They were sitting outside at a café that wasn't Paul's, in a town she didn't know, and it was daytime. Still morning, Rush was in a black hoody and less rich clothes, as clearly someone wanted him dead. Mer had chosen primarily normal clothes. Being an actual normal person who could function on a social level, she needed no disguise.

The night prior, they had slept outside. Really, they couldn't have found anywhere else to sleep? Not wanting to be seen, Darius had avoided any towns, and they couldn't go to any of their known estates because that might end them up just as dead. Needing to be unconscious for some time, Rush had passed out almost immediately and so had she. Considering Darius wanted her dead, they had slept on opposite sides of some field in a forest somewhere.

While it hadn't been wholly uncomfortable, she had awoken to some bugs crawling on her and then she'd screamed and jumped to the side. That had woken Rush, which reminded her that he was used to her waking up screaming. When he realized she was just trying to get the spiders out of her hair, he calmed.

At least they'd been able to stop by somewhere this morning for a shower. There had been an inn down the street from the café they were at now, and they had showered while Darius picked them up new clothes.

Watching Rush was interesting. Leaning on one hand, he was drinking a cheap coffee, and in a sense, he reminded her of a hobo. The way his eyes were avoiding looking into the light, and how he was huddled all to himself. Why not just put a box on him and set him in the corner with a "please help me" sign. It was a strange thought, but the poor guy looked lost without his home.

Captain L'Oreal was out seeking information about the attack on them, so luckily they were alone again. It wasn't like her to be spiteful, but Darius and his well-groomed locks that rolled down his shoulders in ebony waves, was sort of an ass. While he was willing to admit she'd saved him, he still wanted her dead, didn't listen to a word out of her mouth and gave her deadly stares. They'd probably continue too, because the guy had her pretty miffed and that was when her magic head-crushing aura poured out of her. Enjoy the free meal of magic, you vulture.

Right now, she was okay.

Except for her concern for Rush. At his father's insistence, he was staying awake during the day as that was when attacks would be expected. The last attack had been at dusk just prior to sunset, when a vampire would be weak or just have woken. So, he was testing how staying awake all day went. Probably not well. They'd have to seek shelter soon anyway for her, so she didn't play party piñata with any more of his limbs.

"It'll be okay, Rush." Mer grabbed his attention, and he turned to her, his eyes shadowed by his hood. "If we put an ad out in the paper, I'm sure someone will take you. Do you cook or clean or anything?" That pulled back his drawn tired expression for a smile.

"Please, Meredith." His tone was admonishing but amused, so she couldn't tell if he actually didn't want her to joke about this. Who was she to take a hint anyway?

"Do they have welfare for vampires?"

Rush smacked his hand on the table, startling her, but he just whipped an annoyed smirk at her. It was strange seeing him more animated, though since she'd saved his father and him, it looked as if he'd let his mask of calm slip a bit more.

"You think this is humorous?" Rush asked, his smirk falling back to a tepid smile.

"Sort of. I mean who would have thought I'd get sacrificed to a homeless vampire and his drag queen father." The laughter poured from Rush's mouth so boisterously that he stifled it with his own hand. Stiffening, he looked to her with a pained expression.

"You are lucky my father cannot hear you. It would be hard to stop him from injuring you if you uttered that in his presence." The direct look he gave her was a clear admonishment this time, and she crossed her arms, leaning back on her stool.

"Also, Meredith, I'm not homeless."

"I beg to differ." Arguing it had been a bad idea, as he let out one of his small sighs. The amusement left his eyes, and she hoped she hadn't legitimately upset him.

"I am not allowed to return home," Rush explained. "My father has many estates and places to stay. Some of which are not well known and safer. However, he has forbidden me from bringing you. So until I kill you, I suppose, yes, I'm homeless, but not for lack of funds or a residence."

That was a slap to the face, and she found the counter with her eyes angrily.

"Your dad is a prick," Mer spat, though it caused his eyes to narrow and darken toward her. Maybe she shouldn't be speaking ill of the father of the man who owned her.

"No. My father is intelligent. You are dangerous. A mage. My enemy. I am young. A fool."

"You're not a fool, Rush." Despite this awkward situation, him talking down about himself made her unhappy. "I just wish you had a reason. I still don't understand." What did Rush want from her? His actions didn't seem like that of a man who wanted to use her for her power, nor did he seem to have any infatuation for her.

"Lamenting that I do not love you?" Rush's smile was attractive, his lime eyes shadowed by his hood, and his chestnut hair peeking out around his face. There was still the glint of the ruby earring he wore in his left ear, and she frowned at him.

"Not lamenting," Mer insisted, but when she did, he slid his hand over to her, tangling it in her hair.

"No?" Rush breathed into her lips, and her heart skipped as they pressed lightly onto hers.

It was annoying how right he was, but she allowed herself to be molded to his lips when he moved on hers. This was hard for her, being attracted to him and knowing for him physical attraction was all it was. Likely sensing this, he leaned away from her, but ran his hand gently over her hair.

"I got you a present, you know, before they blew up my castle." Changing the subject, agony slid into his voice at his home being gone.

What would he have gotten her? Shackles? Her bet was totally on a pair of those. It was her hobby to blow them to pieces, so he must have wanted something to control her. Hopefully, these ones were diamond studded or something. She'd be more reluctant to blow them up if they made her look good, you know as good as a chained beverage could look.

Rush slid something metallic across the table, and Mer jerked back and almost fell off the stool she was seated on. On top the fact that he looked like a drug dealing hobo, now he was dealing in weapons?

It was slim tempered metal, but it was short like a dagger and couldn't be longer than her forearm. Thin at the hilt, which was plain, it became wider in the center gently and then wound back to a point. It was also flat, like she could just bend it and it would snap it two.

Great, a knife, just what she wanted. Thank you, creepy vampire owner. Was this for her to cut her own hands off this time?

"It's not my birthday." Was the best she managed as she stared nervously.

Rush's lips curled on her words. "You know I haven't the faintest to when your birthday is."

Mer had to remember that this guy didn't speak normal human speech. Everything she said would be taken literally, and she should expect it.

"Not now." Trying again, she caused him to cock an eyebrow.

"Are you saying you don't want it?"

Good on him to catch on.

"Meredith, listen. Mages all have weapons, regardless of skill or power. It helps focus their magic to their calling.

"There is a magical armory for which your kind are usually bestowed their first weapon, however you never received one, as you never sought magic. You are familiar with you aunt's lunar staff. It is tailored to her calling, which is moonlight; that is why it was bestowed on her. A mage when bound with the weapon will absorb it into their body unless called.

"I painstakingly went through every weapon I could think of until I remembered I had this spellbound in my basement."

"Spellbound?" Why had it been bound? Did it possess people and turn them into Charles Manson? If so, giving it to her was a terrible idea.

"Meredith, all magical weapons are spellbound, even the mage's before they are bestowed. They hold magic, crave an owner, and don't stay still unless forced. It's only calm now because it saw you. It likes you." Rush paused. "I'm glad, because I didn't know what other weapon to give you. You're inept at magic, so I suppose you are also unskilled in any form of martial arts, combat, or weapon skills."

"Forgive me, I don't spend my time murdering things." Pointedly, she spat more sarcasm at Rush.

He only smiled wider, reaching out his hand. Before, she'd flinched back from him, but he'd been more than careful with her, so when he slid his cool hand against her cheek, she accepted it with a sigh.

"It's not meant to sting. It's just truth. You don't know how to fight, you can't wield magic, and your knowledge of spells, well, it's odd at best. Shiva is a good match for you."

"Shiva." What was this mythology 101? "The blade has a name?"

"Yes, all weapons have names. Shiva is perfect for you uniqueness. The creator and destroyer, poisoner and healer, it will work well with balancing your two energies inside of you." There was a strange smirk she didn't like as he touched it lightly. "It's also very finicky, picky, and a bit too powerful for most to wield. It doesn't heel often for anyone so, when it took to you, I knew it was for you."

"Are you calling me finicky, and picky?"

He flinched back from what she knew was her magic pouring out of her. "Also too powerful and unwilling to heel." Not seeming to understand how insulting continuing was, he continued, and she turned from him, imagining him going up in flames in the sunlight. Curses that was just a myth.

"If this is your way of charming me, you're doing a poor job."

"I disagree," Rush's response was immediate and she flicked her eyes to his uncertainly. "Bind yourself to Shiva and then feel how it is to have it inside of you. You will change your mind."

Everything Rush had just said was out the window except 'feel how it is to have it inside of you'. He probably hadn't even noticed how well that could be taken as innuendo. Rush was too dense to notice those things, she had to remember. As she eyed him, he seemed perturbed, and she blushed, imagining anything inside of her right now.

That was how it was though. When her aunt called on her staff, it formed into her hand and when she was not focusing her magic it shrank back into her body. Just aloud, it sounded so wrong. This Shiva was supposed to be her compatible match, but what if she bonded with it and it wasn't?

"Trust me." Lifting the blade, Rush placed it into her hand and as it pressed against her skin she realized how dull it was. Surprised, she turned it and poked her hand, but the point was blunt.

"This thing couldn't cut warm butter," Mer pointed out, and that caused Rush to chuckle ever so lightly.

"Meredith, you can't fight. Giving you a dagger meant to cut someone would be asking for someone to kill you. Shiva is a not a weapon you wield by holding it. You will see."

Fine. It was just some sort of cruel irony that a vampire with an understanding of communication as dull as this blade would give her a useless weapon.

How do I bond with you, weird ass blade?

In answer, it glowed with a black light, and Meredith dropped it on the counter.

"I see you've spoken with him. Don't get angry, all right?"

Angry? What would Meredith be mad abo-

It was a quick movement, and hard, as it was Rush holding the blade. Gasping for breath, she looked to her chest. Buried in her, straight through her lung, in-between her ribs, and into her heart, the blade was stabbed into her to the hilt. Blood seeped out around it, soaking into her shirt, and she looked to Rush with hurt in her eyes.

Why?

This was his answer? To kill her, with a blade that couldn't cut paper. It was just more irony that she, one of the most powerful mages, would be killed by the weakest weapon she had ever touched. She couldn't breathe and when she almost fell back, Rush grabbed her and leaned her forward in her chair.

This was not how mages bonded with weapons. Pain seared through her and everything blurred as she rocked, still only up by his hand's hold on her.

What had Rush done?

Mer lost consciousness.

There was a man standing in a field of flowers, next to him, a woman almost buried in them. Tall and muscular, yet slim and toned, he had long black hair that was ponytailed low at the back of his head. As Mer gazed upon him, he leaned down to the woman in the flowers and kissed her gently on the forehead.

Like him, her hair was a sheen of obsidian, curling at the ground, and she wore red formalwear Mer was unfamiliar with. It was foreign, and she didn't exactly study much about other countries. The woman glanced at him, and she wasn't sure what color her eyes were, though they seemed to be all of them.

Was she intruding? This felt like an intimate scene for just the two of them. Mer inched back, and the man noticed her. Walking to her, she met his eyes with his own. They were every color and none, white and then black, and she found herself lost in them.

"Who are you?" She asked him, unable to move when he looked at her, and his gaze lightened, releasing her.

It allowed her eyes to wander down to his chest, which was bare until meeting a golden belt and some sort of white garment that covered his lower half. Not pants, and not quite a skirt she didn't know what to make of it, so she found his eyes again.

Black "Your death"

White "Your life."

Black "Your poison"

White "Your cure"

What in god's name was going on again?

The man touched her face, and she flinched back, but his hold on her was solid. As he gripped her face much too tightly, pain surged in her chest and she looked down to find it dripping blood all over her. Trying to stop the flow, the man caught her hand, restraining her, and she shook as she poured her blood onto the ground.

"You called. I answered." His voice, though his lips didn't move.

Had she now? Had it been collect? Because she didn't remember paying.

"You paid in blood. For what reason am I leaving Parvati?"

For what reason? She didn't even know what the hell was going on. Was Parvati the woman in the flowers and the red dress? Watching her, the woman was gazing on her with colorless eyes, and yet every color flickering over her.

"Who are you?" Mer demanded again. She was scared pretty much to death right now, and her chest was still leaving a river on the ground. How was she still conscious? Was she conscious?

"I am Shiva."

The dagger?

"That is but a vessel for my essence. Why have you called me?"

"I-I don't know..."

Rush couldn't have said, by the way there is a ripped, half-naked man in the damn blade? This guy made Rush's chest look ordinary and dull. Hell, this man made Caelan look emaciated. While she couldn't explain it, there was a majesty about this man and his creepy flower girlfriend sitting and watching them silently. At least she had a shirt on, or a dress of some kind anyway.

"Poor child, you are lost."

Lost, yes, child, no.

Mr. romance novel chest laughed.

"Do you want me?"

Great, now he was Rush... Why did every man in existence lately think she wanted them? No dammit, go away, back to your hippy girlfriend.

"Very well. You shall have me."

That was the god damn opposite of what she had just thought.

There was a small jerk and she looked to her chest to see his hand stabbed into her wound causing her to gasp for breath again.

It was painful, horribly, and she screamed.

It was intimate, pleasurable, and she shuddered.

Searing, then warm, a bruising blow, a caress, the only thing it agreed on was that it was filling her... with heat, warmth, pain, pleasure, agony, ecstasy.

This was some jacked up shit she couldn't buy on the corner. It was beyond her to even be embarrassed by the pulsing between her legs, just as she couldn't find herself afraid of the pain ripping her chest apart.

All she wanted now was more.

Where was she? Don't care.

Who was she? Doesn't matter.

This was what she wanted.

Embracing it, she let out a loud moan.

Ecstasy, it culminated and seized, dripping down her thighs.

Agony, her life was torn apart violently and she faded away into a cold abyss.

~~~~~~~~~

Word Count: 3050