I waited in a line of other humans, ready to back up the vampires on the walls if needed. They were standing in the front line because they had the ability to see. If the leeches made it into the lit courtyard, then it would be our turn to fight for our lives. The tech experts were also standing at the ready, watching for incoming threats on the borders.

It was not surprising. We had all known that they would come at us eventually once they figured out that we were threatening them, and it seemed eventually had arrived. Still, it was unnerving to know that a force of creatures beyond our own power was coming for us, stalking us like a pack of vicious carnivores circling prey. My usual strategy of catching the leeches off guard was not useful in the current moment, because we were a known threat.

I was not the only one being affected by the wait, the nervous tension was apparent in all the humans around me. Knowing that the threat was coming, but not being able to see what was in the outer darkness put everyone on edge.

Still, that same feeling of risk made me, for the first time, truly glad that there were bloodsuckers on our side of the fight.

The wait was agonizing. It was almost a relief when we had the first warning from the tech humans of a breech in the territory, but then there were long minutes before we heard anything else, whispered words that a vampire on the wall spotted a fleet of vehicles heading in our direction through the darkness.

Another half hour lapsed before the attack began.

Although I couldn't see from my vantage point closer to the main building, I could figure out what was going on from what I could hear. The enemy bloodsuckers were working to scale the walls, and our vampires were doing what they could to keep them down, fending them off with guns and other ranged weapons, or melee when they got too close. I only saw Vienne a couple of times, smirking as if she were pleased by what was happening.

We humans were not called on to fight that night, while the bloodsuckers on the walls held them off until a few hours before dawn when the attacking leeches fled to find shelter from the sun.

Several teams of humans and bloodsuckers were sent out to follow the fleeing vampires to pick off the ones they could. One team did not return, but the others took out a few more leeches so it was not entirely a loss.

There were a few injuries amongst our bloodsuckers, and we lost one fledgling when they were stabbed through the heart by a lucky crossbow shot.

After everything had settled down for the day, we were left to speculate about whether the army of leeches would return again when the sun fell. I sought out Vienne, because she would be upset after the newest losses, and for some inexplicable reason I had a desire to want to help her, to comfort her.

She was in her chambers when I located her, reclining in her favourite spot, looking as if she was relaxing without a care in the world, until I got close enough to see the red swirling in her irises.

"Jamie," she said with a smile, but there was stiffness to the expression I was not used to. Her smiles usually looked so easy even when she was faking them, but there was something missing here.

"What's wrong?" I asked, although I understood what had upset her.

"What's wrong? Absolutely nothing. We held off the attackers last night admirably."

"We took our first losses," I pointed out.

She looked away from me. "I know."

"It's unavoidable," I said, as I sat down next to her without waiting for permission.

She did not meet my eyes. "I'm aware of that."

"So is everyone who fought. It's not your fault."

She laughed at that, and then tilted her head back to look at the ceiling. "Not all of it."

I struggled to think of what to say to her. Usually she was always speaking, but right now she was being so oddly quiet.

At a loss, I waited, and she finally spoke. "I'm incredibly furious at the council right now. I knew this was coming when I initiated attacks, but I'm still angry at them for hurting my humans, my fledglings. I want to kill them all."

I couldn't disagree.

"If only I had more power, I could have destroyed them all myself in the beginning and no one would have needed to be put at risk, but there's so many of them, and so few that see the dismal colour they've painted the world, Jamie. If I had known what I know now, I would have deserted the council side back during the suppression wars, or worked to undermine them from the inside. Maybe you're lucky, Jamie, because you don't remember what we've lost."

"I might not remember it, but I know that this isn't the world I want, either."

She looked sad, and a pang of guilt hit me because I had not been trying to make her feel worse. Shit, I was not used to her behaving any way besides invulnerable and I had no idea how to go about handling this strange mood.

"I wonder if they'll be back tonight. I hope not, but we'll have to be more cautious. It would be nice if I had a more direct line of communication with Davidson than his fake spy."

"You trust him?"

"He's unvampirically honourable. I don't know how he's survived this long. Besides, he did warn us about the attack. We still would have overcome, of course, but our losses would have been far greater. Perhaps I should stop messing around with his mind a bit, he did do us a great service, although, that's easy to say since I'll no longer be spending any time with the council regardless of what I decide. I hate those fools, but oddly, I'm also sad to lose the quarterlies since my life was set by them for such a long time. And everything is so real now. Perhaps I'm getting cold feet, now that it's begun."

She was looking away from me again. "But I can't afford that right now. There's so much to do, and I am pleased I upped my vamp count by a few last night."

"Your vamp count?"

"Isn't that what the humans who like to kill vampire call it? I don't see why I can't have one, too. I almost feel bad because I recognized a couple of them, though. If everyone could be reasonable and understand what is truly important, then none of this would be necessary."

"Where'd you hear about vamp counts?"

She smiled at me, looking amused. "I talk to a lot of humans, haven't you noticed? I've picked up all sorts of things over the years, feeble attempts at beginning their own rebellion, the ideas, the innovations... It's glorious. I don't like when that potential is wasted."

Her smile faltered. "I really hate when my humans—and now also my fledglings—are taken from me before their time. I intend to pay back this insult many times over. I don't care that—"

She cut off and looked towards the door, just as the guard said, "It's Drak, Vienne."

She pouted and then released a dramatic sigh. "Allow him in."

"Vienne, I—" he began, and then his eyes found me, sitting beside Vienne. "Jamie?"

I didn't know that her friend knew who I was. His eyes were wide; apparently he had not expected to find me sitting with her. Maybe he had not seen us together since he frequently left on searches for more recruits, but regardless his surprise made the atmosphere seem incredibly awkward. "Hello, Drak," I said, hoping to interrupt his surprise.

"Hello," he repeated with an almost imperceptible shake of his head. He looked back to Vienne, whose smirk had reasserted itself as she flashed her fangs at her friend. It would have looked almost hostile, but it was easy to see the show for what it was, more posturing.

"Did you need something, Drak?" she finally prompted.

"Well, I did want to talk to you about something, but it can wait until the afternoon."

"Oh, it's no trouble. You may as well tell me now." She was clearly enjoying his discomfort.

"It was just about one of the humans, but it really is not—"

"Don't be silly, Drak. You're my friend, of course I want to know anything that you think is important enough to tell me."

"Stop messing with the poor vampire," I told her, recalling what he had said when she had been tormenting me months before. He grinned.

She glanced at me with a sharp inquisitive look. "Wait, you never call me a vampire. I've only ever heard you call me leech or bloodsucker. Why does Drak get special treatment?"

I shrugged as if the idea were no big deal. "It feels natural to call him that, as opposed to..." I grinned at the fact she was the one off balance for once.

"Well, I'll come back later," Drak said as he beat a hasty retreat at the speed of a vampire.

Vienne rolled her eyes at his departure, or maybe she was still bothered by my teasing comments.

"I never was offended at those terms, but I am offended that Drak gets put into a special category."

"Well, he is different."

"And I'm not?" she asked. Her brows furrowed and for a second I wondered if my teasing had hurt her feelings, but surely not. But still...

"You're definitely different."

"Well, that's something." She sniffed delicately. I could not tell if she was being genuine or not, if she were actually upset or if it was just another game.

It was impossible to say when I had gotten so trapped in her web that I didn't even want to escape, but I found myself saying. "You're not a leech or a bloodsucker, you're just Vienne."

She did not smile, which was more surprising than if she had. Instead she watched me, warm brown eyes looking at me as if she were trying to read my mind. Finally she relaxed. "I dare say that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Jamie."

"Well, it's true."

She smiled again, demonstrating her fangs. "You're definitely different, too, Jamie. You don't balk at my fangs or flinch when I move quickly. Why are you so imperturbable? Even my bravest human finds me intimidating from time to time. Why aren't you afraid of me?"

"Why would I be?"

She laughed, clearly amused.

"Nothing you can do will make me afraid. What's the worst thing you can do to me?" It was a challenge.

She looked off into the distance as if pondering. "Let's see... I could kill you in unimaginably painful ways... I could kill all the people you care about, I could..."

It was all talk, and we both knew that. "You're not going to do that."

"I could kill you and have you stuffed to extend your aesthetic value."

I snorted. "Right."

She rolled her eyes, apparently now challenged.

"Brand you."

"Been there."

"Contain you."

"Done that. And it would be too boring to repeat any of that, I bet."

"It was not like I did it for my enjoyment in the first place," she said, shooting a pouty look at me.

I raised an eyebrow. "You were amused by pushing me."

"I just wanted to see how far you would go before you'd snap, I suppose."

"There's nothing you would do that I'm afraid of, so you might as well give up, Vienne."

"Turn you into a vampire?"

Well, I was not going to let that idea go anywhere. I leaned forward, closer to her, and said firmly, "No, Vienne. You're not going to do that. I don't want to be anything other than human."

She sighed. "As you wish. I wasn't serious anyways."

"Good," I said, and I kissed her. She was enthusiastic as ever, encouraging me to take more liberties, and I did.

* * * * *

A couple of weeks passed without much incident. We went on a few more daylight raids, but found locations deserted of both vampires and now, humans. We plundered everything useable, but it became increasingly obvious that the council vampires were consolidating their power somewhere, likely to shore up their own defenses. We heard reports that there were vampires amassing in the capital, and in several other locations.

It was a stalemate, so we used the time to prepare. Surely the vampires would not stay hidden in their fortresses forever.

Under the safety of the sun, we were on the move, doing what we could to draw in any stragglers and searching for any vulnerable council members. During the nights, the vampires of the council ruled, and we found evidence that they were hunting the remaining free humans ruthlessly. I had never seen the wilds so unnervingly empty of people when I did venture out.

Still, it was strangely peaceful, like the calm before the storm.