the podium behind him, around him, from the walls and the bushes, from practically thin air itself. The thicket grew up in such a rush there was barely time to see it happen. In the space of a heartbeat that corner of the courtyard had become a veritable jungle and the entire podium was cloaked in a protective mesh of vines so thick you could no longer see, nor reach the three people who had been standing there a moment before.

Apparently, nothing inside could reach out either, because the instant the wall of thorns closed around the podium the pressure in the air lessened, the wind died down and the windows stopped exploding. From somewhere inside the unnatural thicket, there was a hollow, echoing boom, like the passage of a distant jet fighter breaking the sound barrier. The earth rumbled under their feet like an earthquake, causing the buildings around them to sway visibly.

Yagari climbed back to his feet quickly. Other than Kaname, he alone was actually aware that Zero possessed this power, but he’d never seen his apprentice use it to this extent, nor imagined that he could. It was unbelievable. Zero had actually created a barrier that could at least temporarily contain the full blast of a pureblood’s power. A blast which could otherwise have easily leveled half the city. Holy crap…!

Yagari shook off his shock with the skill of a trained soldier. There was no way to know how long this unexpected intervention would last. They needed to take advantage of the time they had been given. They needed to try and help, if they could. “Get that damn circle laid and charged, now!” Yagari ordered, and the others obeyed, quickly tracing charms into the earth around the vined-off podium and charging them up, creating another layer of protection around the one that Zero had created. When that was done, they created another circle outside the first, and another, and another, strengthening the spelled enclosure with every additional layer.

The eyes of the vampires standing around them still burned red, but they were starting to revert slowly. The vampires blinked and shook their heads as if waking from a dream as they too were cut off from the vortex that had been pulling them in.

Yagari turned to the nearest one he knew, giving the blonde’s shoulder a rough shake. “Kid, snap out of it,” he barked. “What the hell’s going on here?”

Takuma shook his head, breathing hard and apparently trying to clear his thoughts. He ran his hand down his face, his red eyes fading back to green with obvious effort. “Kaname…” he gasped softly. Then blinked again as everything he had seen while catatonic processed through his mind. “Zero…” he gasped, looking at the vines in shock. He’d had no idea his friend was capable of anything like that. Takuma clutched his head again, obviously still a little under the effects of the earlier compulsion, although perhaps it was more so with him because even with his own will he did want to protect Kaname. “Kaname…” he gasped again, softly. “He needs me, I have to…”

Yagari’s gaze darkened and he cuffed Takuma upside the back of the head. “I said snap out of it.” The vampires were in a much better position than the hunters to know who had started this. He didn’t want to hear that it was Kaname who was responsible for this mess. He really, really didn’t want to hear that. But that wasn’t necessarily what Takuma’s words meant, right? “Are you saying Ardon attacked Kuran?” he demanded.

Takuma shuddered once, but his mind had obviously kicked back into gear and he seemed to understand the importance of what Yagari was asking him. Something behind the open green eyes shuttered closed. “Yes,” he said simply. “He did.”

The others were coming around now as well. Shiki glanced at Takuma but said nothing.

“Of course he did!” Ruka’s emphatic voice came from behind them. She rubbed her head painfully and Kain slid an arm around her. Every one of them knew they were lying, but every one of them would have stuck to that story under torture. Ultimately, they knew it was true after a fashion. Somehow, Nasser had to have attacked Kaname, because Kaname wouldn’t have reacted like that otherwise. They just hadn’t seen how he’d done it. “We have to do something! We…”

Yagari held up his hand. “None of you are going anywhere.” He wasn’t entirely sure he believed them. They had plenty of reason to be biased, but it did seem more likely and was the version of events which he preferred for his own reasons. If it turned out that Kuran had flipped his lid, then things would be different, but he was willing to wait and see. “Nobody touches those vines. Right now they’re the only thing keeping this place from turning into a crater and we don’t know what could happen if we mess with them. Kuran can take care of himself.” Yagari hoped the same held true for Zero, stuck in there with two purebloods… geez kid, you really get yourself in the middle of things, don’t you?

“I didn’t know Kiriyu could do that,” Shiki observed quietly, taking all of this a lot more in stride than the others, as was his disposition.

“Neither did I,” Kain admitted. Aido probably hadn’t known either, his cousin certainly would have told him about this.

Ruka’s gaze was fixed on the concealing shroud of vines. “What do you think is happening in there?” she whispered, obviously hating just standing there and being able to do nothing.

Yagari understood her feelings acutely. “No way to know,” he muttered, although at that moment, he would have given a lot for the answer.

“This had better be important.” Nasser’s smooth, silky voice was eerily pleasant, making it much more frightening then if he’d simply sounded annoyed at having been woken a good many hours earlier than was his habit.

His servant, Rin, bowed deeply. “I’m very sorry, Ardon-sama, but I believe you will want to take this call. It is from Prince Sayyar and he insists it is a matter of great importance.” Rin had been with Nasser his whole life, plenty long enough to know that however much trouble he may get into for waking the pureblood at this ungodly hour, it was a damn sight less then he’d be in if he was in any way responsible for obstructing a possibly vital development in one of his master’s business affairs. Servants more useful than him had been killed for less.

Nasser frowned and rolled out of bed, holding out his hand for the phone. Sometimes he loathed the evolution of technology. It was a very useful tool and all that, but when people in other places had to ride for days on horseback or fly all night via shade form in order to disturb your sleep at some unforgiveable hour of the day, one tended to suffer fewer annoying intrusions.

The ironic part was that given the time difference between here and An’swala, the prince was himself probably up in the middle of his sleep cycle just to take care of business when it was presumably more convenient for Orion’s CEO. Of course, the stupid little human didn’t know he was a vampire and that office hours were a lousy time to be calling.

Nasser’s mood did not improve during the course of his brief phone conversation. To the contrary, it darkened to the point that Rin obviously would have liked to run if he thought he could have survived leaving before he was dismissed.

Nasser punched the button to hang the phone up rather more savagely than was necessary, seeming to regret the fact that the phone was cordless and there was no convenient base to slam it down onto. He had more control then to fling the phone, but Rin took it back quickly as if thinking that were a possibility and not wishing to be the target.

“Get out,” Nasser snapped simply, sitting silently on the edge of the bed, gripping the edge of the mattress on either side of him with barely suppressed rage. He felt incensed and grudgingly pleased all at the same time, although the former was momentarily holding greater influence.

He’d been played. Him. How had he let this happen?

The prince had called in person as a courtesy to inform Nasser that he had gathered his ministers and they were calling an emergency voting session of the Mission Oil board of directors and shareholders that would convene in about three hours. All foreign shareholders were being invited to conference in for the session.

The notice was far too short to be legal in most countries and there shouldn’t have been a voting session for another month yet, but Sayyar was the acting head of state and the conventions of his little kingdom were fairly liberal when it came to allowing rulers to circumvent or make new laws when it suited them. In this case however, Sayyar didn’t even have to stretch his authority like that. As a member of the royal family, the prince had the hereditary right to demand an emergency voting session for any An’swalan based business interest in which the royal family owned a share if it was deemed in the best interests of the country’s security. Given the current chaos in An’swala, pretty much anything could qualify as a matter of national security, especially anything to do with Mission Oil.

The method of calling the vote wasn’t what upset Nasser, however… it was what it meant that set his teeth on edge. Kaname’s hand was clearly in this. There was no reason for the Prince to be calling this session with the way things had stood before. Deadlock would have been the only result, it was pointless. Something had obviously changed, and Nasser did not for a moment suppose that it was some kind of coincidence that he was getting this call not even 24 hours after the papers had been signed which turned over a small chunk of his stock to Diachi Sato.

No, not a coincidence. He was plenty smart enough to instantly read the writing on the wall. Kaname and that half-breed whelp of his had played him, and Diachi had been part of the plan. If Diachi exorcised the privileged weight of those priority shares properly and cast his lot with Kaname’s when the vote went down in a few hours, as he surely would, then Mission Oil was going to stay in An’swala. They would win by an incredibly slim margin, but no matter how slim it was the fact remained that Nasser was going to lose and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. Oh, there was plenty he could do for revenge, plenty of trouble he could yet cause Kaname – but Mission Oil was a lost cause. He was smart and calculating enough to know that. Sometimes you just had to know when to cut your losses and try a new tact.

Kaname had taken this one, and masterfully at that. If he hadn’t been quite so pissed off right now, Nasser would have felt pleased by the younger pureblood’s unexpected cleverness. He was slightly proud of Kaname in an odd way, even as he plotted comeuppance. After all, furious as he was, Nasser knew he had no one to blame for being tricked but himself. You were only as foolish as you let others make you. Nasser wasn’t one to tolerate shifting the blame because doing so was simply how fools deluded themselves and stayed fools. Being smart meant understanding your failures, not pretending they were someone else’s fault in order to assuage your ego. Failures for him were rare indeed these days and it made him livid, with himself as much as Kaname. He’d underestimated his young opponent despite knowing he shouldn’t, and it cost him. He would not do that again.

Anyway, Kaname may have won this little skirmish… but he wasn’t even aware of the larger board they were all actually playing on. That thought was a slight consolation, although Nasser was going to need to take quick action to be sure things remained that way. Kaname was already much too close now to the real heart of this whole matter and he was obviously more dangerous than Nasser had been giving him credit for, despite his youth.

“Rin,” Nasser called out to his servant right as the man reached the doorway. “Get everything set up for a teleconference at four.” He had to attend the vote and play that little farce out, despite knowing how it was going to go down. The world was soon going to be watching. His cold gaze was speculative, mind already racing ahead and calculating possibilities and contingencies. “Then contact Mikhail in An’swala. Tell him to mobilize his assets and shut things down, it’s time to pull out.” Nasser’s gaze dark and emotionless as it met Rin’s. “Tell him to burn it to the ground.”

“Hey, looks like sleeping beauty is finally waking up…” a familiar voice prodded at Aido’s groggy consciousness as bleary blue eyes blinked slowly open, the world swimming around him in hazy shades of cream, umber and swaying silver. He felt like… well, no, he didn’t really have a comparison for how he felt because even the one time he’d gotten spectacularly drunk, his head hadn’t hurt this badly afterwards.

He realized after a moment that the umber slashes were pillars on the huge four-poster bed in which he lay and the hazy cream were the walls of what he was beginning to recognize was one of the guest bedrooms in Night Haven. The bobbing silver was the hair of the person bending over him with a hand pressed to his forehead as if checking his temperature and trying to catch his vacant, wandering attention.

It was Akatsuki who had spoken, Aido finally decided after a long moment of trying to get his brain go process his surroundings. He wasn’t in Aido’s line of sight, but it had to be him, because that was his voice. Following the same logic, it was Zero currently bending over him and checking his temperature because that was Zero’s hair, and Zero’s hair wasn’t any more likely to go somewhere without him then Kain’s voice was. That made perfect sense when Aido thought it, but he had the vague notion that there was something ridiculous about it somehow.

The silver fringe swayed closer, the second familiar voice speaking words Aido only partially understood. What he did understand was the proximity of the body bending over him. Something inside the semi-conscious vampire thrilled with awareness. The scent of citrus soap and Kaname mingled with the hunter’s own unique smell and Aido inhaled deeply, instinctively. Zero was close… too close. So close that Aido could hear the blood rushing through his veins, making the groggy, recovering noble’s mouth literally water and his fangs throb.

Instinct was pushing the blonde to make a move… to… Aido winced, his head throbbing painfully. No… no something wasn’t right… he mustn’t go with his instincts, there was some reason he shouldn’t, he needed to remember it and remember it right now! With effort, Aido slammed the brakes on his growing reaction as best he could, lucidity catching up with him reluctantly and reminding him that Zero was very, very off limits, not only because of Aido’s illness, but because the ex-human’s blood and everything else belonged to a certain someone.

Aido felt a sudden tension blossom in his aching mind. Crap! He’d already taken Zero’s blood back in the lab, hadn’t he? He shouldn’t have… but… but wait, Kaname was there, so it had to have been okay, right? He wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t okay, right? God… he didn’t remember. Everything that happened after his fight with the assassin was blurry and more troubling was the fact that he was still being strongly drawn to the person bending over him. Zero’s taste was disturbingly fresh in his mind and having him so close made the younger vampire want to taste him again, despite himself. You’re just messed up and thirsty, that’s all… he told himself in a mild panic when he realized how deep was the thread of desire that had just pulled through him.

Zero frowned in concern when Aido’s glassy, vacant eyes seemed to glaze with something like fear and the younger vampire’s chest started rising and falling more rapidly, threatening hyperventilation. Thinking Aido wasn’t fully conscious and was perhaps still trapped in the lingering nightmare of his near death experience in his lab, Zero cupped the blonde’s cheek in his hand, giving him a little shake. He would have taken Aido by the shoulder except that the noble’s bare chest and shoulders were swathed in bandages and Zero wasn’t sure how much damage the white wrappings may still conceal. Aido was healing very slowly.

Aido’s heart rate increased as a hot, heavy knot of need sunk into the pit of his stomach, diffusing warmly through his body and not helping his bleary, keyed up condition. Zero’s hand on his face was too warm. He liked it too much. Zero was just a friend. A friend. A good friend he didn’t want to freak out, damn it! It wouldn’t have been such a big deal for him usually, but Aido was not fully in control yet and he knew it. He was simply not processing what he was feeling very well right now and everything a hundred times harder than it should be. He turned his head slightly into Zero’s touch. Please stop, you don’t know what you’re doing to me…

“Come on, snap out of it,” Zero prodded gently, trying to bring Aido fully around. “Hey, sleeping beauty,” he tried again when Aido didn’t respond, teasingly picking up on Kain’s words from a moment before. “You waiting for someone to kiss you to wake up?” the young hunter taunted, trying to hide his concern. Aido’s rising body temperature worried Zero and he wondered if they should call for the doctor again.

His words finally got a reaction and Aido’s blue eyes shot to him. There was a glitter of something Zero didn’t understand in them for a moment before they finally seemed to clear and really focus on the hunter for the first time.

Aido blinked sluggishly, struggling to gather the scattered bits of his reason and common sense. “Not if you’re volunteering…” he rasped, throat unexpectedly scratchy and sore from disuse. His voice was weak, but there was a hint of his usual spark in it again. His eyes fluttered closed for a moment as if he were exhausted despite how long he’d been asleep. His throat worked, swallowing hard several times. “Sooner kiss a frog,” he muttered. Usually he would have meant it, right now… not so much, but he did not want Zero to know that.

Zero and Kain both chuckled, relieved that Aido seemed to be waking up enough to be a wiseass again.

“Ya know… it’s the princesses who kiss the frogs, Hana…” Kain teased his cousin softly, smoothing the perspiration damp covers over Aido’s chest and brushing tangled hair back from the younger vampire’s brow.

Aido peeked one eye open. “Shut up. Can’t you see I’m half dead here? Show some sympathy.” His head still hurt like hell, but his memory was starting to return the longer he was awake. More particulars about what had happened in his lab were coming back to him now, easing his fears, if not his desire. Zero wasn’t bending over or touching him anymore, but Aido was still hyper aware of his presence and it was freaking embarrassing as hell. He didn’t know why he was fixating on Zero, and not Kain who was also in the room. He hoped it was just because their relationship made it hard to think of Kain in that way and Zero was the most recent taste in his mind. Any other possible explanations were way too awkward and he didn’t want to go there. He was thirsty, so terribly thirsty it was making it almost impossible to think. His head and his chest were throbbing…

“Hanabusa?” it was Zero’s voice again, dragging him back from wherever it was he hadn’t realized he was going. Aido’s eyes blinked open slowly. There was a warm, dark, languid heat unspooling slowly through the young noble’s awareness like thick, liquid molasses. Aido only now recognized it for what it was and with a thrill of alarm he realized he couldn’t seem to make it stop. Shit.

Zero was looking at Aido with concern once more, along with a certain measure of prudent wariness as he recognized the feeling rolling off the injured vampire. He didn’t need to see the film of red creeping into Aido’s blue eyes when they opened to realize that his friend was vamping out. Flushed, bruised and bleary-eyed, Aido had looked like hell when he first woke up, but that had abruptly, if subtly changed. His physical appearance didn’t actually shift, but somehow Zero’s perception of it did, radically. Aido’s flushed weakness became attractive, as if signaling a desire for passion. Instead of simply looking worn and beat up, the bruises on his face seemed suddenly like an invitation. Don’t you want to mark me too? Don’t you want to use me? Come closer…

Zero blinked in shock, trying to clear away the incredibly weird and disturbing image, and the equally disturbing and unexpected reaction which it pulled from him. He knew what was happening. Zero lived with a pureblood, he knew all about how the hormones a vampire put off could affect the way you saw them. Aido was vamping out and it was the young noble’s aura and pheromones that had changed, triggering his altered perception of his friend. Vampires could do this intentionally, but Zero was pretty damn sure that Aido wasn’t. The warning tingling in Zero’s hunter senses told him that hunger was what was triggering it. In his condition, Aido may not even be aware of the seductive vibes he was giving off. Under some circumstances, the beginning stages of blood lust could hit born vampires differently than ex-humans. Their predator instincts kicked to a new level, making them became increasingly sexy and dangerously tempting, nature’s way of luring their prey to them to solve the problem of their need. Zero had been taught about that, he had just never seen it happen right in front of him to someone he knew. It was probably because Aido was weak and in less control than usual.

“Kain?” Zero said softly, his gaze shooting to the other vampire to see if he had this, or if Zero needed to do something. Zero caught sight of an agonized glimmer in Aido’s reddening eyes and realized that Aido was both conscious of and mortified over his slipping control. The blonde’s throat was working hard again but he couldn’t seem to make any sound come out, mouthing the word “sorry” with a miserable, embarrassed expression that only made him more vulnerably alluring. He knew the kind of aura his hungry, hurting body was projecting, couldn’t make it stop and it humiliated the hell out of him.

“Hey, it’s okay. Not your fault. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize,” Zero felt compelled to reassure. He was quite unsettled by the reactions that Aido’s state was causing in him, but he didn’t show it. This wasn’t Aido’s fault. He suspected that the younger vampire had been trying not to vamp out since he woke up and was now slowly failing. He knew what that kind of struggle could be like and he should have expected it, given Aido’s condition.

It was weird to realize that he didn’t want Aido to feel bad about something he couldn’t control. Since when had he felt that way? When had a vampire’s need for blood and the instincts that let them do almost anything to get it started to seem okay to him? It was a disturbing thought for a hunter, and yet seeing Aido like this and knowing everything his friend had been through, he just… he couldn’t feel anything but worried and protective. It was a moral quandary he was going to have to work out another day, right now he wasn’t a hunter and Aido wasn’t a vampire, they were just friends, and he wanted his friend to be okay. That couldn’t be wrong, could it?

Kain needed no prompting and had already climbed onto the bed with Aido. He settled protectively next to his cousin, pressing his nails into his wrist. He understood what was happening and it wasn’t at all surprising or disturbing to him. His cousin’s need and his instinctive reaction to it was quite natural. Part of the reason he’d remained close by the whole time Aido was unconscious was so that there would be someone here to feed him when he woke.

Of course, the amusingly unfortunate target Aido had latched onto was going to be fodder for Kain to tease him with for the next few hundred years or so. “Kiryu? Oh Hanabusa, you do realize how much grief I’m going to give you over this when you’re better…” Kain thought fondly. Considering the fact that Zero’s cheeks were just a little pink, but he wasn’t otherwise reacting, Kain guessed that the ex-human probably didn’t realize that in vampire terms Aido had essentially just propositioned him.

Of course, it would be more amusing if it wasn’t an indication of how badly his cousin was doing. Also, Kain wasn’t particularly happy about the way Aido’s vamp-out state seemed to invite abuse. He knew Aido was perfectly safe with Zero, who would never take advantage of a friend no matter how open the invitation, but if he had been with someone else… it kindled all of the older vampire’s protective instincts.

“You’ll be okay, Hana. It’ll feel better soon,” he murmured, his voice tranquil and authoritative now, seeming to have a calming effect on Aido. “Zero, can you hand me that please?”

Zero quickly handed Kain the cup on the nightstand to which he was pointing and watched as the tall red-head quietly and efficiently slit his own wrist almost to the bone, bleeding rapidly into the cup while somehow managing to not make a mess or get the blood anywhere else.

Zero had to admit that he appreciated and occasionally admired Kain’s calm reliability and responsible nature. The tall vampire was dependable and level-headed. Zero didn’t wonder that Kaname was maneuvering Kain into a position of increasing influence within his syndeo. Back in school people had sometimes called Kain his right hand man and Kaname was making good on keeping that true within the growing sphere of his larger influence as well. Aido too, of course, but Kaname was good at seeing where people were the happiest and most useful. The cousins had different skills, although when they were together they both complimented and balanced one another. Aido needed Kain’s steadying influence to balance his vibrant personality and Kain needed Aido’s fire to prod him into action when the time was right.

After a moment Zero had to close his eyes and look away because the sight and smell of blood, on top of Aido’s stirred up hormones, were starting to affect him. He’d fed very well from Kaname not more than a few hours ago and he wasn’t in need, but he was a vampire and the scent of blood sent a twinge through him whether he was hungry or not.

Of course, his reaction was mild compared to Aido’s. Aido groaned, shifting on the bed and clutching his chest, obviously forcing himself to lie still and not go for his cousin’s bleeding wrist directly. He would never risk infecting Kain like that, he would die first. Kain pressed the cup into his shaking hands and helped Aido drink. Aido downed it in a few gulps and Kain slit his already healing wrist open again to pour a second helping.

By the third cup, Aido was beginning to feel much better and the tenseness in his body relaxed, allowing him to slump back against the pillows and breathe easier. He was also able to feel completely embarrassed about the way he’d behaved a few minutes ago even though it really had been out of his control. Geez, what had he been thinking? Zero? Please, please, please tell me he doesn’t understand what just happened. Occasionally Zero’s lack of knowledge about the subtleties of vampire life was a good thing.

Kain let Aido settle back against the pillows, gratified to see the blue return to his eyes and a more healthy color beginning to creep across his bruised features. He turned and found that Zero was standing beside him, quietly holding out a glass of water. Kain smiled, having been about to go in search of one. He pulled his pillbox from his pocket and dumped a sizable handful of blood tablets into the water, swirling the water as it swiftly turned crimson before downing it in a couple of droughts. He’d given Aido a fairly sizable infusion and he felt it, but he was fine and this helped take the edge off.

Zero looked to Aido but the blond flushed and studiously looked away, too embarrassed to meet his gaze. Picking up the bloody cup Kain had used to feed his cousin, Zero took it into the bathroom to wash it out, using the pretext to give Aido some space.

Zero glanced in the mirror as he rinsed out the cup and saw that Kain was sitting next to Aido again, stroking his hair, and it looked like the younger vampire was slowly beginning to collecting himself. A faint smile touched the hunter’s lips. The way Kain took care of Aido reminded Zero a little of the way Kaname had been with him since he returned from his mission to Nasser’s house. Kaname had been very tender and concerned for his welfare. He kept trying to feed Zero his blood until the hunter finally had to protest that he was too full and couldn’t take anymore. Not true of course, he could never be too full of Kaname’s blood, but he didn’t want the pureblood would pass out from the strain of trying to heal him too fast… again.

Zero gazed thoughtfully at the water flowing out of the faucet and over the cup he was washing, his thoughts slipping away for a moment.

Water ran from the large faucet, making a pleasant sound as it filled the huge bathtub in Zero’s bathroom. Kaname twisted the water off with one hand and then carefully helped Zero immerse himself in the bath, supporting him as the hunter hissed in pain when the water touched his healing injuries. They were both naked to facilitate the process, but for once Kaname wasn’t trying to seduce him. Zero was healing slowly due to the gunshot wound to his shoulder and Kaname was worried. Nasser had done a real number on him, breaking almost all his ribs, a collarbone and a cheekbone among other trifles as well as nearly crushing his larynx. Most worrisome to Kaname were the wounds that had been carved into Zero’s abdomen, Nasser having mucked about in there far too much, barely stopping shy of disemboweling the ex-human. Those injuries would have eventually killed him without the intervention of either major surgery, or more conveniently, Kaname’s blood.

Fortunately, Kaname’s blood and Zero’s natural strength were already helping because the wounds were closed enough to protect Zero’s vitals and make the bath a safe idea. Inside he was still healing, and outside the cuts and gouges were raw and red, but his body had already sealed off the penetrating damage.

Zero leaned back against the edge of the tub, feeling dizzy, and Kaname washed him down gently, wiping away the caked and drying blood. Zero sighed softly, it felt really good to be clean, and Kaname’s touch was incredibly soothing. Once that was done, Kaname shifted Zero around, so that the hunter’s back rested against his chest and he washed his lover’s hair, letting Zero rest against him as he massaged the suds gently into the soft silver strands.

The young pureblood felt his chest ease slightly when the citrus smell of Zero’s shampoo finally erased the last of Nasser’s scent, which had been clinging to his body. Kaname suddenly realized Zero had tilted his head back and was looking up at him with a quiet expression that suggested the hunter knew exactly what his lover was thinking and why Kaname was working the warm suds into his hair so thoroughly. Kaname felt a small flush of guilt and dipped his head. He just wanted to take care of Zero, ease his pain, make him clean… but he had to admit he’d also been desperate to wash all trace of Nasser off of him. Smelling Nasser on Zero kindled every possessive, jealous, protective instinct Kaname had and it had been difficult to suppress that in order to not let those feelings bleed through to Zero.

Zero shifted in his arms. Reaching up, he gripped Kaname’s chin with wet fingers and tipped his face back towards him. The hunter’s smile was soft and understanding. “I don’t smell like him anymore, right?” he murmured. His own senses were too dulled still to be able to tell.

Kaname nodded guiltily, still feeling ashamed that something so silly bothered him so much.

“Good,” Zero’s smile turned wry. “I certainly don’t want to go around smelling like that jerk. Ew. Would have all the trash collectors chasing me.” He gave a mock shiver. It was a ridiculous statement, but it seemed to break the tension Kaname was feeling. The pureblood laughed, which was what Zero wanted.

Kaname finished washing his hair with expert fingers that would have made any salon stylist jealous and Zero relaxed into the pleasant sensation. Kaname was doing more than washing the suds from his hair and he knew it. Kaname was using every moment of physical contact with Zero to consciously pour those insidiously lovely, and at the moment totally welcome feel-good pureblood vibes into his body. By the time his hair had been completely rinsed Zero felt boneless from the blissful lack of pain and the familiar, warm, drunken complacency that had seeped through every fiber of his being.

He felt Kaname’s body brush and press against him as Kaname turned him around so they were facing one another. Zero wasn’t sure what Kaname was doing, but his arms wrapped around the other body instinctually, nuzzling Kaname’s neck and kissing him, sliding onto Kaname’s lap under the water and trailing his fingers through his lover’s hair. He wasn’t really trying to start anything, but he wanted to be close to Kaname, to feel his nearness.

Kaname kissed Zero back softly and stroked his back, making conscious and very difficult effort to keep the situation from progressing down the path it would normally follow when he found a very naked, very wet, very drunk Zero sitting on his lap and kissing him. He knew that Zero was feeling no pain now thanks to his efforts, but even if he didn’t feel it, the boy’s body was still seriously injured. Kaname would be doing him no favors if they tried to make love right now. Zero’s gut and insides were too raw, he doubted that the inevitable muscle spasms accompanying orgasm would be at all good for him. Instead, he guided Zero’s head to his neck, urging him to drink. In a highly pliable state and content as long as he was doing something that let him be close to his lover, Zero sank his fangs into Kaname’s neck softly, like a warm, adoring kiss. Kaname’s taste was heaven and the connection that it gave them felt like it fairly glowed with the warmth of the love on both sides. Zero feel incredibly wonderful and he drank slowly and tenderly for quite a while.

Eventually he stopped, kissing and licking the small puncture wounds, but Kaname drew him back with warm, coaxing hands, wanting him to take more. Zero complied with a blissful groan, leaning forward as Kaname leaned back against the edge of the tub. The pureblood’s dark head tipped back against the rim, baring his neck and letting the tub support them. He wrapped his arms contentedly around Zero’s back, giving a small shiver of deep, intense pleasure as the hunter’s fangs sank into him again.

Zero gripped the tub edge on either side of Kaname at first, then eventually slid his arms down under the water and let them curl against his lover’s sides. He drank for what felt like a long time. It was a slow, gradual infusion because he wasn’t exactly hungry, it was just… it was so good… and his mind was too contentedly blitzed to possess his usual restraint. Kaname was counting on that and had deliberately eased Zero into his current state a little more deeply than he needed to be just to sooth his pain. He knew it was the only way to get Zero to take this much from him in one feeding. Sober, Zero was too consciences and responsible a lover to allow himself what he needed right now, even when Kaname was offering it gladly. As it was, Zero would try to raise his head every now and again, sated, but Kaname’s gentle grip would pull him back, the pureblood moaning softly and begging Zero for more in completely irresistible tones. Willing to do anything to make his lover happy, Zero complied.

The hunter wasn’t sure how long this went on. It seemed like a pleasurable eternity. The large, ornate tub was self-heating, so the water never got cold or uncomfortable and it was impossible to gauge the passage of time in that manner. Zero drifted pleasantly in and out of consciousness, drinking, sleeping, waking, drinking some more, safe in Kaname’s arms, surrounded by the lovely, familiar sound of his lover’s heartbeat and gentle voice.

It wasn’t until hours later that Zero’s head cleared just enough for him to begin wondering how long they’d been doing this. It was about that time he realized Kaname’s body was completely slack under him, the pureblood peacefully unconscious. He was incredibly pale but had a faint smile on his lips. Zero panicked for a moment when he realized just how much he’d been feeding. He shook the pureblood, calling his name, but Kaname wouldn’t wake up. Zero could still feel the heartbeat against his chest, however and knew Kaname was all right, just unconscious from having given too much in too short a time.

“Stupid idiot,” Zero muttered reproachfully, realizing now that Kaname had intentionally gotten him sugared so that this would happen. Zero knew he should get up, carry Kaname out of the tub and get him to bed… but Zero had been through quite an ordeal. The massive amount of pure blood in his system was helping a lot and his messed up body seemed to want to shut down to let it work more effectively. He felt very, very sleepy. Moving seemed impossibly hard, and the bath was really comfortable. He curled his arms tighter around Kaname, laying protectively atop him as if to keep his lover warm and safe as his head drifted to rest on the pureblood’s shoulder and sleep claimed him once more before he even realized it was reaching for him.

Kaname must have awoken at some point, because the next thing Zero remembered was being lifted out of the tub and dried off. Then he was in his soft, cool bed. He stirred, worried, reaching… until Kaname’s body pressed against his, reassuring in its presence and he was able relax again, curling into the waiting arms and falling back asleep.

Zero wasn’t sure whether his body had just shut down naturally in order to heal, or whether Kaname had ‘kept’ him asleep, but he’d been out for over 24 hours after that. Kaname had appeared by the time he’d woken of course, but Zero still felt rather inclined to punch him for what he’d done. He found he couldn’t though, not with Kaname looking at him all earnestly worried and kissing him in that way that said he thought the hunter was the most precious thing in the entire world. Sweet, manipulative bastard. Kaname actually insisted that Zero drink again and wouldn’t let up until he finally consented.

Zero knew it hurt Kaname to see Nasser’s injuries lingering on his body. He knew that his lover felt responsible for getting him hurt, and that Kaname really needed to feel like he could erase it all away in order to have peace. That was the only reason Zero reluctantly consented to taking more blood from him, but he finally had to plead “too full” in order to get Kaname to stop pressing. He was really, truly fine and Kaname seriously needed to chill. A lot had happened while Zero was unconscious and the tired pureblood had filled him in before finally drifting off to sleep beside Zero on top of the covers with his head on Zero’s shoulder. Zero had stayed that way for a while before eventually sliding out and settling his lover’s head carefully on a pillow. Proving how tired he really was, Kaname didn’t stir and Zero pulled the free end of the covers over his slumbering body. Leaving his lover resting peacefully, Zero had gotten some much needed food of the solid variety before coming to check on Aido and Kain.

Zero turned off the faucet, drying the cup with a hand towel and setting it aside. He touched his shoulder lightly with his fingertips through his t-shirt, rotating it carefully and feeling the ache inside. He was much better now, with just a lingering ache in his shoulder and gut. He had no visible wounds anymore, so he hoped when Kaname woke up the pureblood would accept that he was okay and quit worrying. Kaname was annoyingly mother-hen-like when he was worried.

“I said shut up!” Aido’s not-so-quiet hiss from the other room drew Zero’s attention back to the present. “It’s not like that, it wasn’t intentional!”

“I don’t know, I think you’re holding out on me. You’re just lucky Kaname wasn’t around…” Kain’s soft voice was teasing but gentle.

“Oh my god… shut up…” Aido groaned. “You can’t ever tell him…”

Zero came out of the bathroom, glancing towards the two cousins on the bed who instantly stopped talking when he appeared. “Tell who, what?” he asked innocently, knowing perfectly well what they were talking about but preferring to play dumb and let them think he didn’t.

The look that Aido and Kain shared was priceless. “Nothing,” they said at almost the same moment and Zero couldn’t help laughing as he set the washed cup back on the nightstand.

“Right. I buy that,” he said sarcastically, but didn’t press. There was no easy or non-embarrassing way to approach what had happened a few minutes ago, and Zero felt they would probably all be more comfortable simply pretending it hadn’t happened and moving on. “Feeling better?” he asked Aido and the younger vampire nodded quickly. He did look better, although it was obvious he still wasn’t well.

“Mostly…” Aido amended, dragging a hand through his hair. “How long have I been out?”

“Around three days,” Zero said, sitting on the edge of the bed. He’d been out for some of that time too, affecting his grasp of time, so he wasn’t really sure how accurate he was, but it was something like that.

Aido seemed slightly surprised by that. “That long?” He frowned slightly, recalling the last time he was conscious. He remembered almost all of it now, and alarm lit in his eyes as he quickly struggled to sit upright. “Wait… what happened? Is everything all right? It wasn’t too late, right? Naija’s message…”

Zero placed a calming hand on the covers over Aido’s knee. “Whoa, slow down. No, it wasn’t too late, everything’s fine. We were able to get the message to Diachi in time to save his ass and ours too. You did really good, Aido. Kaname’s really proud of you, so just take it easy.”

Aido smiled in relief, his body relaxing again as Zero continued to fill him in on the nutshell version of what had happened since then.

“…So then there was this emergency vote thing. Diachi sided with Kaname, and of course Prince whats-his-face did too. Too bad for Ardon, Mission Oil is staying put in An’swala for the foreseeable future.” Zero grinned, obviously very pleased with the outcome. Aido and Kain were pleased as well.

There was a few minutes of silence before Aido seemed to work up to a question he’d been wanting to ask. “You probably don’t know,” he murmured. “But did anyone mention whether there was going to be any kind of memorial for… um… for the other scientists…”

Zero looked down at the bed clothes, knowing Aido wasn’t asking about the other scientists in general, but one in particular. Vampires did not have funerals, since there was never any body to bury, but sometimes they had memorials for the departed. “Diachi intends to have a small memorial for Naija up in his territory when things calm down, probably a couple weeks from now,” he said quietly. He knew because Kaname had made specific inquiries on the subject. “It’s a semi-private thing, but Kaname got permission for you to attend.”

Aido nodded quietly, staring down at his lap, and Kain squeezed his hand lightly. “Hana…”

“Yeah, I know,” Aido cut him off softly, not able to deal with consolation right now when he himself was confused and unsure of how he felt. There was something in him that ached hollowly, making his chest hurt. He had respected and cared about Naija a lot more than he realized. He hadn’t exactly been in love with her, but something told him that maybe he could have been with time. Now, he’d never know and it left him feeling very empty. “It’s okay,” he murmured, swallowing hard. It obviously wasn’t and Zero and Kain exchanged quietly pained glances, but said nothing. What was there to say?

Unexpectedly, Aido looked up towards Kain with a funny intensity in his eyes. “Akatsuki, Ruka’s here, right? I smell her.”

A little thrown by the shift in topic, Kain nodded with a confused look. “Yeah, she’s here. We’ve been taking turns sitting with you while you were out. She’s downstairs talking to Seiren. Do you want me to get her?”

Aido shook his head. “No,” he said quietly, his eyes still unusually intense. “I want you to freaking get off your ass and marry her.”

Both Kain and Zero looked more than a little shocked by the unexpected statement. Aido had joked about such things with his cousin before, but he wasn’t teasing now. He was unusually serious and not acting much like the person they knew at all.

“Uh… okay, that’s a little sudden,” Kain attempted to say lightly, trying to catch the curve ball and wondering where in the hell this was coming from.

“It’s not,” Aido insisted, still serious. “It’s not at all sudden. I know you better than anyone. You’ve been moony over her since elementary school and it took you how many years to make a move?”

“Hanabusa, this isn’t…” Kain’s face had tightened defensively.

“The time?” Aido cut him off. “Then when is, Akatsuki? You almost let her get away once because you didn’t say anything. If Kaname-sama took mistresses like some other purebloods do, you would have lost her to him. But somehow, miraculously, you two are together now and even a blind rat could see that she loves you, I mean, I bet even Kiryu could tell…”

“Hey!” Zero protested being considered lower on the scale of emotional awareness than a visually impaired rodent, but Aido ignored him.

“I’m not trying to be a jerk, Akatsuki,” Aido murmured quietly and the glitter of pain in his eyes dampened the irritation that Kain had been starting to exhibit. “I’m serious. You two are good for each other. If you truly want to be together, then you should just take the risk and ask her already. Sometimes we don’t have forever to figure things out. Life can be shorter than you think, you know? Even for us.”

Kain swallowed, taken aback by the unusual, pained maturity that showed through Aido’s words and in his eyes. He wasn’t used to this side of his cousin and Kain didn’t know how to respond, especially because he suddenly realized that for once, the younger boy was completely right. Look at what was happening to Aido. Look at what had happened to Naija… what if right now was all you had? How much of that did he want to waste because he was afraid of changing the status quo?

“You agree with me, don’t you, Zero?” Aido asked as if looking for support and Zero sent him a slightly uncomfortable glance. He didn’t really want to get pulled into other people’s private matters, but he had to admit that Aido’s point was valid. The young noble’s recent frequent brushes with death, as well as the lingering threat still hanging over him was obviously bringing Aido a new perspective on life, one with which Zero was quite familiar.

“Oh no, leave me out of this,” Zero shook his head shooting Aido another thanks a lot look for putting him on the spot.

“Come on! I need the weight of someone actually in a relationship here,” Aido groused. “Are you telling me you regret taking the chance with Kaname?” The absolutely scandalized mock-look on Aido’s face made Zero roll his eyes.

“Don’t be stupid.” Zero frowned at him. “If you’re asking me personally… then yeah. If you find someone who is worth everything to you, it’s worth every possible risk or hardship to hold them and to make the most of every moment. But people have to figure these things out for themselves, Aido. It’s not a math formula you can just plug the variables into.”

Aido waved his hand dismissively. “See, Akatsuki? He agrees.”

Zero snorted softly and wondered why he bothered. Still, although he was not about to presume to tell Kain what he should or shouldn’t do, since he would not have welcomed that kind of meddling in his own life, the truth was he really couldn’t disagree with Aido. He did think Kain was a little more afraid of rejection than he needed to be at this point, but then, those things were always so easy to judge from the outside, when you weren’t the one in the middle of the situation. He knew from experience that relationships could be complicated, but if you were in love and really wanted to be together forever, then eventually the point would come where you needed to make up your mind and… and… a funny feeling suddenly pulled through Zero’s gut as he realized he wasn’t just thinking about Kain and Ruka.

The sound of two sets of feet running rapidly up the stairs diverted all three vampire’s attention and a moment later Ruka herself appeared in the doorway. Zero recognized the pattern of the other swift set of footsteps as belonging to Seiren, but she kept on going down the hall, towards Zero’s rooms. She was probably looking for Kaname and the hunter’s alert level suddenly rose. Something was happening. He could sense it like a change in the air.

There was a worried expression on Ruka’s face as she entered, but it disappeared for a moment when she saw Aido sitting up in bed. “You’re awake!” her smile was genuine before she remembered to keep up appearances lest he think she had been worried or anything. “About time!” she added quickly.

“Yeah, nice to see you too, Ruka,” Aido said wryly. “Your boyfriend’s blood is delicious by the way.”

Ruka glowered at him, but it was a friendly sort of peeve. “I know,” she replied smoothly, before seeming to remember that Zero was in the room and it wasn’t just the three cousins there to hear the banter. Her delicate cheeks colored quickly and she glanced in mortified apology to Kain. That hadn’t been very lady-like of her and she hoped she hadn’t embarrassed him. Akatsuki was wonderfully unflappable, but just because he’d roll with it, that didn’t mean she wanted to unintentionally step on him. He didn’t talk to others about their relationship and it had given her the impression that for some reason he didn’t want people to know about them. She didn’t know how okay she was with that, but she was trying to respect his wishes.

Kain was struck by the look she gave him, as if suddenly seeing it in a new light. He frowned slightly and for a moment Ruka thought he actually was upset, as unusual as that would be. Then Kain smiled, pushing to his feet and unfolding his long frame. He took a few purposeful steps across to the room to her side, leaned down, and placed a light, but deliberate kiss of greeting on her lips. “Thanks,” he said quietly, his eyes saying he wasn’t at all ashamed of what she’d said and was in fact very glad that she liked his blood.

Ruka was completely startled by his little display of affection. This wasn’t exactly public but it was the first time he’d kissed her in front of anyone they actually knew… even including Aido. She felt embarrassed and flustered… but that was not to say that she was at all displeased.

Ruka pushed lightly at Kain’s chest, putting distance between them. “Akatsuki!” she hissed, blushing slightly, giving Kain a look and glancing meaningfully towards Zero and Aido. The former was studiously pretending to find the wallpaper absolutely fascinating while the latter was watching them with a huge grin.

“Is it wrong to give the woman I love a kiss hello?” Kain asked gently. “I don’t think we’re shocking them very much.”

“Totally shocked over here,” Aido piped up, unhelpfully. “Kain, you call that a kiss? Geez! Do I have to teach you everything?“

Zero helpfully reached over and smacked the back of Aido’s head so that Kain didn’t have to. Kain looked grateful.

“Hey, ow!” Aido protested, shooting the hunter a dirty look.

Ruka seemed torn between looking brilliantly happy, blushing and scowling. Somehow she managed to do all three at the same time and Kain kissed her again, taking hold of both of her hands. “Hey, is everything okay? You looked like something was wrong when you came in,” he asked.

Ruka blinked, as if just now remembering why she had come up here in the first place. “Oh! Yes…” Giving Kain’s hands a quick squeeze before she released them, she hurried over to bureau at the end of the bed and opened the cabinet doors that concealed the television and entertainment center inside. Ignoring several voices asking her what was going on, she found the remote she turned on the TV, flipping quickly to one of the national news network channels. It didn’t matter which one, right now they would all be carrying the same breaking news.

The room fell silent and there were no more questions then, because they all understood what had brought Ruka up here, and why Seiren had gone flying to find Kaname.

According to the agitated newscasters and the blaring tickers running along the bottom of the screen “rebel in-fighting” had resulted in the explosion of an unsafe, secret weapons facility somewhere in the heart of An’swala. A secret nuclear weapons facility. It had gone up in fiery cloud of death just minutes ago, taking a huge swath of the country with it. Information was coming out of the area in broken jigs and jags and the extent of the fallout was still unknown. States of global emergency were being invoked everywhere. No one knew much of anything yet it seemed, but the experts were already predicting that it would turn out to be a worse disaster than Chernobyl.

Kain had taken the remote from Ruka and silently, he flipped from one channel to another. They were all playing different takes on the same story, some of them contradicting each other, some with new facts coming in that may or may not be true. The world was reacting to the scare, rocking with the terrible realization that An’swala had apparently possessed weapons of mass destruction whilst teetering on the brink of going into war with its neighbors. Those neighbors were known to have similar resources, meaning war between the seemingly insignificant little nations could have possibly launched nuclear Armageddon on half the globe.

Suddenly, the world was watching. Suddenly An’swala had made the news and people gave a damn what happened in that sad, remote little country. Too bad it was too freaking late to matter. Zero felt a hot, hard, angry lump settle in the pit of his stomach, burning there like acid. The timing was too coincidental for this to be a true accident and boiling hatred and horror constricted his chest. All those people…

Zero’s head jerked up from the TV when he heard Kaname and Seiren’s tread in the hall outside. He slid off the bed and hurried to the bedroom door, catching Kaname by the arm as he hurried by, halting him.

“It was Nasser, wasn’t it?” he said with quite fierceness, his throat feeling tight and his stomach ill. The look on Kaname’s face was all he needed as confirmation.

“Kaname… did we do this?” There was an aching hollowness of guilt in the amethyst eyes. He’d been as much a part of foiling Nasser’s plans as Kaname had, and he couldn’t regret that, but if this was the fallout… how was he supposed to live with that? “Is this my fault?” his voice was raw, confused and he was gripping Kaname’s wrist so hard he was probably hurting him, although it wasn’t intentional.

Kaname’s eyes were understanding but fierce when they locked on him. The pureblood was already in battle mode. He shook Zero’s grip off gently, taking the hunter’s face between his hands and holding his gaze firmly.

“No, Zero,” his voice was soft, but forceful. “Nothing about this is your fault. This is Nasser’s doing, and his alone.” Kaname shook his head. If there was blame to assign, then he knew it was all his for not anticipating this possibility, but honestly… he didn’t know how he could have. This move was counterintuitive, it seemed to hurt Nasser far more than it helped him. The Mission Oil conflict had been a huge part of what stirred up the trouble in An’swala and when the world started looking for someone to vilify, Orion and Trifecta were going to be ideal candidates. “We couldn’t have foreseen this. It’s not some kind of petty retaliation, if it was he would have targeted the drilling fields and refineries and he didn’t, they’re practically untouched.”

Zero shook his head, wondering how Kaname knew this before he caught sight of Seiren standing quietly behind the pureblood and realized that was a stupid question. Of course, Seiren’s sources had undoubtedly given her way more instant and accurate information about what was happening than the confused, excitable news media was getting.

“Then why…?” Zero could still barely wrap his head around someone intentionally causing destruction on this scale… and getting away with it.

“Covering his ass,” Kaname said tightly, his lips curling into a restrained snarl of disgust. “He’s cleaning up a mess by covering it with a bigger one, that’s the only thing that makes sense. Whether it’s his mess or someone else’s I don’t know, but he’s wiped the slate clean for a reason. Zero, the chunk of An’swala that was taken out? It’s where all the sick people were and ergo probably most of the infected vampires as well. Everything’s gone, vaporized and now the land itself is so contaminated that no one is going to risk going in there for decades.” Kaname’s gaze flicked into the room where the three nobles were watching and listening to them wide-eyed. He pointed at the youngest of the three. “Aido is now probably the only surviving example of the An’swalan virus,” he said quietly.

Zero was trying to take all this in, trying to understand, but it seemed to defy comprehension. He’d thought killing the scientists had just been about framing him and getting Kaname and Diachi at one another’s throats. But what if there had been a double purpose involved? “Why would he do that?” Zero repeated, hating sounding like a broken record, but unable to do much else.

“I don’t know,” Kaname admitted, giving his head a clipped, frustrated shake. It obviously bothered him that he didn’t have the answer to that question. “It would appear as if he wants all traces of the virus completely eradicated, a goal which he has now almost entirely accomplished. Maybe it posed some kind of threat to him and his plans, maybe he thinks I might have been able to use it against him somehow, maybe it’s quid-pro-quo and he’s doing it for someone else he wants something from, maybe he has reason to believe that it’s a bigger threat than we are yet aware, maybe he is somehow involved with it himself, or maybe it’s something else entirely. There are still far too many possibilities, I don’t know which one is correct… yet,” he qualified meaningfully. “But I will find out. Seiren,” he turned to the woman behind him and she gave a small head bow.

“Yes, my lord?”

Kaname inclined his head towards the bedroom. “Stay with Aido. I want him and his research protected at all times. If Nasser’s goal is to blot the virus completely from existence and memory then if he realizes there is yet a loose end, there may be another attempt made to tie it up.”

Kaname didn’t know why he hadn’t already if that was the case, but it was possible that Nasser didn’t know Aido was still alive. Kaname had not broadcast the fact that he had survived and no enemy surveillance could get into Night Haven on Seiren’s watch. A handful of people knew, but none of them were spreading it around. Nasser would find out eventually, Kaname hadn’t been hiding it nearly carefully enough to prevent that since he hadn’t thought he needed to hide it.

Of course, on the other hand, perhaps Nasser already knew but didn’t care. The clean up in An’swala could have been about something else entirely and wiping out the virus could be just a cover – a misdirection meant to send Kaname chasing around in circles down the wrong path. You couldn’t take anything for granted with Nasser, he was very capable of blithely murdering thousands of people just to set a false trail if it suited him. There were so many different possibilities and not nearly enough data to back up any of them, it made Kaname’s head ache. Right now, the best thing he could do was simply try to cover as many bases as possible.

“Yes, my lord,” Seiren said obediently, but she looked troubled.

Kaname gave her a small smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll have Zero looking out for me, all right?”

Seiren shot Zero a glance, then simply nodded.

A/N: The title for this chapter comes from a chess term. Zugzwang refers to a situation in which a player is forced to make a move that does not necessarily benefit them, or may in fact be damaging to them, simply because they must move to continue play. This usually happens in the Endgame portion of a chess match. Somewhat appropriate for where we are now in Kaname and Nasser’s chess game I felt.

Chapter Thirty-Two: “Zugzwang“

Zero’s mouth felt dry and the tense knot of apprehension tangled in his gut seemed to pull even tighter. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I don’t really give a damn what you think,” he returned, tight-lipped around the pain he was struggling to push through and the nervous pounding of his heart thundering in his ears. This was the pivotal moment. Either Kaname’s plan was working, or Nasser was actually on to them and he was very, very screwed.

The bleeding boy was stubborn and strong willed, but Nasser could see the very real flicker of fear behind the lilac eyes. Behind his indifferent front, the young hunter was not as sure of himself as he liked to believe.

Nasser leaned still closer to his prey. His warm breath brushed the side of the boy’s face and his deceptively sweet and enticing scent made Zero’s throbbing head spin harder. “I think you do… on both counts…” he murmured, voice taking on a silky, seductive, frighteningly familiar timber that made Zero’s blood chill instinctively.

Zero knew to be wary of that tone. As he had often observed with Kaname, purebloods tended to be at their most darkly seductive when they were also at their most dangerous. The young hunter was weak and in a world of pain. He could feel something inside him trembling perilously under the pressure being placed upon him. It was no small task to keep from falling to the pressure of a pureblood’s will when it was turned full upon you.

He shifted uncomfortably, wincing in agony but welcoming the pain as a means of trying to keep his fogging head clear. Nasser was too close. He was literally making Zero dizzy. The ex-human had lost far too much blood and he was critically injured, it was impossible for him to not react to the lingering scent of Nasser’s pure blood in the air. Zero struggled with himself desperately as his irises started to become edged with a ring of traitorous, burning red. Going into bloodlust now was such a bad idea. He needed to be in control and when he started down this slippery slope control went out the window. He could not afford to offer Nasser that kind of vulnerability, but neither was it something he was truly able to fight.

Nasser smiled, enjoying the struggle on the bruised face of his prey. There was something really perversely attractive about the way the boy fought so hard to suppress those most basic and insuppressible of vampire instincts. Zero had another handicap as well, Nasser could tell, although the boy was probably unaware of it.

Nasser’s bloodied fingers trailed slowly and seductively across Zero’s cheek, painting a red smear down the pale skin and dragging slowly across the warm pad of his lips. He felt the involuntary shudder that ran through the body beneath him and noted the way the ex-human’s eyes glazed with something other than just pain. This boy had been conditioned. He had obviously been around Kaname’s pheromones enough to have become extra sensitive and attuned to them. Nasser’s were different, so in a manner of speaking his keys didn’t fit the right locks to undo Zero, but once an ex-human became conditioned to one pureblood, he or she also became more aware of all of them.

“I don’t think you hate Kuran as much as you claim…” Nasser purred, still playing on Zero’s senses to drive home his point. “I think you used to, but he’s completely turned you, hasn’t he? He’s always been very good at procuring fanatical loyalty in his followers.” Nasser’s fingers ghosted down Zero’s throat and the hunter grit is teeth.

“I bet, you even fancy you love him,” Nasser’s smile was wide and unpleasant.

Tick… tick… tick… tick…

Kaname’s fingers curled around the watch, it took conscious effort not to accidentally crush it in his tense grip. His palm felt clammy against the warm metal of the smooth casing.

Nasser’s hands slid along his body, both cruel and seductive, pleasuring and painful, punishing him for his failures with both agony and unwanted ecstasy, leaving the young pureblood unsure which was worse…

Takuma, still standing silently in the doorway since Kaname had not given him leave to enter, saw a single shudder trace through the pureblood’s form. Kaname’s tense features didn’t appear to change, but then, the noble could not see his friend’s eyes from where he stood.

Kaname was only marginally aware of Takuma’s presence, all his thoughts were focused elsewhere. His heart thudded sickeningly in his chest. He knew what Nasser was capable of, he knew what he enjoyed, and he had sent Zero in there to be at his mercy. Kaname felt physically ill.

No, he won’t. He won’t do that. Not to Zero. It’s not in his nature. Kaname clung to the faint voice of logic, the one that had allowed him to even consider this move – a move which would never have been an option if he thought there was any chance of that bastard violating his mate.

Zero is a ‘D, Nasser won’t see any fun in him as a conquest. It’s too ordinary, too boring. Power and breeding are everything to him, he won’t waste his time or dirty himself with someone who is that far “below” him. Not without a reason.

Kaname, of course, did not share that mindset, but it was Nasser’s mindset that was important at the moment. Kaname knew Nasser wanted him because he was “worthy prey”. Nasser was a game hunter in that respect, and he was only interested in the exotic and difficult prizes. It was about the chase as much as the kill. He was having as much fun trying to run Kaname down as he would if and when he was able to actually bring him to ground.

With Zero, it was different. Zero was a pawn. Nasser would want to use him, but only as a means of furthering his game against Kaname. He would hurt him, certainly, and knowing that cut Kaname’s insides like he had swallowed a box of broken razors… but Zero could heal from physical wounds. Kaname could heal him. He’d give Zero every last drop of his blood if he needed to; there was nothing he’d hold back. The important thing was to be sure that Nasser would not hurt his lover in ways Kaname could not heal. He could not be allowed to damage the hunter’s heart and soul.

Kaname was more than reasonably sure he wouldn’t. If he read Nasser at all correctly, it shouldn’t be a danger and there shouldn’t be time, anyway. He’d planned the timing as carefully and cut it as short as possible to try and ensure both against that, and against Nasser having time to decide to just kill Zero.

But could he really be certain? How many times had he already made hideous blunders and miscalculations in his dealings with Nasser? What if he was wrong now?

Yagari slid quietly into the data terminal room in which he had accidentally discovered the first bug earlier. There were two techs in here now but when he pressed his finger to his lips, they merely nodded and continued what they were doing. Everyone still in the building was aware of the need to maintain the façade of normality in the areas being monitored. The two techs were pretending to go about business as normal while in actuality they worked feverishly trying to trace their intruder back to its source. The same thing was happening all over headquarters.

It was a madhouse here, but not as mad as the venture that Zero, Kaito and Kio were probably embroiled in at right this moment. He had done almost everything he could to set the stage for them, but there was one thing left… the most dangerous and difficult thing. It might not even be necessary, but then again, it might. The question was whether he could pull it off or not. He wouldn’t know until he tried… which hopefully wouldn’t end with him getting himself locked up for real this time.

Because Yagari was one of the senior hunters and his involvement in the uncovering of this threat was known, the techs didn’t think to question what he was doing here and raised no objection when he went to one of the empty terminals and sat down. They assumed he was supposed to be here, doing whatever he was doing. Yagari had counted on that.

Yagari may not be all that chummy with technology, but there were certain things he knew how to do quite well, such as how to access the electronic database that held the all important lists naming those vampires whom the Hunters had marked for either execution or detention. Usually, he accessed them in order to retrieve data. Control of the lists was strictly restricted and there were only a handful of people in the Association administration who could modify those records. Yagari was not one of them. However…

Yagari resisted the urge to smile grimly as he quickly tapped his way through a series of familiar prompts. His guess had been a good one. The techs had the system in here torn apart as they attempted to run the back trace. All four terminals were logged in with full system access in order to aid in the process.

The one-eyed hunter accessed the main list database and did something he would have dreaded having to do under any other circumstances. He added Zero’s name, along with the strict notation that he was to be detained alive for questioning.

He was going to have to remove it later. If for any reason he couldn’t, then he would point it out as the work of the malicious intruder that had gained entry to their system and make sure it got removed that way. Since he was currently being mistrusted for showing too much favoritism towards Zero, few would suspect that he had anything to do with putting him on the lists. At least, that was his hope.

Just as Yagari finished the system bumped him out. For half a moment he was worried that he’d been detected, but then a message appeared on the screen telling him that another session had been initiated with his user ID from a different terminal and that he should contact the IT department if he had not initiated it or if the problem persisted.

Yagari stared pensively at the screen for a moment. Put into real-people-speak he guessed that meant that he had been logged out because someone else was accessing the list database at the same time through the same general admin account that the techs had left open on these machines. He glanced over at the techs’ screens and saw it wasn’t them. That meant that either someone else inside the Association was running a query from a secure terminal like he was, or it was the work of the unauthorized guest tapped into their system. There was no way for him to know which. He felt a cool chill run down his spine. He could only hope that the changes he had made had took before he was bumped out… and that whoever was viewing the lists wasn’t in a position to know or spot that they had been tampered with.

Closing out of the screens he’d been using, Yagari pushed away from the terminal and rose. He tossed a nod to the techs and left. There was nothing more he could do here. It was all up to the three young hunters now.

“He’s different with you in private than he is in public, isn’t he?” Nasser opined. He liked the whole new level of fear and uncertainty he could see flaring behind Zero’s slowly reddening eyes. “Oh don’t be so surprised, I’m not an idiot. You wouldn’t have dared speak to him the way you did during our meeting the other day if he was not incredibly indulgent with you.”

Zero felt a zing of real panic, both at the way Nasser was manipulating his body and at his words. Kaname had repeatedly warned of Nasser’s freakish ability to suss out truths that others wished hidden, but the way he so effortlessly picked up on the hunter’s feelings for Kaname and this aspect of their relationship was hideously unnerving.

Was this okay? Was it all right for him to have guessed this or were things starting to slide terribly off script? Zero didn’t know. After a certain point, the games they were playing went over his head and he felt rather uncomfortably like the blind pawn that Nasser obvious considered him to be. Yet he trusted the one for whom he played, so all he could do was hold fast and not give away anything that Nasser might not have already guessed. He was aware that another annoying pureblood trick was to act all knowing and lure you into revealing things because you thought they had already been discovered – to give you enough rope to hang yourself with and prod you skillfully into making the leap. Not happening.

Nasser let the silence drag uncomfortably for several long moments, the stillness broken only by Zero’s pained, ragged breaths. Usually, people felt compelled to fill empty space, especially when they were as on edge as the hunter obviously was. Granted, they usually told more lies, but they were generally sloppier, more panicky lies that could give greater insight into the truth. Zero, however, seemed either too stubborn or too smart to fall into that trap. Apparently, he felt compelled to justify himself to no one and his silence told Nasser frustratingly little.

“He makes you feel like you’re special, right? Like you mean something to him. He lets you do things to him that make you feel as if you’re some kind of equal. You weren’t being overzealous about your job the last time we met, you were jealous, weren’t you? When you saw us kissing?” Nasser purred with a dark, self satisfied glitter in his eyes, intentionally pressing his victim for a reaction, even though he was already reasonably sure what it would be. His thumb traced Zero’s bottom lip languidly. “Did you really think you were his only playmate? Trust me, you have no idea the things I’ve done with him.” The look on Nasser’s face suggested he was recalling said things in full-color detail.

On some level, Zero knew he was being provoked, but there was no fighting the absolute blaze of hatred and anger that seethed through him at Nasser’s words and his expression. Zero had a perfect idea of everything this bastard had done to his lover and the sickening reel of memories flickered too easily to life in his mind. With a soft snarl and inhuman strength of will, Zero snapped at the lazy finger playing with his mouth lunged upwards towards the pureblood, despite how incredibly unadvisable that was in his position.

He didn’t get far of course, he was much too wounded and Nasser had him far too trapped. The pureblood’s hand tightened on his throat again in the space of a heartbeat, jamming him back into the wall in an almost calm and maddeningly disinterested manner – as if the bug he’d been torturing had simply tried to squirm out of turn.

Behind the apparent disinterest, Nasser actually quite enjoyed watching the flare of rage. It meant he’d hit a nerve. Oh Kaname, I underestimated you. You have this one bound to you as securely as any thrall, but with all that delicious fire still intact, and he thinks it’s all his own idea. Maybe you did learn something.

“It’s useless, you know,” Nasser commented when Zero continued to fight his hold. “You know you can’t get away from me. Just like you know deep down that Kuran is using you… but living creatures are so funny, aren’t they? Is it optimism, or just a need for survival that keeps us fighting the inevitable?”

Zero spat at Nasser again since it was about all he could do besides pass out, which was a very attractive option at the moment except that he knew he’d probably never wake up again. At least the anger was helping him channel the unraveling aggression that was spreading through him due to his growing bloodlust.

“Don’t group me into any category that i-includes you!” Zero hissed hoarsely at him, staring at the older vampire with unbridled hatred in his blazing eyes. “You think you know Kaname, but you don’t know jack shit!” It was more than he’d meant to say, but his eyes had gone fully red by now, Nasser was all but crushing the life out of him and it was so very, very hard to think.

“Oh it’s Kaname now, is it?” Nasser gave a condescending and amused smirk. “I guess we can stop pretending then that you hate him. You probably should, but you can’t, can you? He’s all you have. No one else would accept or trust a half-breed viper like you. Is that how it started? You owed him more than you could ever repay and he acted like you didn’t need to. He showed you that little lost puppy dog look, made himself approachable… vulnerable… and you fell for him. Isn’t that the truth, Zero?”

Zero’s insides seemed to be at war. His heart was trying to jam itself up into his throat while his stomach was sinking into the floor and the freaking vice clamp of need closing around his chest wasn’t helping at all. His skin glistened with clammy perspiration. It scared him that Nasser could read or surmise so much about him so easily. Screwing up now was not an option. Kaname was depending on him… he could not, would not fail his lover, but he felt like he was drowning and wasn’t sure which way was up anymore.

Nasser’s thumb worried the un-tattooed side of Zero’s bruised and bloodied throat, pressing where he could safely assume Kaname had no doubt bitten the ex-human many times. The way Zero squirmed and his eyes clenched shut at the contact confirmed the assumption.

“I think… you love him enough to come here to die for him.” Nasser’s eyes were dark and appraising. “It’s almost sad really, I mean, you do realize you’ve been played, right?” he murmured. “He surely knew your past as well as I do. He knew how carefully you took care of that ailing brother of yours and that little girl you fell for at school. He knew the guilt and anger you carried over all you loved and lost. He knew you needed an outlet to vent your rage at the world and at our kind… and that you would ultimately be drawn to someone who needed you. He acts like he needs you a lot, doesn’t he? Like no one else understands him. Did he let you hurt him, Zero? Let you use him in ways you never expected to want to use anyone? It felt so good, but then you hated yourself for liking it, felt guilty for letting the beast out… and felt more drawn to him than ever when he didn’t hold it against you, right?” Nasser smiled. “The amusing thing, of course, is that he likes it when you hurt him. It’s all part of the game. He deduced exactly what you would respond to and created the perfect persona to draw you in and secure your loyalty.”

Nasser was devastatingly persuasive and he played well upon Zero’s long ingrained mistrust of purebloods. A few years ago it probably would have worked. A few years ago, Zero would have doubted, would have wondered… but not now.

The young hunter gave a low, angry growl, about all he could manage for a moment around his raw vocal cords as his burning eyes fluttered open. The way Nasser seemed to look right into him and pull out things that no one had a right to know was chilling, but Nasser was an idiot because Zero knew in his heart that those were not Kaname’s motivations.

Nasser saw the flash of fierce denial in Zero’s eyes. Interesting. Kaname’s hold over the boy was incredibly strong. He shook his head. “I don’t expect you to believe me, naturally. You should, I’ve played that game more than enough to know what I’m talking about, but it’s that survival instinct again, isn’t it? The mind tries to protect itself from truth when it doesn’t match our needs.” He shrugged. “Living creatures have a tendency to believe that if they feel something, it must be real. And you feel a lot for Kuran, don’t you? He makes you crazy. It aches when you’re away from him. No one can make you feel like he does, right? It all feels so real, but trust me, this…” he pressed his thumb deeply into the sensitive spot, leaning on Zero with his pureblood pheromones and making the young hunter’s body reel with familiar sensation. “Is just biology.”

Zero arched unintentionally and Nasser’s grin deepened. “As is this…” he murmured. Slowly and deliberately, he reached up with his free hand and drew one long nail across his own cheek. A thin, red line of blood welled in the brief moments before the slight wound closed itself. The pureblood grinned cruelly, knowing exactly the kind of torment that was going to cause. The crimson burn in Zero’s eyes was obvious. While Nasser wouldn’t dream of letting the ex-human get anywhere near his pure blood, the scent and having it so close and so out of reach was going to drive the younger vampire crazy.

Now in full bloodlust, Zero felt his gut respond to that tempting sight and scent far too strongly. The craving dug its claws in ruthlessly and he groaned softly, desperately, the sound choking into a whimper in his abused throat and making him feel hot with humiliation at his lack of control over his responses. He didn’t want Nasser, he just wanted the blood. It was a need that couldn’t be repressed… he knew, he’d tried for years.

Nasser’s hair tumbled over his shoulders as he leaned over Zero, a dark curtain mixing with the swaying black spots tingeing the hunter’s vision. “What is truth, Zero?” Nasser whispered. “Isn’t the truth that you would rather believe the lie? I suppose I can understand that, given that you loved him enough to willingly come here to die for him.”

“G-go to hell!” Zero croaked hoarsely, his extended, throbbing fangs making his rough tone lisp. He refused to let any of what Nasser said make it into his heart. On the surface it was an entirely plausible explanation, but Zero knew Kaname better than that.

He shifted feverishly against the wall in Nasser’s grip, seemingly unaware or uncaring of how the motions made his wounds bleed more heavily. His body trembled and need was clawing his chest out. His eyes were glazed and he was breathing so hard it would have been easy to have called it pantingor, god forbid whimpering, but Nasser was actually quite surprised that his victim’s reaction wasn’t more stark. There should have been a lot more flailing and desperation. Zero should be ready to chew his own heart out just to get to him. In his experience, this was usually more than enough to push an ex-human in bloodlust over the edge of reason and into final madness.

Of course, Nasser didn’t know that Zero had always been much more stubborn than your average ex-human… or that the boy was no stranger to the scent of pure blood. To Zero it was not the unfamiliar and forbidden smell that it was to most ex-humans, or most vampires of any lower class for that matter. It was Zero’s usual meal, and while that intense familiarity made Zero a dozen times more susceptible to falling into desperate states of need for his lover’s blood, it also dulled the appeal of all other blood to him. He still craved any blood and might drink it if he lost himself too far or the need was too great, but he wasn’t nearly that far gone yet. He wantedNasser’s blood badly, but right now only Kaname could have made him crazy, and Nasser was definitely not Kaname.

Nasser did know that Zero had spent most of his teenage years fighting his vampire transformation. Usually, people couldn’t hold out that long, but looking at the boy now, he had no trouble believing it. The young hunter was freakishly strong willed to maintain this level of control and he almost had to respect that a trifle. It was the way one respected the rabbit in a snare that glared at you all the way up until you snapped its neck, but that was still a lot more notice than Nasser had given any ex-human in… well, ever actually.

Nasser’s attention shifted for a moment, his eyes turning distant in the way that they do when one is listening to something. Zero couldn’t hear anything other than the pounding in his own ears, but he recognized the look and somewhere in his hazy mind he assumed that Nasser was listening to something only audible to his sharp, pureblood hearing.

He assumed correctly.

Nasser’s eyes refocused on his prey after a moment. “Well, and now the other shoe falls, hm?” he commented cryptically. A few moments later there was a knock at the door. The voice sounded somewhat ruffled or perhaps perturbed.

“Ardon-sama, there are several hunters here demanding access to the grounds. They insist they’re on a sanctioned hunt for an escaped prisoner and have a right to search the grounds and even the house if necessary…” the bristle in the servant’s voice was obvious. It was clear he wanted to send the hunters packing, but that wasn’t his call.

Nasser glanced towards the door, then back at Zero over whom he was still crouching. It was clear he’d already pieced something together in his mind from the appraising look he gave the ex-human.

“If they’re on a sanctioned hunt, then they do,” Nasser replied in a mellifluous tone of voice which suggested that contrary to what he’d just said, they would not be doing anything he did not allow. “Who, pray tell are they hunting, and have you checked the validity of their claim?”

“Yes,” the disembodied voice from the other side replied. “Their target is an ex-human named Zero Kiriyu. We have confirmed that there is a pending warrant for his detention within the hunter’s database.”

Zero managed to not show his surprise. Obviously, Nasser was still using his little electronic spies within the Association to look into their sensitive records and someone had used that very cleverly against him. Yagari, most likely – he was the only one who could have gotten that kind of access, although he hadn’t said he was actually going to get Zero onto the lists. That wasn’t easy to do. Tampering with the lists carried the harshest of penalties. Zero had to hope and trust that his sensei was too smart to get caught.

Nasser, for his part, did not seem surprised at all. “His detention?” he asked innocently. “He wasn’t on the kill list? How interesting. Well, if their hunt is legitimate, then you’d better let them do as they please. We don’t want to break any of the laws in our lovely old treaty, now do we?”

“As you wish, Ardon-sama.” The servant was too well trained to voice any feelings of disappointment over not being able to tell the hunters to get lost.

Nasser turned back to Zero. “I imagine they’ll be here soon. No doubt you left a blood trail coming in that they’ll be sure to see and want to follow, right?”

Despite the desperate burning in his chest, Zero felt ice congeal inside his veins. He was more terrified then he wanted to admit that Nasser had possibly figured the game out. Flatly refusing to act on his fear, he based his teeth at the older vampire. “Guess our little chat… is almost over then…” he gasped. It was getting incredibly difficult to speak and his voice was a mere rasp by now. “Good thing… I was getting so bored. Do you ever shut up?”

Nasser actually laughed, no longer quite so surprised by the boy’s suicidal brashness. “You still want me to kill you that badly? Well, I’m sorry, but it’s time to put an end to this little charade.” He was wearing a satisfied grin again, one that held the pleased triumph of someone who has figured out a puzzle.

“That man you care about so much sent you here to die by my hand, didn’t he? That’s how this was supposed to go down.”

Zero closed his eyes as the world began to spin nauseatingly out of focus. He felt a surge of relief, but that wasn’t very helpful in his current condition. He hoped that Nasser would take the way his body went limp as a gesture of despair and defeat. “He sent me here to kill you,” Zero murmured, stubborn but without much conviction. Ironically, it was almost the truth, but Nasser wouldn’t believe him. At least, Zero hoped not.

“I’m sure that would have been an added benefit if it had been possible,” Nasser conceded. “But you were the real problem. You’re nothing but a liability to him now. He can’t keep you, but he can’t let the Satos have you alive either, can he? You know far too much about him to fall into enemy hands. The same is true of the hunters, who also apparently want you alive. He went too far with you… in playing his little games, he’s given you the real ability to do damage to him. You have to go, but if he kills you, Diachi Sato will consider it a breach of their agreement, which Kaname cannot afford. The hunters won’t kill you because they need you alive for a little while to disprove that they have been in any kind of collusion with Kuran. So that’s where I come in, right?” Nasser squeezed Zero’s throat harder and the young hunter’s eyes struggled open again.

“Don’t know… what the hell you’re… talking about…” Zero mumbled. He was past being able to act, but he didn’t have to try very hard. He was so lost to pain and blood lust that simply the unconvincing denial was enough to confirm the suspicions Nasser had formed. Zero understood now what Kaname had meant when he said that the best lie was simply the truth twisted into a different shape. Nasser had picked up on their relationship, but he saw it through his own bias and it fed into the carefully twisted shape of the “truth” that Kaname had built for Nasser to “discover”.

“Of course you don’t,” Nasser said in a tone that implied otherwise. “It’s just coincidence that you first allowed the hunters to take you, then escaped from them only to run right here with them on your heels. What kind of idiot escapes arrest only to run to the nearest house and try to murder someone rather than getting away while he has a chance?” Nasser was gloating now, rubbing Zero’s face in his perceived failure to hide the truth.

“But those were your orders, weren’t they? If I killed you after you ran from the hunters, Diachi couldn’t be upset about that, could he? The hunters would make grand impartial witnesses after the fact. Both they and Kuran could use your illogical attack on me as proof that you were simply going mad. A crazed level E who has lost his reason and is going after everyone he perceives as a threat to his master makes a good scapegoat for all the recent bloodshed, right? So you become the martyr and dear Kaname gets what he wants. Really… it’s fairly clever,” Nasser nodded somewhat approvingly.

He knew that Diachi was weak enough to let himself fall for the ploy against his better judgment, even if only because in the long run he would benefit more from continued friendship with Kuran than from having enmity between them. Nasser had always know that would be the case, which was part of why Diachi was supposed to die, but of course that hadn’t worked out as desired. The fact that Seiji had failed in eliminating his brother and delivering the truly devastating blow to Kaname’s precarious position meant that if Kaname could simply manipulate Diachi sufficiently, the younger pureblood was very likely to weasel out of this trap all too efficiently.

Nasser was both pleased and chagrined at the same time. Pleased because he liked the challenge that these unpredictable twists were creating and chagrined because he didn’t like his plans thwarted. He still had many plays to make, however, and having figured out what he perceived to be Kaname’s ploy before it was too late gave him an advantage. Actually, the ploy itself pleased him. Imitation was a form of flattery, and from Nasser’s point of view, Kaname offering his lover up as the sacrifice pawn was incredibly reminiscent of what he had done the first time he and Kaname battled over something. He wondered if Kaname realized the interesting symmetry of it.

The door across the room jerked open. Nasser had his back towards it, but he knew without turning that it was the two hunters who stood there. For one thing he’d heard and smelled their approach, for another, his own servants would never have dared to enter without permission. Nasser had only a moment in which to make his decision and commit to his new plan of action. There weren’t that many truly attractive options, but he had to move, so he chose the path he felt held the most potential and smiled down at Zero. “You lose,” he mouthed silently before glancing casually over his shoulder towards his uninvited guests.

Kaito had his rifle leveled warily, covering the two vampires as he took several measured steps into the room. Kio had frozen in the doorway. The room looked like a slaughter house. The cracked walls were splattered with blood, all of which probably belonged to Zero given the state in which he appeared to be and the frighteningly large crimson puddle that had formed beneath his body, around the crouching pureblood’s feet.

One of Nasser’s servants was in the hall, raising a fuss about the hunters bursting in on his Master like this. Kio finally snapped out of his initial reaction enough to turn and the vampire to stay back. His authoritativeness was dubious, but the menacing looking crossbow that he held helped a bit.

“Gentlemen,” Nasser greeted them pleasantly, as if there were nothing at all disturbing about his blood splattered clothing or the fact that he’d looked like he was in the middle of slowly gutting the younger man on the floor. He rose gracefully, effortlessly pulling Zero up with him while keeping him pinned against the wall with one hand. Just as well, Zero could not have stood on his own by now. Nasser dragging him up by the throat was almost too much for his reeling body and the grey flashes crowding his vision darkened dangerously, reality seeming strange and distorted, like he was drunk or living in some kind of dream.

The muzzle of Kaito’s gun shifted slightly, cautiously tracking Nasser’s head. It was clear who he thought was the biggest threat at the moment, but that was only to be expected. The unemotional, hard-edged distaste in the hunter’s eyes said that this wasn’t his first dance. Blood and death were already old friends of his. The teenage hunter by the door was another story. The scene was obviously unsettling him. He was probably still an apprentice.

“I believe I found your escapee,” Nasser said simply, flicking his arm and tossing Zero to the floor at Kaito’s feet. “You should be more careful. It’s really not my responsibility to clean up your mistakes.”

Zero couldn’t catch himself and the jar shocked painfully through his body as he hit the ground. His breath hissed between his teeth in a sharp little groan. He rolled onto his side and tried to push up onto his elbow but couldn’t manage it.

Gun still trained on Nasser, Kaito glanced down at Zero and then back up at the pureblood without a flicker of emotion. “Don’t believe we asked you to,” he said flatly. “And I’ll thank you not to interfere in our business.”

Nasser chuckled, licking Zero’s blood from his fingers with deliberate enjoyment. He did it just to irk the hunters, although the boy was surprisingly tasty for an ex-human. Nasser suspected that Kaname must occasionally give Zero blood to keep him stabilized, which would explain why he tasted so good. It was taboo of course, but it didn’t particularly surprise Nasser. It had no doubt been part of how Kuran indebted the young hunter to him. That kind of gift was quite an effective Trojan horse, actually. As long as there was no biting involved then there was no personal risk to the giver and it could be very effective in subtly influencing and controlling those to whom it was given. It never even crossed Nasser’s mind that Kaname would have been crazy enough to have ever let Zero drink from him directly, given the consequences.

“Your little convict broke into my house, gentlemen. You’re lucky I saved any part of him for you. Now, kindly remove it from my sight and take your leave,” Nasser said smoothly.

“Kio, get him,” Kaito jerked his head towards Zero, rifle now aimed so that it was covering both Nasser and Zero. He wasn’t about to let his guard down for a moment, you never did on a hunt – real or not. “Cuff him good this time,” he warned a bit tersely, giving the slight allusion that it might have been Kio’s fault their ‘prisoner’ escaped to start with. That wasn’t a difficult scenario to believe, Kaito was sure the pureblood had already pegged the boy as a greenhorn from his reaction to the gory room.

Kio returned his weapon to its sheath on his back and cautiously made his way to Zero’s side. He hesitated, fumbling slightly with the charmed zip strips on his belt. He needed to get at the older boy’s hands, but Zero looked so incredibly awful it was hard for him to contemplate moving him, or causing the additional pain that he knew cuffing him was going to cause.

Kaito smoothly kicked Zero onto his stomach, getting him into place for Kio, who he realized was not going to be able to do this without a little help. Fortunately, it just drove home his younger companion’s probable incompetence. “Now, Kio,” he hissed somewhat savagely. “I swear I am going to tell your master about this.”

Kio blanched and paled visibly before he realized that Kaito’s threat was part of the act. Flustered, his fingers trembled ever so slightly anyway as he quickly yanked one of the zip ties free and pulled Zero’s arms behind his back. Crossing the injured hunter’s wrists behind him, and trying not to cringe as Zero sucked his breath in sharply, Kio slipped the zip strip around both wrists and fed the tail end through the loop on the other side, pulling the steel-reinforced plastic cuffs closed tight. Pressing one hand flat over the binds, he invoked the charm which made them able to hold a vampire.

Zero lay limply on the floor. He was trying not to react to the painful motions above him because dimly, through the fog in his head, he knew Kio was having a hard time with this. However, he couldn’t stifle the small cry of agony that was torn from him when he felt the burning jolt of the charmed cuffs activating, shooting fire through his already weak and battered body.

Kio jerked, starting back slightly when Zero cried out. Kaito cuffed the teen sharply upside the back of the head with one hand as if to rebuke him for being frightened. He knew the kid’s problem wasn’t fear, but the sharp smack and implied reprimand gave a reason for the glitter of tears that now showed in the younger boy’s too expressive eyes.

Reaching down with a grunt of disgust, Kaito yanked the zip cuffs tighter so they dug painfully into Zero’s wrists, wringing another sharp groan of pain from the ex-human on the floor. “Do not let him get to you,” he growled at Kio. “Now get him up, we’re out of here.”

Zero clenched his eyes shut and struggled to not pass out or scream. He should probably try to fight a bit to make this even more believable, but the truth was he had nothing left to fight with, even had he seriously wanted to do so. Staying conscious was about all he could manage at this point, especially now that he had been cuffed.

Nasser watched as the apprentice hunter struggled to get the prisoner to his feet. The discord between the elder hunter and his inept younger partner amused him. “Perhaps I should have someone assistyou…” he offered with a condescending smile. “Give you an escort, so he doesn’t escape again?”

Predictably, the elder hunter bristled and scowled. “We’ve got it, thanks. I told you to stay out of our business,” Kaito growled discourteously, stooping to help Kio with Zero. Together they got the nearly unconscious ex-human upright and dragged him swiftly out of the room.

Nasser watched them leave, still smiling. It was going to be interesting to see Kaname try and work his way out of this situation now. Thanks to the implications that Nasser had been planting that Kaname and the hunters were in collusion, Diachi was not going to be at all pleased that Zero had somehow conveniently been arrested before Kaname could turn him over. It might not be enough on its own to re-fan the flames of the conflict he was trying to create between the two purebloods, but it was a start.

All Nasser needed was for Diachi to be upset enough to make his accusations public. Because Diachi was too prone to trying to find diplomatic solutions, time was not his friend in that goal. He needed to push hard and fast while Diachi was still unsettled by the recent death of his daughter and the attempt on his life. It wasn’t enough at this point to level implications at Kaname. He needed Kaname to make a hostile move towards Diachi, no matter how small. To do that, Kaname was going to need another little push. Another reason to believe that Diachi was his enemy, working behind his back.

Nasser knew just how to arrange that. It was a risky gamble, but a calculated one.

He glanced around the ruined chambers and stepped out into the hall. Several of his servants were present. He nodded back towards the room. “Do something about the mess and prepare me new quarters,” he ordered distractedly. “Also, get me in touch with the CEO of Benfari immediately, I need to speak with him about an important matter.”

Diachi was trying to buy Benfari’s Mission Oil stock as more leverage over Kaname. Nasser had had no intention of selling before, but now it might prove more interesting to allow it. He would of course have the contract carefully written in order to make it impossible for Diachi to sell it to anyone other than back to whom he had bought it from, so there was no risk of Kuran getting his hands on it. Nasser not having it didn’t significantly change his own position, so long as the stock’s voting privileges were not used in Kaname’s favor when the time came. Given current circumstances, it was highly unlikely that Diachi would be doing anything that benefited Kaname any time soon. Especially if the very fact that Diachi had acquired the stock could be used to provoke Kaname into taking action against him. Nasser intended to be sure that happened. Besides, the next voting session wasn’t for another two months. Plenty of time for him to force a return sale of the stock through various means if it should prove necessary.

What will you think, Kaname, if you find out that Diachi is buying Mission Oil stock behind your back? That I am letting him do so. How will you react if he appears to be in league with me, hm? Let’s find out.

There was a hunter prison van waiting for them on the main road. Zero was too out of it to wonder where it had come from. He grit his teeth as Kaito and Kio manhandled him into the back of the paddy wagon and pulled the doors shut behind them. There were bars on all the available windows and Zero knew the interior itself was charmed. Not that any of that was needed for him right now.

Once inside, his two hunter ‘captors’ lowered Zero to sit on one of the long benches that ran along either side of the van’s interior. Their touch was more gentle now than before. Zero slumped against the back of the seat, unable to stay upright on his own.

Kaito knocked on the barred window that separated them from the driver. “Go,” he said simply.

The driver looked back over her shoulder as if to confirm that Zero was on board before the idling engine shifted into gear and the van took off down the road.

Zero caught a glimpse of the driver when she turned and realized it was Seiren, her features obscured from outside the vehicle by the large hat she was wearing and the van’s tinted windows. He was fairly sure this was probably the only time a vampire had driven one of the hunter’s paddy wagons. Probably Kaname’s doing, trust him to cover all the angles.

The van hit a small dip in the road and the jounce made Zero press his eyes shut with a wince. Unable to hold himself up or catch himself with his arms still bound, he listed dangerously sideways until Kio quickly caught him, sitting down beside the bloodied hunter and holding him to steady him.

Kaito crouched on the narrow slit of floor in front of Zero and Kaito. He’d retrieved a first aid kit from the storage locker under the opposite seat and he clicked it open quickly. “Kio, get the cuffs off him.”

Kio was only too happy to oblige. It was tricky in the moving vehicle. The zip ties were slick with Zero’s blood and Kio couldn’t support the older hunter and get at them at the same time. His fingers kept slipping.

Kaito leaned forward and held Zero up carefully, freeing Kio to focus on the cuffs. Kio released the charm and cut the cuffs off quickly with the knife from his belt. “I’m sorry,” Kio murmured, first to Zero, then again to Kaito. “I nearly blew it didn’t I?”

Kaito shook his head as he leaned Zero’s mostly limp body back against the wall, aware that he now had the younger hunter’s blood all over him. Zero was bleeding heavily and it looked bad. “You did fine, Kio. Probably made everything that much more believable. I wasn’t really upset, you know that, right?” he added distractedly as he quickly cut away what remained of Zero’s shirt, pulling it open to get a look at the damage done to his body.

Kio looked as if maybe he hadn’t been sure, but he seemed relieved now. “He looks awful…” he said softly, obviously speaking about Zero as his gaze fixed in worried horror on the raw, ugly gashes carved into the silver haired hunter’s stomach, chest and shoulder, not to mention the purple black bruises mottling his throat and the blackened gunshot wound to his shoulder. There were tears in Kio’s eyes again.

“He’s lucky,” Kaito said quietly as he pressed wadded bandages against Zero’s bleeding wounds, trying to slow his disturbingly rapid exsanguination. “The bastard was just playing with him. You don’t want to see what’s left when a vampire really goes to town on someone.”

Zero was floating in and out of consciousness. He groaned as Kaito pressed, firmly but as gently as possible, against his throbbing shoulder. His eyes fluttered open, his lips parted slightly in agony as he panted for air around the swelling in his throat.

Kaito jerked back out of instinct when he found himself suddenly confronted by the burning red in Zero’s eyes and the distinct sight of the extended razor fangs glittering between his parted lips. In their profession you didn’t usually get up close and personal with that sight and stay alive.

Kio was still beside Zero. He looked completely freaked out by the sight, but he didn’t pull away or let go of the injured vampire. He continued holding onto Zero to keep him from falling as the car went into a turn. It was a testament both to the depths of the devotion that Kio held towards those he considered his friends and also a bit to his lack of experience in the field. He had not yet learned the kind of survival instinct that Kaito, Yagari and Zero had.

Kaito’s hand had snapped instinctively to his weapon, but he stilled himself as it became clear that Zero was not making any threatening moves. The red eyes fixed on him and for the first time in his life Kaito saw something other than mindless hunger in the burning gaze. There was resigned sorrow and guilt in the vampire eyes before they were quickly pressed shut again.

Zero knew how he must look from Kaito’s reaction. He did not blame the older boy for his caution. Zero was all too aware of the animal in his head at this moment. All too aware of the blood flowing through his companions’ bodies and how it called to him like water to a parched man dying in the desert. Kio was so damn close, all Zero would have to do was turn his head… but no. No, no, no, no. Not happening. He just had to hold on. Kaname would feed him when he got home. He just had to hold out until then.

He knew the support Kio was showing him was dangerous for the boy, but he also kind of appreciated the vote of confidence. Zero clenched his eyes and pressed his mouth shut, trying to hide the signs he knew set off every hunter instinct there was. His body burned. He was in so much pain he felt nauseous. “‘S’okay,” he lisped hoarsely around bruised throat and aroused fangs. “I-I won’t do an’thing. It’s… under control,” he murmured with effort, his chest heaving raggedly. His breath hitched. He hurt so badly.

“Shh, it’s okay, we know,” Kio soothed, sounding surprisingly more confident than usual now that he was focused on protecting and comforting someone. “We’re gonna get you home and you’ll be fine, Zero,” he promised. Reaching over he grabbed a syringe out of the first aid kit. He had trouble getting it out of its sterile wrapper with one hand and held it out towards Kaito.

“Kaito-sensei… help me,” he prodded softly. “He’s in a lot of pain.” Kio obviously wanted to give Zero a shot of some of the hyped up vampire-grade anesthetics they carried to help dull their companion’s agony.

Kaito had his own demons to live with regarding ex-humans. He’d put the past behind him for the most part, but for some reason seeing those red eyes in Zero’s face was like seeing his brother all over again. Kio’s words brought him back to the present and he kicked himself for the childish lapse. He took the syringe from Kio and freed it from the plastic wrapping. Quickly and efficiently he filled it from one of the vials in the case and injected the contents into the vein in Zero’s arm.

“Geez Louise, Zero, you’re a real mess, you know?” he commented as he went back to bandaging the younger hunter up.

Zero relaxed a bit as the drugs started to take effect and as Kaito’s tone told him that both his companions were accepting his current state a hell of a lot better than he’d expected. He smiled slightly at Kaito’s turn of phrase. It was one of those odd expressions they had both picked up from Yagari.

“Yeah… but not… dead,” he pointed out. “Guess it wasn’t so… crazy after all, huh?”

Kaito rolled his eyes. “Just because it worked doesn’t mean it wasn’t completely insane. And now you totally owe me for the car. Be still, you’re bleeding all over.”

They were ostensibly heading back to the Hunter’s Association with their prisoner, in case anyone was watching. Halfway there, however, there was a short tunnel bridge that passed beneath one of the larger hills rather than going over it.

Seiren pulled to an abrupt halt inside the tunnel. Kaito and Kio helped swiftly hustle Zero out of the back, supporting him between them. Through blurry vision, Zero saw that Yagari was waiting there for them. His sensei frowned deeply when he saw Zero, but the elder man also seemed relieved at least that he was alive.

“Shit, Zero,” was all he said, but the softness in his voice and in his touch when he lightly ruffled his apprentice’s hair said a lot more.

Zero struggled to smile at him. “Jus’ a scratch,” he mumbled. Yagari no longer reacted to his vampire eyes and teeth and h