"Remus," a dark-skinned vampiress purred as she advanced on Rush in the castle's greeting chambers.

The room was pretty standard in vampire holdings, a few thrones on an elevated stone ledge so they could sit and look down on their visitors. Mer wanted to poke the woman's eyes out. The dark eyed, purple haired succubus was examining Remus like he was a piece of meat to bend over and... Well, he was, but Remus was her piece of meat, not some harlot.

This was the first female vampire Mer was seeing though, so she was markedly intrigued. According to Rush, changing women didn't go well with the way they were naturally creators of life, so women more often than men rejected the change to the undead. If they survived the change, their capability to create vampires was more powerful than the males, so they were prized by their houses, pampered, revered, and protected.

This woman had horrible taste, with indigo dyed hair running to her chin and her pants tighter on her ass than what Rush enjoyed dressing Mer in, and those were already snug. Rush liked to see her curves, and she couldn't blame him because she liked to see his muscles. This she-devil had the nicest abs Mer had ever seen on a woman, flaunted by her lack of clothes, and Mer didn't have to look to know that her breasts were equally as mismanaged, but she couldn't resist.

They popped out of her tight, black top like eggs that had been put in a space that could only accommodate grapes. It was a miracle her nipples weren't visible, and Mer flicked her eyes over to Rush, questioning whether he liked to look at things like that.

His eyes were glazed thicker than the donut on the cornet street where he sat in the central stone throne. Mer chuckled, sitting attentively on the floor at his side like any blood slave would, and her amusement drew the vampiress' eyes. Thank god Rush still had honorable traits, and she knew Rush' loathing better than anything. The guy's brain shut off like a dropped light bulb when he wasn't interested.

"You are so unreceptive, Remus Shade," the woman complained. "There was a time where you'd have torn off my clothes and licked every inch of my skin." The woman cackled, and Mer's skin crawled.

Would he have really? Or was this whore just trying to goad her?

"I would sooner fuck my father then part your frigid legs, Tanya Zehir. What is it you need? You requested me, and it is not customary for a house head to meet with an heir, so I'm wary of anything you have to say."

"I brought your family a gift, a token of good will to show we are friends in the troubled times to come." The woman snapped her fingers and the two similarly dark-skinned, man-meat guards she'd brought with pulled forward three women who dropped to their knees in front of them.

Meredith held her stomach as she tried to remain calm. In the last year, she'd practiced not assaulting vampire's brains with her magic aura when she was upset, something she'd accidentally done to Rush when they'd first met. It only gave them a headache, but it pissed them off plenty. It was difficult to keep her power at bay, looking at the three human women in front of her. Two showed off bronze skin and dark hair pinned up at the back of their heads, and one had chestnut curls like her own, apricot skin, and doe-blue eyes.

Their faces were all lowered and their eyes soulless, like they were resigned to being an offering. They weren't much more clothed than the guards who had nothing but pants, naked ripped pecs, and grotesque masks covering their faces. Made of black stone or clay, they'd been formed into smiling faces with jagged teeth and horns, and only holes for the mouth and eyes showed what lie beneath. All that covered the women was a cloth top over their breasts and a skirt that trailed between their legs and left their thighs bare.

"Just what I need, blood slaves with a foreign agenda." Rush narrowed his eyes, and Tanya chuckled in amusement.

"Blood slaves can't get word back to me. I just know the Shades were never breeders, so I brought some of our special-bred girls. These regenerate blood at ten times a normal human's and will serve you more than your normal brood. They are raised to do more for their master. They will happily warm your bed if you desire it."

"I prefer my bed cold, thank you. I will give them to Darius and he can do with them as he pleases. I do not manage blood slave affairs nor foreign diplomacy. What is it you are really here for?" Rush's patience was clearly wearing thin, though it seemed to be more of exhaustion from dealing with the woman than disgust with the live humans she'd just dropped at his feet.

Mer had to remember that Rush was a battleground bred vampire and didn't see humans as people so much as food. It wasn't one of his better traits, but it was normal for vampires since they fed on humans to sustain themselves. People were like chickens to humans, something they fed and cared for until they snapped their necks and ate them.

"Just formality, my dear Remus," Tanya said with a cruel smile. "Wheels are turning, plans being put into motion that are unstoppable by your people or allies. The time has come for our kind to emerge from the darkness, and the north and south agree. After the meeting of the houses at the unity gathering, there will be no stopping us.

"The Shades share lineage with my line, though it's distant, so we'll allow you to join our coalition. Your friends the Arcs, however, will know our wrath. The traitorous swine murder their own kind at every turn, and after the closing ceremonies of the gathering, they will be ripped up from the roots of the rotten tree they originated. If you stand with them, you will be torn asunder as well. That is all, Remus Shade. Relay my message to your father." With a turn of her pointed heels, Tanya Zehir disappeared with her men.

"What did she mean?" Mer stood and looked to Rush, and he was shaking.

"The other vampire heads plan to swarm society," Darius said, coming into the room, his long pitch hair up in high ponytail that drifted down his dark robes to his hips. "They want to be known to all so they can pursue their own gain. For what, we can't say, but what is clear is that it will be on the corpses of the Arc line."

"My father is an Arc and Neil is your ally and my friend," Mer shook Rush's arm, but he was still as a statue, his eyes dim like a forest night.

"We can't fight six house heads as once, but Neil Arc has some time," Darius said. "The gathering of unity for the vampire houses is as sacred as our laws of kinship. No one would dare defile it by murdering their own so close to its date." Darius' red eyes were cold, so much colder than she'd ever seen Neil's.

"You will be abandoning your alliance with the Arcs," Mer hissed, and Rush sighed, like he always did when stressed.

"Meredith, we can't fight six houses," Rush said calmly, but by his lowered eyebrows, she could tell he was torn. "The northern houses are the most brutal, with the largest armies, the most combat experience, and the biggest sway in large decisions like our being known when it comes to a vote among our leaders. If we allied with the Arcs, we would perish alongside them."

"My father–"

"Your father is resourceful and as powerful as any of the house heads. Vincent killed his own, Neil killed his own. They condemned themselves."

"You would have ended Angelus if he hadn't done it," Mer argued, crossing her arms, and Rush came to her side and slid his arms around her. In the last year, Rush had become a bit more physically affectionate with her, but with his father around it was only the barest touch.

"I would have been doing it for my house, Meredith. Avenging my loss of kin. Neil lost nothing from Angelus, only killed them because of what they represented. Yes, they were twisted, but they were vampire kind, and Neil had no blood claim to hunt them. Our laws are strict."

"You're going to abandon him!" Meredith punched Rush's chest but it got her nowhere. "He's been here every other week, Rush! Begging you to be his friend and have a closer alliance, and you just want to spit in his face. Neil sacrificed his father and endangered his house to rid us of his father's legacy, and you aren't going to stand with him?"

"Do you want me to?" Rush asked, softness in his eyes, and she choked on her breath. "If I stand with him, I die, Meredith, and I won't take you with me. Darius will also chain me to the dungeons before he lets me," Rush said, silencing his father's growing growl. "I honestly can't tell you if we will be on the Arc's side or not. I will do what I can, Meredith, try to see if I can curry favor against what Tanya has planned. It's all I can promise."

"You will see, Meredith Aurion," Darius said, coming to stand by his son. "The gathering of unity is a lot bloodier than it sounds. We compete in fights to show our families power and might. You will see how easily Rush and I fall to the other heads and even more so, how Neil is trampled. Once you witness the power we are up against, you will understand our reluctance to commit our entire family to death."

Darius stormed away, and Mer clutched Rush to her.

"I want to save him," Rush said into her ear now that his father wasn't breathing down his neck. "We've been friends for a long time and despite our misgivings, he is not someone who could stab me in the back if he was given the chance. Those sorts of people are rare, so I will do what I can."

"I don't want you to die," Meredith said, squeezing him, and he groaned.

"I don't think you do." Rush pat her hair but pulled out of her arms. "Darius left without the blood slaves."

Mer stiffened as she turned back to the three girls who hadn't moved. They were statues, heads bowed, and knees on the floor that must be bruising where the bone supported their weight.

"Do vampires really breed humans?" Mer asked as Rush walked in front of them.

Finally, one of them trembled, and Mer's heart sank. They did have emotions, even if they were good at suppressing them.

"Yes. It's prevalent in the north, and Vincent dabbled in it a bit... poorly. It's better to have a human who can recover faster and that we can drink deeper from." Rush snapped his fingers and two Shade vampires came to his side. "Escort them to the blood slave holdings but put them in the cage and keep them from our own until Darius figures out what to do with them."

The vampires grabbed the girl's arms, and Mer trembled as one of them let out a cry of fear. There was nothing she could do for them but watch as the men took them away. Looking to Rush, she couldn't remove her frown.

"Cage?" Mer protested, but he shook his head.

"It's just a room that is locked in by a magic cell. It's for blood slaves who might flee or have shady motives that we might have to get rid of. Their fate is unfortunate, I know, but we have to protect our own, Meredith."

"I know," Mer sighed but jumped as Rush's hand grazed her chest, his hand sliding past her breast intentionally before trailing down her side and gripping her hip. "Now? We just woke up. This isn't exactly arousing news."

"Sure it is," Rush whispered into her ear and they were in his room on the bed in an instant. "When there is war on the horizon, you have to take every moment of pleasure you can get." Rush ran his tongue against her neck, and heat crawled into her face. The man liked to taste her skin. It riled him and excited his hunger, like sampling the frosting off of a Boston cream before biting into its gooey center.

Mer crossed her arms. "I want to know about this unity gathering," she argued, but Remus unbent her arms and relieved her of her shirt.

"Very well. Ask." Rush smirked and lowered his face to her chest, nuzzling her skin with his nose and warming it against her own. The chill of a vampire's skin lasted only as long as it took them to absorb the heat of something living, so he got hot fast.

"Darius said I will see, so am I allowed to go wi–" Mer gasped as he flicked out his tongue and grazed the tip on her breast.

"Yes, both Darius and I are allowed blood slaves because we will require blood after the fights. Lyon will likely bring two more in case we aren't immediately eliminated, but we don't fare as well as other more aggressive houses. The Shades are prudent in choosing their battles. We fight with intellect rather than brute strength, so our capacity in one on one fights isn't as good."

"I see," Mer said, trying her utmost to focus as Rush removed her pants. The man pressed into her underwear for only a moment to tease her before he ripped those off as well. "Will it be as miserable as going to the vampire bar?" She's had an unpleasant experience back when she'd first been his and didn't need any more of that.

"No," Rush trailed his fingers up her thighs, and she bit her lip. "The unity gatherings are tamer, more respectful. Vampires bring their best slaves, ones they wish to reward and trust at their sides. There are places to eat for humans and games and things to enjoy before the real event begins."

"So it's like a vampire carnival–"

Rush licked her, and she clenched the sheets. The man had clearly bored of her breasts and as his tongue teased between her legs, she let out a whine of pleasure. Vampires liked to drink from many places, she'd learned, and while her wetness didn't sustain him, most vampires had a fetish for tasting. A few times she tried to form more words, but she settled for wrapping her hands in Rush's dark hair as he angled her thighs and entered her with his tongue. The tension heightened as he stroked, and she pushed his head to encourage him as it neared exploding into his mouth, but he pulled back and sat back down just past her knees.

The asshole liked to tease her until she was desperate, and she groaned as he pulled off his shirt and flashed a tight set of abs and pecs that she herself wanted to lick. Rush got a kick out of unbuttoning his pants slowly and forcing her to watch as he lowered the zipper and peeled them off his legs. She reached to touch the length of him, but he intercepted her hands with one of his own and shoved her legs apart with the other.

"Do you still want to talk about the unity gathering?" Rush asked, running his tongue over his lips to taste the last bits of her. Unable to focus on words, her eyes were drawn down as he ran his hand up the length of himself and squeezed the top.

"No, I fucking don't, Rush," Mer growled.

Rush chuckled, running his thumb up and over the nub of her breast before raising it to her lips. There, he slid it onto her bottom lip and she parted them willingly to the pressure. With interest, he slid two fingers into her mouth just enough for her to wrap her tongue around them suggestively.

His nostrils flared to take in her scent, and she smiled as his fangs lengthened over her. Prying her legs apart, he thrust into her so quickly that she let out a surprised cry. Rush had gotten skilled over the years in knowing just how hard would leave her with a gentle ache that heightened the whole experience.

Rush lowered his body onto her, and she loved the feel of his cool chest as it pressed to her and heated with the sweat that ran down her body half in anticipation of the pleasure he always flooded her with. Expecting him to kiss her or slide his fags into her neck, everything stood still as he breathed into her ear.

"Meredith, whatever we do about all of this, we'll do it together. I won't force you against your friends." Rush kissed the side of her face, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and into his hair.

"I love you, Rush," Mer said into his face as he rhythmically moved his himself in and out of her, deepening the thrust and force with each one.

"I know," Rush answered, the same as he always did, and they sank into a pleasure that would muddle what neither of them wanted to think about.

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Word Count: 2956