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~*~*~*~
Hannibal spun on his right leg and kicked out with his left at the same time, catching one vampire in the midsection and sending it flying across the room while catching a second with the blade of his sword. Burning ash floated to the floor even as he grinned and danced out of the way of his next attackers.
"Who's next?" he taunted.
Even if he was at odds with the other Nightstalkers he was still a hunter and this nest of vampires was getting a little too big for its britches. Rotating his wrist up and around he decapitated another vampire.
Since Daystar, Hannibal had been different. His reflexes were better, faster. His senses had improved. It had started with his sense of smell. It hadn't really even been noticeable at first; some people and things just smelled better. Then he began associating smells to feelings and he kept that to himself. His hearing and eyesight improved in tandem. He'd once joked that he was a mutant, an X-Men. Unfortunately, none of the other Nightstalkers had ever really picked up a comic book and he'd later overheard one of them speculating about his abilities. He'd down played them ever since.
But with guns, hand-to-hand, and now swords, he was a better hunter than even Blade. The others were almost frightened of him...he could sense that. Even Abby had pulled away. It had just left Zoe who still treated him like normal until Abby had packed the kid off somewhere safe. Somewhere away from him.
He wasn't the only one of the "cured" that had things awaken in them. At least two had started to crave human blood but weren't showing any other signs of vampirism. At least one had become a serial killer. A few had developed nymphomania and Hannibal was still trying to unee that. But for most it just made them slightly stronger, faster. It all depended on the person as to how they used those new skills, and to what they became. It also depended on how much of the Daystar they received. And Hannibal had been right there when the bioweapon was deployed. Yeah for him.
He shook off his thoughts when he heard the sirens.
"Sorry," he said, still grinning as he jogged past the remaining vampires, "but that's my cue to book. It's been reals."
~*~*~*~
Daystar had not been everything the Nightstalkers had hoped. Far from it. Bless Sommerfield and her biochemistry genius but even she had mentioned that there had been no time to fully test it. Not before or after the introduction of Drake's blood into the chemical mix. She had been worried about what it would do to Blade. They should have been worried about what it could do to everyone else.
It had never been tested on vampires, humans, or people like Hannibal King who had been treated by the vampire retrovirus to "turn" them back to human.
What Daystar did do was kill most every vampire that was out in the open in the immediate dispersal area. It caught on the wind and spread and still at almost full strength dispersed to cities within a five hundred mile radius. However as soon as the sun had started to rise vampires went indoors and out of the bioweapon's direct path. But not before at least three in two different cities were caught on videophones molting into decaying corpses and combusting from the inside out, leaving smoldering ash floating behind. They were instant hits on youtube. And for a few months convinced the world that vampires truly existed.
Daystar was a weapon that washed mostly away with the first rain. And like in other cities, some of it did catch on the wind and spread, but never lasted longer than first rain. It never killed all the vampires in those cities. The bioweapon broke down, soaked into the ground and enriched the soil.
It never made it out of the Western hemisphere and barely into South America. That didn't matter, after the multiple inquisitions in Europe many older vampires had travelled to the new lands across the Atlantic Ocean. Daystar destroyed many vampires whose origins were far from the source blood--far from Drake's blood--no matter their age. Some of the oldest vampires in the world simply died because their blood was so diluted and they'd grown weak in the modern age. They hadn't fought to live.
Just like Drake who fought it off like it was the common cold, other vampires who were barely touched by Daystar lived because they fought it off with fresh human blood. The dead bodies with multiple double-puncture wounds and drained of blood helped with the "vampires really do exist" news. And the few people Drake had sired long before his sleep...well, if a new Daystar was ever created, they would be immune.
But the most important thing in all this...in the end, the vampire king lived. And he made sure the formula for Daystar was lost. Caulder's Nightstalker cell was destroyed. Its members drained of blood before the building was burnt to the ground. The shaft of a single arrow had been left at the scene. It was from the arrow Abby had used to fire the Daystar virus at Drake. It was the only evidence that it had been Drake.
The body in the morgue had disappeared and there were two dead FBI agents and another two dead medical examiners in their own morgue. The only one left alive was the pregnant medical assistant. Her hysterical description of the assailant had started off as a description of Blade becoming a monster with horns and ended with someone both Hannibal and Abby recognized as Drake.
By this time, the real Blade had long since left the city.
~*~*~*~
For Blade, there had been side effects. Daystar didn’t kill him, but it didn't help him either. It slowed him down. He was still fast and stronger than a normal human but it just wasn't as easy to take on three or four vampires at once. It also brought his hunger that much closer to the surface.
He was taking his serum faster and in larger doses. And with Whistler Senior, Sommerfield, and Caulder all dead there was a finite supply of the needed drug.
And when Blade missed a dose, he became angry. His rage was destructive and most Nightstalkers who had been willing to work with him at first now kept away.
There was hope that the vampire antivirus might have an effect on him and the Nightstalkers still had a handful of doses. It would probably make him more human, but everyone thought that might be for the best.
Now they just needed to find him before he did something there was no coming back from.
~*~*~*~
Drake left the city the Talos siblings had brought him to, but not before making one or two stops along the way. He needed to ensure there would be no more viruses. He had thought Blade honorable but in the end the only one among the hunters to have had any real honor had been the one he'd brought back to the Talos' building. The one taste of blood from Hannibal King's wounded shoulder told him a lot about the man. The first being he wasn't going to break. Talos threatening the child had only given the hunter something to rally behind. To gather strength from. If one of them had killed the child then they would never have gotten anything but a painful death.
Even though King tried to hide his clever mind behind the use of words and jokes, Drake had seen the truth. King's mind was strong and was always absorbing the things around him. And turning King against his will had been poor judgment on Danica's part. Someone like King should have been courted and then offered the privilege.
But Drake had learned his people had become weak. His blood diluted from the long line of siring after siring. Vampirism was to have been a gift, not handed about to everyone. Building empires by creating more meant in the end there would be no humans left. Or no vampires as the humans fought back. The Daystar virus had been proof of that. Though it had done him a favor by killing most of those unworthy of his gift.
Given time he would also correct the damage done to Familiars. Their true meaning had been twisted to become just pawns or worse someone just looking for power--wanting to ride on someone's coattails for some perceived prestige while others were used for blood and sex. But that had not been the original meaning behind the markings. The markings were a sign of protection for those mortals you cared for. It was to protect them from being fed upon or turned against their will.
Daystar was strengthening his hold on the other vampires but he still needed more knowledge before he made them all remember who their king was. He had used his blood connection to call to those he specifically had sired throughout the millenniums. He wanted to know who of his original children were still alive.
Seven had answered and only two of those lived in the New World and they were the last two he had sired before his long rest. They came to him. They understood this world and would help him acclimate to the twenty-first century.
~*~*~*~
Hannibal King walked with a happy step while humming some tune he'd heard on the radio. As he got closer to the building the current batch of Nightstalkers were using he jumped onto the fire stairs of the building two down and hopped across the roofs avoiding all the cameras. He jogged down the stairs to the large "conference" room but stopped before going around the corner as he heard voices coming from the room. He didn't know they were talking about him until he heard his name being batted back and forth.
"...there's something wrong with him."
"He could change like one of the others."
"Or nothing could happen."
"You've seen him move. He's faster than Blade now."
"Hannibal is fine."
"The others..."
"Didn't all turn into killers."
"No, but there's something wrong with them all. They should be put down."
"They're not some dog."
"They were vampires!"
"Were being the important thing there."
"We did this."
"Daystar did this. Even some of the Familiars are having reactions. Milder than the ex-vamps."
"Look Abby, we don't want him here. He's just too dangerous."
"Hannibal isn't..."
"Tell me that's not why you placed Zoe with that family five hundred miles from here."
Hannibal closed his eyes when he heard Abby sigh. That was confirmation that he didn't want. He would never have hurt Zoe, not even when he'd been a vampire. He'd always stuck to blood packets or a Familiar for small sips or two.
"I'll talk to him," Abby said. "We can call him in for something large. Maybe it is time for him to find another job."
"We can always track him via his chip."
"True."
Hannibal left the building the same way he came in and went to the little diner down the road. He'd give them an hour and then walk in the front door. He could tell Abby about the nest he cut down by about a third and then tell her he was taking a vacation.
He would disappear for a while.
~*~*~*~
Drake flipped the page on the book he was reading. In the past week he'd already read through half a dozen books on ancient, medieval, European, and world history. He was currently two chapters from finishing the book on US history and that would leave him politics and military history. The books were not deep works of knowledge but over the last few weeks they had given him an overview of how this time viewed the events he had witnessed and those he had slept through.
"Jacob," he called, putting the US history book on the finished pile. "Are there more of these books?"
Jacob, a blond mortal man that had come with his child Carlos, turned from the desk and its multiple computers. His quiet Carlos had found his true mate in a normally talkative, slightly hyper, computer expert. Jacob actually reminded Drake a lot of Hannibal King.
His two children, Carlos and Evan, should have been the ones to wake him, not the Talos siblings. But they had both respected his wishes to rest. They seemed to be the only ones left who had continued to follow his edicts. They told him of Ana and her sacrifice during the last inquisition that allowed many of his people to flee to safety. It had saddened him to hear especially when the other five had angered him so. They had answered him mentally and during the connection he could sense they only kept the edicts they had wanted. He would correct that soon. For now he and his two children would deal with the misled young ones that were seeking him out.
"Yeah," Jacob answered, pushing his glasses back towards his eyes. "On just about everything there is. Cooking, art, music, sports, martial arts, archaeology."
"Are there more on your wars?"
Jacob twisted around and started typing. "Yes. On a couple of them. I think the bookstore where I picked up the other ones I saw some of the other titles including one of the books on World War II."
"Retrieve those and the others you mentioned for me."
"Sure."
"And Jacob." He waited for the young man to turn around again. "When you return I have someone I want you to find using your gadgets."
Jacob grinned. "Sure thing, boss." And then Jacob was almost skipping out of the room.
"Carlos?" Drake inquired, when the blond was almost out of the building.
"Yes, my Lord?"
"He will not be any calmer as one of mine," Drake advised. "Even if you wait ten years."
Carlos smiled softly. "I know, my Lord. But we are worried about this Daystar virus. I was ill for several days and while it does not appear to have caused me any permanent damage other than watery eyes when I walk in the light. I do not wish to pass on tainted blood to Jacob. I do not want him to be one of the weak darkwalkers."
In the centuries that Carlos traveled with him, Drake believed this was the most he'd ever heard the Spaniard say at once. "When he is ready," Drake said. "I will give him my blood. And we shall fix your watering eyes as well."
Drake's blood had cured Evan of all traces of the Daystar. His Celtic warrior had been greatly weakened by the bioweapon but had regained his strength after feeding from his King. The human scientist had underestimated the power of LaMagra's blood. He'd noticed when he fed from the one group of Nightstalkers that their blood was now richer--more filling and he could have let them live if he hadn't been sending a message. Though, it seemed that some of the young darkwalkers would become ill if they drank from a Daystar human. So maybe the scientist had gotten one or two things correct.
"Thank you my Lord."
Drake nodded and swirled the blood in his wine glass. It wasn't as good as it would be coming from a warm body, but they were now trying to keep a low profile. And while they didn't need to kill to sate the hunger, they didn't need one of the drinkables slipping and mentioning she or he had let a vampire feed from them.
The "combusting vampires" were still a hit on Jacob's web thing.
~*~*~*~
Hannibal had been on his own for six months now. He hadn't changed his name so if the Nightstalkers wanted to find him all they had to do was look. But he wasn't going to make it easy for them. He'd removed his tracking device and taped it underneath one of the seats on the blue line train. If they bothered to look they would have to hunt down that train first.
Meanwhile he had moved several hours east and continued hunting. At least for the first month. During the third month the vampires started acting strangely. There had been no Familiars and the "donors" seemed to be volunteers and all walked out of the clubs alive. That's when he decided that perhaps he really did need a vacation. His subconscious must have been telling him that as he'd been dreaming of a city by the ocean and mountains.
He carefully packed away his sword and one of the guns Hedges had so lovingly made for him and drove northeast-ish. He was surprised when after driving for nearly a week he found a small city that could have easily been the one in his dreams. It was mix of modern and nineteenth century. And for no reason at all, Hannibal found it comforting. That's when the strange dreams started. Of him and Drake. Sometimes they were fighting each other in what looked like a practice room; other times they were fighting side-by-side against an unseen foe. There were times when he sat next to Drake on a throne and his eyes glowed amber.
The dreams that scared him even more than becoming a vampire again were the ones of him and Drake in bed together. Wrapped around each other. Moving together. They seemed so real; so passion filled. It was more than he could ever hope for. He found he could talk to this dream Drake and didn't have to hide himself.
It all just reminded him of how alone he was now.
He didn't suspect the dreams were anything more than they were for nearly a month; not until a package arrived on his doorstep.
~*~*~*~
Drake leaned forward on the stone barrier that wrapped around the balcony and surveyed the city from the mountains to the ocean coastline. It was something he had done almost every night since coming to this city. He enjoyed this place so much more than the bigger, busier city of before. This one produced less noise and pollution. He breathed in the cool, salted air and felt calm.
His new child was very clever with his machines and had been able to not only find all the hidden Nightstalker bases and their chipped agents but also the particular one he was looking for. He was leaving the hunters alone for now unless they came into his city, but Hannibal King had been on his mind ever since that one taste all those months ago.
Then he started to dream and Hannibal had been in them. His sleeping mind had sought the other man out. At first Hannibal had been unreceptive to Drake being in his dreams. They had fought. Great sword fights, hand-to-hand, and at least twice with wooden staves. There were as many losses as there had been victories and ties. They had been exhilarating and Drake wondered how it would be to fight against and beside his hunter for real.
As Hannibal relaxed into the dreams Drake was able to manipulate the settings some so they were fighting together against a common foe. Then as Hannibal began talking to him he too relaxed and let their minds together dictate their surroundings--from sitting out on the very balcony he stood now to showing Hannibal sitting on the vampire throne next to him.
He was sure that Hannibal would think him responsible for all the dreams where they would find themselves in a large bed, sated and wrapped around each other from making love. But, he wasn't, Hannibal was just as responsible and Drake knew that he had found his mate. And that Hannibal was in his city.
It had taken Jacob another week to catch Hannibal on the city's CCTV and track him to his small apartment.
Drake began following Hannibal from a distance as to not spook his mate. The hunter had slimmed down a little, shortened his hair and shaved off most of his facial hair. But muscles still moved under Hannibal's clothes as he gracefully moved in and around the crowd on the sidewalk. He spoke to no one outside of the customary greetings as he moved through his day. A day that involved walking down to the docks and unloading cargo ships and ended with an evening watching the life in the city move past.
When Hannibal would return home for the night Drake would take his leave and several hours later follow his mate into the dreams. Dreams where Hannibal was his equal and the perfect hunter and enforcer to rule by his side for eternity. That he would be Drake's balance and show fairness where he himself would rather destroy. That they could remake the vampire race as it was meant to be.
The next day Drake sent Evan to deliver his package.
~*~*~*~
It was an innocuous little box and Hannibal spent above five minutes just staring at it before leaning down to pick it up. It hadn't been ticking and it actually smelled quite, well, like his favorite coffee and butterscotch. When he opened the lid he discovered a pound of the coffee, already ground and ready for his coffee pot. There was also a dozen of the fresh baked cookies from the bakery down the street and several issues of the Tomb of Dracula comics series--specifically the issues where Dracula worked with the vampire hunters against a common threat. There was no note.
Hannibal glanced around the hallway quickly before unlocking and entering his apartment. He put the box down on the kitchen counter and did a quick sweep of his apartment. Nothing was out of place. He drew the curtains back and stared outside the window for a moment before checking the locks and closing the curtains.
His apartment wasn't very big, more of a loft made of one room that had a counter to partition the kitchen from the bedroom slash living room. There was a small closet and a bathroom with a shower stall. It had come furnished with a full-size bed, two barstools, a loveseat and a small TV. He'd pried up several of the floorboards in the closet and hid his sword and second gun and all the ammunition underneath; now he was taking out extra ammo. Then he brewed a pot of coffee and ate three of the cookies while leafing through the comics.
Drake. He didn't know what it meant, but cookies and coffee were an odd way to kill him. And Hannibal was sure the comics were supposed to be a message of Drake's intent but what were the dreams?
The second package arrived at the end of the week. Well, it wasn't so much a package as a food delivery service that had prepared all of his favorite foods. All he had to do was microwave them. It was enough for a week's worth of meals and all beyond delicious. Still no note, and still an odd way to try and kill him if that was what Drake was after, but Hannibal wasn't going to look a gift of delicious food in the mouth.
Package number three arrived a week later by courier. Hannibal opened the door with a gun but didn't point it at the vampire. The vampire merely raised an eyebrow and waited as Hannibal tucked the gun into his waistband. "And you are?" Hannibal asked, ignoring the slight smile on the vampire's face.
The vampire didn't speak, just held the box out for Hannibal to take.
"What does Drake want from me?" Hannibal asked as the vampire was turning to walk away.
"Ask him."
"Ask him? Ask him?" But the vampire was already gone. "I swear I'm going insane," he said, shutting the door and going to the kitchen counter.
He opened the long thin, wooden box to find a sword. A beautifully crafted, well-balanced sword. It was perfect for his grip as he moved through several strikes and swings. There was an etching right above the pommel, one he recognized as Drake's mark. He turned the sword over and the etching there was similar but different. Hannibal ran his finger over the design twice before gently putting the sword back in the box.
That night the dreams were stronger, more real.
"What do you want from me?" he asked the dream Drake as they sat outside on the dream balcony and watched the stars.
~*~*~*~
"What do you want from me?"
Drake lifted his hand and ran his fingers softly down Hannibal's face. "You," he responded.
"You? That's all you have to say."
"Yes."
Hannibal growled and Drake laughed softly.
"Fine," Hannibal started. "Let me try another approach. Why? Why all the dreams? Why?"
"You are perfect…"
"I beg to differ."
Drake ignored the interruption. "You are a perfect balance for me. You will be my right hand, my equal, my lover. You will be my heart and remind me that humans are more than cattle. That there is judgment without destruction."
"And all I have to do is give you my soul?"
Drake sighed. "Your soul will always be yours."
Hannibal sprang to his feet and paced back and forth in front of Drake for several moments.
"But I will be a vampire again." Hannibal stopped pacing, but didn't immediately turn to look at him. Hannibal's shoulders were slumped slightly until he rolled them and stood up straighter. When he turned, the expression on Hannibal's face was one of pure determination and almost sadness. "I can't do it again. I can't be stuck in the dark."
And Hannibal broke the dream.
~*~*~*~
Hannibal sat up in his bed. Sheet and blanket pooling at his waist and he put his head in his hands. The dreams had been real in a sense and he was going to miss them. But he wasn't going to be a vampire again. How could he be someone's equal if half the day was lost to him; it made no sense.
He fell back on the bed. Maybe it was time for him to leave this city. If he put distance between him and Drake maybe there would be no pull to return to the dreams. Maybe another country. The UK was far enough ahead in its day that there should be less of a chance both of them would be sleeping at the same time.
Hannibal just couldn't risk trusting Drake. He had trusted the Nightstalkers and in the end they had turned their back on him when Daystar had changed him. If he was a vampire again and things failed on that front as well he would have nowhere to go.
Decision made Hannibal climbed out of bed and grabbed a quick shower. Tossing the towel over one of the stools to dry, he began by stripping the sheets and blankets from the bed. Quickly folding them he set them aside and started to gather everything he owned and placed it on the bed. He then packed everything, which admittedly wasn't a lot and he was thankful he still had the boxes in the closet. He debated for a second but kept the comics, placing them in the last box before locking the lid in place and stacking the boxes near the door.
He grabbed his weapons from under the floorboards and packed them in a carry bag. He glanced over to his kitchen counter and the box that contained the sword from Drake. He wanted to keep the sword but it wasn't his to keep. Not now.
The sun had just begun to rise by the time he was ready to leave.
~*~*~*~
Drake woke and growled. "Damn, stubborn mate."
He dressed quickly. This was a conversation to have in person. He had wanted Hannibal to come to him. For them to have this talk out on their balcony.
"Stubborn hunter."
"Boss?"
Drake didn't startle often and he never showed it when he did, but so far Jacob had popped up twice when he was unexpected. It just meant his newest child really could be quiet and still when he wanted, which wasn't often. But each time he'd also been preoccupied with thoughts of Hannibal.
"Why are you roaming the halls, child?"
"Carlos and Evan are doing," and here Jacob waved his hand about, "something with the old stuff in the basement."
Drake raised his eyebrow.
"What? You three are all…umm, have really old stuff."
Drake hid his smile but Jacob had just given him an idea.
"Come along."
"Umm, sure. Where are we going?"
"You, my very young friend are going to help me with a problem."
"I love problems."
Drake laughed. "I know you do."
He let Jacob drive the car. The young man vibrated with excitement as he slid into the driver's side. Drake still didn't fully understand the difference in all the road vehicles but this car seemed to make his newest child almost as happy as all his computer gadgets.
They pulled up to Hannibal's building just as the sun was beginning to rise. Jacob got out of the car to follow him, but stayed, leaning against the car, when Drake told him to wait.
~*~*~*~
Hannibal was packing his laptop away when he heard footsteps in the hallway leading to his apartment. He quickly shoved all the cables into the bag and zipped it up before placing it on top of the boxes and grabbing his gun. When the knock happened he opened the door to find a vampire standing on his doorstep...just not the vampire he thought. No more errand boys. The King himself. "Fuck me," he muttered.
"Are you going to shoot me, Hannibal?"
Hannibal had automatically brought the gun up when he opened the door, but dropped it back to his side as he looked at Drake.
"Would it even hurt you?" Hannibal asked, not backing out of the doorway.
"It would cause me pain, but not kill me," Drake replied. "Will you not let me pass, Hannibal?"
"What do want?"
"You."
"We have been over that already."
Drake stepped in closer and was proud that Hannibal didn't flinch or back down from his stance. "We were not finished when you so rudely severed the connection."
"I can't be what I was before."
"You are already so much more," Drake countered. "I have something to show you. Will you let me enter?"
"You could just push your way in. Why are you asking?"
"You are my mate. You will be my equal. So much has changed over time, but I do not believe pushing my way into your home would be a way to show that."
Hannibal stepped to the side and let him enter. Drake surveyed the small apartment and instantly noticed the boxes. "You were going to run?"
"I still might," Hannibal answered, honestly. "I wasn't sure where to send the sword though. But since you are here you can take it with you."
Drake walked to the counter and lifted the lid to reveal the sword he had given Hannibal. "It is yours," he said, running his finger just above the blade from tip to pommel.
When Drake turned around it was to find Hannibal starring out the window. The morning sun caused the man's skin to look almost bronze. Drake moved to stand next to him. "Do you see the man sitting on the silver car below?"
~*~*~*~
Hannibal could see Drake's reflection in the glass of the window as the vampire moved to stand next to him. He glanced down and focused on the car and the man playing a handheld video game. The blond man didn't appear to be much older than him. "Is that a Porsche Carrera?" Hannibal asked. "And who's the blond?"
"I believe that is what Jacob has called the car," Drake replied smiling fondly down at the blond. "Are you jealous, my mate?" Drake then asked him, while running his fingers softly down his face.
Hannibal didn't like the feeling or answer. "Yes."
He continued to stare at the car and this Jacob and heard Drake chuckle.
"Jacob is my newest child. Not my lover. I have none but you, my mate. And if it is the car, then it is yours."
Hannibal looked at this Jacob closer. He was out in the daylight. Did that mean all of Drake's children were daywalkers? Had the Nightstalkers missed something else? What else did they not know? And why did he care what they knew or didn't?
"You can't just give me someone's car," he said, while his inner dialogue continued to pile on the questions.
Drake laughed. "Though Jacob is the only one who likes to drive it, it is my car."
Hannibal turned from the window and leaned on the windowsill. "Define newest?" And Hannibal had an epiphany. "Is he one of the shadows in the dreams you...we created?" Because after the second package had arrived Hannibal realized that he directed the dreams just as much as Drake had. That's one of the things that frightened him the most. He wanted it all, just as he'd seen it in the dreams and if Jacob was around his age, then...
"How many could you see?"
"Two at first," Hannibal answered without even having to think about it. "Then a month or so back a third appeared."
Drake leaned into him and smiled. "Yes," Drake answered and kissed him.
Hannibal's mind came to a complete stop and then he was returning the kiss. He knew two things almost immediately. One, Drake was a much better kisser in person--one of them was selling the other short in their dreams. Two, he was pretty sure he wasn't leaving now.
~*~*~*~
Drake broke the kiss and opened the window and spoke towards Jacob and the car. "Jacob, take the car and go home."
The blond hopped off the car and tossed the handheld into the car. "Are you sure, boss?"
"Yes. Maybe Carlos will go for a drive with you."
Jacob waved at them both before getting in the car and gunning the engine from zero to sixty in like five seconds.
"Who's Carlos?" Hannibal asked.
Drake chuckled. "Do you really want to discuss this now?"
Hannibal put his hand on Drake's chest and pushed slightly indicating he wanted his space. Drake took the step back and watched as Hannibal paced away from him and to one of the kitchen stools.
"Stay over there," Hannibal said. "And yes."
"Carlos and Evan would be the other two shadows you saw. You met Evan when he delivered the sword. He is one of my oldest children. My Celtic warrior. He has created no children. Carlos is just shy of a thousand years and is from the area you now call Spain. He has no children either. Young Jacob is his mate."
"And your children can walk in the light?"
"Yes," Drake said, walking closer to Hannibal. "And so will you, my love."
Drake moved so that he was standing in front of Hannibal. He put his hands on his mate's strong thighs and squeezed slightly before running his hands further up to Hannibal's waist and pulling the man forward until Hannibal was standing in front of him. He pushed his mate into the counter and crowded him in before kissing him first deeply on the mouth until Hannibal needed to breathe and then moved to the neck.
"What do you want from me Hannibal?" he whispered into his mate's ear.
He felt Hannibal grasp his waist and pull him even closer; grinding their lower bodies together.
"I think I want it all," Hannibal said, reversing their positions so that Drake was now pushed against the closest wall.
Drake smiled and then moaned as Hannibal started kissing his neck. Clothes were quickly taken off, bodies explored, all before the two men stumbled and fell onto the bed. Drake moved down Hannibal's body, licking, kissing, and lightly biting. He took Hannibal's cock in his mouth and tasted his mate as a human. He would be doing this again after Hannibal was turned. Hannibal arched underneath his ministrations and was soon coming. Drake smiled as made one final swipe with his tongue before moving back up Hannibal's body.
He gave Hannibal another quick kiss before looking him in the eyes and speaking clearly. "If you don't want to start the night as a vampire, as my mate and the King's enforcer, you need to leave now."
"I'm not going anywhere without you," Hannibal answered, pulling Drake down for a kiss before turning his head and bearing his neck. "I am your mate for all eternity."
~end~