“Don’t flatter yourself,” Adriel laughed, the sound more of a dry wheeze than anything else. “I would never dream of you,” he said with a roll of his eyes. In different circumstances, he would have admitted the demon was exactly the type he usually went for. Cold. Crass. There was no chance of anything more than a quick fuck with men like that, which suited him perfectly. That was part of why he had completely dismissed the idea of ever having dated Stein, even when presented with photographs of the two of them together. Those few months had been wiped from his mind over a year ago… and it was really for the better.<br/><br/>Stein. Nik. Angel. Those three were the brightest points of light in his life, yet others had begun to appear. Kain. Aiden. Momo. Whether he wanted them or not, they were his family. His pack. That was what Nik would say, always with that stupid quote about the strength of the pack being the wolf and the strength of the wolf being the pack. How strong could they possibly be when Adriel couldn’t even stand upright without feeling his legs grow weak and his breath short?<br/><br/>“I… told you,” he sighed heavily. “Tattoos. Always for your protection… not for mine. Resistors. The tattoos help channel and restrict the flow of magick in.. in my more dangerous spells.” There had been a time when he didn’t care which lives were lost when he cast, but Nik had taught him better. The tattoos had the added benefit of ensuring he didn’t drain himself when casting, which happened more often than he liked if he didn’t use the tattoos. Adriel had a penchant for throwing himself into everything one-hundred percent, more emotional than logical.<br/><br/>His gaze slid to the bodies, considering for a moment… but, no. Their blood was useless when his strength was so low. “I’m human, Rizarn,” he muttered. “Food, water, rest. All those little human comforts keep me running.” It wasn’t quite a lie. Rest was the best way to replenish his depleted magick stores, but it was by no means the only way. He hardly expected anyone here would be willing to lend him the blood needed to recover quicker. Even if they would, he’d simply refuse them. There had been very few times in his life he’d drank blood, but it had always been from Nik. Adriel had no intention of changing that now, not knowing how intimate the act felt.<br/><br/>Adriel closed his eyes when Rizarn touched his forehead, stifling a growl as he was shoved to the ground once more. Despite his weariness, anger had him finding his feet quicker this time, only to be neatly knocked to the floor again. His chest heaved beneath the heavy boot that held him down, one hand grasping Rizarn’s ankle. “I don’t know a fucking thing about the queen,” Adriel hissed. “She’s---” Fuck. Momo. Nik insisted she was his friend, yet those memories had been wiped as neatly as the ones of Stein. They were all tied together, the same weeks of his life he would never get back. “All of them love her. Every single one. My brother… married her son. Nobody will let you near her.”<br/><br/>Every word he spoke was true. The jealousy in his tone was real as well. Angel, his brother, had shunned him and embraced a new family. Without warning, Adriel began to laugh, then started coughing. “The wrong brother. You captured the wrong brother. If you want information or power, you would have done better with Angel. I’m nobody. I’ll bet you… twenty dollars they aren’t even looking for me.”<br/><br/>Unbeknownst to Adriel, the Queen - Momo - was dead. Nobody was looking for him, but only because the country of Nightshade had been left in shambles. There were arguments over who would take the throne: the Queen’s son, Kain, or her brother, the vampire Eian. In all the chaos, the only one who would have looked for Adriel - his friend Nik - had every reason to believe he had simply skipped town after the battle. It wouldn’t be the first time Adriel had walked away from everyone in his life...