Ishtar and Amira had retired to the kitchen so the redheaded Elder and her paramour could get decent. The people in question gathered themselves from the carpeted hardwood floor, subtle smiles and sly smirks being exchanged as they got dressed.
Alex picked her discarded pants off the coffee table and slipped into them easily; the dark fabric accentuating the pale tone of her skin. The pale blue fabric that once was Asha's top had been ripped so thoroughly, it barely qualified as rags now. The redhead smirked widely "someone was in a hurry to mark me" she teased with a wink towards Alex.
The shinigami had the decency to blush "you can blame that on my over eager alter ego. I have as much control over her as you have control over a starving bear" Alex paused briefly "you can't control animals can you?" she wondered skeptically to which Asha simply chuckled and shook her head.
Asha sauntered over to the shinigami's bedroom, seeking out the still full closet. They had left the apartment exactly as it was, merely clearing out the food and locking up the windows and hatch to the roof. Asha couldn't bring herself to clear away the clothes or any of the books that remained strewn across the living room floor.
Alex was quick to follow her soul mate, wondering why said redhead was wandering inside her bedroom. Silently she hoped that it was less of a mess than she remembered it to be and was clearly surprised to find her room to be pristine and spotless.
"So we can't exactly have round two while your friends are here Asha" she muttered, still slightly upset that Amira had burst their peaceful post-coital bubble, but Asha threw open the door to her closet and strode in "I'm not here for round two love, I'm in here for a shirt since you ruined mine" the Elder chuckled, though the idea of round two was very tempting...until she remembered their current predicament courtesy of Gabriel.
"Maybe you should change too, you carry the stench of death with you" Asha jokingly added as an afterthought but Alexandra's frown prompted a clarification "you were buried in those clothes Alex, I thought you would wanna be in something more casual, not that the pants suit doesn't suit you..." the redhead stammered slightly.
"Though it's true, we are friends; Ishtar is or rather was my sire long ago. Amira is my subordinate on one end, but she's also one of the few individuals that I trust with my secrets. Hence why your security detail was up to her"
"Security detail? What security detail?" the shinigami frowned at her mate
Asha stopped abruptly "uh, well, you see, after Gabriel attacked you and you woke up, and I realized what you were to me, you up and left. You never even gave me a chance to explain or anything, so I may have told a few people to look after you"
Alexandra rolled her eyes with a sigh and pulled out her favorite jeans, tank top, boots and plaid shirt to get dressed. It didn't matter now what happened in her past life; this was her life now, talons and souls and a demi-god for an alter ego that could take over any second.
Asha didn't know how to take the silence but it seemed that Alex decided to get dressed instead of discussing this any further. The redheaded Elder chose a shirt at random before treading into the kitchen, leaving Alex to get dressed on her own.
Amira and Ishtar were sat at the blonde's kitchen island, each held a steaming mug of coffee as they chatted amicably.
The chatter stopped once the elder stepped into the room and cleared her throat "sorry about that Ishtar, but things couldn't be helped once you have a taste of a mate's blood; it's mostly downhill from there" she shrugged apologetically. Ishtar merely nodded in understanding even though she had yet to find her own soul mate; despite her lifetimes on this earth.
Amira cracked a smile yet remained quiet. They had more important issues to discuss now that the tension was put to an end.
"Since you got it out of your system, there are a few things we need to talk about." the Arabian princess spoke matter of factly. Why couldn't Gabriel just stay dead?
"Anna Lee briefed me on what happened. She got a good look at him and it looks like Alex's blood didn't only heal him, it allowed the lycan venom to morph his DNA instead of killing him," she explained briefly, they still didn't know how that was possible given the time between Gabriel feeding on Alex and him receiving the bite.
Ishtar chose that moment to jump into the conversation "Several horrid crimes have surfaced, spanning over the few days that we think Gabriel had been free and unaccounted for." it was a bitter reminder that this monster needed to be stopped once and for all "the human police have labeled them as strange animal attacks and urged citizens to be careful until it's put down" the ancient Elder added, carefully watching the redhead across from her.
"But our contacts inside the police departments in question passed on their files. The victims were all drained of blood first, given the lack of bleeding and blood splatter and then feasted upon." Ishtar cringed visibly
"Even with the lack of blood, the pictures are quite disturbing with the amount of shredded flesh splattered on the street and walls" she added with a nasty grimace.
Amira was entirely uncomfortable with the conversation, flashbacks of her murderous father's rampages both as a king and lycan flashing before her eyes. A visible shudder of disgust traveled down her spine, settling in her stomach.
She cast her eyes away from both Elders as she steeled herself, pushing away the nauseating feeling of dread that gripped her. Asha had noticed the change but remained quiet. Both Elders had been privy to Amira's memories in the past and everyone present had agreed that things are better left in the past.
The brief yet tense silence was broken when a certain blonde sauntered into the kitchen. The sway of her hips and the half-lidded stare she cast onto the three women, portrayed an aura of confidence that couldn't be farther from the truth. On the inside, Alexandra's emotions were in a tangled heap.
She couldn't let Asha see her break again; all she could think about was wrapping her hands around that monster's neck just to feel it snap under her tightening grip. The rage she felt was crawling under her skin, it tingled every nerve ending from her lips to the end of her clawed fingertips; yet she couldn't let it show, so the demi-goddess sat next to her soul mate with practiced ease and a carefree smile.
Ishtar had nodded towards the blonde, an acknowledgment to Alexandra's position among them. Shinigami were highly respected creatures, given both their lineage and their power.
"As I was saying, while you two were otherwise preoccupied, Amira and I went to the academy and brought both Sekhemet and Zhi-Ming up to date." the raven haired elder explained with a touch of humor seeping into her voice. She truly was happy for both Alex and Asha.
" While Amira and Asha go back to assemble a team to handle our hybrid problem, you and me, Alex will remain here and discuss in depth what it means to be mated to our kind" Ishtar had finished, slowly sipping the coffee that was clutched between her fingers.
"WHAT? Hell no! If you think I'm sitting here while everyone else goes after him then you're dead wrong. This is my fight Ishtar, with all due respect. He is my problem, I made him what he is and I will be the one that takes care of him" Alex had all but jumped off the stool she had been sitting on, the dark wood clattering onto the ground loudly. She couldn't believe what she was hearing!
How could they possibly believe she was about to sit back and let them do this?
Her outraged musings were cut short when a warm hand came to rest on her shoulder lovingly "I know you want to go after him, Alex. I know you want revenge for all that he did to you but this is so much bigger now. He has Iris, has had her for days now. We can't risk letting you go and giving him the chance to kill you both, even if you technically are death incarnate" Asha added the last part with an adoring smile gracing her ruby red lips.
Alex huffed loudly but nodded in defeat nonetheless. She couldn't fight them all at once, not when she wasn't completely in control of herself. She would be more of a liability to the experienced much older vampires and could possibly endanger everyone.
The shinigami hung her head with a tired sigh "I'll..." she cleared her throat awkwardly "I'll stay right here with Ishtar, I can at least get to know your traditions and all" she acquiesced, which wasn't too far from the truth. She was intrigued, to say the least, and since she wouldn't be allowed near Gabriel, she would have to settle for an extensive Vampire History crash course.
Asha smiled sweetly "we'll be back to get you once the team is briefed and ready, you can wait for us at the compound where Zhi-ming and Bashaa could keep an eye on you" the redhead stood up, followed by Amira. The arabian princess winked at them both and walked away, asking Ishtar to accompany her to the door.
Asha wrapped her arms around Alex in a tight embrace as soon as the other vampires were out of the door; she placed a chaste kiss onto the demi-goddess' lips "I promise you that gabriel will get what he deserves, for every single victim that he killed" asha swore, her voice low yet determined. Alex smiled softly but shook her head "just come back to me Asha, I don't want to have to summon your soul back just so I can kill you myself" she chuckled but both of them knew she was dead serious. And with her newly acquired powers, she could possibly pull it off if she set her mind to it.
The vampire nodded with a brief smile, she pulled away from the blonde's warm embrace and trekked out into the foyer.
Once Asha and Amira had departed, the vampire Elder and the demi-goddess made themselves comfortable in the blonde's living room, surrounded by mounds upon mounds of books that filled the air with the unique smell of paper and ink.
Alexandra took a deep inhale, taking in the aroma that she was so enamored with. Catching a whiff of a scent that was so uniquely asha, the blonde flushed a deep red, only for the Elder to chuckle and dismiss it with a wave of her perfectly manicured hand.
"So, let's start with the basics shall we?" ishtar had said, shifting herself sideways to look at alex.
"It's pretty simple, our origins. Once upon hundreds of millenniums ago, there was a race of immortal beings, much like the humans now, they populated the earth. The were called 'First Born'. We don't know much about their kind, just the wisdom passed on to us through Bashaa and the library in Ulqu Ãlu, the lost city." Ishtar had begun her tale quite simply.
"They survived for millions of years both above and below ground, and like any civilization, war raged on between the many factions until a council had been elected. Those were the early years, the first born prospered until their genetic disposition began to change. Most first borns became infertile but that wasn't a problem, they were immortal and as long as they avoided unnecessary bloodshed, they would find a solution" the elder continued slowly, casting glances at the shinigami to make sure she followed the thought process.
"What they hadn't expected was a plague, one so dire that it consumed everything that grew on the surface. Within months of the plague, over two-thirds of the population had been eradicated. The first born had no choice but to gather their diminished numbers and what remained of their food supply and seek refuge down below. With limited resources and fear catapulting them into a panic, the council sent to all corners of the earth to gather all first born into a single city: Ulqu Ãlu. With their combined efforts, they managed to make life viable again but they grew lax and complacent. And that was their downfall in the end." ishtar frowned casting her eyes down onto the couch, mourning for Bashaa's people...
Alex was listening with rapt attention to every word, it was all so immensely tragic. She wondered how Bashaa had survived and whether there were others like him. Deep in her musings, something Bashaa had said struck her, had her kind done that to the first born? Had they caused the collapse of the first born and their civilization?
Minutes went by, but Ishtar remained still, head hunched over, eyes shut and hands folded in her lap. The stillness was unnatural, so alexandra cast a glance around her. To her surprise, everything was still, the hands on the clock hanging by the door weren't ticking; the streets outside were too calm for mid-day tuesday; everything had stood still.
This alarmed Alexandra, she shook Ishtar's shoulder but the Elder was catatonic. The shinigami caught movement out of the corner of her eye but when she spun around, claws at the ready, nothing was there. She released a shaky breath and lowered her extended talons and shook her head. Had her alter ego taken over again and trapped her in her own limbo?
A hand landed on her upper arm and Alex shrieked loud enough to alarm the entire building if they hadn't been frozen in time; the blonde jumped back and reached for the nearest thing she could use as a weapon.
She brandished the thick linguistics volume above her head ready to attack watching the hooded figure stand in the middle of her living room, as if floating just above the ground. A hand reached up and pushed the hood away, revealing blonde silken tresses and steely blue eyes that peered deeply into her very soul.
Alex hesitated...
"mom?"
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AUTHOR'S NOTES:
hell of a cliffhanger right?? hope you enjoyed reading and stay tuned!
P.S: VOTE AND COMMENT GUYS, IT'S REALLY APPRECIATED AND it would give me a push to keep writing!