The Highest Stakes

Faster than Tyler could register, Julian reached into a duffel bag and withdrew a gold-tipped arrow. With a flick of his wrist, he sent it flying through the air. It planted itself into the skin of Tyler's left bicep. He let out a howl and stumbled back, his gaze wandering toward the weapon sticking out of his skin.

Julian pursed his lips. "Hm. Definitely need to work on your speed."

Slower this time, he withdrew another arrow from his bag and held it before Tyler. "To be fair, the humans won't act nearly as quickly. Not by hand. But they have weapons that will cause a lot more damage than that, as you saw when you were rescued from imprisonment."

He thought for a moment. "And humans, sadly, will be the least of your worries." He twirled the arrow in his hand and watched as Tyler yanked the first arrow from his arm. It healed almost instantly.

"Correct your stance," he ordered Tyler, bracing his feet apart for demonstration and squaring his shoulders. "You're too wobbly."

Tyler yanked more of the arrows out and glared at Julian, "How the hell is that supposed to teach me anything...teach me how to be fast, should I just know how to automatically do that? You're pissed at me, that's all this is..."

He goes up to the guy, grabbing a weapon "Show me something useful, not just make me your punching bag."

The corner of Julian's lip quirked as he assessed Tyler. "You kissed Kira. Forgive me if I'm not one for heart to hearts here."

He drew his hand back, his next arrow prepared, but stopped with Tyler flinched and raised his arms. It was fun toying with the kid. He nodded toward Tyler's unprotected midsection. "Never leave your chest exposed. Your heart is what they'll target first."

He let the hand holding the arrow fall to his side, again picking up the twirling motion he'd done before, the arrow gliding effortlessly between each finger. He stepped closer and circled Tyler. "Good stance," he noted. "Shoulders back. Hands at the ready."

He walked backwards until Tyler was again far enough away for the next throw. "The goal is to catch or to evade the shot entirely." He tossed Tyler his arrow. "I know you've been dying to do this," he said with a grin. "Give it your best. Practice your speed. It's in you; just focus it and try to hit me."

Tyler takes it and looks at Julian, he prepares to shoot it but first says, "She kissed me..." he sets the arrow into the bow and lines it up, he releases it and hopes for it to hit.

It didn't take much effort at all for Julian to catch the arrow. His hand shot up, and in the next instant, he was holding the arrow by the center of its thin cylinder, staring back at a wide-eyed Tyler.

"And you just begged her to stop taking advantage of your hapless little self, yes?" Julian quipped.

Tyler looks at him, "Are you intimidated by me or something?" He still looks at him, impressed but not wanting to show at all he was scared of him. "She was helping me out, I know you don't want me here...it's no secret."

"You want my help, you're the one training me..." He states, he shoots another arrow really fast.

Julian laughed once he caught the next arrow Tyler sent his way. "You've got spunk, Bübchen. I like it."

He reached back into the duffel bag and tossed Tyler another arrow. "And intimidated, no. Possessive, as I've said before, yes. Enjoying fucking with you? Absolutely."

He flicked his hand toward the bow Tyler was holding. "Drop it. It's cheating. You've got the strength to break walls and lift cars and the speed to be anywhere in a matter of seconds, and you choose a bow like you're Katniss fucking Everdeen."

Taking another step back, he braced himself for the hit. "Don't let me know it's coming. Just do it."

Tyler suddenly starts laughing, "I find it hilarious you know what The Hunger Games is, not so big and tough after all are you?"

He looks at him, "Again, show me something useful...all I see is you spouting theories and ideas, not showing me anything useful to back it up. I got it...bow and arrow is gay, so what should I be doing?"

Julian was impressed. "Says the kid who knows the series," he retorted with a quirk of his brow. "Jennifer Lawrence is hot, Bübchen. I've got over seven centuries on you. I read. A lot."

He kicked the duffel bag away from his feet and crossed his arms. "All right, perhaps I should teach you to read a little music before I insist you play Brahms."

He strode over to the corner of the large room and pulled out two chairs. He motioned for Tyler to take a seat, then did the same. "How much do you know about werewolves?"

Tyler takes a seat, "I only know what I have seen in movies...I meant to put "meet a werewolf" on my bucket list but obviously that isn't going to happen."

He sits back and relaxes a bit more, "You're telling me they exist too? How about leprechauns?"

Julian narrowed his eyes. "Sarcasm doesn't become you." He leaned back in his seat and crossed one leg over the other, an ankle balanced on his knee. "The werewolves, and yes they are real, have an alliance with the humans."

That seemed to pique Tyler's interest; he sat up straighter, brows furrowed, gaze intent like the ever-learning pupil that he was. "Being that our kind have been kidnapped and tortured and experimented on by mortals for the last five decades, you can see why we'd have a slight problem, yes?"

Tyler nodded. Gone was the smartass from mere moments ago.

"This Jessica who turned you, along with any other vampire who goes against the rules of our kind, are largely to blame for the exposure. They got tired of hiding. They fed on humans. Openly. Naturally, their government took notice. They knew we weren't normal. We were the monsters they never thought to be real. At first they simply tried to eradicate our species, but that wouldn't do. They had to have their research. So, they opened facilities, much like the one we found you in."

He waited, his eyes set on Tyler, to make sure the information was coming across loud and clear. After another nod, he continued. "After a short while, they learned all sorts of miraculous things about us little devils. Namely, the healing powers our blood contained. And, well, what fucking good would it do to kill us, am I right? We're a walking cure. We're strong. We don't age. Over the decades, I can only assume they got hungry for more. They keep us imprisoned, they hunt us down, and they keep us in captivity. Why not poke and prod all the live long day? And so, that's where we are with the big, bad mortal government. The people have not a clue what they're paying for. Oh, but hospitals have some damned good healing rates. You've read that in the papers, I'm sure."

Wow, this was a lot of talking for one session. He probably should have brought Kara in for this part of it. Still, he carried on. "As for the werewolves, well, who fucking knows for sure? They hate us vampires. More than that, they fear us. They know they've no chance against us, and while they're vicious little sons of bitches, they're also smart. They see what's going on between us and the humans. Before the humans could focus on the pups next, the pups came to them. They herd vamps in by the assload, and they get a fine piece of the profits by doing so."

He dropped both feet back on the ground and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his eyes piercing into Tyler's. "We're up against weapons you'll have never dreamed of, and we're up against some pretty fucked up beasts, Tyler. I'm here to teach you how to fend yourself against both. If you can do that, you can survive as a vampire and you can fight amongst the rest of us until the day we can thrive without looking behind our backs. We're going to take our freedom back and a fuckload of revenge while we're at it."

Tyler looks at him, listening to his story without interruption. Finally, he spoke about it "I find it odd, how the werewolves believe the humans won't turn on them, after they have accomplished getting rid of vampires."

He stands up, "I want to help...show me more."

Three hours had passed since Julian had entered the room. Kira wasn't too worried about what was going on. Julian may not have been Tyler's biggest fan, but he also never broke his word. He wouldn't harm the boy. At least not too badly.

Kira found Tyler sitting at the dining table draining a blood bag, two more bags at the ready. She smirked when she eyed the holes in his clothing and the dried blood staining his skin. "Fun day at training?" she asked.

Tyler drinks his blood, looking at her "Turns out your boyfriend is not a fan of you kissing me..." finishing his first bag and takes the next, "Thanks for that by the way..." he adds, makes a noise of some discomfort.

He tosses the bag, "I should drink the real stuff, can't I go hunt?"

Kira thought for a moment, not wanting to test the waters with Julian. She was free to come and go as she pleased, not that his permission meant a damn thing to her, but Tyler was a different story. The more time they spent together alone, the worse Julian would be. And if Julian wasn't happy, Tyler was going to be ten times worse, being that he was taking the brunt of Julian's retaliation in the training sessions already.

Before she could offer up an answer, Alexa strode into the room with a beaming smile. "I'll take him," she chirped.

Tyler looks at Alexa, how she follows him everywhere. He was desperate enough for blood, so he gave a nod and went off to leave with her.

Kira found Julian in the bedroom, pulling off his shirt and boots and rifling through the closet for a change of clothes. He acknowledged her without turning around.

"Alexa, huh?" he asked.

Kira snorted. "She's found a new plaything."

Julian spun around and pulled on a henley, the top buttons undone and leaving a good portion of his toned chest exposed. He rolled his shoulders and ran a hand through his hair. "I almost feel sorry for the boy, and that's saying something."

Kira shrugged. "So long as she knows who's taken and who's not."

Julian let out a laugh. "Oh, sweetheart, I wish I had footage of the day you turned her face into pulp because of me." His eyes twinkled when he met her gaze. "Have I mentioned lately how sexy you are?"

She stepped forward, eying that portion of his broad neck and chest that called to her, and licked her lips. "Wouldn't hurt to hear it again," she answered seductively, stopping when they stood mere inches apart, her hand reaching up to brush against his skin and tug at the material of his shirt. Julian's grin grew wider. In an instant, his lips were pressed to hers, his hand curled against the back of her neck, imprisoning her against the bulk of his body. She let out a moan when his tongue found the skin of her neck and sent a shiver through her entire being when his grip tightened just a little more.

She was conveniently wearing a dress, and his free hand took advantage of the easy access. In a matter of seconds, his fingers were curling past the edge of her panties and ripping them from her body. They lay in a single ruined scrap of fabric on the floor.

Just when he returned his hand to where she needed it most and rubbed against the sensitive bundle of nerves, a knock came against the bedroom door. Julian snarled, the lustful intensity of his gaze turning to a deadly rage at having been interrupted, his fangs protruding past his lower lip.

"Sorry, boss," Ivan's voice called out. "You're going to want to see this."

Julian and Kira shared one fleeting look, and with a grimace, he pulled away and reached down to fix the all too evident situation straining against the material of his jeans.

"Later, sexy," he growled, and then he was gone.

Tyler went out with Alexa, who both were drinking blood from a young woman. Alexa breaks off, watching Tyler with intense attraction. He pulls off and Alexa compells the human to forget.

Tyler looks at her, "I had that..."

She steps up to him and kisses his neck, "I can take care of you...don't worry about it." Tyler breaks off her, "I need to learn how to do these things, I don't intend on living in that mansion forever."

Alexa looks at him, "Julian will want to use you as a fighter, so good luck with that one."

They head back to the house, walking in and at first it's all very quiet. Alexa whispers in his ear, to take her right now in the hallway, Tyler looks at her blown away, not used to how forward she is. She pulls him closer and starts to kiss him.

"Someone had better be dying," Julian snapped, keeping pace with Ivan as he sped down the hall at his side. He could still taste Kira on his lips, feel her on his fingertips. Such was the life of being the leader, though, so his anger wasn't as merited as it was childish. Sue him for wanting to have one night of carefree, sinful fucking. The kind of fucking that was outlawed in more places than he could name. He ran a hand through his hair and tried to push the thoughts aside. Whatever needed to be dealt with, he couldn't go in with the massive hard-on he was sporting.

"Given your current mood, I believe you'll get your wish," Ivan volunteered, speeding ahead of Julian toward the double doors that opened into the largest room of the house, the designated meeting room for all affairs. The doors swung open and Ivan stepped through, motioning for Julian to enter first.

Julian sighed and stepped through. Before him stood every member of the clan, Abel and Maria at the center, their grasps on the shaking man at their feet. His gaze zeroed in on the unfortunate one on his knees. He sniffed the air and it reeked of fresh human sweat. But of course.

"How sweet," Julian murmured, gliding into the room, all business once again. "The humans sent us a toy."

Maria snickered. "Caught him trying to sneak through the gates. Apparently he has a message."

Julian stopped until he was mere yards away from the three in the middle of the room. "Oh, but don't they always?"

He had to hand it to the human. He was glaring daggers into every vampire he set his eyes on. Even Julian's. "Go ahead and kill me," he spat. "You think this'll end with me? We're coming for you. All of you. It's only a matter of time."

Julian's brows shot to his hairline. "Oh, gee. Clearly we misunderstood who's winning this Spiel. The way I remember it was, we massacred the fuck out of you little shits in a matter of seconds."

The human scoffed. "That was hardly a massacre. You took a few of our own. We recruited three times that. Our numbers are building by the day."

Julian grinned. "Wish you could say the same for your brains." He looked up at Abel and Maria and crossed his arms. "What's his name?"

In her hand, Maria held the human's tattered brown billfold. She eyed his identification. "Thomas Lowell. Born May the 3rd, 1987." She smirked. "And a donor."

Julian couldn't contain his laugh. "Well, this just gets better by the minute." He heard movement behind the door at his back, curious footsteps idling outside. He spoke without turning. "Bübchen, Alexa. Please, do join us."

Alexa quickly goes over to Julian, Tyler joins her and sees the scene before him. The human looks at Julian, "Kill me..it won't stop us from coming."

Julian looked to his side and smirked at Tyler. "Consider this the easiest part of your training here, Bübchen," he quipped. "Killing an unarmed, incredibly stupid human."

He stepped forward and bent down, then scooped the human up with one hand on his neck. He dangled above the ground, completely at Julian's mercy, his hands fighting against the leader's firm grip on his throat. He sneered at the human. "You do not scare me, child. None of you do. Why? Because I can crush you. I will crush you, along with any other human who thinks he can take me. You say your people are coming? Let them come. I'll redecorate this place with their fucking insides." His grip tightened, and the human's face went from red to white, his eyes bulging out of their sockets, nothing but strangled noises escaping his throat.

Julian brought the human closer until his lips were at his neck, his fangs elongated and ready for a bite. "Fuck with my people? I'll annihilate yours."

Without further ado, he released his grip on the human's neck only to replace his hand with his mouth, and sank his fangs deep into his throat. He drank way past his fill, drank until the human grew weak, and then the fingers of both hands were back around the man's throat, squeezing and wrenching, twisting, until the last drop of blood had been drained and the man's head was no longer connected to his body.

The head dropped to the ground first with a sickening thud, and Julian let the body fall along with it. He stepped back and wiped away the blood trailing from his mouth with the back of his hand, licking his lips of the last drop.

He grinned at Abel. "I needed that." He motioned toward the other vampires and pointed to the mutilated body at his feet. "Burn the body. Send the head back to the humans and attach a note. Something along the lines of, thanks for the free dinner."

Tyler watches, trying to hide his shock, when the human lays there dead. Part of him liked it, liked watching it and wanted to join in. It's that, what makes him feel scared. He didn't really know what to say, as he walks off.

He goes into his room and shuts the door, leaning against it. Trying to move on, accept what he is, it's easier said than done. The thought of staying here, he wasn't sure. Though the human deserved it...Tyler didn't know what to think.

Julian laced up his combat boots and rolled down the legs of his pants, then stood and slung the duffel bag of training tools over his shoulder. Kira lay across the bed watching him, bare but for the velvet-toned silk sheets that blanketed her lower half.

"Starting early on the training, are we?" she asked. "The look on his face last night..."

"Last night, exactly," Julian replied, setting his gray gaze on her. "There was disgust there, yes, but also lust. He's just like every newborn. He wants it, yet it terrifies him. I'm going to set that part of him straight."

Kira smirked. "Didn't take you long to come around."

Julian scoffed. "Before every woman is a very whipped man. To be honest, I see potential in the boy."

Kira lay back against the bed and closed her eyes. "Off you go then, babe. Before I crack my whip."

Julian moved forward and knelt next to her amidst the sea of sheets. He ducked his head down and darted his tongue out to tease her left nipple, his mouth capturing one supple breast and giving it a nip between his teeth. "That had better be a promise, sweetheart," he snarled against the warmth of her skin, and he laughed when Kira opened one eye narrowed it at him as he leaned above her.

"I always keep my promises," she whispered, and as quickly as the passion had come, she rested her head back against the pillows and shoved him away. "Now, go make a lion out of a kitten."

---

Julian stopped when he was mere inches away from the door to the training room. Not a sound was to be heard. Either the boy was getting excellent in his stealth routine or he just wasn't there, period. Julian was betting on the latter.

He dropped his duffel bag on the ground and caught Ivan as he was walking past.

"Have you seen the boy?"

Ivan shook his head. "No. Haven't seen him since last night's festivities." A slow grin spread across his face at the mention of it. "Actually, I heard him moving around a little after sundown. Figured he'd gotten up early for a snack. You know the little ones are the most ravenous."

Julian scowled. Of course. As soon as they took the child off of their watch, he escaped. Ivan's smile turned to disbelief in a matter of seconds. "Shit, Julian. You think the little shit took off?"

Instead of answering, Julian turned to see Kira standing in the hallway, her arms crossed. "He's fucking gone," she spat.

Julian glared back at her. "He's your goddamn project. You bring him back."

Kira's anger was as palpable as ever. She'd put her trust into Tyler and he'd split. As much as Julian understood, he couldn't help but place the blame on her for taking such a risk to begin with. He knew she felt it, too. "Dead or alive?" she seethed.

"Use your best judgment," he bit back. "That's done you pretty well lately."

The anger in her eyes turned to fury, but she said not a word. He was right. He knew he was right. It was why he was the fucking leader and she was, at best, second in command. He stood and watched as she spun on her heel and took off to track down Tyler.

Tyler left and had no intention on coming back. He could do this himself, all Julian saw was a soldier anyways. He never wanted him there in the first place and he also did not want to become someone who enjoys killing people.

He gets a room at a fabulous hotel, compelled of course and he spends his days there. He keeps the curtains shut during the day and at night, he goes out to get some blood from the hospital. He manages to get it.

For the next couple of days, he is successful. He drinks the blood bags and spends his evenings alone. It didn't take long for him to want some company, he went to a couple clubs and met a woman, he brought her back to his hotel and they spent the whole night together.

The next morning, Tyler was spread out on the bed and suddenly awoken when the woman opens the curtains. Tyler's skin starts to burn and he quickly closes them shut, the woman seeing this screams and heads to leave.

Tyler catches her, anger taking over him and he grabs her so roughly that he manages to break her spine and she dies. Just like that. He lets the body drop and looks at it, completely in shock at his strength and what he just did.

Kira should have known Tyler wouldn't last a week. To think she'd been spending her time before all this tracking down the waste of space bitch who'd turned him, and he'd gone and left as if they hadn't done anything of service to him. As if they hadn't taught him more than he could ever learn on his own.

Not but a few nights away of solitude, and that was all it took for him to kill a girl. She'd watched him carry her out in the dead of night, her lifeless body hanging limp in his arms, and followed him as he took her to a secluded area in a patch of grassland in Heidelberg. He'd dug her a grave, wrapped her body in a crisp white sheet, and set her down gently, almost lovingly, only letting go when the earth had swallowed her whole. She'd stared on as he ran a hand over his face, his shoulders slumped and his stance defeated, and quietly went about filling in her grave.

She'd looked away, her anger drifting away and morphing into that of profound momentary sadness, and left him be. He didn't need her fury that night. He had more than enough for himself in spades.

Three days had passed since that night. She was staying in a hotel herself, one not far from his, and every once in a while she'd come around to check in. He didn't leave often. He'd made trips to the hospital, he'd gone to pick up necessities, and surprisingly, the occasional one night stand. He didn't kill them. He enjoyed them for the night, took his fill of blood but never too much, he took care of their fares back to where they'd come from, and he sat alone on his bed after their parting, his eyes no longer light but dismal. Perhaps Tyler's pride kept him from admitting it even to himself, but it was clear that he wasn't going to make it alone, and Kira clearly wasn't going to let him.

Like clockwork, he ran out of blood and set out for another trip to the hospital. Kira easily persuaded the hotel staff to let her into his room and shut the door behind her, and then she simply sat in wait.

Not half an hour later, she heard his card sliding through the door and sat up at the edge of his bed, her arms outstretched behind her, her legs crossed as if she hadn't a care in the world. He didn't even see her there.

"Touching eulogy you gave the girl," she murmured, startling him where he stood, a stack of blood bags tumbling from his hands onto the floor. He met her gaze and she scowled in return. "How is solitary treating you?"