Tears came to Ashley’s eyes as hope sprang up in her chest. He was alive and she didn’t imagine the whole thing with him! She then paused as she reevaluated her situation. The blood now coursing through her body felt off a bit. Closing her eyes, she concentrated hard and turned her vision inward attempting to find out what kind of blood was in her. She caught fleeting images; Zoe trying to drip blood into her mouth and then Michael mounting her for some odd reason. Why the hell was he going to fuck her? Ah, there it was; Zoe was trying to prompt a feed reaction during sex. But it didn’t come to that. James then came busting in with a syringe. What did he do right before he put the blood into her belly? Her eyes sprang open in surprise as she got the fleeting glimpse of him taking his own blood and putting it directly into her. She knew that his blood was potent; it was one of the things that first attracted her to him. But his blood now? It was like some kind of super-blood that he had. Ashley was now feeling better than she had in decades and she felt like she could take on an army and win. Looking down at the stake in her hand, maybe that was what James wanted. She crumpled the note in her hand and looked up at the open door. Jezelle; That fucking cunt. This was all her doing and now she was taking over? Ashley focused her hearing and could hear that French bitch making some kind of speech out in the grand hall. “I’m coming, love,” Ashley whispered aloud and in her mind, hoping that if James was still near that he’d pick up on it. In a flash, Ashley was dressed in her favorite outfit and out the door with murder on her mind.*”… and so, in accordance vith our sacred laws and traditions,” Jezelle was saying in her French accent as she paced back and forth in front of the throne to the gathered throng of Vampires, “I ‘ereby take over ze throne of Metropolis as de reigning Princess.” She paused and glared at the crowd. There had been stiffer resistance than she’d expected but her troops and their blitzkrieg attack during tonight’s gathering had the ultimate effect that she’d been looking for. “I trust dat ‘dere are no objections, no?” She smiled at them sweetly. “Ve do ‘ave a var to plan against the Verevolf. Dey vill not get away with their ‘orrible atrocities, no? Ve ‘ave, ‘ow joo say, vell laid plans?””Yeah, I have an objection,” A man’s voice rang out from the entrance. “Why don’t you take your well laid plans and shove them up your well laid ass?””VHAT!” Jezelle screeched. “”ow dare joo! ‘oo is dat? Show ‘ourself at vonce!””Drop the fucking act and the lousy accent already, Jezelle.” James Parker said, glaring at her as he emerged from a shadow near the entryway to the hall. Jezelle’s eyes went wide as the last person she expected to see alive calmly walked forward. There was a general sharp intake of breath all around as other Vampires shared her shock. Some even shrank away from his presence as they got near and figured out that he was something weird. James pulled a sliver stake from underneath of his trench coat and pointed it at her. “You’ve been playing both sides of the field. You’ve been manipulating both the Vampires and the Werewolves to goad them into a war with each other. What was the play after that? Take over the wolves after they’d been beaten into submission?”Jezelle’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t have to answer to you,” she said, losing her cover accent. “I am the Princess now and you answer to me.””I don’t answer to anyone,” James countered. “As a lot of you are noticing, I’m not a Vampire nor am I a Human anymore. So fuck you, and fuck your claim to the throne.” In a flash, James reared back and let the stake fly. On reflex, Jezelle brought her hands up and dodged to the side. She clapped her hands together and caught the stake between them. The silver burned the flesh of her palms so she threw it to the side in disgust. She then smiled cruelly at him. “Did you really expect that to work?””No,” James admitted. “I just wanted your full attention so that she could get behind you.” He jerked his head up slightly. Before Jezelle could even ask what he meant, her body jerked as she felt a stake pierce her skin from behind. Looking down dumbfounded, she saw the tip of it now protruding from her chest. “Merde…” she swore as she felt the blackness overcome her.”That’s for trying to kill us you bitch,” Ashley hissed in her ear right before her body dissolved to ash. She took a step back to avoid the ash dust as it fell to the floor. She looked at her lover who was already walking her way. James stepped up to stand in front of her by the throne. He hooked his arm around her slender waist and gave her the most passionate kiss that he could. “I’ve missed you,” he murmured after they broke away.”I missed you too,” Ashley said, hugging him tightly. “Uhm,” she saw the Vampires behind James all waiting in mute shock. Witnessing two coups in a matter of minutes was practically unheard of. “Now what do we do?” she asked James in a whisper. James looked over his shoulder. Between Conrad and Jezelle both dying tonight, and them trying to figure out what James was, the Vampires all looked lost. He turned, squared his shoulders, and addressed them. “Alright all you Mistress Minions, what’s it going to be? Are you all going to toe the line and do what’s good for your species, or are you going to continue this little civil war that your now dead leader initiated?” He pulled out two more silver stakes from under his trench coat and his eyes dated around, looking for threats. The threats never came. One by one, each of Jezelle’s people either sheathed their weapons or dropped them where they stood. Michael, Zoe, and her contingent leapt into action to keep them at bay. James smiled. “Good choice,” he said. “Now we can face the real problem; war with the Werewolves. Jezelle did a pretty damn good job of getting them riled up so I doubt that they’ll be too receptive to peace talks. I’d say that we extend that olive branch anyways-“”Who died and made you Prince?” a Vampire shouted from the back. James pulled the scroll from his pocket and held it up for all to see. “Technically, Conrad did. I have his Will right here.” That made the Vampires stand up and take notice even though not all of them seemed ready to accept it. There were mutterings and side talk all around as people debated what he was saying. “Alright, I get it,” James said, “You all have no idea what I am now so you’re not ready to follow someone, or something, that might not be a Vampire, right?” Murmurs of assent and nods came back. “Fine, then in light of your unwillingness to follow my lead or follow Conrad’s wishes, then I hereby abdicate the throne,” James looked back at Ashley, who suddenly felt uncomfortable, “to Ashley.” James handed the scroll to her and slowly dropped to one knee, bowing his head. That spurred the Vampires into a unanimous decision as they now followed James in kneeling to Ashley. Her eyes went wide at the revelation that she was now in charge and that everyone now recognized her as Princess. She regained her composure quickly, taking the scroll from James and tucking it into the side of her thigh-high boot. “Very well. By your submission, I hereby take control of the Coven of Metropolis. Rise,” she ordered. As everyone got back to their feet, Ashley stepped forward and James slid behind her off to her right to take up a position of guardianship. “But James is correct; we have to do everything we can to end this as quickly as possible no matter what. I share his opinion that the Werewolves are not going to quit without a fight. I saw their hatred of us first hand. But we can’t do this alone.” Her mind worked furiously and she caught a mental suggestion from James that they recruit allies. She looked over at Michael and Zoe. “Michael, you’re still our Hunter and Liaison. Go to the Fae that you and James met with. Call in the favor they owe us if you have to. Zoe, you’re still the Sherriff. I need an assessment of our strengths and weaknesses to wage a short term and a prolonged war. We’re going to need every Vampire we have if we have to end this the hard way. Mika…” Ashley paused hating herself for having to issue this order as well as briefly hating everyone for putting her into this position. “Mika, take some able fighters with you and offer terms of peace to the Werewolves. I hope that the Lord and Lady are favorable in that the Werewolves will want immediate peace. If not, be prepared to fight your way out of there.””Let’s get to work people. We don’t have a lot of time.”*James looked around Conrad’s… no, now it was Ashley’s grand chambers. The place made his house look like a rundown shack. Hell, he could fit his entire house into just the entryway and living room alone. He let out a long, slow breath as he reminisced about the long conversations, debates, and banter that he’d had in here with the now past Prince of Metropolis. That led him to think about others that he’d lost along the way. The front door opened and Ashley came storming in. James smiled, now able to be happy that she was awake and well. He crossed the living room to her and started to open his mouth in greeting right before Ashley decked him square in the face. James went skidding across the wooden floor, taking a very expensive Persian rug with him.
“How dare you!” Ashley screamed at him. James jumped to his feet, holding and working his jaw around to see if it was broken. Ashley was still coming at him with such venom in her voice and stare that he hadn’t seen in her in years. “I think that you’re dead for three days, I lie in state waiting to die for another two or three, and then the first time I see you alive you fucking give me control of the whole damn coven?”By the time Ashley got to him, James was ready for the flurry of blows that came at inhuman speed. He ducked down like a boxer and expertly dodged or blocked each one. To him, Ashley was moving slow and James chalked another power up to his new state. When he found an opening, he grabbed her arms, pinning them behind her back. He pulled her close and looked down into her deep green eyes. Then he kissed her hard on the mouth. “I missed you and was worried about you too,” he said softly. “Thanks for brining me back.”Ashley glared up at him. She wanted to be angry. She wanted to have her little hissy fit. But the worry and the apology in his eyes and she broke. Relaxing, she leaned her head onto his shoulder and cried. “I thought that I had lost you,” she wailed. “I thought that you were gone for good and that I had failed in bringing you back.””If there’s a next time, stay with the body, huh?” James chuckled, releasing his grip on her wrists to just hold her and stroke her hair.”There’s not going to be a next time,” Ashley said, “because I don’t intend on attempting to turn anyone ever again.” She leaned up and kissed him tenderly. “In all of the centuries that I’ve been a Vampire, you’re the only person I’ve ever tried to turn.””Wow,” James said, caught off guard by that admission. “I… uh…””Now shut up and fuck me.”James grinned. “Whatever the lady… sorry… whatever the Princess wants.”THE END