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Dissonant Hearts (Degusaurusrex x AndrewS)

Adelaide thought nothing of the hand coasting down her back until she felt the sudden pressure on her ass, a squeak forcing its way through her lips as the sudden realization of him grabbing her ass clicked into place. If her cheeks hadn't been red before he'd made such a claim, they were definitely red now that she could hear quiet laughter coming from the group that had been staring.

"Right." She avoided eye contact with the worker as their tray of food arrived, white knuckling it as she was led away by the guiding hand on her waist. Her boyfriend had just grabbed her ass and made a public claim in the middle of a mall's food court. She had a boyfriend, and one willing to make such public displays, at that. They were in the middle of preparing for a war, and somehow, they had time for her to feel like a lovestruck teenager, cheeks aflame and her heart fluttering in her chest. She needed to be focusing on their tasks for the day, most importantly finding and calming Takami!

"It's okay. I think we all do things without thinking first." At least her cheeks didn't feel like they were on fire anymore, although they were still warm as she settled into a seat and began to pick at her food. "I might have done the same thing if you hadn't." Would she have outright grabbed his ass in front of people to stake her claim? It wasn't as if she'd ever been in a serious relationship before, and despite the short amount of time they'd been traveling together and forming feelings, this very much felt like a serious relationship. Even if she hadn't groped him to establish a claim, there were plenty of other ways to silently tell others to back off and that he was hers. If that meant playing the jealous girlfriend... Well, that was what normal people did sometimes, right? It was so hard to tell what was considered normal when you were on the cusp of a war no one in their vicinity was even aware of, and the frenzy of thoughts had her faltering as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"I don't think so, I haven't heard anything from Ember, and I would assume our connection can stretch this far." That was a good question, her familiar had been busy cozying up to everyone else lately, but she hoped their connection would allow for some speech despite the distance. "I'd be surprised if they found him this quickly, but I expect there will be quite a bit of noise when they do." She grimaced at the thought, chewing her food before continuing her train of thought.

"I think you're just getting used to feeling everything as a human. I mean, I feel a bit guilty too, that we're sitting here eating instead of helping them look, but we won't be any good without rest and nutrients. Gotta fuel these human bodies so they're at their best." At the mention of vampires and love, her expression softened noticeably as she set down her food and pondered.

"I never really made a habit of being friends with vampires, but I don't see why they wouldn't fall in love. They're not so different than us, at least not Isabella. Maybe she's the rarity, but considering the amount of vampires I've seen throughout my life, they must have some form of affection to keep popping up." She reached across the table and took his hand, rubbing her thumb across the back of it and managing a small smile. "We'll make sure they get a chance to be happy. If we don't find him first, Ignas will, and if only to gloat about how amazing he is. I think he's got a bit of a soft spot for couples right now, excluding whatever the fuck is going on between Tyrath and Danica."
 
Isen glanced down at her hand on top of his, feeling her thumb brushing across his skin. It only made him feel more guilty, but he kept that inside. To be happy, in a world that was anything but, while the people they cared about suffered...he couldn't decide if he was lucky, or just pretending to be. He turned his palm over so that his fingers could find their way between hers, knotting and squeezing securely. 'Then I think we should get our shopping done as soon as possible and then join them in searching?" He suggested, figuring that would be the best course of action. The faster they finished their errands, the sooner they could join the others, and the quicker that guilt might subside.

Normal life would have to wait a little bit longer.

He quietly finished his food, still aware of the fact that his display of public affection prior hadn't really stopped them from being the center of attention all that much. Human or not, he was still blissfully unaware of his attraction, and all too aware of Adelaide's, causing his protective side to remain alert despite the softer moment of their conversation. At least he didn't have a sword with him...

Standing, he took her hand once again, helping her up and onto her feet. Isen already moved to gather their trash for her, unknowingly being a perfect gentleman simply by wanting to help make things easier for her. Once tided and situated, he glanced towards the hallway opposite of them. There were several stores within reach, their leaselines and displays brightly shining to attract potential customers. He hadn't the first idea of shopping, or fashion, however, so he defaulted to her once more for that. "Just pick something you think will look nice?" He suggested. "I need all the help I can get to look good next to you." Isen grumbled what was essentially a compliment and a self deprecation tied neatly into a bow, tugging on her palm once more.
 
"Sure, we can do that. I don't really care what kind of clothes we get, so long as they're clean and they fit." They could work on getting a better wardrobe at a later date, when they had a better handle on where they were going to be so they weren't needlessly lugging around too many things again. That, and there was clearly something bothering Isen, so the sooner they got through what they needed to and set their minds to the Takami issue, the sooner his mind would be distracted. Now didn't seem like the proper time to question him about what was bothering him, not when they were surrounded by other people who she could see some of still eyeing Isen hungrily.

It was awkward sitting there silently while they ate, and Adelaide's eyes continued to flit between Isen and the people around them worriedly. The fact that she wasn't sure if she was more concerned about being checked out or the possibility of there being an enemy in their midst only made the situation worse, her mind at war with itself as she contemplated the implications of the mixed feelings. She didn't have time to be concerned about whether or not the girl at the adjacent table was eye-fucking her boyfriend or simply nosy, she didn't have time to consider whether or not it would be worth it to say something or make a show of the fact that her and Isen were clearly together. She wasn't a child or a lovestruck teenager who needed to claim him like he was an object or a prize, but she had to admit the thought of making their relationship clear to others did have some appeal to it.

"Well, aren't you a gentleman." She was perfectly capable of handling her own trash, but made no fuss and gently teased Isen as he helped her to her feet and discarded their garbage. "Sure, I can help you to pick out clothes. You'll get the hang of it eventually." She briefly remembered the last time she'd had to pick out clothes for him, and the way he'd looked dressed up professionally like that... Well, that train of thought wasn't doing her any favors, and thankfully was abruptly interrupted when she realized he'd simultaneously managed to compliment her and insult himself.

"Don't say that." She frowned, swatting at his shoulder with her free hand and tugging him off towards a store. "I don't think you have any idea how ridiculously good you look. You don't look that much different than you did when you had Ignas with you. Besides, this is the real you, and I like that." She squeezed his hand reassuringly as she debated between the stores they were approaching, veering across the aisle before pulling him into the one she ultimately decided on.

"As much as I'd love to get you into formal wear after seeing how you looked last time... I think just jeans with a shirt and jacket will do. We'll get a couple of everything just to be safe, and deal with more later on." She still needed to get to Nikolai and check on the progress of everything at some point, but right now she had to get them through clothes shopping without Isen getting overwhelmed.

"You know," She gestured around them to the different shelves of folded up shirts in varying colors, "Now is probably a good time to start deciding what colors you like."
 
He followed, dutifully, behind her into one of the stores that dotted the hallway they had walked into. He was, as always, out of his element, and simply allowing her to guide him to wherever she thought he needed to be. At a quick glance, the store seemed much more casual than the others, and as she explained her reasoning, it made more sense. It'd help them blend in more, at the very least, and drawing attention to the fact that they were here wasn't exactly a smart idea to begin with. His gaze bounced back and forth between different styles and colors, all arranged neatly across the store's floor plan, with little idea of where he'd actually like to start.

"Oh, colors?" He asked, shrugging his shoulders. "And black isn't an option?" It was mostly a joke, but he knew she'd probably turn down his request to wear nothing but the most basic color. "Blue, maybe?" At least that was something to work with.

He tried on a couple of different options, trying to get a feel for what exactly his style would be, if he even had one. Again, he found himself trapped between purpose and pleasure, his mind wandering to just how normal this could feel sometimes while simultaneously remembering that they had a mission, and that there was a potential danger maybe even just a couple of stores over from where they were now. He sighed to himself, deciding that it probably wasn't the best time to call this a date, and he opened up the door to the stall he had been using. Peering outside, he looked around for her, a loose, light-blue hued shirt unbuttoned and hanging from his shoulders. "Hey, Adelaide?" He called out, hoping to get her attention. "I think this will do. We should probably get back to the others...right?"

Leaving the question lingering, he realized that she was probably also in the next stall over. Blissfully unaware of the etiquette around such things, he exited his own, still half dressed, and knocked on the door of the dressing room directly adjacent. "Adelaide?"
 
"Smartass." Adelaide rolled her eyes at the question. It wasn't that he didn't look good in black, he looked very good in black, but if they were going to be blending in then that meant he needed to start dressing like a human, not the Reaper in all black he'd been doing for the last several years. "Blue's a good start." There was a small part of her that wanted to help him pick through things to get it moving along so they could rejoin the others, but the more human, lovestruck part of her enjoyed glancing over her shoulder periodically to watch him sort through clothes he might like. There was something so absurdly normal about it that she found herself almost laughing several times, then spiraling down into a brief panic wondering if this would be their last outing like this. If it was, then she needed to make the most of it, even if they were on limited time even now.

Besides, she still needed to get herself clothes, and finding jeans that were both comfortable and fit well was always a hassle at her size. Those and the bras were the only things she needed to actually try on, and everything else she could judge by size and make do with it. After another glance around to see Isen with a handful of clothes over his arm, she slipped away to the changing rooms to try on her haul of stupidly overpriced clothing. She hadn't even glanced at the specific amount Tyrath had given her before they'd left her home, but a part of her was concerned over whether or not it was enough.

"That's a problem for future me." There was always the fallback of stealing them or using a spell to charm the workers into discounting them or some other odd trick she thought of. Besides, the sooner she got through trying on the clothes, the sooner she could go and check on Isen to see how he was faring with his own. By the look of it when she'd come back to the changing rooms, he'd be ready to try on his own soon.

She was halfway through trying on another set when she heard the sound of her name and paused, waiting until she heard it again and then a knock before she realized it was Isen. A quick glance down showed she was at least dressed from the waist down, but she only had a bra on the upper half and it was only partially done in the back. She grumbled and made a half assed attempt to fix that before giving up and cracking the door a fraction, peering out to see Isen standing there barely wearing the shirt he was trying on.

"Isen, you can't just walk around like that back here!" She whipped the door open and nearly clocked him with it in the process, grabbing his arm and hauling him into her little room before shutting the door. "You can't just wander outside the dressing rooms half naked. I mean, you can get away with it more than I can, but still!" Damn, he looked good. The thought of someone else seeing him walking around like that had a sliver of jealousy settling in her chest, something she swiftly squashed as she chastised him and fussed over the buttons on the shirt.

"You should get that buttoned up, as much as I do love the sight."
 
As if his awkward, unawareness hadn't been enough, Isen now found himself jammed inside of the change room with her. There wasn't a ton of room to stay between them, his hands had no choice but to pin to the wall at either side of her face to give them both enough room to stay inside. In that position, however, there was entirely too close of a proximity between their faces, and their partly dressed bodies, and he was all too aware of that feeling once he felt his warm skin meet her own. "Oh, I'm sorry..." He mused, quickly, looking at her with a combination of confusion and intrigue etched across his features. "I was just..." He continued, though he trailed off almost immediately, unable to finish the sentence.

Sure, they had a mission, but that could wait, right...?

Betraying all of the previous contemplation he had been going through the moment he was this close to her, like he never had an ounce of self control and before he had the right mind to say anything else, he had kissed her. Hard. Practically pinning Adelaide to the wall in a sudden, but passionate, display of desire in a place and situation where it was completely and utterly unwarranted, Isen completely forgot about the fact that they were supposed to be here on business in favor of something more pleasurable. The realization of where they were didn't exactly make it feel any less exciting either.

In fact, their location, as well as the sudden spontaneity, only spurred him forward, causing one of his hands to leave their perch at the wall and trace their way down over her bare side, fingers brushing against her rib cage in a downward descent while his lips intended to do the same towards her neck. Each kiss was urgent and deliberate, acting on desire and impulse but clearly meaning every touch and every meeting of his lips to her skin. "Off..." He whispered his request into the crook of her neck, fingers trying to undo her bottoms as quickly as he could without the experience or wherewithal to actually succeed without her help in the process.
 
"Was just walking around half naked where anyone could come back and see you." She hadn't anticipated what kind of a position the small room would put them in, but with his hands on either side of her head now Adelaide could see the predicament she'd put herself in. If the situation had been different and they'd had more time to spare for themselves, it would have been awfully tempting to take advantage of such close quarters. As it were, with him looking at her like that, she wondered if they could spare just another five minutes...

The fact that Isen seemed to be thinking the exact same thing had her making a noise of surprise against his lips, her rigid shoulders gradually relaxing as she leaned into the onslaught of urgent kisses. A minute or two of affection wasn't going to make that much of a difference in the long haul, and anything urgent enough to pull them from the room in a frenzy would surely be loud enough to give them a heads up. Since there was no screaming or cursing coming from outside of the small room or anywhere in the store that she could hear, it was all too easy to lose herself in the way that his lips were brushing over the sensitive skin of her neck, hands coasting down her sides towards the waistband of her jeans.

"Isen, not here." As tempting as a quick romp was right now, they couldn't afford the lengthy distraction or they ensuing mess it would leave all over the dressing room. "Isen, no." She groaned in frustration as she forced herself to swat at his hands and nudge him away, her cheeks pink as she eyed him hungrily. "As nice as that sounds, it'll have to wait. Go get properly dressed and make sure you have an outfit all ready so we can pay when I'm done." This man was going to be the death of her, playing on her libido like this and making her think all sorts of filthy things they most definitely did not have time for.

"Out, out! Go button that up and pick whatever else you want to get, I'll be done shortly." Feeling she had properly chastised him for something she would have been happy to participate in any other given time, she all but threw him out of the dressing room and then shut the door before locking it. "Going to give me a heart attack." The feel of his lips still lingered on her neck as she sped through the rest of trying on the clothes, tearing off tags and pocketing them before folding up the old, dirty clothes and exiting the room. She could pay for all the new things up at the register and put the dirty ones in the bag so they could be off to find their unruly, apparently not technically dead vampire friend.
 
Caught up in the tide that had come over him, he had completely forgotten about anything else other than the feel of her lips against his and the warmth of her body as it was pressed, so perfectly, between his and the wall at her back. Had she not snapped him back to their reality, he would have been happy to have gone all the way, likely traumatizing some poor worker from the store or worse yet, getting them both kicked out of the entire mall itself. He groaned, in frustration, as she pulled him back, but eventually, he found a calm as better sense returned to him. "You sure?" He whispered against her shoulder, following it with a second, not so loud groan and grumble before he pulled away, allowing her to push him out of the dressing room and back into the shop.

Fumbling with the buttons, he looked around to make sure they hadn't drawn any unwanted attention. Luckily, the shop wasn't all that busy, and there didn't appear to be an employee watching, so they were safe for now. Still a little heated, for obvious reasons, Isen took a quick walk through one of the aisles to try and distract himself while also idling searching for anything else he liked, as she had asked him to do. With attention drawn to how he was looking, he found himself bouncing between mirrors and trying to find something that Adelaide would like. On a mannequin, near the entrance, Isen stopped to admire a jacket without realizing that, on the other side of the glass window, somebody was staring at him.

Had he still been with Ignas, surely, he'd have known. They would have sensed the presence, Ignas would have warned him, or he would have heard the threat, but without any of that, Isen had no idea that on the opposite end of the glass, a certain vampire was staring at him, curiously, his eyes bright red and his mouth agape with a desire to feed.

"Hi-yori...?"

Takami got closer to the glass, his near-ravenous behavior becoming more apparent, and unhinged, the longer he stared at the unknowing Isen. Some of the nearby shoppers scurried away, offput by his strange behavior, and for good reason. Fighting with his need to feed, and what memories he still retained from before his death, Takami found himself in turmoil and his vampiric-nature took over. Preparing to smash straight through, Takami had finally caught Isen's attention, but before Isen could process what he was seeing, he was given a front row seat to the newly born vampire getting decked by a rather large, guardian cat, who seemed to come out of nowhere.

Panic began to set in from the loud noise and sudden attack, causing more people to run in fear from the site. Ember, having transformed, stayed true to Ignas' request to keep a close eye on Isen, protecting him from becoming Takami's prey. As a newborn vampire, hungry and desperate, and without control or knowledge of the limits of his strength, Takami was much more powerful now than he had been in his feeble, sickened human body. So much so that he was able to pry Ember off of him, casting her over his head and sending the feline crashing through another shop display, shattering glass.

Isen wanted to help her, but he also wanted to run. He needed Adelaide, and yet, he moved not an inch. Frozen. The most human reaction he could have had, in that moment, was shock, and it overtook him in a way he had never experienced before. His legs felt heavy, weighted anchors keeping him connected to tile, even as Takami recovered and came back towards him, fangs bared and breathing heavily. Finally, Isen moved, only shaking off the paralysis when the door swung open, ringing the way it would to inform the workers of a new customer.

"T-Takami...? It's me..."

When reason failed, as he should have known it would, Isen found himself rather swiftly pinned to the floor beneath his attacker. His hands placed against the vampire's shoulders, unable to muster the strength to push him back. Takami's head lowered, towards the most vulnerable spot on Isen's body; his neck, fangs primed and ready to draw the delicious blood he craved.
 
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The sound of shattering glass and the screams of so many people were her first clue something was amiss.

Adelaide had managed to get out of the dressing room and start towards the checkout with her clothes in hand when everything went haywire. At least she was properly dressed, even if she was still fixing the way that the clothes fit as she heard the agonizing screeching of Ember through their bond. Why was Ember screaming like that? Her old clothes were dropped without thought as she darted across the store towards where she could see Isen just as he made contact with the floor. If it had been anyone other than Takami pinning him there and trying to tear his throat out, she would have already lashed out and killed them without a second thought. The fact that it was the friend they'd come to save was the only thing that kept her from tearing out his throat, and she called to Ember through their bond and watched the animal come staggering into the store moments later covered in glass and blood.

"Shall I tear his throat out, Mistress?"

Clearly her familiar had been bonding with Ignas too much to even ask that question, and she shook her head in reply. Everything was happening so fast and there was so much noise that she could barely concentrate, could barely hear her own thoughts. She did the first thing that she could think of, which included pulling a display across the tiled floor with an ear-piercing shriek and sending it straight into Takami as she instructed Ember to pull Isen to safety.

"Don't kill him!" Isabella's appearance, with Ignas clearly in sight not far behind, drew Adelaide's attention away from where Ember was tugging Isen by his arm in what looked like a painfully tight grip of her powerful jaw. "I'm here. We're here." Adelaide dropped her hand and nodded, she had more pressing matters to deal with like the fact that people were scattering and screaming their bloody heads off, although some of them were pulling out their phones and starting to record.

"Fuck." She needed to handle that situation before it ended up all over the news. Enough people had scattered and left her with the knowledge that she couldn't affect the entire mall by herself, but she could affect the people still in a close enough vicinity to fall prey to a little bit of mind control. The knowledge she'd absorbed from both Samara and Clara was... Frightening, really, but it was allowing her to reach down deep and pull at magic she couldn't remember knowing before. "Figure that shit out fast, then." The metal display she'd sent hurtling into Takami had barely slowed the hungry vampire down and had done nothing but allow Ember to bite into Isen and yank him to safety even as she licked at her own wounds.

"The store is closed. Come back later." It felt almost like being in a trance as she spoke the words, trying to hold her focus on the spell and the way that the threads of magic wound together before slowly snaking out throughout the store and spreading their effect on the ordinary humans. She could barely hear Isabella's soft, almost childlike voice in the background as she crooned to Takami, her eyes darting between the people who had finally stopped screaming and started to filter out of the store, and where Isen was now safely away from the homicidal vampire.

"Takami, it's me. It's us. It's Adelaide, and Isen, and Ignas. I don't think you saw him like this before, but it's us. Your friends. We just want to help. I know you're hungry, and I know it feels like you're going to die if you don't sink your teeth into someone, but not like this. Please, let me help you."
 
From on his back, Isen hadn't quite seen exactly how he had been freed from the precarious situation, but he was very aware of the oversized feline dragging him by the collar of his new shirt, pulling him away from the chaos at Adelaide's request. Teeth marks were left in the fabric from where her teeth had sank into the cloth, but that was a far better alternative than the vampiric fangs that had nearly broke his skin. Sitting himself up, he could feel a couple of stinging sensations along his back, likely from small shards of glass from the display, but nothing too serious. In that position, he could see much clearer what was happening;

Isabella was practically cradling Takami, trying to pull him out of his rage, while Ignas watched on, his hand wrapped around the hilt of Onigoshi but clearly hoping he wouldn't need to draw it. Adelaide was working her magic, literally, and seemed to be mimicing something they had seen before, guiding folks away from Takami with her voice sinking into their cognition, preventing them from remembering the scene that had been caused. It was smart thinking, especially given the high tensions over the whole DSTF situation and with them, probably, still being considered 'wanted'.

"Friends?" Takami asked, his voice somewhere between violent and inquisitive, like he was trying to reason with the fact that she had been telling the truth. She was a vampire, like him...she was the one who sired him. His expression softened, for a brief moment, before he tore himself away from her. They were familiar to his human side, that must have been why he found himself drawn to Isen, but his ravenous other half was too strong for reason to win out.

"Aren't vampires supposed to be bound to those who have sired them?" Ignas asked. He was, after all, a demon, and not a vampire. He knew little about how their ways functioned, he only knew what it felt like to kill them.

"Don't need...your help..." He coughed out, turning back to look at her. His eyes were red, almost bloodshot, if that were even possible. Small, vein-like protrusions filtered outwards from his glare, his fangs still on full display, like they refused to be hidden in his state of delirious hunger. "Don't need...you..."
 
"That's not... No, it's not quite like that. You been reading teenage romance novels, Ignas?" Isabella rolled her eyes even as she kept her tone soft, her eyes flitting between the vampire she was trying to console and the others surrounding them. Ember, still covered in glass and licking at some of her wounds without losing any of her mass, was eyeballing Takami between licks in case he decided to turn her into a projectile again.

"It's okay to need people, Takami." Isabella didn't let him get far when he tore away from her, her hands grasping at his arms and trying to get him to meet her eyes to center him. The fact that he had been so angry with her when waking up alive had been excruciating enough, but to watch him half feral and denying those he had called friends not long ago... Well, it stung. A part of her wondered if she should have just let him die like he'd wanted, to go out with honor like he'd talked about so frequently. Was it really honorable, though, to die when you were attacked from behind like that? He hadn't gone down swinging or fighting, he'd gone down because his body was already weak and he'd been gutted by a coward of a creature.

No, even if he hated her for the rest of his immortal life, she was not going to regret saving him.

"We can get you blood, you just need to try to calm down and let us help." There was a moment where the frustration showed through on Isabella's face before something clicked. "We need to get to the hospital in Cresthaven." She turned towards Adelaide. "Unless something's happened, one of the people there is one of us. They'll help."

"If I get us back to the shop, you can get us there?" Adelaide didn't remember ever being inside of a hospital there, and she only vaguely remembered even seeing one in the city to have a general location. When Isabella nodded confirmation and turned her attention back to the other vampire, Adelaide turned towards Ignas and Isen. Now that her attention wasn't focused solely on lulling the other humans into false security and sending them away, she was able to make her way to Isen's side and take his hand.

"You should go back with Ignas. We can meet you back at the house later, you should see if Tyrath and the others have gotten anything else put together in the meantime. I can grab some stuff from the shop for us and check in with Nikolai while I'm there." A glance back towards the vampire had her growing concerned that Takami was going to lose it again at any moment, and she turned towards Ignas.

"Can you take him back with you?"
 
"Bl-lood...?" He spoke, his voice snarling in frustration as he pulled at her hold. Takami shook, violently, to try and free himself. He turned his head, baring his teeth, trying to sink them into Isabella out of anger, causing Ignas to step forward towards the vampire duo. With a sigh, he unsheathed Onigoshi and pierced it through Takami's stomach, suddenly, pinning him in place. The vampire groaned in pain, savagely pulling at the sword but finding it impossible to withdraw himself from it's edge.

"He'll be fine." Ignas shrugged. "Wait for it..."

Magic swirled through the blade of the sword, channeled by the demon who wielded it. The pain was enough to quiet the fledgling vampire, pulling his blood-starved body into unconsciousness. When the sword exited, the wound had already begun to mend as if it weren't there. "You're welcome. Now, what was this about going back to Cresthaven?"

"Adelaide..., no..."

"You're putting yourself right in the heart of danger..."

"We're going too."

"Isen, think rationally."

Isen stopped, looking between Ignas and Adelaide.

"What are you talking about?"

"If we go, we give up our greatest advantage. Assuming Malakai isn't keeping tabs on us already, he has no idea that we've separated. We can't risk losing that advantage."

"We can't risk losing them." Isen argued, in return, steadfast against reason.

"They can handle themselves. Send the cat with them if you must."

Ember walked back towards Adelaide, instinctively, staying close to her owner with a nod and a soft meow.

"Adelaide..." Isen began, speaking to her directly, though he could already see in her face that she was intending to go regardless of what he said. They had to save Takami, after all. The vampire began to stir in Isabella's arms, making it all the more time-sensitive that they moved him soon before he regained full consciousness. "Damn it...be careful, okay? And if you need us..."

"We'll know. It's fine, Isen. Are you going to allow me to trust her more than you do?"

"I love you." He whispered, kissing her forehead as he pulled away so that she could teleport, turning back to Ignas, speaking to him once they were alone. "You must think I'm so weak now without you."

"No." Ignas shook his head. "I think you're in love, you just said it yourself. I couldn't stop you from feeling that when we shared the same body, I wouldn't expect you to start now. But have some more faith in her, Isen. You don't always have to play the gallant hero."

"If I'm being honest...I don't really know what I am now without that. I never really had a purpose, and then I did, and now..."

"Now you're human."

"Yeah..."

"So, why isn't that your new purpose? Live through this and grow old. Start a family, enjoy life the way a human is supposed to. Spend forever wondering what you're not and you'll never become who you are. She doesn't need Isen, the white knight in shining armor, you idiot, just like Clara didn't need me as king. It isn't why she fell for you, so stop trying to make it the whole reason why she'd want to stay. How am I better at being human than you are?"

"Shut up." Isen sighed, though he did feel a little better hearing those words come from somebody outside of their situation. "Take me home."

"Take me home, please."

"Grow up.

"I'm older than you. Respect your elder."

"Yeah, nevermind, I'll walk."

Ignas snickered to himself, beginning his own version of a teleportation spell. "Are you sure you'd find your way without holding her hand?" He jested back as the two disappeared, returning to Tyrath.
 
"Ignas, no!" Isabella shrieked when the blade landed not far from her, impaling the feral vampire and littering the floor with blood. "What the fuck are you doing?!" Even Adelaide had found herself surprised but merely watched, suspecting that the healing properties Ignas had routinely used on Isen were going to be at play here. When both of the women saw that Takami was now unconscious with the hole rapidly healing, Isabella scowled at Ignas but offered no further argument. She didn't offer any thanks, either, though, and Adelaide sighed as she prepared to open up a portal back to Cresthaven. Now they had to lug all that dead weight through, but at least it was easier than fighting him during the process.

"Ignas is right. That's the biggest advantage that we have right now, and we need to keep it. That way he won't see us coming when it's finally time. We'll be careful, we'll be fine." Adelaide tried to sound reassuring, but she was so tired from expending her magic so rapidly that she had a hard time sounding convincing. The fact that there was still a chance they could run into trouble there didn't exactly help, either. It took some effort, but she managed to put on what felt like a convincing face. It must have been working, because Isen was approaching her with that tone he used when he knew she wasn't going to listen.

"We'll be okay." She picked Ember up as Isabella adjusted Takami into an easier way to move him, leaning into the gentle kiss on her forehead with a sigh. "I love you too. I'll see you soon." See you soon sounded much less final than nothing at all or some sort of teary goodbye, even if she could feel the hot sting of them forming as she opened up the portal. "Let's get this done, Isabella." The sooner they'd gotten Takami fed and calmed down, the sooner they could take care of things at the shop and then regroup back at her house.

"Oh, hell, he's starting to wake up." They'd barely arrived back at the shop when Adelaide heard more incoherent mumbling from Takami, nearly bowling into a thoroughly surprised Nikolai in the process. "Hi, don't ask, don't have time. Have to get to the hospital before he wakes up. Isabella, are we going to be able to move fast enough in broad daylight to do this? Please tell me this place isn't far."

"I should be surprised that you reappear after no contact and have a half dead looking... Vampire? Whatever, but I'm not. That giant demon friend of yours dropped off your phone a bit ago. Pretty melted, but possibly salvageable if--"

"You can tell her later, dude, we gotta do." Isabella interrupted him impatiently and tugged Takami towards the hidden entrance/exit area. "It's a few blocks from here, but if we move now--"

"You talking about the one over on Kent? Just have Ada open a portal."

"Haven't been there, Uncle Nik. Gotta go."

"I've been by there, I'll do it." Adelaide paused halfway in Isabella's direction before turning around and giving him a perplexed look. "Don't look at me like that. We've been all over; you think we didn't look for the weak and strong spots in the city when we looked for you? Been all over the damn place in a bunch of cities."

Neither of the women were going to look a gift horse in the mouth or offer any arguments considering their current situation. Nikolai had barely conjured up a portal before they were all but throwing themselves through it with Takami and stumbling on the concrete behind the hospital. Good, he'd had the mind to think of where to send them in regards to the hospital, rather than dumping them outside the front doors or in the middle of a lobby. There was always the option of using more magic to essentially brainwash people in that instance, but Adelaide was reluctant to use another spell so soon after using so much of her energy. Everything that she'd gotten from the meal at the mall had already been used up, and she was ready for another big meal and a nap.

As if.

"How are we supposed to find this doctor? I don't imagine you have a phone on you, but you at least have your glamour from when Samara was making them, right?" When Isabella nodded in confirmation Adelaide was able to heave a sigh of relief, but it still didn't answer how they were going to find the doctor. Did vampires have some sort of telepathy that she wasn't aware of?

"Can you handle him for a couple minutes? I'll go in and find him, it'll be faster if I do it and anyone that sees me will only see the person who's supposed to be his cousin. I'll be quick, I promise." Handle the slowly waking feral beast Isabella was propping up? The worst case scenario was he woke up enough to start attacking her and she had to try to detain him, but that meant putting enough space between them that she could use her magic and stay away from those teeth. Her magic was strong, but she didn't trust her human body to hold up against a desperate vampire's strength.

"Go." She let Isabella heave Takami partway to her before she let him move down gradually and propped him against the wall, looking around them to ensure no one was going to just pop out and start questioning them. It was only a couple minutes, she just needed to stay calm long enough for Isabella to find this doctor. Then she'd have two vampires to help wrangle the one sitting against the wall into a safe space where they could handle the bloodlust.

"C'mon, Is." It seemed like it was taking forever for her to come back, and the longer she waited the more Takami seemed to stir towards consciousness, making her anxiety rise along with it.

"We're here, we're here." The back door burst open and startled Adelaide into jolting back with a loud curse. "Ada, this is Carlisle."

"Carlisle?" Adelaide raised an eyebrow and turned an inquisitive eye to the blond-haired man giving her a tired smile. "A vampire doctor named Carlisle. Like from--"

"Please don't say it."

"Well, at least you don't sparkle."
 
Though in a much safer environment now that he found himself in front of Adelaide's demon-clustered home, Isen didn't find himself feeling any less uneasy about sending Adelaide off on her own alongside a crazed and dangerous newborn vampire. Ignas was right, however, he needed to trust that she could handle things. In his current form and situation, there wasn't much he could really do to help in the first place, and as upsetting as it was to come to terms with that, it was neccessary. He didn't want to feel like a burden to anybody, but he also couldn't help but feel the more he tried to place himself into situations where he didn't belong, the more of one he was becoming.

"You're still worried." Ignas noted, chastising.

"No, I'm not."

Ignas, having shared a mind and body with Isen for so long, knew better than to believe that lie at face value. "What would you have yourself do, Isen?"

He paused for a moment, uncertain how to even approach answering that question. "I want to protect the people I care about."

"By putting yourself in danger?"

"No." Isen protested. "I can handle myself too." He knew it wasn't true, but he was too stubborn, and headstrong, to let it go. Finding courage in his stubbornness, he called out something that caught even Ignas by surprise. "Fight me."

"Fight you?" Ignas said, almost thinking it was a joke at first before noticing the look of determination on Isen's face that her recognized all too well. Realizing he was serious, the demon unsheathed Onigoshi and tossed it to the ground, clattering closer to Isen than himself. "Very well. Prove that you can."

Isen took a second to process what was being asked of him before kneeling down to retrieve the sword. It felt so much heavier than he remembered, he needed both his hands to hold it steady without feeling it's weight sag his arms. "You're unarmed..."

"I'm a demon. I'll be fine." He responded, nonchalantly.

Isen nodded and tried to lunge forward. He could hardly keep his balance, and Ignas easily moved aside, causing his half-hearted swing to errantly miss it's mark. Isen recovered, standing and turning back towards his foe. Frustrated, he swung a second time. Whether through sheer luck, or simple adrenaline, his second attempt was much better, but still lacking the form it once had when he was bonded with his demon passenger. Again, however, it wasn't even close to landing even a glancing blow on the evading demon who, though much faster than a human, was hardly taking it seriously or going all out.

"Take this seriously!" Isen accused, angrily.

"Give me reason to." Now, he was just egging him on.

Isen swung faster, harder, against the burning sensation in his limbs. Though as furious as he could muster, Onigoshi did not bend itself easily to his will, and even the magic sword itself couldn't help him get any closer to proving the point he wished to make. As Ignas moved aside again, this time, he pointed his elbow into the center of Isen's back, sending him down into the dirt where he now resided above him. "End this foolishness, Isen. Did you not listen to a word I've told you? You do not need to fight to be useful."

"I do..." He told Ignas, almost desperately, his voice cracking with emotion. "I have to..."

"Your fight has ended. Rest assured, I will end what we started, and I'll make sure that the mage is returned to you in one piece. It's okay, Isen..."

"It's not..." Isen pulled himself back up. He could barely hold Onigoshi in front of him anymore. It seemed like the sword was causing him to buckle and lean forward more and more, the numbness in his arms denying him the satisfaction of even feeling remotely capable. Ignas sighed, and almost out of mercy, he moved at a fast enough speed to disarm Isen of his weapon before his tired body could even respond. He turned the blade on him, leaving the blade just inches from Isen's throat, though without any intention of actually letting it's edge slit his skin. Finally, Isen pulled away, turning himself in the opposing direction, away from the demon's gaze. "I couldn't save Bell...I couldn't save Samara. I can't be weak. I can't just not fight...I can't..."

When Isen turned back towards Ignas, he swung his fist at the demon, letting it ricochet off of his chest. He swung a second, then a third, until his gelatin arms could no longer keep fighting. He staggered, and as he was about to fall forward, Isen was surprised to find himself not meeting the dirt but, instead, being held aloft by the demon he once housed. Ignas let him stay there, resting against him in a half embrace, despite being unable to properly comprehend an action as human as consoling or hugging somebody in need. He could, however, tell that Isen needed this. He needed somebody he could be weak in front of that wasn't Adelaide.

"You're an idiot, Isen Hiyori." He told him, but his voice had softened, lowering from confrontation and indifference and instead, replacing it with as close to genuine concern a demon could give. "Nobody thinks you're weak. She doesn't think that, and neither do I. We think you deserve to live a life, without pain, in a world that deserves you. If you believe my entire reasoning for ending Malakai is only for revenge then you've learned nothing from our time apart. It's no longer that simple for me." Ending Malakai wasn't just for Clara. It was for Isen and Adelaide, for Ember, for everybody who gave him a reason for more than hate. It was for the vindication of a demon who was learning to be something more, but he didn't expect Isen to understand that just yet.

"Now, stand on your own. Tyrath is coming our way."

Heeding Ignas' warning, Isen nodded his head, sharing a short glance with the demon before turning away again to steady the roller coaster in his head before they were joined by somebody else he didn't trust with this side of himself.
 
"Alright, that's the third time you've made a comment about the sparkling."

"I'm sorry, I just--The irony. It's funny, and maybe I just have a weird sense of humor, but considering everything we've been dealing with lately, I needed the laugh. I'm sorry if I offended you."

"I suppose it's not worse than some of the things that Bella here has said before."

"Bella?" Adelaide raised an eyebrow and looked between Carlisle and Isabella. "You can't give me shit for making sparkle vampire jokes when you call her Bella."

"Can we focus on the task at hand, you two?" Isabella was scowling at the banter between Adelaide and Carlisle, standing beside the hospital bed that Takami was seated on. Carlisle had already finished a quick physical exam to assure that the wounds from Ignas' sword had healed, and after giving Takami a blood pack they'd waited to see how much it helped. Considering that he'd barely said a word to any of them other than a muttered apology to the doctor for the inconvenience, Adelaide had to guess he was feeling much more like his normal self, and that his pride had taken a substantial hit. This was, after all, the same man that had been ready to die a warrior's death and made a deal with Isen for Onigoshi when everything was said and done.

He hadn't bolted from the hospital room yet, but judging by the cycle of glaring and then ignoring Isabella, she had to assume he was still absolutely furious. Isabella's own emotions had played out like an open book once they were in the safety of the room, flickering between a deep and clear guilt and then concern over the general well-being of Takami. There had even been a fierce look of determination on her face when he'd finished the first blood pack, but Adelaide said nothing and tried to give them what little privacy the situation would allow. Whatever relationship might have remained between those two was up to them, and she didn't want to interfere and make everything worse.

Come to think of it, did she really need to be here? On one hand the entire thing just felt awkward, standing in a corner of the small room with Ember circling between her legs. On the other, leaving before she knew Takami was safe to walk the streets without murdering anyone probably wasn't wise. Since they weren't too far from the shop to begin with, it made sense to just walk back from the hospital rather than use magic, and it would give her a wider area for future portals.

"Here's a couple more packs. It won't get you by for too long, but it's what I can spare without casting suspicion."

"I appreciate you doing this period, Carlisle." Adelaide caught the brief interaction between the two vampires as the doctor handed Isabella a small cooler. What she especially noticed, and profoundly hoped Takami didn't, was the way that the blond vampire's hand lingered on Isabella's as he released the cooler and its contents. Despite the fact that he was clearly unhappy with her, Adelaide had a feeling that Takami still held some form of feelings for Isabella. The last thing they needed was a jealous vampire on top of everything else.

"Let's go. We can walk back from here, it should be okay." Now that it was getting to be later in the day it didn't seem too unreasonable to be walking down the street with a cooler, it could easily be taken as some sort of lunch box for people coming home from work. They only had to make it a short burst and then they were home free, hidden behind the barriers still enacted around the shop.

"Call me if you need anything else, Bella. No matter the time."

Isabella had grunted out a thank you in response, but her attention was already solely on Takami and making sure he was ready to move. The interaction was almost entirely her talking and touching, but at the end of it the three of them and Ember were slipping out the back of the hospital where they'd entered. Adelaide was glad that the vampire knew which way she was going, because she was completely lost in transit and busy trying to keep on eye on Takami in case he bolted. Chasing down a pissed off vampire in the middle of the afternoon wasn't her first choice of activities, so she crossed her fingers and hoped for the best on the walk back.

The closer they got to the shop the more relaxed she was, even if she did keep looking at the two vampires just to make sure neither would run or try to fight the other. Nikolai and whoever else was staying there would be back at the shop and able to help, but the thought of trying to pin down a freshly fed and really pissed off vampire was just frightening. The hidden entrance couldn't come quick enough, and the sight of her uncle taking them all in with a shake of his head was one of the most beautiful things she'd seen today.
 
In a room that had once been home to a confrontation, Maximilian rested on his laurels, peering through the glass window at the top of the DSTF's headquarter building. Below, the city was almost entirely silent, eerily so. Demons walked the streets, entranced by the effects of the spell his demonic ally had helped him cast, pinning the humans and hidden Dissonants within Cresthaven in their homes out of fear for their own safety. A safety the DSTF had been intended to provide, not suffocate, and yet, it was their governing that had led to such an anxious state of melancholy to a city that had once bustled with life.

His fingers danced across the keys of a organ, it's pipes producing music that felt more haunting than beautiful. It echoed back at him as he played, silently listening to the tones he was producing with expert timing, drafting an impromptu performance none would hear but himself.

Thus was the price he had paid.


"A deal with a demon is hardly something to take lightly, Max...I'm still not sure whether we can believe any of it."

A girl with round brimmed glasses and brown hair spoke back to an echo of Maximilian's youth, long before he had been tainted by the dark magic that aspired a demonic throne.

"We've known about the others for a while now. Werewolves, vampires...is a demon really so farfetched? And if what he says is true..."

"If. You have no idea." She took a step closer to him, placing her hand on his wrist. Her eyes were wide and brown, innocent, peering up at him with a nervous worry concealed by their color and her best attempt to be brave. "We can do this on our own, Max. You and me, just like we always have."

"You mean playing at dive bars and in basements? Paying for an opportunity to try and impress drunken fools who can't even remember our names in the morning?"

"Is this about your mother?" Max stopped in his tracks, pulling his arm away from her, forcefully.

"Careful, Shar."

"Right..." She trailed off, averting her eyes. "Promise me you won't meet with him. Not today, at least. We have that show booked for tonight...promise me you'll let us have one more night as we are before you speak to that demon again. I can't make up your mind for you, but I hope you'll do the right thing."

"Promise." He said, though halfheartedly, his yes barely even peering in her direction as she exited the room.


"Sir, I have news to report..."

A DSTF soldier stood at the entrance to Maximilian's chamber. He continued playing, though softening the stroke of the keys, listening to what he had to say without acknowledging it. The man, confused as to whether he should start talking again, finally began to speak, only to find Maximilian playing louder again, drowning out his voice arrogantly.

"We've detected an unknown signature within the city!"

Maximilian stopped playing, though not an errant note rang true despite his sudden interrupt. A purple flare swarmed in his eyes, making it apparent that he was no longer the only one listening to the soldier.

"...you told us to continue monitoring the city for anything out of the ordinary. We detected a magic signature, a teleportation, near the clinic."

"Is it who we're looking for?"

"Uncertain...but with your permission, I woul-"

"Send Klaus to follow the signature."

"But sir, I..."

"Send Klaus." Maximilian repeated, his voice distorting as he did so. "Respectfully solider, you, and the rest of your unit, are no match for either of them. Klaus will handle the investigation."

"...yes sir." The soldier responded, showing dutiful respect, before exiting the room. Max began playing once more as Malakai spoke to him within his head.

"Ignas?" The demon inquired.

"I doubt it." Max replied, returning to the previous melody he had been playing as if there had never been an interruption. "But it may be one of their allies."

"So, we kill them. Send a message."

"Or use them for leverage. Either way, this works in our favor."

"We are running out of time. You bore me with your insistence on waiting. We nearly ended them all when they were here."

"And here, I thought you were the smart one." Max chastised, laughing. "We're preparing for the greatest show this world will ever see. We can't risk our performance. Bite your tongue a little longer, Malakai, your time will come, and it will be glorious. But not yet...not yet."


Sharla stepped down from a stage at the corner of a dingy bar to a half-hearted, drunken applause. Some folks were too wasted to even clap, others barely paid attention. A couple of guys in the crowd were there just to whistle at her, causing her to wrap her sweater tighter around her shoulders before she walked outside. Max hadn't shown up, so she performed alone. Sharla was too good for a place like this, but she sang like this would be her last time in front of a mic, even if the audience didn't warrant such a performance.

More importantly, she had made Max promise that he'd show, but he didn't. She immediately tried to call him on her phone, but there was no answer. Her heart sank as she feared the worst.

She hopped in her car and she drove, as fast as she could. She knew where he'd be if he had gone to see that damn demon, she just hoped that when she got there, he wouldn't be.

"Have you brought him with you?"

A voice startled her, somehow coming from behind despite the fact that she hadn't seen anybody when she entered the abandoned building. A man was standing at her back, carrying a scepter, his eyes crimson and purple. For a brief moment, the beating of her heart stood silent. "M...Max...?" She asked, sheepishly, as she turned. The man standing before her was definitely not her friend, but he had seen much better days. He looked ragged, hunched, like he could barely stand, as if the fibers of his body were unraveling.

"Not quite. Not yet." The man replied, but his voice was not that of a human. "I feared he would run from our arrangement, but now that you're here...I'll make him an offer he can't refuse."

Though she tried to escape, Sharla was unable. Though she screamed for help, nobody would hear. Her voice was that of a singer, beautiful and smooth, but that night, it became an ear-splitting symphony of misery.
 
"I see you all came back in one piece."

Technically speaking, they had, but the tension radiating from the vampires in tow had her wondering if they had both come back in one piece. Physically speaking, they were probably fine, but Takami's pride had taken a large hit and Isabella's heart was hurting as a result of her actions and their consequences. It bothered Adelaide that she couldn't make things better between her two friends, but right now they had bigger problems than whether or not two vampires were having a lover's quarrel over eternal life versus honorable death.

"I put coffee on. I figured at least one of you would need it with how things have been going. You still need to tell me what the hell happened while you were gone. Big demon of yours didn't say much when he dropped off your mangled phone."

Adelaide stared tiredly at Nikolai and then slowly nodded. Coffee sounded good, especially if she was about to try and fill her uncle in on what had happened during their absence. She hadn't seen them since before Samara's last illusion and Clara had come into play, and so much had happened since then. They'd found Clara only to lose her, met Tyrath and slowly started to trust him and his willingness to help. Demons and hosts had been separated, Takami had been killed and then brought back... There was just so, so much to unpack that she was getting a headache just thinking about it.

"Well, we met another demon."

"We're gonna go in the other room." Adelaide glanced at Isabella as she put the cooler of blood in the fridge and then slunk away with Takami, staring blankly at them for a moment before pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Another demon, huh? That makes what, three? Or was this one you had to kill?"

"Now I really need that coffee. Where's everyone else?"

"Out scouting around. Lorelei is probably taking a nap; she's had her nose in one book or another almost nonstop since you all left."

Well, at least it seemed her grandmother was taking things seriously and trying to make amends. After everything Lorelei had done over the years, Adelaide wasn't sure they would ever have a proper relationship, but at the moment she was a valuable ally, and it was better to keep her close than cast her into the world where she could be manipulated once again. Still, all of this was going to give her a headache, and she didn't waste any time pouring a cup of coffee before taking a seat at the table. Was it time for lunch yet?

"So, about this demon?"

"Oh, right." She sipped the coffee and tried to mentally make a list of everything that had happened the two days they had been apart. "So when we got to Clara's old home, we thought it was pretty much just ruins, but it turned out to be an illusion spell that Samara had made for her. Yeah, turns out that Clara was the reason Samara got into helping Dissonants and the like. Fucking wild. So got to talk to some weird spell version of our dead friend and find out that Clara is still alive but she's on death's door, so we have to go to some place called Envale." She paused to take a breath, watching Nikolai's reaction as he took all of the information in before continuing.

"So we get there, trying to figure out where her room is, Takami pops up with this "We're all her grandkids" line, and this dude who looks human but is definitely a demon comes strolling out of Clara's room. Guess they were friends, plus it was someone that Danica knew who'd been tracking her runarounds. I think they're like.. Sort of a thing? I don't know. But Clara's dying, so Isen lets Ignas use his body to say goodbye. Then this demon, his name is Tyrath, lets us stay at his house."

"You just went to the house of a demon you just met?" Nikolai sounded exasperated, his face the picture of concern.

"He's fine, it's fine. We didn't really have anywhere else to go around there anyway, and we needed to plan out burying Clara. Takami's going downhill at this point, and the next day we bury Clara somewhere out there. I end up picking up her magic from the ribbon they put on the grave, and holy fucking shit." She threw her hands up to mimic an explosion before gulping down more of the coffee.

"Turns out Clara was the one to bind Ignas in the sword in the first place, so now I've got the spell to unbind him, which means I can also get Danica out of the damn ring. Problem is, once I get Danica out of the ring, some of the demons that joined us as part of Tyrath's army-- Oh, right, so there's a bunch of demons backing him because none of them want Malaki to rule. So. We kind of have part of a demon army? Anyway. They spell everyone in chains because they want me and there's this huge fucking fight. House is on fire, Takami gets gutted by this massive demon. Ember gets hurt, and in the middle of allllllll this fighting I have to bring the roof down on behemoth demon and separate Ignas and Isen so Ignas can wipe out the demons that are now storming the house."

Nikolai was looking at her like she'd grown a second head, circling his hand in the air impatiently and signaling for her to finish her explanation.

"By the time that's all done and Ignas heals Ember, Isabella and Takami's body are gone, so we assume he's dead because, y'know, giant hand through the gut and he was already dying. So we end up back at my house grilling food and having drinks for just one last night of normal. I know, wild. Grilling and drinking with a bunch of demons. Pretty sure Danica and Tyrath fucked that night." She grimaced. "Isabella shows back up the next morning saying she's lost Takami. Well, duh, I know we did. But NOOOO, she means she turned him and he bolted. She literally lost him, so now there's a bloodthirsty newborn vampire on the loose that we have to track down. Isen nearly gets turned into a human juicebox during that, and we end up containing him and going to the hospital where Isabella has some fucking Twilight named vampire doctor to help out with this stuff. And now we're back here. So. Yeah."

"....Right. Demon army. Vampire Takami. Cat looks fine, at least." They both glanced at the feline who was casually strolling around the shop like nothing had changed. "I put some clean clothes in your room with your phone. Lunch will be in a bit, assuming you're as hungry as you always are."

"Sounds good." Adelaide gulped down the remainder of her coffee and took the mug to the sink before going back to the bedroom her and Isen had been using. The mangled and half melted cell phone Tyrath had apparently dropped back off was still sitting on the nightstand, and she plopped down on the bed to pick it up and inspect it. In its current state it was essentially useless, but maybe she could fix it up like she had Meribell's bear and see about getting into contact with Roland. It had, after all, been some time since they'd last spoken, and she had no idea what he was up to since Acuity had gone down.

Spelling the phone back to its former glory took less time than she thought, and there was a moment that Adelaide was proud of herself for how much she'd grown with her magic. The moment was short lived, however, because the second the phone was working and powered up, Roland's name appeared on an incoming call.

"You spying on me or some shit?"

"I put a chip in the phone so I could see where you were. Imagine my surprise when it completes disappears and suddenly reactivates itself. What the hell have you been up to, Adelaide?"

"A lot. Talk over coffee?"

"Can't. DSTF tracked me back down and not only wanted me back at work, but now I'm working in some of the cyber security. Problem is, that means that I can see that they're looking for you still, and someone that wasn't you was using magic earlier, so they're scouring Cresthaven for you to see if it's one of yours."

"Oh, fuck."
 
"I assure you, if something like that were to have happened here, I would have known."

A doctor stood between what was clearly a demon, and the waiting room of the very same hospital that Adelaide and Isabella had brought Takami into. The figure standing before Carlisle, the Twilight-named vampire, dressed rather sharply. He looked well put together, almost posh, with a slim-fitted suit and a brimmed hat that sat on a bed of perfectly combed, blonde hair. Had it not been for the more obvious features on his body, namely the center piece horn that propped the hood of the hat upwards, and the unnatural glow of his eyes, he could have easily been mistaken for a well-off individual in need of medical assistance.

But he wasn't.

Klaus' golden eyes, tinged with a slight hint of nefarious red, bore through Carlisle, but seemed unaware of his true nature as a vampire.

"Must I remind you of my benefactor?" He asked, smirking arrogantly. "This is official DSTF business, after all."

"I am aware." Carlisle answered, with a courteous nod. Kill em' with kindness, right? "And I can assure you there's nothing more anybody here would want than to aid the DSTF in their search, but once more, I've already told you. We are a hospital, not a rogue's gallery. We harbor the injured, and the sick, many of whom have been placed into our care by your organization, and not those with supernatural abilities. If anybody shows up, I will be sure to pass it along to the authorities."

Klaus seemed to pause for a moment, like he was a computer program in the middle of a hiccup, or his mind had traveled elsewhere. Carlisle eyed him down, curiously, but the demon soon came back to the present and tipped his hat. "My appreciation, doctor. I apologize for interrupting your services, have a wonderful day."

Klaus turned and walked past the receptionist, exiting the hospital and leaving Carlisle behind to wonder what exactly that was about. The demon was definitely on the trail of Isabella and Adelaide, but he thought he had done an admirable job hiding it. His fingers ran across the watch at his wrist, feeling the magic within jump and spark through the band. "Thank you, old friend." He praised, silently, for another job well done in concealing he was Dissonant, but his eyes soon fell on the receptionist, who was walking towards him with a stunned look on her face.

"Strange guy...and that's saying something. Strange is normal for you."

Carlisle laughed and nodded his head. "Nothing to worry about."

"Sure, it's just...maybe I'm seeing double, but somebody who looked just like him...they came in a few moments after you started talking. He said he had an appointment, he had all the stuff I needed to verify his visit with Doctor Ambrose, but..."

Something was very off here.

"...Leah, could we pull the security footage, please?"


Somebody who looked just like Klaus had been in the same room where Carlisle had examined Takami.

He rummaged through the trash, and through drawers, unattended. Carlisle watched, through the camera, as the demon found the discarded blood bags they had used to satiate Takami's hunger. The body seemed to tense, just as the Klaus he had spoken to had done, before turning abruptly and leaving. Through the feed, he watched Klaus navigate to a back exit and walk out of the hospital while, through another, Doctor Ambrose exits the break room to resume taking patients without ever seeing the man he supposedly had an appointment with.

A phone beeped and buzzed, elsewhere within the city. At a bar, another demon answered, having just returned from excusing someone, forcefully, from the premises.

"Told you not to call this number." He spoke into it, finding Carlisle's voice speaking back to him.

"I apologize, but it may be an emergency. Remember the favor you owe me?"

Rykard, the demon who Isen had spared during the attack on Cresthaven, sighed. He ran the shot glass back and forth between his unoccupied hand before downing the liquor inside and placing it back down on the bar top. "Put it on my tab." He told the woman on the other side, concealed by magic to hide the fact that she was a Dissonant. "Got a job to finish." He hung up the phone and stood from his bar stool. He had a pair of debts to repay, and only one of them belonged to the doctor who had called him.
 
"Well, fuck." That wasn't the news she'd wanted to hear after hearing from Roland again, but a heads up was better than not knowing at all. "Son of a bitch!" Adelaide groaned and flopped down, throwing an arm over her eyes and muttering profanity after profanity under her breath. That was just fucking fantastic.

"I take it you fixed the phone."

"You know, if you weren't family, I'd say you were spying on me and call you creepy." She spoke without uncovering her eyes, laying there for another few moments before groaning again and sitting up. Nikolai was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed, but instead of looking amused or going on to tease her, his lips were set in a thin line, and he looked absolutely exhausted.

"Very funny." He still didn't smile.

"DSTF picked up magic use earlier, but not mine." Now that she thought about it, using her magic to fix the phone probably wasn't the best idea, and she had no idea if it could be sensed through the barrier that was protecting Samara's shop from prying eyes. She'd done her best to replicate the spell and other relevant ones after Samara had died, but a part of her wondered if it was just a matter of time before it failed and they were sitting ducks.

"They shouldn't be able to trace that." He frowned, and the weariness in his expression somehow seemed to increase tenfold. "But if they can, then that means the spell over this place is probably not holding up as it should, and we need to remedy that. Lorelei should be up any moment, the two of you should be able to do it together, right?" He glanced down at the ring still solidified on her finger. "Or pull from that, assuming that she devil didn't suck all the magic out of it while she was in there." Adelaide shrugged.

"If they already knew where we were, wouldn't they have come breaking down doors and drug us out of here already? Unless they're planning to gather an entire army to make sure they can take us all." That wasn't exactly a comforting thought. Even when everyone returned that would only make a handful of them, and she had no idea how Takami was faring after his recent adventures.

"Fuck, I should change and make sure I have some clothes packed. These are new but they still reek like disinfectant from the hospital. Go see if the old witch is awake yet." He didn't even bother to nod before disappearing down the hall, and Adelaide took the time to change into the clothes that had been left on the bed before starting to pull together things for a travel bag. It was better to be prepared and not need it than be stuck with nothing they needed taking money from a generous demon. She needed to find a way to pay Tyrath back for everything as it was, although she supposed letting all the demons stay at her house was a good start. Come to think of it, she hoped they weren't destroying the place in the meantime...

"Lorelei is up making coffee and helping with lunch, the others are back but Claudia's keeping to herself."

"Of course she is, little miss haughty. Whatever, I don't have time for that shit right now, let's just eat and figure out where to go from there."
 
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