Part 16:

"Where is your lover?" Vince asked a still seething Taker the following morning at breakfast.
"She had to leave."
"Leave to go where?"
"Parts unknown," Vlad provided as he joined the conversation with a nod to Vince indicating he could leave, his face covered with a thick layer of sunscreen lotion that made his skin shine. "Well, to you, those parts are unknown, but Delilah and I know them all too well."
"What are you trying to do? To make me jealous of a life you and Delilah shared almost fifteen hundred years ago?"
"We were lovers."
"And?"
"She claims to be the first of all vampires," Vlad hissed, "and I know her claim to be untrue. Will you side with her or with me?"
"Who I side with is unimportant as you will try to kill me either way."
"That is a fact."
"So why are you here?" Taker asked, getting up from the table where he'd been having breakfast with his mate's brood, "you want to kill me, do so. But do not play with me as if I was a puppy."
"Oh, I will kill you however, I will wait for your lovely mate to return. Killing you in front of her will be much more interesting."
"That is if you get to kill me at all."
Taker sat back down and stared at his still bloody steak. Dismissing Vlad and Vince with his attitude alone. Somehow, after his encounter with Vlad, the taste of red meat had deserted him. He turned to Gangrel, Edge and Christian and sighed. After Delilah's disappearing act, they'd all three appeared on his doorstep, looking for some direction. Reluctantly, he'd taken them under his wing, but found himself frustrated by their lack of reaction to everything.
"How are you guys doing?"
"We're fine Master."
"Let's get this straight. Delilah might be your Mistress or whatever, but I am not your Master, is that clear?"
"But," Christian said, looking up at him innocently, "since you are the Mistress' mate and since she is your mate, you have to be our Master."
"You boys already have a Mistress. You don't need a master too."
"But we do."
Taker sighed again and shook his head. Oh yeah, Delilah was going to have to pay for this.

"The tests confirm it," Jazz's boss said, "it was by her blood that it all began."
"Wow... the mother of all vampires."
"Do not be fooled by what she represents. She is and remains a cold-blooded killer. One who had tainted humanity."
"But still nothing! Our mission remains clear. Delilah must die!"
"I know that but."
"But what?"
"I stood in that ring with her. for a moment there, we were equals."
"Equals? To her, we are food. And had she known you were a hunter, she would have been delighted to kill you or turn you."
"Adelaide." Jazz sighed, "I'm."
"Leave me be."
"But you need."
Adelaide's right hand man shook his head and led Jazz from the room.
"You have to respect her wishes. She has been keeping herself alive through sheer willpower for so many years now and this is as close as we've ever gotten to Delilah. Adelaide's nerves are frayed."
"And she doesn't know the half of it."
"What else is there?"
"Delilah is gone."
"Gone? Gone where?" Eric asked, panic distorting his features.
"I don't know. All I know is that she left."
"How did you find that out?"
"From Vince's. business partner. I think he is the one Adelaide feared was controlling Vince."
"A vampire then?"
"Oh most definitely so."
"Do you have his name? We'll look into his history."
"I have his name all right, which is why we don't have to look into his history. It was Vlad Tepes."
"Tepes gave you information on Delilah's whereabouts?"
"Now you know why I wanted to talk to Adelaide about this?"
"Yes. But it's too late now. We have to assume he knows you're a hunter."
"Which makes me a target."
"Not necessarily. Vlad has a history of unpredictability. I wouldn't be surprised if his plan is to push you as a threat to Delilah to have her worry about you and be too busy for him."
"I would probably do the same if I were him."
"Tepes is everything but dumb. He will bear watching."
"I will get to."
"No. You're to stay as far away from Tepes as humanly possible."
"But."
"But nothing! Chances are he already knows that you're a hunter and as such, you are a threat to him. Maybe not a great threat but a threat nonetheless and as such, he'll want to get rid of you."
"What should I do? Just quit?"
"No, the WWF is our best lead to Delilah. Just stay the hell away from Dracula."
"It's very hard for me to associate Dracula and Delilah to the beautiful people I've met and."
Without looking overly disturbed, Eric reached up and slapped Jazz. "Snap out of it!"
"I am sorry. I didn't even realize I."
"Go back to your room. You've been compromised."
Shock rocked through Jazz's mind and she ran to her room, slamming the door shut. Eric was right, she was compromised. In her mind, she hated vampires and everything attached to them. She'd lost all of her family, mother, father, brother, uncle, to blood suckers. Then again, since the family business was vampire killing, it was a known risk, one they'd all known and accepted. Killing vampires was the one thing they had been willing to do for more than a month without getting restless. It was instinctive, genetic almost. Knowing she'd been swayed by one of them, by their mind tricks. it made her sick to her stomach. Sick enough to do the one thing she thought she'd never do.

Part 17:

"What is this place?" Kane asked Delilah as she opened the front door to the small house in an affluent Rome neighborhood.
"It's my house. The house my first Roman lover gave to me."
"And it survived all this time?"
"Well, the original house had been destroyed many times over but I bought the land upon which it originally rested."
"Why? To hear you tell it, your memories of the place aren't all good."
"True. However, this is a historic landmark. This is the house that saw the birth of Delilah, goddess of the blood."
"I suppose so. What are we doing here? I was under the understanding that Vlad's castle was in Transylvania."
"So it is. However, I believe in preparation."
"Preparation?"
"Yes," Delilah said with a smile as she opened one of the doors to the basement where she'd led Kane, "preparation."
Kane let out an appreciative whistle as he eyed the veritable armory. Swords, bows, arrows, scimitars, weapons of every era gleamed in the dim light.
"Get what you need. I need to get some clothes from my rooms."
"Clothes?"
"Yes... Delilah is making a comeback as she first came into the world."
"Women..." Kane sighed. "What should I bring?" he asked as he picked up a sword.
"Everything we can carry."
"It's not as if we're going into war Delilah."
"It's exactly like that," Delilah said, sweeping out of the room.

"What's wrong?" Shane asked his new lover as Vlad paced the room, staying well away from the light from the window.
"Your precious Delilah is playing games with me."
"She is not my precious anything. I was... fooled... manipulated..."
"Such instant loyalty to me. How I wish your brain weren't so soft Shane. You would have made me a worthy companion..."
"Then give me your strength," Shane said, quickly moving off the bed, naked as he'd been at his birth, and kneeling in front of Vlad, offering him his white neck, "and I will be the companion you need."
Tepes looked down at the offering and felt his fangs grow with the need to feed. But he pulled away. His gift was too precious to be shared.
"You are more useful to me as you are."
"But you are so lonely."
"I care nothing for loneliness. I want one thing..."
"To destroy Delilah. And so you shall my love."
"Oh, this isn't love sweet child. It's merely me playing with your mind as Delilah first did."
"But I..."
"Leave me," Vlad sighed, unwilling to explain anything else.
Vlad threw Shane a robe and opened the door to his suite. The McMahon heir left the room without a word and Vlad picked up his cell phone, pressing a few keys.
"Any sign of her?" he asked without preamble.
"No Master."
"Are you sure?"
"We have sentinels on guard every hour of the day. They have seen nothing."
"She is there. This is the only place where she could be."
"We will double the guards."
"Do that. And remember, capture her, do not kill her."
"We won't master. We swear it."
"Good. Send her back to me with all the necessary precautions... but send her back alive."
"Yes."
Vlad slammed down the phone and growled loudly. Delilah should know better than to play games with him...
"How much money do you have exactly?" Kane asked his companion as they alighted from her private jet and got into a compact SUV.
"Enough to afford all of these little gadgets."
"You think ahead."
"I had time. After all, until the past fifty years, the only way for a woman to get any form of respect was through money. So I got money... and then I got more money and then..."
"More money."
"Exactly. Money reinforced my power."
"So why bother with anything at all?"
"Because being idle is boring. I tried it."
"True. I did too... Hundred years."
"And?"
"It was good for the soul."
"True. I spent a long time in the East, learning martial arts... over three hundred years. I maintained a state of meditation for over 2 years. It completely changed me."
"For the better?"
"I would like to think so."
Delilah drove in silence, her mind on the battle ahead. Thoughts came together in her mind as she drew closer to her goal. From Markus' words, she had gathered that Vince had been under Vlad's mind control for many years now. Having shared with her former lover her love of gladiators, she knew he'd used the WWFE to draw her back to him. And like an idiot, she had come running to him. She looked out to the road. By her calculations, they would be at Vlad's castle in little over an hour. What they would find there, Delilah didn't know... but she was glad they were going in armed.
"We're here."
Delilah stopped the vehicle on top of a hill and Kane and her got out. The hill opened into a lush valley in the middle of which stood a castle. Lush though it was, the valley was completely devoid of tall trees, giving its occupants a perfect view of any incoming forces. Delilah was surprised to see how little of the valley had changed. Now, as he had then, Vlad for the next person who would want to wage war on him.
"We wait for nightfall," Delilah said curtly, moving the SUV out of sight behind the last line of trees.
Kane almost balked at her commanding tone but then he saw the determination on her face. She wasn't acting out of choice but out of necessity.

Part 18:

Night fell fast and Delilah and Kane set out, with her using the main road, and Kane setting off on a far more circuitous route, their weapons' arsenal with him... well most of it. The goddess of the blood walked quickly down the path, her sandaled feet lifting small clouds of dirt on the road. She finally made it to the castle's moat and waited until a voice came from the castle.
"Who comes here?"
"A noblewoman seeking a place to rest for the night."
Delilah was suddenly bathed in harsh light and she heard the speaker's sharp intake of breath when he saw her. If Vlad was as sentimental as he thought he was, whoever was looking down at her knew exactly who she was as she wore a perfect replica of a red stola and its matching cloak, both of them gifts from Vlad which she had worn for the painter he'd hired to paint her portrait.
"Lady Delilah."
"Yes. Open the doors."
Delilah wasn't surprised however when she stepped into the castle's inner court and saw that over fifty archers had their bows and arrows aimed at her.
"Our lord Tepes has precise instructions where you are concerned," said an effete young man, dressed in the black his master adored.
"I would be surprised if he hadn't. And?"
"You are to be captured and sent to him."
"Is that a fact?"
"Yes."
"No," Delilah said sweetly as she pulled a pair of swords from hidden scabbards in her cloak, "if Vlad wants me, he will have to come for me himself."
"Att..."
The young man's words died in his throat as Delilah slashed it. Before the first drop of his blood hit the ground, three others fell by her hand while Kane's victims fell from the ramparts as quickly as he ran along the narrow ledge, his scimitar leaving a bloody trail behind him. By the time he made it down to the inner court, Delilah was ripping off her cloak and her stola, revealing an off the shoulder unitard in the same colors as her Roman wear.
"Impressive," he whistled as Delilah tied knives to her calves and thighs.
"Twenty-five hundred years of fighting my way through life... what did you think I'd do? Run scared?"
"No but..."
"We'll discuss it on our way back. These people were nothing more than fodder to our blades."
"None of them had been turned," Kane said as both him and Delilah stepped over the corpses.
"But you saw how they came at us."
"I know. It seems like a waste."
"Blame Vlad."
"I do."
The castle's massive front doors were slightly open, a lure meant to draw in Delilah and Kane to their death. The pair exchanged a feral look and in they went. This batch was more resistant and fought harder. Yet, it took the seasoned vampires a smidgen of their skill to bring them all to death's door.
"Look," Kane said, picking up a corpse with its head still attached, "this one was bitten."
Delilah finished wiping blood off her sword with one of her victims' shirt and went over to where Kane stood. She gingerly fingered the puncture wounds and sighed.
"He made them in stages."
"Bastard..."
"Yes."
"We keep going?"
"But of course."
Vince and Shane both felt Vlad's extreme anger before they walked into his suite.
"Yes Master?" they said together.
"I need to feed."
"I am ready," Shane said as he stepped forward, his fingers already undoing the top buttons on his shirt.
"Not you, sweet child. I need to kill. Get me someone expendable..."
"Who?" Vince asked.
"I care not who you give me Vince... just have them here in the next five minutes or I'll not leave a drop of blood in your son's body."
With a final look to Shane, Vince hurried out of the room. As he did, Shane turned to his lover, his face wreathed in a beatific smile.
"He really believes you would truly hurt me," he said almost gleefully.
"Yes he does."
"You hold such power of suggestion. You have my father believing anything at all and..."
"Do me a favor pet and kindly shut up."
"But Vlad..."
"There is a reason why your father fears me boy and you'd do well to learn it. As soon as you displease me, I will kill you, replace you and not care. Do you understand that?"
"But..."
"Shane," Vlad said, curling his fingers around the heir apparent's throat and lifting him off the floor until the tip of Shane's wingtips didn't even brush against the plush carpet, "you are expendable and noisy. Annoy me and die."
Vlad's cell phone rang and he turned around, dropping his would-be victim to the ground as he rushed to answer it.
"Yes?"
"We can't stop them! They are breaking through each and every one of our lines of defense!"
"How far along are they?"
"She's on the third floor and he's working his way through the dungeon. We can't stop them my lord!"
"You can and you will. My wrath will be formidable if you fail..."
"My lord!"
Vlad heard the sound of a door crashing open and cries as his people rushed the door. Poised, he listened to the battle, knowing the outcome as the cries died down.
"DELILAH!" he shouted into the phone.
Delilah paused, tilted her head and threw the bodies left and right until she found the cell phone.
"Vlad darling, is that you?"
"I'm going to take pleasure in sucking the life right out of you, you bitch!"
"Bitch? Is that really the best you can do?"
"If the oldest shoe in the world fits, you should wear it with pride."
"And I do Vlad... talking about pride... tell me you have something more impressive in the recesses of this castle because so far, I'm a tad disappointed."
"I don't know what you think you'll find here Delilah... but you won't leave the castle alive."
"Not only will I leave the castle but I'll leave it with the one weapon that will kill you."
"My people will kill you..."
"Dreams are sweet Vlad. Too bad yours won't come true."
Vlad heard the phone click shut and threw his phone across the room. Shane shuddered from his seat and began to fear the man he thought he loved.

Part 19:

"Are you all right?" Kane asked Delilah as she wrapped a length of white cloth around her slashed right arm.
"I'll be fine. It's just that…"
"What?"
"I think I've killed more tonight than I ever have in my life."
"I know, me too. Daunting, isn't it?"
"Very much so."
"How far away are we?"
"Two more floors," Delilah said as she got up.
"We are fighting very young vampires now."
"I know. Their understanding of the battle at hand is minimal at best."
"I agree. Yet…" Kane hesitated as he put his hand on the hilt of his sword, a sword that had shed so much blood in the past six hours.
"I know… it makes me quite sick to have to end so many lives in order to kill that monster."
"We do what must be done."
Kane laid a comforting hand on Delilah's tired shoulder. She sighed and picked up her sword.
"We go on."

Markus lay in bed next to his wife with thoughts of his mate keeping him wide awake. He knew Delilah was fighting an evil too frightening for words and what's more, he knew she feared not only for herself but for his brother as well. He eased out of bed and walked over to the French doors, opening them and stepping out onto the balcony. He braced his hands against the railing and looked up to the moon.
In that moment, he remembered a night long ago…
After killing the guards, Markus had secreted Delilah from the jail, stealing horses for the both of them. They'd left Rome that very night, heading north. They'd ridden all night long and when daylight came, they'd hidden in caves. That first morning, after seeing to her mount, Delilah had taken a long look at her savior.
"How did you know what I was?"
"I am a priest of the blood. I had heard the goddess had come to life but I did not expect to find you in this way."
"Nor did I expect to find myself in this situation."
"What happened?"
"The only one I had turned had children and I had to kill them. Sorrow at the loss of my companion made me careless."
"Careless how?"
"When a neighbor sent a slave to investigate my wails, I killed him. I was cornered and caught while trying to escape."
"You cannot afford to be careless," Markus had said very matter-of-factly. "You will need a companion."
"No!"
"Why? Because the girl died? You will go through life alone, unprotected?"
"It's what's best."
"You're wrong."
"I could kill you!"
"You're welcome to try."
Delilah rose and ran at Markus, raining fists over his back. He easily fought her back, angering her.
"DIE!" she shouted at him, stepping away from him.
"Why? Because I fought you? I am a skilled warrior. Your inept attack would only impress a man frightened by what you are."
"A warrior, a priest, an executioner… what are you?"
"I am all of the above. Above all, I am Guardian to the Tear of the God."
"What is that?"
"The one weapon that can kill you."
Growling, Delilah rushed Markus, wrapping a hand around his neck and floating up until they were both five feet above the ground.
"I can kill you as well insolent pig."
"We would walk the path to our deaths hand in hand," he said calmly as he pressed the tip of a dagger into Delilah's neck.
Defeated and exhausted by the events of the past couple of weeks, Delilah floated back down to the ground with Markus still in her grasp.
"Your understanding of what you are is dubious at best," he said as he rubbed his bruised throat. "Understanding the full extent of your power will guarantee your eternal life. As well as why you need a companion."
Numbly, Delilah had nodded her agreement. Not one to dawdle, Markus immediately began her education. At dawn, he allowed her to sleep and went to get food.
Delilah's education was a long process that opened her eyes to a world she hadn't imagined could ever be hers, even in her wildest fantasies. However, Markus didn't simply teach her about her powers as a goddess of the blood, but he also taught about fighting and about war.
They spent over six months in isolation inside that cave, pretending they did not notice the attraction that existed between them. Day after day, Markus' first words came back to Delilah: You are mine. As she moved past his arrogant personality, she found an incredibly passionate man who made her blood boil and her knees weak. However, she knew how right he was. Ultimately, she would be his. All she had to do was make her peace with it.
It was dusk and Delilah watched as the sun finally set, lighting the sky for the most beautiful canvas as it turned blood red.
"This is your sunshine," Markus told her as he joined her, "for the night is now your day."
"I know."
"Appreciate it, love it, adore it for it will bring you as close to life as anything else ever will."
"I know."
"Ah, you know so much now, you don't need me anymore?"
"Did I say that?"
"You meant it."
"Think you my mind is such an open book to you?"
"I will not despair in being wrong."
"Good."
Markus came closer and covered Delilah's shoulder with his hand.
"You have learned much from me and have learned it well."
"…"
"You will leave in your trail many dead."
"I can only hope."
"Yet I maintain…"
"That I need a companion."
"A mate," he corrected her.
Delilah stretched her arms above her head and offered a prayer of thanks to the night that was her home, a home she knew intimately now, thanks to the man standing behind her.
"I suppose you're right," she finally relented. "What do you suggest, a male or female?"
"For your mate?"
"I thought I was simply looking for a companion?"
"You need more than a simple companion."
"Is that so?"
"You need a mate. Someone with a true and pure understanding of what you are, someone willing to sacrifice their humanity for you, for the good of the goddess."
"I see my search must begin and end with those who know about and believe in the goddess."
"Yes."
"My mate must be a true adorer of the goddess."
"It would be preferable," Markus agreed, drawing even closer to Delilah.
"Then I must leave now," she said, moving around him to the back of the cave where her meager belongings were gathered.
"Leave?"
"Yes, to go to your land where many believe in the myth of the goddess, in her legend."
"You will not leave," he growled, turning around to face her.
"I won't?"
"No."
"Why not? I have enough skill to fight you."
"I care nothing for your skill. You forget the vow you made to me when I saved your life. You are mine."
Delilah had smiled then.
"You are quite right… I am yours."

Mine… the word haunted Markus now. Delilah was more his than Sara could ever hope to be in a way. And yet, in many other ways, Sara was more his. For one, he could not doubt Sara's love. Delilah's love was a foreign concept at best. Guilt over her betrayal of Samson troubled her still and she greatly feared loving anyone again.
"Mark?" Sara said softly, coming out of their bedroom, "are you all right?"
"Go back to bed. I'm fine."
"I'm not sleepy. I'm so used to sleeping during the day to accommodate you. Sleeping at night is going to take some getting used to."
"…"
"And you're sure the spell is going to keep working?"
"Yes."
"And this woman, Delilah? She's trustworthy?"
"Yes." I think.

More New Brood Rising
More Series Fics
More Fan Fic
Main Page