craig bared his fangs at her and hissed, as though he'd seen far too many modern movies. "if you hit me with that thing again, i'm going to respect the hell out of you." he snapped his teeth together. "lay off, angel."

raze stiffened and stared down at craig as golden flecks burst around her, knocking him and his chair over. "you know what i am?" she drew her blade and leveled it at him. "you know what i am, and you dare tempt me?"

"raze, don't you dare make an action against him. under no circumstances do i wish to demean your authority in front of him, but i will if you force my hand."

craig crawled to his feet and took a few steps back, his lips curled. "i know what you are. like lord kerestyan said, i received a good education...and not just in high school."

"your education obviously wasn't thorough enough." she lowered her blade and slid it back into the scabbard. "i suggest you go back to your sire and request more training."

kerestyan stood placed himself between the young vampire and the very angry paladin. "craig, i suggest you mind your future actions. making enemies with the head of enforcement is never a wise decision."

he leaned to the side and glared at raze again before he laughed. "in this city it is. she can't do anything unless i break the only rule."

kerestyan growled as the beast uncoiled and his fangs broke free. "considering her words carry more weight in this city than yours, should she come to me and admit she ended your life because she witnessed you feeding in plain view at fetish, i will believe her."

fangs gone, craig rolled his shoulders and attempted to hide the fear ebbing from his body. "so it's gonna be like that now?"

"it has been like that for ages!" kerestyan roared. "perhaps you should tuck your tail and run back to your weigh-blooded sire. you were obviously absent the night she chose to teach the intricacies of vampiric politics." he raised an arm and pointed at the doors. "leave my sight."

to the fledglings credit, he did exactly as instructed.

kerestyan returned to his chair and sank into the dark leather. "why do they do that? why can't they just behave?"

"i try to tell myself it's because they don't know any better," raze offered as she walked over and righted craig's overturned chair. "but i think it has more to do with the fact that this new breed of modern fledgling just doesn't care. they think they're the top of the food chain. they seem to forget their sire's all came from somewhere."

he motioned to the door again. "he has enough education to know you exist."

she dropped into the chair across from him. "i know. he caught me off guard for a second there." she tilted her head and twisted her fingers around a neon blue spike of hair. "but i suppose, as much as i'd like to think otherwise, most vampires, even the dumb ones, pass on to their children that paladins exist." she flashed an evil smile. "after all, we do live to kill them."

"so does vouclade, but i don't hear his name echoing through the hallowed halls of courts the world over."

she laughed, her whisky voice filling the large room. "that's because vookie doesn't let anyone, regardless of age, live long enough to share."

as he joined her in laughter, kerestyan felt his fangs retract. "so what exactly would you like to do with craig?"

her lips pursed in a disapproving manner. "forget him for a minute, what am i going to do with you?"

"me?"

"yeah, fangs. what the hell is up with you?" she kicked her unnecessarily bright, lime green boots onto the table. "you've been quick to go primal all week. what's up?"

he considered her five inch spike heels for a moment, which he was sure not only doubled as a weapon but put her only inches from standing as tall as he did. "you have a very strange array of footwear."

she wiggled herself straight and smoothed the front of her black t-shirt, which had the german words "das ich" scrawled across it in letters the same color as her boots. "and you're really bad at changing the subject." she bounced her right leg on top of her left as she beamed a prying smile. "is it logan? is she why you've been all pissy? do you miss her? do you looooove her?"

"shut up, raze."

"ooh. no old style 'hold your tongue, wench'? you must have it bad if you're going to modern dialect. you only do that when you don't think before you talk, which isn't often, just so you know."

he rubbed a hand down his face. considering that ordering raze away rarely worked, which she'd proven by dragging craig to his feet even though he'd asked her to keep her distance, he thought it best to answer her childish question. "yes, if you must know, i find myself missing logan. however, from what trinity tells me, she's doing very well and is even excelling in her training."

"which i'm sure just tickles your naughty bits," she playfully growled.

truthfully, knowing logan was far surpassing even his father's expectations tickled kerestyan in more than the places raze had mentioned. the knowledge filled him with such a strong sense of pride and contentment, he found his beast quick to lash out any time those feelings were disturbed.

he also found it difficult to believe logan had only been gone a week, and even more difficult to accept he cared so much for a woman he'd only known for the span of ten days.

don't question the past, revel in the future. kerestyan smiled at the thought. how many times had his mind whispered those words? he'd heard the quiet whisper the night he became a vampire and had heeded the same wisdom ever since.

all he could do was hope logan wanted a place in his future. trinity mentioned during her brief report that logan had admitted to missing him, but had also shared the feeling was foreign and she didn't appreciate it very much.

he'd give the woman two hundred years if that's what it took for her to realize she cared about him as much as he cared for her. immortality, while he'd never claim it was a perfect existence, offered all within its dark tendrils the luxury of time.

and considering his advanced age, not only did he intend to be around for another ten thousand years, but he had every intention of dragging logan right along with him, even if she kicked and screamed the entire way.

the insistent snap of raze's fingers brought kerestyan back to the present. "earth to space leech. does it tickle you or not?"

kerestyan frowned. such odd names she seemed to pluck out of thin air. "yes, it pleases me. it also sounds as though trinity intends to release her in a few days time."

her lavender eyes opened wide. "really? damn, she must be doing well then. if there's one thing i know about your daddy, he doesn't let anyone out of the walls of dread until they're ready."

kerestyan nodded at her compliment with a dash of insult. "there's a distinct reason why no paladin blade has ever tasted nelek blood."

"don't pick at me," she warned. she circled her head with a finger, pointing out the golden halo still shimmering around her body. "you know damn well if i was born in the same generation as lord evil, i'd skewer him."

he didn't even bother correcting her on his father's name this time. "truthfully, i'm glad you weren't."

she arched a brow, which boasted yet another new piercing. "why?"

he smiled. "because then you'd be a threat to me, and in good conscience i couldn't allow you to work here, which means you wouldn't have the money to put so many holes in your body."

she patted the blade resting in her lap. "i can put a hole in your body if you'd like. or perhaps you'd like me to carve logan's name into your chest?" she licked her finger and made a hissing noise as she touched her own chest. "wouldn't that be a sexy way to show her you care?"

"i'd much prefer should you need to use that blade on anyone, it be craig."

"if only i could." she sighed a wistful note. "as tempting as your scenario sounded, you know i won't lie to kill him. the minute i start pulling those kinds of treacherous, backstabbing maneuvers, i become no better than your kind." she raised a hand and bowed her colorful head. "no offense, lord kerestyan."

"none taken." he stared past her at the french doors leading to the dark streets of new york city. his city. if there was one trait every vampire seemed to acquire upon being turned, it was the capacity for treachery in some form.

he turned his attention back to raze. "have your team keep an eye on craig and his group. i have an odd feeling it's only a matter of time until he commits to some kind of purposeful action we won't be able to ignore."

chapter 20

day 9 of servio training

nelek castle

"what are the rules?"

logan ducked trinity's leg as it came at her face. "no attacking each other in the castle. no killing each other period." she jumped back to avoid a leather clad knee to the gut. "don't do anything that interferes with or compromises a nelek's influence or control over a person or a city. love and loved ones are never to be used as weapons." she smiled as she leaned back just as trinity's fist whizzed by her face. "and the unspoken but most important rule, carry midol to counteract the moodiest of the nelek children."