Imelda watched as Aidas came back to the club fuming. She kept her distance, knowing very well that his anger could cause even more problems for the club and everyone around him.
Then he sent for his dinner. And he wanted it warm.
That was when the problem had started. She couldn't offer him a human, in his state, he could lose control and kill. There was a reservoir of warm blood bags they kept in the basement. She carefully picked two.
She walked into his office slowly, she watched him with growing interest as he fumed in his chair.
The office was in quite a mess. She knew it had something to do with Candy. She just knew it.
She dropped the two blood bags on the disarrayed table and Aidas looked up at her with disgust. His midnight black hair fell over his glowing red eyes.
"I think I made it clear what I wanted."
He said in a low dangerous voice but Imelda wasn't fazed. He would never hurt her. He could hurt anyone but not her.
"In your state, I don't think it's such a good idea. You'd suck whatever human I give you dry."
"We won't have another murder on our hands."
She added carefully and Aidas groaned. He picked up the blood bag with distaste curling at his mouth and looked up at Imelda.
She gave him a reassuring smile.
"I assure you it's quite fresh."
There was a prolonged silence as she stood watching Aidas drain every bit of blood from the bags. Every bit of it. There was always something so fascinating about Aidas Vladimir. It was what made working for him so interesting to her.
She never tired of being around his presence, no, it wasn't some fickle crush or even love.
It was something much more. It was awe.
She was in awe of him. He was her master and she was his humble servant. Serving him gave her great joy and immense pleasure. He had given her power to crush her enemies and she had devoted her life in service to him forever.
"Lacey... She doesn't want to see me."
Aidas said and Imelda sighed. Of course. Who else could it be than the young stripper who seemed to have captivated The King Of the Night Court.
Frankly, Imelda found her quite ordinary. But she wasn't one to question his choices when it came to women.
She was at least happy for him, Aidas Vladimir had been alone for so long. There was no other person he loved other than himself, even while he dated Azure, they had both been very vain creatures, their relationship nothing much more than a convenience.
To see him love, it was oddly refreshing to Imelda.
"Well... I didn't expect any less. After everything that happened do you think she'll want to come back?"
She asked with a raised eyebrow and Aidas sighed.
"But... Hunt's no good either. He's just as worse! Just wait till she finds out he's a Lycan."
Imelda chuckled.
"I think he's a much better choice for her. He would do anything to protect her, you know how territorial wolves can be when it comes to their mates."
"She's not his mate."
Aidas countered quickly and Imelda shrugged.
"She might as well be. And why are you so bothered about this?"
Aidas shrugged.
He couldn't even explain why he was so bothered. But for some reason he was.
And the state she had been. She was sick. Why did he leave her alone?
He groaned.
"Imelda."
"Yes?"
"Do half breeds turn to Faes?"
Imelda nodded.
"Yes. Yes they do. It's called the settling."
"I know. When I saw Lacey... She looked so different....something was off."
Imelda leaned closer.
"What do you think it could have been?"
"What if she was going through it? The settling. Do you know how it works?"
Imelda frowned. One of the things about her job as being Aidas's right hand was the fact that she had to learn about as many Supernaturals as she could.
Faes unfortunately were too secretive about their lifestyles for even a proper study.
"From the little I know... I believe she'd have to go through immense pain. And if she's a half breed, it's even worse because she might not survive it."
"Oh God..."
Aidas whispered.
Imelda shook her head.
"That's not even the worse part..."
"There's more?"
Adidas asked and Imelda nodded.
"If Lacey should ever manage to make it pass the settling stage, she comes into her power. During that moment she will be able to exude and hold raw power. Power that's stronger than any force. She can be quite dangerous, to herself and others during that moment.."
"Imelda... Are you sure of what you're saying?"
Imelda shrugged.
"I read it in a really old Fae book so there might be truth to it. But if it's true... Then you need to go get her and keep her safe."
"Will she survive the Settling?"
Aidas asked impatiently and Imelda looked unsure.
"I'm sorry... I don't know of any halfbreed Faes who did. If they exist... It must be a pretty rare phenomenon."
"Gods..."
Aidas muttered as he hastily fished out his phone from his pocket.
"I have to go."
He murmured and Imelda glared at him.
"Where are you going?"
Aidas turned to look at her as he stared at her incredulously.
"I have to see her. She could be hurt... Or going through the Settling. I was so stupid. I should have never left her alone."
He groaned as he hit his fist hard on the wall. Imelda didn't even flinch.
"I was so blinded by jealousy and my hate for Hunt that I just left her there. Even when it was so obvious she was in pain."
"You can't just go. Hunt will be with her."
Aidas shrugged.
"He wasn't there when I got there. I doubt he is."
Imelda rolled her eyes.
"I've given you several reports about how he practically never leaves her side in the past few days do you really think he won't be there?"
"He won't. The full moon is coming."
Aidas reassured her as he hurried out of the room.
Hunt Adler had been on his way back to Candy's when his phone had rang. Suna's voice was clear but obviously panicky. One of the founding families they were protecting had been stupid enough to get out of protection. The fool had thought the cheap charms he had gotten from a witch in the Underground was enough to keep him safe while he visited his mistress. Suna and her men were able to track his location because of the tracking device they had placed on all of the possible victims. Hunt had begged Suna to wait for him, but she said refused, claiming that she wouldn't let another victim die if she had the chance to stop it.
Hunt Adler didn't think, he switched.
Low growls that emerged from his mouth was muffled by the sound of the City.
His muscles began growing and growing till they started twisting at unusual angles.
He was used to the transformation, he had switched a lot of times.
His bones were breaking and crumbling painfully but they were moving, shifting, and growing taller and thicker beneath his skin.
Dark hairs sprouted from the pores along his entire body at a rapid rate, he stretched his limbs and his muscles were expanding.
Growing legs burst from slender limbs and his fingernails grew into long thick claws, as his hands shifted into fur-coated paws.
Soon he was fully transformed into a full grown Lycan that was twice as big as a bear and even more fierce.
A beast.
He rarely changed into his full form in the city, but his wolf possessed stealth and speed. Two things he needed, even though it was dangerous shifting so close to the full moon because of the uncontrollable bloodlust.
But he knew he had to if there was any hope of saving the victim before the demon arrived.
He needed no explanation once he got to the apartment, the smell of blood told him that he might have been a little too late.
In the apartment, the rooms were empty but there was so much blood, but not a single body. And Suna was nowhere to be found.
A clanging, echoing thunk sounded from outside. Not from the apartment, but the hall.
Hunt moved quickly.
He peered into the hall.
The trash chute hatch lay open. Blood that smelled of lycan and human coated the rusty metal door, and prints that belonged to a human stained the tile floor, aiming toward the stairs.
There was a figure in the dim light.
It was real. He growled over and over, swaying against the door.
Real. Which meant the demon was still around.
Hunt launched into the hallway.
He sprinted across the street, following the screams, the reek.
His breath tore apart his lungs as he hurtled along the alley, dodging piles of trash. Whatever he was chasing had gotten only a brief head start.
Where was it, where was it?
He didn't care about the bloody victim, but he had to find her.
His Beta.
People were gasping to the right. Others were screaming as he moved in the shadows. Cars had halted, drivers and passengers all staring toward a narrow alley between the building and its neighbor.
Their faces blurred and stretched, twisting their horror into something grotesque, something strange and primordial.
A demon. In the streets of Aron City.
Finally, he chased it into a dark and abandoned alleyway, where it seemed the demon had come from.
In the abandoned alleyway, Hunt could finally see what he had been chasing.
Some feral thing with smooth, near-translucent gray skin. It crawled on four long, spindly limbs, but looked vaguely humanoid. And it had Suna.
Blood covered Suna's face, soaking her hair and veiling the swollen, battered features beneath. Her body arched as the beast ripped at her chest with a maw of clear, crystalline fangs that easily dug through skin and bone.
He did not think, he did not feel.
He moved, fast like the Lycan he was.
He slammed his claws unto the creature’s head so hard that he felt bone crack.
It was thrown off Suna and whirled, It's back legs twisting beneath it.
The creature had no eyes. Only smooth planes of bone above deep slit nose.
It growled and tried to lunge at Hunt and then for some reason it paused and disappeared into the night.
The Lycan in Hunt wanted to chase after it, but Suna's agonising plea brought him back and he rushed to her side.
He shoved his large paws against Suna's wounds. The gash from the demon's claws were so deep that it had slashed through her sternum.
He didn't know if she would ever be able to heal.
The wound was too deep, and it might have been too late.
Still... Suna managed a smile.
"We did it..."
She croaked out and he growled.
He wished he could tell her to stop talking as he lifted her up effortlessly.
He had to get her to the hospital in time.
She had to heal.
She just had to.
Suna couldn't die.