â€œTheyâ€™re dead. Extinct,â€ argued the woman, eyeing the blade. She made no question of the reality of the past, but she hardly believed what she was being told. Neither did she like the sight of steel laid across this other womanâ€™s lap. In the old days that would have been a threat, she knew that much.<br/><br/>The man was more at ease, sweeping a glance up and down, deciding she looked tired before saying, â€œHello. You may call this one Nerf. The Father does. This is Roadmap â€“ Rhodes,â€ he indicated of the skeptical young woman beside him. â€œThese ones donâ€™t have your name, missâ€¦â€<br/><br/>â€œSmith,â€ the Father answered for her, inclining his head in welcome. Good to see polite deferment in even one of them. Maybe the female would need a bit more work or maybe it was suspicion. Wait and see was the only move for him; Rufus felt he was getting too old for field work. â€œShe is to be your officer. Your contracts have already been signed over.â€ The woman called Roadmap scowled and gazed pointedly in another direction.<br/><br/>Deftly ignoring the reaction, he turned his attention to Sarah. â€œSir Smith,â€ he used the knightâ€™s title out of respect, despite her being a woman, â€œI know there wasnâ€™t much I could discuss with you at a distance, and for that I apologize. I assure you that you were called as soon as the gravity of the situation was known. One of the Night Watch went missing two nights ago, along with a book. If it hadnâ€™t been within the same night, we might have called it a coincidence. As it is, itâ€™s almost a straight shot between where the Watchman should have been and where the book vanished from. There are already teams scouring everywhere south of the area our brother of the Watch disappeared from, but we need you, Nerf and Rhodes to find the book itself, Ordo de Dium Permaneo. The knowledge it contains is a danger to our order. More so if itâ€™s ended up in a pair of learned hands.â€ Or vampiric, which he didnâ€™t add and didnâ€™t think he needed to. The Orderâ€™s struggle against those demons was too well documented.<br/><br/>--------<br/><br/>The elder Yara snatched at the back of the young oneâ€™s clothes, to keep her from entering that cell. Alexian was danger enough; he didnâ€™t want a kid killed because she was in the way. The Coven was protection even against their own, should they need it and Yara took his duty quite seriously.<br/><br/>Alexian laughed. His ribs shattered and his spine snapped and he laughed. This one was strong! Good. Heâ€™d need that, no doubt. Now, hopefully he wouldnâ€™t act like this all the time or heâ€™d have to be kept on a short leash. While his bones all reset he lay splayed where he was dropped below the dent heâ€™d pushed into the wall. Solid stone too. Impressive. He could only hear the sounds that Wrath made. By the human scream dinner was dead. By the lack of any argument Rayna hadnâ€™t tried to take her meal back. Excellent start for the dogs.<br/><br/>When Alexian could finally reclaim his feet he had a self-satisfied grin and condescending pat on the head for his â€˜studentâ€™. â€œAll in due time, kid. Dogs first, then history.â€ He hoped this one got to live; he thought she was funny.<br/><br/>â€œAlright,â€ he faced Wrath squarely, putting himself between him and the kid â€“ come to think of it, kid probably had a name, but he realized he hadnâ€™t bothered to ask. â€œTry that again and it wonâ€™t be so funny. You work for me now,â€ he told the other vampire in clipped syllables, â€œand if you donâ€™t want to be treated like a dog donâ€™t act like one. With me you get fedâ€¦ With him,â€ Alexian pointed the jangling end of his staff at the elder, â€œyou donâ€™t. And you!â€<br/><br/>What was he going to do with her? Too starved to do him much good and too talky for his liking. It was always the kids and the crazy ones that liked to talk. â€œI am not going to be lectured by a bitch,â€ not a name, but not an insult; he called her the dog he would until she, like Wrath, proved to him she wasnâ€™t. â€œYouâ€™re going to do what I say, when I say it. I know your tricks and I donâ€™t want you out of my sight.â€ Something told him she was the trouble of the two, and that was certainly saying something.<br/><br/>â€œJerah, will you bring one of the humans to the Great Hall for the other dog?â€ He asked of the rather tense looking female guard still waiting. She went, gladly. And finally Alexian seemed to deem it fit to answer a few of the questions posed to him by the kid. â€œI canâ€™t tell you how many of us there are. Only the Elders like Coo- Yara here know that. But this,â€ he gestured to the tunnel and cells all in general, â€œis why you should care about the laws. That or theyâ€™ll starve you here until you do. These twoâ€¦ theyâ€™re the exception here. Most cells are kids like you that couldnâ€™t handle a few rules. Not dogs like these who need a leash to go outside. They all starve just the same thoughâ€¦ Or if you run, youâ€™ll get the same treatment the trickster himself will get.â€ He smiled and winked, crinkling up the block of lettered tattooing around his eye. â€œLucky you, most kids your age donâ€™t see the real brute authority the Coven can wield. But you, youâ€™ll be properly afraid I hope.â€<br/><br/>If Cooper had started apprehensive about allowing the priest to take a vampire with him that had no control, he was far beyond that now. It wasnâ€™t Alexianâ€™s safety he was worried about. The old timer could take care of himself if it came down to it. But the Coven had a duty to protect the entire race from human knowledge as well. How could that happen if he just let a mad man out? That girl was hardly better! All he could do was hope; the priestâ€™s insane plans had worked before. Who was he to say that it would be different this time?<br/><br/>â€œHow are you planning to find him, Kovliski?â€ The Elder asked before they had a chance to leave.<br/><br/>--------<br/><br/>That was why he kept her around! â€œGood, good.â€ Nebi was a thoughtful girl and Loki spared only fleeting thoughts for the practical. It was worse than it had been. There wasnâ€™t much to think of sitting alone in the dark. Nothing to do but brood on the wrong and ignorance of those ancients bores. After centuries of waiting and planning, he could have the world now though.<br/><br/>He darted from shadow to shadow, not wanting to be seen, fearing being followed. Not yet, not yet. Soon he could get rid of anyone they sent, but not now. There would be others who didnâ€™t know, didnâ€™t suspect, and he could leave their empty corpses on the steps of the Covenâ€™s safe houses. He was above their laws and resented the indeterminable dark period.<br/><br/>Loki muttered to himself while he picked and dressed, even turning up a brush to turn the powdery reddish tint to much faded purple of the better part of three hundred years ago. But it was better for moving in the world, he knew that much. No more blood, no more dust, and the thousand-yard, zombie-wolf stare of a starved vampire was gone.<br/><br/>â€œI got da book, Nebi dear.â€ He was so proud of himself. â€œI know what da Coven nevah ken. Weâ€™ll rule da world. Start a new dynasty,â€ Loki showed her the book heâ€™d found â€“ entirely on accident. â€œAnâ€™ deyâ€™ll all serve â€™r die. Need ya tâ€™ do somethinâ€™ fâ€™me. Get us off â€˜ere sâ€™ I ken go where I need ta.â€