He didnâ€™t wait very long. He didnâ€™t wait long enough for any questions to be asked. But he did lay a hand on the youngsterâ€™s shoulder. The next was a series of hops. The car made it through the first. By the second it was gone. On the fifth, they both stood in a high stone hallway.<br/><br/>â€œLook around kid! Iâ€™ll find you after. This is talk for grown-ups.â€ Alexian left his charge in the Great Hall. There wasnâ€™t much great about it. Tunnels sprawled out from it. It was low ceilinged, close, and dim; it hardly looked big enough to hold the near thousand it could. That capacity had never been tested of course. No thousand vampires had ever gathered in one place. They were far too solitary for that.<br/><br/>It was through one of the tunnels that Alexian went, joined shortly by the elder, one silent female, and a whimpering human boy no older than eleven. This odd procession stopped at a cell near the surface where the priest heard the words so obviously directed at him.<br/><br/>The door barely cracked open on,<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">â€œâ€¦I know it means something to you.â€</span></span><br/><br/>Alexian trained the inscrutable orange gaze on Rayna. He studied her quietly for a few beats before speaking. â€œDo you? The Great Mother loves her innocent children the same as her guilty. She makes no distinction and I try to follow her example.â€ And to the elder he said, â€œIâ€™ll need another dog, Coop. Canâ€™t have a pack with just one.â€<br/><br/>At this, Elder Yara balked. â€œI canâ€™t justâ€”â€<br/><br/>â€œGive me the one with no memory. I think I have a youngster in tow, the two of them can learn together.â€<br/><br/>â€œWrath? He might be dangerous, Sumerian.â€<br/><br/>He already knew that. Vampires with no memory didnâ€™t remember their humanity; they only had the hunger and rage. That could be tamed. â€œI was a teacher once,â€ Alexian laughed and beckoned the woman with them to push the starved looking little boy into the dark stone cell. â€œI think I can handle two children. You see old friend, I have an idea.â€<br/><br/>Alexian followed Cooper further down the tunnel, the charms and bangles on his staff jangling flatly in the underground. They stopped in front of the next occupied cell, a long way off from the first. The elder opened the heavy door enough for Alexian to slip inside. As he did, he said, â€œon your feet, pup. Weâ€™re going outside,â€ and pressed a thick, blunt nail into the only he could skin he could expose on his forearm. A few drops of dark sluggish blood rose resentfully to the surface. Bad idea maybe, but he couldnâ€™t talk to this one until he was fed too. With it would come memories of being human and that might help his cause. If the one they called Wrath could even identify them and sort them out.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">--------</div><br/><br/>Ah, there it was. That was the power heâ€™d missed for so long, right under his nose. Loki wasnâ€™t comfortable with Nebi wrapped so firmly around him where anyone could see, but heâ€™d missed this. Rip out her throat, the thought ran over and over again in his head. But dear Nebi wasnâ€™t human, wasnâ€™t alive. There would be no satisfying spray of arterial blood.<br/><br/>There would be the taste of pure power though. Like nothing any human could offer.<br/><br/>It was a kiss he gave to her, to anyone but them. Loki sank wickedly serrated fangs into the tender place under her jaw, heedless of who could be watching. Because he needed to. Two humans after that starvation werenâ€™t enough. It was downright disappointing. No rush, no power. Just the sweet heavy taste of fresh blood.<br/><br/>This time though? It was heaven and reminded him just why heâ€™d wanted her to stay put. He was too long starved to go hunting the hunters right away. Dear Nebi would do just fine for a start.