“Aequivalere, its Latin… for boring, stick their noses in other people’s business jerks,” Bianca shot in earning a heated glare from the other vampire.
“It’s Latin for balance,” Dorin snapped at Bianca then turned to Lily. “It’s an organization composed of all the intelligent supernatural species of the world: vampires, lycanthropes, demons, nymphs, fairies, mere folk, so on and even some human representation as well. They make sure humans stay for the most part in the dark of our existence and that a relative peace exists between the species, no species threatens the existence of another,” Dorin explained.
“The Aequivalere has been observing this territory ever since James Lacrosse became a household name, but it wasn’t until what happened to you did we decide to get involved. Now, what do you know hybrid?” Dorin demanded.
“So far the trail is heading northwest to Montana, where it’s stopped. One werewolf will work with us since he technically won’t break the alpha’s command; he’s going to give me updates if Xavier makes another move. I suggest we don’t waste any time and leave tonight,” she told them and they both agreed.
“I thought this lycan was intelligent, the Aequivalere western headquarters are there,” Dorin said with a frown.
“What better place to hide than the enemies back yard, it’s the last place they’d look. Xavier is just that arrogant to believe that we’d never try to find him but instead try to recover from what he’d done to us so your “A” Team wouldn’t ever realize the threat close to them. Plus he’s mastered the art of hiding in plain sight,” Lily replied.
“Then you’re right to let’s not waste any time and leave tonight. Come, I have a car on a country trail in the forest,” Dorin explained and she followed them into the forest. She gave a quick look back towards the house. Sorry Andrew but I said I would protect my family no matter what, she thought silently and turned quickly to follow the vampires.
They had been driving for nearly four hours when Dorin and Bianca insisted they had to stop for a “bite” as Bianca had giggly joked. Bianca invited her to tag along, but Dorin told the other vampire no for which Lily was glad for. She wasn’t ready to delve into that part of her vampire self yet, if ever.
Lily sighed loudly. What was taking them so long? She wondered, glancing at her watch. They had been gone already twenty minutes. After another ten minutes had passed she saw Bianca with some man. He had a dazed expression on his face as if he didn’t know where he really was. “I’ve brought you a gift,” Bianca told her when she reached Lily.
“Please tell me you’re not referring to him?” she asked Bianca, who giggled like a giddy teenager.
“Of course I am Lily dear, when was the last time you fed?” She asked her and Lily shrugged evasively. She skipped breakfast to avoid her father and her encounter with Hunter took away her appetite at lunch time, and she didn’t eat dinner. “That’s what I thought,” the vampire replied.
“Hey, Eric wouldn’t you just love for Lily here to have a little drink from you?” She asked the man and he nodded with a small smile. Bianca took the man’s arm and held it out towards her and “See he don’t mind, have a drink,” the red head vampire told her.
“No way in hell,” Lily told her backing away from them. Her mouth watered as her fangs grew longer as her hunger grew and she didn’t like it one bit.
Bianca gave her a look of disappointment. “Don’t be silly,” she told her.
Lily glared at her. “I am not silly, I just don’t want to be a leech like you,” She snapped and a flash of anger flashed through Bianca’s face before she simply put on a childish pout on her face.
“Come on Lily,” she started bringing the man closer towards her and raising his arm towards Lily once more. “Honestly tell me you don’t want to feed on his blood and I’ll leave you alone,” she stated. Lily had every intention of lying and saying she didn’t, but her elongated canines gave her away. “Just take a little to take the edge off the blood lust. It won’t hurt him and he won’t remember a thing,” Bianca insisted.
Lily swallowed hard, hating the fact she was starting to consider it. She could hear the man’s heartbeat pounding in her ears, her mouth watered horribly and she started to feel so very hungry. Before she realized it, she took his arm in her hands. “Just take a little,” Bianca urged and Lily bit down into the man’s forearm. He grunted in pain and Lily noticed that Bianca had bitten his other arm.
Lily knew his free will was gone and he was persuaded to let them feed off of him, she knew it was wrong and she wanted to pull away and tell Bianca so, but instead she bit down harder into his arm. The taste of the blood was intoxicating, so warm, and so delicious. She wanted more!
“Now, now Lily, don’t take too much,” she heard Bianca tell her but Lily ignored her, she wasn’t ready to stop, she had to have more! Bianca gave her a hard push, but Lily didn’t budge. She pushed the red head away from her roughly as she continued to drink from the man.
“What are you doing?” she heard Dorin bark and he grabbed her hair and jerked her head back. She cried out in surprise and in anger, but the anger was quickly replaced by something else. A pleasant sensation ran through her body and a feeling of euphoria filled her, causing goosebumps to break out all over her body.
“Damn it, Bianca, what did you do?” Dorin demanded to the other vampire as he knelt down to the man that was now on the ground. A little voice inside her head told her she should help him, he might need to go to the hospital, but she was unable to move paralyzed by the elated feeling that had her trapped.
“I gave Lily, her first taste of fresh blood,” Bianca giggled and Dorin scowled.
“Are you an idiot Bianca? She could have killed him or fallen into a blood craze,” he scorned her. He stood up and walked over to Lily. She looked up at the moody vampire, wondering if he tasted as good as the human. He grabbed her face roughly and she felt a thrill of excitement tingle through her. He looked her over then swore. Dorin removed his hand only to pull it back and slap her.
Lily gasped in surprise, the euphoric daze gone. She snarled at the vampire and punched him in the stomach. He grunted and held onto his stomach. “What’d you slap me for?” she growled at him, preparing to hit him again and he smiled at her.
“Damn you got quite a punch,” he grunted and she glared at him. “Trust me as much I enjoyed giving you a nice bitch slap, it was for your own good,” Dorin told her as he rubbed his stomach and glared at Bianca. “Lily, if you need blood tell me. It’s too dangerous for you to feed like that. New vampires kill their prey more often than they don’t due to the high fresh human blood gives them,” Dorin explained.
“It takes a while until they learn control. Their maker helps them learn to control and can stop them when they start to go too far but since you have no one who can stop you it’s best you stay away from that aspect of your vampirism for now. If you start to leave a trail of bodies King Silvano has ordered me to kill you,” he warned her then turned to the other vampire. “And you Bianca know as much!”
“I wouldn’t have let her kill him,” Bianca justified.