Dark had fully fallen by the time the Fairy Queen and her entourage left. Luke didn't say anything about what he said to his mother, he only retreated to the bedroom he shared with Devon and my brother soon followed. I had changed clothes, a black jacket, dark jeans and boots. The moon was only a small sliver high in the sky, offering little light, but that was good. It meant it would be easier to blend into the shadows to hunt. Another vampire would still see me, but it might offer me a slight edge of surprise. Given what the Queen said about the vampire sent after me, I wasn't sure what to expect, so I made sure I was ready for anything. On the inside pocket of my jacket, pressing against my chest were several wooden stakes.

I didn't bother to call out as I was leaving. Simone and Noah still weren't at home, leaving me slightly worried, but they could handle themselves, and Devon and Luke didn't care much where I went. They had thier own problems. So I slipped outside, the night breeze feeling wonderfully cool on my face. I took a moment to just enjoy it before setting off down the street. The closer I got to the center of the city, the livelier it got until I had to duck down an alleyway on 17th street near the theater to avoid the flow of human traffic.

The alleyway was dark and dingy. The dark wasn't a problem for my eyes, the Fairy blood still tingling in my body and making my senses even sharper. The smell from the dumpster overflowing with trash was almost unbearable. I choked back a gag and grabbed the drainage pipe on the side of the building and used it to haul myself up. Scaling buildings was easy, I had been doing it for centuries, so it was a relief when my head cleared the building and I took in a lung full of fresh air. My lungs worked uselessly to do so, but in so many years around humans, breathing almost seemed as natural as if I still was one.

The top of the building was bare, not even litter left over from loitering employees from the store below my feet lay upon it. It was a nice little hideout. The building was located on top of one of the many hills in San Francisco, giving me a good view of the streets below. No obstacles on the rooftop meant that no one could sneak up on me unless they leapt the distance between this building and the ones on either side. I crouched into a squat. I wasn't necessarily afraid of a human spotting me on the roof, I had learned that humans had very little reason to look up, but I wasn't willing to risk it. In my half crouch, I took a deep breath, pulling the scents of the city in with the air.

The regular scents hit me first, stale air, cigarette smoke, gasoline, machine oil and metal, human flesh, alcohol from all the local bars, and the slight salty smell of the sea. Nothing out of the ordinary. I kept breathing, long and hard, pulling in more scents with each breath I took and sorting through them, looking for something unfamiliar. I know I wasn't expecting to know every single human scent in the city, but a vampire would smell different, cleaner, clearer. Although, if he was a good a hunter as Lillianna seemed to think he was, he would have masked his smell.

Of course, if he was even half as smart as he thought he was, he would be downwind from me. At the thought, my head snapped around, inhaling the air from behind me, but I just pulled in more of the same scents. Growling in frustration, I stood. This was beginning to feel like a pointless hunt. Perhaps the Queen had been wrong and the vampire in town wasn't the one sent to hunt me. Perhaps whoever this new vampire was, they had moved on and left the city, or even got scared and ran. Either way, I wasn't too worried about it anymore. Everything seemed normal.

I made my way to the edge of the building, ready to leap off and land back in the alley way, slinking back into human society unnoticed and maybe even going out for a drink. Noah was probably working and I could stop by his bar. My gaze was too the right, looking across the buildings in the direction Noah's bar was at, but I heard the noise. Below me, in the alley way, was the sound of someone, most likely human, stumbling over one of the metal trash cans that dotted the grimy lane. Instantly, I dropped back into a crouch, hiding in a half shadow and staring down.

At first, everything seemed in its rightful place. Only a supernatural creature would have been able to see the movement. Shadows swirling within shadows behind the largest dumpster, big enough to hide a human being. I heard a soft click, and only had a second's warning in which to jerk my head to the side. In the same human heartbeat, a length a wood sored right by my cheek, directly through the spot my head had been only a fraction of a second before. It flew by so close that I could feel it brush by stray strands of my hair, ripping them out.

I hissed, not in pain, but in annoyance, my fangs sliding out. That was a wooden stake they had shot at me. Whoever it was, knew who I was. While a stake to the head wouldn't have killed me, it would have certainly been painful. Either this person wasn't aiming to kill, which could only mean interrogation or torture, or they had very bad aim.

There was a gruff male voice that cursed quietly and I heard him struggle to reload what was undoubtedly a crossbow. But he was too slow. Before he was reloaded, I had jumped off the roof and into the alley. I caught the tang of fear in the air as well as the frantic beating of his heart, and he was right to be afraid. He tried to catch me off guard, swinging from around the dumpster, taking aim and letting another stake fly. This time, the aim had been for my heart. Whipping my hand up, I caught the stake midair, a mere inch before it hit my chest and tossed it to the ground with a snarl, fangs out and gleaming in the night. I could see his hands shaking as he started to reload again, but I always already upon him.

He dropped the crossbow, the wood splintering with its collision with the ground and tried to run. Outrunning a vampire! Ha! I grabbed the collar of his jacket and yanked him back. He used the momentum, swinging around with another stake I didn't know he had in his hand. This time, he landed a clean blow, right in my shoulder. The wood burned and I cried out in pain, my grip on him slackening. He tugged free and started to run again, but I was not so easily stopped. I lunged again, this time grabbing his arm. He tried to jerk free, but my nails only dug into his skin, drawing sweet smelling blood. Clearly he was out of weapons, or I would have ended up with another stake in my arm. I could see the fear in his eyes as he uselessly tried to pull out of my grasp. My grin was wicked.

Suddenly, I hard block of ice exploded from the ground between us and hit me right in the chest, sending me flying backwards. I remained sprawled on the ground for longer than necessary, nothing hurt but my pride, but I was confused. It was deep into summertime. There shouldn't be any ice, let alone any ice exploding from the ground. On the other side of the shimmering ice, the human I had been battling looked just as confused. Looking at him now, I recognized him as the human hunter I had caught staring at the girl with the bite mark two days ago on my way to work.

A low chuckle in the mouth of the alley behind me put all thoughts of the hunter from my mind. His voice was hard, but there was something sexy about it. He held a light Russian accent, the kind of accent that suggested he hadn't been a vampire long enough to have lost it as I had mine yet. For looking at him, he was undoubtedly a vampire. Even with my enhanced sight, he was hard to see. He was silhouetted against the light from the street, but he was massive, taller than me and muscular. His hair was shoulder length, the ends sticking out of the hood he was wearing, leaving most of his face in shadow, but it didn't hide the gleam of his fangs.

"Isabelle Valarous," he said in that delightfully smooth voice. It made me shudder against my will, but not out of fear. "My master has a message for you."

I quickly rose to my feet, preparing myself for the attack I knew was coming and yanking the stake out of my shoulder in the same motion, throwing it to the ground with a clatter. The wound healed instantly. "Oh yeah," I said, my voice never wavering, baring my fangs at him in a snarl. "And what's that?"

He didn't answer, instead, he only leaped. I braced myself, ready to defend of attack or whatever I need to do, but the vampire never made it to me. With another soft click, the human behind me pulled the trigger of his bag broken crossbow, launching the stake so that it buried itself in the center of the vampire's chest. Not a direct hit that would kill him, but enough. He staggered back, dropping to one knee, his gape of surprise turning into a snarl of rage. Both of us had temporarily forgotten about the human, but I used it to seize my chance.

In a matter of seconds, a launched my own attack, not with my body, but with my mind. I had expected for the King's minion to have a well defended mind, but his was blissfully open, ripe for my attack. I surged forward, surrounding his conscious with mine, ready to make him bend forcibly to my will. He jerked, but remained where he was, glaring up at me with teeth still bared.

"That was an intriguing message," I told him. I could see his muscles straining as he tried to move against me. This close up, I noticed that his hair was blonde, almost white, and his eyes were grey. His face was angular and would have been handsome had it not been twisted in a snarl. "I'm afraid I'll have to send a message of my own now. A message in the form of your head detached from the rest of your body."

He jerked against me again, but I held firm. Before I killed him and sent back his head as a warning, I ducked further into his mind to learn what I could. However, the farther I worked into his head, the more muddled it got until it felt like I was surrounded by murky shadows instead of his every memory and thought. There was nothing, just blackness. I went further, attempting to break through the swirling black, but still, nothing. With a snarl of my own, I kept searching. Finally, I saw a little kernel of white light amidst the mass of dark and I angled my mind towards it. I wasn't sure what it was, but it had to be better than this abyss. Before I had the chance to reach it, the blackness pulsed and I was shoved out of the vampire's mind so hard that I actually stumbled back a step. Ringing inside my own head was the sound of a woman's laughter. I had only a moment to ponder what had happened when the vampire ripped the stake from his chest with a grunt and took off, out of sight.

I let out a breath, a million questions exploding in my mind. Who was he? What was the blackness surrounding his mind? What pushed me out? Why did he run? And why did this human save me? Figuring the last question would be the easiest to answer, I whirled around to face him. He had been staring at the spot where the vampire had been, his blood still coating the asphalt, but he took a step back at my approach, his jaw locked in determination. His eyes went to my mouth and the fangs I still had bared. Fear flashed in his eyes and I instantly retracted them.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"Who are you?" He countered. His boldness almost made me smile.

"I asked you first." When he didn't respond, I sighed. "I'll tell you my name if you tell me yours."

He considered for a moment and then, "Anthony."

"My name is Belle. Why did you attack me and then save me?"

Anthony's eyes narrowed, eyeing my with dislike. "I'm a hunter, it's my job."

"I've done nothing to you," I snapped, my temper rising. Who did he think he was? "You're a pretty piss poor hunter, you can't even find a vampire's heart."

It was a low blow and I knew it, especially when the rush of blood colored his all too human cheeks. Now that I wasn't fighting, his sweet scent hit me. His blood pumping through his veins smelled intoxicating, with just a slight musk to it, making my mouth water. The open cut on his arm from my nails wasn't helping either.

"Sorry I'm not experienced enough for you," he spat back, just as fierce. I was starting to admire him a bit. Few humans were willing to stand up to a vampire, let alone me, but I didn't expect him to even remotely know who I was was.

We were silent for a few moments, both stewing quietly in our annoyance. Anthony was the one to break the silence first. "Who was the guy?"

"I wish I knew," I said truthfully.

We were silent for another few moments. I was begging to wonder if I should break into his mind and make him forget all about me. Something about the action felt wrong, though I wasn't sure why. Minutes ago, I attacked a rogue vampire with the intent of stripping his mind away to the very core until he was nothing, but I was hesitating over erasing a small memory from a human. Before I had the chance to make my decision, Anthony spoke again. "He was trying to kill you."

It wasn't a question, and I thought I heard a bit of pity in Anthony's voice. "So did you," I countered with a bite to my voice that made him flinch. "Why try to kill me one moment only to save me the next?"

Anthony shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets, but the tang of his fear still permeated the air. He was wearing the same brown leather jacket he was in the first day I saw him. Stubble was scattered across his cheeks and his brown hair was messy. This close, I could see the pulse point in his neck twitching with each beat of his heart. "I thought you were the vampire who was hurting all those humans, but  I'm starting to think the psycho, homicidal maniac that's apparently on the run is my guy." He jerked his chin in the direction the vampire had fled. "He seems sketchy."

"But I'm still a vampire," I said slowly, still trying to figure out why he spared me. "I would have killed you without a second thought." He flinched again, but I just stared at him. "I'm just as capable as being a 'psycho, homicidal maniac' as much as him, maybe even more so."

"Well I had a change of heart, ok?" Anthony snapped defensively, a stronger blush rising to his cheeks. There was something he wasn't admitting, and it was tempting to break into his mind to figure out what, but once again, I refrained.

"So where does this leave us?" I asked with a sigh. Now that the excitement was over, I wanted to go home. "Enemies? Acquaintances? Friends? Do you still want me dead?"

"Do you still want me dead?" he once again countered me.

I looked at him, really looked at him. He was tall, about my height, and thin with lean muscles that weren't overly apparent. Overall, he had a gangly look to him, and with his hair sticking up in places, he looked a little cute. He couldn't have been more than a year or two older than I had been when I had first turned, the age I was frozen in forever. "No," I said softly. "I don't still want you dead."

He took a brave step toward me, offering his hand. A small, lopsided grin had lined his face, but I wasn't falling prey to his charm. "Truce then? We could help each other out and take out that psychotic creep who tried to kill you?"

I hesitated, but took his hand in mine. It was warm and strong in my grip, and I could feel the callouses on his palms. He was a hard worker. "Truce," I repeated. "And I'll remind you that not too long ago, you were the psychotic creep who was trying to kill me."

Anthony chuckled awkwardly, and adorably, running his hand through his hair. I had worked along side humans before, this shouldn't be any different. However, none of the humans I worked with even knew my true nature. I could tell Anthony was still afraid, and hesitant, but right now, we were both more valuable to each other alive than dead, and I hoped that was enough to keep him from turning on me.

"Are there any more of you?" He asked, sounding a bit embarrassed.

"Yes," I said hesitantly, but didn't elaborate. I eyed him, not really trusting his truce all of a sudden. After all, he was a hunter. It was in his nature to kill my kind. "Why?" I asked suspiciously.

Anthony seemed to know what I was thinking and raised his hands in surrender, but the fear was still in his eyes. "Not to go after them, I swear." When I didn't seem convinced, he went on. "There's only one vampire I'm after, and as it would happen, you're a after him too. I'm not very good at this hunter stuff and frankly, I don't like it much. I just want to kill him and be done, find a place to settle and maybe a girl to marry." The last part came out as a mumble that I wouldn't have caught if I hadn't had enhanced hearing.

I arched my eyebrows at him, but he seemed innocent and sincere enough. "You've seen what I can do," I said, gesturing to the spot where I had held the vampire immobile with just my mind. "Don't think that you can double cross me for a moment, because I will know," I tapped the side of my head, "and I will kill you slowly."

Anthony gulped, full of dread, but nodded his understanding. He seemed as determined as ever despite his evident fear. "Good. Shall I come calling around your place tomorrow so we can share what we know? A question for a question?"

He cleared his through, probably to hide it from shaking after my threat. "Yeah, do you have something for my to write my address on?"

"No need, just tell me. I'll remember."

He stammered a bit as he parroted off his address, hesitantly at first, like he was regretting his actions. With the promise of meeting him at his house at noon, he departed and I began my walk back to the townhouse, thinking over what a turn of events this night had brought. I had befriended many humans in my lifetime. I tired not to get too close because there was always the knowledge that they would fade and die while I lived on, but occasionally fast friendships happened without thinking of the consequences. Perhaps this was one of those times, but I couldn't help but wonder what Anthony truly wanted. I wasn't entirely sure I believe him, and part of me still nagged to dive into his head and force the information from him. I flinched as if I had been slapped. There was no logical reason for me to find picking Anthony's brain so repellent. It wouldn't hurt him after all, unless I wanted it to, and I realized I didn't want to hurt him. My earlier urge to kill him on the spot had long since gone, making me feel like it had never been there at all. Why was that? I wondered. Either way, I couldn't bring myself to invade his mind, and I narrowed it down to my own moral standards and left it at that.