Night and Day

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"Funny, seems to me like games are what you excel at." Ebony replied thinly. She too was aching, but Frost's magic was already corrupting her feelings. Love had been twisted into nothing more than animal desire.

"You wouldn't be a danger if you drank a little each day." Glenda replied. "Take care of yourself, and there is no danger."

"What business is that of yours?" Marie shot back, caring little for her reputation, only Katie's safety. "Don't think you have me fooled with that 'one for the many' bullshit! You want Katherine for your own gain, not to save anyone's ass but your own!"

"And you think that he doesnt?" The man asked, motioning towards the master vampire. "Why do you think he's really at this school? Because he's protecting her? From what? Us? Jack?"

"I..." The usually sharp tongued Marie hesitated as she glanced up at Malik; she honestly had no idea whyhe had come. "I think it best you vultures leave now. This school is not a part of your guild. I am not a guild member, and despite what you think, Malik is not here to steal my daughter!"

"We shall see about that." The male hunter said as he snapped a finger at the others and turned to leave. "You keep putting your faith in vampires. It will cost you dearly sooner or later."

"A risk I will gladly take." Marie replied darkly, unaware she was holding her breath as the guild members left.

Julian slapped her on the back as the men left, snorting as she exhaled. "Your daughter is trouble, Red. I don't know why you won't let them have her." 
"You are all about making life easier, aren't you, wolf?" Malik hissed. "Good thing no one has to put trust in you. Look what became of the last thing that did."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Julian shouted.

Marie was already exhausted, and it was showing. "Really, after what just happened your going to have a pissing contest?" She snapped, glaring at each man in turn.

"He is right." Katie breathed as they walked away from the main hall. "I'm nothing but trouble. I should turn myself in to the hunters." She paused, looking up at the sleeping windows of her friends. "They are so lucky, Toby. They don't know what we know." 

Malik broke away from Julian, giving Marie a sad look. "Forgive me, my dear."

"That just makes them vulnerable." Tobias told Katie, reaching out to gently tuck some of her golden hair behind her ear. "You could have a wonderful life, if you accept what you are."

Marie held up her hand to silence Malik and shook her head. "I'm the one who should appologise. I shouldn't have snapped like I did, at either of you." She added as she watched Julian walk away.

Katie closed her eyes, once again seeing herself feeding on Toby. She'd been so greedy and cruel, like a true monster. "It's almost dawn. I'll see you later." She whispered, running toward the dorms. All at once she ran back and pressed her lips to his.

"You will hate me for saying it but the wolf is trouble, Marie." Malik told her, reaching out to gently run his fingers through her hair. "His hot headed behavior will end up getting someone killed. I worry about who that might be."

Tobias grinned and leaned his forehead lightly against Katie's. "It will still be almost dawn in ten minutes." He chuckled, kissing her one more time.

"He was my friend for so many years." Marie breathed. "Then I was married, I had Katie... I knew Julian, he could never resist the beauty she grew up to be." She added, her green eyes fluttering closed as Malik threaded his fingers through her hair. "I had to keep her away from him."

The hunters didn't leave campus. They merely shifted locations to Glenda's office. Katie had the misfortune to walk in on this meeting. The eldest male pulled a gun on her, hid lips set in a thin line. "Saunders power is growing, Glenda. We cannot afford to play games anymore and you know it." He hissed.

"Which one?" Malik asked. "The dark or the light haired one?" He was so close to her now, his lips all but touching hers.

"This looks like a game to you?" Glenda asked thinly. "I have been keeping Katherine safe all these years! You have no right to come in here and start pointing guns at people!"

"I spent so much time worrying that he would develop a taste for Katie... I never considered Julian would want Ebony." Marie breathed, seeming to lean a little closer. Malik reminded her of just how alone she had felt all these months.

"It's become a necessity, Glenda." The hunter named Gray said firmly, yanking Katie against him. "No more watching her. We need her. Jack grows bolder by the day."

Malik's long fingers slid out of her hair and down along her cheeks. "Wolves are unpredictable. It's hard to know what they want."

Glenda was somehow remaining calm as this all unfolded. "Perhaps, but he is still just one man. You really think I, or the master vampire protecting her bloodline, would allow Saunders anywhere near Katherine? He may be a cruel bastard, but even Jack Saunders wont risk his own daughter. He makes a move on this school... Ebony will be burned alive."

"It's hard to know what any man wants." Marie breathed, her long lashes brushing her cheeks for a brief moment before her deep emerald eyes looked up at Malik.

"You expect me to believe that you would destroy your own granddaughter?" Gray asked, pressing his gun to Katie's temple. "And you can't tell me the master vampire doesn't want this treasure for himself!"

"Not hard for me." Malik breathed. His lips brushed her own. He couldn't help himself. He'd waited so long for this moment.

"If it kept such powerful blood from the hands of Jack Saunders, then yes." Glenda replied without hesitation. "If Malik wanted Katie's blood, he would have taken it long before now."

That gentle kiss broke down Marie's defenses. The former hunter was tasting the vampire before her rather more insistently, like she was seventeen again and doing something she shouldn't be.

"He's probably waiting for her to mature." Gray hissed. "Hell, he probably won't take blood because she's his daughter! You can't tell me a regular unregistered would have the power to produce an offspring!"

It had been so long since he'd had the cherry tart taste of her. Malik's fingers came to rest on her hips and he held her against him. So very long.

Glenda finally rose to her feet. She should have known that her own child's wild ways would come back to haunt them all eventually. It was little wonder Marie seemed to ignore how much like her Ebony was. "I can tell you whatever I like." She told the hunter coolly. "Need I remind you just how much your guild owes my family?"

Marie suddenly leaned back, her wide green eyes staring up at Malik as slender fingers pressed to her lips. She remembered that taste, and way those strong hands held her. It couldn't be though...

"At this point I'm starting to wonder if the lot of you are not more trouble than you are worth." Gray hissed. "I will let her go once we have a pint of her blood and not an ounce less." He continued to hold onto Katie, giving her another shake. "Don't do it and we'll take it all. I don't give a damn about your alliance with a master vampire." 

"Have I displeased you?" Malik asked, his dual colored eyes never leaving her face. "I'm sorry. I'll take my leave. It's near dawn anyway."

Glenda moved around her desk, keeping her gaze on Grey and his gun. "That alliance has been keeping the humans of this city safe for many years now. My daughter's alliance with a werewolf, that keep my school safe. Tell me... What do you do to keep people safe?"

"Wait..." Marie's fingers reached out, grabbing hold of one of Malik's cool hands. "We haven't met before, have we?" She asked, having never been so uncertain about something before. Had someone toyed with her memories?

"Where do you want me to start? You haven't seen Jack Saunders causing trouble or vampires eating innocents from the town have you? That's where we come in. And don't for a moment tell me your master vampire is responsible for that too." Gray snapped. 

"I have to go." Malik said, suddenly extremely pressed for time. "You need to rest, my dear. You have a few hours before you teach your class. I wish you well." He added, leaning down to kiss her forehead before disappearing into a cloud of black smoke.

"Very well, I wont tell you." Glenda sneered. "Katherine is still under age, and under the protection of this school, you have no authority to demand any blood from her!"

Marie was left staring at the coming dawn, feeling confused and useless. Things weren't as they should be, kissing Malik had proven that much.

"I hold the upper hand here!" Gray shouted. "I have a gun to the..." All at once he would find himself flying across the room and slamming into the wall. Again Glenda's ornate plates trembled but did not fall. The other hunters stared at the master vampire who had appeared from nowhere and was now inspecting Katie for any damages. The gun settled gently on the elder woman's desk.

Glenda felt like she had been holding her breath the entire time, not wise for a woman of her years. "Thank you, Malik, he was becoming rather tiresome." She breathed.

"Gran...what is going on?" Katie asked, pushing away from the elder vampire to stand before her grandmother. The hunters were fleeing like children, their cars tearing down the long driveway. 
"Is everything under control, Glenda? I'm afraid I must leave you now." Malik said, lifting up Gray to take him to his car.

Glenda nodded to Malik and wrapped an arm around Katie. "Thank you. I'm afraid the situation spiralled out of control faster than I thought."

Malik nodded though didn't seem the least bit surprised. "If things are getting this bad perhaps it is time I took what is mine and hid it away. The stirrings around us are becoming hard to ignore, Glenda." He told her cryptically. 
Katie was frowning at her grandmother, confused when the older woman's expression didn't even change. Did she know what he meant?

"You stayed away far too long to lay claim now." Glenda replied, though didn't enlighten Katie. "Perhaps you had better sleep on it and speak with Marie tomorrow evening." The headmistress was beginning to see that she would lose both her daughter and her granddaughter very soon.

"You know I would not do that to Marie. That was never what it was about." Malik said softly, glancing toward Katie. "You do the child a great injustice by not putting her in the night class. She needs to learn her full potential. Especially before that boy decides to teach it to her. I cannot abide in those rouge clans like his having control over things." He disappeared after speaking this, leaving Katie feeling like she'd slept through half the conversation.
"He scares me." She admitted to the elder woman. "He speaks so softly...like every word is super important. I feel like I'm missing something and I hate that."