Lyra paced around the castle garden, confusion running amok in her mind. Since they’d flown in with the injured Michael, she hadn’t been able to look Sav in the eye. He sat nearby, still wondering just what was going through Lyra’s head. The feelings coming from her were in turmoil and mostly seemed a good bit like guilt.

“LYRA!” Steve called from the doorway. “You need to get in here, now!”

Glancing at Sav, Lyra turned from him wordlessly and broke into a run for the fortress. Sav followed more slowly, just entering in time to hear Steve say, “He’s awake and I really think he’s terrified, to be honest.”

“I was afraid of that,” Lyra sighed, then moved past him and up the stairs nearby.

“That guy’s awake, huh?” Sav asked slowly.

“Yeah,” Steve whispered, his eyes still on the staircase.

“Um, well, I think I’ll be in the studio,” Sav said after a long moment.

“Mind if I come with?” Steve asked quietly.

“Nah,” Sav answered. “I think we both need to get out of the way for a little while. Know what I mean?” Steve only nodded sadly as they both turned down the hall to the studio the vampire musicians kept for their own use.

Lyra paused just outside the door of the upper room where Michael had been sleeping. A young doctor friend of Cyra’s came out and said, “Ma’am, we really should take him to a hospital.”

“You know why we can’t do that, John,” Lyra said quietly. “How are we supposed to explain any of this to a hospital? Oh, he was hunting vampires and got injured in a fire *in Rome* and we had to fly him home to England with us? It’s not going to happen, okay? How’d that portable x-ray machine work out, anyway?”

“That’s why he needs to be hospitalized, ma’am,” John said quickly. “His back, well, it’s broken. I don’t see any way he’s ever going to walk again. He needs specialized care, not simply bedrest.”

“Then I’ll see to it that he gets it here,” Lyra assured him.

“I’m serious,” John continued. “This injury could kill him if it’s not treated properly. As it is, he’s going to be paralyzed from the waist down.”

“I guarantee he’ll be taken care of,” Lyra sighed.

“He’d better or my license is history!” the young doctor answered as Lyra made her way past him and into the room.

“Michael?” she whispered as she walked close to the bed. His eyes snapped open and went wide as she stopped a few feet from him.

“Why am I here?” he asked, panic tingeing his voice. “Why haven’t you just killed me and gotten it over?”

“Michael,” she sighed. “No one is going to kill you, luv. I tried to explain that to you before you got hurt…”

“I know what vampires do!” Michael exclaimed, trying vainly to move away from her.

“Please, Michael, don’t try to move or you’re going to hurt yourself worse,” she said, closing the distance between them quickly. He quieted down, but still looked at her with eyes full of fear and resignation. “Your back is broken, Michael. There’s nothing we can do to fix it, but we can keep it from getting any worse. But for that, you’ve got to stay still.”

Michael nodded, then said quietly, “What are you keeping me here for? Am I just a captive snack for sometime when one of your little coven gets hungry? I’m easy prey if I can’t move.”

Letting out a long sigh, Lyra finally lost her patience and said, “Okay, luv, I’m going to say this once, so shut up and listen to me. NO ONE IN THIS COVEN IS GOING TO HARM YOU! Do you understand that? There are only rare times when ANYBODY here kills. Have you ever spoken to anyone in the Dublin office?”

“No,” he whispered, shaking his head. “They were so happy with my work in Ohio, they just moved me straight to Rome…”

“Okay,” Lyra replied quietly. “I’ll be right back, okay?” Michael looked out the door as she walked away, still waiting for the moment when the vampire’s lies would become apparent. She couldn’t actually mean to take care of him, could she? Vampires were nothing but ferocious killers or so he’d always believed. When she returned with a cordless phone in her hand, she handed it to him, saying, “This man, Reginald, works in the Dublin office. He’s been in contact with the eldest of our coven for nearly a decade. Maybe he can lay to rest some of your fears.”

Michael took the phone reluctantly, afraid this was some kind of trick. At first, he simply listened as Reginald spoken in a quietly reassuring voice that this particular coven was different than most. Then, Michael began to ask careful questions to prove to himself that this man actually was a Hunter.

“Mr. Corvin, if you’ve been taken in by Siona and Lyra’s coven, you’re in good hands,” Reginald said finally. “They aren’t like most other vampires, sir. Except when one of the younger ones was ill, they haven’t had a documented kill in probably ten years.”

“That’s hard to believe,” Michael said quietly.

“It may be hard, Mr. Corvin, but it’s true,” the man replied quickly.

“Well, Mr. White, I’ll have to take your word for this, since I can’t exactly move out of here on my own,” Michael sighed, resigned to his captivity in a vampire coven for the moment.

“May I speak to Lyra?” Reginald asked softly.

“Sure.” Michael held the phone out mutely to Lyra, who took it and said quietly, “Yes, Mr. White?”

“Exactly what is Mr. Corvin’s condition?” he said quickly.

“According to the physician who was just here, his back is broken,” she answered as she left the room hurriedly. She really didn’t want to go into detail in front of Michael just yet.

“Is he…”

“Mr. White, the doctor believes he won’t ever walk again,” Lyra said finally.

“I’d like to have him moved to our headquarters in London, where he can receive the finest care from our own doctors,” he said, concern obvious in his voice. “They’ve certainly treated plenty of these kinds of injuries and been able to do it quite discreetly.”

“I’ll fly him to London in a couple days then, Mr. White,” Lyra sighed, almost glad to have this problem taken out of her hands.

“I can have someone there in a matter of hours…”

“I’m sorry, Mr. White,” Lyra cut him off. “I’m not about to invite a bunch of Hunters into my home. I’ve got too many young ones here to worry about, plus…well, it’s better not discussed at the moment.”

“You’re worried about young Lily and her child, aren’t you?” Reginald said after a moment.

Lyra froze, then whispered, “How do you know about that?”

“Ma’am, we’ve observed you and yours for a very long time,” he sighed. “We’re well aware of the child your young one conceived after curing Joseph. As long as the coven controls the situation, we’ll maintain our hands off position.”

“Be that as it may, I’ll not be responsible for your kind coming into the castle,” Lyra answered with a touch of anger in her voice. “Not after what just happened in Rome, I won’t.”

“Understood, then,” Reginald gave in. “We’ll look for him in two days. Until then, I’ll say goodbye.”

“Goodbye, Mr. White.”

Taking the phone back to it’s cradle, Lyra stopped and thought over what she’d just done. Deep inside, she knew it was only right to take Michael back to his brethren, yet part of her already regretted the decision. She wasn’t quite ready to let him disappear. At least, not until he came to understand that his beliefs about her were wrong.

Cyra watched her from a darkened corner, wondering just what was going through Lyra’s mind as she headed back into Michael’s room. There was no telling what was about to happen as the younger vampire walked slowly back up the stairs.

“Michael?” Lyra whispered as she crossed the threshold into his room.

“Yeah?” he answered uncertainly. “So, has my fate been decided? Let me guess…I’m not much good to them, so the organization has no use for me, right? Can’t exactly take out a vamp if I can’t even walk, now can I?”

“Actually, they want to come and get you,” she said softly. “I told them I would take you to them in a couple of days. They seemed eager enough to have you back, though.”

“What if I decided that I didn’t want to go?” he replied so softly she wasn’t sure if she’d actually heard him.

“I’m not going to force anything on you,” Lyra said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “If you want to stay, we can make arrangements for that as well.”

“Well, it’s worth thinking about,” Michael answered, looking out the window instead of at her. “It’s not every day someone like me gets to be on the inside of a group he would normally be trying to wipe out. Maybe I’ll find out I made a mistake in my choice of vocation.”

“How long were you with them, anyway?” she probed gently, trying to take his mind off his current problems.

“They pulled me in when I was fifteen,” he said, his eyes going to the ceiling. “I was living in New York at the time, a real hellion. I’m sure you’ve noticed all the scars on my arms?”

“Yeah, but I figured they’d come from your work with the Hunters,” she said, looking at a long scar that ran the length of his upper arm.

“No, very few of them are from that. The one you’re looking at? It came from a knife fight just before the Hunters grabbed me off the streets,” he said as he closed his eyes. Michael laughed and said, “Once I joined up with the Hunters, they taught me how NOT to get many more of these damn scars!”

“Why did they recruit you so bloody young?” Lyra asked, confused at the thought of a mere child being taught to be a killer.

“Um, well, like I said,” Michael started, trying to figure out just what he should say. “I was hell on wheels back then. In trouble constantly. Actually, it was me and my brother.” Michael paused thoughtfully, unsure of what he was saying again. He let out a sigh, then went on, “They pulled me out of a hospital just after I’d been shot.”

“You were shot?”

“Yeah,” Michael finally looked at her. “My brother and I, we stumbled into a coven in Queens. I was trying to get out and they had this guy watching over them. He was the only mortal in the building at the time. When he shot me, someone in the next building called the cops and they got there just as I was crawling out into the alley.” There was a long pause, then he said, “My brother never made it out of there. Kid was thirteen when that fucking vamp got him. Because of that, the Hunters came calling while I was still recovering. They wanted to get to me before the vampires decided to finish me off.”

“So vampires killed your brother?” Lyra said thoughtfully. “No wonder you took up this line of work!”

“Yeah,” Michael sighed. “And, until now, I never had one good thing to say about vampires.”

Her hand covered Michael’s as she whispered, “I’m glad you’re rethinking everything, luv. We’re not all as evil as people would like to think we are….”

“LYRA!” Steve said breathlessly as he ran into the room. “I’m sorry to interrupt…well…but have you seen Cyra?”

“No, what’s wrong, luv?” Lyra asked as she stood up, her back to Michael.

“Joe thinks Lily’s in labor and he wants Cyra to check on her,” Steve said quickly, his eyes trailing over Michael in what could only be curiosity. He wondered just what Lyra thought she was doing with this stranger, even as part of his mind still worried about Lily and her unborn child.

“I’ll go check on her,” Lyra said quietly. She looked back at Michael and said, “I think Michael’s going to be okay for now, right?” Michael nodded silently and she leaned over, kissing him softly on the cheek before turning and leaving the room.

As soon as they got into the hallway, Steve stopped Lyra and said, “What’s going on, hon?”

“Nothing, okay?” she said shortly. “Let’s get down to Lily and find out what’s going on. We’ll talk about this later!” Brushing him off, she turned and headed down into the basement of the castle.

Joe sat on the bed next to Lily, who was just relaxing back into the bed. He looked up at Lyra with wide eyes as he said, “She’s been in a lot of pain, all down her back. I don’t know, but I think she might be in labor, Lyra.”

“When did it start, luv?” Lyra asked Lily softly.

“I don’t really know, but my back’s been hurting all night,” Lily whispered hoarsely.

“And since neither one of these guys has ever dealt with a pregnancy before, they wouldn’t have the slightest clue what that meant,” Lyra chuckled slightly. Then a thought occurred to her and she looked over at Steve. “Where’s Sav, anyway? He should have figured this out already!”

“He took off a little while ago,” Steve sighed. “He just wanted some time alone, I guess.”

“Damn,” she whispered before looking at the young girl on the bed. “This really isn’t the time for this! He’s going to have to wait til Lily’s through the delivery before I can talk to him.” She took a deep breath, then said, “Okay, Steve, you’ll have to go get me as many towels as you can carry and try to find Cyra.” Just as Steve was walking away, she remembered something and called, “See if that doctor friend of hers is still close by, okay?”

“Will do, luv.”

“What do you want me to do, Lyra?” Joe asked quietly.

“About all you can do right now is hold her hand and help her through it,” Lyra sighed as another contraction hit the girl. “She’s got to do the rest on her own, now.” She ran her hand over Joe’s shoulder and said softly, “Okay, just breath deep, honey, try to let go of the pain.”

They sat together for a long while with Lyra trying to talk Lily through the pains of delivering her child. About twenty minutes later, Steve came into the room followed closely by Cyra, Rick, Vivian and Kerrie.

“How’s she doing?” Cyra asked quietly.

“Fine,” Lyra answered without looking at her. “Your doctor coming along any time soon?”

“Yeah, I caught him on the cell,” Cyra sighed. “He’ll be here in about ten minutes.”

“Can you handle things here then?” Lyra asked with a glance at Steve. “I’ve got a problem I need to deal with as soon as I can.”

“Yeah, I saw Sav leave,” Cyra said with a shake of her head. “He didn’t look happy at all.”

“So I’ve been told.” Looking at Steve again, she said, “Maybe I need to handle this on my own.”

“Whatever you think is right,” Steve said, his eyes suddenly sad as he looked at her. After a second, he started staring at the floor and Lyra let out a sigh. She was just about to tell him to come with her when Steve suddenly said, “Maybe I’ll go up and keep our guest company or something. He’s probably pretty out of it by now…”

“Are you sure, Stephan?” Lyra said quickly.

“Don’t worry, Lyra, my love,” he said with a smile. “I’m not likely to suddenly decide to snack on a helpless man. He’ll be perfectly safe, I promise.”

“Okay,” she sighed, hoping this wasn’t going to be a bad decision on her part. Watching Steve head into the upper reaches of the castle, she took a deep breath and walked out into the garden. She saw Cyra’s young doctor friend pull onto the castle grounds, but unfortunately she didn’t notice the other three men in the van. Walking quietly into the woods, she was out of sight before the men piled out of the van and rushed the young doctor in at gun point.

“Rick?” Lyra whispered as she felt him getting closer.

“Yeah?” Sav’s voice came from just off to her right and she spotted him sitting next to the stream that fed the waterfall.

“What’s going on, luv?” she asked softly as she sat down next to him.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me, Richard,” she answered with a raised eyebrow.

Sav turned his back to her before he finally said, “What’s going on, Alyria? Just who is this new guy you met? I’m going to have to share you with him, too? Cuz I just don’t know that I can! Joe was one thing. Even Steve. I’ve known both of them most of my fucking life. This guy? As far as I’m concerned, he doesn’t mean shit to me!” He turned on her, grabbing her by both arms as he suddenly yelled, “I don’t give a fuck about this sorry ass bastard! Do you understand me?”

“Rick, you’re hurting me,” she said quietly.

“Why should that matter?” Sav hissed angrily. “You’re hurting me, too, god damnit!” He looked her in the eye and saw a tear lying unshed there. For one brief moment, his anger abated and he wanted nothing more than to hold her again. Then his fury returned and he shoved her bodily away from him. She landed hard on her backside, looking up at him in shock. Sav had never once shown this kind of anger towards her, not in all their years together. She could feel the impulse in him to take off from the situation and sprang to her feet, grabbing him roughly before he could fly off.

“Don’t you leave me, Rick!” she cried.

“WHY NOT?” he roared, trying to break free of her touch.

“You know I love you, Ronan!” she whimpered, holding on to him desperately.

“Do you, Lyra? Do you love me, or are you still in love with Ronan?” he asked callously. “I’m not him, even if at some point in the distant past I was. I’m only Richard Savage, nothing else. And I’m obviously not enough for you, am I?”

“Is it my life in general you hate me for now or just because you don’t know anything about some small part of it?” Lyra questioned as her own ire began to rise. “Go ahead, Rick. Walk away from me. Ronan did it to me once, too. He left me alone when Connor died. Left me with only the comfort of others for a hundred years, Rick. With only the bond between us to tell me if he lived or fucking died! And I had no choice but to accept it, because that’s the way of our kind. There are no permanent ties but the ones you hold yourself to. If you truly want to leave me, I can’t stop you. But know this before you go. You’ll always be able to find me and I will always love you. Yes, you. Richard Savage. I loved my husband and I mourned him when he died. But Ronan is dead. Only you survive and YOU are the one I love.”

“Really?” Sav whispered, still not sure if he could trust what she was saying.

“I have no reason to lie, Richard,” she answered softly, gently running her hand over his tear stained face. “If I wanted to leave, you couldn’t stop me. But I don’t want to. I love you. And yes, I do love Steve, too. But that’s a separate thing from what I feel for you.”

“What about this Michael guy?” he asked quietly.

“I don’t know what’s going on with him,” she sighed. She looked into his eyes and asked, “Give me the time to find out?”

“You’ve got eternity,” he said finally, wrapping her in his arms. “But keep me posted on what’s going on, okay?”

“Who’s always the first to know anything that happens with me?” she laughed. “Now, let’s go back in and check on Lily, okay?” Then Lyra cocked her head. “Something’s wrong with the others,” she whispered. “Very wrong.”

Sav grabbed her before she could take off at a run for the castle. “For once, luv,” he said quickly, “Can we be careful instead of going in guns and fangs blazing?”

******

“What are we going to do with them?” a tall dark haired man said as he kicked the bloody corpse of a vampire.

“We just came for the mother and child,” his companion said roughly. Looking at the young doctor, he asked impatiently, “How long until the child is born?”

“Um,” the doctor stuttered. “Probably a couple of hours yet.”

“Good,” the second man answered. “Plenty of time to get them out of here. Grab her and let’s go.” The first man grabbed the bound, pregnant Lily from the bed and carefully place a gag in her mouth to keep her from biting him. Then he carried her out of the castle. His partner pointed the gun at the young doctor and hissed, “You’ve got a patient to tend to, Doc. Get moving or she’ll be having this baby all on her own.” Slowly, after surveying the carnage in what was once the young vampire’s bedroom, he let the man force him out of the room and down into the waiting van below.

“That was gunfire,” Michael said uneasily, trying to shift in the bed.

“What the hell,” Steve said, heading for the door of the room.

“Um, listen, man,” Michael said quickly, stopping Steve in his tracks. “If I know anything about guns, which I do, those were fucking Uzi’s. You don’t want to go flying right into that shit. It could blow your head right off, and even a vamp couldn’t take that. I’ve seen them used against your kind before and pretty effectively at that.”

Steve paused, wondering just what was happening in the depths of the castle. Then he sighed and looked at Michael, saying, “Okay, any suggestions?”

“Bar the fucking door and wait things out for a few minutes,” Michael said. “As long as no one tries to bust in the door, at least they don’t know we’re here. That’ll give you a little bit of surprise over them.”

“Fine,” Steve answered, closing the door and lifting the heavy wooden bar into place. Then he sat on the edge of Michael’s bed and waited impatiently to see what would happen.

Moments later, Steve heard a tapping on the window next to the bed. Looking out, he saw Lyra and Sav hovering just outside. He opened the window quickly and watched as they flew in, Lyra saying, “What’s going on, hon?”

“I don’t know,” Steve answered, trying to see if they’d worked out their problems. From the way Sav hung over her shoulder, they seemed to be okay.

“Someone’s shooting Uzi’s off in the lower levels of the castle,” Michael said confidently. “Probably about two floors down, if I’m not mistaken, and a fucking hell of a lot of rounds.”

“Dammit!” Lyra exclaimed. “That’s were I left Lily at!” Panicked, she looked around and said, “Okay, Sav, stay here with Michael. Steve and I are going to find out just what’s happened downstairs, cuz this feels REALLY bad.” Sav started to fight with her, but she said, “Please, Sav, just do what I say for once?”

“Fine!” Sav harrumphed, slamming his body down into a nearby chair.

“Thank you,” she said in surprise. To be honest, she’d expected him to put up much more of a fight than he had. Turning back to Steve, she said, “Are you ready for this? I think it might be, well, a very bad thing we’re walking into.”

“I’m okay,” Steve said quietly.

“Rick, bar this door the second we’re out and don’t let in anyone you don’t know,” Lyra said quickly to Sav.

“Yes, luv, I know the drill,” Sav sighed, his eyes going silently over Michael as he spoke. Lyra wanted to say more, yet all she could do was think hard at Sav, “Behave yourself!”

“Of course, dear,” came Sav’s sarcastic thought in return. Lyra rolled her eyes, then removed the heavy wooden staple from the door. She and Steve made they’re way quietly out of the room, then Lyra paused to be sure that Sav barred the door. As soon as she heard the wood slide into place, she motioned Steve down into the lower reaches of the castle behind her.

The castle was silent, not even the sounds of the night penetrating its thick walls as they walked through the main floor and down into the vampires’ lair. Outside the room Lily had shared with Joe, Lyra paused and listened hard. Nothing. Not the barest sound of motion or even breath came from in the room. She listened with her inner ear and felt four vampire heartbeats in the room. Every one of them very faint. Her mind raced as she tried to remember how many of them she’d left behind when she’d gone to talk to Sav. Lily. Joe. Rick. Cyra. Vivian. Kerrie. Plus the unborn child. There should have been at least six, if not by now seven, vampires in that room. She heaved a deep sigh and started to pray as she ran through her links to the other vampires. Joe. He was there, but just. Kerrie, Lily and Cyra were beyond her, as was Rick. Her bond to Vivian had grown so weak over the years that she couldn’t feel him most of the time. Now was one of those times.

“Steve, stay here,” she sighed, but Steve shook his head and steeled himself for what was obviously going to be a nasty experience. Lyra was the first in the door and he heard her gasp as she walked in. Blood covered all four walls from floor to ceiling. Just inside the door lay Cyra’s limp form, riddled with two dozen bullet holes. Lyra closed her eyes and wished she could take away what she was seeing.

“Jesus!” Steve gasped as he cleared the doorway. He looked around, his stomach rolling at the carnage he saw. Though vampires fed on blood, Steve wasn’t prepared for this kind of horror. He watched as Lyra knelt beside Rick’s inert form. He couldn’t begin to count the number of shots Rick had taken and he recognized it as Rick only because of the curly mass of red gold hair. Behind them, Kerrie lay slumped into a chair, a dozen wounds marring her chest and torso. Lyra looked up at him, speechless at the devastation among their friends. Then she whispered, “Where are Vivian, Joe and Lily?”

Moving slowly, a bit frightened at what he would find, Steve went to the far side of the bed and let out a cry.

“What is it?” Lyra asked breathlessly.

“God, Lyra!” Steve gasped, falling to the ground beside a once human form.

“Stephan!” Lyra cried, knowing whatever he was seeing wasn’t a good thing. Steve’s mouth worked in grief-stricken agony until Lyra crossed the room to stand behind him. Kneeling beside Steve, she reached out and gently touched the face of the corpse. The head lolled to the side, held on to the neck by a mere thread of skin at one side.

“He must have tried to stop them from taking Lily,” Lyra whispered, horrified by what she was seeing.

“Can we save him?” Steve murmured, still trying to deny the facts in front of him.

“No, luv, he’s gone,” she answered softly. There was still one more vampire to find in this mess and Lyra spotted him a few feet away in the corner. The chest had been torn open with all the shots he’d taken, but Lyra could still sense a slow heartbeat in the fallen form. She tugged at Steve’s arm and said, “Come on, luv. There’s nothing we can do at the moment for any of them, but we’ve got to go up and tell Sav what’s happened.” Steve couldn’t force himself to move until Lyra pulled him away from his dead friend. His eyes didn’t leave the horrifying scene until Lyra had pushed him out into the hallway. She had to force him up into the stairwell and pull him until they stood in front of the door where Sav and Michael waited.

“Sav, it’s me,” Lyra whispered. “Open the door, luv.” The bolt moved with a rough hiss, then Sav threw the door open.

“What’s happened?” Sav asked quickly as Michael watched from the bed.

“They, they, they,” Steve stammered. “They killed him!”

“WHO!” Sav exclaimed, grabbing Steve roughly and trying to get some kind of sense out of him.

“Sav,” Lyra whispered softly. “It was Vivian.”

“What?” Sav cried as he turned to look at her. “Vivian? He’s dead?”

“I tried to warn you what one of those could do,” Michael said quietly from the bed.

“Thank you for that,” Lyra answered. She shuddered to think what might have happened if Steve had stumbled down into that torrent of bullets and put a gentle hand on Steve’s arm.

“What about the others?” Sav asked quickly.

“It’s going to be a long time before any of them come around,” Lyra sighed. “I’m guessing, especially for Joe, it’s going to be at least a month before their bodies can absorb the shock they went through down there.”

“What about Lily and the baby?” Michael asked quietly.

“They’re gone,” Lyra whispered. “I don’t know where or why, but they must have been the target all along.” Turning to Michael, she asked quietly, “Would the Hunters be interested in the baby?”

“No,” Michael said thoughtfully. “There really isn’t a reason for them to be. All they’re about is keeping vampires from killing people. They haven’t got any interest in learning about vamps unless it’s how to kill them…”

“They’re the only ones who even really know about us,” Sav said quietly.

“Well, we’ve got to deal with that later,” Lyra said after a moment. “Before we can find out what happened to Lily, we’ve got to take care of…what happened down stairs. There’s only the three of us left to deal with this mess…”

“Let me help you,” Michael said suddenly.

“Michael, luv, you can’t even walk,” Lyra said, her voice far more patronizing than she’d wanted it to be.

“If I…I…If I became…If you made me one of you, would I walk again?” Michael asked quietly.

“Yeah, but, you realize what that would mean, luv?” Lyra said, surprised a man like Michael had even suggested it.

“I can’t go back to my old life,” Michael said thoughtfully. “And if it wasn’t for you pulling me out of that fire, I wouldn’t have a life at all. I owe you at least this much. Blood debt, I think is what it was once called.”

“Without the others, we’re going to need someone else to back us up,” Sav answered before Lyra could argue any more. “Phil is a continent away. Cyra, Joe, Rick and Kerrie are out of commission. What other choice do we have? Lily and the baby need us now, Lyra.”

Lyra walked over to the window and took a deep breath of night air. Then she whispered, “There’s no going back once you do this, Michael. You know that. You know better than any of the others did just what becoming a vampire will mean. Nearly a thousand years of darkness. Trapped in a very small world and your very existence a threat to the humanity that surrounds you. Are you sure you want this?”

“I’m sure,” Michael answered confidently.

“I’ll do it,” Sav said quietly, moving closer to Michael.

“NO,” Lyra said suddenly, her voice louder than she’d intended. “I’ll do it. But I need to talk to you, first, Rick.” She turned and pulled him out into the hallway. “Rick, you remember what it was like when you crossed, don’t you? What happened just after you’d fed that first time?”

“Yeah,” Sav said slowly.

“It’s that way for most vampires,” Lyra went on. “And I’m the only female vampire here. You know what that’s going to mean, don’t you?”

Sav nodded. Then he looked Lyra in the eye and said, “I’ll put up with whatever it takes to save Lily and the child, Lyra. Even if it means learning to accept Michael into our lives. There’s no choice left right now.”

“Then go to the kitchen and bring up as many bottles as you can carry,” Lyra said, wondering just how this whole thing was going to play out now. She walked silently into the bedroom and said, “I’m giving you one last out on this, Michael. Are you positive you want this?”

“Yes.” The one word reply and the look on his face told her he’d made his decision. She wondered if he’d been considering this before the massacre downstairs and looked at him curiously. Her eyes narrowed as she looked over him, then she sat beside him on the bed and whispered, “This will hurt a bit, but somehow I think you can take it.”

“Yeah,” Michael chuckled, his hand running over an old scar on his chest.

Lyra leaned into his body and brushed his long black hair back from his neck. Pausing for a long moment, she looked into his eyes one last time and kissed him on the mouth on impulse. The touch of his lips reawakened the passion she’d fought the passed couple of days and a moment later she let her tongue invade the warmth of his mouth. His long fingers tangled into her hair, pulling her further into his body. As soon as she broke free of his mouth, she kissed a hot, wet trail down his jaw line and let her tongue flick out to tease the outer shell of his ear. A low moan broke from his body as Lyra’s mouth worked slowly down his neck to where his artery lay. Biting her lip for a moment, Lyra closed her eyes and then sunk her teeth deep into his throat. His head went back as he held on to her even tighter than before. One of her hands went to his mouth, tracing over his goatee before running over his now fevered lips. Her other hand held his neck steady as she continued to drain the life blood from his body. When she reached that critical moment, she pulled back and whispered, “Time for you to drink or die, Michael. You can’t live with as much as I’ve taken now.”

He nodded weakly and lay back away from her, waiting for her to do what she needed. Reaching into the night stand, she pulled out a small, sharp knife and leaned over him. Her throat only bare inches from his mouth, she jabbed the point of the blade into it, then laid it against his lips. It took only a second before Michael drank deeply from her, clutching her close to his body. Lyra threw her head back, feeling the pull of him on her vein. Steve watched quietly as he saw the ecstasy of this sharing come over her features. Then Michael fell away from her and she whispered, “We’ll be waiting for you, luv.”

Sav walked silently into the room and sat nearly a dozen bottles on the bedside table. He looked at Michael’s form lying inert in the bed and asked quietly, “Is it over?”

“It’s only begun, Rick,” Lyra answered as she stared at Sav. Sav nodded without a word and handed a bottle over to Lyra.

“You’d best drink,” Sav whispered. “I’m not sure how long he’s going to be out.”

“It’ll be a while,” Lyra said quickly as she took the precious fluid from Sav. She downed it with one long drink, then said, “His back has to heal, plus any of his old injuries. Like all those scars and such.” Even as she spoke, she could see the scars she spoke of beginning to fade away. “I may need one of you to help me…”

“I’ll do it,” Sav said before Steve could say a word. “If we need it, there’s always the triad.”

Lyra sighed. By forming a triad, Michael would become far stronger faster than he could if he only fed from her. She put her head down and said, “You’re right. He’s going to need to get strong quickly if he’s going to be any kind of help to us. Though, somehow, I have a feeling it won’t take him long to pick that up alone.”

Steve still leaned against the now barred door, his mind reeling from what he’d seen down in Joe and Lily’s bedroom. Closing his eyes meant he had to relive the nightmare below, so he simply stared off into space and tried to focus on what was happening here. He saw Sav take Lyra’s hand as they waited patiently for Michael to reawaken.

Lyra had just finished her fourth bottle when her world turned upside down. Michael had caught her scent the moment he’d drawn breath and grabbed her from behind. Pulling her over his body, he pinned her roughly to the bed and tore into her throat with a viciousness she’d not seen in a century. For a long moment, she felt nothing but pain in the wound as he found her vein. Though she tried to fight it, she couldn’t help but cry out. She whimpered into Michael’s hair, afraid if she screamed again that Sav or Steve might interfere in what Michael needed. Then a shudder passed through her and the feeling changed. Just as she’d thought, it was nothing like the gentleness and safety she’d had with Sav or Steve, or even Joe. The blood that remained in her body caught fire and she dug her nails hard into Michael’s shoulders.

Sav drank a couple of bottles quickly, then threw himself down beside Lyra. As soon as she caught the smell of his blood, her hand raced out and grabbed his wrist, pulling it violently to her mouth. Her bite was far harsher than Sav was used to and he let out a gasp as he got accustomed to the feel of it. Though her fangs were still sunk deep into his arm, Lyra’s hand went out and grabbed Sav by the back of his long hair, pulling his mouth closer to Michael’s shoulder. Her nails raked across Michael’s bare skin, leaving a deep gash that started to bleed almost immediately. Realizing she meant for him to fed, Sav lowered his head to Michael’s shoulder and closed the circle. The power that suddenly flowed through all of them was like a lightening strike, a jolt of electricity that Sav hadn’t expected. Then a madness came over him and all he could think of was the blood.

They lay there for more than a quarter of an hour, the exchange of blood between them intensifying the First Hunger that Michael felt and now shared with Sav and Lyra. As he felt it abate, Sav was the first to release from the bite and he gently pulled his wrist away from Lyra as well. As soon as Sav moved away from her, Lyra sunk her teeth directly into Michael’s shoulder and she held on for dear life.

Sav fought through a rush of lust that permeated his body, knowing there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. This was Michael’s time, not his. Shaking his head, he got up from the bed and motioned Steve away from them as well.

Lyra had no control over her body as she threw Michael over onto his back, tearing his fangs from her throat as she did. Blood trailed down her chest as she bent down and kissed him hard on his mouth, her legs straddling his body. Sav watched in fascination as his arm moved up behind her and grabbed at the collar of Lyra’s shirt. With a hard tug, the fabric gave way and Lyra was bared to the waist on top of him. His fingers dug into the muscles of Lyra’s back, bringing a low moan from deep in her body. She threw her head back and Michael took the opportunity to sit up, still holding her against him. Both of her hands went to the back of his head, tangling his hair through her fingers. She pulled his head back and looked deep into his eyes, her mind racing as she tried to figure out just why he was so deep inside her mind. Something in those eyes pulled her in, made her feel like she’d known him for years. Why couldn’t she figure it out? Then he kissed her again and there wasn’t any more time for thinking.

His hands slid under her ass, pulling her against him until she could feel every inch of him through their clothes. She ground down onto him and heard him groan under her. As much as she wanted to touch the rest of his body, her hands just wouldn’t leave the mane they were wound through. The texture of the silken strands caressed her fingers as she lowered her mouth to his once more. Her body cried out for more even as she couldn’t stop kissing him.

With one fluid motion, Michael stood up still holding Lyra against him. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he carried her the short distance to the wall and pinned her against it. Grabbing her wrist, he held them to the wall as his head went lower. His tongue flicked out, cleaning up the blood that ran down into the valley of her breasts. A moment later, his mouth closed over her nipple and he sucked with the need of a newborn child. Lyra’s eyes closed, her breath coming in rapid pants now.

Letting her legs release his body, Lyra slid away from him and pushed him back only slightly from her body. Falling to her knees, her hands fumbled as she undid the heavy black belt that enclosed his waist. Before could realize what exactly she was doing, she yanked his jeans off his hips and her mouth closed on him. The palms of his hands landed hard on the wall as he struggled with the instinct to pump deep into her throat. Strong fingers grasped his hips, controlling his movement as she let him begin to take charge of things. Each thrust came harder on the next until she was taking his full measure every time. As he felt his orgasm building, he pulled away from her and whispered, “Not yet!”

Grabbing her by the arms, Michael lifted her to her feet and spun her around so that her back was to him. Her body arched as his rough hands went slowly over her stomach, holding her firmly against him. He turned their bodies until they were facing the bed, then talented fingers undid her jeans in a flash. His hand slipped into her pants, finding her hidden place with ease as he whispered, “Is this what you want?”

“God, yes!” she whimpered as she melted into him.

Slipping her jeans down to her thighs, Michael wrapped his arms around her and carried her over to the bed. With a slight shove, Lyra fell face down on it and felt his body searching for entrance into hers. One hard thrust later, he was buried deep inside her inner core. His hands grabbed her hips, pulling her back onto him as he pushed forward, bringing an animal-like cry from Lyra. Shifting the direction of his thrusts slightly, he found Lyra’s secret spot and hit it over and over and over again. Lyra grabbed the sheet, unable to stifle the sounds coming from her throat. Michael leaned down, his stomach all along her back as he laid his hands beside hers. With animal quickness, Lyra lashed out, her teeth sinking deep into the flesh of his exposed arm. Michael let out a growl and slammed into her harder, the pain of her bite breaking a damn in his soul. Lyra’s body bucked against him as an orgasm tore through her, yet she refused to release him from her fangs. A moment later, Michael felt his own climax coming over him and laid into her shoulder with his own teeth. The bite sent a second orgasmic wave crashing through Lyra’s body as he collapsed completely onto her back.

Long moments passed as their bodies quieted and they simply fed from each other. Then, slowly, Michael pulled away from her and whispered, “Is it always like that?”

“Sometimes,” Lyra breathed softly as she tried to regain her bearings. Then she remembered the others were in the room and looked up at them. Steve, who was still in shock, didn’t seem to notice any of what had just happened. But Sav watched her with undisguised lust in his eyes. Turning to Michael, she kissed him quickly and whispered, “Take Steve downstairs. Sav and I will be down in a few minutes, okay?”

“Sure,” he answered as he fastened his jeans. He watched Lyra walk slowly over to Sav, then grabbed Steve by the arm and pulled him out of the room.

“Come on, Steve,” Michael said, suddenly gentle as he realized what was wrong with Steve. “Let’s go downstairs and talk about what you saw in Lily’s room…”

Speaking in quiet tones, Michael was able to get Steve to tell him just what he’d seen down in the lower levels. Steve started to cry, wondering if any of the vampires in that room would survive. What if he lost five friends that night, not just Vivian? He wasn’t sure if he could handle that.

“Listen, man,” Michael said reassuringly. “I’ve seen vamps take a dozen shots and keep WALKING. Hell, I’ve put ten shots in a guy myself and had him still at my throat a few minutes later! The only reason Vivian didn’t make it is that they took his head…well, you know what I mean? Unless you do that, the only thing that will kill one of your, damn, guess I mean our, kind is wood or sunlight.” Then the realization hit Michael and he whispered, “I’m really a vampire now, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, man,” Steve said, glad to suddenly have something to change the topic rolling through his mind.

“God, what do I do now?” Michael asked quietly.

“Well, best advice I can give is to listen to Lyra,” Steve answered. “She’s kept all of us going for years and we’ve only lost two of our number…” Steve’s voice trailed away slowly and Michael realized some thought had crossed the other vampire’s mind.

“Two?” Michael asked cautiously. “I know about Vivian, but who else?”

Steve stared at the floor for a long moment before he answered, “Lisel.”

“You were close to her, weren’t you?” Michael said softly.

“Yeah,” Steve replied simply. Seeing the curiosity in Michael’s eyes, he said, “Guess it was about nine months ago, yeah, that’s right. Lily’s going to have the baby, so it had to be nine months ago. Joe caught some really rare disease. Blood madness or something like that. Lily was still mortal then and she was just the kind of girl Joe had been driven to kill. Joe went after her and Lisel got between them. He threw her across the room and, well, she landed on a broken table leg. Went right through her chest. Nothing anybody could do about it. I mean, if it hadn’t caught her heart, Lyra could have saved her. I should know about that!”

“Why’s that?”

“Because Phil’s son, oh, Phil’s another of us by the way, anyway, his son tried to stake him and I got in the way,” Steve said in a rush of words. Then he laughed and said, “You’re too damn easy to talk to, man!”

“No worries,” Michael chuckled. “Guess you guys have a lot of history I need to catch up on. So, why’d Phil’s son try to take him out?”

“Well, Phil became a vampire when Rory was just a kid,” Steve went on. “And, of course, he couldn’t very well show up on Rory’s doorstep and try to explain what had happened, so Rory thought he was dead. Then, when Rory and the other kids were grown, Lyra got them together and told them what had really happened. Rory took the news worst of any of them and he was pissed! Tried to do Phil in, but I couldn’t let that happen. I knew in the end it would hurt Rory more to realize he’d lost a second chance with his dad. So I took a stake in the back and Lyra had to remove a stubborn splinter that was trying to head for my heart. Hurt like a bitch, it did!”

“So, what’s Phil like?”

“Phil? He’s my best mate!” Steve smiled. “God, even when we were mortals, we raised hell! He’s in California most of the time now, cuz that’s where Rory lives with his kids.”

“Damn,” Michael said thoughtfully. “How many of you guys have kids, anyway?”

“Well, Phil, Rick, Vivian and Sav all have kids and I guess Joe will soon enough,” Steve paused, then said, “At least, if we manage to get the baby back, that is. Oh, and I know Lyra has a son whose also a vampire.”

“HUH?”

“That’s a REALLY long story,” Steve sighed. “She had a son who was made into a vampire by someone other than Siona, or Cyra, whatever you want to call her. Cyra brought Lyra and her husband over at the same time, I think. But she didn’t know about the boy and another vampire found him. His name was Michael, by the way,” Steve laughed. “Hope that doesn’t have any hidden meaning, cuz he was a really bad guy.”

“Well, I like to think I’m not a bad guy,” Michael answered with a furrowed brow.

“You’d have to really try to match up to this guy,” Steve said quickly. “Anyway, he tried to use Lyra’s son against her, because Lyra had taken out his girl. Of course, his girl had Joe and Sav hostage at the time and they were both still mortals then…”

“She’s really protective of you guys, isn’t she?” Michael asked suddenly.

“Well, me and Sav, that much I know,” Steve answered. “And Joe, but they’ve been over since Lily saved Joe from that disease…”

“How’d she do that?”

“By crossing over as a vampire while she was still a virgin,” Steve went on, wondering just why he felt so good telling Michael all of this. Talking to him, well, it just felt comfortable, Steve guessed. “It was the only cure for whatever that disease Joe had.”

“But Lily was Vivian’s daughter, right?”

“Yeah, and she has her old man’s stubborn streak!” Steve chuckled. “When everyone refused to bring her across to save Joe, the bullheaded little dolt cut her own throat and took the choice away from them.”

“WOW!” Michael’s eyes went wide at the thought. Then something occurred to him. “Why did Lyra used to be so protective of Joe, anyway?”

“Well, he was involved with her, but bonding with Lily broke that,” Steve sighed.

“So she was with all three of you?” Michael asked, still trying to figure Lyra out.

“Not really,” Steve said quietly. “I didn’t really get THAT involved with her until after she lost Joe. It happened at the same time I lost Lisel, so I think we really needed each other then.”

“How long has she been with Rick?” Michael questioned quietly.

“Well, all told, about thirty years,” Steve answered, scratching his head. “Yeah, actually, it is thirty years now. But he was mortal for most of that.”

“Huh?”

“Sav’s only been a vampire for four years, mate,” Steve said thoughtfully. “Same with Joe. Actually,” he laughed at the thought, “I’m the oldest in terms of male vampires and I crossed over the first night I met Lyra.”

“Damn, man,” Michael said quietly. “Here I was thinking all of you had been together a LOT longer than that!”

“Well, the guys have all been together for about fifty years,” Steve answered. “We were in a band together for thirteen years before I became what I am. Then they brought in Viv to take my place when I ‘died’ as a mortal. The band kept going for about twenty years after that.”

“Holy shit! That’s a long time for a band to be together,” Michael said in surprise. “What was the name, anyway? Any songs I might have heard of? Though I guess it would be on an oldies station…”

“Def Leppard.”

“WHAT???” Michael’s jaw dropped open in shock. “You guys were all in Def Leppard?”

“You’ve heard of us?”

“My mom used to listen to you guys all the time when I was a kid!” Steve had to laugh at the slight awe in he saw in Michael’s eyes. “So, I’m, like, hanging with rock stars now?”

“We used to be rock stars,” Steve chuckled. “Not for a long while now, though.”

“Damn,” Michael laughed. “That’s fucking weird, man. Mom was really into that stuff they played in the eighties. You guys, Motley Crue, all those kinds of bands. Poison was really her thing, though.”

For a long while, the two of them just sat there, Steve lost in memories of the life he’d left behind when he’d become a vampire. The reality of his situation finally began to sink into Michael’s mind as he thought about just who he was with now. These men had all given up huge things when they’d lost their mortality. It made things suddenly seem rather small in his life. The Hunters would say he was nothing but a killer now. But just what had he been when he’d been one of them? He’d killed without remorse, thinking their way was the only right thing. Seeing this group, how could that be right? Questions started to flood his mind as he asked, “So, just what does being a vampire give you, anyway? All I know is the weakness, nothing about the strengths.”

“So, you know how we die, but not how we live?”

“Exactly.”

Steve thought about it for a long moment before answering, “Well, let’s see. You’ll be able to read thoughts from most people, that’s one thing…”

“You mean I can read minds now?” Michael asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“Sure, at least to some degree,” Steve said confidently. “Try it. Focus on a person, wherever they are, and if you’re close enough you’ll pick them up.” Michael closed his eyes and thought about just what Steve was thinking. Clear as a bell, the thought hit him, “Come on, Michael, I’m too easy. Try something a bit further away!”

“Okay, okay,” Michael laughed out loud. Shaking his head, he tried to think of someone and found Lyra pop into his mind. Thinking of her, he could suddenly feel her and his eyes popped open. “Um, something tells me this isn’t a good time to think about Lyra! She’s, well, um, ah…well…”

“She’s a bit preoccupied at the moment, I think,” Steve said, opening his mind to her. He could feel the emotions and sensation all through her body and grinned slightly. “Sav was, um, excited? When he watched the two of you together. But you get my point, right?”

“Yeah,” Michael sighed, now consciously trying NOT to think of Lyra and finding it difficult. “That can get, um, really personal, huh?”

“Yeah, that’s why I try not to do it unless I have to,” Steve answered softly. “Besides, Sav’s the wiz kid at reading minds. Most of the time, you’ll only pick up surface thoughts, but Sav can really pick your brain without you even knowing it. So I watch myself when I’m around him sometimes. I trust him with my life and I know he’s not going to snoop where’s he’s not wanted, but still…Even best friends sometimes need their privacy.”

“Okay, so watch what you think around Savage, right?” Michael asked, trying to figure things out. “Anything else I should know?”

“Wait, I didn’t mean it quite that way,” Steve apologized. “Sav’s not gonna go snooping around for no reason, trust me. He’s not like that. I don’t think he even likes the fact that he CAN do it. Gives him the creeps, to be honest.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Michael sighed. “What else should I look out for here?”

“Um, well,” Steve said, his modesty suddenly showing. “You really don’t want to, um, say, get in a shoving match with me. You see, you get a lot of strength from being a vampire, even though you haven’t found that out yet. Well,” he said uncomfortably, “I’m a few times stronger than even Lyra or Cyra.

According to Lyra, that’s what being made what I am has given me. You kinda get a little extra, and it’s different for each us, when you become a vampire. I got a lot of physical strength, Sav can read minds, Lyra can control people’s actions, um…”

“She can what?” Michael said suspiciously.

“Oh, she can make people do whatever she wants, usually,” Steve said absently.

“Such as?”

“Oh, sometimes it’s stupid shit, like making you scratch your nose or something dumb like that,” Steve answered, not knowing how badly this was upsetting Michael.

“Could she make someone want to become a vampire?” Michael asked, anger starting to build in him.

“I suppose she could, but to be honest,” Steve said with a furrowed brow, “more than likely she could get you to say the words, but once it was over, you’d realize you didn’t really mean what you said. It would take a lot of concentration for her to keep it up very long. Once her mind was on something else, you’d be back in control. Wait a minute,” Steve said suddenly. “You don’t really think Lyra would try to force you into that decision, do you? That’s just not her way. She was the one who wasn’t sure if this was what you really wanted or not.”

Michael let out a sigh and sat back against his chair. He ran his fingers through his hair, then said, “Well, to be honest, I’d been thinking about it ever since I woke up. I’ve been fascinated by vamps since I was a kid, so I guess I shouldn’t blame her for making that choice. I just wanted to be sure she didn’t have a hand in it, that’s all.”

“Well, I guarantee she didn’t,” Steve answered confidently. “She never once suggested it, so you can get that out of your mind.”

“What’s that, luv?” Lyra asked as she moved into the room followed by Sav.

Steve looked away guiltily as Michael answered quickly, “Oh, well, Steve was just filling me in on things around here, that’s all…”

“Really?” Lyra replied, studying Steve’s features and realizing there was something she wasn’t being told. Leaning towards Steve, she looked him deep in the eyes and sent the thought, “What’s going on here, luv?”

Steve closed his eyes and opened himself to her, letting her have all his memories of the conversation they’d just had. Lyra smiled as she heard old memories flood from his mind. Then she got serious as she saw them discussing her own abilities. Letting out a sigh, she whispered, “Thanks, luv. You’ve actually helped me out a bit here.”

Turning to Michael, she asked, “Before we get to what’s waiting downstairs, do you have something you need to ask, Michael?”

“HUH?” Michael asked in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“There’s something you’re worried about, isn’t there,” she said softly. “That maybe you weren’t acting of your own free will? When you decided things tonight?”

“How do you know that?” Michael asked in surprise.

“Steve just told me,” she smiled. Before he could ask the question she saw in his stunned eyes, she said, “Yes, luv, telepathically.”

“What’d you do?” he asked, his eyebrow raised in concern. “Pick it out of my brain, too?”

“No, Michael,” she sighed. “I’m not going to start reading your mind just because I can. For that matter, you could do it just as well as I can. All you have to do is try.”

“Yeah, tried that once,” Michael laughed. “Got a mind full I really didn’t need…”

“What?”

“Um, well, I thought of you and you were…” he looked pointedly at Sav, who turned away with a slight smile.

“Ah,” Lyra chuckled. “Well, anyway, to answer your question. No, I didn’t try to influence you in any way. Would you like to see how this thing works?”

“Yes, it would help,” Michael said quietly.

“Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath. She closed her eyes and tried to think of what she could have him do to prove this to him. Then she smiled and looked at Sav. “Sav, whatever happens, don’t do anything, okay?”

“Um, okay,” Sav said, looking at her leerily. Then he watched as Michael walked across the room and stood in front of him. Michael picked up Sav’s hand and kissed it just like Sav was a woman he was trying to impress. A second later, Michael dropped his hand and spun around, looking at Lyra in dismay.

“That wasn’t cool, Lyra,” Sav smirked, wiping his hand on his pants in disgust.

“But your point is proven,” Michael said, his mouth twisting into a near smile. “That’s one of the last things I could have ever wanted to do, absolutely don’t want to do now and I know that full damn well. So, since I’m aware of it, guess that means you couldn’t affect me long term, huh?”

“Nope,” Lyra said with a wicked grin. Then she got serious. “Okay, now that we’re done with that, are we about ready to take of…” Steve looked at her with wide eyes as the horror of what he’d seen returned to him. Sav closed his eyes, not sure if he was ready for this. Only Michael and Lyra seemed resigned to what had to be done and headed slowly for the door. Then Michael looked down at her and said quietly, “Why don’t we spare the two of them this? I mean, I’m sure you’ve had to deal with something along these lines at least once in a thousand years and, well, it won’t be the first time for me either. But…”

“No, I’m coming,” Sav sighed.

“Sav, man, you don’t have to,” Michael said, his eyes full of sympathy for the other vampire.

“They’re my friends, mate,” Sav said quietly. “I need to do this for them.”

“So do I,” Steve whispered, “Let’s just get it over with, okay?”

“If you two are sure about it,” Michael said, letting Lyra lead the way to Lily and Joe‘s bedroom.

Lyra was the first into the room, followed quickly by Michael. He surveyed the gruesome scene with eyes used to seeing this kind of carnage in vampire lairs. He turned around just in time to see Sav and Steve both come to a sudden halt inside the doorway. His heart suddenly went out to the older men as he realized this was probably the worst thing either of them had seen. But he couldn’t think of anything he could do to get them out of the room at that moment. Fortunately, Lyra did.

“Rick,” she said softly. When he didn’t look at her, she said far more loudly, “Richard?”

“Yeah?” Sav mumbled.

“Do you remember that chemical I used when Michael,” then she paused and said quickly to Michael, “Not you, luv. Same name, WAY different person.” Michael nodded and Lyra continued. “When we had that run in with Michael in the living room?”

“Yeah,” Sav said, trying hard just to think at that moment.

“It’s up in the kitchen,” she went on. “Bring that and the mop, okay? We’re going to have to clean this mess up…” Looking at Steve, she said, “Why don’t you go help him look for it, luv?”

“Okay,” Steve answered, glad to be doing something useful that WASN’T in that room at that moment. Both men turned and headed out, leaving Michael and Lyra alone with the devastation.

“So, just what are we going to do with everyone, Alyria?” Michael asked quietly.

“Well, I guess we can move Joe, Kerrie, Cyra and Rick down into the dungeon,” Lyra answered. “As for Viv, well…”

“I’ll handle it,” Michael said quickly. “Just tell me where you want me to put him and I’ll take care of it.” He walked to the far side of the bed and saw Vivian’s body laying on the floor. With a sigh, he reached up on the bed and grabbed a sheet, then laid it over the body. Then he carefully started to bundle the body up in the sheet until it was tightly wrapped. He looked to Lyra and asked, “Where do you want me to take him?”

“Out into the garden,” Lyra whispered as she looked up from kneeling at Rick’s side. Glancing down at Rick’s hand, she saw the ring they’d borrowed from Cyra’s friend and slipped it off his finger. Just before Michael picked up Vivian’s corpse, she said, “Wait, luv. Put this on.”

“What’s it for?” Michael asked curiously as he watched her slide the ring onto his finger.

“It’s a protection amulet,” she sighed. “You’ll be able to go out in the sun with this on. But never take it off in the sunlight or you’ll die, okay?” She ran her hand over his face and whispered, “We’d best get back to work before the others come back.”

“Yeah,” Michael answered quietly, turning back to the bundle that was once Vivian Campbell. Meanwhile, Lyra reached for Rick and picked him up. While Michael took Vivian outside and laid his body on the ground, Lyra carried Rick down into the old, unused dungeon of the castle. She laid him on one of the cots that lined the cell walls and arranged his body carefully before leaving him there.

By the time a saddened Lyra made it back to the room, Michael was waiting for her. By some unspoken accord, they each picked up another member of the coven and Michael followed her into the bowels of the old fortress. Michael laid Joe down on the second vacant cot, while Lyra put Cyra on the floor next to Rick. Without speaking, she headed back to the bedroom and grabbed Kerrie while Michael stayed below. After she’d placed Kerrie next to Cyra, she sat on the floor and looked at her friends. Then she put her head down into her hands and cried.

Neither she nor Michael heard the phone ringing. Sav and Steve were just heading reluctantly back to the bedroom when it rang. Picking it up quickly, Steve whispered a hurried hello then listened.

“Phil! Damn, I’m glad it’s you,” Steve sighed as he sat down in a chair next to the phone.

“I could feel some kind of problem as soon as I woke up tonight,” Phil said sleepily. “What’s going on?”

“God, matie,” Steve whispered. “I don’t know where to start…”

“Is Lily okay? I know it was getting close to her time,” Phil asked.

“We don’t fucking know,” Steve said quietly, the horror of the evening still in his voice.

“WHAT?”

“She’s been…um…well, we think she’s been abducted,” Steve answered after a long pause.

“Excuse me?” Phil asked in shock.

“Oh, man,” Steve sighed. “Okay, I’ll start at the beginning and hopefully you’ll be able to make more sense out of this than I’ve been able to. She went into labor tonight. I was off talking to Michael and Lyra was straightening things out with Sav outside…”

“Whoa! You lost me already,” Phil said with a humorless laugh. “Who’s Michael and what did Lyra need to straighten out with Sav?”

“Damn,” Steve said quietly. “Okay, Michael is a mortal…was a mortal til tonight, I should say…that Lyra met in Rome…”

“What the fuck was she doing in Rome?” Phil said, now totally confused.

“You know what,” Steve said impatiently. “I’ll fill you in on that part of it later, when I see you. Just let me tell you what happened tonight, okay?”

“Yeah, whatever,” Phil said with a shake of his head.

“Anyway, Cyra, Rick, Joe, Kerrie and Viv were down with Lily, while she was in labor. The rest of us were…well…other places,” Steve finally continued. “Someone came in with lots of guns and shot the place up. They took Lily and, apparently, the baby.”

“Guns? How’d that stop anybody?”

“We’re talking Uzi’s, Phil,” Steve said, still a bit stunned at what he was telling his best friend. “You just wouldn’t believe how many shots the people in that room had in them. Cyra was probably shot twenty or more times…”

“Is everyone going to be okay, though?” Phil asked in concern.

“No,” Steve sighed. He took a deep breath before he continued, “Vivian is gone, mate.”

“Gone?”

“Dead.”

“Jesus,” Phil exclaimed and Steve could hear the breath leave his friend’s body. “Listen, Leesha and I will be there as soon as we can. Give us a couple of days, okay?”

“Yeah, mate,” Steve sighed. “We’ll see you then. Love you, man.”

“Love you, too, matie.” As he hung up the phone, he looked to Sav and said softly, “You ready for this?”

Sav took a deep breath before replying, “Yeah, ready as I’ll ever be.” Silently, the two men turned and headed back down to Lily and Joe’s bedroom. They looked around and realized there wasn’t anyone left in the room.

“Where the fuck are they?” Sav hissed, walking to the far side of the bed. “You don’t think those guys came back, do you?”

“No,” Steve said quietly as he listened for sounds of movement through the castle. Then, faintly, he heard Lyra crying in the lowest level of the fortress just as awareness of her being flooded into him. A second later, Sav caught the sound and both men ran out of the room and down to the dungeon. They stopped cold when they crossed the threshold and found Michael holding Lyra as she let all her emotions pour out.

“Are you okay?” Sav whispered, not quite sure what he should do at that moment. Lyra looked up, bloody tears staining her face as she moved slowly away from Michael and stood up.

“I’ll be fine,” she said, though her voice caught in her throat for a second. She wiped her eyes on the back of hand like a child before taking a deep breath and saying, “Should we see to Vivian first or get the mess cleared out of that room?”

“The sun’s nearly up, so we need to see to Viv,” Sav said quietly. “I assume we’ll handle it like, well, when Lisel died?”

“It’s the best way,” Lyra sighed. Sav could feel the anguish pouring from her, the absolute feeling of having let everyone down. Most of all, Vivian and Lily. Closing her eyes, Lyra took a step forward before Sav grabbed her and pulled her into his arms.

“You couldn’t have stopped this, Lyra,” he whispered into her hair as she started to sob against his body. “Not one of us could have, baby. You’ve got to know that, before this goes any further.”

Her velvet eyes pleaded with him as she swallowed back a cry and whimpered, “Why did they do this, Rick? Why? That’s the one bloody thing I want to know! They stole Lily and her child and killed her father and I don’t know why! What if they hurt her child? Or kill Lily once the child is born? We can’t stop this and I just don’t understand any of it!”

Michael stayed back, his own theories crowding his head as he watched the others silently. Could the Hunters have taken the child to do research? But why? Any vampire would have done for the kind of research they needed. And he knew there was another group out there, one that wasn’t out to KILL vampires. But he kept his own counsel, knowing this wasn’t the time or place to be discussing the real reasons for this. Or the strategy to bring Lily and her baby back from the very real danger they were in. When things had calmed a bit and cooler, more logical heads prevailed, then he’d tell them everything he knew. But for now, as the group slowly made its way up and out of the castle, he’d keep his peace and let the others mourn for the death of a life long friend. Vivian deserved that much.