The Highest Stakes

Kira smiled and looked back towards the tiny crowds on the Paris streets. "Felix is an incredible man. I'm glad he could show you the good part of immortality." She eased herself onto the floor and motioned for Tyler to do the same. Together they sat, side by side, both vampires hugging their knees and enjoying the view, the champagne bottle nestled between their bodies. Kira took another drink.

"It helps that you came to France," she added. "It doesn't have the element of danger that Germany has. Vampires are still free to roam. To enjoy life. Or lack thereof." For now. She didn't say it. She was pretty sure he already knew, and she was intent on leaving Felix's home before the time came. She didn't need anyone else's blood on her hands. Certainly not Tyler's.

Tyler looks at her, "The important thing is exactly that, enjoy it. Shit happens, you have to get over it. I am done caring, for the most part, of course then someone comes back into my life and I flip it on again."

As he looks at her.

Kira's smile faded. It hit her then that again, undoubtedly, she'd brought him along and thrust her presence upon him as if he wasn't in love with her. She set the bottle back down between them but never broke his gaze for a second.

"I guess it's good that I'll be leaving, then," she answered. "I don't mean to stir things up. The others and I, we just needed a place to stay while we searched for something elsewhere."

She turned until her body was facing him, her knee brushing against his. "There are other women, Tyler. Any one of them would be lucky to have you."

Tyler waves it off, looking away "I accept what it is, I don't mind just being your friend..."

He lets her finish the wine, looks at her again "Let's go have some serious fun now..., come on." He stands her back up and they go party, they drink all night. Making friends in a pub, drinking their blood hours later.

They get back to the house, walking inside and laughing at the fun they just had.

Kira stopped laughing as soon as she set eyes on Julian, who was walking across the room, a glass of what appeared to be bourbon in his hand. He set his dead gaze upon her and she froze.

"Julian," she murmured, greeting him with a slight nod. He stared back and forth between her and Tyler, his fingers tightening around the glass he was holding, and gave Tyler a look. Kira wasn't sure what emotion ruled his expressions first: anger or apathy. He switched between the two so quickly lately that she was having trouble keeping up.

Eventually he seemed to have settled for the latter. He turned on his heel and left the room.

Over the next couple of weeks, Tyler and Kira spend most of their time together. He would do anything she asked, it was no secret.

He seemed to make her smile and he was fine with that.

Julian was slowly coming out of whatever mental hole he'd been hiding in. He still wasn't all that put together, but he was making an effort. He spoke, he joined in, but rarely ever did he crack a smile. Aside from the furious fucking he and Kira engaged in nearly every night, there wasn't much else he seemed to take particular joy in doing. Kira used Tyler and Felix as her sounding board more often than not. She'd recently procured a place in Marseille large enough for all of them and already had the security set in place. This one was more guarded than anyone could have imagined. It was far from Felix's home, and should they ever need to, the trip to Spain wouldn't take long. In less than a day, they could be in Barcelona and traveling farther south. With any luck, when the humans decided to bring another fight their way, they'd be long gone.

Kira was staring Tyler down as he peered at the chessboard between them, his pointer finger bearing down on the knight. His lips were quirked into a grin as she tried to figure out his next move. Felix lay on the couch behind them, a glass of scotch in hand, watching their exchange.

"Chess is like watching a game of golf, yeah?" Felix wondered aloud as he swirled his drink around in his glass. "You keep waiting for something exciting to happen, and yet... no dice."

Kira chortled. "What have you in mind, great one?"

Felix's answering grin nearly split his face in two. "Dear Kira, what don't I have in mind?" he countered. His gaze flickered from Tyler back to Kira again. "I'd call a harem. Drink, dance and be merry." He paused. "My curiosity has the best of me. Tell me, does Julian allow experimentation?"

Kira looked up at Felix and sighed. "You're insufferable, Felix. And no."

Felix lay back against the couch and drained the rest of his glass in one go. "Pity, that. There went idea number one."

That caused her to crack a smile, just what he'd wanted. He got up and strode back over to the liquor cabinet. "May I interest the two of you in a-"

Something sliced through the air quicker than either of them could register. Felix let out a grunt, and both Tyler and Kira turned back to find his arm streaming blood. He'd been shot. He frowned at the wound. "Not good." His gaze turned toward the open window and over the balcony at the wide expanse of land beneath. "Get down!"

Kira grabbed Tyler and ducked just a flame roared past her, and she hardly had the time to wonder what it was when the first boom rang out. The mansion shook. Christ, no.

Julian came rushing in, followed by a flock of Felix's own clansmen. In his hand he held two duffel bags. "Kill as many as you can," he barked, and judging by the rage on his face, he was no longer mute and expressionless. He was out to destroy.

The others quickly shot out of their positions to grab hold of their weapons. Kira glanced across the room at Tyler, who stood prepared, a dagger in his hand. She herself held a gun. Julian chose nothing. Whatever he planned to do was reckless, and she knew then that he hardly cared what might happen at this moment. He only wanted to rip each human limb from limb and damned be the consequences. For the first time since she'd met him, she feared for his life.

The humans stormed the place sooner than expected, and the vampires put up one hell of a fight. They'd been unprepared the first time around, and as unexpected as it had been on this particular day, they were ready. They had the fury of a group who had lost too many friends and the determination of a group that didn't intend on losing any more.

Julian was a beast. He tackled all who came near him, disemboweled some with his own two hands, and ducked away from any shots the humans made. She'd never seen him so deadly, so intently focused on revenge. Her own hands were full, as were Felix's and Abel's and everyone else's, and she hadn't the time to risk seeking them out individually. Mortals were trailing in right and left, members of the military, people trained by the government to take down something feared and unknown, and she took each one down who tried to advance on her.

Within minutes the numbers of the humans were lowering until all but a few remained. Enough to distract the vampires but not enough to fear. Kira was in the corner, two humans with guns aimed at her heart, and she moved without thinking. She took the butt of one man's gun and turned it on the other, firing quickly and watching as wood splinters pierced a hole through his chest where his heart had once been. The next she killed with a simple flick of her wrist. She backed up, picked up a free gun to replace the one she'd lost during the fight, and turned just in time to run smack into Tyler's back. Before she could blink or push him aside, she caught the three humans closing in on him, the other having fired a stake in her direction, and heard the sickening crunch as it embedded itself into Tyler's stomach instead.

Tyler fought alongside everyone, ripping out hearts and moving quick around the room. He looked over to Kira, in an instant reaction leaped over and took a stake in the back for her, he gasped out as he grazed against his heart.

He heard more fighting around him and soon all the humans were dead, Tyler was moved to a couch and Felix took out the stake.

He handed the kid a whiskey, Tyler sat up and drank it back. Laying back and didn't look all that much better. Felix smirked and just handed him the bottle.

"Bloody humans..I have had enough of this shit." Felix said, snapping.

Kira stood, for once taking her eyes off of Tyler since he'd taken the stake for her, and focused her gaze on Felix. "I apologize for this, Felix." She thought of the place she'd picked for them, how they should have been packed and ready and moving by now, and hated herself for having taken the time to cool her heels. "This should not have happened."