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A book came crashing down next to him and Setrakian paid it no mind. He continued scouring the text in front of his eyes. While the makeshift caged wall in front of his desk repeatedly shook with rhythmic tremors. Awkward situations such as these were to be expected in the group's cramped living quarters but this pushed the old man's boundaries. When the groaning started and a sketch floated down to cover his tome, the Professor's eyes flickered upwards with irritation before moving it aside. Setrakian rolled his eyes up toward his bushy grey brows at what he heard next.

"What about Dutch?" she panted out frantically though her legs wrapped tighter around his waist.

"Fak Dutch. She's got her friends and I've got mine eh?" Fet quipped while hefting her higher, quickening his hips to stop any more rational thoughts from crossing her mind.

That same set of grey brows rose toward his hairline when the pair's thrashing against the wall increased to an erratic rate. He was forced to dodge another musty book that toppled from its shelf before the moaning elevated into a shriek and a rumbling yell of pleasure. Then ragged panting reigned for a few seconds. With the sound of shuffling clothing and zippers coming next Setrakian impatiently opened his pocket watch before rising from his seat.

She startled as the door next to them slid open. Her eyes averted straight down to her boots while her cheeks suddenly felt like they'd been stung.

"If you're quite finished Mr. Fet we have business to attend to." Abraham grumbled while making his way toward the back door.

With a chuckle the Ukrainian started to follow, throwing a "Come on." back her way.

"What?" she asked incredulously, side-eyeing the heavy arm that was draped across her shoulders when she caught up.

"You'rea always complaining you're stuck at home cooking and takin' care of Zach lately. Now's your chance to wack some more munchers. We're checking out da Stoneheart property."

She didn't reply as she was pulled closer into his side and they exited into the compound's communal living area. Her walk of shame seemed to be his walk of pride. Fet was all smiles while she tried to slink away from him. Only to be stopped by the brute limb holding her shoulders. With no escape in sight she instead fought to see over it, struggling to turn and catch sight of Dutch. She found the blonde pursing her pillowy lips at them beside a brunette woman. She used her own set to mouth out "Sorry!" before they strolled out of sight and the heavy door was closed behind them.

"Ugh! Get off." she snarled, struggling to get free of him as they approached his familiar bread truck.

"Waaat? What's de matter? You wanted me ever since the night I saved you in that alleyway." he laughed, his ever present humorous defense mechanism kicking in.

"Yeah and you knew that when you decided to start something with Dutch instead." she retorted while Setrakian made his way to a seat in the back and allowed the two youngins to continue squabbling.

The wince Fet gave out and the way he clutched his lower back while he climbed into the truck made her lips flatten into a smug line. She felt he deserved a little suffering for manipulating her. He threw her an apologetic look while he navigated the chaotic New York streets, eventually prompting her to break her stony silence.

"Look I get it. She matches your jolly giant height status. She loves the fight like you do. And she's gorgeous. I almost didn't know who to be more jealous of." Her confession made his brows rise in delighted surprise and threesome scenarios immediately hijacked his brain. "I'm used to guys choosing girls like that over me, it's been happening all my life. It's no big deal. I couldn't even hold a grudge over it when you guys got together because she's so awesome. Everything was working out great. You and I had our bro-thing going on. Now it's all messed up."

"What we did back there was really fucked up." she added with a huff. "Best friends don't do that to best friends."

"She wasn't your best friend till that night at de gas station, before that she was just a stranger. Don't worry about Dutch, she's into open relationships."

"We were all strangers in the beginning and now she's family just like the rest of you." she shot back, unbelievably pissed off that he was trying to downplay what they'd done. "I wasn't just talking about what we did to her. You used me too."

"Come on. You know I've always liked you it's just.." he trailed off with a sigh, cautiously glancing over at her.

"It's just what? It's just a shitty coincidence that it took Dutch bringing her girlfriend home for you to finally show it?" she snapped at him, irritated with his unbelievable answer. "Don't pretend it was anything more than you working out your childish jealousy issues."

Fet remained quiet for a few moments but he did agree. He knew he at least owed her the respect of not trying to make their interaction out to be more than it really was.

"I do like you. It's just… we ended up bein' buddies and I didn't wanna ruin that. You're my guy!" he added with a laugh, trying to bring humor back into the awkward conversation.

If he hadn't caught her eyeballs rolling skyward he wouldn't have known she'd answered at all. He cleared his throat and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel nervously.

"I'd like to take you on a date sometime.." he began in an uncertain tone that almost made her think he was serious. "..I mean depending on how you look at it this could be our first date." he quipped.

His smile briefly faded when she only turned to look back at the Professor and then faced him with an unimpressed look. A disappointed sigh was her final answer.

"Don't tell me you didn't like it." he insisted with a grin, not willing continue talking seriously about the underhanded deed he'd rushed her into.

She threw him a look of disgust while he parked the truck. Begrudgingly she continued their one sided argument when they met in front of the automobile's grill.

"Even if I did enjoy it you sure as hell didn't." she growled out lowly, hoping the elderly man descending the truck stairs didn't hear that part.

Fet's scoff set her off one last time.

"Don't! Don't even lie." she ranted with a finger pointed up at his nose. "I've heard you with her late at night when you guys think everyone is asleep. That was a half pity half revenge fuck and you know it."

"Sadly I know it too. Now may we continue?" a haggard voice requested beside them.

She glanced over and embarrassment heated her against the winter chill in the air. Little did she know a third set of ears were listening in on their mortifying conversation.

With one last glare up at the man in front of her she promised "Never again." before extracting a nail gun from her trench coat.

It hadn't been difficult to find the one the Ancients called Setrakian. He observed the aged one and his bickering companions. It was a wonder to him that the old man had managed to injure the master. A feat even he himself had never accomplished. His pondering of the advantages to having another ally in the hunt was interrupted by the eastward wind. The intricate scent carried on it shook Quinlan to his very core.

A key underlying aroma in it invoked a storm of emotions that he hadn't been prepared for. Lust. Fear. Curiosity. Anger. Longing. Cherished painful memories long since buried were unearthed in the forefront of his mind.

The punishment he'd received for his first love had been severe enough to keep him from craving such a connection for many hundreds of years. It now appeared despite his reluctance and the ever present lingering sting of loss, his body intended to give him no choice. He could already feel chemical and telepathic reactions taking place inside himself.

Briefly he wondered which part of himself fueled this need. This driving hunger for affection and procreation. An impulse much like the one a newly turned strigoi felt to seek the loved ones of their previous life. The human half, he decided, was supremely to blame. But he knew his strigoi attributes were what twisted it and intensified it to an unnatural level. Such was his cross to bear as a half breed. Cursed by the strigoi need for blood. Equally as cursed by the human need for love.

His desperate attempt to catch another whiff of the smell was thwarted by the shifting breeze.

Making him almost think he'd imagined it. He followed the humans as they advanced on the building and scrutinized the female's voice. Searching for any similarity to one he'd not heard since his father had silenced it.

"So where's he fit in this family a ours you're always talking about?" the male questioned with a smile thrown down in the woman's direction while affectionately patting the older man on his shoulder.

Quinlan could sense the tall man's wavering fear of the female's anger. And his hope that this topic change would put her in a more pleasant mood. He could tell indeed it did as her sour unhappiness turned to mild annoyance. Her facial features shifted from a hard scowl to an easy half smile.

"He's the ornery Grandpa who's too old for our shit." she chuckled, tossing her arm around the aged individual's back in a quick hug before releasing him.

The old man's unintelligible grumble was ignored as they continued.

Quinlan was disappointed in the lower decibel of her voice. From afar the only resemblance he found was the dark hair, aside from an underlying tone in her scent. Foolishly he'd hoped she might be a descendant of his first's extended family. The more of her he inhaled the more he was resigned to acknowledge the similarity in scent meant only one thing, biological compatibility.

Keeping to the shadows while he trailed them he was forced to wonder why now after so many centuries did fate present him with another compatible human woman. The thought that something divine up above favored his failure crossed his mind. Why else would the universe throw such a jarring distraction into his path when he was closer to confronting the Master than he ever had been before.

"As far as first dates go you gotta admit-"

"Sshh."

Both of them paused at her noise and watched as she turned around. Setrakian unsheathed his sword and Fet reached back for his steel bar in anticipation. Twenty seconds of silence ticked by before one of them dared to break it.

"What did you hear?" Fet whispered.

She didn't answer right away. Instead focusing on the tugging sensation in her body that urged her forward toward a patch of inky blackness in the corridor they'd previously traveled down. A shudder ran through her like she could feel some unseen hand caressing her.

"Nothing." she finally whispered back. "It just…feels..like something's there."

"Feels?" he parroted skeptically before reaching for the flashlight hooked to his pack.

The light illuminated an empty slab of concrete when he shined it on the spot she'd pointed to. "You're losin' it."

"No I'm not." she replied in a hushed whisper. "I don't know how to explain it. I just got the feeling that someone or something was there."

"The Master may be manipulating her mind for some underhanded reason." the Professor suggested, his eyes darting around the large industrial space suspiciously.

The group continued on until they encountered a room housing what Setrakian would soon dub a nursery.

"Dat's just sick." Fet muttered, leaning over to poke around in the dirt with his rebar.

"Do you smell that?" she inquired with disbelief.

She was starting to wonder if her mind had in fact been tampered with. Through out their exploration she'd felt the ever present awareness of something auspicious close by. And a disturbing sensation of anticipation she had not voiced to the men. The kind of suspense one feels as a child the evening before their birthday. Mixed with a heart pounding sensation that people only feel for one special reason. All those sudden unfounded feelings and the ammonia were making her nauseous.

"Smells like vamp chit." the Ukrainian answered with disgust.

"Yeah but I smell..peppermint too. Peppermint ice cream." she clarified, side stepping a child-sized body to try catching the smell again in long sniffs. "It's weak, I just got a little-"

She cut herself off when she saw the way Fet and the professor were looking at her. One with slight worry, the other with growing annoyance. A defensive remark was on the tip of her tongue when a high pitched snarling echoed through the room.

Quinlan's head cocked to the side from his perch above, listening to the humans while accessing the situation at hand. The woman had sensed him. Her mind's eye was reacting to the call his own had involuntarily sent out. If she was truly meant for him her other senses would seek him out. It was all happening again. Almost exactly like the first time.

He vowed to himself he would not let his second intended perish the same way his first one had. In order to ensure that, he knew he couldn't allow himself any happiness until his father no longer existed.

Though his concentration was hindered thanks to secretions releasing inside his body in reaction to her scent. Akin to an exorbitant amount of testosterone raging in a human teenager. He forced himself to focus. The pungent bitter consciousness of the one who'd sired him by mistake was not far. He meant to follow that link and continue his hunt but her voice from below paralyzed him.

The deep inhales of breath she was taking made him recall how much longer it'd taken his first to become aware of the essence his body produced. Her being that receptive made him fear the next step would start before he had a chance to explain what she was experiencing. An experience that could very well make her believe she was losing her mind.

He wasn't given time to think about that dilemma. Thanks to the scuttling approach of the Master's most unholy creations. Quinlan restrained the familiar urge to slaughter the little strigoi. Instead holding back for a moment to see how the humans fared against them. He was poised and ready should his intended come under real threat from the creatures.

"Yes! Nailed one!" she cheered triumphantly, looking over to find Fet sporting a grin at her lame pun.

The feelers dodged five more of his bullets while Setrakian battled one with vicious sword swipes.

"If I don't get lucky and hit one soon I'm gonna save the last three for us!" Fet bellowed over the din of flying nails and bullets.

"How about we give them a boom boom to play with?" she suggested with a nod toward one of the silver bombs in his backpack.

"Nah'd be a waste, the little monkeys are too fa-" he began replying. "Look out!"

She narrowly escaped a stinger in her side thanks to a thick forceful sword slashing it in half. A huge smile overtook her face, her mind automatically jumping to the only one in their renegade group who wielded a similar weapon.

"Dutchess I swear I-"

The savior she spun around to face was a terrifyingly stark contrast from the one she'd been expecting. Only a brief panic-inducing pale glimpse was afforded her before he swiftly moved to the next feeler. The motion was so fast the word "hallucination" raced through her mind for a nanosecond. A thought that was quickly dismissed as she turned to view a show of deadly skill taking place. One that quickly ended with the assurance he was efficient with a modern firearm as well.

"The Ancients gave me your name, Professor Setrakian. I followed you here."

The being's greeting to the old man was taken in by her ears but her brain was focused on the weak lingering smoky smell of her father's preferred brand of cigarettes. A phenomenon that had her distracted. And distraughtly sniffing in a circular motion around herself. She stopped searching and nudged the man beside her while Setrackian asked the mysterious creature who he was.

"Fet did you just smell any smoke?" she whispered up towards his ear as to not interrupt the exchange happening in front of them.

The slight shake of his head was her answer so she let it go. Her attention turned to the vapiric figure as he leisurely approached and introduced himself.

"My name is Quinlan. And you and I have something very much in common." he asserted.

She moved her body slightly behind Fret's right side without realizing it. A natural reaction to what appeared at first sight to be a predator stalking closer. It went unnoticed that Quinlan was careful not to look at her, his white-blue eyes landing only on either male's face. Her eyes on the other hand, devoured him. From his bald skeletal head to his clawed fingers and beyond. The indefinable urge she felt to go to him disturbed her. She didn't stop staring at the creature until Fet made his confused frustration known.

"Hold on! What're the Ancients? What de hell is this guy?" he growled out, pointing his gun the ghoulish figure's way.

"If you discharge that weapon in my direction, I shall come over there and tear you in half." Quinlan snapped threateningly at Fet, his icy eyes moving down to the feminine hand that grasped the man's arm.

He took a few precious seconds to compose himself. The man's lingering stench was all over Quinlan's intended as if they'd coupled right before arriving. A detail he'd been furtively ignoring until their mingling scents were so close it could no longer be denied.

This presented a problem he'd never encountered with his first. It had been a different era back then, one which allowed him to simply purchase the Berber slave girl from her previous master. In this day and age women were free to pick their own mate as they wished. He mentally acknowledged he'd have to court her away from the towering blood sack if they were indeed an item. He pushed aside the repugnant thought of competing with the inadequate man for her affections and returned his attention to the matter at hand.

"I see you've been hunting the Master for some time." he acknowledged, noting the professor's dedication and continuing their exchange.

"Fet chill." she whispered while the other two conversed, pulling down harder on his raised arm until he dropped it.

She was going to make a sarcastic comment about jumping the gun when it happened again. This time it was a smell that made tears of heartache well up in her eyes. She chased the scent again, weaving around Fet until it led her to Setrakian. Whom she circled twice. Sniffing madly all the while like a human bloodhound despite the odd looks she got from the two humans. She ended up back at Fet's side practically hyperventilating from the way she'd been breathing.

"Do you smell the perfume?" she frantically whispered, tugging at the arm of his coat. "It's my mom's perfume."

Fet scrunched his brows together, his worry for whatever was happening to her showed plainly on his face. "I don't smell anything."

He watched her head jerk to the left toward Setrakian once more, nose held high in the air, nostrils flared wide.

"It changed again." she informed him between sniffs while trying to follow it. "It's driving me fucking insane, can't you smell it!? Now it's Easter lilies."

"The smell after it rains."

Her eyes were closed on impulse. It seemed to help her find her way. The change happened more rapidly the closer she got to its source.

"Red wine."

"My nana's beef stew."

"New leather boots."

A gasp left her and the conversation that'd continued despite her disruptive searching stopped. Opening her eyes she found she'd traveled a few short feet from the perplexing stranger. She inhaled as deeply as she could before breathily exhaling, "It's you."

Quinlan's eyes dropped to her on their own accord. His expression softened though he did not smile. He enjoyed the tall human's feeling of dread when she took another step towards him. It was short lived before his own uneasy foreboding emerged. He couldn't process anything else as her tantalizing scent overpowered him from being so near.

She kept going, her body moving on autopilot. Inching closer until she was right in front of him despite Fet's sound of protest.

"Ey! Get away from him, you wanna get bit!?" he yelled out in alarm, advancing toward them until Quinlan's head snapped in his direction as a silent warning.

The rushing excitement that made her heart hammer in her chest canceled out the natural fear she should have felt. The smell had nulled in distinctiveness, transforming into one single unidentifiable scent of pure bliss. She was so close now she could feel his intense body heat radiating through his layers of clothing. A new gulp of air made her lids flutter and her eyeballs roll back a little. And yet it still wasn't enough, she had to have it at its source.

She didn't stop to ask permission or even beg it with a glance of her eyes, she was a woman possessed. Instead her eyelids lowered and she leaned forward into him. Chest meeting chest, hands moving to rest on his shoulders. One of which still held a nail gun. Pressing closer until her nose brushed against his throat and she was hit with the strongest consistency of the smell. Her face moved forward to nuzzle against the inflamed elegant swirls that decorated his neck and a hum of appreciation vibrated in her throat.

The rattling purr that vibrated under her face in reciprocation did not alarm her the way it should have. She was too happy to care. Like someone had stuck her with a morphine drip and all the problems in the world had evaporated. Her empty hand moved from his shoulder to trace the pattern her cheek wasn't rubbing against. It felt so velvety the skin of her face was rough in comparison. Much too soft for anything you'd imagine a strigoi would have on its body.

"Like cinnamon roles." she snickered in a lazy almost loopy half murmured whisper while she followed its ridge with her fingertip.

She could faintly hear Fet yelling about something. The longer she stayed pressed to him the more the smell seemed to fade in effect. She didn't want to slowly come back to her senses but it wasn't her choice. She scoffed a few seconds later when her mind actually registered Fet's words about being stuck in his own personal Twilight nightmare. She wasn't ready to come back to reality yet. The dwindling smell of pure happiness made her nose seek out the remnants in his swirl's crevices, greedily rubbing her face all over his neck for more like a fiending addict.

"The pheromones fade the longer we are within close proximity."

The leftover haze was blown away with his unusual soft dual-toned voice. As if a fan had been turned on to force fresh air into her lungs and rational thought into her brain. Her head wrenched away from his throat along with the rest of her body, her eyes moving to finally process his facial features.

"It is a biological mechanism meant to make you recall all the things in life that have brought you happiness." he continued softly as she took another slow cautious step away from him.

The pleasant coolness of her skin had almost been his undoing. He hadn't expected her touch to come so soon or so easily. It'd startled him, surprised him even. A magnificent feat considering how rarely anything fazed him after two thousand years of existing. It'd taken all his self discipline not to embrace her and all his wavering willpower not to duck his head to take in the source of her essence at the crown of her head. The need had never been this intense with his first, even when she'd gone into her monthly heat. He feared his will would break when his second came into full bloom.

He was pretty for a leech she supposed. She'd never been that close to one before without a six foot stinger shooting at her. So she couldn't recall whether or not they all had a slightly darker lined pattern on their faces. Fear struck through her at the unnerving shade of his irises and she quickly moved on from them. The lines extending downward from his eyes reminded her of the wet trails tears left behind on a person's face. Her observation moved from those to savage cheekbones that looked as though they threatened to rip through his ghostly skin. When she scrutinized his pointed nose and full bottom lip the brief thought that he was a bit feminine for her taste made the extended outer slits of his mouth pull downward in displeasure.

"Are you inside my head?" she demanded with outrage.

Her brows knitting together angrily while she retreated further. He'd hoped she wouldn't take notice to his offended reaction.

"I am simply attuned to your emotions." he explained, making her wonder what emotion she gave off while she'd been mentally judging his physical appearance.

She hoped it hadn't been disappointment. Offending a new acquaintance who'd just shown his prowess at killing minutes earlier was not something she wished to do. She held his unsettling gaze for a few more seconds. Eventually breaking it to turn her back on him and return to her human comrades.

The males were just as confused as her. But Quinlan did not have the time to properly explain what had transpired between himself and their female companion. His head shot upward toward the camber's ceiling so fast it would have given a human whiplash.

"You have led me to his nesting place." he spoke to them all in general, not removing his determined eyes from the concrete above.

They all watched him move toward a staircase without looking where he was going, climbing it with dedicated purpose while he kept his eyes skyward. When he was out of sight Fet dropped his protective arm from her frame, looking over to the Professor for answers before turning back to her.

"What de hell just happened?" he questioned, looking her over for any injuries with a sweep of his eyes. "Why'd you rub up on him like he's got human catnip on his skin?"

"He's here. In this building. The Master is here!" Setrakian raved, working himself into his usual frenzy.

"I got that part but what de hell was that?" Fet demanded with a freaked out expression and a nod toward the stairway.

"We cannot let the Master escape. We must bring down this structure on the Master." the old man insisted as he headed toward the spiral staircase.

The mention of explosives immediately lifted Fet's mood.

"We can do that." he grinned, placing a large hand on her shoulder to herd her the way he was headed. "It'll be pretty messy though. And what about your new friend, Mr. Myth, up there?"

"Nothing matters more than destroying the Master. Go! Fast as you can!" he ordered at them while huffing and puffing his way upward.

"Come on, let's go have us some fun." Fet beamed, leaning down to take her hand in his.

When she resisted and remained rooted to the spot he looked back.

"I'm going with him." she informed him with a tilt of her head towards the old man who'd partially disappeared up above. "You know how he gets when the Master is close."

"But da creepy-"

"Fet go! We don't have time to argue."

All through out their tiresome exchange Quinlan hoped his father did not sense the change in him. The shift in his being at having a match once more. The appearance of the old man amused the Master and served as a distraction from the female running to catch up behind him.

"What a team you two make. United and crippled by lifelong hatred."

Quinlan couldn't let his panic surface when he sensed her entrance. If his father had any inclination to think she was anything more than another human pest…

"This human embarrassed you. Now I will destroy you." he vowed, doing well to completely ignore her presence as she drew closer to the front lines of their battle.

It was her first time seeing the Master. He didn't appear nearly as impressive as she'd imagined. The way the Professor talked about him she'd pictured a hulking monster. He was no bigger than the one who fought on their side. That may have been why she wasn't quite as terrified by the first sight of the monster as she thought she would be.

Her harsh breathing sounded out beside Setrakian when she arrived. The second nail gun hidden within her jacket came out to join the favored one in her right hand. She didn't wait for the pleasantries to end before she started her attack.

"On the con-" The Master paused but half a second to pluck a silver nail from the flesh of his wattle. He didn't bother sparing a glance at the inferior human who'd shot him. "-trary. I will make you scream out in agony. As I did your mother."

Her eyes widened at the beast's last sentence, equally so at the outraged hissing roar that came from the other side of Setrakian. But she didn't stop firing or running forward toward imminent death. As much as everyone took the old man with a grain of salt and kept humor and good cheer going during their struggle. Deep down she knew nothing mattered more than the death of the monster in front of her, even her own life.

Blasts from overhead and the rumbling vibration of the floor beneath her did not deter her either. She caught a glimpse of the Master's enraged nail-riddled face focusing on her before the rubble came tumbling down and an unnaturally warm body covered her. Malicious mocking laughter echoed weakly around them as Quinlan rose off her and shook debris from his back.

"God damn it Fet." she growled under her breath, coughing here and there at the concrete dust aggravating her lungs.

"He was here." the being beside her muttered.

An astonished sound as though he didn't really believe it. He was gazing at the wall of destroyed concrete while she climbed to her feet and threw him a wary look. His breathing was ragged and uneven as he turned towards the elderly man she was walking back to.

"You cost me a chance to destroy him once and for all! Now he will shore up his defenses!" he raged at Setrakian.

The way he strode toward the old man out of anger and the fierce expression on his face made her move to shield the Professor. Though she was more likely to get in the way than protect him. The unhinged desperation of his demeanor made her choose her words with caution.

"We thought we were making sure the Master didn't have the chance to run again and it backfired. Yeah we cost you a shot at him.." she paused to swallow a nervous lump in her throat, noting he looked less feral once she continued. "..but there'll be another one. We didn't think we'd get another chance after the first time but here we are."

The way the mere sound of her voice soothed his nerves infuriated him. He could not tolerate someone having such sway over him. And yet thanks to the need's influence, he could not maintain his annoyance toward her existence. Or his anger toward their human blunders.

"This is my fight. I will take if from here." he tersely bit out, moving to leave in a fit of fake rage.

Quinlan knew he needed to leave that place and expel her from him. As quickly as he made the decision another force inside him began working to undermine it. Her bravely impulsive touch stopped him. A simple, quickly retracted, hand on his forearm as he passed. A gesture of easy familiarity similar to ones she'd given the human male. It halted him like a brick wall to the face and made him feel an eagerness to earn more of such simple affections from her. Then and there he knew he would not be able to resist the need. It demanded he stay near her. The future of the human race and undeniable logic demanded he leave her. Balancing the two essentials seemed to be the only way he could move forward.

"You can't do it alone. Just like Abraham couldn't do it alone until he had us. The Master's sunburn was a group effort. Yes, mistakes were made. But you need to come with us. At least until we're safely away from here, the police will get here soon."

She waited with an expectant expression until he curtly nodded once in frustrated consent. Quickly collecting the only nail gun she could spot outside the debris she brought up the front of their triad, leading the way outside.

Fet was waiting for them, leaning against the truck. His face lit up at the sight of her alive and well until his eyes moved to one of the figures behind her.

"You alright? Did we get him?" he questioned with renewed excitement that was short lived when he saw the downtrodden expression on her face.

"You were ten feet off. Almost blew us to bits." she sighed before passing him to enter the truck's rear.

Fet prickled uncomfortably as the unnerving stranger followed her into the back. After throwing himself into the drivers seat he pled his case. "I was working blind up there, ya know? I had to guess where to put them, it's not my fault."

The sound of approaching sirens helped hasten her forgiveness.

"I know, don't worry about it." she called up to him. "Lets go, we need to get out of here. Fast!"

Their getaway was a success. But as they continued toward the city she noticed Fet turning back frequently while he drove. Craning his neck to see the individual who only looked at her.

"Watch the road! You're going to plow us into a pole!" she squawked at him, holding onto her makeshift seat when his eyes returned frontward and he did indeed need to adjust the wheel.

"M' sorry, he's making muncher noises. I can't concentrate with dat in my ear."

She rolled her eyes but did listen more intently. It was the demure continuous noise they all seemed to make unless one was sentient and speaking English at the moment.

"They do that when they breathe, he can't help it." she haughtily explained, jumping to his defense.

Quinlan cut off his quiet churr self consciously. He wanted to appear as human as possible to her and in turn, he assumed, as appealing as possible. Even though it stopped she requested he switch seats with her. She felt guilty he'd been embarrassed into tailoring his natural behavior. Fet happened to avoid a large pothole when they were both standing. The unexpected turbulence sent her smashing into his unfazed frame.

The euphoria returned without warning and she indulged without restraint. This time pressing her face into the rows of small folds situated in the center of his throat, following them down to their end at his collarbones and back up repeatedly. Quinlan locked his legs to keep them steady but lost his grip on his restraint. He bowed his head and sucked in as much of her scent as his lung sack would allow. The rattle of pleasure he released made the driver's eyes leave the road once more.

Fet was horrified to find them embracing. Her running her face all over his repulsive neck vagina. Him twitching his head every which way around the top of hers, eventually lowering to bury it in her hair. It reminded Fet of the way the little monkeys had hovered over Zach's mother the night before. His eyes flickered back to the windshield briefly before returning to them. Movement down lower caught his eye. When he realized it was a snake-like outline squirming underneath the strigoi's black trousers he slammed on the brakes, breaking them apart.

Setrakian looked over at the Ukrainian inquisitively after the sudden jarring, not expecting what he was about to hear.

"Wat de fak is dat!?" Fet demanded with a disturbed finger pointed where they'd both fallen in a heap on the floor. Particularly towards the strigoi's open legs. His accent becoming thicker with his rising emotions. "Dere dicks are supposed ta fall off ven dey turn! Vat de fak?!"

Quinlan was mortified. He felt his appendage sliding back inside his body. The area around his throat pigmented from its usual dark pink to a deep red. Thankfully his embarrassment was overshadowed by her outrage.

"Vasiliy Dmitri Fet!" she screamed as she struggled to her feet. "What the hell is wrong with you today?"

She narrowed her eyes at him when he tried to answer with a hand motioning toward the creature who'd taken up her previous seat. The old man up front let out a long deeply aggravated sigh that the half-vampire behind him sympathized with. Setrakian pinched the bridge of his nose and readied for another pointless time consuming argument.

"If everything I've had to put up with from you today is because of your Amazon queen bringing home a woman, you do love her." she growled out while moving to sit behind him. "You loooove her."

Knowing full well the L word disturbed him more than strigoi stingers she cooed her last sentence from her new seat every time he tried to talk, eventually screeching it right in his ear until he yelled back "He has a DICK!".

Quinlan did not appreciate the childish side this man brought out in his intended. His sensitive ears were ringing with the raised voices that echoed around the truck. He would have gladly killed the human but he sensed despite the way the man frustrated her, she cared for him. And would be displeased if he ended his life.

"They don't have dicks Fet." she monotonously replied.

"I saw-"

"But you sure are being a six foot six giant dick right now! Just drive the damn truck!"

She ignored the retort Fet grumbled under his breath in a foreign language. When the vehicle began moving again her eyes wandered to Quinlan's lap. His throat cleared in an uncharacteristically human sound. Making her gaze flick up to his face and then away bashfully as he closed his legs. They drove in uncomfortable silence until she broke it.

"So what's the deal with the..pheromones..I keep smelling off you?" she inquired with hesitant curiosity.

"If you could bottle that stuff you'd make a fortune. It's better than any sex I've ever had." she added, making sure she said it more than loud enough for their driver to hear.

A deliberate swerve that smacked her head back into the truck's siding delayed his answer briefly. Quinlan threw a quick glare up front while carefully choosing his words.

"That endeavor would not be successful. It is only detectable by a human female capable of carrying my offspring."

She heard him but the moment the last word left his lips their eyes no longer saw each other. Their ears no longer heard the hum of the truck's motor. She was plunged into a world of darkness and confusion. He much the same except for the regret that he had not warned her of what was to come.

Suddenly she could hear ocean waves breaking against solid objects. The smell of salty sea spray filled her nose and her eyes opened slowly to the rocky ceiling of a cave. A pale vampiric face moved into her vision next but she did not fear the woman who loomed over her. Instead a joyful gargle left her mouth and her own tiny clawed fist moved into her line of sight. Reaching for a strand of inky hair that broke away from the scalp in her grasp.

Next came a scene of white toes sifting through tan sand. She could feel the hot sun beating down on her and noticed a slight sting on her naked skin. Her head turned back to the shaded mouth of the cave and her small hand extended outward for the motherly figure to come with her.

"I can not join you. You are special, my little one. The light welcomes you."

The woman's lips did not move, But she heard the words in her mind clearly as if they had. The observation did not alarm her.

Her attention moved to the encroaching waves. Curiosity made her dip a toe into the liquid and a feeling of nausea overwhelmed her when it lapped at her alabaster skin. She did not touch the sea again. Instead she inquisitively approached a pool of water held within rocks, abandoned by the retreating tide. The stillness of it made her feel it was safer to observe than the rolling splashes that chased her every time she crept to the shoreline.

She saw something in it that spooked her. Moving cautiously she leaned over it again. The thing moved as she moved and she realized it was herself. Her reflection. She looked closer in the shiny surface, taking in her own eyes. They were a lighter blue then the sky up above. Her skin appeared whiter than the clouds behind her too. A clicking from the cave called her back and she did not mind rejoining her mother in the darkness.

Many other less significant happy childhood memories rushed into her mind, pausing to elongate only certain ones.

Again the scene changed without warning. This time she found herself easily dragging an unconscious man double her adolescent size, her claws digging into the meaty flesh of his leg for purchase. She felt prideful that she'd maintained her self control well enough to save half of the human's lifeblood to share with her mother. She enjoyed this feeling of accomplishment she gained by providing for the one she held dear. She was imagining how pleased her mother would be that she didn't have to venture out into the countryside that evening to feed when she heard the far off sound of her mother calling to her. Her efforts doubled at the sound and she pushed her muscles harder.

When she reached the entrance to her home she paused in the rising sunlight. Something felt wrong. She could no longer sense her mother's telepathic presence and instead felt a different one. One that made a shiver wrack her spine. She called out to her mother and when she responded she entered with hesitation, dragging her prize along behind her. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly and took in the sight of her beloved mother crumpled on the stony floor, lifeless. The red eyes that glowed back at her were that of the murderer. She turned and ran from her once safe haven. But not before she was forced to hear his disdainful voice welcome her. "Hello, my son. Run as you wish. I will find you."

The first of the few devastating heartbreaks she would experience at the monster's hands made something happen. In her anguish milky water fell from her eyes, scalding paths along her face that she would forever carry as a painful taunting reminder.

Fet shook her face where it was cradled between his enormous hands and yelled her name again. Setrakian observed the suspected hybrid in a state similar to hers. Unresponsive and twitching, slouched against the metal wall, eyelids fluttering madly like a butterfly struggling to flee a spider's web.

"I didna mean to make her hit her head so hard swervin'. You think she's knocked out? Er s' this somethin' to do with the creeper?" he asked in a panicked tone. "Professor vhat is happening to her?"

The old man looked between the two incapacitated figures and then back to the large man. Who was desperately looking to him for an explanation.

"I..I don't know the answer to that Mr. Fet but I have an inkling as to what he may be." he supplied with a tilt of his fedora-topped head toward the unconscious male. "I need to consult a scroll I have at home, we must go."

Fet opened his mouth to argue that they needed to do something for her right away. The sudden feeling of hot liquid running over his thumbs stopped him. He turned back to find tears spilling down her face but no other changes or signs of improvement. He looked over his shoulder to see if there had been any changes in the strigoi's condition when her violent gasp for air made him jump out of his skin. He caught sight of the monster doing the same briefly before turning his attention to her. Her eyes were wild and frantic, bouncing from the ceiling to his face and then the tin walls around them. Fet could feel her trembling and a confused whimper slipped out between her inhales. He released her face to wrap his arms around her.

"Sshh sshh it's okay. Fet's here."

Her eyes were wide and they remained locked with the pale blue ones across from her. Their pants for breath were synchronized, heaving in harmony. Even when Fet pulled back to hold her at arms length and look her over, her eyes stayed joined with Quinlan's. Completely ignoring him.

"You scared da chit outta me. I thought you were gonna croak on me and I'd never get that first date." Fet joked, moving a hand up to stroke her cheek.

The mention of his 'better late than never' method of showing his apparent affections for her snapped her out of her shock. She gave him a flat look and leaned away from his hand, pushing him away so she could stand up. She was still breathing heavily. Acting erratically, almost pacing in the limited space until she headed for the back door.

"Ey, where you going?"

Fet tried stopping her, intending to force her to sit down and rest for a minute after whatever it was that she'd just gone through. She shrugged off his touch and raised the truck's door with an echoing slam. Still lightly panting puffs of breath into the chilly late afternoon air. She only stopped at the edge due to the quiet sound of Quinlan's diplophonic voice.

"The exchange of our past experiences will continue without warning. It would be wise to retire to a secure location."

She hesitated at the vague explanation he gave for what she'd just undergone. The urge to yell and scream at him for answers spiked and waned just as quickly. If what he said was true she knew it would be idiotic to be caught out in the streets incapacitated and defenseless. Unfortunately rational actions were not first on her agenda. Such as the intimate action something inside her body was urging her to partake in with a strigoi. At the moment her mind was a chaotic swirl of memories and feelings that weren't her own along with ones that did belong to her. The intense want to escape the overwhelming situation she'd been hurled into ultimately won.

"I have things to do. Errands to run. I'll be home in a couple of hours. Have someone start chopping vegetables for me." she replied in general without turning around to face the truck's occupants.

Even though her body was yelling out with a distressingly strong force that she should return to Quinlan like two magnets. She kept walking.

"I must also take my leave." The dhampir  announced while rising to his feet. "Professor I shall call on you accordingly."

The two men stood there at the end of the truck's bed, mouths agape. Watching as he flipped his hood up and headed in the opposite direction she'd gone.

"Let's get you home to your library so we can figure out what de hell is going on around here."