The house of rhapsody (Book 1 Of The Sanctuary and War Series)

Fantastical creatures don't make for good humanitarians

Elias didn't enjoy taking life but he was old enough, had enough perspective of years, that he wasn't much of a humanitarian. He'd seen the best and worst people could do to one another. He'd heard stories, countless stories, of so many others. He'd seen so much. Ultimately, Elias was left with the more simplistic animal instinct of 'kill or be killed'. He was a protector and guardian, not a warrior, but sometimes the best way to protect something or someone was to get rid of the thing threatening them.

The bear-form shapeshifter didn't roar, didn't growl, didn't do anything but grunt as it charged into the first hunter it could find. The man turned, raising some kind of weapon, but it was too late. Tunnel vision; he'd been focused on shooting at one of the Enforcers and he'd tuned his surroundings out. Amateur mistake, really. Unfortunately, it left little room for recovery.

One massive paw batted the weapon out of the man's hands and less than a half second later the bear ran into him at full speed. Elias trampled the hapless human under paw, bowling him over like a lawn toy, stepping on him like one too. The human was broken, limbs bent at off angles, when Elias finally passed over him. The man crawled towards his fallen weapon, towards the last desperate hope it offered him. Elias whirled around, deceptively fast for such a large animal, and clamped his enormous jaws around the back of the man's neck. The werebear lifted his form clear off the ground, the human letting out a terrified scream which was quickly choked off. With a snort, Elias whipped his powerful skull and shoulders back and forth, jerking the man like a rag doll. Between the force of the shake and the strength of his jaws, it was even money if the human had died from crushed vertebrae or a broken neck. The corpse Elias dropped to the ground lay at odd angles for the mauling it had suffered.

It was a shame it had come to this.

Gunfire pocketed the dark of the woods as one of the fallen man's comrades opened up on the werebear. Muzzle flashes lit the night and Elias felt the sting of bullets hitting his body even as his instincts jerked him to avoid the worst of it. Judging by the pain in his shoulder, one of the rounds had been silvered, which burnt like battery acid in his veins. Now the bear did roar and charged the human. Silver hurt, it was the quickest way to kill his kind, but it also had to strike him somewhere vital... somewhere he couldn't survive without... and a shoulder just wasn't going to do it.

The mammoth bear was surprisingly agile as the human reloaded his weapon, Elias using the trees for cover and the dark for concealment, instincts continuing to jerk his body automatically to avoid as much harm as possible. Another burning, agonizing pain in his forearm said he'd been hit again but red rage was all the bear saw as his claws lashed out at his next target.

Zane had become lost in his feeding. The lure of a meal could overwhelm him. There was not necessarily a supply of human blood to feed off on hand here in the sanctuary. Usually he would have to fly to the closest town and find prey to feed on. This wasn't necessarily an easy task, with the amount of attention hunters and police gave to the possibility of vampires like him. The hunter's life force should be enough to sustain him for several days. Of course Zane would rather not wait that long for a meal.

It almost felt as if eyes were on him as he fed. He stopped, mid drink. Turning the corpse with him, he turned back to face the room. At that moment he noticed Lady Noir turning to the door. She spoke of going to the medical wing. Zane took one last sip, which made a long slurping noise.

In a sudden move, the creature of the night lifted the man from around the waist. He slid the stiff corpse out of the window. It landed on the grass below, luckily missing a well-manicured bush which cropped along the wall of the sanctuary. The vampire clapped and rubbed his hands together to wipe off the dust he picked up from the hunter's clothing. He took a deep 'ahh' of an inhale. Clearing his throat, he stifled and swallowed a quiet burp.

Moving quickly to catch up to Lady Noir, his eyelids lowered to her in his look of contentment after feeding. Or was it more? "Pardon me, for my lack of manners... M'Lady." He kept his lips closed over his teeth as he smiled, giving an almost regal smirk. "I am pleased you are safe." He walked with his head and neck very straight and his shoulders back. His legs seemed to almost slide in long strides as he made his way down the hall. He didn't seem to make any sounds as he moved, except for that of his clothing flowing in his movement's breeze. He wore a hooded cloak over a black laced-up shirt and dark pants of a heavy material. They looked like clothing in a much older style, simple items from centuries ago.

As soon as Zane spoke to Lily, one of the hall's nearby lighting figures exploded in a puff of sparks. The room went darker than usual. It was not normal. The timing was too telling. Zane swallowed a dead gulp of air, as he had suspicions of what it could mean. He had seen things in this sanctuary that he really didn't want anyone to know about yet. Especially not Lady Noir.

"Oh, uh. The circuits are acting up, huh? Hmm. Strange." Something seemed to make the vampire almost uncomfortable. He abruptly turned his neck from side to side as if looking for something.

The pair continued onto the aid station. Zane licked the last few drops of blood from his fangs before retracting them and turning his sharp teeth back into a human's form. The irritation from the holy water on his skin was fading.