I AM BECOME DEATH

I assume by how close you three seem that this blood shortage doesn’t affect you much in either direction? I can only imagine how overstimulating everything must be after so long in that dreadful state of not quite death. You have at least two others of your kind you can lean on while you’re here. The other two are still getting their bearings, I’m afraid.

You would understand correctly. Cristiana killed arguably the most sadistic vampire here and offered to be their live-in savior against future threats, and they thank her by treating settled ground like it’s still negotiable. I’m sure once some of the anger burns off I won’t hate them all so fiercely and vocally. Right now I’m just a hinderance to her case. Why would you sign on to be another thankless supernatural shield for the witches?

And yet there’s no deciding vote on you. Not that I’m complaining, just…welcome to the hellscape. There’s an issue with the blood supply, but fear not - they’ve bought themselves a handful of days by tapping all of their wolves dry. Did I call it a hellscape? I meant a circus.

thierryastor​:

I’m not trying to ship off anyone, darling. A vote was called and as a person with voting power, it seems best to weight my options and hear the feelings of the house, and my coven. I’m not inclined to go back on Aurora’s word. She has good instincts. But there is the issue of that pesky blood shortage you brought to my attention. 

If the deal was being honored outright, a vote wouldn’t be necessary or possible. I already offered to handle it. You only have one human left, and you should keep your werewolves in fighting shape until we’re certain Gideon isn’t coming to investigate why half of his line was slaughtered. Get more humans. Robbing a blood bank is possible and not all that hard given powers of compulsion - Cristiana hates to use hers, so it’s a tossup if she would agree to help on that front or not. But that’s only a temporary solution. Clearly you weren’t opposed to dedicated living donors in the past.

Good news and bad news from my rounds this morning. Good news is that everything is pretty quiet. Bad news is, the local wildlife has gotten bolder in our absence and I got sprayed by a skunk. I think this is that karma my baba was always talking about. 

Me and Thomas and the witch Nicholaus sired on his way out. A woman named Noah. Along with a young girl, hybrid – Alex. Thomas sired her by mistake. He was giving her blood to heal a wolf bite. The vampire populous has become much less traditional and much more rag tag recently. 

Then I’m sure you know about the hunting. Most vampires were destroyed. Gideon was the only first left. And thus, his line the only surviving. He lost everyone he sired, Robert included. Except for Nicholaus and Sabina. They took me in. We all traveled together for years. But the immortal magic created by Thierry Astor tapped into Gideon’s source. It depleted our resources and now there’s a shortage in vampire magic that no one knew existed. Nicholaus led his family here to get back the magic they lost but his sadism got the best of him – as it often does. And the witches and I allied to take him and his lineage out. Except for Thomas, his childe that we shared. 

Your friend is an alchemist. How delightful. I’d be happy to see where our friendship can go. I assume given your history you don’t share your kind’s same distaste for me and my magic?

God. Of course – okay. So we… actually have the same sire. Sorry, I think my head just needs a second. You’ve been staked this whole time? You know nothing of what became of our kind?

And I love power. We’ll get along just fine, love. Tell me more about you both. 

That’s the most horrifying thing I’ve ever heard. What a nightmare. Was it like pressing pause or were you aware the whole time?

How long exactly were you in this “stake prison”? Before your witches came along.

Oh okay. That’s not what I meant at all. We just had to deal with some thousand year old and seven hundred year old vampires that were incredibly strong with all of their humanity burned away? But we have a four hundred year old one sticking around that seems to be a shining beacon of light and goodness. The ages confuse me, I guess. Sorry for the rudeness.

Robert found me on a merchant ship on his way from Mexico back to Europe. I was fifteen. I spent a decade as his claimed human. Did he – were you once claimed by him too?

You’re a vampire. Okay, now I’m all caught up. That’s oddly sweet if it’s true. Shows some high levels of empathy too - is it the rudest thing I could possibly do to ask how old you are?

Yes. That’s about the rudest thing you could ever ask a woman. 

Ooh, ouch. That’d hurt if I was insecure in my intelligence. You said you wanted her for your friend? Why? 

Breathe, darling. You did what you were supposed to do. We found Thierry. Try approaching them with a little less … intensity.