There's a reason New Orleans is the locale for all those famous supernatural books and movies. Magic sticks to the old live oak trees, their branches twisting towards the sky like strands of Medusa's hair. It seeps from the Spanish moss and drips down onto the ground, only to be lifted back into the atmosphere and rained down again; breathed in by all on those hot sultry nights. It hangs heavy in the humid air, the perfect petri dish for all things preternatural. It doesn't make being a vampire any easier. But on nights like this one, when the rain is just steady enough and the thunder is a near constant rumble in the distance, my skin hums and I feel one with the earth that I stand on. I feel alive again. It never lasts long. I don't have any memories from my human life, but my body remembers what it felt like even if my mind doesn't.

    Lightning flashed and I glanced down at my watch. Less than an hour before dawn and it would take us a good twenty minutes to get back to the house. I threw a pointed look at Bodhi who was lurking around the corner of the bookstore across the street. He shrugged cluelessly and slipped back behind the brick building into the shadows. I shook my head. This wasn't the first time we'd been left in the lurch on one of Milo's little quests. The plan was simple. I would wait in plain sight, Milo would lure the suspect to us for questioning. Bodhi was the muscle. Some vampires were gifted in certain ways. Milo's gift, well, let's just say he could charm a cat into taking a dip in a pool and liking it.

Familiar laughter echoed across the buildings. Finally. Milo staggered drunkenly down the street, arm in arm with his mark who was looking equally inebriated. The product of one of Maggie's potions for sure. Vampires couldn't get drunk in the classic sense but a little potion from a talented witch could go a long way. She did have a touch. If I didn't know any better, I'd think nothing of the pair, looking on the surface like a young couple headed home after a long night out.

I slapped my book closed, vowing to myself that I would finish it tomorrow night and find out who had betrayed the reluctant vampire king. Stuffing it quickly into my backpack and zipping the pocket, I stood and threw the pack over my shoulder, sliding my other arm through. I inched further into the hood of my sweatshirt as the warm rain drip dropped all over my jacket, littering the army green with damp dots. I glanced at Bodhi out of the corner of my eye as I passed him. He was patiently waiting and ready, as always.

The voices grew louder as they neared, footsteps splashing through the puddle-ridden street. Milo beamed at the sight of me and raised an excited hand in the air.

"Hey, hey, who's the most gorgeous vampire in all the land?" he shouted at me and I couldn't help but grin.

"You are, of course." He really was. Perfect specimen had Milo's name next to it in the dictionary, if you overlooked the height department which was the only area he fell short in. He was a solid 5' 8", which was a good height as far as I was concerned since it was the same as mine. His penny brown hair had lighter tawny highlights and it was still sculpted to the exact level of messiness necessary to make him look like he just rolled out of bed like that. And of course, the perfect lean-to-muscle ratio, because what perfect specimen package was complete without the muscles.

The couple stopped in the middle of the street. Not the ideal location for a round of strong armed questioning. I walked up to greet them, reaching into my pocket for Maggie's antidote. I needed clear-headed Milo, not party Milo.

"Fancy meetin' you out here," he grinned knowingly, lazily draping an arm over the thinner man's shoulders. "This here is Thomas," he said, nodding his head at his partner. "He's a freshman over at Dupre house."

"Nice to meet you Thomas," I said. "You're a long way from Dupre house at this hour."

"Well, we weren't exactly plannin' on going home, if you know what I mean," Milo winked and Thomas ran a hand through his platinum blonde mini-pompadour, then hid his face in Milo's neck. Milo's grin widened proudly as he held my gaze, smacking his gum. He enjoyed this all way too much.

"A rule breaker?" I said questioningly. "In that case," I raised the potion bottle towards him. "Care for some more?"

Thomas eyed me wobbly, then took the bottle. "Don't mind if I do. Thanks." He took a swig then handed it to Milo. "I didn't catch your name, Miss..." he wobbled again briefly then straightened with a start, darting forward as the potion kicked in and his eyes sobered, turning from their relaxed brown to a deep angry red. His forward motion was quickly halted by a large hand attached to a large wall of Bodhi, who had the smaller vampire's arms locked behind his back in the blink of an eye. Thomas's fangs lowered and he squirmed to no avail inside Bodhi's hold as he was muscled out of the street and into the alley by the bookstore.

"Avis," Thomas hissed, quite unattractively. This is why Milo did the entrapping. You could say I was a little well known around town. But that was a whole other story.

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Hi, everyone! Welcome to For Blood!

This is what will be the first of a planned trilogy in the world of Tempest House. Right now I am planning on every other day updates of one to two chapters.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the ride!