• The sun had barely set over the purple mountains as Sera woke to another moonrise and a night full of possibility. her long crimson hair and grey eyes stood out in the growing darkness. She flicked the stray strands over her shoulder and smiled, her fangs protruding enough to add an air of mystery to her appearance but not reveal her true nature. She crossed the room to her window and sniffed the air, there was no trace of the hunter tonight but she would wait for her mate before venturing beyond the gates of their massive compound. Turning back into the room she grabbed a leather jacket off the floor, more for appearances than any need for warmth, but more importantly this jacket would provide cover for the large sword Damien would help her strap to her back.
    She smiled at the thought of her warrior mate and began to remember things she had thought long forgotten. Damien had been a warrior before the change and he had brought that with him into this life. He was overprotective and never let Sera out of his sight without at least one weapon. He had changed her so he would never have to face the pain of losing her and from the first trace of the hunter in the woods he had ensured her safety above his own. But sera was not without gifts of her own, she recalled vividly the pain in his eyes as he trained her, having to see her as a target and see how weak she really was, but she also recalled the pride in those eyes when she dodged a blow or warded off a killing strike.

    Her thoughts and memories flooded into Damien's mind as he slept and woke him. Their bond was far stronger than most, for in any other case it would be impossible for a creator to hear the mind of his child much less to see the vivid images sera's mind projected. They had often joked that she was a mental mute, for where Damien could usually hear others thoughts as though they were spoken all anyone could ever get from her were images, frighteningly vivid in their clarity. As Damien awoke he was confronted with the image of himself pinned beneath her, her fangs inches from his neck. "SERA! HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU TO KEEP YOUR THOUGHTS TO YOURSELF THIS EARLY IN THE EVENING? love, the moon has barely risen and yet you're contemplating battle plans, is something wrong?”

    The concern in his voice snapped her out of her thoughts and the images abruptly ended. She began to pace the floor, her usually bright eyes guarded and fearful, as though she were hiding something. He could tell even without her saying it that something she had seen had frightened her. He reached out to touch her and found that she was shaking. " Sera, honey, what did you see?" Damien had learned very early that Sera possessed the uncanny ability to see glimpses of the future, he had worked with her for 2 centuries to try to perfect this ability into a kind of early warning system but nothing had worked, the visions were still completely random. Damien was only able to stare as his mate fell to her knees. He tried to see into her mind but it was as though she were blocking him. he waited as she blinked and began to speak. "The hunter....shes coming... tonight" the terror in her voice hinted that she was withholding something, but he couldn't figure out what. She ran to the closet and for the first time in their shared existence began to strap on every weapon she owned, as though she were preparing for war.
    He watched shocked as she pulled the two sig sauer handguns out of a drawer and slid them into the twin holsters she wore on her hips. she loaded the straps of the tank top she wore with throwing stars and knives. This was unusual, Sera usually only wore the ice-hardened steel sword he had had specially forged for her. If she was scared enough to prepare like this, something big was coming. She stepped towards him with her sword in her hands and allowed him to go through the routine of strapping it into the specially made Kevlar sheath on her back. Tonight he couldn’t help but notice how little of the small vampire the bulletproof material actually covered and made a mental note that if they survived the night, he would never let her out of the house without a bulletproof vest. He turned to grab his own guns as Sera slipped out of the room and down the stairs
    He preferred larger weapons, but he had to admit Sera had deadly accuracy with her handguns. Sera was almost in a panic as she ran down the stone stairs that led from their home, she knew that the hunter wasn't coming for her tonight. She wanted Damien and nothing was going to distract her from that task. Sera had seen the exact moment of her mate's death and knew she would have to be quick tonight. "over my cold dead ashes you b***h" she growled, her fangs now bared in a clear threat.

    In the woods outside the vampires' lair someone else prepared for battle. Almost invisible against the backdrop of trees and snow Dahlia Drake was loading her own weapons, the only difference lay in the ammunition. Blessed silver casings with liquid silver oxide contained in an explosive tip and laced with garlic. 100% effective...that is if you got close enough to fire them. Dahlia was so focused on her guns that she didn't even hear the soft footsteps on the ground behind her until it was too late.

    Sera slipped out of the trees watching the hunter prepare for a battle that would never come. She had tracked the hunter to the very gates of their home and circled back through the woods to come in behind her prey. she drew her sword, knowing that the sound of her guns firing would alert Damien to the fight and leave him unprotected. She crept toward the target, the blade slicing through the air in a lethal arc. The hunter was dead before she even knew what had happened, which was sad, Sera would have loved to make her suffer as she had planned to make Sera suffer. The irresistible scent of fresh human blood filled the air as the pine needles of the forest floor turned the same rare crimson as Sera's hair. "I warned you once hunter, if you wanted him you would have to get through me first" she hissed as she turned on her heel and vanished into the cold night.

    As she ran silently through the woods, she began to think again, knowing that the images would assure him that she hadn't gone far. She knew she would have to block her thoughts of what she had done, he could never know that she had killed a hunter and how close he had come to death. She ran faster, just wanting to get back to him before anything else could happen. She grinned as she watched the animals of the forest hide from her as she passed by, she would never harm them, but they still saw her as she was, another predator in the food chain... speaking of food chain, the smell of all that blood was making her very thirsty.

    Meanwhile, Damien was running through the house in a full on panic. His beloved Sera had disappeared and the hunter was coming, he would never forgive himself if he allowed something to happen to her and for the one that harmed her, the entire universe would not be big enough to hide in. He gave up searching the house and ran out into the woods, his footsteps barely making a sound. He had to find her and protect her, that was his job, he should never have let her out of his sight. He had just reached the edge of the forest when he was mentally assaulted by a wave of images that could only come from Sera. He had to lean against a tree to support himself, what he saw was so shocking. His Sera, covered in blood and running. What had happened to her? Whose blood was that? Why was she running? He had to get to her, to make sure that above all she was okay and the blood on her body was not her own. He took off running again, using the images she had shown him to guide his way. He would find her, and if even one hair on her head was out of place or there was one scratch on her, there would be hell to pay for whoever caused it.

    Sera heard Damien before she even saw him, there was only one other creature in the forest that could crash through it like that. She simply sat down under the tree she was in front of and pulled her knees into her chest, her tears leaving red trails down her face as she sobbed. She had never taken a life before, even when she hunted she was careful to never kill another living creature. But now, here she sat covered in human blood, she had taken a life to preserve the one she loved, did that make it right?