A knight in leather armor.

William looked at the group of vampires gathered in the foyer. Vampires he had sired, vampires he had taken in and whose loyalty was unquestionable. In short vampires he trusted. Max, his vampire brother stood beside him, in his suit and tie and looking sternly at the screen of his tablet.

“Fellow vampires… I am going to the United States. Our blood purveyor who has given us access to not only donors but wonderful synthetic bloods has been kidnapped. I am unable to trust the vampire she has taken refuge with. I have gathered you all because you are the best at what you do and will be able to handle anything that run down state can throw at us” began William as he looked at his vampires.

He looked at the vampires gathered. “Crispin, Katia and I will go first. As soon as we secure the target I will send the signal for the rest of you to join us” he added as he turned to look at Max.

Max inclined his head “Worry not brother I’ll run things here in your absence” he said. William nodded, trusting no one but his brother to run his vast kingdom.

“Katia, prepare your entire medical kit. You may be treating a wolf so prepare accordingly. Crispin prepare some funds, cards and any quick weapons you can carry…Remember…this is America… they’re not that savvy with money” he said.



Katia, the only woman in the gathering inclined her head and dashed away at vampire speed. Crispin also ran off to gather what was requested.

“Brother…who else will you be taking should you find this woman?” asked Max.

William was putting on a leather jacket as he answered.
“Aside from Crispin and Katia I’ll be requesting Charlie, Colin, Alastair, Antonio, Dion and Naos” he said as a matter of fact.

Max’s eyes widened: “Verdammt! You’re taking an army to the states!” he said, his voice dripping more with his Germanic accent when he got surprised.

William smirked. “I don’t trust Compton not to be behind this. Not to mention the state is at war with another. As a King I must remain safe as well” he said as he buttoned up the jacket.

Max rolled his eyes “I sure hope you don’t plan on killing Compton” he said casually.

“Compton is a pillock… and I should kill him for disgracing the name of vampire, but unfortunately that would make Miss Griffen sad, and I seem to value her opinion a bit more than I should”

Max raised an eyebrow at that and William cut him off. “Don’t say it…this isn’t love. It’s respect. I respect all peoples, wolves as well who know their place in this world and know how to make the most of it” he said.

William growled as he looked at the grandfather clock. Because of the time difference they couldn’t leave until the bloody sun was down in the US. That gave him 6 hours to stew and plot.

“SIRE!” called out Crispin from the darkness. Between the sound of the bull frogs, the myriad of insects and the occasional alligator he had to call out. They had arrived in Mississippi, using the same route that Miss Griffen had used to get them an urgent shipment of blood.

Now, after having scoured the swamps for over an hour and a half they had stumbled upon her. And stumble was the word.

William and Katia rushed over to where Crispin was. He paid no mind to the murky water that clung to his pants, focused more on the woman they had been looking for. All he had to go on was the address of her warehouse.

The weather reminded him a lot of olden England. Marshy, wet, humid and overall unpleasant without the modern comforts of home.

The sight that met him left him speechless. This was Miss Griffen? Whatever had done this to her had only wanted to inflict pain. It seemed utterly senseless.

“Katia…” he said, at a total loss for words. Even Katia seemed hesitant in touching the body but she went ahead and did it anyways.

“Sire…is she….” Began Crispin.

William shook his head. “she’s not dead…but I don’t know if I can say she’s alive… It’s been a few centuries since I last saw maggots eating away at a body, let alone a living body” he said.

To describe what he saw would take him years to find the appropriate words. There were bruises upon bruises. Cuts, deep and shallow. Her knees were totally open, the skin peeled off them like one peels fruit. There was bone sticking out of both her ankles, clearly broken. She was covered in dirt, dried blood, coagulated blood and other things he didn’t want to name. The only indicators the body was female were the obvious breasts that looked like someone had put through a cheese grater then hastily put back together.

“How long has she been here Katia?” he asked.

Katia looked up just as the moon began to peek feebly from the clouds. “Judging by her temperature and the development of the maggots… two days at least” she said in a grim tone.

William nodded and crouched down. Up close the scene was even more gruesome. It reminded him on the days of the black plague.

“Do you think we can move her?”

Katia let out a long sigh, very gently moving the hair off the young wolf’s body. “I think so… but she needs blood, vampire and human… and a lot of treatment. I can’t determine if she has more serious internal injuries or the rest of her fractures like this” she said, her tone sounding surprisingly sad.

William nodded and looked to Crispin “Find us a place to stay Crispin, somewhere we can go in and out freely”

Crispin nodded “Why not her home? Or her warehouse?”

William shook his head. “Compton would know those places. If she recovers I doubt she wants the man who claims to love her to come yelling and screaming”

Crispin nodded again and vaulted into the sky.

Crispin had found what must be a hunting cabin. It was bare walls and some bare essentials. At least they didn’t need a human giving them access as they found they could enter without permission.

So the hours had been spent watching Katia perform nothing short of surgery on Miss Griffen with nothing but a bag filled with medical equipment she could carry, a wooden table and candlelight.

William had taken a spot on the only chair in the place. He’d sent Crispin to find some better accommodations as well as clothes and blankets.

Katia lifted her head, finishing the last stitch on Kiara’s stomach. She turned to look at William, her hands dirty and bloody.

“Well?”

“I must admit wolves are quite resilient. She has several broken bones, a shattered spleen, a punctured lung, a tear in her stomach and intestines, two useless knees, a detached cornea and a hematoma the size of an apple in her head” she listed off as she reached for a bottle of water they had procured as she sort of washed her hands.

“But…” she continued, seeing the look on her Sire’s eyes. “I think if we give her some vampire blood, or at least put blood on the worse of her wounds and ensure she gets the adequate medicines and rest…she should recover” she said.

William nodded as he got to the more pressing matter at hand.

“What make you of the bite marks on her neck?”

Katia put her hands on her hips. “Honestly Sire? This looks very much like the mark on a human who has been turned. If it wasn’t for the very weak pulse I would swear she is vampire”

William nodded. Turning a wolf into a vampire took a lot of power. Wolves like all weres are innately tied to nature and life. Their bodies and magick reject the undead in every way. Perhaps Kiara’s body was rejecting the turn, only time would tell.

Crispin finally returned. He carried two large boxes filled with blankets, clothes, food and specific medicines Katia had requested.

“Sir….I found it” he said as he set the boxes down.

William ignored Crispin, figuring the vampire meant about the provisions. It wasn’t until Crispin stood before him that he looked up.

“Sir…I found the spot she was tortured in” he said more clearly. William stood.

“Where?”

“It’s just an empty moving container, like the kind humans rest to store their things. It’s set a few miles from here, hidden by the swamp and trees. I only found it because it reeked of her blood and of… a slain vampire” he said.

William quirked a brow. “She must have slain her torturer” he said as he looked at the unconscious woman.

After much debating between the three and William relenting to Katia’s pleas of a more clean environment they were now outside Kiara’s home. Having asked around the compound of her business and having to show that Kiara was indeed needing to return home one employee had relented the information.

Now they stood outside her back door, staring at a keypad they couldn’t crack and a house they couldn’t enter without permission.

Katia looked up at William and seemed to read what he was about to do next.

“Sire please don’t…she needs rest” she said.

William growled “She will rest once we are all inside and safe from the incoming sun.
Crispin came back from his run around the compound. “The front door is boarded up from the inside, this is our only way in. The glass is all bullet resistant and it looks like she has those light tight shutters installed…probably from when Compton actually cared to visit”

William nodded. He cradled the unconscious wolf in his arms. Now that he was more up close and she was clean and devoid of maggots and gore he could appreciate why Compton had desired her. She was petite but well built, toned in all the places a man liked but he had to admit torture had done nothing for her figure as her ribs showed.

She was the perfect size to cradle in a man’s arms, or better yet to spoon up behind her in bed. A pity Compton didn’t appreciate what he had. He held her with one arm as he bit his thumb and stuck it into her mouth. He got her to swallow a few drops of his blood to bring her out of the sedatives.

“Come now Miss Griffen…you need to let us in your home” he said as he shook her gently.

She didn’t seem to wake so William bit his healed thumb again and gave her some more blood.